f/k/a . . .

After quickly polling the various editors of this weblog, I’ve

concluded that you do not have to be a baseball fan to enjoy

haiku about baseball.   So, you’ll be finding the topic fairly often

here at f/k/a. 

 

Here’s a pair from our clean-up hitter, George Swede:

 

 

crack of the bat

the outfielder circles

under the full moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

abandoned ballpark

    gopher mound covers

         home plate

 

 

 

 

George Swede from Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000) 

 

 

 

- plus, a benchwarmer’s contribution:

 

 

perfect line-drive

over second base –

coach says I swang late

 

                     dagosan [April 18, 2005]

 

 

 

“baseballg”  As I discover them, I’ll be collecting

the baseball haiku of our Honored Guests at

f/k/a’s baseball haiku page.

 

 

You don’t have to love baseball or haiku to enjoy real haiku about baseball — but, if you love either or both, this collection by some of the finest English-language haiku poets should be a special treat. On this page, we’ve collected baseball haiku (and senryu, a related genre that focuses on human nature) by f/k/a’s Honored Guest Poets and the site’s Editor. You’ll find recent additions immediately below, followed by our permanent collection of baseball haiku by our Home Team Haijin, presented in reverse alphabetical order.

 

recent additions:

 

third strike
the designated hitter
blows on his hands

……………………………. by david giacalone

 

the home team
math’matically eliminated…
autumn equinox

autumn equinox…
a football score flashes
on the centerfield scoreboard…

…………………………………………. by ed markowski

 

pitching change
a butterfly follows a wave
through the upper deck

hangovers in suits
climb onto the team bus
summer morning

…………………………………. by Lee Gurga - Baseball Haiku (2007)

season’s end
every pennant on the stadium roof
pointing south

 

………………………………… by ed markowski

Holy Cow!
the infield chatter
stops

[in mem. Phil Rizzuto, August 2007]

………………………………………………………………….. by david giacalone

time out
the setting sun
takes center field

……………………………………………………. by Peggy Lyles - Modern Haiku 38:1 (2007)

 

the f/k/a home team collection:

warm beer–
heat lightning flickers
beyond the outfield

nearly dark–
snow deepens
on the baseball field

…………………………………………………………….. by Billie Wilson
“warm beer -” - frogpond (2004)
“nearly dark” - Acorn 15 (2005)

base hit –
the outfielder’s
four shadows

first drops of rain —
puffs of dust
rise from the infield

cold rain–
the inning ends
with nobody on

……………………………………………. by michael dylan welch
“first drops of rain –” - Mayfly #18 (1994)
” cold rain–” & “first drops of rain –” - Baseball Haiku (2007)

crack of the bat
the outfielder circles
under the full moon

abandoned ballpark
gopher mound covers
home plate

empty baseball field
a dandelion seed floats through
the strike zone

score tied
both team jerseys look the same
in the August twilight

village ball game
through knotholes in the old fence
evening subeams

……………………………………. by George Swede from Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)
“village ball game” - As Far As the Eye Can See (1979)
“village ball game”, “empty bseball field”, “crack of the bat” - Baseball Haiku (2007)

extra innings
a runner’s shadow
down the third base line

sting
of the old man’s
fastball

a big diamond
just imagine
the pressure

my so-called friends
send in my sister
to pinch-hit for me

………………………………………………………….. by John Stevenson
“extra innings” - Quiet Enough
“sting” - Upstate Dim Sum (2005/II)
“a big diamond” - roadrunner V:3

moths circle
the stadium lights
seventh inning stretch

all day rain
on the playing field
a stray dog

the toddler
runs to third base
first

bases loaded
a full moon clears
the right field fence

the foul ball lands
in an empty seat
summer’s end

the sweeping arch
of the pitcher’s curve
summer solstice

……………………………………………………………. by Tom Painting
“moths circle” from A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices
“the toddler”, “bases loaded” & “all day rain” - from the chapbook piano practice
“the foul balls lands”- Modern Haiku 35.2 ; spiess comp. hon. mention (2004)
“the sweeping arch” - (1st place, Shiki Kukai, June 2007)
“the foul ball lands,” “all day rain,” “bases loaded” - Baseball Haiku (2007

