Associate's Mind

  When I was an uchi-deshi, there were special classes reserved for senior students called kenshu (“sword sharpening”). During these classes, I would sit in seiza (“proper sitting”) for 30 minutes or so, listening to the instructor lecture on a multitude of topics. History, art, subtle points of techniques, themes, etc. If you haven’t come [...]

I had enrolled in The School of Life, an academy of “self-help” on Bloomsbury’s Marchmont Street, co-founded by philosopher Alain de Botton. For about £30 per session, students can take classes with resident “fellows” of the school on subjects such as “How to fill the God-shaped hole” or “How to make love last”. Tuesday’s topic [...]

Via Learning Fundamentals

  Starting last Wednesday my schedule has been incredibly busy. Between work, family, and fitness – something had to push – and it was any online activities. The weekend hit and spent I most of it running errands, more time with the family, hobbies, etc. It was almost with dread that I opened my RSS [...]

The baby was crying again. It’s 5:15 AM this morning or 2 hours sitting on the tarmac in Boston or rushing through LaGuardia or flying over West Virginia or pulling into the driveway at home at 12:30 am. Mixed up schedules, cancelled flights, weather delays – all combine into sore feet, bland airport hallways, and a [...]

In the wake of yesterday’s post How to Juggle a Family and Law School (or a Law Firm), someone asked me on Twitter: re: juggling law school/family. Any suggestions for the spouses of law students? To which I replied, I wasn’t sure but I would ask my wife when I got home and report back. So I [...]

I was peed on for the first time in my life today. My nearly two-year old son – if anyone was going to do it, I’m glad it was him. It’s probably more of a surprise that I’ve managed to go this long without it happening. It’s just one of those things that comes with [...]

“Boredom is a mask frustration wears.” — Neal Stephenson (Anathem) There will be times as a lawyer where you will wait. You’ll wait on the judge. You’ll waiting on opposing counsel. You’ll wait on the client. You’ll wait on the senior partner of your firm. You’ll wait on your IT guy. You’ll wait on the copier. Throughout [...]

One more post on happiness and I promise we’ll be done with the topic for awhile. If I had known I would be writing about happiness so much I would have labeled this “Happiness Week” or some such thing. Regardless, I couldn’t help but link to, and write about, this story as it has clinical [...]

Yesterday I posted about happiness being a choice. Largely speaking, most of the events in our lives are out of our control but the one thing we do have firm control over is the attitude we choose with which to confront the world. On an intuitive level, it would follow that a happy worker is more [...]