Tense this holiday season? Maybe a roaring “fire” is good for what ails you.
The phrase “I can’t even” may have been invented for today’s blog post, which may be my last for the next week-ish of the holiday season.
How better to enjoy the holidays than gathered around a roaring fire with family and other loved ones? That is the notion behind the longtime TV version of the Yule log, which some stations traditionally have played while holiday music streams. Cheesy, but effective.
A roaring fire: You feel better already, don’t you?
An inspired “film” on Netflix has taken that a step further. “Fireplace for Your Home” is that tried-and-true approach. But wait … there’s more.
First of all, there is a trailer (yes, a trailer!) for this cinematic effort. Does it build your anticipation? Here it is:
And then, committed to the cinéma vérité of their effort, the auteurs added “behind the scenes” footage. For reals:
If this doesn’t make you chuckle, well, I can only recommend the movie Scrooged to you.
A great gift awaits at Hidden Track Bottle Shop in downtown Phoenix. (photo Downtown Phoenix Inc.)
It’s only Tuesday, so, as someone committed to a deadline-driven world, I resist the notion that we are in a “last-minute” situation for Christmas. It’s not until Friday, after all.
But if you’re still on the hunt for a little something-something for people you care about, here are a few ideas.
The story includes 13 super, smart, and curated links to #dtphx businesses. A few favorites of mine include Hazel & Violet letterpress and Hidden Track Bottle Shop. They—and the other businesses—may have what the holidays yearn for.
It doesn’t get much more artisanal than this: handmade items from Hazel & Violet letterpress, on historic Grand Ave. in downtown Phoenix. (Photo Downtown Phoenix Inc.)
Happily, he has a few calendars featuring his work. But you won’t be relegated to courthouses all year ‘round. No, instead he’s offering calendars featuring phenomenal shots of two of his favorite cities, Chicago and Tucson.
This week, my expectation is that only a small portion of folks are reading legal (or any) blogs. But for those of you who are—and who may still be scouring Amazon for that perfect last-minute gift—I urge you to read an article on the topic.
And on this Change of Venue Friday, I point you to a video about … Netflix socks.
As you can see for yourself in the video below, these are socks that will pause your binge-watched program if they sense you have nodded off—in your Barcalounger or otherwise.
The bots at Netflix say this technology is part of actigraphy, “a non-invasive method of monitoring human rest/activity cycles. A small actigraph unit, also called an actimetry sensor, is worn … to measure gross motor activity. The unit is usually, in a wrist-watch-like package, worn on the wrist.”
… Or around your ankles, I suppose, as they are rapidly consumed by gout. ‘Murica.
Like most sensible people, I clicked the “news” video expecting to laugh uproariously at the depth to which we’ve plunged, civilization-wise. After all, this kind of product puts the “gross” in gross motor activity. Amiright?
Instead, as I watched, I caught myself musing on how smart that tech is, and what a boon to humankind. RED FLAGS! Here’s the video:
I’ll admit that the warning signs were there. I already have demonstrated a fondness for socks, as the following photos show (the second is a portion of my sock drawer—I reveal all to you, supportive readers!)
Would a miner have worn these? My socks at work, while my angle of recline indicates “not workin’.”
A sampling of socks gaze out from a portion of my drawer (yes, there are more socks).
But I must somehow be pulled back from the modern-ridiculousness abyss.
At work, someone has brought in factory-made Swiss Miss hot “chocolate” mix—with “marshmallows.” And I’m considering it. Seriously. Someone call for help—and I wish you a weekend free of techy socks.
“Bending Toward Justice” was the headline for our November cover story of Arizona Attorney Magazine. We thought it was an ideal combination of lawyers practicing yoga and one of the most evocative quotes of the civil rights era.
The full quote from which we drew the concept is, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Do you recall who said it, and when? (I’ll tell you at the bottom of this post.)
Turns out, those Google staffers were noting what would have been the 97th birthday of B.K.S. Iyengar, “the founder of the style of yoga known as ‘Iyengar Yoga’ and was considered one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world.”
