Saturday, August 31, 2024
Strong advice
Friday, August 30, 2024
Haiku Friday: Storms
There has been a really remarkable series of storms coming through this area lately: the kind where it becomes pitch-black in the afternoon. I kind of like a nice summer rain, but this is the violent tree-uprooting Uncle of those rainstorms.
So let's haiku about storms this week. Here, I will go first:
Had to stop my bike
A tree was blocking the road
Sidewalk shoved away.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable formula and have some fun!
Thursday, August 29, 2024
PMT: A reflection on the Pence years
I actually encountered Vice President Mike Pence once. Seriously-- I had a meeting in the West Wing in March of 2019, and as I walked in, he was walking out. He held the door open for me, nodded and said "good to see you." It was an unusual (and strangely formal) moment.
We too often fail to remember the good parts of the Pence years. After all, VP Pence was able to avoid entangling the US in wars, fostered a good economy (until the pandemic), and actually realigned our relationship with China to the good. He also fulfilled the goal (whether you agreed with it or not) of reducing illegal immigration, and finally got some NATO members to pay their fair share.
In my own field, Pence gave us the First Step Act, which was the most significant criminal justice reform in a generation. It's hard to understate what an accomplishment that was.
So, as we look to this election, it's important to remember the leadership he provided for those four years.
[I hope at least some of you figure out what I am doing here. If you do, put it in the comments]
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
1982
I recently went over to the Walker to take in their Keith Haring exhibition. It has been heavy on me ever since.
If you don't recognize Haring's name, you probably recognize his art, which was mostly a few simple line drawings in various permutations in a way that really works to express emotion. Haring arrived in New York from Kutztown, Pennsylvania in 1978, He settled into the Lower East Side and started his career in a very public way-- by posting his work in the subway. By 1982, he began to participate in exhibitions, and not long after that he was wealthy and famous (relatively). His work was always public: murals, the subway pieces, affordable things from a "Pop Shop" he opened in SoHo, collaborations with people like dancer Bill T. Jones.
In 1990 he died of complications of AIDS. A lot of people did.
The thing about dying young is that your work necessarily becomes about a singular time and place, and Haring's insect in amber was New York-- and specifically, Manhattan-- in the early to mid-1980's. The city was violent, rough, and relatively cheap for young people. There were places to dance and make a mess.
I remember that place. I first went to New York without my family in 1982. I went up from college with Nancy, Sutton and Matt. Nancy was from a small city in Indiana, and grew up in a house with a cornfield behind it. Sutton was a Dallas sophisticate, and Matt was a kid from Northern Virginia, like a lot of students at William and Mary. We stayed with Nancy's cousin who was squatting in a vacant apartment building in the Lower East Side. He took us to the Pyramid Club, on Avenue A. I saw drag performers for the first time, and stayed out all night, and danced, and sat in a cafe and watched a man order nothing but hot water with a lemon. I learned more than I did at school.
After that, I kept going back, and there are such memories: cheeseburgers at the Old Town; my girlfriend reacting to a guy grabbing her ass while she was chopping vegetables by turning and holding the tip of the knife to his neck even as a single drop of blood emerged; talking to firemen at 2 am as they sat in front of their truck; more dancing, the music, the rats, the light, the sirens.
It's all gone and different now. Nancy is a professor in Ithaca, Sutton is back in Texas with a husband and a bunch of grown kids, I'm whatever it is that I am, and Matt is dead. Of AIDS.
Simple line drawings? Yeah, not so simple.
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Unusual characters playing sports
I wondered... what would it look like if a famous porker was involved in demolition derby? The AI answer is kind of disturbing: She would enjoy it very much, even if she ended up holding her own severed leg:
What about a grouch playing ice hockey? Again, a good time for all! And one good thing about sports-- it gets you out of the same old trash can.
Somewhat realistic is this image of a famous bird in NASCAR:
What about rollerball? Well, that gets a little gory, as it appears this beloved character has taken great delight in having removed an opponent's still-beating heart with a spear:
Here is a well-known drummer playing football. I have to say wearing only underpants and a jersey is pretty on-brand:
I have no idea what is going on here, but it apparently involves hiking:
And finally, here is me after being beaten by Walt and Roy Disney for copyright violations. Help me, IPLawGuy!:
Monday, August 26, 2024
Fair (to excellent) Haiku
Great work with the haiku this week! We had this from Craig, who is pro-fair:
Been to county fairs:
Suburban boy in me loves
all the farm animals.
