« October 2017 | Main | December 2017 »
November 30, 2017
Simmons, Weinstein, Lauer & Rose.
There’s more—much more—to all these recent male downfalls. Women of all ages are all over men with businesses, power & money. Like flies on shit. They fall over them. Going on for ages. Eons. Women often lie about their victimhood, too. Women can be sharks.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2017
Yes, I’m still a liberal but.....
1. Women, gays, minorities & poors are no longer special.
2. Time for the West to stop treating them like retards, gimps & ne’er do wells.
3. Women, minorities & poors can do well without special help.
4. Stop “normalizing” & enabling mediocrity.
5. Stop punishing people who work hard. Rich, poor, middle-class.
6. Stop demonizing the families of Europeans who built America & always fix things when they break. For 400 years.
7. Finally, stop pretending everyone is substantively “equal.” They’re not equal. Not even close. Get used to it. Or at least get out of the way.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:24 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2017
Be Grateful. But Stay Morlock.
Twitter reply today:
Most of us can’t afford to poof-out & won’t poof-out in this lifetime.* We’re like Eagle Scouts. Need to be super-prepared. No go homo. Stay Morlock. :)
*Exception: GenY Men. They’re like the Eloi in H.G. Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine.
Posted by JD Hull at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2017
America needs to get out more.
1. Alpha men get cocky, act out and overreach.
2. Bullying is unfortunate but natural.
3. Pols hustle for votes. All pols. Everywhere. Any vote will do.
4. People make up stories and lie for strategic advantage. All the time. We lie.
5. All-important aggressive humans do questionable things.
6. Few acts have one motive. Two, three, four or more reasons—good and bad—for doing anything.
7. Most of us? We’re “moral” and “good” and helpful when it’s convenient—and rarely any other time. It’s way easier and more convenient for the educated, wealthy and well-heeled to be moral, good & helpful.
8. Older men have sought younger women for thousands of years. Legal or not, it’s a strong instinct. Get used to it, Humans. It will happen again & again & again.
Posted by JD Hull at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2017
Thanksgiving, Nantucket, Princeton & Duke: Mystery School of the Handwritten Thank-You Note.
The Governess, 1739, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779)
If you went to Duke, folks will re-float the vile and completely untrue story that Duke exists only because Princeton had too much honor and class to accept Buck Duke's filthy tobacco money and re-name Princeton Duke.
In case your Governess never told you, you're from Utah, or you were stoned all nine years at Andover, remember that when thanking anyone for something important--a meeting, referral or a dinner--do it and do it promptly with a handwritten thank-you note. We all fail here from time to time. Yet no valid excuses exist for not writing short prompt notes.
Too few of us practice gratitude, in either business or our "other" lives, enough. Some say the practice of saying thanks is good for the soul. Others swear it's good for revenues, too. Many business people and some lawyers with the highest standards taste (i.e., wear socks to meetings or court) think that no written thank-you note means no class--as harsh and low-tech as that may sound.
Typed is okay--but handwritten is better. Even if you are not convinced that thank-you notes are noticed and appreciated (they are), pretend that we know more than you (we do), and do it anyway (thank us later). Good stationery. We suggest Crane's on the lower end, or something better, like stationery from Tiffany's, or a Tiffany-style knock-off, on the higher end. A "studio card", maybe. Plain. Simple. Initials on it at most.
If you get personalized stuff, have a return envelope address to a home or business--but without the business mentioned. It's personal. Leave Acme Law Firm off it.
If you get mentioned or "linked-to" on the Internet? However, "electronic thank-yous" by e-mails to express thanks for links, comments or mentions in posts or articles on the Internet--i.e., three different people link to your blog every day, you are working full time for clients, busy firing GenY staff and associates, and writing op-ed pieces entitled "Winter 2017: The Post-Election Mood of the Midwest"--are totally okay.
Short, sweet, and press "send".
Blogging about you or your ideas is, of course, very nice--but it's not like they bought you dinner, or invited you up to Newport for the weekend. Besides, you'll always miss a few kudos thrown at you in the digital ether.
But what if you are trashed in the ether? A "reverse" thank-you? Sure, you may be insulted, purposely mis-paraphrased, misinterpreted, or just inadvertently misquoted. It happens. Remember, some bloggers and pseudo-journalists are (1) angry, (2) disorganized, or (3) essentially unemployed. And there are often good reasons for all three. Three approaches:
First, ignore them. Who cares? You are busy.
Second, if you are dissed or insulted in cyberspace, and you are in the right mood, respond smartly with: "Wendell, Dude, if I were you--or someone remotely like you--I would not like me either."
Third, study the techniques of our friend Scott Greenfield, a full-time trial lawyer and widely-read blogger who manages to juggle, keep at bay and often humiliate legions of aggressive and often anonymous fire-breathing "experts" without breaking a sweat.
Anyway, let's get back to manners. If you don't regularly thank people for links or mentions of you or your firm's blog or website, you are fouling your own nest.
Not thanking people in the blogosphere is (1) arrogant and (2) dumb. It adds to the notion that (3) bloggers are insular, passive-aggressive lightweights lacking in people skills.
