Leaving Atlanta tomorrow yay! Since I'm about to leave, I guess now is a good time as any to do my photo recap, so here goes!!

MLK Center:
Went to the MLK Center twice this summer. First, I went with fellow interns Jenny and Meghann. Here they are with Gandhi:


DZ Reunion
Had a mini DZ reunion with Akshara.


High Museum of Art
High Museum was pretty cool. They had a pretty interesting exhibit featuring pieces from the Louvre, and a great AnnieLiebowitz photo exhibit. Here I am with Jenny, in the cartoon house.


Braves v. RedSox!
Went to a Braves game with fellow interns Avi, Jenny and Meghann. Braves got killed by the Sox. Despite my hatred of all things Braves, I had to admit it was a pretty nice place to watch a game. I mean, it's no PacBell, but it was not bad.
Turner Field

Avi, Jenny and I

Nothing prettier than a baseball at night


Brunch!
Southerners like brunch. So do I.
Me at the FlyingBiscuit

My favorite breakfast at the WestEggCafe: grits and fried green tomato wrap.


US SocialForum and Jo's visit!!
US SocialForum came to town in late June. It was crazy, thousands of nutty socialists and hippies all gathered to protest about everything and mobilize behind their crunchy banner of progressive politics. Plus people like Joanna. It was fun to see. And fun to hang out with Jo!
The big march started at the Georgia state capital.

My co-workers and I were legal observers. Not much to observe. Mainly, we sweated, cause it was hot as ddong. Avi wrote a protest message on his fan- "stop the heat."

The interns and two of of the staff lawyers

Korean Against War and NeoLiberalism. I have no idea how to say neoliberalism in Korean. I barely know what it means in English.

Jo and I after the march.

At the Vortex, enjoying beer and a hot dog

Jo and I went to the King Center again. This is the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where MLK, Jr. grew up, later came back to pastor at, and where his funeral was held. It was amazing going in, and imagining him preaching.


Civil Rights Tour: Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama
Meghann, Jenny and I did a mini civil rights tour, spending a day driving through Alabama to visit Montgomery and Birmingham. Yup, HannahYu was in Alabama!!
We started out the day at the RosaParks museum in Montgomery. She was a little lady who helped change the world.

Next stop, EbenezerBaptistChurch, where MLK, Jr. served as pastor and one of the places where the MontgomeryBusBoycott was planned.

CivilRightsMuseum. This memorial was designed by MayaLin.

The 16th StreetBaptistChurch in Birmingham, where four little girls were killed when a bomb was thrown into the basement of the church one Sunday morning. It's right across the street from the CivilRightsInstitute, which has on display part of the FreedomRider bus that was bombed, and the door of the jail cell where MLK, Jr. penned "LetterfromaBirminghamJail." The whole trip was a reminder of what happened in this country 50 years ago, and how the civil rights movement brought out the best and worst in people. It was also a reminder to me of how much of the civil rights movement was led by the church and by Christians.

Can't really read it, but the sign says Talledega. Yup, we passed by the Talledega MotorSpeedway!!!


HarryPotter rocks my face off
Had a lot of fun watching HarryPotter5 with my boss and his fiancee.
Me and Deneta proudly wearing our HP shirts.

My boss wearing his HP glasses and his fiancee in her Dumbledore'sArmy shirt.

Rocking the 3-D glasses


Birthday weekend!
I turned 26.
With Jenny and Meghann at dinner

Then we went out and they got me drunk as a skunk

After a day of recovering, we went to the Cyclorama. What's the Cyclorama you ask? Why, it's the world's largest historical painting!! Imagine a HUGE ASS painting, on the walls of a big ass circular room. Then imagine sitting on bleachers, and then having the bleachers rotate while music plays, so you can get a full and complete experience of the Battle of Atlanta, brought to life on canvas. It was crazy. CRAZY AWESOME.
Meghann and Jenny next to a civil war cannon

Meghann and I in front of some famous train that did something cool during the CivilWar.


Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain is this big ass stone mountain and park near Atlanta. It's also the site of a big ass carving of four confederate generals, carved into the mountain, and the world's largest laser light show.
The carving

The light show was coompletely not what I was expecting. I was thinking it was going to be a PinkFloyd, psychedelic, abstract light show. Instead, they played pop songs, with very very very VERY literal laser illustrations to accompany. Like, if the song mentioned barbecue stain on his white tshirt, they projected laser cartoon images of a dude wearing a white tshirt, and a little laser barbecue stain. After the pop songs, they played a collection of Georgia songs (still with laser illustrations), and then they played a song about the American soldier (laser illustrations and picture projections), and then they played AmericatheBeautiful, then the BattleHymnoftheRepublic, then Dixie, then I'mProudtobeanAmerican. As one of my coworkers said- they might as well have wrapped us American flags and pummeled us with apple pie.

That's it for now. Pictures from New York and my last couple days here will come later, I'm too tired. And I have to pack!! I hate packing!!!

Goodbye ACLU!

It's been a fun ten weeks. But I am totally ready to come home. Tuesday! Yay!

Thanks to Jenny, Meghann and Avi for a great time. We make a rockin' trivia team. Northern Aggression!!!!

Pictures to come, I swear :)

HarryPotter and the DeathlyHallows



I laughed. I cried. I had minor heart attacks. HarryPotter rocks my face off.

Pictures from New York to come (I've been saying that all summer).

HAHAHA. I'm IN!!!