Curious, I asked Wikipedia about him:
“He was the author of many books on yoga practice and philosophy including Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Light on Life. Iyengar was one of the earliest students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often referred to as ‘the father of modern yoga.’ He has been credited with popularizing yoga, first in India and then around the world.”
If you said it comes from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., you would be correct. He spoke the moving words in August 1967 when he addressed the Southern Christian Fellowship Conference.
But extra points go to you if you recall that Reverend King was paraphrasing American Transcendentalist Theodore Parker, who lived before the Civil War and who “predicted the inevitable success of the abolitionist cause” this way:
“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”
I hope in this, the stirring month of December, you exercise your power and skill in the effort to bend toward justice.
As you’d guess, each position comes with its own requirements, skills, and experience levels. Among them, I suppose, there’s always a general, free-floating requirement that you get along with others (even for the lawyer position—ha!). HR might disagree with me, but that may be the most important skill of all. But … how best to assess that?
Well, before you consider applying, I urge you to contemplate the following hypothetical, wholly unrelated to my own experience at the State Bar of Arizona. (This is my own entirely un-self-interested way of helping out the HR professionals—you’re welcome!)
Mere drops left in a hot carafe: Whom does this help, I ask you? Whom?
For this hypo, refer to the exemplar photo at right.
You walk into the break room for a cup of coffee. The carafe appears to hold a few teaspoons more than a single cup. Do you:
A. Pour the pot down the drain and start a fresh pot, because the remaining coffee is probably awful.
B. Fill your own cup, and then start a fresh pot.
C. Fill your own cup, replace the carafe onto the hot burner with mere drops left, and walk away.
Answer key:
A. You are a stand-up individual, one who should be considered for employment.
B. Though your taste in coffee is suspect, you would be welcome to be hired in a probationary capacity.
C. I can’t even. Please gather up your application and resume and return to the parking lot. We’re done.
Again, this is a mere hypothetical, not one that an applicant would necessarily be subjected to. Just food for thought.
That’s Robert Craghead–not Santa–gracing the cover of the December Illinois Bar Journal.
When you edit a legal magazine, here’s one thing you end up doing—a lot: Reading other legal magazines. (Plus websites, newsletters, podcasts, videos, skywriting, and messages in bottles).
Occasionally, the stack of reading material can get pretty daunting, so you wrestle your nemesis to the ground and focus on what will engage you the most. And that’s how I came across … a terrific Q&A.
Robert Craghead is the longtime Executive Director of the Illinois State Bar Association. Fortunately for his colleagues and lawyers from the Land of Lincoln, he’s also one of the nicest guys in the legal biz.
I’ve had the pleasure to speak with Bob many times at national conferences, and I never fail to walk away with a smile on my face—and an idea or two to steal for my own association.
The Q&A is concise—I’m guessing it will take you 15 minutes to read. And when you do, you’ll hear a smart guy address issues that will determine the future of the legal profession.
How is Arizona doing in the realm of education? And what role can—and should—arts play in the complete development of the human mind?
Those were a few of the questions that drove us toward our December cover story for Arizona Attorney Magazine. Yes, Arizona is consistently ranked poorly in national assessments of education. Given our longtime commitment to arts at the magazine, we wondered what our lawyer-artists would think of the topic.
That’s what took our writer, Oriana Parker, into fascinating conversations with numerous Arizona lawyers. The result, I think, is an insightful and highly readable piece that speaks to modern public policy issues.
You can read the whole story here. And thank you to those lawyers who gave of their time and talents to share their thoughts.
What did you think of the topic—and our coverage? And how should we be covering important policy dialogues in the future? Write to me at arizona.attorney@azbar.org.
Today is all about cornhole. The game, not the metaphor for the risks of holiday work parties.
By the time you read this, I may be engaged in revelry the likes of which Western civilization has never witnessed. Yes, that means I’ll be at my workplace’s annual holiday party.
