Category Work
Sad llama face
Remember how on Sunday I said I was about to move into Step 4 of my work/life (im)balance cycle? Well, I was right. Too right. Step 4 hit like a ton of bricks today at work — such that it feels a lot closer to Step 5 than I would like. Superman is flying awfully close to […]
Progress?
See if this cycle sounds familiar: I’m soul-crushingly busy at work. No time for socializing, sleep or food. Work lightens up. I relax, catch up on sleep, see people. Two or three days later, I’m bored out of my mind, so I join three choirs, start training for a marathon, plan dinner parties at my […]
Party at the Freer
Tonight was the annual welcome reception for associates who joined the firm during the past year. All the new associates are flown in from our various offices around the world, and we throw a fancy party for them and a selected group of older lawyers — mostly the senior “important” people and younger people with […]
Waiting for the storm
I’m getting conflicting messages. At 7:00pm, I received the following notice from WMATA: Two hours later, this one came in from the firm: Because I’m a lawyer, only the highlighted part applies to me; the rest is all for non-lawyer staff. For a firm that prides itself on its attention to detail, this […]
I never get tired of New York
Another quick trip to New York today. This time to attend a dinner with law students that we are recruiting from Columbia and NYU. Timing wasn’t the most convenient — there’s a lot going on at work at the moment — but it’s basically impossible not to enjoy a trip to New York. Things got […]
A room with a view
After four years of working at a purportedly awesome address, I finally have visual proof of such awesomeness before my eyes. Behold the view from my new office: That’s the view down Pennsylvania Avenue to the left. The Capitol Building is just barely out of sight, but the big grey thing with the tower is […]
Life in the margins (plus, a shower curtain)
Oh man. It’s been one of those months. Way too much work, unrealistic deadlines, unpleasant clients — all of my time is still not enough. Even if I’d been willing to pull all-nighters, the clients and partners would still have wanted more. So, of course, my personal life has been pushed yet again to the margins. Family, […]
I can do hard things
Back in 2006 Elaine Dalton gave a talk that has stuck with me more than any other talk I’ve heard. Well, to be honest, the whole talk didn’t stick with me, just one line: Somebody, for some reason, adopted the phrase “I can do hard things” as their motto. I quickly forgot the context and […]
July 4, or every kind of day
I hope my American readers had a good Independence Day! I received text messages from the parental units saying that they did another 5K race this morning and were looking forward to 100+ F weather in Las Vegas. I skyped (while driving!) with Teya and Ammon, who told me about their plans to watch fireworks over the […]
The Weekend
I learned a long time ago that so much of leading an interesting life lies in how you tell the story rather than what you actually do. On my mission, in particular, I remember listening to a companion of mine tell someone about a day that had seemed totally ordinary and unremarkable to me — […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 