Fantastic Quotes, Performances, and Trips

My professors have said some fantastically quotable things in the past couple of weeks:

“Remember Marbury v. Madison: sign, sealed, delivered?” - Contracts professor, jogging our memory about the landmark case establishing judicial review, in which Madison failed to deliver a commission by President Adams appointing Marbury as Justice of the Peace in D.C.

“Whether the barn is being used for intimate purposes…” - Criminal Justice professor, on the open fields doctrine of Oliver v. United States (this statement elicited many snickers from my classmates)

“The house is haunted as a matter of law." - Property professor, on Stambovsky v. Ackley, an incredible case involving an exception to caveat emptor (buyer beware), because the seller of a haunted house had taken advantage of the buyer's ignorance about the otherwise publicly-known fact of the house being haunted

Oh, good times.

Last night, I went to the Kennedy Center with Tracie to see the Hilliard Ensemble, which is a British male vocal quartet that is world-renowned for singing early music (e.g., Medieval and Renaissance). They performed a selection of Renaissance-era Requiem Mass songs in Latin; specifically, "Orlando de Lassus's four-part Requiem Mass, interspersed with motets and antiphons by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina." I wasn't sure what to expect, but the Catholic nerd in me figured that I would enjoy it--and, I did! The program provided translations of the songs from Latin, but I tried to focus on the musicality of the performance. I enjoyed picking up random phrases that I recognized, such as "Kyrie eleison" (Lord, have mercy), "Hosanna in excelsis" (Hosanna in the highest), "Miserere mei Deus" (Have mercy upon me, O God), and "Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi" (Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world).

The Kennedy Center has a great program for 17- to 25-year-olds called Attend, which offers steeply discounted tickets to students and young professionals. Fantastic seats to world-class performances for $10?! Brilliant. My friend Mike introduced me to the program a couple of weeks ago, when we went to hear the National Symphony Orchestra perform Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. I vow to take advantage of this program as often as possible while I'm in D.C., seeing as it costs the same amount as a movie, but is so much cooler.

Not to bury the lead, but I'm going to California this weekend! We get Monday and Tuesday off for Presidents' Day, so my parents offered to fly me out on their dime last-minute! I'm catching a flight out from Reagan at 6:35 tomorrow morning, and I'll be back in D.C. Tuesday evening. I'm so excited to visit my family. I don't think I'll have time to make it up to Berkeley, but, never fear, I will be back in the Bay Area in a few weeks for Spring Break.

Strolling Through the Garden

The weather has been so gorgeous in DC the past few days--in the 60s! I hadn't realized how much I would miss sunshine here. I don't think I have a seasonal affective disorder, per se, but going for walks in the sunshine has brought me a lot of otherwise inexplicable joy.

I went to the United States Botanical Garden on Friday on a whim. I think my favorite area was the Orchid House, though the Jungle was pretty neat, too. (I was sorely tempted by the hanging vines.) I'm curious to see what the outdoor garden looks like in full bloom; right now, it's pretty scraggly. Frankly, I like the UC Botanical Garden better, because it is almost entirely outdoors and has wildlife as well, but the gigantic U.S. Botanical Garden greenhouse is pretty cool in its own right.

I was working really hard last weekend, because Monday was the due date not only for the draft of my Legal Research and Writing Brief, but also for my Resident Fellow application. I hope I get an interview--I would really like to live in Gewirz again (the Georgetown Law dorm) next year as an RF (read: RA). We should find out about interviews by the end of the week! Wish I could say the same about my summer job search, though; still waiting to hear back from employers, and still applying to more jobs in the meantime. I'm looking forward to the upcoming five-day weekend... I think it'll be a little more sane than this past weekend. (Thank you, Presidents' Day and Georgetown Law staff retreat!)

Discipline

An excerpt from today's first reading, from the letter of Paul to the Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons:

"My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges."

Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.

- Hebrews 12: 1-7, 11-13

Nervousness

It has certainly been a busy week. Now that the hoopla of the Inauguration has passed, it is back to the grind here at Georgetown Law. This semester feels a bit front-loaded, because I'm currently applying to summer jobs, working hard on my Legal Research and Writing brief, and trying to stay on top of the plethora of opportunities that are (or will soon be) presenting themselves (e.g., becoming a Resident Fellow in my dorm next year, deciding whether to compete for a position on the Alternate Dispute Resolution team, working to improve campus ministry, reaching out as a Student Ambassador to admitted students deciding whether to pick Georgetown Law).

