A beginning

I start work at my first of two summer internships tomorrow! I just got back from having frozen yogurt at the shop down the street as a "last night of freedom" treat for myself. Now I plan to turn in early, read a little of my book, and try to make my early wake-up call tomorrow a bit easier. Having taken a few early yoga classes lately should also help, but I'm trying not to overestimate how much.

To give you an idea of what I'll be doing at work, here is my last post of the school year to Harvard's admissions blog:

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/admissions/2010/05/26/summertime-lea-downey/

Wish me luck!

Better late...

Folks, I am so sorry not to have updated you on my big move and new life in Austin sooner! It's been delightfully eventful ever since finals slowly tapered off - not that I've been too busy to write, more that I've been just busy enough to want to spend my spend free time doing things that demand less mental energy than writing.

Like catching up on EVERY GOOD SHOW EVER on Hulu, because I have Internet but no TV here.

I also wanted to wait until the little apartment I'm subleasing here was ready for pictures! It came furnished, but sparsely, and luckily I've had the time to pour some serious energy into making it look cute without spending serious cash.

But first, a little something I put together to show you what an absolute nightmare it was getting from Boston to Austin this time around. Think mechanical delay, followed by cancellation, then a failed standby attempt, re-checking 115 pounds of luggage by myself, and almost six hours in the Boston airport:

Those are all the documents I was given in the course of trying to get here. Since you probably can't read them, they are: boarding passes from Boston to Dallas to Austin; luggage stickers and charge receipt for Boston to Dallas to Austin; an itinerary for Boston to Chicago to Austin; "priority verification" slips (whatever those are) and new luggage stickers for Boston to Chicago to Austin; and finally boarding passes for Boston to Chicago to Austin.

Hard to believe all that happened in one day - my mom says it wouldn't have if I hadn't cried.

Anyway, that's all behind me now, and here is the new place. The living room:

Kitchen area:

Bedroom, seen from the kitchen:

Back patio, seen from the bedroom:

And some touches I got cheap at Big Lots and Hobby Lobby to make the place feel a bit less naked:

I'm excited about spending three months here, and I'll certainly update you as things develop and my summer work begins!

Big news

I apologize for not posting in so long! I'm in the middle of a long and drawn-out Housing Law and Policy paper that's sucking up every bit of my will to write.

However, I just had to make a quick update about some incredibly exciting news for the Harvard community. President Obama is naming our former Dean, Elena Kagan, to the Supreme Court today!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/us/politics/10kagan.html?hp

Dean Kagan was still around for my first semester at Harvard, making her the person who welcomed my class to the school during Orientation, poked fun at my professors at that gorgeous dinner in the rare books room at Langdell, and always shot big, warm smiles at me in the hallways during those first difficult months.

"Beloved" would be an understatement of her popularity at school, so I know I'm not alone in my joy seeing this fabulous woman achieve her biggest dream. I literally cannot wait for her to be confirmed and start bringing all her wonderful qualities to the Court.

The competition is over, and Elena won!