April chill –
Wakefield’s knuckleball
unhittable

……………………………………………… by Paul David Mena

a long fly ball
arcs above the moon…
summer deepens

late innings
the shortstop backpedals
into fireflies

first red leaves
i swing late
on a change-up

sultry night
the winning run scores
on a wild pitch

fireflies…
the smallest boy hits
the game winning homer

 

Joe Harnett, longtime radio host of “The Old BallGame”, has peformed many of the poems on this page by ed markowski.

 

 

distant thunder
the home run hitter
drops a bunt

“red hots!”
for an instant i’m ten
and
father’s still alive

lightning…
i lose jeter’s pop-up
in a blaze of static

6 innings
8 beers
o b e e d
b b l h a
night

out!safe!out!safe!theumpandthemanageroneshadow

51 candles
&
still this wish
to
pitch in yankee
stadium

rainy night
a hole in the radio
where a ballgame should be

bases loaded
no one out…..
the pitcher
blows a bubble

summer loneliness . . .
dropping the pop up
i toss to myself

rain delay
the length of the lines
at the stadium restrooms

booed
i’m just happy
somebody cares

the roar of the crowd
through a transistor radio…
summer solitude

April rain
my grandson practices
his infield chatter

Seattle sunset
Ichiro sends one
toward the Sea of Japan

first baseman’s autograph
my grandson says,
“i’m the luckiest kid in the world”

snowflakes tumble & curve
the baseball season
begins today

April snow
the home team falls
7 games back

 

 

April chill
the hitter blows
on his batting glove

 

 

 

season’s end
every pennant on the stadium roof
pointing south

 

 

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………….. by Ed Markowski
“a long fly ball” - 9th mainichi haiku contest, 2nd place (June 20005)
“summer loneliness” - from the pinch-book pop up, tribe press, 2004
“spring rain” & “bases loaded” - Haiku Sun (Issue X, Jan. 2004)
“51 candles” to appear in The Elysian Fields Quarterly
“rain delay”, “6 innings” , “distant thunder” & “lightning…” - games (pawEprint 78, 2004)
Other Credits: The Old Ball Game (April 2006); Baseball Haiku (W.W.Norton, 2007)

soft leather
on an old baseball
spring fog

…………………………. by paul m from A New Resonance 2: ; frogpond XXII:2

time out
the setting sun
takes center field

……………………………………………………. by Peggy Lyles - Modern Haiku 38:1 (2007)

 

 

calm evening
the ballgame play-by-play
across the water

called third strike–
the slow roll of the ball
back to the mound

seventh inning stretch -
dust from dragging the bases
hangs in the air

two outs in the ninth–
the reliever bangs the ball
against his cup

behind barbed wire
the banter of baseball
in two languages

October revival
all hands lift
to the foul ball

…………………………………………………………. by Jim Kacian
“calm evening” - Past Time (Red Moon Press 1999)
“October revival” - Piedmont Literary Review (Circa 1992)
“calm evening”, “October revival”, “seventh-inning stretch”,
“called third strike” and “gathering the balls” - Baseball Haiku (2007)

Louisville Slugger
the boy’s fingertips caress
the trademark

rumble of thunder
the boy still looking for the ball
in the grass

the pitching coach
strides slowly to the mound –
dust devils

pitching change
a butterfly follows a wave
through the upper deck

hangovers in suits
climb onto the team bus
summer morning

……………………………………………………….. by Lee Gurga - Baseball Haiku (2007)
“rumble of thunder” orig. pub. Too Busy for Spring, 1999 HNA Anthology

8th birthday -
she wants a diamond
and new cleats

his pop-fly
kisses the moon –
safe at first

three-quarter moon –
called out
stealing home

law office picnic —
the ump consults
his Blackberry

line-drive double
over second –
coach says I swang late

squinting to see him –
another generation
sent to right field

Holy Cow!
the infield chatter
stops

[in mem. Phil Rizzuto, August 2007]

