the archives of f/k/a . . .

Mediator-author Diane J. Levin is hosting Blawg Review #43    

today at her Online Guide to Mediation weblog.  And, honestly, I would

have told you about BR #43, even if Diane hadn’t mentioned Your Editor

and this weblog (favorably) a bunch of times.  [Thanks, Diane, I'm glad

my Mother was able to lobby successfully on behalf of her youngest child.

 Emoticon implied.]  What did I lawrn from the blawgy folk?

 

Diane struggled to find a theme for this week’s Blawg Review, and

ended up waxing dramatic on the interplay between William Shake-

spear and the law (plus, the world of lawyer weblogs):

Why not Shakespeare?

Shakespeare and the law alike embody the power of language–

the poetry and nuance of the written and spoken word. Both stand

as enduring institutions, yet are fluid enough to lend themselves to

reinterpretation. Shakespeare and law are theatre–captivating audi-

ences with tales of comedy, tragedy, crime, justice, betrayal, ambition,

 villainy, and love. Both exert profound influence, igniting public passion

and imagination.

“shakespearePlays”

Moreover, law and justice emerge often as themes and metaphors

throughout Shakespeare’s work. For further reading, click] . . . As

I mulled this idea over, it suddenly dawned on me that we law bloggers

even have our very own Bard (true, David Giacalone pens haiku, not

Elizabethan sonnets, but, hey, allow me some poetic license here).
That clinched it for me (especially the serendipitous discovery that

David had been a mediator like I am).

Therefore, I welcome you to the Shakespearean edition of Blawg Review.

Sounded really good to me, too.  You’ll probably enjoy it also, as

Diane mixes lines from Shakespeare with descriptions (and links) to some of the

best law-oriented weblogging of the past week, and more — such as our 2003

essay on the profession’s response to Shakespeare’s “kill all the lawyers” line. 

 

 

I always like to discover one good new-to-me weblog at BR’s weekly carnival,

and Blawg Review #43 did not let me down. After checking out Dan Hull’s

What About Clients?, I know I will be returning regularly.  Given my feelings

about lawyer branding, I’m looking forward to seeing Dan’s perspectives, and

plan to enjoy the series that began with “Law Firm Logos are Goofy, Useless,

and a Waste of Time and Money.” (see our Brand LEX)  I wonder what Dan

thinks about Pape & Chandler’s Pit Bull Logo. 

 

                                                                                            

 

If you come here often, you know that procrastination is an important part

of my personal, professional, and poetic work ethic. So, I was also quite

pleased to find a pointer at BR #43 to David Maister’s recent posting 

Done at Last! Thoughts on Procrastination – at least until I saw he was

trying to cure people of procrastination.  Nonetheless, you might know

someone who needs it.  For myself, despite having a big deadline tonight,

I think I’ll reread Jacob A. Stein’s column in the January Washington Lawyer 

“E=procrastination=mc2.”  Even if you’re not trying to put off something

unpleasant, I recommend heading over to Blawg Review #43.

 

community theater -

the audience

is nervous

 

 

 

 

writer’s block

I try drawing

a woman

 

  John Stevenson Upstate Dim Sum

 

                                                                 

 

Congratulations to Jim Kacian (f/k/a’s very first Honored

Guest Poet and godfather), whose poem was recently

awarded 2nd place in the Haiku Society of America’s

2005 Harold G. Henderson Memorial Competition for best 

unpublish haiku.  Here’s jim’s haiku — a great example

that fewer (syllables and lines) can be more:

 

gunshot the length of the lake        

 

          Jim Kacian  (2nd Place, HSA Henderson Award 2005,

             judges’ comments)

 

 

Serendipity Alert:  I literally just went downstairs and found the newest

annual version of The Red Moon Anthology of English-Languish Haiku

in my mailbox — the most-anticipated annual anthology by many haiku

lovers, including myself.  Jim Kacian is the editor and publisher of

Red Moon Press, and the Anthology series has won many awards

and much praise, for assembling “each year the finest haiku and re-

lated forms published around the world in English.”

 

RMA 2005 is titled inside the mirror (click to see the colorful cover). 

The ten co-editors who helped Jim select the poems included in RMA

2005, selected three of Master Kacian’s poems, and here are two

excellent one-liners:

 

flurries after our argument the need to tell you

 

 

                                                                   

 

the voices I hear aren’t talking to me spring twilight 

 

 

  Let’s celebrate with a few more

haiku from Jim:

 

 

   a cow comes

out of the barn

      half hay

 

 

 

 

          sharp wind

the metal gate bangs shut

          bangs shut

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

three-quarter moon–

imagining she can feel it

move inside her

 

 

 

“moonWaneCres”

 

 

   the lake laps

all night the same

   quiet thoughts

 

 

 

Jim Kacian from Presents of Mind (1996)

except: “three-quarter moon” – mariposa 6; pegging the wind

 

p.s. You can find a Red Moon Press order form here.