Family Matters

Yesterday I found out that one of my uncles had a brain aneurysm. Fortunately they caught it early enough and the doctors were able to perform surgery to stop the bleeding. He is doing better now, but any prayers or good vibes would be appreciated.

It is always heartwarming to watch family come together during times like this. Although my dad's six siblings are spread across the country, they have all been emailing each other offering to fly to Chicago to take care of my uncle. Although I think just having one sibling is perfect, I can see why people like coming from big families.

Spring is Sprung

How it goes from six inches of snow on Monday to seventy degrees this weekend is beyond me. But nothing makes me happier than the smell of spring and being outside on a warm night.

Non-Sissy Symposium

"Administrative law is not for sissies." (Antonin Scalia, Judicial Deference to Administrative Interpretation of Law, 1989 Duke L.J. 511, 511.)

And to prove that he's not a sissy, Justice Scalia confirmed that he will be speaking at my law journal's spring symposium celebrating the anniversary of Chevron, the landmark administrative law case.

Everyone on our journal, and at our school, was absolutely giddy when we found this out. While most of us do not agree with his opinions at all, there is no doubt that he is incredibly smart and his opinions, especially his dissents, are always honest and entertaining.

In preparation for his speech, I will provide some of my favorite facts about Scalia:

• Michael Dukakis went to Harvard law with Scalia and thought he was an annoying gunner.
  
• He was a Note editor for his law journal, just like me.
• His nickname is Nino.
• He is friends with my favorite justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth has a picture in her chambers of the two of them riding an elephant in India.
  

Sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am to go to law school in DC.

Courtoons

One of my friends sent me this site of 'Courtoons' done by lawyer David E. Mills. Below are some of my favorites. (I apologize to non-law students/non-lawyers who cannot appreciate this extremely dorky humor).


The last cartoon is especially funny if you have ever heard Congressman Brad Sherman, former tax attorney, try to perform his stand-up comedy routine.

Law School Reject to Supreme Court Litigator

Today I helped coordinate an event for the 1Ls featuring Tom Goldstein, an alumnus from my law school who has gone on to open up his own Supreme Court practice and argue 20 cases in front of the Supreme Court. His story, going from being originally rejected by our law school to second-chairing Bush v. Gore was so inspiring and funny, any more description would not do it justice.

Instead, I'll just list a few of the points he made in his speech that I wrote down on the back of a paper I was editing. None of this was earth-shattering, but rather things that we all need to hear. I think it was especially needed because everyone at law school is still on edge about the job market and Tom addressed that head-on. Moreover, advice typically feels more meaningful from a person who has been in your shoes and is now very successful.

• Do what you love.
  
• Volunteer your time.
  
• Value your relationships.
  
• Find a niche that people want and that you are interested in, and stand your ground.
  
• Do not be afraid to ask for fear people will say no.
• Do not wait until the last minute to write your briefs; they will be much better if you walk away from them for a day.
• Art of the possible. Recognize when you can sway the Scalias and the Breyers of the world, and when you cannot.
  
• Argue the details and what people do not already know.

Even though we planned this event for 1Ls, I wish everyone could have heard it. As a graduating 3L, it was exactly what I needed, and I am sure I will need to keep hearing and reminding myself of this advice in the future.

Snow Day

So that Winter Storm finally came. Today brought a few inches of snow and many cranky people. Maybe because it was a Monday, maybe because most people did not get the snow day off that they had been praying for all weekend. My roommate and I on the other hand were pretty happy. Maybe because we're Californians who still get excited about snow, maybe because we got a ride to school this morning meaning we did not have to actually slosh around in the snow.

Anyway, I love snow days. Sleeping in an extra half an hour because of the delayed start, listening to the soft sounds of shoveling of snow outside, observing the winter wonderland landscape on the way to school, seeing little kids pull sleds behind them, eating warm butternut squash soup for lunch, listening to classical music and editing while watching the snow fall outside. Those are some of my favorite snowy day things.

[Photo by Kevin Ambrose, courtesy of Washington Post]

False Alerts & Food

This morning DC issued a Winter Storm Warning saying that there would be 6-10 inches of snow. Then they said it would be 4-8 inches. Even though these warnings are never right, it seems like people always freak out, or in my case, falsely convince themselves that they will get a snow day tomorrow and not have to go to school.

With regard to the freaking out, it's funny how a few inches of snow will send everyone to the grocery store to stock up on food as though we were going into a bomb shelter. Alex and I had to go today to pick up food for an event he was having for his work and stood in the checkout line for over half an hour even though all 10+ lanes had cashiers.

I have never waited in a grocery store line for that long before. While most people were reading celebrity gossip machines to pass the time, I started looking at the food in people's carts. It is actually interesting what you might assume about a person based on the food that they purchase.
It reminds me a lot, actually, of this photo exhibit that one of my friends just posted on facebook, which you can also find online at Time. The photos by Peter Menzel are part of a book entitled Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. It's fascinating to see people's eating and purchasing habits around the world.

Below are some of my favorite pictures from USA, Peru, Japan (love the guy on the tv), and Chad. I would have loved to have been a gastronomic anthropologist.