Does it suit me?

In the process of packing up my room, I have to figure out what clothing I'm taking with me to CA for the summer. I figure I might need a suit once in a blue moon--even though I'm interning with a hip SF non-profit law firm that allows jeans and flip-flops (you read that right, Molly). So, I was trying on my suits (all two of them) to decide which one to bring home, and I started to wonder... When will wearing a suit feel normal? When will it cease to feel like dress-up, like role-playing, like pretend? What is it about a suit that makes me feel like a grown-up, that gives me an extra boost of confidence, that makes me want to give a presentation about something, anything? When I try on a suit, it makes me think of high school debate; when will it feel like everyday attire, rather than a special occasion? I wonder.

Existential crises aside, should I bring the all-purpose, conservative black suit, or should I bring the beige suit with light yellow pinstripes? Hm...

Final Exams: Song Title Edition

All these things I've done... Unfinished. A hard day's night. Raindrops keep fallin' on my head. Steady, as she goes. Strength to endure. You learn. One week: homeward bound! (I predict a riot.) Joy to the world. California dreamin'. Go home!

Even in the Night

Sometimes, after studying for a long time, my mind is racing too much for me to be able to fall asleep right away. In the midst of finals, with an eight-hour take-home exam starting at 9 am, tonight is one of those nights. Usually, when I find myself in this mindset, I'll pull out my breviary and go through the Compline. Actually, since I downloaded the iBreviary app for my iPhone, I tend to use that instead of my physical book, because the iPhone is back-lit. (There's a metaphor in there, somewhere, but it's 2 a.m., so I'll leave it to you, trusty reader...)

Anyhow, I am often blown away by how relevant the passages are to how I'm feeling at the moment. Tonight was no exception. The psalmody was Psalm 16:

Preserve me, Lord,

I put my hope in you.

I have said to the Lord

“You are my Lord,

in you alone is all my good.”

As for the holy and noble men of the land,

in them is all my delight.

But for those who run to alien gods,

their sorrows are many.

I will not share in their libations of blood.

I will not speak their names.

You, Lord, are my inheritance and my cup.

You control my destiny,

the lot marked out for me is of the best,

my inheritance is all I could ask for.

I will bless the Lord who gave me understanding;

even in the night my heart will teach me wisdom.

I will hold the Lord for ever in my sight:

with him at my side I can never be shaken.

Thus it is that my heart rejoices,

heart and soul together;

while my body rests in calm hope.

You will not leave my soul in the underworld.

You will not let your chosen one see decay.

You will show me the paths of life,

the fullness of joy before your face,

and delights at your right hand until the end of time.

A beautiful sentiment for final exams. It is so easy to turn grades into a false god, so tempting to rely on myself instead of God for strength, so disappointing to lose sight of the true definition of wisdom. Father, thank you for reminding me that you are by my side, and that, even in the night, my heart will teach me wisdom.

Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake;
watch over us as we sleep,
that awake, we make keep watch with Christ,
and asleep, rest in his peace.
Amen.

Twitter

So, I’ve been trying out Twitter for a few weeks now. I hadn’t really seen any benefit to it over Facebook status updates—until yesterday! I tweeted the following:

astempson Studying in the Kogod Courtyard of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Sunshine - wind = perfect!

To my surprise, THE SMITHSONIAN RESPONDED. How crazy is that?! This is what the Smithsonian had to say to me:

smithsonian RT @astempson: Studying in the Kogod Courtyard @AmericanArt Museum. Sunshine - wind = perfect! (Don't forget Water Features+Food+WiFi!)

Alright, that is pretty darn awesome. Twitter, you've won me over.

As the Storm Passes Through

As I was sitting at my desk, outlining for final exams, I couldn't help but to notice how ominous the sky seemed:


I took a photo so that I could write a little post joking about how I hope it wasn't too foreboding of final exams, but then, five minutes later, a low rumble alerted me to how quickly the scene outside of my window had changed:


A thunderstorm! What a delight! Seriously, I love thunderstorms. It is an absolute downpour! And, it was 65 and sunny earlier today, too. Crazy East coast weather!

