Guns and Progress

Recently, after a day of hiking in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, our group of six settled into a wooden cabin with a bottle of Mezcal, a roaring fire, and feelings of freedom and curiosity that apparently come from trekking 10 miles through remote Mexican villages.  We got into a debate about gun control, and I was soon hopelessly telling everyone (including two young French women and a Bosnian woman) that "guns are deeply entrenched in American culture."

There is a sense of inevitability when we speak of this country's failure to meaningfully address gun violence. A headline from today's New York Times reads, "Gun Control Bid Had No Real Chance, Despite Pleas."

But the truth is, gun policy shouldn't inevitably fail.  Guns aren't "entrenched in American culture," certainly not to the extent that sensible gun safety laws, supported by a majority of Americans, can't pass in the Senate. The NRA is entrenched in politics, and they have many of us lamenting, yet affirming, supposed "gun culture." When we recognize the myth of that culture, and the accompanying myth of inevitability, we will be empowered to progress.

That something has always been is not a reason why it must always be.  Progress is not a natural evolution from the traditional to the contemporary, but a schism between what we think we know in the present and what we imagine for the future.  Our country started as a slave nation, founded on the myth of black inferiority, which was perpetuated by an economy based on free labor.  To many, I'm sure abolition was an elusive, unrealistic dream.  More recently, gay marriage has upturned "entrenched" ideas about marriage.

Yesterday, Gabrielle Giffords wrote a rightfully angry and defiant opinion in the New York Times in response to the Senate's blocking the most recent bipartisan gun-control bill.  In it, she shames the senators who cowered to the NRA instead of standing up for the innocent lives that have been marred by gun violence.  And she warns the senators who affirmed the purported status quo:

"Our democracy’s history is littered with names we neither remember nor celebrate — people who stood in the way of progress while protecting the powerful." 

Feminism

I've been reading Gloria Steinem and she's blowing my mind.  In one of her essays, she defined a feminist as "anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men."  When I read this, I asked Robby, who was sitting on the couch across from me, if he is a feminist.  He asked me for a definition and I read him the one I just quoted.  So he said, yeah, he is a feminist.  And then I asked him, what definition could I have given him that would have made him reply no?  How cartoonish our ideas of feminism must be, if I couldn't think of a serious definition for "feminist" that would be objectionable.

Why has a term defined by equality become taboo?  I'll now call myself a proud feminist, and I hope my husband does too.

Thought of the day

The other day my friend asked me if I need to lift my boobs to clean under them.  It made me realize how little we know about each other's experiences.

I'm Baa-aack!

After kind encouragement from friends (shout-out to Jordan and Jacob), I’ve decided to start my blog again. I’ve been itching for a creative outlet, and have found myself fantasizing about blog topics and sentences. You know when an idea or thought comes to your mind and you can’t help but smile? That’s been me thinking about writing again.

Another reason I’m starting my blog again is I’ve recently been inspired by two great writers. The two writers are different in their stories, but similar in their styles. Their styles reflect the kind of writer I aspire to be - honest and self-aware, but not confessional or indulgent. I recommend checking out both of their work. The first, who I met over Thanksgiving, and whose blog my mom passed along to me, is named Cheri Walton. Cheri lives in Eastport, Maine, the small beautiful coastal town where my parents live, and she is a terrific artist. And, I’ve just discovered, she’s also a terrific writer. Her blog can be found at http://www.eastport.blogspot.com/.

The second writer is Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She came to Book People in Austin last week for a talk and book signing of her memoir, My Beloved World. I was in the crowd of people who got to hear her speak, and I knew right away I’d love her book by the way she conversed with her audience. She was engaging, bright as can be, and humble - but without false modesty. I devoured her book in four days. Her story was inspiring, and her writing delightful, but it was her character that really shone through. My praise cannot do the book justice, so trust me. Read it.

I hope it’s not hubris to be so inspired by these two. But even if it is, I’m glad to be writing again.

TLF

When I got to UT Law I heard pretty quickly about an organization called TLF, or Texas Law Fellowships. My mentor is on TLF and she's one of those people who makes everything sound like a ton of fun, but that wasn't the only reason I decided to join. TLF raises money every year to fund law students working in unpaid public service internships in the summer. This is a really important thing to do because without this money, many of the nonprofit organizations would not be able to host the intern and many interns would not be able to work for the organizations. I joined TLF because I loved the idea of law students raising money largely from other law students in order to help fund, yes, law students. The self-sufficiency of it impressed me. Professors also get in on the action, donating time and money to support our fundraising efforts. It's an incredibly cooperative endeavor and I am so proud to be a part of it.

