Memos and Mirth - Page 12 of 126 - A Texas photography blog by Dennis Jansen

Oh, you live in Virginia?

Driving into D.C. from Arlington

I am at a rooftop bar on U-Street when one of our friends introduces us to his ex, Jack. We have the obligatory “I hate asking what people do, but…” exchange, and then Jack excitedly tells us about how much U-Street has changed over the years.

Jack: “It has really gentrified. You know, the only gay bar around here was Nellies – can you imagine? I bought my place around the corner from here 10 years ago and the area was rough.”

Me: “So I’ve heard.”

Jack: “I love how much stuff we have here now. What a remarkable change! You know, if you stay in D.C. you should really buy. It was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made!”

We talk about how expensive real estate is in D.C. (it’s ridiculous.) Jack says that there are still many “up-and-coming” neighborhoods, and rattles off some names that I have never heard of.

I then tell Jack the story of my coworker from Dallas who bought a house in an “up-and-coming” neighborhood that never gentrified, so he just lives in the hood and has to ward off stray dogs and drug dealers from his property.

Jack: “Unlike Dallas, The District has a limited amount of space. The gentrification will happen. Plus, the neighborhoods are pretty safe, although I did get held up at gunpoint by my place last year…”

Everyone in our group exchanges horrified looks as Jack launches into his “when I got pistol-whipped in front of my townhome” story.

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LLM / memories / Work

The Offer

Washington DC at night from the SHAW Neighborhood.

Every year, Georgetown and NYU’s LL.M. programs jointly host the “Tax Interview Program” (TIP) — a massive speed-interviewing event where law and accounting firms interview pre-selected candidates.

The bulk of my TIP interview invitations were from Dallas and Houston, so I had a strong feeling that I would be returning to the Texas heat in May.

But then the week before TIP, I unexpectedly received not one, but two (!!) offers in Washington D.C. — and I took one.

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LLM / on the record

I forgot this part

February 27, 2018

Georgetown University Law Center at night.

I went to law school immediately after graduating college, so I did not have to make the same jarring adjustments as many of my older peers. Sure, law school is much different than undergrad, but I was used to being a student.

After going back for my LL.M., I’ve experienced many of the strange adjustments that my older law school classmates complained about, like unusual class times, the lack of a real paycheck, and becoming a hermit for finals.

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art / Washington DC

Blind Whino

February 26, 2018

The upstairs event space in Blind Whino in Southwest Washington D.C.

We explored Southwest Washington D.C. for the first time this weekend and came across this funky multicolored church.

The former Baptist church is now Blind Whino, a nonprofit art gallery and performance venue. It was free to look around, and there were several cool art installations.

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diet / Food

Trying Soylent

February 25, 2018

Original-flavor Soylent nutritional drink.

After first hearing about Soylent years ago, I finally bought a case from Amazon on a whim.

Soylent is a meal replacement drink that purportedly contains 20% of your nutritional needs in each bottle.

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Museums and Monuments

The United States Botanic Garden

February 23, 2018

The interior of the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.

I popped into the U.S. Botanic Garden on the National Mall recently.

The garden is in a building next to the U.S. Capitol and doesn’t charge admission, so I took a quick tour of the place earlier this week.

Although the U.S. Botanic Garden isn’t as beautiful or impressive as the Dallas World Aquarium, it was still a pleasant visit. The entire time I kept thinking, “My grandmother would love this place.”

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Dodging the Rain and Tow Trucks in D.C.

February 13, 2018

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., on a rainy weekend afternoon.

It poured in D.C. all weekend, but that didn’t keep us inside.

We braved the rain for dog walks, bowling, happy hour, and of course, study spots. The rain also coincided with a nice warm-up, which made things much more comfortable, albeit a little soggy.

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Life

Going Wireless

February 11, 2018

My new otium bluetooth headphones.

I recently made the switch to the Google Pixel phone and to my horror, it doesn’t have a phone jack! I am not sure if I am some technological dinosaur who is resistant to change, or whether this is truly a terrible idea — but I miss having a headphone jack. It was such a waste of time figuring out how to workaround this “innovation” and the solution doesn’t feel satisfying.

After toying with a clunky dongle for a while, I finally decided to buy two pairs of wireless headphones from Amazon.

First Pair = Garbage

The first set of headphones was a $21.99 pair from Vafru. Pairing the headphones with my phone was very awkward and they didn’t hold a charge very well. I returned the phones to Amazon within the first week after one of the earbuds stopped charging altogether — it was a complete fail.

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LGBT / Washington DC

TRADE bar

February 10, 2018

A RuPaul's Drag Race quote on the wall of TRADE bar in Washington D.C.'s Logan Circle neighborhood.

