ambivalent images

Deep Sea Basement

Our basement in the middle of its makeover. The basement on our house was added sometime after the house was built so it has a deep concrete shelf all the way around it about halfway up the wall. When we bought the house this was covered in dirt and grime, but it did have three sets of study shelves on it. We decided to paint the horizontal surfaces a dark color that would be less likely to show dirt, and paint the horizontal surfaces the brightest color we could find to try to make the basement seem brighter. The image at right shows the final efffect, more or less— our basement after we finished painting and moved in a few things. I'm happy with how it turned out—much brighter!—but we might have to cover the paint on the floor at least with some sort of sealant (like this, maybe?) to keep it from scratching and give it a nice gloss.

BarBri Books

The stack of BarBri books that became my constant companions last week. Imagine being tested for three days on the material in these books. Doesn't it sound like fun? Of course, at least part of what you see here is not material to learn but questions to practice on. Plus, everyone says you don't need to learn all the material—you need to learn the basics and then learn test-taking strategies. I'm trying to remind myself that it's actually kind of fun to get this review and even to be learning some things I never learned in law school. Yeah, this is fun. Really. (If you say a thing enough will it become true? It hasn't worked for the President...)

Chief Stones

Tombstones of Supreme Court Chief Justices Burger, Marshall, and Blackmun, all together at Arlington National Cemetery.

Returned to Sender!?!

The stamp on my application for the only job I really want. My application was returned to me today, the day after it was due! And this after I put two 37-cent stamps on it! It was only about 5-6 sheets of paper folded into thirds and they're trying to tell me that two stamps was not sufficient!?

I rushed to FedEx to overnight it so it will arrive on Monday morning (one business day late) inside the original envelope marked “return to sender.” My hope is that they will see that I made every effort to be on time and will still consider my application along with those who did make it on time. (I'm sending an email to explain, as well.) I'm not sure I would do that if I were in their shoes—deadlines can be pretty crucial in the law biz (i.e. the deadline to file a motion in a case is something you have to meet regularly as a public defender and it's not usually something you can fudge). Still, maybe they'll be more lenient than I would be.

The good news is that the deadline was not firm. The original ad listed a closing date of 5/12 and said something like “we encourage you to apply by May 12 but we will accept applications after that until positions are filled.” The ad now lists a closing date of May 26 and says the jobs are “Open until filled. Application materials will be reviewed on a weekly basis. The application pool will be considered for employment opportunities up to November, 2006.”

Still, I wanted my application on the very top of the pile. Here's hoping things still work out that way...

Final Final Blurry Board

A quick snap of the chalkboard telling me where my final law school final was held. As usual I walked in just barely in time so I didn't have time to make sure I got a good shot. The point is: I never have to look to this chalkboard again to see where I will spend three hours of my life regurgitating from my notes or memory in order to pass a class. That's because I never have to take another law school final. Ever.

Of course, that's assuming that I passed this final, which, well, it didn't seem that bad. I would be stunned to see anything more than a B on the old report card for this class, but I'm sure I got at least a C. Ok, you can never be sure, but you get the idea. For now I'm going forward on the assumption that I passed and I'm done. Done! Yeah.

Museum of Law

The entrance to the ABA's Museum of Law in Chicago. Did you know the ABA had a museum of law? Me neither. I was just wandering around down by the river and saw a little sign for it through the window, so in I went. I found it to be a relatively small space (one big room in the basement) filled with colorful exhibits about all the U.S. Presidents who were also lawyers. Supposedly that's just the current exhibit, but it was all that was there and there was no indication of the kinds of things the museum had exhibited in the past or will exhibit in the future. Anyway, I wouldn't add it to a tourist itinerary, but if you're wandering around and need to kill a half hour (or if you're really interested in Presidential history), it might be worth your while.

The image at right (click to enlarge) is just an example of the kinds of quotations you'll see painted on the walls in the museum.

I want to ride my tricycle

The winning bidder of a shiny new (well, slightly used) racing tryke takes his new ride for a spin near the end of the 2006 GW EJF Public Interest Auction. The auction was again a huge success, raising more than $30,000 (we're still awaiting final totals) to be given as grants to law students working for free this summer to provide legal services to people in underserved communities. As you can see, a good time was had by all! Thanks again to everyone who came and bid so generously, and also to all who donated goods, services and time to make the auction so successful.

Polygraph

The output of a polygraph exam in progress. The big peak on the left in the third line from the top is where the pre-planned lie was.

I took this during my “Forensics and the Law” class last week when an FBI polygraphist visited our class to sing the praises of the polygraph. It was fairly fascinating to hear all about these tests from someone who does not question their value or validity in the least. He bragged that the polygraph is a “springboard to confession,” virtually admitting that the whole point of it for purposes of law enforcement is to intimidate interrogation subjects into making confessions. While this polygraphist described the process as nicely as possible, I've seen videotaped polygraph exams and know they can be very harrowing for the subject. In fact, the polygraphist said that the procedure can be so stressful that the FBI has a policy of not testing pregnant women unless absolutely necessary.

