Mid-Summer Evaluation

I am already over halfway through my summer internship. Madness! I have learned so much these past five weeks. My legal research and writing has improved, I know a ton more about litigation, and I am familiar with two whole new areas of law--housing discrimination and predatory lending! I've interacted with some clients, sat in on court, mediations, and depositions, and gotten a ton of training. FHLP was the perfect choice for this summer, and I feel very blessed.

I thought that this would be a good time to check in on how my summer goals are going.

Read for pleasure. I am pleased to say that I have indeed been reading, and not just court cases. I am currently reading several books on my own: Reading the OED by Ammon Shea, Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor, and The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Fr. James Martin. I am also participating in Still Thinking, the legendary virtual book club founded by CC this summer. We recently finished Machiavelli's The Prince, and are now starting Zadie Smith's On Beauty. (There is still time to join us for On Beauty!)

Begin to learn Spanish. I haven't been following the pace that I set for myself at the beginning of the summer, but I have completed six lessons, including greetings, restaurant basics, going places, and phone conversations. I want to go faster, but the lessons are several hours long each, and I am often not inclined to start one at the end of the day. I am also concerned about retention, so I don't want to go too fast. I will try harder to sit down and do lessons regularly.

Research and apply for fellowships and clerkships for after graduation. Working on it! There have been a few interesting opportunities so far... We'll see what happens.

Write On journal competition grading. I just finished judging my 20 case comments this evening, as the grades are due tomorrow. It was more work than I anticipated, but an interesting (and confidential) topic. Reading things written by 1Ls reminds me of how far I've come in my own legal writing this past year.

Spend quality time with friends, preferably on short Bay Area adventures. My most recent adventure was to Lovejoy's Tea Room in San Francisco for Alissa's birthday tea party! I'm not a big tea drinker--coffee is my love--but this was delicious and delightful. I drank an entire pot of Earl Grey tea with cream and sugar, which I enjoyed with a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, an asparagus hummus sandwich, coleslaw, organic spring greens, a scone with preserves and double Devon cream, and a shortbread cookie. Also this weekend, I went with my family to see the SF Orchestra play at the Shoreline with fireworks for the Fourth of July, which was lovely. There have been other adventures already chronicled in this blog this summer, and there are more to come, including seeing Paul McCartney play at AT&T park this coming weekend, and flying to Portland to see my dearest Morgan get married!

Visit my grandmother as often as possible. I've seen my Nana at least once a week this summer, which is great. She is always so encouraging and sweet to me.

So, overall, I'm doing pretty well on my summer goals, though I could pick up the pace on a couple of my endeavors. I'm already getting excited about the fall, because we got back our results from course registration for next year! I'm still sorting out what to add and drop, but here are some of the classes in my probable future for the fall: International Labor & Employment, the Law of War, the Practicing Lawyer & the Poor, and Public Interest Advocacy. I will also be receiving credit for my externship with the Arlington Immigration Court, and for the Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute Fact-Finding Mission. Actually, I'm already doing work for the fact-finding mission this summer, soliciting information from knowledgeable folks about the safe repatriation of persons with mental disabilities. Busy busy busy, but that's how I like it. I'm very excited about being done with law school in a year, but I'm also trying to slow down and enjoy this final year of school before I take the bar and enter the "real world" on a full-time basis.

Book Club

For those of you interested in participating in the book club that Cindy and I are orchestrating, please head on over to CC's blog post for more information! In short, part one of the book club will be an online discussion through the comments section of the blog post, and part two will be a Skype conference call, date and time to be determined based on availability. I hope you can join us for a lively conversation about Machiavelli's The Prince, and other books to follow!

Two Rules

1. Avoid food poisoning.
2. If you get food poisoning, let your mommy take care of you.

I managed to follow Rule No. 1 for the first 23 years, 9 months, and 20 days of my life (i.e., until very early Monday morning).  Since then, I've been following Rule No. 2, which has made the violation of Rule No. 1 far more bearable.  I have had to miss three days of my internship--and, life in general, for that matter--but now I am feeling well enough to return to work, and to the active practice of Rule No. 1, tomorrow.

Machiavelli

"The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous." 

As Cindy recently mentioned,* we are starting up a summer book club! (When I say we, I mean Cindy had a brilliant idea, and I jumped on the bandwagon.) We're going to facilitate a lovely discussion via the interwebs somehow. I really think you should join our book club. I mean, you're always wishing you read more now that you're out of undergrad, right? And, it's more stimulating when you can discuss the book with others. And, it provides some accountability. And, you have something smart to say when people ask what you did last weekend. Heck, maybe some attractive stranger on the train will see you reading this month's book, and strike up a conversation with you! So, yeah, you should join our book club.

Our first book on the docket is Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince. Now, I know what you're thinking--that sounds boring, difficult, and/or just plain old. But, just because it's not some fluffy recent work of fiction endorsed by Oprah, it does not mean that we can't have some fun with it!

In his day (i.e., the early 16th century), Machiavelli "shocked Europe" with the publication of The Prince. The book advocates for "ruthless tactics for gaining absolute power" and for the "abandonment of conventional morality." Oh, I have your attention, now do I? Well, consider this: haven't you always wondered about the etymology of the word Machiavellian? It means cunning, scheming and unscrupulous, especially in politics or advancing one's career. Wouldn't it be interesting to debate the merits of realpolitik, in a world that, daily, seems to reaffirm the tragic maxim, "nice guys always finish last"? At what point do we sacrifice compassion in the pursuit of pragmatism? For Machiavelli, living in a politically turbulent Florence, the answer was clear: the greatest morality is a stable state.

If you're interested in participating in our discussion, please let me or Cindy know! We've set a tentative deadline to read The Prince by June 23rd. It's not very long: my copy of the Penguin edition is 84 pages. And, it's only $6 at the bookstore, and readily available at your neighborhood library. So, join us!

*N.B. - I really do love "Amanda Esq." as a moniker. Way to bring that back into the lexicon, Cindy.

Where's the Soup?

My internship with the Fair Housing Law Project (hereinafter FHLP, pronounced "flip") is going very well. There are 13 of us law clerks, so they have a formal training program for us, which is awesome. So far, I've learned about housing discrimination, predatory mortgage lending, reasonable accommodations of persons with disabilities, legal ethics, interviewing clients, landlord-tenant law, and working with clients with mental disabilities. Also, I have had opportunities to sit in on a client interview, a deposition, a mediation, staff meetings, conference calls, and a meeting of the Northern California Fair Housing Coalition (NCFHC). As much as I've loved my past internships, it's nice to be at a much larger organization (~50 attorneys) with more resources. I am very impressed with the work that the Law Foundation does, and am so glad to be a part of it this summer.

The nice thing about the summertime is that I don't have homework, so there is more free time for reading, studying Spanish, and--wait, that sounds a lot like homework. Whoops. Well, I've also done a ton of fun things in the past couple of weeks, including attending the Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival, battling Alan in Scrabble, seeing Alissa before the NCFHC meeting in SF, checking out the San Jose Music in the Park with Robert, and enjoying happy hour with my fellow law clerks at a pizza place across the street from San Jose City Hall.

On Saturday, Robert, Tiffany and I took a trip to San Francisco. We had planned this out ages in advance, to take advantage of San Francisco's Dine About Town, by making reservations at Campton Place. Before dinner, we went to the Legion of Honor. We didn't spent too much time there, because we were trapped in traffic on 19th for ages, but I enjoyed the exhibition on Impressionist Paris. I also liked that we were there during an organ concert, which could be heard throughout the museum. I always enjoy the architecture of the building, a three-quarters scale imitation of the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur in Paris. (Photo courtesy of Tiffany.)

After the museum, we walked around Lincoln Park for a little while, and then made our way downtown. We were early for our reservation, so we had a drink in the bar area of the restaurant. I had a lovely riesling, Kabinett Von Hovel Oberemmeler Hutte Mosel 2002, which tasted like green apples. The restaurant itself has a lovely ambiance, with low lighting, high ceilings, and a beautiful modern chandelier. They had delightful, warm bread to start the meal, followed by a foam palate cleanser that tasted of peas and limes.

For my first course, I had roasted carrot soup with fine herbs and hazelnuts. Robert and I were rather bewildered when the waiters brought out very large bowls containing only a small pile of peas and nuts. We eyed each other nervously, silently asking, "Where's the soup?!" Then, more waiters bustled out, carrying little pitchers, with which they proceeded to pour the soup around our little piles of peas. I suppose it was so as to prevent our peas from getting soggy?

All three of us ordered the same main course: slow cooked flat iron steak with truffled Yukon, savoy spinach and veal jus. I ordered my steak medium well, while Robert and Tiffany went with the chef-recommended medium rare. They may have made the better choice; while my steak was delicious (especially the seasonings in the rub), it could have been juicier. The potatoes and spinach complemented the flavors of the steak nicely.

For dessert, we all had chocolate parfait with vanilla cream and almond praline. The rectangular chocolate parfait was in the center of the plate, while the cream was presented in little, cloud-like dollops placed asymmetrically around the plate. The almond praline was crushed up and sprinkled throughout. The heaviness of the chocolate parfait was offset by the lightness of the cream. While I appreciated the presentation, I will confess that I was a bit concerned about my ability to maintain a proper parfait-to-cream ratio as I ate it; indeed, my fears were confirmed when there was not quite enough cream for the concluding bites of my parfait.