In other news, I have some amusing quotes from my professors to share from the past few weeks:

“Seibert—now, that is some fine lawyering.” - Criminal Justice professor on Missouri v. Seibert

“Abraham Lincoln didn’t have a TV! He walked 16 miles in the snow and didn’t have a TV!” – Contracts professor on whether a TV or stereo would be considered a necessity

“What can you do around here if you cannot drive? You can drink. And, indeed, many people do.” – Property professor on living in Houston

“He can’t do it all… He’s not Super-Scalia.” - Property professor on Justice Scalia's ability to determine the common law

And, in the time it took me to write this post, the storm has seemingly passed:

Springtime

This was a long week. My Legal Research and Writing brief, worth 50% percent of my grade, was due yesterday. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep the past couple of days--especially since I had spent the prior weekend anticipating and celebrating Easter, rather than writing. To top things off, today we had a make-up Criminal Justice class, which meant that my schedule went as follows: Contracts, 9:00 - 11:00 am; Criminal Justice, 11:10 - 1:00 pm; Property, 1:20 - 3:20 pm. Ouch. Plus, all three classes were in the same lecture hall! What a day.

When I emerged from room 207 after six hours of lecture, it was absolutely gorgeous outside! 70 and not a cloud in the sky. I dropped off my stuff at my apartment, grabbed my camera, and went on an adventure to the National Cathedral on a whim. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the visit (or, see the whole album):

Flying buttresses!

The front of the National Cathedral.

The Space Window, honoring man landing on the Moon.

Cats, birds, and squirrels?!

Now, I have to apologize in advance for what I'm about to write. As I was walking through the beautiful neighborhood near the National Cathedral, admiring the front yards of the houses, I couldn't help myself but to write a poem. Yeah, I know--what could be more cliché than an English major writing a poem inspired by flowers in bloom in spring? Nevertheless, I thought I'd share. (It is my blog, after all.)

The nameless flowers of my youth
Were not quite such as these:
No daffodils in my backyard;
No tulips made me sneeze.

At home, the plants did bloom year-round
In gold and white and blue.
But here, the flowers come and go;
They know not what to do.

And, what about the purple trees
That line some D.C. streets?
I know that they won't last for long--
For now, they're quite a treat.

I yearn for spring in Sunnyvale,
Yet stay, to my chagrin.
But, I'll be back before too long
For springtime's fervid twin.

I was just on C-SPAN!

I WAS JUST ON C-SPAN! So cool! Last month, Catholic Forum, along with several other student groups on campus, put on an event called Faith on the Hill, which was a panel discussion with the House and Senate chaplains. It started out as a small idea, but quickly blossomed into a quite large event with media coverage. C-SPAN finally aired their footage of the event this evening. I can be seen right at the beginning, walking in at the last second because I was handing out programs at the door, and then I'm full-screen at 28:15:


AAAAA! I was on C-SPAN! I... I have nothing else to say.

EDIT: I'm also in the shot when Sr. Dorinda (sitting on my right) asks a question.

Let It Rise

Let the glory of the Lord rise among us.
Let the glory of the Lord rise among us.
Let the glory of the Lord rise among us.
Let us rise. Oh, oh, let it rise...

Today, there was a little taste of Berkeley-style campus ministry here at Georgetown, because Catholic Forum, in conjunction with the Christian Legal Society and Campus Ministry, organized our first-annual Easter Brunch! I'm going to be on leadership for Catholic Forum next year, so I volunteered to coordinate the event. I was impressed by how things turned out: we had over 75 people in attendance, tons of food, and the whole thing went off without a hitch. Fr. Alexei even made a lamb out of butter! (Apparently, butter lambs are a Polish Easter tradition.) I'm glad that I got a chance to learn the ropes of Georgetown's student organization bureaucracy this semester, rather than having to figure it all out next semester after this year's leadership graduates.

