North Maple Rag

I've got my last callback today. It's in DC and I'm taking the Amtrak Acela down. I love the Acela. It's so quiet and instead the hassle of flying, you just sit in one comfy seat for three hours. In Business Class, they even have tables and outlets to facilitate laptop work.The last time I took the Acela, I got so much more homework done than I would've if I'd been in New York. So actually, it's a good thing that I'm missing class again.

I really like San Diego. I really liked this summer when I first visited and I like it even more now. I lucked out this weekend; when I called my great-aunt to tell her I'd be in town, she informed me that one of my countless second-cousins would be getting married at her San Diego home on Saturday. Accordingly, several of my midwestern relatives were hanging out in the other SD for the weekend.

After a pretty great callback interview on Friday, I headed north a few miles to meet up with the family. Most of the relatives in town were my grandfather's siblings. Some of them, I hadn't seen since my high school graduation. Now, I love all my family members, but I don't exactly love spending time with all of them. This part of my family, however, I'm always glad to see. They're quirky and funny and irrepressibly kind. I've been feeling somewhat anchorless for the last month, so it was great to spend time with people who embody all the things I love and miss about home.

Oh, and the wedding was beautiful. It was a smallish, backyard ceremony and was followed by a lovely candle-lit dinner at dusk. And for those of you who care about such things, the bride and groom chose "Better Together" by Jack Johnson for their first dance.

That's what one of partners I interviewed with today called San Diego. I'm not sure it's all that accurate, but it was nice of him to try to help me feel at home. I do like San Diego. A lot. More than L.A.? Not sure. However, if I get an offer from today's firm, I'll have a lot of thinking to do. Coin flips are a perfectly rational way to choose a job, right?

I love NYU; it's a great school, filled with great people, in a great city with great opportunities. I'm happy here and I didn't expect to be all that happy during law school. Tonight, I felt even better about the school that I usually do. The law school hosted a "gala" this evening to announce their capital campaign and I somehow got an invite. Even more than the swanky-swank setting, the sales pitch that the school has designed made me night. They highlighted everything I love about the school; the things I sensed as prospective student that eventually led me to enroll. They talked about NYU's status as a law school that relies on hard work rather than pedigree and tradition. They highlighted its history of educating people from diverse and often less than prestigious backgrounds. They showcased the school's role as an "international law school." And, they celebrated NYU's committment to public service.

NYU's not perfect and there are days when it annoys and frustrates me, but I'm really lucky to be here. After weeks of thinking about the future, it was really great to have an evening focused on feeling good about where I am.

Just sick of the old template and feeling a bit minimalist lately. No more big distracting pictures. Hopefully, however, there will be more smaller, interesting pictures.

the song, Little Boxes, has been running through my head. It's the theme song from the tv show, Weeds, and it's a bit folksy, but I like it. When I first heard it, I thought immediately of my section's discussion of planned communities in Property last spring. Now, after weeks of giving the same manufactured answers to the same lawyers over and over again in an attempt to compete for the jobs everyone else is pursuing, it has a bit more poignancy. You can listen to it here.

It's been good. I've still got a lot of work to do this weekend, but I'm closer to feeling caught up and it's been nice to have time to see my friends. It seems like we've been all over the world lately. It's also been nice to have a break from the seemingly relentless "what do I want do do with my life" questions that have been running through my head during all these callback interviews. One interviewer gave me a twenty-minute sales pitch on the wonders of asset management and while I think I can safely say I don't want to do that, I've still got a ways to go on all the other stuff.

I've noticed lately that I haven't been posting on this blog nearly as much as I did last year. There are probably several reasons for that (including my full schedule and non-stop exhaustion), but the main one is probably my pre-occupation with those big questions. Some people view their blogs as a therapeutic tool, a way for them to work out in words the things they find challenging or perplexing. I've never been one of those people. This blog has primarily been a way for me to keep track of the somewhat novel, slightly noteworthy, and occasionally amusing events and encounters that have accompanied my law school life. The big questions I choose to ponder on my own, often for long periods of time. I let them percolate until I'm forced to make decisions and then I usually go with my gut. So, if my posts have been more mundane (and I admit that they've been fairly mundane all along) than usual over the past few months, that's why. I've just been working things out in my own quiet way.

