Travelblogue: Week 9 of 13: The Gadfly

Monday, July 9: My Gadfly

Today I met an abrasive old man that blatantly challenged my life choices. Socrates, anyone?

I was standing in the casual carpool line, minding my own business, when this hold-over from the hippie activist era starts talking to me. And before you know it it's:

"You know, I was an HLS grad too, back in '67. I used to do sit-ins in the South. I hate George Bush and his cronies. This country's going to shit. I'm a lawyer for poor people and civil liberties. You shouldn't work for a corporate firm. That's for greedy, soul-less sell-outs. I pay my summer intern $15 an hour. And they do real, purposeful, IMPORTANT work, not like you pencil-pushing slaves to the Man."

I looked at his beat-up briefcase with frayed corners, his low-rent clothes, his smug expression of contempt, and was quite dismayed when we happend to share the same car to work.

Tuesday, July 10: A World of Judgment

Today I went to, what felt like, a roomful of judgment.

I attended one of the many fundraising meals that big law firms sponsers to support legal defense funds for the indigent, battered, and generally dispossesed.

The cynic would say: this is how Biglaw market themselves to new recurits as kind and caring.

The optimist would say: this is how Biglaw shows that it can be kind and caring.

The one steeped in a guilt-based western religion would say: this is how Biglaw purges its guilty conscience from its seven-figure salaries and pencil-pushing slavery to the Man when it should be devoting itself to defending the poor and powerless.

Usually this kind of event wouldn't cause any introspection on my part, but then who should show up, but my own personal Gadfly! How did he find me in a roomful of over 500 stuffy suits?

Then came the predictable barrage of disparagements:

"Don't you wish you were doing this kind of work for the poor and oppressed? You rode a taxi here? My gosh you have money to burn! It's only a 20 minute walk. I guess you need to go back to your "important" work now (dripping with sarcasm)."

If ever I felt like an acolyte of a guilt-based western religion, it was today.

Thursday, July 12: We've got to stop meeting like this.

I went to a reception thrown by the local bar association for Judges. It's a meet-and-greet, press-the-judge's-flesh kind of mingle with big and small law firms alike.

Guess who I saw again? Yeah.

So he insists that I set up a lunch meeting with him next week and I'm too tired to fight it. Maybe he'll say something interesting. Maybe he'll just stoke the fire of guilt some more. And maybe I'll rethink my whole life.

Postscript:

It would be easy for me to dismiss this man. It would be easy to justify any job as fulfilling the cultural mandate to subdue the earth in some regard. Each worker, in his own fashion, is making some order out of chaos.

It would be easy to dismiss the large checks as merely a hazard that "comes with the territory." And as we can all recite, it's not money that is evil, but the "love of money," aka greed.

But what is not easy to dismiss is my own fear of poverty, my strong desire for secuirty, and the fact that everyone's standards of what is "moderate living" is only relative.

I should also say that I wish never to arrogate myself as judge over those who may choose what the Gadfly disapproves of. Who am I to say who is good and who is evil, or even what is good and what is evil? The heart of man is a nasty labyrinth. His true motives, who can know?

Travelblogue: Week 8 of 13: July Fly By

Sunday, July 1: Not Memorable

Monday, July 2: Not Memorable

Tuesday, July 3: Very Memorable

Today the firm went to CIRCUS SCHOOL!!!!!

That's right, I said CIRCUS school. Not clown school, that's different. But it was terrifying in another way...the trapeze.

First I saw the teacher on the trapeze and thought: Hell no, I'm not doing that.

Then they put a big harness belt on us. Tres chic, no?


I was shaking like a leaf, climbing up the 30 foot ladder.



Hands out, grab the bar.


Get ready to go...(They had to shout "Go!" at me three times before my leaden legs found the strength to jump off the platform).


And here I am, trying to swing my legs onto the bar so that I can...


let go of the bar and swing from my legs only!


So relieved to hit the net.


It was thrilling, and by thrilling, I mean terrifying. I want to do it again! Kind of...

July 4th: A Living National Monument

Spent the day with fam, hiking in Muir Woods, the only living national monument.


The misty shade of giant redwoods shielded us from the heat wave...


and made me feel like a child, lost in a land of wonder.