About 16 of us walked over to St. Aloysius Church from school for Easter Mass this morning before the brunch. (We didn't have Mass here on campus because our chapel congregation is so small.) I had never been to the church before, but I liked it! They had a great gospel choir, and a very lively congregation (e.g., much clapping, calling out of "Amen!"). It really warmed my heart to see so many of us walking to Mass together this morning--especially a few people that don't normally attend Mass at our little chapel. It gives me hope for next year's ministry, in spite of such wonderful people graduating, and the lack of interest in some of the more spiritually-oriented (as opposed to social) events that Catholic Forum has put on this year. Alleluia!

One Ha' Penny, Two Ha' Penny...

Hot cross buns! I've always wanted to participate in the tradition of baking hot cross buns for Good Friday, so, when my Lawyers in Balance meditation group organized a reunion brunch for today, I decided that this was a fantastic opportunity. I had never eaten a hot cross bun before, and certainly had never baked them before, so I relied upon a recipe that I found online.

I think they turned out pretty well! Everyone at my brunch certainly liked them. I'll definitely make them again. I love baking: kneading dough with my hands, the smell of yeast, and watching the dough rise... It's so cool! I mean, who was the first human to figure out that yeast could be used to make bread rise? Wikipedia suggests that it may have been an accident. What providence!

Holy Thursday Mass at the National Shrine was very good last night. Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, presided. I liked his homily; of particular note, he was describing the most profound thing that a devout and well-educated person had ever learned--"Jesus loves me, this I know, because the Bible tells me so." The quote was so out of nowhere that it delighted me immensely. The choir and the organ were very dramatic.

My favorite part was at the end of the service, when the Eucharist was transferred to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The choir was singing alterating verses in Latin and English, and processed to the side chapel, which made the acoustics incredible. It's funny, because I always initially take umbrage at John 10, where Jesus calls us sheep. I'm not a sheep! I'm independent, I think for myself, I'm strong! But, as I, with the congregation, followed the Eucharist to the side chapel, not knowing exactly where to go, when to kneel, how long to pray, I realized that we are, in some sense, sheep. I ended up copying whatever the few sisters from the Missionaries of Charity were doing, frankly. (I figured, you could do worse than following women who belong to the order founded by Mother Teresa.) But, in light of the utter humanity of the moment, there was something beautiful in all of us, gathering together, none of us really knowing what we were doing, but pulling together to follow Jesus.

On that note, back to the Shrine for the Good Friday liturgy. Blessings.

Transaction Costs

During a discussion this morning in my Contracts class about efficient breaches, Pareto efficiency and the Coase theorem came up, leading to my professor to say the following about us lawyers:

We are walking transaction costs, so be careful what you say about transaction costs.

Ouch. That makes me feel nearly as indignant as my professor was about contract law being treated as a "second-class citizen" compared to tort law with regards to punitive damages.

Impact of the Downturn?

From a recent New York Times editorial, With the Downturn, It's Time to Rethink the Legal Profession:

The downturn will probably rein in salaries at the high end. [. . .] Lower pay should mean that associates will not need to work the grueling hours many have been forced to. And it will mean less pressure to go into private practice for law graduates who would rather do something else.

I disagree. I think the downturn will have the opposite effect: rather than lessening the pressure to go into private practice, it will increase the pressure to go into public interest and government jobs because they are the only options left--other than unemployment. What I've seen this year as a 1L has been a public interest summer internship market that is significantly more competitive than prior summers (according to my 2L and 3L friends).

Speaking of jobs, my own summer internship search has come to an end! I had mentioned a few weeks ago that I might be working for East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, but things have changed. After a very successful phone interview last week, I will be spending this summer in San Francisco interning with HomeBase, a non-profit, public policy law firm working on homelessness! I'm very excited about this opportunity, because it will help me to learn more about what it means to work for a non-profit while honing my research skills and working for a good cause. Plus, I'll be able to commute from Sunnyvale by Caltrain and Bart. While a long commute--1-1/2 hours each way, ouch--it will save me tons of money, which is an important factor when you're an unpaid intern living on a small public interest stipend. I'm also glad to be close to my family, whom I've missed very much while in D.C. this year.

