As most Jane Austen lovers know, Pride and Prejudice was originally called First Impressions because it dealt with Elizabeth Bennett's first impressions of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Miss Bennett's views undergo a significant change throughout the book, even as Mr. Darcy alters himself to some extent due to her criticisms. Shakespeare also addressed first impressions. Juliet said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. She was illustrating that only Romeo's family name was ...
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Three Things I Learned From My Father
Those of you who've read my DUI loss blog know that my dad died in a tragic way -- he and my mom were hit by a drunk driver, which led to both their deaths. But I was lucky enough that my dad lived and was happy and healthy until he was nearly 89. This year would have been his 95th birthday. In honor of him, and of Father's Day, I'm writing on both blogs about three things I learned from him over the years.Focus on what you can do. Soon after I was born, my dad had a...
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Will Work for Free
Nearly every artist, professional, and entrepreneur struggles at some point with whether to offer work for free. Law students often volunteer at legal services clinics. Sometimes they even pay tuition to do so. Authors and publishers offer some books free to obtain reviews and get the word out. Businesses send promotional items. (My favorite is a pen I received free with my law firm name on it and a flashlight at the end – not that I’m starting to find it hard to read menus in dim light or anyt...
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Me, Myself, and – I’s?
I first heard it on a snippet from reality TV. A woman with cover model looks said something about “Sean and I’s relationship.” A month later, I attended a condo board meeting and a board member said, “John and I’s work on this took a long time.” Talking about themselves challenges many people when it comes to grammar (in particular, “me,” “myself,” and “I” are often misused), but I still wasn’t sure it warranted a blog post. Then I received an email from a business...
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The Proof is in the Proofing
It’s one of the less fun, to say the least, parts of writing, even for someone like me who loves to write. But proofreading matters, no matter what type of writing you do. If you’re a lawyer, it’s hard to make a good impression on clients, the court, or other attorneys you work with (or against) if you send documents with typos. If you write fiction, nothing is more distracting to a reader, or more likely to alienate a potential publisher, than grammatical mistakes or spelling ...
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iPhones and the Art of Writing Simply
Consider this sentence: In order to make a determination regarding whether negotiations should be entered into at this point in time, an evaluation of benefits and detriments was made. If your brain turned off after the fourth or fifth word, it’s not because you’re not a lawyer. Or, if you are a lawyer, it’s not because you’re not a smart lawyer. It’s because it’s a terrible sentence. Try this one instead:To decide whet...
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Being Thankful for our Political Process (yes, seriously)
It seemed like the negative campaign ads went on forever this election season. First the primary ads, then the general election. I don't watch a lot of TV, and I watch even less in real time. But in October and early November, every time I did turn on the television for a quick news update or to flip to the DVD setting, a barrage of foreboding images, jarring music, and criticism of the opposing candidate (whoever that might be) blared at me. Add some of the things people post slamming others' o...
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Who Built That – Women, Pride, and Success
This Post Also Appears at FEM2.0 http://www.fem2pt0.com/2012/08/25/who-built-that-women-pride-and-success/I was raised with the idea that pride is a sin – one of the seven deadly sins, in fact. Even children whose families weren’t religious probably heard the adage that pride goeth before a fall. And most of us were taught that bragging is impolite. How deeply I’d internalized the warnings against pride didn’t become clear to me, though, until I started practicing an exercise in Anthony Robbins’...
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I Will Be Out of the Office: Post-Surgery Thoughts on Downtime
Tomorrow I return to work after nearly 7 weeks off following surgery. (See Goodbye Ovaries.) During that time, I worked very little. I hadn’t expected that. Despite my doctor’s warnings before surgery that I must take at least 4 weeks off and preferably 6, and despite that my surgery expanded to 6 hours instead of the expected 2, I thought I would or should bounce right back. I figured on 3 weeks of downtime, but with e-mail checking and perhaps a little work even t...
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Goodbye Ovaries: Thoughts on Choices Other Than Children
After years of pain, I will say good-by to my ovaries and uterus in a few days. It’s major surgery, and had a doctor suggested it six months ago, I would have had heart palpitations. Now I’m ready. Especially after that Friday where I thought the 4-hour pain pill I’d taken over twelve hours before had worn off (certainly the amount of pain suggested it had) and drank wine with dinner. Bad, bad idea. Recently I told an acquaintance about the surgery and said other op...
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