Focusing

I sat down to blog, and all that my fingers wanted to type was poopy pants ranting and raving unsuitable to present on a blog. For that reason, I have decided to jump my brain off the negative tracks and force it to think about something positive. Here are the top ten positive things from the last ten days:

1. Working with Regan. Regan, my brother, came out to work in the Bethel office for a week. His absolute love for going to trial, his knowledge and experience, and his high enthusiasm level lifted the entire mood of the Bethel District Attorney's Office.
   
2. Learning a lot about preparing for trial, interviewing witnesses and tracking down the story of an event. The particular issue we are working on is a case where Mr. Mezak of Bethel is charged with beating Mr. Crane in the head with a club. Mr. Crane was medevac'd to Anchorage. Many of the witnesses are very mobile people, so tracking them down for the trial was an adventure in itself. But one thing I learned is that when you put the effort into it, you can make it all come together. Ultimately, the case was continued for a month, but I'm confident that in the end justice will be done.
   
3. I had to delete #3 because on further review it was actually not very positive. I've learned to be more skeptical in dealing with some members of the local Bar.
4. Flying on the Trooper plane (a cessna caravan) to Kalskag and Aniak to serve subpoenas with the State Troopers.
5. Drift net fishing with Tom, Erin, Genevieve and Regan, and taking a walking tour of the fine villages of Napaskiak and Oscarville.
6. Hanging out with Monica Saxena and Natalie Landreth, out here to ensure that Yupik speaking Americans are able to vote meaningfully. They are working to ensure that the Voting Rights Act is complied with. And unfortunately a lot of people don't realize that the majority of the people around these parts primarily speak Yupik. Monica is a friend from law school, and I always knew she'd do amazing things with her career. She is also working on projects in Florida and New Jersey.
7. Receiving a call from the State Troopers about a murder and discussing the case with them.
   
8. Judge Curda's retirement party. A lot of funny stories about Bethel in the 70's were told. We also reminisced about Craig McMahon.
   
9. Rollover training. This is another firefighting thing. We crawled into a metal box, set it on fire, and endured as much heat as we could in our protective gear. My helmet now says REFIGHTER, because the F and the I melted away.
   
10. Picking berries. And eating the extremely tasty food products that Genevieve makes with those berries.
11. Feeling Revel kicking a lot!