After six months in Washington D.C., I’ve made it to most of the gay bars in town. One of my favorite spots so far is TRADE bar in the Logan Circle neighborhood.

TRADE is a gay hipster bar that has a daily happy hour (until 10 p.m.) and plenty of drag events. The decorations are also insane and change fairly often. TRADE is usually cover-free, even when there’s an event going on — which means that it can get insanely packed.

As an aside — one of my problems with many straight D.C. bars is that they tend to be in narrow former-rowhouses and most places don’t enforce fire code capacity limits. The moshpit bar experience isn’t for me. TRADE is one of those rare places that will actually start a line when it gets too busy, so it feels less hazardous than your typical D.C. bar.

A drag performance at TRADE bar in Washington D.C.'s Logan neighborhood.

A drag performance at TRADE bar in Washington D.C.’s Logan neighborhood.

A drag queen bartender at TRADE bar in Washington D.C.

A drag queen bartender at TRADE bar in Washington D.C.

A RuPaul's Drag Race-inspired sign at TRADE bar in Washington D.C.

A RuPaul’s Drag Race-inspired sign at TRADE bar in Washington D.C.

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Museums and Monuments

The Library of Congress

February 8, 2018

The atrium of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

I recently made a second trip to the U.S. Capitol Building. The Capitol museum exhibits were fascinating because I didn’t know how dramatically the Capitol Hill campus changed over the years.

Apparently the iconic D.C. row houses we see today were not as common as the wooden flophouses that used to dominate the city. The clearance efforts remind me a lot of the Minneapolis skid row documentary from a few years ago — gentrification before it had a name?

After meandering through the exhibits, I followed the tunnel to the Library of Congress, which was quite the surprise.

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Just Sayin / Washington DC

The D.C. Disclaimer

February 1, 2018

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

One of the most interesting things about living in D.C. is that there are so many young people with advanced degrees and white collar professionals from all over the world. (The diversity of the city is also a refreshing change.)

However something curious happens almost every time that I find myself at a D.C. party or social event – I get “the D.C. disclaimer” – which is some variation of:

“I hate how people in D.C. always ask, ‘what do you do?’ People here are so concerned about networking and they just want to know what you can do for them and their careers. It’s obnoxious and I don’t want to be one of those people…”

And then the person proceeds to ask me what I do.

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LLM / unsolicited advice

How to Own the Room

January 31, 2018

A palm room inside of Union Station in Washington D.C.

The second semester of my Georgetown tax LL.M. program is marked by a lot of procedural and practical courses. That’s one of the best things about learning from adjunct professors — they tell you how things work in practice and what traps they see other lawyers falling for.

This week one of my adjunct SALT professors shared a networking chart that she keeps a laminated copy of in her car.

Networking is a skill that I’m constantly trying to become less awkward at, so I made a point of looking-up the chart after class. (Also, if one of the leading SALT practitioners in the country tells you to read something, you do it.)

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Museums and Monuments

Running into D.C. celebs during the shutdown

January 21, 2018

The Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol building.

We ran into some political celebrities today.

Michael’s shirt didn’t survive the bowling alley food on Sunday, so we made our way to Union Station after our league finished. We found a suitable (and cheap) replacement shirt at Uniqlo, and then decided to stop at McDonald’s because apparently our diet resolutions don’t apply on weekends.

The Union Station McDonald’s was an unexpectedly strange experience because Kellyanne Conway and her son were sitting at the table next to us.

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LLM / Museums and Monuments

Launching into the semester

January 17, 2018

The interior courtyard of the National Building Museum in Washington D.C.

The second (and last) semester of my Georgetown tax LL.M. program is already underway.

After slogging my way through winter break, starting the semester feels like reaching the end of one of those airport moving walkways before you’re ready.

My classmates and I are beginning the semester in a distracted state — most of us are already in first-and-second round interviews for after-graduation jobs. While this is a wonderful position for us to be in, it is very time-consuming to prep for interviews (and fret about callbacks.)

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dogs / LLM / Washington DC

Hysterics

January 7, 2018

Gunter the chiweenie, hating the snow.

My winter break ended with a cold snap and the dogs had two very different reactions.

Ingrid, the labradoodle, thinks that we are in a winter wonderland. The cold doesn’t bother Ingrid and she is happy to spend her time in the dog park even with a ridiculous wind chill.

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Life

My Favorite Podcasts

January 4, 2018

Man with headphone photo by Enrico Bettella via Unsplash.

I first started listening to podcasts in earnest back in 2015 and the habit endured. I only listen to Soundcloud while working, but podcasts and audiobooks are essentials for dog walks and metro rides.