I also love how every time TLF thinks of spending money on something we remind ourselves that any overhead we have only takes away from a fellowship we can give. TLF is one of those rare fundraising operations that actually gives almost all of its money to the people for whom the money is raised. Now you can probably tell where I'm headed.

Because [insert familiar economic explanation here], this year we have a ton of applicants and not a ton of money to fund. Our Spring pledge drive starts tomorrow and we need money! Check out our website (http://www.utexas.edu/law/orgs/tlf/) and please chip in. When you donate $25 or more you receive 6 votes to choose which students you want to see receive a fellowship. Look on the PayPal site for a link to write in your votes. There is a list on our homepage of the applicants so you can see the awesome nonprofit work UT law students are doing and choose your votes accordingly. By donating you will feel vicarious fulfillment through the students' acts of selflessness.

TLF also has a sweet motto "make love not law review," which makes us sound like a crew of free-loving intellectuals who don't care much for prestigious labels. If that doesn't make you want to give us money I don't know what will.

postscript

I just reread the last post and I am afraid I may have overplayed the relative monotony of this semester. Perhaps these points aren't redeeming at all, but I played on a skee-ball team last week (and we kicked ass), I recently perfected my migas recipe, and I am absolutely pumped for my summer job working in capital defense. And I have been listening to an old Modest Mouse album a lot lately, which just somehow makes my life feel more cool and exciting.

1L Spring

Today in Contracts our professor pointed out that we're on class 25 of about 50 this semester. Halfway through. A maddening idea.

This semester has been so different from last, which is a big reason I've been awful at keeping up the blog. Last semester I came to Austin and UT with my eyes wide and my jaw often dropped. I had no idea what to expect and I was ready for the challenge of accustoming my life to this weird city and to the equally but very differently weird experiment of being a first-semester 1L. Though there were pangs of loneliness, I certainly never regretted displacing myself to what was in many ways, a foreign land. The learning curve for a first semester 1L is incredibly steep, and seeing the day to day molding of my mind was fascinating and extremely validating. By the end of the semester I was encapsulated by law school and though it was trying at times, I loved every moment of it. I was high on the challenge of school and the newness of my life in Austin. I was constantly inspired and I tried to reflect that in keeping up this blog.

And now onto this semester. My love for school has not waned, nor has my appreciation for this great city. But the newness has faded and I am settled into my life as a law student more than ever. My life is mostly consumed by school and the various extracurriculars that have seemed to creep up on me. Plus I had the extra weight of finding a summer job. In one word, this semester is more focused.

I could tell the first day of classes that this semester was going to be a different thing. People raised their hands, almost unheard of first semester. Gone were the butterflies fluttering around the stomachs of fall 1L's. It was as if people had been doing push ups over winter break to get their biceps in tip-top hand-raising shape. Depending on grades from last semester people either got it in their minds that they needed to step it up, or they needed to maintain their edge. Either way, the wide-eyed fawns of last semester were replaced by a herd of mature bucks. This can be intellectually enthralling or totally annoying.

Though it's not obvious, I like the focus of this semester. However it has turned me into a bore. I wake up at 6 AM, I am home at 7 PM. I cook a healthy dinner, allow myself some wine, and curl up in bed with a casebook or more recently, with Foucault's Ethics (don't be impressed: I chose Foucault for the guaranteed inducement of sleep). I have taken to lighting candles in my apartment when I am home and I use scented soaps. Sometimes I have a friend over for dinner and I go to Pilates twice a week. I go out once a week and on weekends usually spend the days at the library.

As you can tell there's less excitement, which means less inspiration. However I will wrap up with this conversation I had at Urban Outfitters tonight. Even though my life this winter in Austin has admittedly been a bit vanilla, the city never fails to throw you some humor.

(I was wearing a t-shirt that said "Make Love not Law Review.")

Sales guy: Are you a law student?

Me: Yup.

Sales guy: What kind of law do you do?

Me: Not sure yet but I think criminal law.

Sales guy: Nice, I can help you out with that. (I think he meant he can help me get clients.)