I’ve been a bad blogger. Luckily Spring Break is only a week away. If I sober up at any point, I’ll try to catch up on some blogging.
I thought this video that is going around the internet today was really cute (even though I’m still not a fan of Taylor Swift):
Even though the university hasn’t officially called a snow day, my Constitutional Law professor lives in Jersey and has school-age children, and Con Law is my only class today. So, because they have a snow day, we get a snow day.
This would be more exciting news if my plans weren’t already to spend 8 hours or more working on my appellate brief writing project. Now I just get to start earlier.
The snow that is falling is big and fluffy, but doesn’t seem to be sticking yet. Looking out from my window really does feel like I’m inside a NYC snow globe.
Yesterday I went to see Alec Baldwin speak at the Fordham Law Forum on Law, Culture & Society. Last semester, when Mario Cuomo spoke, the place was not quite filled. Last night I ended up sitting in one of the overflow rooms watching it on closed circuit TV. Still, I did see him in the flesh because we both entered the building at the same time. He quickly got ushered backstage while I had to stand in line, but it totally counts.
Anyway, he had some really fascinating things to say. His impassioned commentary on nuclear energy, and specifically the argument that there is nothing clean about the mining and production of uranium, gave me a lot of food for thought. His criticism of the family court system regarding “deep pocket litigants” and the “a la carte” menu of motions, procedures and laws that keep wealthy families spending millions to fight over custody was an interesting perspective. Say whatever you want about Hollywood culture and liberal elite, its simply not true to claim that Baldwin doesn’t know what he’s talking about on any number of political issues.
I have no comment on Stephen Baldwin.
I also attended a really moving panel discussion yesterday on American Indian law. Like so many issues, I was generally aware of the big systemic problems there, but the panel really opened my eyes to some of the most egregious and specific problems faced by Native Americans. For example, despite being nominally considered a sovereign nation, the tribes are unable to obtain basic legal jurisdiction in criminal or many civil matters involving a person who is not a tribal citizen. Under certain circumstances different states, territories, foreign governments, even foreign governments we have shunned (e.g. Cuba) can obtain jurisdiction to resolve criminal and civil matters involving American citizens, but we deny the sovereign nations of American Indians that ability. It’s absurd and utterly disenfranchising. And it’s not some relic of the deep racist past, it’s the result of recent decisions of the Supreme Court and inaction on the part of the current political government.
Anyway, I guess it’s time to get back to arguing that the police are a bunch of incompetent racists who can’t tell the difference between a Latino man and a black woman, therefore my hypothetical client should walk free despite the 12 envelopes of PCP they found on her.
But just because it’s fun…
Our blog mascot offers the usual start-of-the-week thought to get you going.
I require three things in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless and stupid. ~ Dorothy Parker
Fordham Follies.
March 26 & 27.
Featuring the braying musical talents of moi!
The photo above is from today’s “Rami Day” rehearsal with our music director/conductor/one-man-band. If you’re a non-student bloggy friend and want tickets, I’ll make arrangements closer to curtain time. But with an open bar, you won’t need to be a Fordham Law student to get the jokes. Okay, that’s not true, many of the gags will make no sense to the uninitiated, but we sparkle! (In a gay musical theater way, not in a crappy Stephanie Meyers vampire way.)
Since I try to do my distance runs on the weekend, I decided this morning to set out southward and see how far I could go. I ended up at the western edge of Battery Park staring at the Statue of Liberty before turning around. The GPS on my phone was experiencing a hiccup, though, so I couldn’t track my mileage live time. When I got home and checked it against the map, I jogged between 11 3/4 and 12 miles in just under 2 hours. The last 20 blocks were very rough, but I did it. This means that I could easily reach my half-marathon goal (13ish miles in 3 hours) even if I had to limp and crawl the last mile.
I’m not having the same success in making progress on my appellate brief. Even though the first (of two) issues is based on a previous assignment and our professor doesn’t think we need to do any new research on the issue, she changed enough facts in the new problem that I’m researching every proposition for law that better fits the facts of the case. This means I write at the pace of a paragraph per hour. It’s going to be a long week (the assignment is due in 9 days).
Turns out the tattoo I got last summer was prophetic (oh em gee, have I just become a character on Heroes?). Earlier today I formally accepted an offer to be a summer intern at the national office for Lambda Legal. Specifically, I’ll be interning with the Fair Courts Project, which works to keep ideologically anti-LGBT people out of the judiciary and instead encourages the appointment of judges who are objective and fair when LGBT people come before them.