………………………………………………………………….. by david giacalone
“law office” & “squinting” - Baseball Haiku (2007)
“squinting” - Roadrunner Haiku Journal (V:4, Nov. 2005; tie Scorpion Prize)

curving left
oh! curving even farther left
the whiffle baseball

retired Reds scout -
still eyeing the field
through dark glasses

rainy playground–
a patch of new grass
hides the softball

behind in the count -
“Skip” spits and stares
harder

my nephew’s fastball -
I hand back his glove
and keep the sting

back door curve
the batter
exits

……………………………………………………………… by Barry George
“curving left” - Modern Haiku 23.3
“retired Reds scout” - Mayfly #23
“back door curve” - Fan: “Haiku” Special Issue (Atlanta, 1998)
“my nephew’s fastball” - bottle rockets #11
“behind in the court” - tinywords.com

in the shoe box
attic light from one window
and the creased Willie Mays

full moon just rising
we recount the best plays
on the drive home

bottom of the 8th
eight determined drunks
get the wave going . . .

from the train window
fans outside the ballpark
before the game

back to back walks . . .
the catcher takes the pitcher
to the top of the mound

………………………………………….…………… by Tom Clausen - Baseball Haiku (2007)
“in the shoe box” - orig. pub. Bases Loaded, a renga chapbook
“the foul balls lands”- Modern Haiku 35:2

 

the butterfly’s path …
my son swings again
and misses

……………. by Tom Clausen - Homework

carrying his glove
the boy’s dog follows him
to the baseball field

opening day . . .
green of the field
through the ticket gates

baseball
rolls into the mud –
painted lady flutters up

last day of school . . .
the crack of a bat
through an open window

thunder . . .
little leaguers chatter
silenced

………………………………………by Randy Brooks - Baseball Haiku (2007)
“opening day” - Past Time (1999)
“last day of school” - School’s Out (1999)

tryouts –
the softball sails over
my daughter’s glove

spring thaw
a pinecone rolls
to first base

…………………………. by Roberta Beary
“spring thaw” - shiki kukai, March 2005

 

Many of the poems on this page can be found in the 200-poem anthology Baseball Haiku (Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura, eds., W.W. Norton Press, April 2007).

Sufflolk Law School Professor Andrew Perlman sent me off on quite 

a tangent last week, with his guest posting at Legal Ethics Forum 

on “Misleading Law School Promotional Materials” (April 13, 2005)  

So, I thought I better at least get a posting out of it. 

 

It seems Andy is worried that shady law school promotional tactics are  

misleading and unfairly enticing the nation’s law school applicants. To avoid

hypocrisy and unpleasantly surprised students or graduates, Andy wants to apply

the same “strict” advertising criteria to schools that are applied to lawyers (although

he thinks the restrictions should be lifted from lawyers).  I wasn’t sure that the

crisis was as big as Andy suggested, or that we should worry too much about

law school applicants (since they can and should protect themselves); check out

our conversation at LEF.

 

After doing a bit of research and reflection, I came to the following conclusions: 

 

Naturally, it’s absolutely improper for law schools to be using deceptive

tactics in the admissions process  [unless used to weed out particularly credulous

or lazy applicants!]

 

  Standards for ABA-approved law schools already exist . . .

 

                                      - click to read the entire post which opines:

“Given the existence and accessibility of this

information, the importance of the decisions,

and the kinds of skills and attitudes a good

lawyer needs, I cannot agree with Andy Perlman

that we should feel a lot of sympathy for “naive”

or ignorant law school applicants-turned-student.” 

 

 

prairie twilight…

the glow of the cattleman’s

branding iron

 

                Ed Markowski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

during discussion

on the meaning of life . . . the crunch

of a student’s apple

 

 

                         George Swede

                                   from Almost Unseen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pencil shavings

the student’s tongue

curls and uncurls

 

                  DeVar Dahl

                          from A New Resonance 3

Word for the Wise just had a great entry to honor the birthday

of Clarence Darrow (b. April 18, 1857), quoting him saying: “Inside

every lawyer is the wreck of a poet,”  and presenting a poem by his

onetime law partner, poet Edgar Lee Masters entitled “Clarence Darrow.”

