Be Back Later

My life is not all that exciting, but it is even less exciting while I am studying for exams, giving me nothing to write about and less mental stamina for me to find anything else. So I will be back after finals, or at least after my first one.

Picture courtesy of www.thepiratescove.us.

Piggy Pox*

Good News: I do not have swine flu. Just bad allergies.

Bad News: I accidentally took non non-drowsy allergy meds at school and almost passed out in my carrel.

*name coined by Alex, the piggy pox fighter at GW, where there are two "probable" cases. Poor guy has to deal with all those parents worried their kids have swine flu.

Legal Community

Even though I know there are millions of lawyers in the world and that people make jokes about there being too many, to an extent, the legal profession does feel like tight-knit community. Maybe it is the common experiences of law school, maybe it is because we have similar personal traits, or maybe it is because we all know someone who knows someone. So when something happens to a lawyer, it hits close to home.

Today the news reported that a lawyer working at a DC firm committed suicide in his office because he was being laid off. Although these stories are becoming sadly more common, there was something about this story that resonated with us. He was the head of the appellate and Supreme Court practice at his law firm overseeing sixty lawyers, was a deputy assistant attorney general, and had argued sixteen cases in front of the Supreme Court. That is a resume that most law students could only dream of or at least respect.

I think it makes many us wonder too if something else was going on. How could someone this accomplished be let go? Is this really how firms just treat people? Why would he kill himself if he could probably get another job or just retire? Are lawyers this consumed with their jobs and reputations?

It is just an unnerving feeling when something so tragic happens to someone who you feel like you could know or work with. It is the same kind of feeling as when the Vietnamese man killed thirteen people and himself in Binghamton, NY. Just so sad.

Alarming

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

That was the sound I woke up this morning. At 5am.

The only thing worse than being woken up extra early after a long evening of studying is hearing that noise reverberate through your room for the next ninety minutes. I laid in bed with a pillow over my head, but there was no escaping it.

It was awful. At first I thought it was our building's alarm going off because it was so loud but none of the emergency lights were flashing. I called the front desk just to be sure, and they said it was coming from somewhere else, but did not know where. Were we being attacked? Bombed? Was this some kind of tornado weather warning?

I was finally able to fall asleep after lying there for an hour, and when I woke up, I tried to find any information. The local news outlets inquired with the Department of Energy Management, who said it was a house alarm over a mile away. BS. There is no house alarm that loud, that goes off for that long. The news even followed up with the Department later and they were sticking with their story. Suspicious, no?

Then DCist talked to 311, who said that it was a maintence issue at the University District of Columbia. Finally, DCist updates with a letter from the City Council and UDC: The alarm was not promptly silenced because it is not part of the University's systems. It appears that the alarm may be part of a Municipal Civil Defense.

May be a part of? And good thing that the city has a municipal civil defense system that it does not know how to work and that residents know how to respond to. At least they knew it worked because people a mile away could hear it.

Personally, I think that the alarm was part of Intelstat, a monstrous "satellite company" across the street from my apartment and UDC. I use irony quotes because my friends and I are convinced that it is a government coverup. Before you think I am conspiracy theorist or watched too many episodes of Alias, I will note that out of this huge company, I have not seen more than a few people come outside. The place takes up a whole block and is located right next to the Chinese embassy. I am still convinced there was a security breach that set off the alarm and the government was covering it up by calling it a house alarm.

I am hoping they disable the whole thing because if this happened the morning of an exam, I would go crazy.

Pop Quiz

I am dying right now because:

A) DC is experiencing its highest pollen count in ten years
B) Law students do not fare well with nature or the outdoors
C) The law school's neighborhood looks like the set of a Zyrtec commercial
D) I walked a mile yesterday through said neighborhood
E) All of the above

Law School Uniform

Winter: Black Pea Coat, jeans, black boots
Spring: Oxford Shirt-typically blue and/or with stripes, jeans, brown/tan loafers
Summer: Polo shirt, khaki shorts, leather flip flops

Come to law school during any of these seasons (I am counting now as summer since it is 92 degrees outside), and I would put money on the fact that you would see a majority of people wearing what I described above, myself included. Today I walked into my business associations class and I swear that I was matching at least half of the males in the class with my blue polo shirt, khaki shorts, and Rainbow sandals.

The funny thing is that I did not go out and buy clothes to conform to everyone else; these are the outfits I have been wearing even before I wanted to go to law school. It is like I found my home, in a living J.Crew advertisement or something. Whereas my friends in college, and probably even high school, teased me about my preppy clothes, I fit right in. Scarily so.

USAC Anniversary

It is that time of the year again: USAC elections (aka student government elections at UCLA). The further out I am from UCLA, the less I know about what is going on and who is running. However, I recently received an email soliciting my party's alumni for donations. Despite my negative income, I decided to make a modest donation because I remember what it was like scrambling for cash to put on these multi-thousand dollar elections.

Yes, we spent that much. Bright blue tshirts, banners with four foot heads, tacos, otter pops, slap braclets. So much money, but really priceless memories. (cliche Mastercard commercial but true)

As dramaful as elections were at the time, and boy was there always a lot of drama, they also are amongst my fondest memories of UCLA because it was when I met so many people that I am closest with today.

Five years ago, I got roped into the whole student government scene and first met Helen. Four years ago Faithsalutes went from being my political foil (she was the incoming President of Bruin Repubs, I the outgoing President of Bruin Dems) to my political accomplice. Four years ago was when I first met David, well before I knew he would be crashing on my couch across the country. Four years ago I was part of the Dream Team with our crazy nicknames and rollercoaster year on council. And of course, four years ago is when Alex went from my running mate to signifcant other.