U.S. college students seek the magic of Quidditch

By Jon Hurdle1 hour, 40 minutes ago

Stephen Dewey knows he lacks the magic to play Quidditch quite like they do in the Harry Potter novels but he does all he can to create an authentic experience for fans of the teenage wizard.

Dewey, a student at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, organizes the campus Quidditch club of about 40 Potter devotees imitating the aerial game of the book series.

Although Bucknell has not played its first official game -- that is expected in September -- Dewey's club has received $150 from the college to buy supplies, including hula hoops and a volleyball that stands in for the fictional "quaffle."

Also on the equipment list are the brooms on which J.K. Rowling's Quidditch players fly around during games and which Bucknell players are required to hold between their legs.

"I wanted to emulate the magical nature you find in Harry Potter books," said Dewey, 20, a
student of music and education. But he admits he has to make concessions to reality. "A lot of that you can't really replicate exactly because we are not witches and wizards."

Bucknell's Quidditch players follow the rules, adopted by some 10 other U.S. Quidditch-playing colleges, which come from the Potter books.

Each team consists of 12 to 15 players, seven of whom are on the field at a time. They include a "keeper" to defend the hoops through which scores are made; "chasers" whose job it is to put the quaffle through the hoops; and "beaters" who throw balls called "bludgers" at their opponents.

There is also a "seeker" who chases the elusive "golden "snitch" around campus during the game. The capture of the snitch, usually after about 15 minutes, signals the end of the game.
Dewey described the sport as "mildly full-contact" and said it requires some athletic ability, particularly for seekers, who are typically cross-country runners. It appeals equally to men and women, he said.

Players have worn outlandish garb including swimming goggles and capes made out of shower curtains and bed sheets.

Dewey said he's received "some puzzled looks" when recruiting but that even the skeptics want to know more. He suspects they are secretly Harry Potter fans.

"They are usually curious to know how I could make this into a playing game," he said. "Running around on brooms does appeal to a surprising number of college students."

SO CUTE. Pictures from the HarryPotter bus in SanJose. Makes me wish I was at home to see it. But tonight, I will be watching HP5 on Imax!! I'm even wore my Gryffindor shirt to work for the occasion (I'm going straight to the theater with my boss and his fiancee. He said he'd wear his HP glasses.)

The baby's a MANDRAKE!! So. CUTE. Kind of creepy. But still, CUTE.


TheKnightBus


I want his cape and glasses.

Soooo... haven't been blogging much lately. Sorry bout that. The spirit just hasn't moved me to. Maybe the humidity has destroyed it.

Atlanta is rainy and humid right now. Just like my past six summers (!!!) in DC and Seoul. Why do I always choose to go to humid gross places for the summer instead of being smart and staying in CA? Why????

And yes, I'd like some cheese with that whine.

Things are actually going okay out here. Went to Alabama this weekend and did a mini civil rights tour- Montgomery and Birmingham. Saw where RosaParks got arrested, where MLK preached and marched, the cell door from the jail where he wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," the church where the four little girls died. The south has a lot of history, both disgusting and inspiring. I always wonder how the children and grandchildren of both black and white southerners whose images were captured on film- defying segregation or defending it- feel now when they see some of those terrible, terrible images. Also, you'd be shocked at how many people were murdered during the civil rights era, and whose killers were never prosecuted, or were aquitted. Anyways, as difficult as some of it was to see, I really enjoyed. And now I can say I went to Alabama.

I've had trouble sleeping lately. It sucks. But I think it's getting better.

Coming home July 31. Yeaaaah!

Pictures to come. I've been saying that for a while. But it's true.

What. An. Ass Clown.

Mass. bar sued for gay marriage question

By ERINCONROY, AssociatedPress WriterFri Jul 6, 4:49 PM ET

A man said he failed the Massachusetts bar exam because he refused to answer a question about gay marriage, and claims in a federal lawsuit the test violated his rights and targeted his religious beliefs.

The suit also challenges the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, which was legalized in Massachusetts in 2003.

StephenDunne, who is representing himself in the case and seeks $9.75 million, said the bar exam was not the place for a "morally repugnant and patently offensive" question addressing the rights of two married lesbians, their children and their property. He said he refused to answer the question because he believed it legitimized same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting, which is contrary to his moral beliefs.

Dunne, 30, was denied a license to practice law in May after scoring 268.866 on the exam, just shy of the 270 passing grade.

His lawsuit against the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court also claims the state government is "purposely advancing secular humanism's homosexual agenda."

The "disguised mechanism to screen applicants according to their political ideology has the discriminatory impact of persecuting and oppressing (Dunne's) sincere religious practices and beliefs" protected by the First Amendment, and was "invasive and burdensome," according to the lawsuit filed last month.

Dunne's telephone number was unlisted. He told the Boston Herald he has a law degree from a Boston law school and is attending a Boston business school.

Officials with the state bar would not say how much the questions are worth or how the tests are scored, and the court also declined to comment.

DavidYas, editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, said the suit was "idiotic" and that Dunne was "completely missing the point about what it means to be a lawyer."

"Knowing the law has nothing to do with agreeing with the law," he said. Yas said if Dunne really believed the question was improper, he should "answer the question correctly, get your law degree and use it to argue for what you believe in."

LeeSwislow, executive director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, said Dunne is trying to use a legal question to advance a political agenda.

"The bar exam was a test of whether he knew how to apply domestic relations law, and he refused to answer," she said. "Now he's suing, and I think that makes him a loser."