 

 

by dagosan:  

a young man’s

erotic dream —

the old man’s bladder wakes him

                                                                    [April 18, 2005]

 

 

 

 

 

admissions week –

two fat envelopes

and two skinny ones

 

                              [April 16, 2005]

 

Sufflolk Law School Professor Andrew Perlman sent me off on quite 

a tangent last week, with his guest posting at Legal Ethics Forum 

on “Misleading Law School Promotional Materials” (April 13, 2005)  

So, I thought I better at least get a posting out of it. 

 

It seems Andy is worried that shady law school promotional tactics are

misleading and unfairly enticing the nation’s law school applicants. To avoid

hypocrisy and unpleasantly surprised students or graduates, Andy wants to apply

the same “strict” advertising criteria to schools that are applied to lawyers (although

he thinks the restrictions should be lifted from lawyers).  I wasn’t sure that the

crisis was as big as Andy suggested, or that we should worry too much about

law school applicants (since they can and should protect themselves); check out

our conversation at LEF.

 

After doing a bit of research and reflection, I came to the following conclusions: 

 

Naturally, it’s absolutely improper for law schools to be using deceptive

tactics in the admissions process  [unless used to weed out particularly credulous

or lazy applicants!]

 

  Standards for ABA-approved law schools already exist that can

adequately deal with the issue of misleading promotional practices.

Chapter 5 Admissions is most relevant — generally with Standard

501 and more specifically through Standard 509:

Standard 501. Admissions.

(a) A law school’s admission policies shall be consistent with

the objectives of its educational program and the resources

available for implementing those objectives.

(b) A law school shall not admit applicants who do not appear

capable of satisfactorily completing its educational program

and being admitted to the bar.

 

Standard 509. Basic Consumer Information

A law school shall publish basic consumer information. The

information shall be published in a fair and accurate manner

reflective of actual practice.

Moreover, under Interpretation 509-1: “The following categories of consumer

information are considered basic: (1) admission data; (2) tuition, fees, living costs,

financial aid, and refunds; (3) enrollment data and graduation rates; (4) composition

and number of faculty and administrators; (5) curricular offerings; (6) library resources;

(7) physical facilities; and (8) placement rates and bar passage data.

 

Interpretations 509-2 and 509-3 help ensure compliance through publication

requirements (and, if the school uses its own publication, distribution to each applicant),

and by making clear that the fair and accurate standard applies “whenever and wherever

that information is reported or published . . . in other places or for other purposes.”

 

“tinyredcheck”  As a result, a wide array of information, in uniform and easily-understood formats

(with avdanced search accessibility) is available for free to law school applicants and other

interested persons.  For example:

• 
  
  The LSAC Official Guide to ABA-approved law schools
  
  
• 
  
  ABA Law School stats

The LSAC Guide for each school has lots of data on topics that concerned Prof. Perlman,

including attritition rates (from year to year, academic and other), annual expenses and the

median size of financial aid, employment and bar passage rates, and even the number of

clinical classes and available seats.  For example, see  the LSAC guide for the University

of Akron School of Law.

 

  Given the existence and accessibility of this information, the importance of the decisions, and

the kinds of skills and attitudes a good lawyer needs, I cannot agree with Andy Perlman that

we should feel a lot of sympathy for “naive” or ignorant law school applicants-turned-student. 

Andy is, for example, perturbed because some law schools boast that many of their graduates

go on to public interest jobs without reminding applicants (on the same page, I guess) that huge

school debt might make it impractical or impossible to pursue a public interest dream.   Andy’s

complaint posits a degree of infantile obliviousness (or irresponsibility) on the part of applicants

and overweening nannyism on the part of schools and regulators that is beyond my ability to

comprehend, embrace or justify. 

 

“tinyredcheck”  For the sake of their future clients, I expect better of law school applicants.  Do your homework!