So develop some habits about all thank-yous for everything--and make handwritten the default position. If you don't, bad things will happen:
1. No one will give you any more business, or invite you to The Hamptons.
2. People will say mean things about your dog, your wife, your girlfriend, or about all three. Worse, they trash you.
3. If you went to Brown, snide people will remind you and your friends that Brown used to be the safety school for the Ivies.
4. If you were at Duke, they'll re-float the completely untrue story that Duke exists only because Princeton had too much honor and class to accept Buck Duke's filthy tobacco money and re-name Princeton Duke.
5. If Princeton, they'll just say you were always kind of light in the Cole Haans, too, and were once even seen dancing at an "alternative lifestyle" bar in the city--dressed in full leather biker garb--so what can you expect?
You get the idea. So thank people in writing. Handwritten as a general rule. E-mail only for a cyber-mention.
Finally, if your site is so successful that your links, e-mails and comments are through the roof, hire someone else to do the thank-yous--written or electronic--for you.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:00 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2017
One Night/One Person. Helping the Winter Homeless. But Keeping It Simple.
Some of you are familiar with One Night, One Person, the program to help homeless outdoor sleepers on the 30 or so coldest nights a year when hypothermia thresholds are exceeded in certain American and European cities. This is year 4 of One Night, One Person. Cleveland lawyer Peter Friedman and I started it in the winter of 2014-2015. It's really simple. Bear with me a moment.
In short, it's a keep-people-alive initiative for the coldest nights.
As an (a) Eagle Scout, (b) Lifelong Camper and (c) All-Weather Philanderer, I assure you that sleeping in cold or the snow is not all that fun. At times, it's not even a choice. Jack London and Hans Christian Andersen wrote enduring stories about death from hypothermia. Happens above freezing temps, too. So consider more than ever (and right now) One Night, One Person. Instructions below.
You're a Yuppie, professional or other generic dweeb between the ages of 22 and 82. You live in towns like New York City, Philly, Boston, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Wilmington, DC or Chicago. You may live in the suburbs or in a downtown neighborhood of these cities. But if you work during the day in a downtown area of any of them, you and yours will go forth and do this:
1. Pick out and ask a homeless woman or man what articles of warm clothing she or he needs that you already have at home or in storage--thermal gloves, wool scarfs, warm hats and beanies, big sweaters, winter coats, thermal underwear, socks, etc.
2. Ask just one person at a time.
3. Agree on a time to meet (preferably at the same place) later that day or the next day.
4. Find the winter stuff you have at home or in storage.
5. Bring said stuff to the homeless woman or man as agreed.
6. Nine out of ten times, your new friend will be there when you show up.
7. Wait for forecasts of the next super-cold night--and repeat.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:00 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2017
39 More Things Long-Divorced American Male Lawyers Know.
40. When in Rome, do as many Romans as you can. ~ Hugh Grant, Brit actor
41. Always attribute--especially when you think no one will notice. They do.
42. When they notice, they might call me.
43. Don't let people tell you who you are.
44. The Internet teems with folks telling you what you must do/think/say/write. Get off your knees.
45. Always talk to jurors post-verdict.
46. One juror will always surprise you big time. Learn who that is before you close.
47. Don't communicate in any manner ever with that one female juror who seemed to like you a lot.
48. Women are meaner, more vindictive and more treacherous than men.
49. The dumbest woman is 100 times more complex than the smartest man.
50. Most men are easy to suss. Not much going on with most of them.
51. Rule 36, Fed.R.Civ.P., my friend.
52. Rule 56(d) is misunderstood.
53. Civil RICO is an unintended consequence.
54. Seldom watch television.
55. Dads don't get a pass for merely siring. So what?
56. All moms suffer.
57. Your mom is your best friend.
58. Buenos Aires has the best-looking people on this planet.
59. Lovemaking probably cannot be learned.
60. Love can be learned.
61. There are no lapsed or recovering Catholics. This is not bad.
62. Jewish women rarely have great legs.
63. Japanese woman have the best legs.
64. Jewish women are good lovers.
65. Japanese women are the best helpmates.
66. Hopelessly insane WASP women are the best lovers.
67. Fewer people should become parents or lawyers.
68. Brown shoes go well with grey suits. No one knows why.
69. Your handkerchief should never match your tie.
70. We need to bring suspenders back.
71. Being right is expensive.
72. The Dutch have no use for Italians.
73. Most Italians view Germans as classless.
74. The English diss anyone who is not English. This will not stop.
75. The French are playful.
76. The Irish are playful, but in a different way.
77. Women in Prague are not playful.
78. Underwear? Commando, guys. It's the only way.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2017
Aways Tell Clients What They Can Do, Too.
I find myself doing it more than I would like--especially with clients with newer businesses or in emerging industries. I've just laid out some legal or regulatory infrastructure that, to them, throw up roadblocks to their plans. And I do this especially on the phone. I hear myself saying "no". Point and note to self: When you talk to clients, protect them. Make them safe. And be strong on those "no" points. But tell them what they can do, too. Make it part of every conversation.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)