my morning with diane, larry, and 200 fellow new yorkers

9:45 a.m.

diane sawyer just told me that if i don’t get picked for a jury, it is in no way a comment on my intelligence or integrity.

i’m taking part in our judicial system today: jury duty. which in new york means getting to chinatown by 8:45 a.m. luckily, the criminal justice building provides wireless internet (and a documentary about the history of the jury system, starring sawyer, ed bradley, and lots of struggling new york actors happy to have a job saying lines like “when i got my summons my heart sank!” and “jury duty is a pain in the butt!”)

“your opinion is equal to anyone else’s in the jury room,” diane just said. “whatever jury you sit on, you’re most likely going to find it fascinating.”

yesterday, i got to vote in new york’s presidential primary, i.e. to be one of the many. today, i may get to be a juror, i.e. be part of a special few.

or i may just sit here all day and read.

10:35 a.m.

well i’ve just discovered that the criminal justice building is happy to let you surf the net or answer emails, but not so crazy about you posting to a blog while on awaiting jury duty. their internet access system has blogger.com blocked, meaning i can’t post to my blog. i guess i’ll assess at the end of the day if any of this is interesting enough to actually post, after the fact. (has anything i’ve posted in the last four months met that requirement?)

i will say that our…gee, i don’t know what to call him. he’s sort of the juror wrangler, i guess. his name is larry. and he’s a laugh riot.

actually larry is incredibly up, and perky. he is clear, and efficient, and quite friendly. he definitely has his routine down, but hey -- it’s workin’ for him.

larry just told us that three supreme court judges got verdicts yesterday, which means they are available to sit for new trials. “this may not be good news for you guys…”

11:00 a.m.

i just didn’t get picked for a jury pool for a lower criminal court. whew.

oh, and i hate to pile on, but here's a bit of unrelated news i just found online about a city i have a strangely contentious relationship with.

11:15 a.m.

larry just gave half the room three hours for lunch. he's a doll.

12:06 p.m.

i've found a starbucks so i'm posting what i've got so far. isn't this exciting for the two of you who will read this? live-blogging jury duty! well, almost live.