When an issue or topic is important to you (like Perlman’s example of the availability of touted

clinical programs), look into the details, ask questions, be diligent and zealous.

 

A big part of law school education should be helping the student to spot material issues, to persevere

in seeking answers, and to do the right thing despite the avarice and hypocrisy that is everywhere

in the profession and society.   The wise law school applicant, however, should be practicing and

demonstrating those skills in the application and selection process.  Don’t let the law schools off the

hook — but don’t for a moment believe that you can rely on “the other side” to give you the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

 

admissions week –

two fat envelopes

and two thin ones

                          

               dagosan

 

 

A few parting thoughts:

• 
  
  
  

  Prof. Eric Goldman’s observation may be correct that better

  
  

  information is unlikely to lead many applicants to make better

  
  

  decisions. Show him he’s wrong, kids.
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  According to the Site Visit page of the ABA Legal Education

  
  

  Committee, Complaints or Comments about a school’s compliance

  
  

  with the applicable Standards should be sent to the Deputy Consultant

  
  

  on Legal Education to the American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark

  
  

  Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60610.
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Be warned:. Law schools are being fed the magic potion of “branding”

  
  

  for “Selling your Law School in a Buyer’s Market” (Jan. 2005 AALS

  
  

  Convention – see “Strategic Identity and the Branding of Law Schools,”

  
  

  Jon M. Garon, Hamline University School of Law.  If there is substance

  
  

  behind the “strategic identity,” branding can be a useful tool.  The job of

  
  

  the applicant is to make sure it’s not smoke and mirrors.

• 
  
  
  

  As I stated at LEF (in a world-class run-on sentence): “In a world 

  
  

  where law school applicants have ready access to information that

  
  

  can easily counter law school promotional hype or spin, AND in

  
  

  which law schools are already subjected to Standard 509’s requirement

  
  

  of full disclosure that is fair and accurate (a test that I believe is more

  
  

  restrictive than the current Model Rule 7.1 for lawyers), I believe the

  
  

  legal community should be using its efforts to convert more states to

  
  

  the ABA’s Model Rule 7.1 approach for lawyer advertising, rather

  
  

  than attempting to counter hypothetical injury to law school applicants

  
  

  that can be avoided with a little diligence and a reasonable amount of

  
  

  common sense on their part.”

“tinyredcheck” p.s. (April 23, 2005):  Got time?  Here’s a little more homework (via

jd2b):  There’s a recent Washington Post Career Track column that is a

must-read for college students thinking about going to law school and their

parents.   In a review of the book Should You Really Be a Lawyer?,

by D. Schneider and G. Belsky (2004), Mary Ellen Slayter lists some of

the most common traps that applicants fall into as they march mindlessly

toward law schools without figuring out their own motivations, adding up

the true cost, assessing realistic job options if saddled with large debt, or

seeking out unbiased and experienced opinions about law practice.  “First,

Make a Case: Is Law School for You?” (Wash. Post, April 17, 2005)

 

 

 

 

admissions week –

two fat envelopes

and two skinny ones

         dagosan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

prairie twilight…

the glow of the cattleman’s

branding iron

 

                Ed Markowski

 

 

 

 

 

during discussion

on the meaning of life . . . the crunch

of a student’s apple

 

 

                         George Swede

                                   from Almost Unseen

 

 

 

 

 

pencil shavings

the student’s tongue

curls and uncurls

 

                  DeVar Dahl

                          from A New Resonance 3

 

 

                         

 

 

Sufflolk Law School Professor Andrew Perlman sent me off on quite 

a tangent last week, with his guest posting at Legal Ethics Forum 

on “Misleading Law School Promotional Materials” (April 13, 2005)  

So, I thought I better at least get a posting out of it. 

 

It seems Andy is worried that shady law school promotional tactics are

misleading and unfairly enticing the nation’s law school applicants. To avoid

hypocrisy and unpleasantly surprised students or graduates, Andy wants to apply

the same “strict” advertising criteria to schools that are applied to lawyers (although

he thinks the restrictions should be lifted from lawyers).  I wasn’t sure that the

crisis was as big as Andy suggested, or that we should worry too much about

law school applicants (since they can and should protect themselves); check out

our conversation at LEF.