Suburban boy in me loves
all the farm animals.
IPLawGuy, in contrast, seems a little cranky:
State or County Fair, bah!
Give me creaky carnivals
Strip mall parking lots.
Give me creaky carnivals
Strip mall parking lots.
And this anonymous entry was super-cranky:
Greasy, crappy food,
Twenty lousy bucks to pass the gate
O how Ihate the fair.
Twenty lousy bucks to pass the gate
O how Ihate the fair.
Des actually won at the fair!:
Entering honey
in the fair. The jar has no
bubbles- for the win!
in the fair. The jar has no
bubbles- for the win!
Kitty brings the Western perspective:
Montana mutton bustin'
So much fun to watch
Grandsons hoped to win but lost
So much fun to watch
Grandsons hoped to win but lost
And Your Tim(e) Has Come is VERY pro-fair (like me)!:
Our state fair is a
Good excuse to overeat
(a)And hear great music
(b)And see superb art
(c)And meet great people
(d)And smell smelly swine
Good excuse to overeat
(a)And hear great music
(b)And see superb art
(c)And meet great people
(d)And smell smelly swine
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Sunday Reflection: What you must believe
When I was younger, I encountered a lot of people eager to tell me "what Christians believe." Universally, they were explaining what their own relatively small group of Christians believed, of course, and some of the beliefs were oddly specific. Sometimes it included positions on things Jesus never addressed (ie, abortion) while ignoring those he did (ie, how we treat the poor).
In a way, a lot our belief systems are kind of like an AI generated image: Based on some real and important documents, filtered through a muddle of interpretation, and then blended with awkward contemporary settings and ideas. [ie, "Jesus teaches in the desert," above, where the desert looks pretty realistic except for the monkeys, but Jesus is dressed as a youth pastor and the followers include a game-ready football player, and I can't explain the orange ball]
If we are to be honest, Christians aren't connected by beliefs so much as they are by common questions and a general sense that the answers are related to Jesus.
The big breaking point-- that is, the difference between people I feel I share a common bond of faith with and those I don't-- really has to do with just two things. The first is that there is a God, and it isn't ourselves. People who are there share a common humility, in that there is something greater than us; a lot opens up from that simple belief, including the bare fact that there is much we will never understand, because we are not God. The second is that Jesus's teachings contain great truths. It doesn't matter to me so much if someone believes this or that about Jesus's status, but that they really care about what he taught-- because if they do, we can have a great conversation with this deep well of complications in common.
Saturday, August 24, 2024
More AI Images
This is what I got for "furniture shopping in Dallas," where apparently this woman is buying an enormous chair. My favorite detail is the guy in the blue shirt looking on:
Here we have "Kittens moving to Staten Island," and they do not look too happy about it, do they? Apparently, they are taking the ferry.
For "British Royalty on a Roller Coaster," I got this, which represents a very severe and welcome departure for the Brits:
There were a few intriguing outcomes for "Drug Kingpins Playing Hockey." First we have this one, where you have to give them credit for avoiding ethnic stereotypes, I guess. But there is no ice, these guys clearly don't know how to hold a hockey stick, and there is a stick blade that has come to life in the lower left section:
This second one presents the intriguing idea that sorority girls at Clemson may REALLY be the drug kingpins. And why are they playing in an alley? Also, the giant ball is confusing:
And now, my personal favorite, "Bear enjoying the great outdoors." I mean... yeah, the bear IS having fun, but why is he littering? Why are cans flying around in the air? And how did he get a gun?:
Friday, August 23, 2024
Haiku Friday: Time for the State Fair!
It's time for the Minnesota State Fair! (image above provided by AI, which appears to think the Minnesota State Fair is exceptionally dangerous, given the crashed vehicles, ferris wheel spinning out of control and the guy in the middle whose arm has been ripped off by some kind of defective ride).
Let's haiku about fairs this week-- any kind that you want. Here I will go first:
So hard, the waiting
Until it's time for ice cream
Best part of the year.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun!
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Political Mayhem Thursday: A Pretty Good Speech
Maybe you missed Michelle Obama speaking on Tuesday at the Democratic Convention. If you did (or want to see it again), here you go! It's worth it.
