Homer for Obama

Good luck in Ohio, Rob.

Coming to House Late

Ah, the wonders of TV on DVD. Lost, Prison Break, and now House. I missed the first four seasons before catching onto what most TV watchers have long since figured out: it's one of the best shows going. Mad Men just won an Emmy for best drama, but my vote goes to House.

Like West Wing before it, House is a drama full of laughs, mostly due to its hilarious lead character. Give Hugh Laurie an Emmy! He plays a Vicodin-addicted genius diagnostician who gets away with being a complete asshole because he saves so many lives. You (well, I) watch the show rooting for him to show hints of humanity, but also loving the fact that he mostly doesn't have any.

Gina and I are near the end of season three, and we already know a staff shake-up is coming, because we're simultaneously following the new episodes, which just started last week.

If you have Netflix, start collecting House DVDs. If you're anything like us, you'll churn through 'em.

Steve Loves Stanford

Before the season opener between OSU and Stanford, Steve and I made a bet on our respective alma maters. The loser had to wear a shirt of the winning school to class the following week. OSU was favored, which offset the glaring disparity in punishments. In case you don't know how the game turned out...



He's a big guy (even though Google thinks he's a girl), so he can take care of himself, but he did get some insults hurled at him, and he overheard a girl say matter of factly, "That's just not safe!"

Due to various circumstances, he was late in paying up, so now the picture above is featured on his Facebook profile for the next week. :)

The Many Faces Of...

Google's been busy with new releases. The most famous is Chrome, Google's new browser, but only slightly less well known is this! Picasa face recognition!

Like some of you, I've spent the time tagging photos on Facebook, but now Picasa does that sort of thing automatically! It scans your photos, groups similar faces together, and allows you to identify them in batches. Based on your past identifications, it starts making suggestions.

Some suggestions are like shooting fish in a barrel.



But others are more impressive. Underexposed, overexposed, super tan, wedding haircut, helmet head, I'm not ready to take a picture face, why the f*** are you taking my picture face, even four eyes, no problem.



It even gets Alan with goggle head, shaved head, and spiky head. Not sure I see the Ravi resemblance though.



I guess I looked pretty much the same from 1st to 7th grade, glasses or not. And now we know what Jack will look like, too, poor kid.



Okay, I guess he's more likely to turn out like this (or so Joanne would like Russell to believe). Look, even sunglasses are no problem.



It's pretty sure this is Gina, but it's absolutely positive she's Japanese.



This one pretty much speaks for itself.



Now when I say you look like a girl, Steve, I have Google backing me up. That's just short of Wikipedia saying it's so. To be fair, it thought that Brook and Robin Lopez were girls, too. And it doesn't even know their names.

And finally, validation of my Mii-making skills. Seriously, how awesome is this. Made me giddy as a schoolboy.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Jon Stewart does.

Summer's out for the School Year

Some thoughts on school starting back up this week:

- It's fun seeing all of my classmates again after barely seeing any of them this summer. Can't say the same about being back in class. Still in denial.

- Berkeley is dirty and full of bums and sticky sidewalks (I can hear my shoes peeling off of them), but it sure has a lot of good places to eat. Top Dog, how I missed you!

- The commute from Fremont is looong, but thankfully I only have to make it four times a week. No classes on Friday! Three-day weekends!

- I'm taking three normal classes and one writing workshop. But because of all the construction going on at Boalt this semester, resulting in a shortage of quiet time/space for scheduling final exams, non-1L professors have been encouraged to give their classes take-home finals. So I am going to end up having one big paper and three take-homes. Not sure if that's good or bad - I'll let you know in December - but right now I don't like the feel of this. At least the take-homes are time-limited.

- I'm taking Con Law, the one class I'm genuinely excited about besides the workshop, and it took just two days of reading to come across a reference to a certain friend's Pulitzer-winning father. That was pretty cool.

I want to play golf.

Relief!

Job hunting might be my least favorite thing to do in life, and I've done more of it than I care to remember. Unfortunately, the start of 2L is all about the job hunt.

It starts in three days, when online bidding for on-campus interviews (OCIs) opens up. This is a strategic process based on your grades, work experience, and extracurriculars vis a vis law firm rankings and priorities. For instance, if you are straight out of college and have marginal grades, you probably don't want to bid on the top-echelon firms. A lot of research goes into figuring out the best fits for your profile.

Right now everyone is finalizing resumes, cover letters, writing samples, and bid choices, and next week the OCIs are assigned. In the two waves, you can land up to 30 OCIs!

Then the process really gets going.

On your interview days, you get dressed up, grey or black suit with conservative shirt and tie, and join the herd of other identically-dressed drones. The law firms set up shop in a nearby hotel and shuttle you in and out for 30-minute quickies, during which time they get a snapshot assessment of your personality and a peek at your transcript, which they haven't been allowed to see until then.

You have to be prepared to discuss your writing sample, your classes, the practice areas in which you are interested, etc. You should also have some insightful questions to ask to demonstrate your engagement in the process without revealing a failure to research the firm ahead of time. And try to act like someone who would be fun to work with.

Rinse, repeat 20 to 30 times, as necessary.

Assuming you bid strategically and interviewed well, the call-backs start to come in shortly thereafter. Each call-back usually involves six half-hour interviews at the firm, with various associates and partners, and maybe lunch. Some folks do nearly as many call-backs as they do OCIs, and if you want to work in NYC, DC, LA, etc., then pack a bag. It's a wonder they still hold classes during this process.

When you reach the end of the gauntlet, usually sometime in October, the offers (hopefully) start to come in, and you get to choose where to spend the following summer. And unless you end up hating the place (or they end up hating you), that's probably where you'll start your career the following year. If you end up at a good place, they'll give you a healthy stipend after graduation to carry you through the bar exam and pay for your prep courses.

So basically, the start of your legal career, over two years away, is dictated by a nightmarish process that begins... now.

Thank God I don't have to go through ANY of it!

I got a call today from DLA, and they officially invited me back for next summer! I accepted on the spot. I had hoped going in that I would like the firm enough to not go through OCI this fall; I ended up loving it. All that was left was waiting to see if they would invite me back, and while I was optimistic, today's call was still a gigantic relief. Time to celebrate!