Sociopathic Networking

The Crone From Gurzuf
Originally uploaded by dashananda

Yes sweetie, there are monsters.

To the woman who took it upon herself to lash out at my son as he first tried to show her to a table in the corner frozen yogurt shoppe:

I'm not sitting there; it's dirty.

then attempted some friendly chit chat:

him: You look like someone from a movie!

her: Go away. I'm serious. Go away NOW. Stop bothering me. I don't want to be bothered by naughty little boys.

then to me: Get your boy away from me.

I suggest you cultivate a hobby other than being rude to little children, before you eventually push a parent past anger and pity into something far more dangerous. (Blogging not being quite what I had in mind, but 'twil suffice for now.)

Putting a good face on this in the aftermath involved an abundance of false enthusiasm over the "thrill" of meeting one's first really rude person, discussion about chronic unhappiness, unpacking of karma-meets-Galatians ("As ye sow," etc.), and ultimately a conveyor-belt sushi free-for-all.

All of which had Tyler wondering if his BabyPlays concertina might help ("Maybe she needs some beautiful music?"), or if she had been in a war. Though I'm somewhat less inclined to excuse the bad behavior of one able to snack on frozen treats with Reese's toppings on a sunny afternoon in Newport Beach . . . I kept these thoughts to myself.

Nodoriety

Originally uploaded by jared

Note to those obsessed with traffic, ranks, and status (other than the "What are you up to?" variety): what matters is showing up, with whatever brain (or not), conscience (or not), poignancy (or not), humor (or not), and pulse (or not) you're able to muster.

Think I'll change my business card to just read "node."

Payback's A Bitch

Second Try
Originally uploaded by CoreBurn

We used to delight so much in throwing my mom in the pool when I was little. It feels a *leetle* different when your friend's kids manage to do it to you, after an all night bidding war over the price on each particular mom's head. 'Scuse me while I grab a towel...

UFO Over The Desert

UFO Over The Desert
Originally uploaded by Denise Howell

New Gig: American Lawyer 'Dicta' Column

I recently added to my hodgepodge of current professional pursuits by becoming a semi-irregular contributor to The American Lawyer. My first column is called On Life Support. On the point about the ABA considering 1,300 hours a full time billable year in 1963, I asked Joan Williams in our background interview if there was any sort of comparable baseline today. Loved her response: "They wouldn't touch that one with a 10-foot pole."

Responses:

• Jordan Furlong, There's no such thing as work/life balance


• Robert Ambrogi, Work-Life Balance and the Space-Time Continuum


• Scott Greenfield, Work-Life Balance or Professionalism: Who Wins?