Author Archives: JJD
Digital Parenthood
During my years in the church, I’ve seen many an unruly child disrupt a meeting. Crying babies, tantrum-throwing toddlers, overly exuberant happy kids — they have a way of distracting teachers and learners and turning long meetings into never-ending tedium. One of my least favorite moments in church is the few seconds that follow some toddlerian eruption, when […]
Encore
Guess what I just found? A recording of Juan Diego Florez’s encore performance on Saturday! No video, but you get the first time through, the wild applause, and then the encore.
Bonus
Each year my law firm distributes performance bonuses to associates. Unlike in New York (including at my firm’s New York office), where all associates at top-tier law firms receive the same bonus in a lock-step structure, the bonuses in DC are not automatic and are meant to reward overall contributions to the firm, taking into consideration both […]
New York & DC – Two Snow Whites
Last night after seeing Tribes, we realized that the night was still young (it was only 9:45pm). So we ran back up to the movie theater at Lincoln Square and caught a screening of Mirror Mirror, the new Snow White movie with Julia Roberts and a handful of other interesting people. (And yes, if you’re keeping […]
New York – Sightseeing
Lest someone accuse us of not being well-rounded in our dining/theater spree, Amanda and I managed to work some sight-seeing into our itinerary. Our first interest was to see the recently finished renovations/remodeling of Lincoln Center. Over the last four years the arts complex had tried to undo some of the unfortunate architectural blunders of the original layout, […]
New York – Gastronomical Happiness Realized
While opera was the primary objective of this trip to New York, food was an certainly an ulterior motive. As thanks for many hours of hard work last year, one of my clients gave me a generous American Express diner’s gift card. I could think of no better way to use that gift card than by exploring the culinary […]
New York – Love Potions and Sign Language
L’Elisir d’Amore The whole point of coming to New York this weekend was to see Juan Diego Florez sing the role of Nemorino in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of L’Elisir d’Amore. It’s a popular bel canto opera by Donizetti that tells the tale of a lovelorn country boy who would do anything to catch the […]
New York – Friday Night
Last night after work I met up with Amanda and we ushered in the weekend in proper style with dinner at Maze by Gordon Ramsay, at the London Hotel. It was described in the Michelin as “the Pippa to Gordon Ramsay’s Kate Middleton,” “sexy and elegant,” and “chic-Paris in its smoky-mirrored, teal banquetted, shimmering glass […]
New York – Remind me why I don’t live here?
I’m working out of the New York office today. I’m on the 42nd floor, with awesome views of the Hudson River and New Jersey. With floor-to-ceiling windows, the office is bright (so bright, in fact, that I can’t see my screen very well) and I love it. It’s a marked difference from the shady 6th-floor […]
Workday Pause
I’m taking a break. Given that I’ve already billed 40 hours this week (and it’s only 3:00pm on Wednesday!), I think I’m entitled to a few minutes of down time. I initially thought I’d write about the weekend – I went to three opening receptions at art galleries downtown, met a friend for dinner at […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 