f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

.. Ed & Edison in Schenectady (Jan. 2009)  .. ..

What a strange coincidence: Just as I was announcing that this would be the last week of production for f/k/a, my friend “Ed Post” was putting together this week’s version of Blawg Review — #200!! — which opens with a link to Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger post, “If your blog died today . . . what would it be remembered for?“.  Happily, the 200th milestone for Blawg Review is not its last edition.  As its anonymous Editor puts it:

“Not to worry; we’ve come to praise Blawg Review, not to bury it. This moot funeral is not a morbid affair, but a celebration of everything good about Blawg Review.”

Like every issue of Blawg Review, this week’s puts the spotlight on the best material posted during the prior week at law-related weblogs.  As part of the 200th-edition celebration, Ed has structured this issue around an apt Traveling Wilburys metaphor — a musical group composed of rock-n-roll superstars whose collaboration magically “was greater than the sum of its parts.”

One of my favorite poems posted here at f/k/a is this senryu by lawyer-poet Barry George:

his quiet funeral—
a man who did
most of the talking

………………. by barry george

The faux funeral of “Ed Post” and his Blawg Review inspired dagosan to pen a new version this morning:

his noisy wake —
the man who let others
do most of the talking

…. by dagosan

Blawg Review, which is to say Ed and many of his hosts, has always been bery-bery good to this weblog — from giving us the Blawg Review “Creative Law Blog Award” in 2005 [see “thanks a lot (for all this pressure),” Dec. 27, 2005], to including f/k/a in Ed’s “Simply the Best” Top Ten Blawg lists [see our post, October 5, 2007], letting us host Blawg Review #52 (April 11, 2006), and mentioning our work often in the weekly Review.   Behind the scenes, Ed has also often acted as our long-distance proofreader extraordinaire (saving the Gang from many embarrassments), and as cheerleader and moral support when stress and fatigue and Weltschmerz made me want to throw in the towel.

Ed’s two stops in Schenectady to visit this cranky blawger — memorialized here and there — were testaments to the ability of the blawgiverse to create and nurture more than virtual friendships.

So, congratulations, Ed, for creating an enduring, high-quality blog carnival.  And, heartfelt thanks for all you’ve done to create and celebrate the blawger community, and done for this little weblog and its humbled Editor.

bookie’s funeral
the undertaker pays
his debt

…. by ed markowski

As usual, Ed has also reminded me that I have a lot work to do this week — crafting an auto-obituary and apologia for this weblog.   Because we tried to close down this little project once before, after only 19 weeks in busines, I guess the second (and last) time should go a little more smoothly.  See “exitedEsq: going dormant (gonna miss ya)” (October 11, 2003)  Re-reading that post, I see there were a lot of lessons I never learned and a lot of mistakes repeated since our premature death notice.

On the other hand, we got such nice obits from other bloggers (back before Denise had even coined the word “blawg”), it’s a wonder we ever started back up.  Living up to our death press was quite daunting.  See, e.g., this humble-making post by law-blog supertar Ernie Svenson, a/k/a Ernie the Attorney, “Requiem for a Heavyweight – ethicalEsq? is shutting down” (Oct. 12, 2003).   Actually, the blog-obituaries were so generous, it’s a wonder I haven’t sought even more long before now.

update: And, it’s happening again — nice words inspired by our leaving town. See Scott Greenfield’s “Phoenix Rising” (Feb. 24, 2009).

Wait, I’m supposed to be concentrating on lawyer fees this week.   I am so easy to distract.

Let’s close with a few topical poems written by lawyer-poets:

funeral dirge –
we bury the one
who could carry a tune

…. by David Giacalone – Frogpond, Vol. 31:2 (Spring/Summer 2008)
repub. “white lies: Red Moon Anthology 2008”

after the funeral
the seeds she ordered
in today’s mail

funeral over
the deadbolt
slides into place

his death notice. . .
the get-well card
still in my briefcase

… by Roberta Beary
“funeral over” – from the haibun “Stranger Danger” – Frogpond XXVIII:2 (2005)
“after” – Shiki Haikusphere 10th Anniversary Anthology (2007)
“his death notice” – New Resonance 2