Too much paranoia

I been dipped with double meaning/ I been stuck with static cling

The library is starting to get spooky. I've got eight classes left and then the finals start on the 12th. I'm not too excited. I've got a lot of work to do. That means I'll either blog more or watch more crappy movies. Outlining? Yeah, of course I'll do some of that too.

Yahoo tried to get me to make an avatar thingy. It wasn't very realistic, there's no way to select a panza, the five o clock shadow is the wrong color of hair, I can't get side burns or a mono brow. I think I'm done with it. I did get my flat nose though.

If anyone has an outline for civil rights litigation I would appreciate it.

I got to visit a couple of my cousins last week. I hadn't seen one of them in about 6 years. He is a damn big aryan boy. He said I was a damn big mexican. We then ate a disgusting amount of food and now I am sleepy.

Any idea what you're getting your mom for Xmas? I need ideas. I usually have a good one by this time of the year. I have no idea what to get anyone. I'm going a little nutty.

I put a couple of new blogs up on the sidebar. I swear to god I had an idea for a blog post. My mind is turning to scrapple. I need a punk rock show.

Coffee and Memos

This memo's not going to write itself. Myself seems unwilling to write it as well. Maybe more coffee will help me concentrate. No I should write a page and then reward myself with coffee, coffee and a muffin. I hate this memo. I also hate specific intent, and the banner ads with the emoticons that talk.
I've already had a lot of coffee today. I need to drink more and then tie myself down to the desk and force myself to write. What's the saying, "Writing's the easiest thing in the world. Just sit down in front of the typewriter and open a vein." Opening a vein seems excessive for a short memo. My brain is muddled, it doesn't want to work with me to do anything except read novels. The courthouse is open Friday. I really wanted a couple days off from work and school. Guess not, one day is fine, I'll totally recharge and get some sleep and not drink too much coffee and be all set to go.
Two weeks before finals is not the time to burn out. I need a good show, and a coffee...
coffee and a muffin.

There's Too Much Caffeine In My Blood Stream

And a lack of real spice in my life.
I've been really busy but I don't feel like I'm getting anything done. Probably b/c I'm not getting anything done. I can't figure how I do that.

Apparently my last post ended up on some blog about D.C. as a "scathing tourist report". I didn't really think that post out. Although I still think D.C. is a square town I do agree with the comment that pointed out that I only went to square parts of town. I would also like to once again mention that the first group I met was the Federalist Society.
One thing the comment made me think about was the fact that half of D.C. is this set up to cater to this wealthy transient population of university students and hill staffers while the permanent residential neighborhoods suffer. The gentrification has been nuts in the last ten years.

As to the other comment about the person who designed the WWII memorial not thinking about race, that was kind of my point. I don't think representations of white America represent all of America. The fact that black people were questioning why they were fighting to help Jews when they lived under a racist system that denied them equal protection of the law and basic rights, Mexicans were responsible for the food supply and getting cheated out of their wages or were the victims of riots, and Japanese Americans were fighting in the war (The segregated all Japanese American units, 442 Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry became the most decorated military units in the history of the U.S.) while their families were in concentration camps tells me that their historical experience was significantly different than the white experience. The fact that the historical contributions of racial and ethnic minorities is ignored once again bugs me. I don't think it's all that big of a hassle for the designers of the memorial to at least recognize the most decorated unit in U.S. military history or a fighter group who sank a destroyer with only machine gun fire. But I guess that's too much to ask. I should feel my family's contributions to the American war effort are represented by the same people who cheated them out of their wages.

In a strange twist I'm the number one google hit for "pocho gay". Maybe that's not that strange.

My Trip To D.C.

Well, I made it to D.C. and sat in the hotel for two days straight. I made it out to Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan. I’ve come away with some opinions of D.C. The people are lame. I saw a lot of trendy people but they all seemed young. The whole town has the feel of a Young Republicans convention. On the weekend nights there seemed to be lots of people who were ridiculously drunk being ridiculously obnoxious. The average age looked about 21 or 22. The guys paraded in suits and the women were dressed up like mannequins at Nordstroms. It has a very different vibe from Portland. There were no handmade clothes, nothing looked thrifted, no tattoos, no piercings, no goofy outfits that will be hip in two years, no good beer, no good coffee, no good music. Intellectually D.C. may be very alive, I don’t know. Culturally it is barren. For the most part young Republicans are square. (This impression may also have influenced by the fact that there was a big Federalist Society meeting at my hotel. Those people freak my shit right out.)
D.C. is also hopelessly tech unfriendly. I can’t find a wireless connection anywhere. This will probably end up getting posted at the airport in Minneapolis. (This ended up not being posted in Minneapolis b/c I couldn’t find a fucking electrical plug. Internet 1 Antonio 0.)
I did get to do some touristy stuff. I saw a couple monuments. The new WWII monument is huge. It makes the WWI monument look kind of pathetic. There are relief sculpture panels around the monument depicting events during the period. I know most of you will be shocked that none of the panels depicted any Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, or African Americans. But of course the white folks of the U.S. won that war all by themselves.
By the White House there were some people protesting torture. That was kind of sad. That really shouldn’t be something someone has to protest against the U.S. government about. I’m of the “torture is bad” school. I don’t know what euphemism the other school is going to take as their name, the “McCain’s a pussy” school?

