I recently had the distinct pleasure of contributing three guest posts to Alison Monahan’s ‘The Girl’s Guide to Law School’. (I’m not sure Alison quite wanted three posts; but, that’s what I wrote, and that is what she probably felt compelled to use, probably in order to save my feelings.) The three posts are framed as my answers to three questions posed by Alison, in the guise of the everywoman (or everyman) law student.
You can find my long-winded responses, across the various queries, as follows:
–Traps for the Unwary New Lawyer Starting a Practice
–Law Student Marketing
–Non-Traditional Legal Careers, including my own
While written for an audience of law students, it is probably not surprising that a number of the matters discussed in this series will be useful or interesting to currently practicing attorneys, as well — because, after all, what do law students become? No. Not Snickers bars exactly.
And, I’d be remiss in leaving the formal section of this post without declaring that: Both law students and recent alumni (both ladies and gentlemen) would be well-served to consistently access the array of resources that Alison makes available through the ‘Girl’s Guide’.
. . .
Liner Notes
I’m an unabashed Monkees fan. And, I don’t care that they were a commercially packaged band, that could be viewed (probably rightly) as the forebear to the American Idol-derived dynamic haunting modern music. I don’t even mind that Stephen Stills didn’t make the band. Stephen Stills is the man (even though he copied my sideburns); but, I’d say that worked out well for both sides now.
I mean, when I say I really like the Monkees, I’m not kidding: I like the ‘Head’ album, and theme, “Porpoise Song”. I like Mike Nesmith’s country-rock stuff (though that may come as no surprise to regular readers of the LOMAP Blog), especially ‘Listen to the Band’. (Read his Wikipedia page; there are things that you do not know about Mike Nesmith, including the fact that he stole my sideburns, too.) When I was a little kid, the first albums I ever listened to were Monkees’ albums; and, I would sit on the floor and play paint cans for my drums, pretending that I was Mickey Dolenz. (It’s just cool to have a band where the lead singer is the drummer.) But, I mean, the Monkees had some great songwriters (especially Boyce and Hart, who were the Monkees before the Monkees were the Monkees); and, there are some straight-up jams in their catalogue. ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’ is probably one of the best songs to come out of the 60’s. ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ and ‘I’m a Believer’ are standards, with primary, signature guitar riffs. ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ is a smoldering Gerry Goffin and Carole King tale about the inherent boredom attendant upon life in the suburbs. ‘Goin’ Down’ features my man Mickey scattin’! The Monkees never get credit for the wide range of their collection. Plus, their bass player was pretty darn good, too.
So, when I heard that Davy Jones had passed away, it struck me as terribly sad news, especially since he was the first of the Monkees to go. It’s always more difficult to lose someone who attaches to your childhood in some way, especially as you yourself get older. I was never a huge fan of the (mostly) ballad-style songs that Davy was charged with singing for the band — tunes like ‘Daydream Believer’; but, he added a lot to the group: he was the requisite British guy; he was the quartet’s ‘cute one’, which every quartet had to have; he was the most accomplished of the band starting out; and, his dance moves crushed, putting Marcia Brady’s ‘all-thumbs’ approach to shame — even though it all came together in the end. And, I must admit, ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You’ is deserving of the high volume sort of appreciation.
Next Christmas just won’t be the same as this Christmas.
