Mile-High Musings

Sitting here in a nondescript Starbucks in the middle of the 16th Street Mall in Denver, I can't help but wonder how I got here.  I mean, obviously I know how I got here, but it all happened so fast (and it's about to end just as abruptly) that when I think about it, I feel like there's an element of importance to the event transcending a mere trip to look for an internship.

See, Marisa and I want to live here after I graduate.  And, given how the law profession works, that means I have to apply for jobs out here for next summer, even though we'll be in Boston until mid-2010.  So I started the tedious process of job-hunting in the Rockies, with only a cloudy clue as to how to proceed.  After all, I'm not too familiar (or comfortable) with situations or processes that entail that impersonal kind of formalism.  We've all been in those situations, the ones where there are preapproved topics of conversation, you don't let them get to know you too personally, after all.  (I never understood that).  I'm talking office-type job interviews, applications for various things, all that.  But I digress.

Anyway, thanks to some very friendly people who know people who know still other people, I was able to finagle an interview with the Colorado Attorney General's Criminal Justice Division.  They asked me to come out to interview face-to-face, but, of course, government agencies don't pay travel expenses like private law firms do.  So I put a dent in my student loans/Christmas shopping funds and came out.  I had a great interview.  The people that I spoke with were very personable, very genuine, and I didn't feel like I was in some rigid conversation where innocuous remarks or anecdotes were liable to be taken to define my personality for the interviewer.  I felt very comfortable and I sincerely hope they give me the job.  Later, as I was talking to one of the attorneys privately, she told me that interns in their office usually have great success getting jobs in the Denver area.  That really got me excited.

So now I'm sitting in this nondescript Starbucks on 16th Street Mall in Denver, sipping hot chocolate (with salted carmel--highly recommended) before heading back to the airport to catch the red eye home in time to embark on a 2-day Family Law binge before my final starts.  And I feel like, in the middle of the frenzy of pre-wedding events and finals bearing down hard and quick, I've somehow taken the first step to securing a future, not only for myself, but for my fiancee.  It's one of those few times where part of me actually feels like I can make something of myself in this world, that I can provide and thrive in society and that my family can do the same.  

It feels good.  

State of The Todd, November 13, 2008

Sitting here in my dimly lit room, flat light from an overcast morning seeping unobtrusively through the blinds, I sit on my couch, plumbing the depths of my mind for the motivation to pick up the Evidence casebook lying ominously on the floor in front of me.  I should do my Evidence homework.  It's probably not even that much reading, in reality.  And yet here I am, blogging instead.  

Bathroom break...

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, Not doing Evidence.  I'll get to it soon, I'm sure.  In the meantime, for those of you who have ever wondered what twisted things must go on inside my white-haired skull, please enjoy this State of The Todd address for November 13, 2008.

1.  I sprained my ankle pretty good last night stepping off a curb on Hearbreak Hill walking home from the T.  That's part of the reason I'm sitting on my couch right now, to take weight off the thing.  It's ridiculous to me how something like that happens when I'm just walking on a road, but them's the breaks, as they say.  I didn't tend to it until about three hours later, after the Warren Miller movie, which ironically is all about skiing and snowboarding.  And here I am pining for powder days with a bum ankle.  If it snows any time within the next two weeks, I'll know for sure God loves to laugh at me and you can't ever tell me otherwise.  

2.  On a related note, Boston curbs have now punctured two of my tires and sprained one of my ankles.  As if the exorbitant parking tickets weren't enough, now they're coming after my physical well being and my car's drivability.  Augustana had no idea what they were in for when they decided to go to Boston.  Or maybe they just didn't have cars.  

3.  I have interviews pending with the Colorado Attorney General's Office and the United States Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City.  So my summer job prospects aren't totally dead, which is more than I can say for a lot of my classmates.  Even so, I'm going to have to go through this job application rigmarole again next year, while the few that actually got private law gigs will more than likely lock up their careers by the end of this coming summer with lucrative job offers from their summer firms.  It's fortunate that I came to law school with the intent to go the government lawyer route in the first place, but I value predictability and stability, especially in financial matters, and I can't help but feel a little jealous of those people who can legitimately say "screw class, I'm making six figures next year!"  That must be a nice feeling.  

4.  I hate to be "that guy," but I gotta say, my fiancee rocks.

5.  Song of the Day:  "Unglued" by Stone Temple Pilots

6.  Lately I've found myself wishing I was six again.  I always said that if I could be one age forever, I'd be six.  Some people say 18 or 21, because you can do all this cool stuff.  But my thinking is, if you don't even know what that cool stuff is, what does it matter?  When you're six years old, you've got no drama, no problem that can't be solved by a half hour of Sesame Street, and no demands on your time besides the sandbox out back and your dog (if you're lucky enough to have one).  The pinnacle of your existence is being able to ride your two-wheeler around the block by yourself, and it's like you've won the freaking Tour d' France when you do.  I got three square meals a day from a Mommy that loved me, and spent my days climbing, jumping, rolling, and running everywhere because everything was just so freaking cool.  Look, a pile of dirt!  Look, a tree!  Check out my bike!  Awesome!  Then I got to play with my dad when he got home.  Then I went to bed with a smile on my face, even while AIDS and cocaine flooded the streets and our military made incursions into Panama and Grenada.  And don't forget that the Iran-contra scandal was around that time too.  But it was ok, because tomorrow I was going to play Nintendo at my friend's house.  

If you asked me if I'm happy now, I'd say overall, yeah, I am.  But it is my firm belief that happiness is never purer than it is in the mind of a child.  And like a lot of things, you don't know what you have until it's gone.  And I miss it dearly.  

Obama and Home Security

I've got something I'd like opinions on. Apparently our president-elect is advocating the formation of a sort of homeland security force, a kind of civilian security squad to keep the peace at home. I don't know if this is a kind of formal national police or a looser militia of sorts. It sounds kind of like the Chilean state police where I used to live, the Carabineros. Basically, in Chile, towns don't have their own police forces, the national police keep the peace and enforce the law. I don't know if it's a branch of the military or the executive or the legislature, but at any rate, it's really quite convenient and no different than a city police force.

That being said, to my knowledge Chile doesn't have the state-federal setup that we do, and I don't know how closely their system of checks and balances mirrors ours. It seems like overkill to me for a national police force to spring up in America, since there's already local and state police entities, FBI, ATF, DEA, DHS, the National Guard, and the Coast Guard. I don't see where a national civilian security force that Obama favors would have any real effect. I also wonder who they'd answer to. It would be an entity based in the executive power, so would they answer to one of the agencies I just mentioned? Or Obama himself? That latter idea is a scary proposition because it starts to resemble a gestapo of sorts, but I don't see that happening.

On the other hand, I can see the advantages of a national security force backing up or working in tandem with state and local police forces to relieve the pressure already on them. Places like airports, train stations, entertainment venues, nuclear reactors, and other high-probability targets where you normally see National Guard or regular soldiers could probably be taken under the watch of such a force, reducing burden on the military.

I'd like some opinions. What are your thoughts?