Yes, people are saying (again) that she should run for president, which is a terrible idea. For one thing, she doesn't want to. It might be that what's best is what she does want to do-- write books and once in a while do what she did on Tuesday.
Because that was spectacular.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
The Freedom Party
Ok, first of all, when I asked the AI image generator for a picture of "pandas at the State Fair," I got this image of one panda apparently beheading another in front of a fair crowd. Which, frankly, seems unnecessarily gory-- I was kind of hoping for a couple of happy pandas eating hot dish on a stick or something.
But that's not what I was going to write about today.
I'm not exactly a cutting-edge kind of guy, but over the past year or so I have been ahead of the curve on politics. I wrote a piece urging Joe Biden to step aside, and then he did. I wrote another piece arguing that Kamala Harris should pick Tim Walz as her running mate, and then she did. And tonight when I heard Democrats describing themselves as the "Freedom Party," I remember a piece I wrote for the Waco Tribune Herald on November 24, 20233, titled "Who is the Freedom Party," where I said this:
Believers in free minds and free markets found a more natural home with Republicans for decades, but that is no longer true. Over and over again, the key initiatives of Republicans work to restrict freedom. Freedom of religion? Donald Trump wants to restrict immigration based on the religious majorities in some countries. Freedom of assembly? Republicans are seeking crackdowns on the lawful protests made on campuses and elsewhere calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Free markets? Most Republican candidates are insisting on greater trade restrictions against China. Freedom of thought? Some conservatives want to ban books. Freedom to vote? Sadly, Republicans have spent a decade pushing for voting restrictions across the country. Even the Republican drumbeat to “crack down on crime” with longer sentences (even as crime has gone way down) is, in the end, nothing other than a call to restrict freedom.
I'm not claiming that what I wrote created any of these things-- it's kind of the ultimate showing of correlation not being causation-- but I was, for once, a little ahead of the curve!
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
A message to our new law students
Yesterday, our first-year law students began orientation. Here is what I would like to tell them:
A long time ago, I was deciding where to go to law school. I had gotten into Yale, so I traveled to New Haven to check it out. To be honest, I wasn't exactly lighting up the world in the nearly two years after college; my jobs had included flower delivery, making copies, serving summonses and complaints, and doing financial aid paperwork for music students. I had looked up the background of other Yale Law students, and they were very different-- people had worked at the World Bank in Paris or taught in an inner city school or gotten a Ph.D.
I found my way to the entrance of the school, pictured above, which was somewhat intimidating. There was a sign on the door that said "Authorized Persons Only," and I wasn't sure if I was authorized. I just stood there for a long time, wondering if I should just go away. Finally, a student came out who had passed me on his way in 20 minutes before, and now saw me still standing there like a dork.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm not sure if I'm a person authorized to come in," I explained.
He seemed a little perplexed. "Well, why do you want to come in?" he asked.
I explained that I had been admitted and wanted to see the place. He shook his head and said "of course you are authorized!" Then he took me into the school and showed me around.
Ever since then, when I doubt myself, I tell myself "You are authorized!"
And now you, new students, are authorized. You belong here. We chose you. None of you are the imposter; none of you don't belong.
And know this, too:
You are authorized to be wrong sometimes. You are authorized to tell me that I am wrong sometimes (and I am). You are authorized to feel overwhelmed, and scared, and joyful, and relieved, and to fall in love or out of it while you are here. You are authorized to be who you are, and to let that be enough.
Being authorized is pretty awesome. Welcome to it.
Monday, August 19, 2024
On Napping
Wow! It was great to hear from CraigA:
I never nap much.
However, an afternoon nap
is a welcome respite.
However, an afternoon nap
is a welcome respite.
And Christine is channelling Genesis 4:
Lounging, book in hand,
Trickling water, splashes, lures
To the Land of Nod.
Trickling water, splashes, lures
To the Land of Nod.
Thank you, Your (Tim)e Has Come (I see what you did there):
I slept through my chance
To write a Friday Haiku
It's now Saturday.
To write a Friday Haiku
It's now Saturday.
And an Anonymous hit!:
Summer camp, Texas
Sun too hot to go outside
Mandatory naps!
Sun too hot to go outside
Mandatory naps!
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Sunday Reflection: 17 months
When my dad died in March of 2023, someone told me it gets better after 18 months. That might be true, but at 17 months I'm not so sure. It's still a painful thing, and strangely stilted: I'm only really able to remember the last two weeks of his life, after his heart attack and before his death, when he was in the hospital. There is something very cruel about that; there was such richness and life and joy in all the years before those two weeks, but I just don't seem able to summon them.
