who wants to go to d's diner?

i do!! they totally serve their franks on gormet buns. not your average ma and pa for sure. les claypool said it best when he introduced bob wier as eddie van halen. interesting note for anyone who knows who the hell jeff chimenti is: dude totally had his start (with jay lane, ratdog's drummer) with the first-ever lineup of primus. had a case for today that tangentially involved a diner. this guy had his friend start his (the original guy's) car on fire behind a diner. a couple of dudes tried to put it out and the other guys got in a fight with them. the guy who set the car on fire had it repoed a few days earlier and had gotten it back and immediately fell behind in his payments once again. this guy said he wasn't paying because he felt the dealership owed him a second set of hubcaps, and that the other guys set his car on fire and fought him while he was trying to put it out. the jury was not persuaded. there was more to it, but that was really the part i found interesting. that and the fact that the case constantly referred to the diner, which was entirely incidental.
more class today including a lengthy discussion on car burning dude whose appeal on arson and conspiracy to commit arson was denied. whoa, lost a couple hours there. tonight was good, i have a friend here now, which is very comforting. finally
and that is where my post left off when i was trying to write it last night. good news for all my fans out there in the six one six: i am still the pass-out king. i really wished i had had a camera over the last couple of days so you could see the construction preventing me from leaving the law school the other day, or the apartment i have already moved out of, or maybe the wonderful neighborhood around the apartment. and so many other things.
so what i think i was trying to convey about yesterday is that there was a reception and oath ceremony at the national constitution center. it's like the disneyland of the constitution, which given its limited subject material is somewhat smaller but it had its good points. they let us check out the place for a couple hours before the ceremony, and there was some fun interactive stuff like a stand you could go up to and be sworn in as president with like tv feeds showing you in front of all the other political folks alongside the stand, like the broadcast is when that happens. lots of historical stuff, really good focus on issues that you don't hear enough about in high schools like mine like civil rights and labor issues. i was disappointed to see that the national disaster known as prohibition relegated to a couple of items and a small blurb in a nook between two big glass display cases. the funny thing was in all those nooks there was audio you could only hear if you were standing there so i got to hear a temperance song which was a takeoff on "onward christian soldiers". the "freedom rising" dramatic exhibition which we saw at the beginning was super slick and well put together if a little over the top. the theater it was in was called the richard and helen devos theater, which felt like a real taste of home with that name slapped on something.
the ceremony type thing itself was alright, especially owing to the free beer and hot wings. that's right folks, it happened to me. free beer and hot wings. that morning show like all others may continue to suck, but its laudable namesake was gloriously manifested in my life. it was an odd event to be serving wings at, but they were delicious. funny to see all these super dressed up young people try and eat an ultra messy food while standing up with one free hand. but back to the beer. not only was it free, but they had yard's pale ale (which was actually interesting and unique, something i can't usually say for pales. will have to stop in at their place not to far from school) and victory hopdevil, which is readily available back home but just seems even better this close to the brewery. we had a temple law grad who has been a federal judge for like 40 years or something speak and he was really good, shame i can't recollect his name at the moment. all in all, it was an alright thing to do for an evening.
but then it got even better. like i was trying to type last night i believe, i have at least one person i've met who i wouldn't hesitate to refer to as a friend as opposed to an acquaintance. definitely on the same page as i am with a lot of stuff. she and i went down to nodding head brewery in center city rather than go with everyone else to some fancy expensive bullshit in old city, and i must say they have some pretty damn fine and moreover unique brews for a place that doesn't bottle. i had a berliner weiss (good luck finding one of those in gun rue) and a single hop double ipa. apparently i blew it by not moving out here sooner because its the fifth one in a series, they're just going through the big delicious hops and using only one type per batch, this one was brewer's gold and it rocked my socks. i tried a little of her "monkey knife fight" which is like a blonde flavored with lemongrass and ginger. i was a little wary given how far a little ginger can go but it really seemed like the lemongrass got a front seat. totally delicious and refreshing.
all of those good times were necessary to balance out today. not that today was bad, but not quite as much fun and a lot more had to happen. i was going to move on saturday, but when i went home from school on thursday, there were signs on every damn light post proclaiming that the street would be closed from 830 am to 830 pm on saturday august 25, aka the day i was going to move. so we did it today, which was a hassle, but much more so for my sister and the mason, once again much is owed to them. poor ben was sick too, so he really went above and beyond. but i'm getting ahead of myself.
the day begins with me waking up a little hung over and heading straight to lexis and westlaw training. it wasn't so much training (sort of because i wasn't paying attention) as it was a demonstration of some of the really sweet things both databases can do if you know what you're doing and aren't as intuitive as the basics and a time to hand out emblazoned goods. i got a coffee mug, and a laptop bag, and some books, and some handy guides, and all sorts of good shit. the thing that surprised me was that neither one of the reps tried too hard to promote their product at the other's expense. both seem to have a couple of small advantages. after doing research the old fashioned way with those books in the library i really grasp the enormity of what lexis and westlaw do. it is pretty freakin unbelievable. i could feel my life improve as my registration took effect.
then we had a seminar on the book we all had to read on gideon v wainwright, the case granting impoverished defendants the right to counsel. it's a great story and an important precedent, but it turned out i probably didn't need to listen to some of my fellow students ramble on about it. really wasn't that helpful. there were three profs working the thing, and they were all awesome, but it was kind of intimidating. the ones who spent the most time in the courtroom are sharper than razors; they hear something, make an accepting response and then fire back a question that totally reveals the shortcomings of the previous statement while at the same time illuminating a better path. amazing to listen to, really. but better in other contexts.
they gave us lunch which was nice, and i had to go straight home to get everything i had ever unpacked repacked in anticipation of my sister getting there with the uhaul. got everything together and packed into the truck including the kitties, who were really pretty well behaved. made it to her place and hauled most of my shit up to the third floor. fortunately for the actual residents of this apartment, a fellow student of my sister's generously offered to let me keep some shit in her basement. only problem was after we got everything out of the moving truck and onto the porch, the key to the apartment didn't work and this person was in another state. after some finagling and a phone call my sister got the door open and so all ended well, for now at least. i'm glad to have this fallback that got me out of the hood, but i really can't wait to get my own place together and get everything set up. i just feel like i can't hit my stride until that happens; its like i have no base of operations. but i'm getting by for now. a couple of good apartment leads to call on tomorrow. until then, you should probably get some rest too if you've read all this.