 

After doing a bit of research and reflection, I came to the following conclusions: 

 

Naturally, it’s absolutely improper for law schools to be using deceptive

tactics in the admissions process  [unless used to weed out particularly credulous

or lazy applicants!]

 

  Standards for ABA-approved law schools already exist that can

adequately deal with the issue of misleading promotional practices.

Chapter 5 Admissions is most relevant — generally with Standard

501 and more specifically through Standard 509:

Standard 501. Admissions.

(a) A law school’s admission policies shall be consistent with

the objectives of its educational program and the resources

available for implementing those objectives.

(b) A law school shall not admit applicants who do not appear

capable of satisfactorily completing its educational program

and being admitted to the bar.

 

Standard 509. Basic Consumer Information

A law school shall publish basic consumer information. The

information shall be published in a fair and accurate manner

reflective of actual practice.

Moreover, under Interpretation 509-1: “The following categories of consumer

information are considered basic: (1) admission data; (2) tuition, fees, living costs,

financial aid, and refunds; (3) enrollment data and graduation rates; (4) composition

and number of faculty and administrators; (5) curricular offerings; (6) library resources;

(7) physical facilities; and (8) placement rates and bar passage data.

 

Interpretations 509-2 and 509-3 help ensure compliance through publication

requirements (and, if the school uses its own publication, distribution to each applicant),

and by making clear that the fair and accurate standard applies “whenever and wherever

that information is reported or published . . . in other places or for other purposes.”

 

“tinyredcheck”  As a result, a wide array of information, in uniform and easily-understood formats

(with avdanced search accessibility) is available for free to law school applicants and other

interested persons.  For example:

• 
  
  The LSAC Official Guide to ABA-approved law schools
  
  
• 
  
  ABA Law School stats

The LSAC Guide for each school has lots of data on topics that concerned Prof. Perlman,

including attritition rates (from year to year, academic and other), annual expenses and the

median size of financial aid, employment and bar passage rates, and even the number of

clinical classes and available seats.  For example, see  the LSAC guide for the University

of Akron School of Law.

 

  Given the existence and accessibility of this information, the importance of the decisions, and

the kinds of skills and attitudes a good lawyer needs, I cannot agree with Andy Perlman that

we should feel a lot of sympathy for “naive” or ignorant law school applicants-turned-student. 

Andy is, for example, perturbed because some law schools boast that many of their graduates

go on to public interest jobs without reminding applicants (on the same page, I guess) that huge

school debt might make it impractical or impossible to pursue a public interest dream.   Andy’s

complaint posits a degree of infantile obliviousness (or irresponsibility) on the part of applicants

and overweening nannyism on the part of schools and regulators that is beyond my ability to

comprehend, embrace or justify. 

 

“tinyredcheck”  For the sake of their future clients, I expect better of law school applicants.  Do your homework!

When an issue or topic is important to you (like Perlman’s example of the availability of touted

clinical programs), look into the details, ask questions, be diligent and zealous.

 

A big part of law school education should be helping the student to spot material issues, to persevere

in seeking answers, and to do the right thing despite the avarice and hypocrisy that is everywhere

in the profession and society.   The wise law school applicant, however, should be practicing and

demonstrating those skills in the application and selection process.  Don’t let the law schools off the

hook — but don’t for a moment believe that you can rely on “the other side” to give you the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

 

admissions week –

two fat envelopes

and two thin ones

                          

               dagosan

 

 

A few parting thoughts:

• 
  
  
  

  Prof. Eric Goldman’s observation may be correct that better

  
  

  information is unlikely to lead many applicants to make better

  
  

  decisions. Show him he’s wrong, kids.
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  According to the Site Visit page of the ABA Legal Education

  
  

  Committee, Complaints or Comments about a school’s compliance

  
  

  with the applicable Standards should be sent to the Deputy Consultant

  
  

  on Legal Education to the American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark

  
  

  Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60610.
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Be warned:. Law schools are being fed the magic potion of “branding”

  
  

  for “Selling your Law School in a Buyer’s Market” (Jan. 2005 AALS

  
  

  Convention – see “Strategic Identity and the Branding of Law Schools,”

  
  

  Jon M. Garon, Hamline University School of Law.  If there is substance

  
  

  behind the “strategic identity,” branding can be a useful tool.  The job of

  
  

  the applicant is to make sure it’s not smoke and mirrors.

