Political Costume Awards

There are always a lot of politically related costumes during election years, especially in DC. I am not a huge Halloween fan but I appreciate creative costumes and how they can create a snapshot of current events. Here are some notes from what I saw last night:

• Most Popular/Easiest: Sarah Palin (both women and men in drag)
  
• Runners Up: Bristol Palin, Barack Obama, and Joe the Plumber
• Best Cultural Rendition: My Korean friend dressed up as Cho the Plumber
• Most Confused: Bouncer at bar dressed up as Osama Bin Laden with a noose. He was either confusing him with Saddam Hussein or thinking wishfully.
• Cutest: Two thirteen year old girls dressed up as Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin
• Most Creative: The Economy, accessorized with bailout donation cups
• Favorite Dictator: Kim Jong Il (beating out the usual favorite: Fidel Castro)
  
• Best Old School: Girl dressed up as George Washington. I was quite jealous of her tricorner hat and coat with tails.
• Most Noticeably Absent: John McCain, Joe Six Pack (completely dwarfed by plumbers), Bush & Cheney

Other current events included: many Michael Phelps, Chinese gymnasts, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Women equipped with babies, etc.

Kids These Days

Two ten year old girls in my apartment elevator, dressed up for Halloween:

Girl 1: After Halloween, we might have to see the gynecologist.
Girl 2: Huh? What's that?
Girl 1: You know, to get the candy stuck in our braces. Maybe it's called an orthodontist.
Me: *breathes a sigh of relief*

law school loves

Being on journal and serving as a Dean's Fellows has made law school so much more fulfilling. Not necessarily because of the work, because of the people I am with.

I had a happy hour with the first and a dinner with the latter. I know there is a lot of time inbetween, but I am really going to miss all these people when I graduate.

Trial Tales, Part Deux

My second appearance in court turned out well, at least in the opinion of my clinic partner and I. We got a fair, and what we think, the best result for our client. Unfortunately he is not very happy, but I am hoping once his emotions subside from going up against his wife, he will be ok.

Going to District Court in Maryland was certainly an interesting experience. Much more chaotic and less glamorous than Circuit Court, which is where I went to last time. Following around the paper signs, we got to our courtroom and waited over two hours for our case to be finally called. Bored out of my mind watching motions and mini-cases, this was my inner monologue while waiting from 1pm-3pm:

I wonder if courts order their benches from the same place that churches order pews? These seats are uncomfortable.
I am really hungry . . . the only thing I have eaten all day is a piece of pumpkin bread.
Is our bailiff asleep? He looks like he's 90 years old. If our client's wife attacked us, we are so screwed.
I think our supervisor is asleep too. I really need a nap after staying up late looking at cases.
These people are all crazy, and representing themselves, this could get really ugly.
OK, don't be like that Plaintiff and piss off the judge.
When are they going to call our case?
This is what purgatory must feel like.
I would hate to be a Geico attorney who had to sit in court all day. She also has a terrible suit jacket.
Who would sue Costco, I love Costco.
Mm, Costco samples. I'm so hungry. I can see food outside but I can't leave in case they call our case.
Yay they finally called our case!

Lessons learned from hearing two: Be prepared to wait, bring food, and bring something to do.

Trial and Tribulation, Part Deux

So I found out this morning that one of my clients has a hearing tomorrow. The surprises in litigation never cease.

Even though this is even less notice than the first time I went to court, and even though this hearing could be more substantive than last time around, and even though I know equally as little as then, I am far less nervous. It helps that my partner will be there tomorrow. But I think the biggest reason why I am calmer is because this is not my first time representing a client in court. Amazing how just getting your feet wet once can really help you out mentally.

I guess that is why as crazy as this whole clinical experience has been, it has been worthwhile. I will not be Jack McCoy by the time I graduate, but I will not be who I was a few weeks ago: that nervous new attorney going to court for the first time, who was worried about getting her name right.

President Atchinson?

I am a big fan of useless trivia, especially useless political trivia. So here's something I learned today at the end of my Conflict of Laws class (completely irrelevant to anything we learned today):

David Rice Atchinson was President of the United States for a day, or arguably, at least a few minutes. See, President James Polk and his Vice President's term ended at noon on Sunday March 4, 1849. But Millard Filmore and his Vice President refused to be inaugurated on the Sabbath. So Senate Pro-Tempore Atchinson became President.

There is dispute on Wikipedia about how long Atchinson was actually President: some say a few hours some say just a few minutes because his Senate President Pro-Tempore term expired too. But who cares? It would be great to be President for a few minutes without doing any work, and he got to put it on his tombstone. It is like that Australian speed-skater who won the Gold medal by default because Apolo Anton Ono and the Korean speed-skater collided.

My favorite part of the story is that when asked what he did on this day, he commented "I went to bed. There had been two or three busy nights finishing up the work of the Senate, and I slept most of that Sunday." Slept for his entire term.

Thus endeth the random history lesson for today.

Election Countdown

My friend's gchat status noted that we have finally moved into single digits until the election. I cannot believe that after years of following this campaign, it will be over in nine days. In honor, here are nine election notes:

1. Write-in: I wrote-in my AP Government teacher in for the 25th Congressional District of California. My current congressman and former neighbor, Buck McKeon, will probably win in a landslide, and there was no way I was going to vote for the Democratic sacrificial lamb (er, candidate) who had no qualifications, so why not give it to the teacher who gave me my own pocket size constitution and hooked me onto politics.
   
2. Wingtip Warriors: I have done zilch for this election, but I will be monitoring polls on election day to be on the watch-out for wrongdoing. Slate has a great article on why lawyers are "our last [and] best hope for an honest election day."
   
3. No on Prop 8: Maybe it was my late night writing or my dad's early morning reading, but he thought I was telling him to vote Yes on Proposition 8. Fortunately my mom cleared things up, but I am still in shock as to how my dad thought I could have supported the proposition.
4. Facebook Political Beliefs: Thanks to facebook, now I see where everyone in my high school stands politically. People did not really talk about it in high school and I guess people were more apathetic/less vocal in 2004. Now everyone is coming out of the woodwork via facebook statuses, posted items, and support pages. Not surprisingly, many of my Mormon classmates are vocally supporting Proposition 8. But I was pleased to see how many people are online campaigning for Obama/No on 8.
   
5. Palin Gone Rogue: Part of me feels bad for John McCain. The other half of me does not because someone who is running for candidate has to make and take ownership of decisions. I wonder if he's really regretting picking Sarah Palin now that she's "gone rogue" and is now pretty much campaigning for her own political future.
   
6. Joe the Plumber: I cannot wait until this election is over just so that I will never have to hear about Joe the Plumber again. As though it was not bad enough that he is referenced in every rally, now there are commercials about him.
   
7. "It's not worth winning if you can't win big" --Mighty Ducks: This might sound greedy, but I do not just want to win, I want this to be a sweep. I am really over close elections that come down to one state.
   
8. Bravo Bravo: Thanks for playing the last season of West Wing now in the morning. As though I wasn't obsessed enough with election coverage, now I can get my West Wing fix when I get ready for school.
   
9. "You Can Vote However You Like": This video instantly brings a smile to my face: