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the most impossible-to-cite sources for his journal note ("I'm sure citing to this appellant brief for an unheard and unpublished case being appealed from a court that has no counterpart in any other state will only take a few minutes!"), so present-Mike is paying for past-Mike's blind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.