HOME!
I am home, after an uneventful red-eye back from Oakland. Managed to sleep for about 4.5 hours of the 5 hour flight. It helped that my row was empty.

First off, a shout out to myevilterran and noirah for welcoming me into their home for two nights and for being very kind and gracious hosts. And having some wonderful genes and creating one of the most delightful kids ever.

So here is a summary of my California jaunt:

* My interviews in LA were OK. There were some good ones, some ok ones. The task of putting myself out there and being judged is starting to get tiring. It's also starting to become personal, whereas after the first interviews, I was able to just let it go and stand back and say, eh, it's all just a process and it doesn't mean anything. Now, it's starting to feel like it's about me, my character, my worth, my value. Blah.

* Jet Blue is a fantastic airline. Everyone was so happy on my flight out to LA, from the pilots, who went by first names, to the flight attendants, down to the people in my row. One of the flight attendants even said, "I work for Jet Blue because I like Jet Blue." Exit stage left.

* While waiting at LGB for my flight to Oakland, I SWEAR I saw Ed Helms exit the airport. He so made eye contact with me before running off towards the rental car trailer.

* My interviews in San Francisco were not so good. One firm didn't have an environmental practice. When I mentioned environmental litigation, which was advertised on the firm's website, my interviewer said, oh, yeah, I think we had a case. Once. Another firm only had a real estate practice. One firm is based in Sacramento, and the other was for a governmental organization that doesn't pay. Uhh, I'm not MOVING to SF for the summer to work for free, buddy. What am I? 21 years old?

* On Sunday, my hosts, see above, took me out and about in Berkeley. Ran into traffic and crowds from the Cal v. Illinois football game. Had fantastic pizza. Walked around the Berkeley botanical garden. And went shopping. At this huge t-shirt shop with all sorts of funny and cool t-shirts, I came away with a plain black shirt. Eh, go figure.

* I had a stack of rejection letters waiting for me when I got home this morning. Most of them I was expecting. One of them I was optimistically expecting a call back. And one of them was a toss-up. I shouldn't have been shocked, but reading one right after the other was kind of tedious. See Point 1 above. It's ok, though. I'm doing ok in terms of interviewing, so I'm not really sweating it.

* My apartment is a mess and I do not see myself remedying that situation anytime in the near future.

* Must get to gym today. [Update: I so did not get to the gym. Instead, I took about 5 naps on Sunday.]