I went to the National Archive and took a picture of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Marbury’s commission for the bench. It was nice to see that Article VI is still on the Constitution. I know it’s towards the end but maybe President Bush will get around to reading it before the end of his term.
I also made it to the Supreme Court Building. I couldn’t find any “My attorney appealed my case all the way to the Supreme Court Of The United States and all I got was this lousy T-shirt” T-shirt. If anyone does get around to making those t-shirts I submit alternative endings of “all I got was this lousy denial of writ for certiorari.” and “this lousy 4-3-2 opinion.”

I also got a picture of this guy, Rochambeau. It’s like the game. They should redo the sculpture and have him playing rochambeau. I looked around for a plaque explaining who he was. I was hoping for a story of a French advisor who kicked British troops in the crotch, but there wasn’t one. I also considered doing the “Dead White Guys in Knickers” tour but it looked pretty long when I saw how many statues of dead white guys in knickers there were around town.
After all that walking I’m kind of tired. I don’t smell too good either. I feel bad for whoever has to sit next to me on the plane. (Turned out to be a fat guy who spilled over onto my seat. Motherfucker, I do the spilling.)
Anyway, I’ll be back in Portland soon and after some sleep I plan to go to work, school, and $.25 taco night at the dive bar around the corner. After that I may tell you all about the wonderful experience I had at the hotel. Rock on.

Restless Natives

I learned a couple more things in court this week. A "World's Largest Source Of Natural Gas" T-Shirt can be the tasteful apparel to sway a judge at any DUII hearing. That wasn't my client. Also if you show up to court you've overcome the biggest hurdle in getting your plea deal. That wasn't my client either. They don't show up.

I went to a couple of shows...
actually I think I went to four and an opera. I remembered to bring my camera to exactly one. Recognizing my inability to remember my camera I packed it first. I'm going to D.C. I'll probably have to spend most of it in the hotel, if you're lucky maybe you'll get pictures of the lobby or something.
The best show was far and away the Reigning Sound. They totally blew me away. There's a feeling I get when I'm at a really good show. I got it at the Reigning Sound. They're right in there with Arcade Fire, Teengenerate, Quicksand, Guitar Wolf and 7 Seconds(about 10 years ago). If you get the chance at all to see them I highly recommend it.
I would give a collage of glossy sweaty photos of Greg Oblivian if I had remembered my camera. Instead you get on picture of the Deadly Snakes who are also musical genius but a little more low key.

As many of you recognize I am a freakin' genius. As such I decided to dump all the research I've done on my big paper, the A Paper (It's like a thesis but not quite). I'm starting over. I'm going to try something else b/c I didn't dig my old paper. That's only like another 100 hours of work I get to do this week! Damn I'm sharp.

I can't work blogger to get the pic in the right place and I want to post this before blogger decides I logged out.

I hope it's not raining in D.C. I'll try and post more. Rock On!

What I Learned In Court

I learned that you should let your client stand close to the table. This way if he's so drunk he can't see straight then he can support himself. I also learned that judges have a good sense of humor.
In Oregon the state changed the way it managed courts in the early 90's. Because of that switch a lot of paperwork got lost. Ocassionally a defendant will get off of a charge or not get an enhancement b/c they can't find the paperwork from before the switch. It happens frequently enough that I've already seen it a couple of times in my two weeks.
This makes me wonder about New Orleans. The amount of papework and evidence that's been lost has to be staggering. I wonder how many people are going to get their charges dismissed b/c the state can't find the original poice reports, court records, or evidence. I also wonder how many people's paroles are going to be screwed up b/c letters showing completion of community service or negative urinalysis have been destroyed.

I decided to go as a crazy cat lady for Halloween. It worked out okay. The five o clock shadow really helps me pull off a very feminine look.
I went to see The Spits last night. I was going to take my camera and post pictures. B/c I usually forget to empty the memory card or put full batteries in I doubled checked. Then I set my camera by the door so I wouldn't forget it and went to the show. Thus there are no pictures. There are two more shows this week. Lets see if I cna remember my camera even once!