So, I've now had three callback interviews and I really liked two of the firms. I think I have a good shot at getting offers from both and I think there's a reasonable chance that I'll also like at least one of the three or four additional firms that I'll be interviewing with. It's so easy to forget that the toughest decisions are often the ones where all the options look good. I guess I should stop worrying though, the only firm that's given me a decision (I got the job offer) is the one that reminded me of a cult.

In related news, the combination of too much travel, too much talking, and too little sleep has taken its toll. I'm falling apart. My voice is raspy, at best and I'm constantly in need of a nap. I have an earache and my throat is sore. I can usually get by on just a few hours of sleep, but I'm planning to spend as much of Friday snuggled up beneath my new duvet.

Oh, and I should say that the trip to DC went well. In addition to a surprisingly pleasant callback, I also had fun with friends. I met up with a group at a bar right after arriving in DC Tuesday night. The bar is one of the more popular ones on the Hill and it was weird to see so many familiar faces. DC really is a small town (or maybe, more specifically, the political world of DC is a small town). I love it, but I'm not entirely sure I want to return to it just yet. It seems, that this question of "Where do I want to be?" isn't going to resolve itself anytime soon. Shit.

I got back from LA early this morning. In an hour or so, I'll head to LaGuardia so that I can get to DC for another interview early tomorrow. I stayed awake during my only class today only because of massive amounts of caffeine and a very strong fear of public humiliation. Luckily, after I return tomorrow night, I'll have almost an entirely interview-free week before heading back to DC and then out to San Diego. The prospect of all this travel makes me want to call back yesterday's firm and tell them that if they make me an offer right now, I'll accept it immediately and cancel all my upcoming interviews. People shouldn't live like this.

I thought I'd be spending this weekend trying to convince myself that living in L.A. would be sooo horrible. Instead, I've got a really good feeling about the place. My interview on Friday went okay and I have high hopes for tomorrow's. I was pretty jazzed about tomorrow's firm after EIW, so I'm hoping they live up to my expectations. Also, I'm hoping they like me and actually give me a job offer. So, send some charming thoughts my way tomorrow to help me impress my interviewers.

but then I spent more than a few hours watching CNN's coverage of what's happening in New Orleans and decided that I'm pretty content with my hectic life. I found enough time to spend the weekend with old friends and law firms are willing to fly me across the country, house me in nice hotels, and buy me expensive meals just so I'll endure further interviews with their lawyers.
Despite all that, I've spent a fair bit of time whining lately and that's going to stop. Fact is, all the things in my life about which I've recently felt overwhelmed are things that I've chosen. This feeling of control is a pretty great luxury and I just really shouldn't be complaining. At all.

Anyway, the rest of my weekend in New Hampshire was fun. Portsmouth is quaint and the tiny part of Maine that I visited was both pretty and filled with outlet malls. The drive back was fine. One of my friends dropped me off at a train station in Greenwich, CT on his way back to D.C. Greenwich looks exactly like the opening credits of Who's the Boss.

Class today was fine. I expect my 9am class tomorrow will be less so. I switched out of a somewhat lackluster seminar and into one that seems a bit more fun; I hope I'm finally done messing with my schedule. I'm headed to L.A. this weekend and it turns out four or five of my friends are headed there for interviews at the same time. We've got some tourist time, drinking time, and lounging by the pool time planned. Yah, no complaining here.

My first few days of classes (two really, since I have Fridays free) went by quickly and fairly painlessly (the classes where the professors read through the syllabus were a bit mind-numbing). After making it through four classes on Thursday, I attended a surprisingly enjoyable law firm reception and then headed to the first SBA event of the year. After lots of beer, some good conversation, and my first slice of pizza since being back in the city, I went to sleep. A little less than three hours later, I awoke and walked to Chinatown to catch a bus to Boston. I slept a lot on the bus.

I've really only driven through Boston before, so the friends I met up with had made plans to do somesightseeing. Intrepid explorers that we are, we ended walking through most of Boston and Cambridge during the course of the afternoon. My conclusion is that Boston is a charming town. I love old buildings, I love random monuments and I love, love, love Boston accents. Also, Harvard is pretty.

Now I'm in New Hampshire, which is lovely. The last time I was here was almost three years ago. It was fall and the leaves were a million shades of gorgeous and the air was autumn-crisp. Summery NH is also nice, but I think I'll have to come back in a month or so. Today, I think we're headed to Maine and I've never been there before. Hellooooooo Maine!