• 
  
  
  

  As I stated at LEF (in a world-class run-on sentence): “In a world 

  
  

  where law school applicants have ready access to information that

  
  

  can easily counter law school promotional hype or spin, AND in

  
  

  which law schools are already subjected to Standard 509’s requirement

  
  

  of full disclosure that is fair and accurate (a test that I believe is more

  
  

  restrictive than the current Model Rule 7.1 for lawyers), I believe the

  
  

  legal community should be using its efforts to convert more states to

  
  

  the ABA’s Model Rule 7.1 approach for lawyer advertising, rather

  
  

  than attempting to counter hypothetical injury to law school applicants

  
  

  that can be avoided with a little diligence and a reasonable amount of

  
  

  common sense on their part.”

“tinyredcheck” p.s. (April 23, 2005):  Got time?  Here’s a little more homework (via

jd2b):  There’s a recent Washington Post Career Track column that is a

must-read for college students thinking about going to law school and their

parents.   In a review of the book Should You Really Be a Lawyer?,

by D. Schneider and G. Belsky (2004), Mary Ellen Slayter lists some of

the most common traps that applicants fall into as they march mindlessly

toward law schools without figuring out their own motivations, adding up

the true cost, assessing realistic job options if saddled with large debt, or

seeking out unbiased and experienced opinions about law practice.  “First,

Make a Case: Is Law School for You?” (Wash. Post, April 17, 2005)

 

 

 

 

admissions week –

two fat envelopes

and two skinny ones

         dagosan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

prairie twilight…

the glow of the cattleman’s

branding iron

 

                Ed Markowski

 

 

 

 

 

during discussion

on the meaning of life . . . the crunch

of a student’s apple

 

 

                         George Swede

                                   from Almost Unseen

 

 

 

 

 

pencil shavings

the student’s tongue

curls and uncurls

 

                  DeVar Dahl

                          from A New Resonance 3

 

 

                         

 

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of Albert Einstein’s death (April 18, 1955).         

I was five years old when he died, and have had no professional nor dilettante interest in physics

or mathematics.  Nonetheless, I’ve always been very fond of Old Albert and have never quite

known why.   Perhaps this quote from Sunday’s newspaper  (Associated Press, April 15, 2005,

“100 Years Ago, Einstein Changed Everything,”) helps explain it:

“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is

something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”

“einsteinTime”  I can picture it now:  Little Tyke David proudly dresses himself one morning in

a color-and-design combination that provokes from his mother (and big sister) that phrase every

male in the universe hears, from every significant woman in his life (and quite a few insignificant

ones):

“That doesn’t go!”  You can’t wear stripes with plaids!  And, never mix green

with orange!”

Then, Mama Giacalone probaby added: “Do you want to look as silly as Albert Einstein?”  Thus,

the bond was formed across the ages and the cosmos — like time, taste is relative.

 

That certainly explains my wearing stripes to visit the Einstein Monument in D.C. (1980)   “Einstein head small”  

                                                                                                                                          orig photo by A.J. Giacalone here

 

 

Of course, there is much more to know, respect and like about the complex man chosen by

Time Magazine as Person of the Century (by Eric Golden, Jan. 3, 2005) — famous for his

genius and profundity, his charm and humor.  Over the decades, as I have come to know some

very smart people who take themselves far too seriously, I’ve come to appreciate greatly Einstein’s

playfulness in public and his willingness to let the world see him being silly.  His biographer

Juergen Neffe recently said,  “He was the first global pop star of science at a time when world

stars were first emerging.”   And:

 ”He was always fun to be with, always joking. Sometimes when he was supposed

to give a speech he would just play his violin instead.” (keralanext.com, April 14, 2005)

  I think Albert would shake his shaggy head at Rolf Sinclair, the stuffy physicist who is

quoted in an AP article saying he despises the Einstein monument in D.C., because “It makes him

look like one of the Three Stooges reading his horoscope.”   The 12-foot bronze depicts Einstein

gazing at his famous energy formula.  Like myself, tourists of all ages climb on his lap for snapshots

and to peer at the map of the universe that is at his feet. 

