Irregular Update #6

Hello Friends in the Computer,

Have you ever had an allergy test? If you haven’t, basically you hold out your arm or lay down and expose your back, a medical professional drops a bunch of allergens on your skin, and then you wait to see what makes you itch.

I realized that’s sort of what I want to do with myself right now. The last few years of my career and life were pretty traumatic, had very defined lanes and, in some cases, had limitations of what I could say or do.

There’s a lot of stuff I CAN do, but I really want to find out what I WANT to do. If left to my own devices, what do I want to explore? Argue about? Create? Basically, life is short, my time is precious, and I only want to spend it on things that make my ass itch.

One of the things that I LOVE but haven’t been able to play with lately is “the history of legal technology”. In my undergrad anthropology days I took a “history and philosophy of science” course (it’s a whole discipline, in case you didn’t know) and I’d love to craft a course like that. I mean, I know law schools barely touch technology or practical skills as it stands, but tech without ethics or an appreciation of the “why” is more dangerous than nothing at all.

I will probably also add a section on this to my legal tech MOOC.

But in the meantime, I may do something about this topic in a written format. Since both ABA TECHSHOW and LegalWeek NYC are soon approaching, I am considering an artificial deadline for myself based on those. Probably more the latter because I have a snowmobile trip planned between now and TECHSHOW. But also I’m not all that into “deadlines” and “work” and “pressure” right now.

(Also, btw, it looks like I will be attending both so be prepared to be underwhelmed by the experience of meeting me, assuming I don’t just nod awkwardly at you from across a room and then run if you attempt contact. Also, I’m taller than you think.)

ANYWAY, for now, check out this fun sample of ads from ABA Journal through the decades.

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

Once we hit the 1980s, things get SO GOOD. These are all from 1984.

1990s

So that’s what’s making me itch this week.

Be well,

Sarah

p.s. Its good to be home.

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