Brother lead the way...


Mom and Dad followed...


and stopped to pose for kodak moments,


while Brother studied the map.



And then we stopped by the gorgeous California coast line. Because we can. Because it's California: the best place in the world to live.


Thursday, July 5: Working hard to finish a memo due tomorrow.

Friday, July 6: Working hard to finish a memo due today.
Didn't finish!

Saturday, July 7: The Luckiest Day in the Year

Today I planned a Girl's Day Out in the City with Mom to celebrate her birthday.


First we went to get massages here:


Then had a swanky lunch here:



And then "shopped" at high-end stores (and by shop, I mean browsed and laughed at who would pay $120 for a shirt at Saks when the same thing at Ross would be $12.99).


Today marks the first time in our lives that I treated my mom to eat and recreate. Before I was too cash-strapped to even foot part of a bill from a greasy Chinese joint. But now, I have arrived: full-fledged adulthood.

Sunday, July 8: Self-imposed Deadline

I went into work today to finish the memo I couldn't finish on Friday. It felt good to finally get it done and not have to ask for yet another extension (which I've done at least twice for each assignment so far!). Yikes.

Blogistically Correct

Blogs are getting boring, including my own.

No one says anything remotely eye-brow raising. Everything's so carefully edited.

There's nothing juicy, nothing racy, nothing even racist or controversial.

That's why I love celebrity-bashing blogs.

News FLASH

And yes, I mean a literal flash.

As I descended the steps to the subway terminal I glanced at the girl in front of me. Did I see, oh my, what? Yes. Indeed. A nipple.

I stared at the girl in Southeast Asian costume jewelry and a long skirt. She was clearly decked out in some cultural performance costume. And she was bare-breasted.

Yes.

There she was. Lovely and dark and descending the steps of the Embarcadero subway station in Downtown San Francisco. Topless.

If I weren't rushing off to catch a train I would've followed her around to look at other people's reactions. For the 5 seconds she was in my sight I didn't notice any gawking or dropped jaws. And I think that shocked me most of all: that no one seemed to notice.

Travelblogue Week 7 of 13: Over the Hump

Sunday, June 24: Feeding Frenzy

Had lunch with the George's with food from a charming French Bistro, a delicious wine courtesy of Stephen, and brought it back to their sunny terrace to enjoy. All that food you see is mine: salad, french fries, steak sandwich, and the BEST of all, a warm crispy puff pastry filled with apricot.


After lunch I swore I could not eat for at least 12 hours. But then I had a delightful bakery date with Tammy and could not resist the various types of chocolate cupcakes from Love at First Bite.


It was more like pain at first bite: delicious but painful when already stuffed beyond capacity. And yes, after 7 weeks of this I have gained a LOT of weight.

Monday, June 25: The usual

I'm getting more and more brazen at work. Today I took an unprecedented TWO naps at my desk, one before lunch and one after.

Tuesdsay, June 26: Go Giants.

Went to a Giants game after work to watch them play the Padres. I don't know the first thing about baseball and could care less about the game. But I figure it would be nice to see the inside of a luxury box, get some free chili dogs and beer, and chew the fat for a while.


I went home before the fifth inning, stuffed. Again. Did I mention I'm gaining weight?

Wednesday, June 27: Out of control

My napping is getting out of control. I sat in on a conference call today with a partner and an associate. As they went through the finer points of a fifty page purchase agreement I caught myself nodding off. Right in front of the partner! Very bad form.

Thursday, June 28: Tightening the screws

I really need to get a memo done by Monday but all the napping has really taken a toll on my productivity. I drank three cups of coffee throughout the day to try to combat the soporific effect of legalese and over-eating.

Friday, June 29: Goodbye, we hardly knew ya'

One of the six Summers left today. We all felt sad to see him go since he's a genuinely great guy. And I felt a twinge of jealousy as he left with an offer in his pocket. I wish that were me.

Saturday, June 30: Notorious T.O.T.


This little guy is a playa' for real. He loves the ladies, loves the bling (kept fingering my gold watch, ring, and earrings), and like most playa's, he's got a monkey on his back (but this one is a literal monkey backpack/harness with leash).


Had dinner with him and his parents...


and afterwards he showed me his crib, literally.