Yes, the essay is aimed at law office parties. But I think the messages Adrian Ballinger conveys are universal:
Think before you talk and act.
Stay hydrated, but ixnay on the intoxication.
Chat with folks—even some you don’t normally work with—but don’t overdo it. They can only take so much of you.
Don’t overstay your welcome. They’re co-workers, not family.
For too many of us, office parties are an opportunity for unfortunate missteps.
Probably his most important advice—ignored too often—is that you are AT WORK while you’re at a holiday party. Disregard that counsel at your peril.
So Adrian’s advice was great, but our own workplace—the State Bar of Arizona—has the added wrinkle that there will be competitive sport involved—cornhole, to be precise.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the game, I offer the research gleaned from Wikipedia. Plus my own advice: Be careful Googling cornhole at work. Be ready to avert your gaze.
Our estimable party committee (they have a more formal name, but I like that one) must have anticipated the rivalries that will ensue when we gather at the restaurant Culinary Dropout at The Yard. (A photo of cornhole at The Yard is below.)
The cornhole field of battle at The Yard. Eight people enter … and eight people leave. (I know, not too dramatic, right?)
How do I know? Well, via email, they provided … the rules of cornhole.
Um. The rules of tossing a beanbag into a hole?
Not just that. It turns out 16 bullet points are needed to explain the intricacies of those cornhole regulations.
Understand, I am not being critical. I know exactly why they’re acting this way: Because crazy competitive.
Many folks here at the State Bar of Arizona are likely in Olympic-level practice sessions, all while I sit at my desk and type. God bless ‘em, they WILL crush the cornhole competition.
Meanwhile, I’ll be looking for a Moscow Mule at The Yard’s accommodating bar. Because the holidays are about all of our diverse interests. And the kids. Always the kids.
Enjoy your own holiday parties. And be careful out there.
The only kind of stubborn I like to encounter in a bar: the Moscow Mule.
No, it’s not Trump Tower, but close. Welcome to Orlando, site of the 2015 meeting of the NABE Communications Section.
In early October, a few of us from Arizona Attorney Magazine had the opportunity to present at a national conference. Today, I’m happy to share great recaps of those two presentations.
My plenary presentation was on the topic of “the art of presenting.” It was a blast, and I was privileged to share the podium with the talented and long-suffering Catherine Sanders Reach of the Chicago Bar Association. She provided invaluable content to the banquet room of communicators. And I provided … well, why don’t you read the terrific coverage we got from the talented and generous writer Marilyn Cavicchia.
Attendees gather to hear us talk about the art of presenting.
True professional Catherine Sanders Reach exudes patience while Communications Section Chair Russell Rawlings and I trade picture-taking.
The day before, Karen presented with terrific colleagues from San Francisco and Nashville on design for the non-designer. Her presentation was funny and valuable, and she simply crushed it. Here’s how Marilyn described that session.
And here is a photo of Karen presenting.
Karen Holub explains design for a roomful of non-designers. She spoke slowly.
Her slides were eye-opening (which is what you want in slides). Among my favorites was this one, which chastised all of us in legal publications for our often too-easy use of images like gavels (and scales of justice, omigod the scales) to illustrate complex concepts. Try harder, she suggested, and you’ll be surprised what can happen.
Enough with the gavels in legal journalism, ok?
Finally, at the Friday closing luncheon, those of us in the State Bar of Arizona were recognized for professional achievement. My terrific colleague Alberto Rodriguez accepted an award for the Bar’s “Finish the Ballot” campaign. And I got an award for leadership.
Alberto Rodriguez and I with awards from the National Association of Bar Executives, Orlando, Fla., Oct. 2, 2015.
Alberto Rodriguez, State Bar of Arizona, right, and fellow honorees at the National Association Of Bar Executives Communications Section workshop, Oct. 2, 2015.
Over time, I’ve learned that presenting and participating in professional service yield great benefits, and that the considerable time we put in garners much in return. I hope you agree.
Congratulations to my great fellow-workers on your achievements and willingness to lead.
AZ Attorney 