Young people are all potential and dreams, while those of us who are older (while still having potential and dreams) are enriched with memories; it is kind of the best thing we have. So to be kept from them somehow is like having a most precious thing hidden from me.
It strikes me, though, that maybe I have to work through those two weeks, that maybe I meant to unearth something in those memories that I have. Sometimes, we get that kind of challenge...
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Well, that didn't work out...
I'm still trying to figure out AI and how I might use it. I figured it might be fun to generate some images, but they turned out to be kind of... disturbing. For example, I asked the image generator to give me a picture of "Ronald McDonald and the Monopoly Guy at the White House." It gave me this:
So, where to start?
I suppose what is most accurately depicted is the White House, though it does lack a front door and there seems to be a cluster of non-American flags on a pillar.
Ronald McDonald, which seems to be the guy on the right, has devolved into a bizarre hairball in a vinyl coat.
The Monopoly Guy, at left, is... well, is that supposed to be Bill Gates?
Then there is the thing in the middle, which is kind of a balloon-animal thingee with a red bow. I kind of wonder if that is supposed to be Ronald McDonald's severed head on a spike or something.
Next, I asked for "Goldy Gopher Robbing a Bank" and got this:
When I asked for "a cheerleader and a mortician exchanging business cards," I at least got something that could conceivably be exactly that, provided that the cheerleader is 45 years old and the mortician is dressed for the Met Gala:
Next, I asked for "Dutch speed skaters pursue Taylor Swift in New Orleans," resulting in this image:
Well, uh... kudos for trying, right? But those speed skaters are all kinda weird. The guy in the back has four feet, and there seems to be some gender thing going on with the two in the front.
Finally, I leave you with the coup de grace, given to me in response to my request for an image of "The Big Fig's Funeral":
I deeply admire the decision to set this scene in the Dark Ages, somewhere in Europe. This is kind of a fail, though, because THE BIG FIG ISN'T DEAD in the image, right?
Ok, ok, one more: this is "Bears attacking the US Olympic Skateboard Team":
You have to admire the fact that these bears have mounted their attack on skateboards, which is only fair, but probably puts them at a disadvantage. I would note, too, the paltry crowd that showed for this event, which promises to become very interesting real soon.
I can't stop! But will end here with "Al Roker leaving the United States via hot air balloon":
Friday, August 16, 2024
Haiku Friday: Napping
There is something about August that just seems to make it perfect for a nap. Especially on the weekend, there is just some catching up to do. So if you have a poem about napping in you, let's bring it on! Here, I will go first:
Sunbeam, I'm right here
Let's combine forces today
At about, say, three.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable formula and have some fun!
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Political Mayhem Thursday: Minneapolis Problems
Yesterday, Minneapolis's Mayor announced residential property tax increases of over 8% next year and another hike of nearly 10% the year after that. The problem is that commercial real estate, devastated by work at home moves after the pandemic, is no longer paying anything close to what it used to in taxes while costs have risen dramatically for the city and federal COVID money has run out. Already, people in Minneapolis pay high taxes-- I live about five blocks outside the city limits, and my taxes are roughly half what they would be if I lived there.
Cities went through a rough time in the 1970's, as populations moved to the suburbs. In Detroit, it was a profound and heart-wrenching change as whole neighborhoods were largely abandoned.
It would be a tragedy if that were repeated... but I'm not seeing a winning recipe for success around here.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
I voted!
I love voting.
Part of it for me is seeing my neighbors, the orderly sense of it, the feeling that it matters (even when it doesn't so much, as with many primaries).
In Michigan and Texas, my voting places were usually ringed with people waving signs and sometimes the candidates themselves yelling over a rope. The more contested the election, the more people would be there, creating a cacophony outside the elementary school. We don't do that in Minnesota, apparently-- it is a quiet and somber experience.
The big election, of course, will be in November, and like a lot of Americans I am thinking about that a lot. But this one-- which matters, but not as much--moves my heart.
It's a privilege, isn't it? To be able to stand there with the neighbors, saying our names, attesting to our desire to follow the rules, and then filling in the little bubbles beside the names of people we don't know (or, sometimes, do know).
