California on Fire, Again

[Image of the Sylmar fire from LAT]

California is officially under a state of emergency. Multiple fires, hundreds of homes lost, thousands evacuated, freeways closed, hurricane-strength winds, and potential losses of electricity make it sound like the end of the world in California, again. If it sounds like these wildfires are becoming more frequently, costly, and damaging, apparently they are. I have not read through it all yet but this LA Times article has an interesting breakdown about the growth and cost of wildfires.

I am still in shock about how quickly these fires escalated. Yesterday, the only major fire was the Montecito fire, which is next to Santa Barbara--where I worked over the summer and where Alex's family lives. Today I wake up this morning to hear about two more fires. The Sylmar fire is near my dad's work and closed the freeways going to my house. And the Orange County fire is near my mom and dad's families. I am starting to think that we attract fires wherever we go.

Thanks for everyone who has checked in to see if people I know are ok. Luckily all of my family and our friends are safe. Unfortunately this is not the case for thousands of people. It must be awful to lose one's home, especially right before the holidays, and scary to be one of the thousands of people evacuated right now. If I could send this rain in DC over to California, I would. Instead I'll just send over prayers and good vibes. Hopefully things will get under control soon. Eternal gratitude goes out once again to all the firefighters and those who help with the emergency efforts.

Hope is on the Way

After a long week dealing with jerks of all ages--from the law students stealing food to the opposing counsel questioning our knowledge of the law and condescendingly asking my clinic partner to speak to a real lawyer--two politically-related things brightened my mood.

1. My mom told me that my 75 year old grandpa who was able to cast his first ballot since becoming a US citizen for Barack Obama.

2. One of the professors at my school, who used to be one of the national leaders for LGBT rights, gave a great talk about the gay marriage bans. While a lot of people were upset that the bans passed, especially in the liberal stronghold of California, he said that progress has been made. Only eight years ago did Proposition 22 (the non constitutional version of the gay marriage ban which was overturned by the CA Supreme Court) passed by 20 points, whereas Prop. 8 only passed by 4.

The professor also described how the Yes on 8 campaign was similar to the Obama campaign, which is why it was successful. Lots of money, grassroots movement, targeting everyone. Converserly the LGBT opponents were fixated on the courts and ran a very white upper-middle class centric campaign, which explains why so many minorities would vote for a progressive Presidential candidate but also vote for a gay marriage ban. To make real change you need the two-pronged approach like the civil rights movement. Fighting in the courts which is what the NAACP handled, and changing the hearts of minds of people in the neighborhoods, like Dr. Martin Luther King did.

Even though talking about losing is not fun, hearing someone who could identify "where we went wrong" gave me a little hope that they could change strategies and prevail in the future.

The Regulator

Usually I love my job at the law school--putting on events and giving advice to 1L students--but it has become more challenging this year with the unruly behavior of the first-year students. Even though all older students look down at the the youngest students, these students are just rude. I volunteered to be "bad cop" because I will be graduating, but it has become much more work than I thought.

Today we had an event with lunch and some 1Ls from other sections came and stole food when there was a long line of people waiting to attend the event. One walked away and kept going when I said, "excuse me!" Then I ran down the hallway and just yelled, "Fine, just keep walking away from me!" I think I actually scared him because he sincerely apologized. I have no idea what made me snap, but I have become that psycho 3L chasing people down hallways yelling.

Another two guys lied to us about what section they were in (strike 1), had the nerve to eat the food right in front of us instead of going to the event (strike 2), and then when I confronted them about it telling them that they were being completely disrespectful, they did not apologize, say anything, or even flinch (strike 3).

I was so angry all afternoon about this incident that I went to go talk to my supervisor. I know I do not even handle the worst of the kids. My friend Christy works in DC public schools where teenagers bring automatic weapons and Alex has to deal with the college kids dealing drugs at GW. I guess I just expected more from law students.

When I asked my supervsisor if this is how parents felt--the frustration of blank stares, complete disrespect, having kids not know right from wrong--he just laughed at me. As though there was any question before, I am not having children for a very long time. Kids these days, no respect.

The Last Registration

Yesterday I registered for what will most likely be my last set of classes, ever. My last classes after nineteen consecutive years of schooling (or twenty if you want to count preschool).

As exciting as it was to only register for seven units (two classes because I will also be working at the university's General Counsel's Office again), there was also some nervousness. Am I sure I only need seven units to graduate? Is there another class I should be taking to prepare myself for the bar or the workplace? Oh my goodness, I am almost a lawyer. Scary thoughts.

Revenge of the Nerds

Today, law students across the country found a new hero: Alex Botsios, a 1L from ASU Law School. Above the Law, the infamous law gossip blog, reported this local news story:

Last week, [Botsios] left a window open overnight, and someone snuck into his Tempe apartment to steal his stuff.

. . . Botsios said he had no problem giving a nighttime intruder his wallet and guitars.

When the man asked for Botsios' laptop, however, the first-year law student drew the line.

"I was like, 'Dude, no -- please, no!" Botsios said. "I have all my case notes... that's four months of work!"'

That's when Botsios showed him exactly how important case notes are to a law school student. He wrestled away the intruder's baseball bat, punched the guy repeatedly, and called the police.

I think every law student has nightmares about how bad it would be to lose one's laptop, whether by computer failure or theft (note to self and others: back-up files), and many people would have done the same thing. Take my other stuff, I will give you money, just do not take the laptop.

Interestingly, I think Above the Law ommitted the best line from the original story: "It's my baby," [Botsios] said. "Don't mess with my computer."

Word.

[title stolen from a fellow law school student, picture stolen from my roommate who captured me during the 2006 election watching my laptop and our then, tiny tv--showing how attached I am to my computer]

Law & Ordering

Through an electronic case search today, I found out that one of my clients had been lying to my partner and I-- or at the very least, omitting the truth. Although I can understand why she was not forthright, I am more skeptical of facts that she has told us. It has also created some more work, as I have spent the last 3+ hours putting together a spreadsheet of what I think is her life. Fortunately I am a fan of Excel so I did not mind doing it while watching Jon & Kate + Eight.

As I was piecing together my little spreadsheet, I felt like Detective Lennie Brisco (RIP Jerry Orbach) diagramming out a crime on the whiteboard in the precinct station. Other times during clinic felt like ADA Claire Kincaid sorting through case files. Or Dr. Elizabeth Olivet in psychiatry sessions. Or Jack McCoy arguing in court. If only I were cool enough to be Dr. Huang (BD Wong) or Tutuola (Ice-T).

If you did not understand any of that, you clearly have never seen Law & Order, the original or Special Victims Unit. And if that's the case, I suggest that you turn on TNT, Bravo, USA, A&E, or NBC . . . because it will be on at least one of these channels right now.

I digress. Though I am sure that all lawyers wear many hats, working as a real lawyer in a legal-aid clinical type of sitution without any support staff has given me a crash course into doing it all. If only I got a "dun dun" when I walked into the clinic office.

Doans in DC, Take 2

Snapshot of the Weekend

Lots of walking, eating, sightseeing, and sibling bonding.
The rest of the pictures can be found on Flickr.