Here are my favorite recent and current podcasts, in no particular order.

Missing Richard Simmons

This brief six-episode podcast is creepy as it is fascinating. Host Dan Taberski looks into the disappearance of fitness guru Richard Simmons and interviews a wide array of Simmons’ friends and fans (including Willam!)

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Law School / LLM / Productivity

Why Microsoft OneNote is my favorite note-taking app

January 3, 2018

Georgetown Finals

I have used Microsoft OneNote ever since the program came pre-installed on my crappy law school laptop 10 years ago.

OneNote is easily my favorite note-taking app and I assumed that all law students of a certain age used it. So it was to my horror this past semester when very few of my Georgetown LL.M. classmates even knew what OneNote was!

Here’s a very brief look at OneNote and why every law student and writer needs it.

The Basics

OneNote is a free note-taking application from Microsoft. You can download OneNote to run as a desktop application or access it at OneNote.com.

This program is great for note-taking and long-term projects involving multiple documents. I also use OneNote to draft blogs. However, for print-ready essays, I still port everything over to Microsoft Word.

Why OneNote is Amazing

OneNote differs from Microsoft Word in several ways:

The auto-save feature means that your notes are immediately backed-up online and never lost (even if you kill your laptop during finals.)
You can easily see multiple documents as “tabs” in your notebook, which makes it easy to quickly organize your content.
Pages can run horizontally so are not constrained with how many columns you can have in a single document.
Copying and pasting from the Internet automatically includes the source URL at the bottom. This means that pasting a case’s headnote onto a page generates a link back to the full case on WestLaw.

How to Use OneNote for Law School

Here’s how you can get the most out of OneNote in law school (or any academic program.)

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Life / Museums and Monuments

A quiet start to the year

January 2, 2018

The peace dove at the Washington National Cathedral.

It’s the afternoon of New Year’s Eve and I am among a group of tourists standing near the front entrance of the Washington National Cathedral.

We ignore the Neo-Gothic architecture, altars and stained glass because everyone is transfixed on the bookish tour guide. The middle aged woman who greeted everyone nicely a few minutes ago is now glaring up at the second floor balcony above the cathedral entrance.

“Excuse me,” the guide says, barely below a shout. “Get down from there now. NO — that floor is closed. You need to get down here NOW.”

She repeats herself several times. A tourist in a suit tries to help the guide with awkward hand motions to the second-floor trespassers. I can’t see who is on the balcony but it is obvious that they are lingering to take pictures and the tour guide was having none of it.

“Elevator access is shut down to that floor,” the tour guide says to the nearby suited man. “I don’t understand how they got up there or why it’s not clear to them that the second floor is closed!”

“People are just stupid I guess,” he says in a thick Italian accent.

I quickly turn to the statue of George Washington to avoid laughing.

A statue of George Washington at the Washington National Cathedral.

A statue of George Washington at the Washington National Cathedral.

The front entrance of the Washington National Cathedral, near Georgetown.

The front entrance of the Washington National Cathedral, near Georgetown.

Lamps and the vaulted ceiling at the Washington National Cathedral.

Lamps and the vaulted ceiling at the Washington National Cathedral.

A very quiet end to 2017

Minor tourist drama aside, the trip to the cathedral was a pleasant way to end the year. It was also the last trek out that I would make that day.

It became increasingly clear that I was staying in for New Year’s Eve when I still didn’t have any plans by 9 p.m.

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LLM / Washington DC

The Winter Funk

December 26, 2017

The George Gordon Meade Memorial at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

My winter break from school has not gone as expected.

Finals ended about two weeks ago. I wish that I could report that my post-finals life has been full of vigorous exercise, rejuvenating relaxation, and quiet progress on my tax articles – but that is not how things have worked out so far.

My life is highly structured during the semester: Between classes, research obligations and my externship, my schedule is packed from 6:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. most weekdays. Weekends are for long dog walks, brunch, and sightseeing in Washington D.C. (Oh, and more studying.)

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LLM / Washington DC

Stumbling out of Finals Season

December 14, 2017

Georgetown Finals

One of the strangest things about taking the Texas bar exam this summer was that we couldn’t have any liquid whatsoever in the exam room. This was fine for the first half-day, but felt like a strangely cruel rule during the following 8-hour days of the exam.

No coffee?
Not even water?
Wasn’t this bad enough?

On the second day of the exam, a test-taker sitting next to me explained the lore around the “no beverages” rule: apparently one year someone spilled a drink on their neighbor’s computer, frying it, and condemning that student to hand-writing the rest of the exam. I was mortified but quickly forgot about that anecdote when we restarted the test.

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