 

a cool breeze–
the katydid brims
with energy

                      Kobayshi Issa

 

Lately, as more and more “believers” assert that only “peope of faith” can have a strong moral

code and sense of social responsibility (see my post, e.g., on religious law schools), Einstein the

humanist has been an inspiration for me.   As Rabbi Sherwin Wine explains:

    “Albert Einstein was an ardent humanist who believed that human power

and human responsibility were the foundations of the moral life.  Einstein
maintained that ethical rules flowed from human experience and from the
requirements of human survival.  While he stood in awe of the wonders of the
universe, he refused to worship them.  He firmly believed that reality was no
more than the natural universe and that neither chance nor supernatural
intervention governed its events.” 

Michael Dobkowski,  professor of religious studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges in

Geneva, NY. captured the feelings of myself and millions of others in America and around

the world (”Still today Albert Einstein models power of human spirit,” Rochester [NY]

Democrat & Chronicle, April 15, 2005):

“Einstein carried an unprecedented moral weight, and he took carefully

considered, courageous and even original stands on a host of issues. Great

social ideas and great science come from the ability to question the obvious,

and Einstein had an abiding incapacity for self-deception and evasion. So he

was willing to modify his positions to meet new realities.

 

                                                                                             - see Time for orig.   

 

“His face, with its unruly, white hair and soft dreamy eyes has become, in many   

ways, the human face of humanity and a reminder of the limitless potential of the

human spirit and intellect to overcome ignorance, prejudice, parochialism and the

dogma of uncontested assumptions.”

Let’s close with a few Einstein qutotations (from dailycelebrations.com):

• 
  
  Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.

• 
  
  
  

  The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.

  
  

  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. 

• 
  
  Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts
  
  
  can be counted.

• 
  
  Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.

    One final quote suggests that Einstein and Kobayashi Issa — two

wise, compassionate, and silly souls — would have enjoyed meeting over

a cup or two of tea or sake. 

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part

limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and

feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion

of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting

us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle

of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its

beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such

achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”

 [quoted in H Eves Mathematical Circles Adieu (Boston 1977)]

 

 

 

frogs sing, roosters sing
the east
turns light

 

 

the mountain moon              
gives the blossom thief
light

 

 

 

 

to a massive rock
grow quickly my pebble…
Ishitaro

 

 

 

the round patches
the square patches…
snow floats away!

 

 

 

  from Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

“ ‘>frogs sing,” “the mountain moon,” “a massive rock,” “the round patches“

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of Albert Einstein’s death (April 18, 1955).         

I was five years old when he died, and have had no professional nor dilettante interest in physics

or mathematics.  Nonetheless, I’ve always been very fond of Old Albert and have never quite

known why.   Perhaps this quote from Sunday’s newspaper  (Associated Press, April 15, 2005,

“100 Years Ago, Einstein Changed Everything,”) helps explain it:

“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is

something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”

“einsteinTime”  I can picture it now:  Little Tyke David proudly dresses himself one morning in

a color-and-design combination that provokes from his mother (and big sister) that phrase every

male in the universe hears, from every significant woman in his life (and quite a few insignificant

ones):

“That doesn’t go!”  You can’t wear stripes with plaids!  And, never mix green

with orange!”

Then, Mama Giacalone probaby added: “Do you want to look as silly as Albert Einstein?”  Thus,

the bond was formed across the ages and the cosmos — like time, taste is relative.

 

That certainly explains my wearing stripes to visit the Einstein Monument in D.C. (1980)   “Einstein head small”  

                                                                                                                              &n