8.30.2001
Live from Harvard Law School!
Since my last post, I've been to the Cape for the traditional week with Grandma Gagnon. I had a restful week, and most days where spent on First Encounter Beach in Eastham. We had beautiful weather, and our rental was very comfortable. A great way to relax in advance of the exhaustive readings that await, beginning next week.
So I've arrived, unpacked, registered, and done the normal September academic routine. My dorm is so completely Harvard that I can hardly believe it - marble fireplace, large windowseat, wood-paneled wainscotting... Though I have to truck up four flights to get to my room, I have a friendly roommate named Scott, from Plano, TX, and a great view of Cambridge and the law school campus. Two minutes from Harvard Square on foot... Do I deserve this?
I ran into an old acquaintance from Exeter, who just happens to be in my year-long small seminar called First Year Lawyering. Her name is Casey Carrington... a resident of the Academy's Langdell Hall who went to UChicago, where she did the undergrad program in three years, just like yours truly. The similarities in our educational pedigrees is somewhat bizarre... At any rate, it is great to have an old friend here (especially one with Casey's sense of humor, about the ironies of Exeter and Harvard).
On the intimidating side, we have assignments for our first day of classes, and I've been warned that with our professors (I'm in Section 7, the one with the lavender tablecloths at the Dean's Welcome Lunch) will be expecting us to be quite prepared. To say I'm worried about the challenges of my curriculum is something of an understatement. Even so, I still have a lingering serene feeling that it will all work itself out in the end.
So, as the activities and pressures build around here, I hope everyone is relishing the last days of summer. Things begin around here in earnest on Tuesday, for me with CivPro at 10:20am with Elena Kagan in Pound Hall. I better use my weekend to build up some sleep reserves!
posted 11:49 PM
8.17.2001
Back from Québec, onto the Cape tomorrow at noon. I should, though, be able to be online on the Cape, which means that you can reach me to complain about my tardiness with photo updates.
They're indeed up now, despite having to take the other half of my photos offline. Hopefully, Harvard will have some webspace waiting for me, and you'll then be able to have the full set of albums, from spring 1998 all the way up to the August 2001 updates. Or maybe ITools will get an upgrade...
At any rate, Québec was a whirlwind of siteseeing and excellent meals (way too much driving in our Dodge Caravan though). Meanwhile, I (re)discovered the early Shawn Colvin record, Steady On. It served as a compelling soundtrack for the week in the rapidly Americanizing homeland.
Now, bring on the fried clams! I'll be in Eastham for the entirety of next week, watching sunrises, sunsets, and taking long walks on the two kinds of Eastham beaches, bay and ocean. I'll endeavor to capture some Cape Cod clichés in living color (or sepia-toned) and report back to this amorphous demanding taskmaster, the world wide web, tout de suite.
posted 2:41 PM
8.09.2001
OK, OK, the photos from July and Monhegan are on their way. My iDisk account ran out of room, so I'll be forced to take some photos offline to accomodate the new photos. I'm also thinking about reformatting and reconfiguring the photo pages, so that I'm not reliant on the iTools system. But, boy, is that one a labor-intensive task!
So hold on, they're worth waiting for! Definitely by this weekend, when I'm off with the fam to Québec... There'll no doubt be some gems from that trip too.
posted 10:43 AM
8.06.2001
Closing in on the last days at Foley...
The weekend was a whirlwind - Sarah and the Whiting Street Courchesnes went to visit a Mashpee, MA family friend and then do the annual family beach day with the Sterling, MA Gagnons, all on the Cape. It all ended with a foray up to Amesbury to drop Sarah off for her penultimate week of her supervisorship at Camp Kent. Interested in what went on? I'll have August photos up by the end of the month. I'm still working on Monhegan pics, even as Jesse has completed his attractive spread at his site.
Now, in this week's evening hours, I've got to pack for Québec, the next family journey. Should be another blockbuster photo opportunity, especially with Quinn along for mass storage.
With respect to politics, the White House doesn't seem very compassionate to me lately. Let's drill in the Arctic, prevent defrauded patients from suing their guilty HMOs for punitive damages, stop campaign finance reform, renege on Kyoto... yeah, well we know exactly who "compassionate" applies to: W's wealthy friends. And meanwhile, Al has grown a beard! Check out the photo. Does Gore really think the "Abe" look will fly? I think it's probably just a vacation break from the sharp razors of the campaign.
A mere four and a half days left to go here; I have definitely gotten an inside look at a corporate law firm, just as I had hoped. Most importantly, I had a challenging ten weeks here; and my kind coworker Mo Kenney's admonition to me my first day has proven absolutely true: it was ether feast or famine, each scenario presenting its own difficulties.
Keep checking that photo page; my July/Monhegan photos are bound to pop up there any day now.
posted 11:05 AM
8.02.2001
Back from Monhegan!
This entry is being written on my brand-spanking new TiBook, a beautiful piece of computer machinery about which I have absolutely no complaints. The screen is phenomenally wide, and with OS X running, it's a thing of beauty. DVD movies also play at simply unbelievable clarity. As you can tell, I'm as a pig in mud with my new toy. I'm hoping to make friends with the computer before I embark on long sleepless nights of legal research and outlining at HLS in just one short month. I've named it Quinn, an Irish Gaelic name meaning wise/intelligent (my TiBook has a few gigaflops of computing power and thus a certain abundance of "intelligence") and also conveniently rhyming with the oh-so-apt descriptor - thin.
Monhegan was a blast! Long hikes around the island, delicious meals, warm and welcoming fellowship, and beautiful weather all count as highlights of the trip. My thanks to the Johnsons for their abundant hospitality. I must say, my favorite things about Monhegan are the quiet and the slow speed of the days. An incredible place! You will soon be able to access a full spread of photos from the trip on the Photo page.
Is it August already??? I have but six days left at Foley (a good thing), and then the remaining double vacation to Québec and the Cape. I am definitely ready for more vacationing, judging by the Monhegan experience. And, making me even more wistful for the easeful summer living of the mid-coast, Boston is getting oppressively hot this week. Bring on the weekend!
posted 11:14 PM