Since that means I’ll be staying in the city, I will be apartment hunting in May. In some ways this makes my life easier than one of the positions I interviewed for that would have had me traveling to Trenton or Las Vegas or Santa Cruz. Specifically, I’m not going to have to worry about storage or finding a place to crash late-summer while I apartment shop in the weeks right before school. On the other hand, NYC is expensive, so I’m probably looking at a commute from Brooklyn or Queens or the northernmost reaches of the Isle of Manhattan. I’m almost certainly going to need a roommate, too. Start letting me know if you hear about people likely to be looking for roomies or tenants this summer – I hope to find a place where I can stay at least through graduation.
I had many interesting interviews from very different kinds of organizations before getting and accepting the offer from Lambda. I interviewed with the federal and local government agencies, drug law reform impact litigation organizations, disability rights organizations, the police department, and more. LGBT rights is, of course, a very familiar and natural place for me to go. Sooner or later I’ll have to acknowledge that I am becoming a lifelong professional queer activist.
Anyway, busy, busy, busy. I’ve got a big stack of homework to do, extracurricular commitments aplenty, the last big writing assignment of the school year, and rehearsal this weekend. If anybody wants to drop by and distract me with a glass of wine and a neck massage…
I’m making my way home after an alumni party in Tribeca. It’s snowing again, gently. I thought I would use this as an opportunity to test my new phone’s blogging app. This city looks so magical tonight.
12th of the month. 12 photos. It’s an easy concept. The hard part is remembering to do it.
1.
Test driving my new Motorola Droid today. Technically, this photo was taken on the 11th, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me.
2.
Today is an interview day, so I got to put on my pretty suit.
3.
Slicing green and red peppers for my morning omelet. Also included, 2 egg whites, 3 green olives, 1/4 cup cheese. 156 calories.
4.
While cooking, I try to get some Civil Procedure reading done.
5.
Suit… check. Backpack with 3 binders, 2 textbooks, laptop and assorted study essentials… check. Still reading… check. I think I’m ready to get going.
6.
I didn’t get any pictures in class (the professors don’t tend to pose and smile), so here I am at New York Penn Station heading to my summer job interview.
7.
Here’s the Newark building where my interview took place. I feel that it went well, although I always hate when they want me to ask them questions. I wouldn’t have applied if I wasn’t interested enough to do advance research on your organization. Anyway… should know something by the end of the month.
8.
At this point, it was well into the afternoon and the last thing I’d had to eat was that omelet, so I stopped at McDonald’s and had two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches (840 calories).
9.
Now I’m at Newark Penn Station getting ready to head home to Manhattan.
10.
According to the Big Brother-y google maps with GPS tracker app on my new phone, I made it back to Hackensack (River). No one was there for me (feat. sad lonely Valentine’s Day for Jere #6,238).
11.
At the gym working off the McDonald’s “food.” If you enlarge, you can see the last two dry spots on my sleeves representing the color of this shirt when not dripping in sweat after a 4 mile run.
12.
After doing laundry, buying groceries, making a fake chicken ceasar salad for dinner (650 calories), and grabbing my mail… I’ve still got to clean off my bed before I can think about sleep.
13.
Because #1 was a cheat. Look, I’m actually wearing my Giftmas pajamas! Bedtime.
And a special bonus, another nephew born today (from the branch of the family I no longer have a relationship with). Since they went ahead and gave the kid the same middle name as me (also my recently deceased Grandpa’s name), I feel even less obligated to keep using it. His first name is Paul and I’m told he’s healthy.
All of school was officially canceled yesterday. Late last night we got news that our Con Law professor didn’t think she could manage the commute today, so our only class of the day was also called off. I still have to be on campus for a couple meetings and to force myself into doing some homework. I can’t speak to the snow situation for those who have to commute, but in and around my neighborhood it seems to be much more of a wet, slushy, completely survivable winter storm.
Last week’s interviews for summer positions went well, I think. No offers, yet, but most of them said they may take as long as March 1 to make decisions. I still have a few more resumes out there and another interview tomorrow. I’m a little all-over-the-place right now with potential offers coming from California, Las Vegas, Newark, Trenton and in New York City. I’m hoping an offer comes soon so I can start making a specific summer plan if I have to move and/or find an apartment.
Fordham Follies is going to be so much fun. We had 4(ish) hour dance rehearsals both Saturday and Sunday of last week. Again, almost 10 years since I last had to learn choreographed dance routines well enough to sing and dance in unison with other people. If you want an idea, here are some clips from three years ago. And a few more from 2008.
I’ve been able to spend time with a lot of familiar faces lately. One of my cousins was in town recently and I got to meet his wife and their newborn baby. Jesse was in town for a weekend. I’ve hung out (read: got drunk with) a friend from undergrad twice. And then there was a crazy party with some of my classmates last weekend. The point is that I definitely seem to have more time for socializing this semester than I did this time last term. Also, I may be drinking too much.