Grades come out on Wednesday. On the surface, I've been fairly nonchalant about it, but, deep down, I'm nervous. I tried my best last semester, but I have absolutely no idea how I did. There is a little part inside of me--and, I think many of my peers feel the same way--that worries that I am an "impostor," that I'm simply not good enough, that I don't really belong here. Rationally, I know that I am qualified to be here, but I went through the same bout of nervousness during my first semester at Berkeley. I just hope that Wednesday's outcome is a relief, rather than a letdown. I am bracing myself to be satisfied no matter what, and am trying to rely on God for my strength and happiness. Even Jesus, after all, does not judge us by superficial, human standards.

"You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone."
- John 8: 15

Amen.

Inauguration Weekend, Part II

Click photo to access more on Facebook from "Inauguration Weekend, Part II."

So, here is what Alissa and I have done since Sunday: attended the Lincoln Memorial "We Are One" concert, visited the National Museum of American History, explored the National Mall, waited in line for 5 hours for the Inauguration, checked out the National Gallery, visited the FDR and Jefferson memorials, and went to the top of the Washington Monument. In spite of attending classes on Wednesday and Thursday, it has felt like I've been taking a vacation this week, acting as a tourist (albeit, with Metro savvy).

The one disappointment was the Inauguration itself, I'm afraid. Alissa and I walked over to the line labeled "TO NATIONAL MALL" on 3rd Street, NW between D and C Street at 4 o'clock in the morning, and stood in line for five hours to get through security, only to have our hopes dashed--the checkpoint closed its Mall access, and was only open to the parade route. From the parade route, the ceremony could neither be seen nor heard, due to the lack of Jumbotrons and speakers. What a bummer! We stood on the parade route for a couple of hours, but decided to go home around 11 am because we were freezing and weren't really getting much out of standing there.

In fact, we were beginning to exhibit symptoms of hypothermia in our feet, which was really scary; as Wikipedia describes of Stage 1 hypothermia, "often, a person will experience a warm sensation, as if they have recovered, but they are in fact heading into Stage 2." Our feet had progressed from cold, to painfully cold, to numb, to feeling oddly warm. No good. Once we got back to my apartment, it took us nearly two hours before we felt normal... even with the heat blasting and while under multiple blankets. Yikes!

My roommate Betsy was similarly foiled by the disastrous management of the security checkpoints, and didn't make it onto the Mall, either. She baked cinnamon rolls for all of us, and we streamed the inauguration on my laptop. It felt pretty lame to watch it on my laptop when we were literally a half-mile away from the event, but it was the best we could do.

I loved the performance of "Air and Simple Gifts." (I also love Stephen Colbert's theory that Yo-Yo Ma is technically the President of the United States because he was on camera at 12 o'clock noon.) I'm really upset with Chief Justice Roberts for messing up the oath, though. What the heck, Roberts?! It just tainted the whole ceremony. Oh, well. I thought President Obama's speech was fine, though I still believe that his best speech was his keynote address at the 2004 DNC. The parade was fun to watch. I loved it when Barack and Michelle got out of the limo (apparently nicknamed "the Beast," which I find rather fitting), and walked along Pennsylvania Ave. They are so charismatic.

Now that Alissa has headed back to California, it is back to law school for me. Homework and job applications are my prevalent concerns at the moment. Also, applications to become a Resident Fellow for Gewirz open on Monday. Resident Fellows, or RFs, are the five students that live in Gewirz, Georgetown Law's dorm (where I currently live), and serve the dorm by fostering community, helping with security and emergencies, and providing counsel to the residents. I really, really want to be an RF, for several reasons: I would get to live in Gewirz for the next two years, I would get free rent, and I would be able to reach out to first-years. I've always loved working as a mentor to younger students, and I think being an RF would be a great experience. There are only three spots open for next year, so we'll see what happens!

Inauguration Weekend, Part I

The past couple of days, I have been touring D.C. frenetically with my friend Alissa, whom I've known since middle school. (Alissa is crashing with me this week for the Inauguration.) So far, we have managed to see the Capitol, Congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the parade route, and the National Archives... all in two days! Click on the photo of the Capitol below to be taken to a Facebook album of the photos I have taken along the way.


The tough thing about the past couple of days is how cold it has been! Seriously, it was 12 degrees on Friday, with wind chill bringing it down to 1 degree--the coldest it has been in five years! Not the best day to be walking all over the city, to say the least. The only good thing about it was that the weather scared off a lot of would-be tourists, such that we didn't wait in a line all day! That being said, I'm looking forward to the return of temperatures in the 30s. Never thought I'd say that.

Antepenultimate

My Legal Research and Writing professor wins at life for the legitimate use of the word "antepenultimate" in class today. Amazing.