Medieval Times and More

Last Thursday was the first mock trial competition for my high school students, and they did very well. Out of four teams, we won 3.5 of the trials (we technically lost on one of the two issues in the fourth trial, but we won on the important thing and the judge only awarded the other side attorneys' fees). Not that it matters, since a mock trial is like Whose Line Is It Anyway in that the judge's decision doesn't actually matter at all in terms of scoring. Still, it was great to be in one courtroom and hear the judge (when awarding the win to my kids) say "both sides did very well, but it seems as though the facts in this case were stacked towards the plaintiff (my team)" and then run to the courtroom across the way to hear the judge say (when awarding the win to my kids) "both sides did very well, but the plaintiff really has to PROVE their case and I don't think the facts were there in this packet so, on balance, I believe that the defense (my team) wins." They get to do it one more time tomorrow, and we have been working on advanced techniques and small improvements on the work they had already done. It's good, too, because I'm actually starting to get to the point (for a few of my top students) where I don't know how I would improve on their questions or their delivery all that much. 

Over the weekend we had Sara's golden birthday (she turned 24 on the 24th) and she wanted to go to Medieval Times, so that's what we did. We cheered on the white and black knight, who was the first to lose in glorious battle (of course), so then we switched allegiances to the red knight, who seemed to be doing well until he was offed by the blue knight, who no one liked. I was not expecting to enjoy Medieval Times as much as I did, but it was a very well done production.

The crowns were free, but you don't want to know how much Dan's beer cost.

This week has been exciting in DC for more manic weather, including a random snowstorm.

It was practically t-shirt weather later this day.

It has also been exciting in DC because the Supreme Court handed down a decision for a case that I had used to teach my kids about the 4th Amendment (Florida v. Jardines) and managed to come to the one conclusion that has almost nothing to do with what I taught my kids about the 4th Amendment (basically, that the case could be decided based on the idea of trespass as opposed to the idea of privacy). Thanks, Scalia. On the plus side, it had three very well-written opinions. It's a case about a dog sniff that detected a marijuana growing operation in a house, and on the first page Justice Scalia refers to the police officers monitoring the house as a "joint surveillance task force." See, even the Supreme Court can have a sense of humor.

In addition to handing down that case, the Court is hearing two cases that will probably be the most important of the term- Hollingsworth (Prop 8) and Windsor (DOMA). Or, as you may understand from media reports, the Gay Marriage cases. I'm actually going to a post-argument discussion today after Windsor that will feature several of the people who worked on the briefs for both sides. My personal favorite moment from the arguments yesterday was when Justice Scalia asked something like "at what point did banning gay marriage become unconstitutional?" and the lawyer responded "at what point did banning interracial marriage become unconstitutional?" You aren't supposed to ever respond to a Justice's question with another question, but I thought that was well played.

P.S. You Should Blog

Spring Break was last week, and by Spring Break I mean the school was nice enough to give me a week to write a 21 page research paper tentatively titled Fifteen Years and Death: Double Jeopardy's Multiple Punishment Implications of Extended Stays on Death Row. It's a real page-turner. I'm hoping to use it as a jumping-off point to get people interested in my next paper with the working title: Uncertainty Principle: Legal Approaches to Non-damaging Cybercrime. I know, I know. It practically writes itself.

In the brief moments when I could tear myself away from my riveting research, we did the beach as we normally do it. Nine people representing friendships from most of the eras of my life were able to come down and spend some time. Some had been many times before, and for some this was the first time, but the program did not change: reading, movie-watching, beach-walking, game playing, and grilling while drinking firefly. As usual, we felt that our grilling this year was superior to our grilling every year before (with the exception of the corn, which was not in season). Brian prepped, Kay and I grilled, Jeff turned the golf cart into a speaker with a weird machine that turns solid objects into speakers. Since I had forgotten to bring down my own stereo as I usually do, this kept the continuity. 

We did do one new thing (well, aside from playing some of the 500 new board games that Josh brought): we went to Brookgreen Gardens. Every year, for the past five or six years, someone would say something about going to Brookgreen, but we never did until this year. It was pretty great.

They had a zoo of sorts, and Kelsey decided she was the horse-whisperer. I think at one point she actually whispered "I'm the horse-whisperer" and then a horse came right up to her.

Jeff is a priceless work of art, too.

Everyone's favorite was a giant cage filled with birds in the middle of a swamp.

We went back a second time a couple of days later because we heard about a labyrinth and wanted to walk it. Unfortunately I thought labyrinth meant hedge maze. You would think that as a law student I would have learned to figure out the differences in meanings of words by now.