News from home sounds somewhat encouraging. Dad is doing okay and seems to be taking his doctor’s orders seriously. Jeanne comes home really soon, too. Dad’s emergency took something of an emotional toll on my siblings, so they could use some cheering up.
I’ve been eligible for an upgrade on my cell phone plan since the beginning of the year and I’ve been stalling because I was hoping the iPhone/AT&T thing would come to an end. I finally decided to stop waiting this week and go with my second choice phone, a DROID. According to FedEx shipping it arrived in our mail room yesterday, but whoever signed for it also decided not to open the package room to students because of the snow. Lame city. I can’t wait to pick it up today and start playing video games and tweeting in class learning what the smart phone/application craze is all about. My last phone was a big step up for me simply because it had basic web capability and a keyboard. Also, maybe I can be the second entry at Guys with Droids! But I’d have to appear after that guy—> (woof!) I hear that they will be releasing a Grindr app for the android platform this year, so hello random sexy time!
My gym routine is starting to pay off again. I won’t lie, I really fell behind in the latter part of last semester and over the break to the point where I almost destroyed all the work I did last year. But the weight is starting to come off again. Largely because I’m counting calories again. It wasn’t so much the lack of exercise giving me problems, it was the stress eating.
Finally, can I just say how glad I am that the New York Senate booted Hiram Monserrate from his position? I don’t think I’m exaggerating to say the New York Senate is among the most corrupt, dysfunctional and out-of-control legislative bodies in the country (and I lived in Utah). While there is still a lot of housecleaning to do in Albany, this is a good step forward, even if he wins his Constitutional challenge. I don’t know how you recover, politically, from a) beating and assaulting your girlfriend, b) pissing off the gays in New York, and c) being kicked out of the New York Senate. That last one is a bit like being getting tossed out of the insane asylum because the inmates think you’re too crazy.
Our blog mascot offers some words of inspiration to kick off your week.
It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes. ~ Douglas Adams
Yup, school is definitely back in session.
I had my first summer internship interview this week. I thought it went well. I have at least five more scheduled for next week. Four of them are during the NYU Public Interest Legal Career Fair on Thursday and Friday. Without disclosing any detail I should avoid online, the positions range from the Bay Area to local opportunities in both nonprofit and government offices. There is a dramatically wide range of focus areas for each of these places, too.
I got cast in Fordham Follies, our school’s law revue, where we parody law school through musical theatre. There’s a gag rule in effect about the show’s content, but I can tell you that I’ve got a number that–if I pull it off–could be a showstopper. I can also tell you to mark March 26 and 27 on your calendars for my New York stage debut. It’s been almost ten years since I last had to factor rehearsal calls and line memorization into my schedule, but so far I’m pretty pumped about it.
We had a Mardi Gras fundraiser for Haiti and our various public interest student groups on Thursday night. Most of my photos didn’t really turn out, but check out this video of my classmates rockin’ out to a little Miss Miley Cyrus.
To be fair, there was an open bar. Any attempts I may or may not have made to flirt with the straight boys in my class were the effects of Mardi Gras fever. What happens in the church basement stays in the church basement. Kidding aside, it was nice to meet a few more of my classmates. Even after a semester, I still haven’t really met all 80 people in my section.
The last major writing assignment of the year begins this week and runs through the month. We’ve also got a couple lawyering skills projects including negotiation and oral arguments before Spring Break. It really looks like February & March are going to be the busiest part of the semester with April tapering off toward finals.
Classes are going well. I like all my professors, if not the subject matter. Constitutional law has been less exciting than I’d hoped it would be, but mostly because I’m already rather cynical about how the Supreme Court handles Constitutional matters. Civil Procedure is the most confusing material, but it’s beginning to make some sense. Tort law has the most entertaining cases, but it doesn’t seem terribly challenging yet.
It sounds like Dad is doing okay. In terms of health, he’s not out of the woods, but he spent this week at home instead of in the ICU, so that’s something. I hope it doesn’t sound heartless to say that right now I’m just hoping that whoever decides to die next can wait until Spring Break.
Anyway, it looks like I’m going to be a once-a-week blogger for the next few weeks. I’ll try to show up more often if I can. I’ve got so many things I want to blog about (the SCOTUS Citizens United ruling, the Perry case in California, the State of the Union, the movement on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the Obama v. Republican showdown, Ugly Betty’s unfortunate cancellation, etc.) and so little time.
Online home and blog of Jere Keys, a 30-something queer activist, writer, aspiring lawyer and all-around decent human being living in Manhattan. Currently, I'm a 1L at Fordham Law School.
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