Kite Festival

The Kite Festival at the Washington Monument was a little underwhelming because of the poor weather, but I still enjoyed walking around and people watching. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day (or, check out the whole album here).

Implanted Word

I've been on retreat this week. Every semester, Campus Ministry offers a Prayer in Daily Life retreat, which I also made last semester. I was in a less stressed mental state this time around, which made for a peaceful and helpful week of prayer and spiritual direction. There was one experience in particular that I wanted to share from the retreat.

While I was praying with James 1:19-27, verse 21 stuck out to me. The NRSV refers to the "implanted word"; similarly, in the NAB we are told to "humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls." As I meditated on the phrase "implanted word" Lectio divina-style, an image popped into my head of a seed, representing God's word ("and, the Word was God"), implanted in my heart when I was baptized as an infant. Over time, that seed has sprouted and grown into a tree. The tree has wide, overarching branches. When the tree is well-tended, its leaves are full, and it provides much shade. In fact, the shade is so abundant and the tree is so strong that all of the weeds growing out of the heart--such as pride, sloth, and other sins--suffer from lack nutrients and wither away. Furthermore, the tree bears fruit that nourishes others and spreads seeds to other hearts. This is the implanted word to me. In this Lenten season, I pray that we might open our hearts to God the arborist. Amen.

Sauntering About Town

It's been 10 days since my last post. Rather than writing a really long post covering everything in minute detail (as I am wont to do), I thought I'd post 10 points summarizing the notable things that have happened as of late. Thus, in no particular order:

• There was a mouse nibbling a hole in my wall, who was quite cute but nonetheless had to be evicted (so to speak).
• I have been praying for my grandmother a lot these past couple of weeks.
• I went out to a bar for St. Patrick's Day for a little while, and discovered that watching college freshmen use fake IDs to get beer is at once bemusing, annoying, and sad.
  
• My ADX lil sis Sarah was in town last weekend, and we took advantage of the Sunday afternoon sunshine to go for a five-mile walk to and through Georgetown.
• I went for a hike on Theodore Roosevelt Island.
• I saw elephants walking the streets of D.C. after a Barnum & Bailey circus got out at the Verizon Center.
• My Contracts professor made me officially happy when he told us that, because the UCC has a provision against disclaiming good faith, “tort law has trumped contract law. I am officially sad.”
• The Terrapins made me angry... again.
• We played "Jurisdiction Jeopardy" in my International Law class.
• It is currently Student Appreciate Week at Georgetown Law, the highlight of which thus far has been fresh cotton candy.
  

Some little blossoms hint at the start of spring on Teddy Roosevelt Island.

Spring Break

This past week was my much-needed Spring Break. I discovered this week that I really do love the Bay Area. The weather is mild, the culture is thriving, the people are my friends and family. When I left for D.C., I figured that moving to the East Coast would solidify my love of the Bay Area, and it has. This is not to the detriment of my appreciation for D.C., and how glad I am to be living here for another two years. Rather, moving away has shed some light on the subtle blessings that I have enjoyed growing up in the Bay Area.

I spent Monday through Wednesday in Berkeley, which was fantastic. I went to Monday night meeting at ADX. It felt strange to not know half of the girls in the room. I got to have coffee with a lot of different friends, and I was glad to see that our conversations picked up where they last left off, a confirmation of true friendship. FHE at the Alumni House was a lot of fun, and delicious! I also got my Newman Hall fix--I went to Mass, I had dinner at the rectory, and went to Seekers. Seekers was so adorable for making me a sign! A bunch of us went out to Nations afterward, which was great. And, I got to hang out with Robert, who makes me smile so much. :-)

While in Berkeley, I also got a chance to visit East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, a non-profit that provides legal services to immigrants and refugees. I have an offer to intern with them this summer, which I will probably accept. Berkeley kids, you know that one door labeled "The Living Room" on the side of Trinity United Methodist (the church across the street from the RSF)? Well, that door leads to the basement of the church, where EBSC is located! What a small world. I'm still hoping to hear back from some other summer internships, but at least I have one opportunity lined up.