Thanks, America.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Retirement
I'm at an age where some people I know are retiring, and that just throws me. I understand it in their circumstances, I suppose, but I feel very far away from that-- at least another decade. It's hard to imagine a life without the work that I love.
Maybe that's the key, I suppose-- that I love what I get to do. Not everyone has that luxury, of course, and relief from the daily grind is something they crave. For some, too, work is restrictive of time and energy, and they long to travel or engage in a hobby. That makes sense, too. But... that's not me (and I get to travel plenty as it is).
It shouldn't be a surprise that the seasons of life are different for everyone, right?
Monday, August 12, 2024
And that's it for the Olympics!
I'm sad that they are done, but at least we closed it out with some great haiku! Like this one from Desiree:
Holding my breath with
those upside down gals in the
pool-give them the gold!
those upside down gals in the
pool-give them the gold!
And this from Jill Scoggins:
Opening unbound
All of Paris was the stage
Water-borne athletes.
All of Paris was the stage
Water-borne athletes.
Christine chimed in:
Over on the track...
Many amazing moments
and some true upsets.
Many amazing moments
and some true upsets.
And an anonymous golfer (or something):
Sounds boring, but not!
Golfers were all breathtaking
Long accurate putts.
Golfers were all breathtaking
Long accurate putts.
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Sunday Reflection: The Bread of Life
John 6:35 says this:
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever
believes in me will never be thirsty.”
For me, this is one of the passages that demonstrate something important: the Jesus used metaphor to make an important point, to reveal truth. He isn't literally made of bread. Yet he is getting to a deep meaning through something that isn't literally true, as many great communicators have done for millennia.
And yet... there are people who stoutly believe that all of the Bible is literally true-- that, apparently, Jesus was made of bread.
But we know that God teaches us with metaphor, with parables, with things that are harder than literal truths because they require us to engage with them and untangle the meaning.
And I have a lot more to learn.
Saturday, August 10, 2024
If you missed it....
USA mens basketball needed an epic comeback to beat Serbia in the semis...
Friday, August 09, 2024
Haiku Friday: What we've seen
The last week of the Olympics have been spectacular! Let's haiku about some (more) of what we have seen. Have we done that before? Well, yeah, kind of-- before they started. And I kind of obsessed? Also yes... but pretty soon we will be done with it for the next two years. Here, I will go first:
Waiting, waiting, then
Zooms by on the inside lane
Nation says "Wow-wee!"
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable format and have some fun!
Thursday, August 08, 2024
PMT: Harris, Walz & a New Dynamlic
As some of you may have noticed, I spent literally two years complaining about a presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, two elderly and fairly grim individuals. The grim Joe Biden only emerged in the last few years, of course, but there is no denying that his recent appearances have been a lot less than fun.
Things have changed. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz not only have different policies than the Republican nominees, but a completely different attitude-- they seem to actually think America is a good place and they enjoy being here.
The thing I find most off-putting about JD Vance and Donald Trump outside of policy issues (which, yeah, matter the most) is how they describe an America that I just don't recognize, full of scary things and scary people. That's just not the reality for most of us.
Now let's enjoy these last 89 days before the election!
Wednesday, August 07, 2024
Well, that worked!
I neglected to mention this at the time, but last Thursday I had an article in The Hill arguing that Kamala Harris should pick long-shot Tim Walz as her running mate.
So, I'm not sure who read it, but it sure seems like someone did! Or at least I'd like to think so....
Monday, August 05, 2024
Whew!
Back in February, I argued a case in the Minnesota Supreme Court, seeking to defend the conviction of Jamael Smith for first degree murder. Smith shot and killed Jay Boughton as he drove his son home from baseball practice on highway 169 in the Western suburbs of Minneapolis. It was a tough case, and the argument was intense (but it felt great to be back to arguing cases again).
We finally got an opinion, and the Supreme Court was unanimous in upholding the verdict. You can read the opinion here (scroll down to A23-0007), and the Star-Tribune article about it here.
Sunday, August 04, 2024
I've often been taken with this passage from Luke 7:
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
There is so much going on! But, to start with, there is the fact that the hero of the story is a Centurian-- and enforcer of the Roman occupation, the commander of 100 legionares. He was privileged in that society, someone who had all the advantages.
That's not typical of many of those Jesus helped, who were those with the least power. But the Centurian came to Jesus with an attitude of humility rather than arrogance, and perhaps that makes all the difference.
And I think that is the message.