I should have asked him how he felt about being a thug, but I don't think he would have understood the question.

Thermostat

A thermostat without its cover inside GW's Lisner building.

Dropped Drop Ceiling

The “guts” of the ceiling in GW's Lisner building. The nice drop ceiling that usually hides all these internals from view has been removed for purposes of asbestos removal. This is all part of a law school expansion plan that will include “the addition of a food vendor on the 1st floor and a student conference center on the 2nd floor.” These are all very welcome changes for a school that currently seems to be packed to the gills.

Blue Book, 18th ed.

Stacks of the latest edition of the Blue Book crowd the shelves at the GW bookstore. One of the major changes for this version was supposed to be to improve internet citation, but apparently they still don't know how to cite to blog posts.

3L Books

Outside Washington Law bookstore at about 19th and I streets. This is basically where I try to buy my books for school except when they don't have them, which is sadly pretty often because they have such a tiny space and no room for excess inventory. I went to get my books the other day and they had absolutely nothing I needed. Of course, this year it's looking like I'll have only one class that really requires books, so it's not really a big deal. Hooray for not having to spend $500 on books this semester!!

Bye-Bye L227

Locker L227 at GW Law. This was my locker last year and I had to clean it out last week to make room for a new occupant. Lockers are sort of assigned by class level so that 1Ls get the fourth floor (they're young and can run all those stairs a dozen times a day), 2Ls get the third floor (we're getting older and more out of shape), and 3Ls get the second floor (we're lazy and tired). I'm looking forward to occupying a 2nd floor locker this year. It's sort of like I'm falling out of law school, from top to bottom, locker-wise.

Doormat

A GW law professor's doormat sitting in the hall outside his office. (Thumbnail at right shows the same thing w/a little more context.) I think this might be the best doormat I've ever seen! I mean, “come back with a warrant” is basically the default—cops are never supposed to enter a “home” (interpreted broadly at times, such as if you rent a hotel room in your name that is your “home” while you're there) w/out a warrant or special circumstance, but still, it's a great message for them and a reminder to you if you open your door and see cops there that you should make them get a warrant.

An office is not a home for these purposes, and I doubt this professor has the right to require a warrant before allowing the police to enter his office, but they probably would need a warrant to search it. Of course, someone at GW may be able to give consent to search which would overrule any of the professor's objections, but I'm not sure about that.

I'm not a lawyer, you know. ;-)

Standing Poop

Fundamental concepts of Constitutional law (or federal courts) written on a chalkboard at GW during finals week. Poop?

My finals are over and I am not exactly sad about that. I'm not exactly thrilled because I don't feel my grades are going to be terrific, but hey, done is sometimes better than done well, right?

$32,000 Hamburger

Law students enjoy Deans Jeans Day at GW Law a week or two ago. This is an annual event where the Deans come out and flip the burgers and buy the beer for a couple of hours on the quad. As one of my fellow law students noted, “that was the best damn $32,000 hamburger I have ever had!”

Dean's Fellows 05-06

The list of GW students named as Dean's Fellows for 2005-06. Dean's Fellows are third-year law students who lead a discussion section one hour each week for first-year students taking their legal research and writing course. I applied for this position, but my name is not on this list. Congratulations to those who made the cut! - - - - - PIWIT: This brilliant stairway at FloridaNorthCoast.net, which also features this great panorama of docked sailboats..

GW Law Mailboxes

One of three banks of student mailboxes at GW law school. It's back-to-school time after a delightful week of spring break, and I'm not exactly thrilled about going back. Perhaps it would be different if I'd spent the break catching up as I'd intended, but, well, that didn't happen. (It never does.) The empty hallway pictured in the the thumbnail will be packed full with law students today, all of them asking each other the same question: “How was your break?” Does it make me a bad person to be annoyed by having to answer the same question at least a hundred times in one day? Five and a half more weeks, then two weeks of finals, and the whole shooting match is over May 6. PIWIT (Pics I Wish I'd Taken): Any of the shots on Oliver Daily, such as this great leaping shot or this great closeup. Dean Allen, the man behind the site (he also created Textpattern and Textile), describes it very simply:

Each day since 30 June 2002, this page has displayed a different photograph of my dog, Oliver. The image is updated at midnight GMT, unless I’ve forgotten to put one up the night before, which does sometimes happen. A pedigreed Weimaraner, Oliver was born 30 July 2001 on a lavender farm in Le Vaucluse, Provence. He came to join us two months later. You’d like him. Also appearing regularly is Oliver’s little brother Hugo (same parents, different litter), who arrived on 12 April 2003.

Simple. Beautiful dog. Beautiful shots. Plus, he lives in France, so the background to the shots is often worth seeing, as well.