I agree with a lot of what the OP said. In terms of finding a job for my 1L summer, I also sent a ton of resumes to every firm or company. My school is only ranked in the top 100, so I knew I had my work cut out especially with trying to compete with the 2Ls and all the higher ranked schools in the area. I did not get a firm position, but I was lucky enough to get a paid internship working with the in-house legal department at a company. This turned out to be a good addition to my resume as my company is a big client for many of the law firms in this area.
Also, don't rule out clerking for a judge. You may not get paid, but it's really good experience and you can probably get some credits from your law school, and take a lighter load during your 2L fall. And finally, I had some friends who studied abroad their first summer. Some study abroad programs have deals with firms in foreign countries where you can actually intern for about 6 weeks. Again, it's unpaid and you can probably only get school credits, but for those who have trouble finding a 1L summer job, this is an awesome opportunity to be able to work in a foreign country. I have a friend who is doing that now and is having a blast.