Outside of my visit to Berkeley, I spent my Spring Break in Sunnyvale with my family. It was a low-key visit, which was nice. I got some studying done, but, more importantly, I now feel sufficiently recharged to tackle the second half of the semester. (Finals start in 6 weeks, wow!) This break provided me a chance for a little introspection, since I was continually asked "How is law school?!" My answer is that law school is tough, but good. Last semester was a lot of trial and error, but I feel far more confident about where I'm going this semester. Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain a firm reliance upon God for my strength in these last four weeks of Lent, and last two months of my first year of law school.

Stop, Thief!

My Torts professor from last semester sent an email out today requesting the help of some students in giving a demonstration in his afternoon Evidence class. He wanted to prove to his class that police lineups are inaccurate. So, his idea was, a few minutes into lecture, to have a group of us run in to the unsuspecting classroom, with one student running up to him and stealing his casebook while the rest of us raised a ruckus, shouting and running around. I thought this was brilliant, and immediately volunteered. To complicate things, after we ran back out of the classroom, we traded coats, changed our hairstyles, and put on our backpacks before coming back into the classroom for the lineup. Amazingly, it confounded some of the students! Most of the class voted for the right person as the actual thief, but a lot of people picked the girl who had traded coats with the thief, and a few people picked me, even though I was the only blond in the group. What a great demonstration... It's not every day that a professor invites you to disrupt his class and steal from him.

In Like a Lion

The reason why my Criminal Justice class was canceled this morning:


Snow is so adorable! Also, snowflakes really do have a hexagonal crystal structure, as I learned from the railing outside of my window:


Well, I think I'll just have some coffee, do some reading, and enjoy my snow globe-esque view of the city!

Potpourri

There were a lot of random things going on this week that I want to share. I think I'll just go through the week chronologically...

Sunday: Snail Soup
As a part of DC's annual Restaurant Week (during which you can eat at fancy restaurants off of a prix fixe menu), I went to 1789, a restaurant in Georgetown. I had a snail and broccoli soup, steak, cauliflower au gratin, and a brandied cherry chocolate cake. Delicious!

Monday: King's Cake
I traveled by Metro all the way to Maryland for cake! King's Cake, that is. Catholic Forum decided to give out free King's Cake for Mardi Gras, but the nearest bakery offering King's Cake was 25 miles away in Rockville. The most difficult part was Mike and I each carrying four cakes on the mile-long walk back to the Metro station in 35-degree weather with 40-mph gusts of wind. I am still amazed that neither of us dropped any cakes.

Tuesday: Obama's Address
I enjoyed watching President Obama's address to Congress. For one thing, it's always exciting for me when something is going on at the Capitol, because I live a half-mile away, which is just ridiculously cool. Also, I was thrilled to see Justice Ginsburg there, in light of her recent pancreatic cancer surgery. She is so tough! I think my favorite sentiment from Obama's speech was what he had to say about education: "And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself; it's quitting on your country. And this country needs and values the talents of every American." Absolutely.

Wednesday: Ash Wednesday
Lent is my favorite liturgical season, so Ash Wednesday always means a lot to me. I went to Mass at the National Shrine, which was beautiful. I am dust and to dust I shall return (Genesis 3:19). Amen.

Thursday: Uncertainty
I went to Professor Goldberg's inauguration as a new endowed chair for law and religion on Thursday afternoon. I had Prof. Goldberg as my Constitutional Law professor last semester, and he was fantastic, so I was very curious to hear his address on "The Book of Job and the Role of Uncertainty in Religion and Law." The take-away point was that, just as there is much uncertainty in our understanding of our relationship with God, so also must we embrace the uncertainty of the law. It takes the quintessential question of Job--why bad things happen to good people--to the next level. And, here I thought that going to law school would increase my knowledge of the law, rather than increasing my awareness of how little I really know. Go figure.

