Geeky Chic

I’m taking a break from billing (don’t worry, I had a long supper this
evening) to point out this story regarding one of the NY firms at which
I interviewed during 2L year (my big brother figure from law school
lasted all of 10 months there).  The firm is tangled up in a
dispute with Craigslist and the EFF (give em’ money because I am not allowed to take on pro bono Doe cases).  Here’s the EFFector action alert:

Law Firm Shows Ignorance of the Law in Anonymous Emailer Case

Note that the Trespass theory is based off of one
email.  This would be the equivalent of one of you sending an
offensive, anonymous email to my work address, and then my firm
subpoenaing your service provider / webmail provider to discover your
identity.

In ranking the 150 Most Expensive Zip Codes in the U.S. (based on median home price), Forbes pointed out this little fact that I should have known:

Unsurprisingly, 4 San Francisco zip codes made the list: 94123 (the
Marina at #37), 94118 (the Inner Richmond / Laurel Heights at 
#82), 94114 (the ‘Stro at #90), and 94121 (the Outer Richmond / Sea
Cliff at #139).

For a second,  I was caught off-guard by my childhood
neighborhood’s high ranking (relative to the rest of SF), until a
remembered that the modest Inner Richmond is flanked by nice detached
housing to east (Laurel Heights) and the north (Lake Street).

I don’t normally do this, but someone just reminded me that it’s okay.

The last episode of David Letterman that I can recall dates back to my
final days at JHU, when my ex-roommate (no, not Anna, but the one
before Anna), caught Gabriel Bryne’s appearance on the show.  Dave
acted bizarrely and harassed Bryne with questions,
such as, “How do you feel now that your ex-wife [Ellen Barkin] is now
married to a billionaire?”  Dave said  and repeated this
question in such a way as to make Bryne feel small.

This memory has resurfaced because I have never seen an Ellen Barkin
film, nor do I have an opinion of her as a person.  But she’s out
promoting her new film with Todd Solondz, and it seems that every
article is obsessed with showing how she’s normal, even though she’s
married to man who not only has a lot of money, but is very flashy
about it.  Here’s the New Yorker’s take on Ms. Barkin, and New York Magazine’s take. 
Neither writer can restrain herself from name-dropping Ms. Barkin’s
shoes (Christian Louboutin) or cataloguing her jewelry:

Both articles are probably the result of some PR woman’s engineering,
but they can’t prevent me from thinking that if I was Ms. Barkin, I’d rather have a simple “modest” life with Gabriel Bryne.

Just an update on the writer’s nook that I want to rent:

“E, you think that you can handle the freakiness of those people, but
you can’t….one of the old roommates used to throw “Johnny Cat Girl”
parties where they would set out kitty litter and have guests piss in
it.”

It’s an even more disturbing concept when you think about the name
of these “parties.”  These weren’t guys peeing into the litter.

So, I guess that idea is nixed.

**

Also, a very good friend of a very good friend has an interesting follow-up story on the Cal prof whose laptop was stolen.  No, it doesn’t dissect his speech as being BS, but rather points out his unsavory connections.

Just when I begin daydreaming about reducing my life to one steamer trunk, I hear about upcoming releases such as this Taschen offering, and commence drooling.  For more background, here’s a great first hand description of Kubrick’s grand archive (thanks for digging it up again, TK).

While checking out some shop space, I had the chance to poke around a
warehouse inhabited by 5 salarymen-by-day / artists-by-night
types.  It was a former macaroni factory that definitely was not
up to code (for instance there was a”trick door” for drunks on the
second floor that opened up to a fall to the first floor), but it was
filled with everything that one’s heart wants to drag home off a curb
(but doesn’t for fear of clutter).  After taking an appraisal of
the wondrous junk, I told my tour guide, “You’re going to be a scary
old man when you grow up,” and I think that this is the best compliment
that I’ve handed out in a while.

The warehouse also had a small bedroom to let (on the cheap,
$250/month), with a built-in lofted bed and gigantic bed-sized desk
(and most importantly high-speed internet).  It’s the perfect
writer’s nest, so my imagination is swirling.

**
Also, frugality rocks.  A classmate at my firm has announced her
departure.  Through living and eating at home with her father, she
managed to save enough money in her first 7 months here to start her
own bakery.  Her announcement email was the best reading material
that I’ve come across this week.

After dealing with some pro bono matters this afternoon, my eyes are a bit wet.  All I can say is: