Taking a Break

I've been home for a week. I flew out last Tuesday, in spite of the fact that I overslept and missed my flight! I am still in disbelief that I did such a thing. However, Delta was extremely helpful. I woke up at 6 a.m., 40 minutes before my flight was scheduled to depart, and, after freaking out for about five minutes, called Delta to see if I could reschedule. When I called, an automated system asked me for my frequent flyer number, and then connected me to an operator who said, "Hello, Ms. Stempson, I see that you are going to miss your flight..." and proceeded to tell me that there was another flight I could catch at 8:25. I was amazed that she did all of this instantaneously without even asking me why I was calling. Plus, they only charged me a $50 fee, which I thought was very reasonable. I've been very impressed with Delta during my transcontinental flights over the past couple of years, and this is yet another example of their excellent service.

The first few days home were not quite vacation time, as I had a paper due on Friday. I decided that I preferred to finish editing my paper at home, rather than sticking around in D.C. In light of the crazy snowstorm that dumped 20.5 inches on Arlington and shut down the airports, I am very thankful that I decided to fly out early. I am pleased with how my paper turned out. I wrote it for my Transnational Law seminar, but got it to overlap with my Poverty Law Journal note. The topic was "Child Support and Indigence: How the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance Will Help Poor Creditor Parents."

Once I submitted my paper online, vacation officially began--not only for me, but also for my family! We've been hanging around the house, baking Christmas cookies, doing some shopping, and getting ready for our Christmas Eve gathering with my uncle and grandmother. Our family tradition is to eat crab on Christmas Eve, yum!

Also, I wanted to share some internship news. First, I am excited to say that I was offered--and accepted--a spring internship with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless! So, next semester, I will be interning with the Legal Clinic 10 hours per week, which will involve direct client casework, researching legal questions, coalition work, and community education work.

I am still searching for a summer legal internship in the Bay Area. Yesterday, I had an in-person interview with the Santa Clara County office of Bay Area Legal Aid, for a summer internship position. (I had a screening interview with them in D.C. back in October.) The office is right in downtown San Jose, which would be a very easy commute from Sunnyvale. (I plan to live with my family again this summer to save money.) I enjoyed meeting the attorneys who interviewed me... They were both friendly and enthusiastic about their work. BayLegal provides legal services to low-income people living in the Bay Area. Law clerks get to work in one of three fields: domestic violence, housing, or public benefits.

Not sure if I'll post again before Christmas, so:

Merry Christmas!

(Doesn't that photo make my three-foot tree look enormous?)

Nativity

There has been a pumpkin sitting on the counter since the beginning of October. We didn't carve it on Halloween, so we kept it around for November. Well, folks, it's December, and the pumpkin is still on our counter! So, tonight, I was sitting in the living room, relaxing after having taken my Corporations final this afternoon, just staring at the pumpkin, wondering what to do with it. Jess and I had already talked about roasting the pumpkin seeds, but I also kind of wanted to carve it. I mean, you might as well if you're going to go to the trouble of scraping out the innards, right?

But, it would not be appropriate to carve a traditional jack-o'-lantern. We have Christmas lights and a tree up, after all! What, then, to do? My first thought was to carve Santa Claus' face, and then put a Santa hat on the pumpkin, but I decided that my carving skills were not quite at that level. I decided that a snowflake would be doable, and grabbed some paper and a pencil to sketch out what I wanted it to look like. I poked some strategic holes in the pumpkin as a guide, and, within two cuts, had already messed up the symmetry of the snowflake. Now, I could not live with an unsymmetrical snowflake, so I quickly abandoned that plan.

As I looked at my cuts, I realized that it kind of looked like a crucifix, so I added another cut to complete it. Then, I carved out part of the bottom as the ground. I liked it a lot, especially its avant-garde angle. But, then it hit me that this made it more of an Easter pumpkin than a Christmas pumpkin. What to do?! I thought about it for a little bit, and decided on this:

You see? The first crucifix was on the left, and then I added another one on the right to create a manger. The three triangles in the center are Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It's an abstract nativity pumpkin! I think what I really like about it is that the family looks kind of like eyes and a nose, with the ground as a mouth, retaining an echo of a Jack-o'-lantern face.

Oh, Twitter...

Wow. The library just told me that I need to get more sleep:

Finding My Stride

I just found my stride in studying for final exams. I felt a little flutter of excitement in my stomach while reviewing my Tax Law notes just now. It was one of those "ah ha" moments where the reality of where I am and what I'm doing washes over me--wow, I'm in law school in Washington, D.C., only a year-and-a-half away from becoming a lawyer. Why do we grumble so much about final exams, when it is such a privilege to be here? As students, our job is to learn! We are so fortunate. I am reminded of the thrill that I get when I bring home new textbooks at the beginning of a semester. There is so much potential. It is important to harness that same energy and excitement at the end of the semester, to finish as strongly as I started.

It's snowing!

Good weather for studying with a mug of hot apple cider--which, incidentally, is good, as there is much studying to be done. Final exams on Wednesday (Tax), Friday (Corporations), and the following Monday (Professional Responsibility), plus a paper due on the 18th; keep me in your prayers.



Oh, and while we're on the topic of weather, I must share this with you: http://obama-weather.com/Obama/s/20001. Obama shows you how to dress for the week's weather! Hilarious, and makes checking the forecast so much less mundane.

Advent(ures)

Happy first Sunday of Advent! I love liturgical seasons, because they present opportunities to start anew. Advent, in particular, appeals to me because of the wonderful sense of anticipation. Everyone is looking forward to Christmas! Moving away from home has intensified this expectant feeling, as I am excited not only for Christmas, but also for the chance to go home. And, of course, all students eagerly await the conclusion of final exams. I pray that this season will be prayerful, productive, and joyful for all of us.

In the spirit of welcoming Christ into our lives and homes, Jess and I decorated our apartment! An impromptu visit to Target yielded wonderful results--stockings, lights, and even a little Christmas tree!

My favorite part is that we spelled out our names on the stockings using pipe cleaners. And, the lights look so gorgeous. Jess and I keep finding excuses to wander into the living room when we should be in our rooms, studying. The little tree is just right for us, too. (The tree skirt is one of Jess's scarves!) We are very pleased with the resulting atmosphere of our apartment.

The past couple of weeks, while fraught with another brand of anticipation in the form of final exams, have nonetheless been full of good moments. The weekend before last, of course, Cal kept the Axe! Jess and I had a good time watching the game at the Cal-Stanfurd D.C. alumni viewing party at Bar Louie in Chinatown. Go Bears!

I'm currently looking for a spring internship, to take advantage of all of the amazing opportunities for law students here in D.C., and last week was exciting because I had an interview with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless! We'll see what happens... I've applied to other places as well, and have an interview coming up with the Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board this week. I am looking for an internship to complete my Pro Bono Pledge hours, which I think is a great idea. So, keep your fingers crossed that I find an internship that allows me to grow through service.

Jess and I both stayed in D.C. for the Thanksgiving holiday so that we could get work done, but that didn't stop us from having fun! We attended not one, but two Thanksgiving dinners. The first was on Wednesday, hosted by the President of Georgetown University in one of the dining halls on campus, and it was fantastic. We ate a ridiculous amount of food, including multiple desserts, and made some lovely new friends at our table. Oh, and there was live music! Very classy, Georgetown. There were lovely flowers as centerpieces that [Jess and I decided] were up for grabs, so now I even have some gorgeous chrysanthemums living in my room!

The second dinner was on the law school campus on Thanksgiving day, sponsored by our dean and organized by Sr. Dorinda, who led us in an interesting Native American prayer before the meal. This meal was even better than the one on main campus, in my opinion. I'm not usually a stuffing fan, but something about this stuffing made it delicious. And, the gravy was fantastic. The best part was that they provided plates and plastic wrap so that we could take home leftovers! Mm, still have a bit of turkey in the fridge.

Thanksgiving morning, Jess and I did some volunteer work with Food and Friends, an organization in D.C. that delivers food to home-bound cancer and AIDS patients. After a training session at their very organized facility, we were off, armed with three gigantic bags stuffed with full Thanksgiving dinners to feed families of four, including entire turkeys, multiple pies, and all of the fixings. We drove around Northwest D.C., dropping off the meals at our assigned locations. One old lady cracked us up by asking where our "menfolk" were, and seemed disappointed to learn that it was just us. Oh, goodness...

On Friday afternoon, Jess and I went to the Kennedy Center to see the National Symphony Orchestra perform The Music Man, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch! We weren't sure exactly how they were going to do it, and were very surprised and delighted to see it performed on stage, right in front of the orchestra, featuring Shirley Jones, her son Patrick Cassidy, and Rebecca Luker. It was very entertaining, and a great way to take a break from our studies. (Though, admittedly, this break was not as productive as I had planned.) The best part was that we had fantastic seats in the orchestra for only $15, thanks to the Kennedy Center's Attend program for 17- to 25-year-olds. For goodness sake, parking cost more!

Other than that, I've been focusing on my studies, what with my Tax Law exam only ten days away, yikes! Well, actually, I did do one other little fun thing over the Thanksgiving break--I read Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol. Jess bought it last week (and raced through the 500 pages in a day), so I couldn't help but do the same. Obviously, as an English major, I could critique the writing--I mean, no one needs to use the word "esoteric" that many times in one book--but I don't think that Brown is trying to write a meaningful masterpiece. No, he's trying to entertain, and he succeeded in that regard. I was especially interested in reading the book because it takes place in D.C., which made it a lot of fun to read his descriptions of the city and think, I know what he's talking about! He made a few minor errors (e.g., the seats on the Metro are not hard plastic), but I'll forgive him. I enjoyed the story, even if Jess and I both saw the big twist coming from a mile off. At any rate, I recommend it if you're looking for a quick, light read, and, if not, it'll make a for fun movie in a few years.

Weekend Adventures

The past two weekends, I've been playing the role of a D.C. tour guide. One of my new year's resolutions was to "get to know D.C. like a local," so hosting guests is a great opportunity to test out how far I've come along in that goal.

Carla's Visit

The weekend before last, Carla was in town. She got in fairly late on Friday night, as she and her friend were driving down from Buffalo after an exam, so we stayed in, sipping wine and catching up with one another, which was quite lovely.

On Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast of cinnamon rolls and coffee, Jess, Carla and I started the day by visiting the Pentagon Memorial. Although I live two miles away from the Pentagon, I had yet to visit the site of the 9/11 attacks. It is a very mysterious memorial filled with symbolism representing each victim.

We then headed into D.C. to visit the Capitol. We took the Capitol Visitor Center tour, and, although it was my third time taking it, I nonetheless enjoyed seeing the rotunda. One of my favorite things to see are the statues from each state in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Each state has two statues in the Capitol, and they are allowed to replace the statues with different ones periodically. One of California's statues is Junipero Serra. Until recently, the other statue was Thomas Star King--yeah, I didn't know who he was, either--but, he was replaced this year by Ronald Reagan.

The most exciting part of our visit to the Capitol was that the House of Representatives happened to be in session all day to pass the health care bill! We were able to get tickets to go into the Visitor's Gallery of the House, which required waiting in line for an hour and going through multiple metal detectors. It was so worth it! When we sat down, a Democrat was giving a speech in support of the bill. Naturally, when he finished, the Democratic representatives applauded. However, when I joined in, I was swiftly reprimanded by the guard for clapping, which is expressly forbidden. I had read the back of the ticket, and knew this, but, but... I just got swept up in the moment! Oops.

We walked across the street to check out the Supreme Court (closed on the weekends, but still quite impressive from the outside) and the Library of Congress. I bragged without reserve about my Library of Congress researcher card, which gains me access to the Main Reading Room. My favorite part is Thomas Jefferson's Library, which is an exhibition of the books from Jefferson's personal collection, which he sold to the Library of Congress after the British burned down the Capitol. (Darn British!) The fascinating thing about the collection is that Jefferson had his own system of categorizing books--Memory, Reason, and Imagination. So intriguing.

After that, we strolled along the Mall, visiting the National Gallery Sculpture Garden (more on this below) and then regrouping at Starbucks. We decided to take the Metro back to Arlington to collect Jess's car, so that we could visit the Jefferson Memorial and F.D.R. Memorial, which are not easily accessible on foot. Jess and I agree that the F.D.R. Memorial is our favorite memorial in the city, and it is especially wonderful when lit up at night. We also checked out the White House, the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Jess took a very creative photo of us by using her 10-second delay function:


On Sunday morning, the three of us went to Mass at my dear law school's chapel, and then walked over to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which had several fascinating exhibits. One featured American folk art, with art made from bottle caps, quilts, wood, and even tin foil. I also enjoyed the exhibition on 1934, which only had paintings from that year, capturing a wide variety of scenes from American life in that era. We concluded our time together by eating lunch outside at Busboys and Poets, taking in the beautiful sunshine. It was a joy to see Carla, not only because I missed her, but also because, with the three of us together, it felt like a little bit of ADX, which is a nice feeling.

Matthew's Visit

This past weekend, Matthew came down from MIT to visit. It was wonderful to catch up with him, as we hadn't seen one another since his semester in Berkeley. Matthew got in Friday afternoon; after we ate Chinese food in Chinatown, we walked to the Supreme Court to catch the last courtroom lecture of the day. There were a lot of high schoolers in the crowd asking obnoxious questions that demonstrated their complete misunderstanding of the judicial process. How is it possible for high school to offer only one semester of civics?! Not enough!

After that, we did a brief tour of the Library of Congress, and then walked around the city, stopping by the the National Gallery Sculpture Garden--well, until we got kicked out by a guard shortly after nightfall, when the garden closed. Boo. We saw most of the sculptures, though. My new favorite is a full-sized silver tree, which provides an interesting contrast to the surrounding real trees. We had dinner at La Tasca, a great tapas restaurant, which included very sweet duck, snow peas paired with Canadian bacon, delicious marinated beef, a green apple salad, and a bizarre deep-fried potato-and-chicken purée with a garlic dipping sauce (my least favorite dish).

On Saturday, Matthew and I strolled along the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, and then took a tour to the top of the Washington Monument. It was overcast (Ida was still affecting us), so visibility wasn't spectacular, but at 500 feet it nonetheless afforded us a great view of the city. I noted that our tickets abbreviated the monument as "WaMo," which I really hope catches on as a new nickname. You know, like MoMA!

Next, we headed over to the National Archives. In my mind, the exciting documents to see are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, but Matthew was amazed by the Magna Carta. In retrospect, I think he has a point... and, yet, the Magna Carta is treated as a mere side attraction. As Matthew put it, it seemed like it would be pretty easy to steal the Magna Carta without anyone noticing, whereas two guards flank the U.S. Constitution.

After a mediocre lunch at the Archives' cafe (which I do not recommend), we walked to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. We spent over three hours there, and only made it through about 70% of the exhibits. It's so huge! My favorite things there are Lincoln's hat, the original American flag, and the exhibit on American presidents. They had a new exhibit on The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington, which I loved. What fantastic photography, to tell such stories and capture such emotion.

We attempted to go to the Sign of the Whale (the official bar of the D.C. Cal Alumni Club) to watch the game against Arizona, but unfortunately Matthew couldn't get in without his passport to supplement his Australian ID. We were a bit bummed out at this, but then I took us over to Afterwords, one of my favorite restaurants, in DuPont. It's quirky... you have to walk through its bookshop to get to the restaurant, which really makes me happy for some reason. Anyhow, they often have amazing specials, and that night was no exception. Matthew and I both ordered the following:

Narragansett baked ½ lobster w/crabmeat
½ New England lobster
stuffed w/jumbo lump crabmeat
brushed w/sweet butter & fired under the broiler
w/puréed butternut squash & Café mac & cheese
corn & lima bean succotash; grilled fresh asparagus

It was amazing. Matthew and I were silent through most of the meal because we were too focused on the food to talk. Wow. The best part--it was only $20! Most of the entrées are around $15, so it wasn't much of a stretch. Neither one of us had ever ordered lobster before because it tends to be prohibitively expensive, so it was quite a treat. Lobster is good, but I still think I prefer crab because it has a more palatable texture. All of the sides were so good, too... They were all fairly buttery, which complemented the lobster perfectly. When I first read the description, I had assumed that those were our choices of sides--but, no, we got all of them! One of the best meals I've ever had, especially for the price.

After spending all day on our feet walking the Mall and shuffling through museums, we were pretty tired, so we headed back to my apartment and watched Rent. Such a great movie!

This morning, Matthew and I went to Mass at the Georgetown Law chapel, and I gave him a little tour of campus. Then, we had lunch (at Busboys and Poets, ha ha), and caught the Circulator bus toward Georgetown to visit the Dumbarton Oaks gardens. I had never heard of the place, but a friend of Matthew's recommended it, so we decided to check it out. It is so beautiful! It is humongous, with lots of little stone walking paths to meander. We explored the garden for an hour-and-a-half, which gives you an idea of the size. One of my favorite parts was the rose garden, which smelled lovely. Oh, and there was a lawn in front of a fancy brick house that looked like something out of a Jane Austen novel! I cannot wait to visit this gorgeous garden again in the spring, when everything is in bloom.

We took the bus back to Chinatown, and spent the balance of our time at the National Portrait Gallery before Matthew had to catch his flight home. Matthew was sweet enough to give me a novel called Dirt Music by Australian author Tim Winton as thanks for letting him sleep on our couch. Actually, I was amazed that Matthew, who is rather tall, fit on our couch. Then again, one of the reasons Jess and I chose that couch was specifically because we could think of tall people who might come visit. (And, Jess is quite tall, for that matter.) All in all, it was a lovely visit that made me feel like I was on vacation, too. I feel recharged and ready to study for final exams!