Overall, I rather enjoyed the dinner. What most appealed to me about it was the idea of dinner as an event, carefully choreographed by a large waitstaff with an eye for finesse. There were little touches throughout, such as providing me and Tiffany with little cushions upon which to place our purses (in lieu of the floor or back of our chairs). The waiters were all attentive and courteous.

One thing I can say with confidence: I'm pretty sure, among all of the middle-aged patrons at the restaurant, we were the only diners who went out clubbing afterward. I had never officially been to a dance club, so Robert and Tiffany took me to Bootie (as in pirate booty). I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy clubbing, as I don't like "clubbing music," but Bootie plays music to which I would actually be willing to listen. Specifically, they are known for their mashup bootlegs, which is where "the vocal track of one song is mixed over the instrumentation of another." (E.g., Come See About Down - Jay Sean vs. The Supremes.)

In addition to a DJ playing mashups, they also had a fantastic house band, Smash-Up Derby. The band was my favorite part of the night, and I want to go back and see them play again. The other thing I liked about Bootie was the unassuming nature of the crowd; as Robert observed, our fellow dancers just wanted to have fun. I was glad they weren't really "cool" people taking themselves too seriously, because that's no fun, and kind of intimidating. All told, it was a lovely afternoon and evening in the company of good friends.

P.S. - How are we already halfway through June? I'm completely flummoxed.

The Good Eleven

I've been back in the Bay Area for eleven days, and all is well. Here are the good eleven things that happened, in chronological order:

1. I hugged my mommy.
2. I purchased a new desk and chair from IKEA to create a productive space for the summer.
3. I began to learn Spanish.
4. I ate Thai in downtown Sunnyvale with a bunch of good friends from middle school.
5. I was impressed by Phillip's mad mountain dulcimer skills at Barefoot's open mic night.
6. I learned about Genghis Khan with my brother at the Tech Museum.
7. I enjoyed the most amazing café au lait I've ever tasted with Robert at the Nile Cafe.
8. I visited Fresno for the first time to attend a beautiful wedding (read: ADX reunion).
9. I attended the 10 pm Mass at Newman, with Fr. Charlie presiding.
10. I helped my dad pick out a new grill, and we had delicious ribeye steaks.
11. I started my internship with the Law Foundation, working on housing discrimination and predatory mortgage lending.

I'll share more on my internship as the week progresses, but suffice it to say that I am very excited about this summer.

Monticello

A view of Monticello from the flower walk along the west lawn.

This morning, Jess and I hopped in her car and took a 111-mile drive to Charlottesville, VA, to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation. The weather was perfect for us, in the high seventies with a light breeze and wispy little clouds in the blue sky, and the plantation gardens were in full bloom. Even the drive was a delight; the single-lane highways through Civil War battlefields and farmland were tranquil and pastoral.

Monticello is absolutely beautiful. I can understand why Jefferson chose to build his home there, and why it is a World Heritage Site. What impressed me the most during our tour was the ingenuity with which Jefferson designed the house.  From the dumbwaiters connecting the dining room to the wine cellar, to the pond stocked with fresh fish, Jefferson thought things through to optimize convenience and efficiency.

It was interesting to learn more about Jefferson. He was our third President, and the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, of course, but he was also the founder of the University of Virginia, a doting grandfather, a gardener, a diplomat, a violinist, and a bibliophile. He was also a slave owner, and most likely the father of one, if not all, of Sally Hemings' children. He commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition, and made the Louisiana Purchase. He was inspired by his "trinity of the three greatest men the world has ever produced," Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and John Locke.

After our tours of the house and the grounds (more photos here), Jess and I drove into downtown Charlottesville to see the University of Virginia, including the Rotunda. We were amazed by how nice the campus looked--even the frat houses were in the style of American Neo-Classicism! After cruising through Charlottesville, we began our long drive home, with brief stops along the way at some considerably less noteworthy locales, including Chick-fil-A and IKEA.

Yesterday was also lovely, by the way! I visited the National Zoo with Brad and Jess--see Brad's blog for the details of our encounter with some amorous turtles. My favorite moment was in the outdoor flight cage, where one can walk along a path to view birds flying freely. As it so happened, one of the peacocks had fanned out his tail feathers rather aggressively, blocking the path near the entrance. Jess decided to walk past the peacock when his feathers were down, but then he displayed them again, forcing Jess to sneak behind him to escape. After the zoo, we headed back to Brad's apartment, watched Iron Man (the first one), and had an amazing steak and Guinness pie prepared by Brad's girlfriend, Marie. Apparently, the pie is a Jamie Oliver recipe, which I will have to try out myself, because it was so delicious!