In spite of all the time I spent working, I had a great time at the beach and came back ready to finish the semester. My street law students have their mock trial next Thursday and then the Thursday after that, so that will be my big project over the next couple of weeks. We had a practice mock trial the other day during which I got to scare them a little and they got to scare me a little. Most of them will do well. I hope.

The Oscar Goes to....

Who says DC doesn't have culture and a sense of humor? This encapsulates the very hipster quality of the H Street neighborhood near where I live.

Kelsey had work Saturday morning, and after that we headed down to Williamsburg. This was my first weekend in over a month that has been even a little "free" (which means I still had to work, but I could do it from my computer) so I was very happy to get out of town. Absi and Zan were very kind to host us, and we had a wonderful time. We had dinner at La Tolteca (where Absi and I spent many a lunch/dinner our senior year) followed by bowling. Absi also gave me a really awesome Houdini coffee cup (he disappears when you put hot liquid in the cup) and a trivial pursuit game designed for geeks. Truly, she knows me well. 

The next day Kels had her half marathon. I dropped her off and then Absi, Zan, and I went to have a nice brunch. As I was enjoying my meatloaf panini sandwich I said "hey guys, let's not tell Kels that we were doing this while she was running her *checks watch* fourth mile," because I'm nice.

Two hours went by quickly for me and I picked Kels up at the finish line looking none the worse for wear. I almost wished that I had signed up to run the half marathon as well. Almost. That night we had an Oscars party. Meimei was in town so she came over and we all dressed up. We filled out ballots and spent the entire night basking in glory whenever we correctly predicted that a movie we knew nothing about would win an oscar for something like best on-set catering. We also had grand plans for making cocktails that went along with each best picture nominee, but we stopped after the Life of Pi Key-Lime Pie cocktail because it was very good and there was nowhere to go but down after that.

The next day was Monday and I had to get back to school so we left in the morning. We did have time for Kels to get an oil change, and while that was going on I went to get my hair cut. It was pretty much the best hair cut place ever- they cut it well, the shampoo process involved a hot towel on my face, and the chair had a built-in back massager. It was also super cheap. Why can't we have nice things like that in DC? 

The trip back up was uneventful, and, as is now tradition, I worked on my assignments as Rupert tried his best to distract me.

I've been busy...

One of my students today (and whenever I say that, it is always one specific student) said, after I handed him an assignment and told him not to lose it, "I'm sorry Mr. Johnson, but I can give zero promises on that." I responded "It's okay, [student name], because I can give zero grades." 

So basically I get a zero for blog-updating over the past month. Why? Well, I've been busy. Busier than usual? Yes. I made a choice at the beginning of the semester that I was going to just go ahead and try my hardest at a lot of things. As it turns out, trying takes a lot of effort, and effort is paid for in the currency of minutes and hours. I was worried at the start of the month because I had so many things on my plate and, as with anything, there was a chance that none of it would work out. I stopped posting because I kept waiting for things to feel finished, and up until now nothing has felt that way.

So, what have I been doing?

Well, I have been having as much fun as usual. I saw the winter play, Cloud 9, and did some ushering for it. Kelsey was the head usher and did a wonderful job. Josh and all of my other friends in the show were great, and I enjoyed getting to go to the traditional after-show parties. I also had the opportunity to emcee the Georgetown annual talent show. I certainly wasn't going to say no to that. It had a "roaring 20's" theme and the people who put it together did a really nice job. Georgetown even tweeted a clip from the show: http://bit.ly/VPa9Rk. That guy was really great, but he wasn't even in my top three performances- the talent pool here is astounding. I was thrilled to be a part.

I've also been applying for jobs. I had nine interviews over the course of two weeks, which were fun. They went well, and I will be working at my top choice this summer- the Office of Special Counsel- doing things in their investigation divison. Ben, my roommate from last year, will be spending his summer in their ADR (alternative dispute resolution) department, so it will be great to spend some time with him.

I also decided to try out for the Mock Trial team again this year, in part because I have been kicking myself ever since last year for flubbing out of round two by performing a closing argument that had me sarcastically yelling "the gun was filled with bullets! It wasn't filled with cheese!" One of my other big motivations for doing well was that if I got on I could perhaps do a mock trial with Stephanie R; we're a good team. I did end up doing better this time. In fact, I got to do a few full trial rounds after I had made the team, as part of the subsequent tournament. I made it to the final round before getting bested by some truly amazing competitors who just refused to mess up at all. I did not mention cheese in my closing. I almost referenced ninjas, but then thought better of it. This was a good call, as the judges seemed to really like my closing and I know I would have lost points by talking about ninjas.

I have forgotten many other things that happened this month. This is why I need to update regularly.

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.