Irish dancing at Ned Divine’s at the Quincy Market – which, apparently, is pronounced “Quinzy.”

This is Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall. There were giant M&M cookies tempting me from behind the display case glass.

This is the podium at the Old South Meetinghouse. We heard from Professor Laurel Ulrich and Dean Ken Starr on Friday night.

The Old State House at night. The Boston Massacre happened right in front of this building.

The State House. I guess that makes this the new one.

Not sure what this is, but I liked the colors of it at night.

• Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s speech about attorney ethics
• Judge Janice Rogers Brown’s speech about the role of faith in public office, particularly the judicial branch
• Famous Dave’s pork sammiches
• Playing the trivia game on the flights to PHX, and actually winning twice – under the name of "CHAMP"
  • When I won the first time, I thrust my fists into the air in celebration
  • People laughed at me
• Saw no less than 2 bad movies: Jumper, Bee Movie
• Other movies seen, if only partially: Evan Almighty, Pride & Prejudice, August Rush, The Kingdom
• A French lady at the airport stepped out to the curb, opened the door of a random car, and asked "are you a taxi?"
• The girl who said "classless hoes"
• That place on Mill Avenue that just serves custom ice cream sandwiches
• Dragon Boy vs. Brain Surgeon
  • There’s probably only one person who gets that: Joni, who went with me, and should be listed as a highlight as well – thanks for going Joni! (I just wanted to let you know this is the quiet car) (PS No it isn’t.)
    

I went to my first oral argument at the Supreme Court. The case was about Patent Exhaustion. IP cases are rare at SCOTUS so it seemed like a good case to start with. To get into an oral argument as a member of the public you have to wait outside the court in line. Because it was likely to be a popular case, we (me, Chris and Joni) showed up a little after 7:00am. Being January, it was freezing. At some point the sun was hitting the other side of the building. But apparently they’re all about formalities at the court, because we couldn’t get out of line to go stand in the sun – and certainly couldn’t move the line.

The arguments were pretty good. It was clear that neither the justices nor the attorneys really understood the technology being discussed (they were computer chips made by LG, licensed to Intel). Justice Breyer shifted the discussion to bicycle pedals because they could all wrap their heads around those. The actual issue in the case was still muddled, though. The three parties all had very different theories and it seemed that there was no easy solution. The best part was probably when one of the Justices made a comment to the attorney, and he responded with this really coarse “FINE.” They didn’t teach us that technique in Oral Advocacy.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS VS. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Why isn’t it the Toronto Maple Leaves? The Caps handled the Canadians 2-1 at the Verizon Center last Thursday. It was my first NHL game. Like Nascar (which I don’t support), the big draw is the prospect of people getting hurt. Sadly, the checking was kinda weak and only one little fight broke out. It was still fun, though. And it was dollar hot dog night!

US VS. ANNAPOLIS

The law kids get Fridays off, so we decided to make a little road trip this week. Joni, Christy, Corban, the Essigs and I went to Annapolis (for our first time). We went to Cantler’s right on the water. We ordered a couple crab cakes, some hush puppies and about a dozen crabs.

The crab cakes were great. The crabs themselves were pretty decent, but had a pretty low ROI in terms of labor. They were full of a mustard and their ever-present Old Bay spices. I couldn’t tell if the crabs were still salty from the water, or just the spices. I think I’ll stick with crab legs and crabcakes in the future. As for Annapolis, we didn’t find much to do.

DEREK VS. CUPCAKES

I made cupcakes a couple times this week which, I believe, marked my first time. The first batch were chocolate and the second were funfetti – both excellent. A friend suggested a recipe for the chocolate ones which I was cautious about at first, but really enjoyed. Give it a try:

• Chocolate cake mix (she recommends the devil’s food)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 1/2 c. oil
• 1 c. sour cream
• Chocolate chips

Thanks Mary!

Newman : You certainly are in a bind.

George : Yeah. And since you go by there everyday I was hoping that we could help each other out.

Newman : Oh well. Let me perfectly blunt. I don’t care for you Costanza. You hang out at the west side of the building with Seinfeld all day and just laugh it up wasting your lives.

George : Are you going to help me or not?

Newman : All right, all right. I’ll help you but I will except something in return.

George : What?

Newman : Well for starters I want a calzone of my own …..

George : All right.

Newman : And a slice of pepperoni pizza and a large soda and three times a week I will require a canolie.

George : That’s a little steep don’t you think?

Newman : You know I hear Mr. Steinbrenner can be a bit erratic. I would hate to see him when he’s hungry.

George : All right, all right.

Newman : Do we have a deal?

 

 

 

George : But I have to have them by one o’clock. He’s very regiment about his meals.

Newman : I know exactly how he feels. Pleasure doing business with you. Do come again.

Yip, looks like we have a well-formed contract here. There was some bargaining which resulted in a concurrence of wills. I believe the parties intended to be bound. There was consideration, and it seems sufficient and not based on past performances. It’s probably ok that it’s not in writing. The term does seem indefinite, though. So everything proceeded as it should, until…

George at Newman’s apartment

Knock , knock

Newman : Hello. What ‘s this?

George : Well I was dropping of the calzone money for the week …. Um shouldn’t you be at work by now ?

Newman : Work? It’s raining.

George : Soooooo

Newman : I called in sick. I don’t work in the rain.

George : You don’t work in the rain? You’re a mailman. "Neither rain nor sleet nor snow ….." It’s the first one!

Newman : I was never that big on creeds.

George : You were supposed to deliver my calzones. We had a deal!

Newman : I believe the deal was that I get the calzones on my mail route. Well today I won’t be going on my mail route, will I? Perhaps tomorrow.

George : But I’m paying you!

Newman : Yes thank you. ( slams door )

George : Newman !!

Whoa, breach! It seems that George had a basic assumption that Newman would deliver his mail everyday and therefore get calzones everyday. Had the contract been frustrated? Was there a unilateral mistake? Should Newman have disclosed this earlier, possibly changing the agreement?

See, normal people don’t think these things. Normal people shouldn’t think these things. Law school does not a normal person make. I am, instead, the definition of a reasonable person.