Friday: Dodgeball
I participated in the annual Georgetown Law dodgeball tournament with some friends from my section. I was a bit dubious about joining the team at first because I had never played "real" dodgeball before, but my teammates allayed my concerns by pointing out that all I really had to do was, well, dodge the ball. (We played by the National Amateur Dodgeball Association rules, in case you were wondering.) My team actually won its first round, which culminated in a spectacular show of force by Brad, in which he single-handedly eliminated the four opponents that he faced alone at the end of the second match. Truly, the stuff of legends.

Saturday: Library of Congress
I got to check off another item from my DC to-do list: getting a Library of Congress reader identification card! You have to go to the Madison Building to register for the card, and then you're allowed to go into all of the Library of Congress reading rooms! How cool is that?! Very cool, let me tell you. Well, before studying at the Library of Congress main reading room (in the Jefferson Building; see photo below), I decided to check out the Law Library of Congress reading room, since it was also in the Madison Building. Boy, was it ugly. I will never study there again, unless I legitimately have research needs that take me there. Also, if you ever want to see the most intense people on Earth, check out the people who show up at the Law Library of Congress on a Saturday morning. Wow.

Anyhow, after a break for lunch and a brief promenade around Eastern Market, I headed over to the Library of Congress main reading room. I had to go down a series of hallways marked for "Staff and Researchers," which eventually led me to the cloakroom, where I had to check basically everything except for my reading materials. Then, one flight of stairs, another hallway, I signed in, nodded to the security guard, and... I was there! It was breathtaking. I tried not to stare at the ceiling too much while I was there because I didn't want to look like a newbie, but I failed miserably. Oh, well. It was so exciting to be in the largest library in the world, studying hard, President Obama's words echoing in my head:

"In a global economy, where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity. It is a pre-requisite. [...] It is our responsibility as lawmakers and as educators to make this system work, but it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it."

If that isn't motivation to work hard as a student, I don't know what is.

The Library of Congress main reading room. How cool is it to study there? Very.
(Photo courtesy of Urch.)

Amanda's Tuna Casserole

On the Fridays of Lent, Catholics abstain from meat. I don't eat very much meat as it is, so this isn't usually a very big deal for me. However, I haven't been to the grocery store in ages, which required some creativity on my part this evening to cook any sort of dinner at all, let alone one in observance of Lent.

So, I rummaged through my kitchen, and this is what I found of note: canned tuna, croutons, penne pasta, Laughing Cow cheese wedges (garlic flavor), and frozen veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots). I pondered about what to do, and concluded that these ingredients were sufficiently close to tuna casserole to give it try! It came out really well, so I thought I'd share the recipe here (based loosely on the real recipe for tuna casserole in my Betty Crocker cookbook).

---

Amanda's Tuna Casserole



Serves 3.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked penne pasta
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
2 Laughing Cow cheese wedges
1 cup frozen vegetables
1 can tuna in water, drained
1/2 cup croutons, crushed

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare pasta and frozen vegetables as directed.
3. Meanwhile, melt one 1 tbsp. butter over low heat. Stir in flour and salt over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in milk, and heat to boiling. Add cheese; stir until melted.
4. Stir in pasta, vegetables, and tuna; mix well. Spoon into casserole dish. Bake 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
5. Meanwhile, in resealable sandwich bag, crush croutons. Melt remaining 1 tbsp. of butter, combine with crushed croutons in small bowl. Sprinkle as topping over casserole in last 5 minutes of baking or until toasted.

---

I'm usually the type of person who likes to follow a recipe by the letter, so this improvisation was a veritable culinary adventure for me! It was a lot of fun to tweak the recipe as I went along to get the consistency that I wanted. It made me wonder if anyone else has ever put these ingredients together in exactly this same way. Is it really possible for me, in the 21st century, as one of 6.7 billion inhabitants of this planet, to do something completely unique? Food for thought.

Elevators

Why I realized that I should give up elevators for Lent...