One Week Down

The city got crazy with signage and new roadblocks for the inauguration. One of my friends who lives just four blocks from the Capitol would have had to walk three miles to actually get to see anything- DC on Monday was be a maze. I stayed inside to work because I had a lot of work, but I know it was bad because I had to help guide Kels out via phone since she decided to go to her home in VA for MLK day. It was not the best time to leave the city in a car.

This past week I had my first set of classes for the new semester. I am taking a slightly heavier load than last semester- 16 credits instead of 14, but this will allow me to do whatever I want next year (I can take the minimum credits each semester- I don't see myself doing that, but I like options). That said, this semester should be easier than the last. Most of my classes are seminars, so they are small and don't involve exams, which is how I like it. True, I will have to churn out some 60+ pages of legal writing in exchange for not having real exams, but that is a trade I will take any day. At least I have something to show for my efforts when I have to write. I am especially excited about my seminar on Global Cybercrime Law and my Death Penalty Seminar. On the first day of Death Penalty Seminar, our professor gave us all a free copy of his first book (which was based on a paper he wrote while in a death penalty seminar at his law school when he was a student). I have very nice and approachable professors this semester.

Most of last week was spent preparing my street law students for their exam that they are taking on Thursday (I finally finished it on Saturday- it is a monster exam and I hope I am not being too mean to them).  That means this week I don't have to teach class (since it's exam-taking-week). This does not mean I have free time, for this is also the week of many journal requirements. Past-Mike picked all of the most impossible-to-cite sources for his journal note ("I'm sure citing to this appellant brief for an unheard and unpublished case being appealed from a court that has no counterpart in any other state will only take a few minutes!"), so present-Mike is paying for past-Mike's blind ambition. 

But it's okay, because Noah has been making me pancakes with my 10-lb bag of Costco pancake mix.

They really are good pancakes.

On Saturday night, Kels and I went to go see Pete in his role at Medieval Madness in Arlington. It's sort of like a small-scale version of Medieval Times. Pete was the comic relief and played his role brilliantly. The food (which we had to eat with our hands) was delicious (and all made with techniques from the 1400's). And, of course, we were seated at a table full of lawyers. So much for getting away from law in the DC metro area.

And of course, THIS is the one picture that we got out of the night.

Trying to Grade Papers at Kelsey's Apartment

Especially when she is not there, tends to go like this:

New Year

Between travel and work I have not had much time to blog about the past couple of weeks, which is a shame because they have been packed with adventures and blog-worthy items. After returning from a great trip home for Christmas, Kels and I traveled to the middle of nowhere with some of her friends (a group that just happens to include many of my friends, including one of my first Woodberry roommates- small world) to a cabin in the woods. "Cabin" may not be the correct word. "Custom-built wooden mountain mansion" is more accurate. It had a game room with the original Super Mario Brothers, Pac Man, and Galaga in their original arcade cases. It also had a big-screen projector and leather chairs everywhere. It was a good place.

On the first night, everyone dressed as hipsters. 

This is a general overview of the wooden leatheriness of it all.

After New Years, we came back and started preparations for the next semester. I've been working on cover letters for internships (those are super-fun) and starting to lesson-plan for my high school students. But I have been able to have lots of fun, too:

• Meimei and her boyfriend Chris came up to the city and we went to dinner with them and Josh. I've been hearing and reading about Chris for quite a while now, but now I have proof that he is real!
• I had my first trip to Costco. It was wonderful and magical. I came back with a bag of pancake mix that can make 300 pancakes, which was a consolation prize since I really wanted to buy everything in the store.
• I discovered a cheap generic allergy pill that makes me immune to Kelsey's cat Rupert. This was also in Costco, because Costco is the greatest store ever.
• We had a birthday party for Kelsey and Josh for which I used Costco meats and vegetables to create kebabs. It was a great success. 
• Kelsey got me hooked on Downton Abbey, which was a terrible thing for her to do right before school starts. 

And now back to a regular-ish posting schedule.