Just as Christianity co-opted pagan winter festivals when designating its
Christmas holiday, the high priests of Blawgdom at Blawg Review have co-
opted Boxing Day and chosen December 26 for the bestowal of their first-
ever Blawg Review Awards.
If you’re interested in weblogs about law, the legal profession and legal
education, you will want to peruse the Blawg Review Awards 2005. We
have dubbed this bestowal of honors on those who edit or contribute to
legal weblogs Blawxing Day. Although much could be said of this
event (beyond its striking graphics, which borrow Greg Horn‘s image of
She-Hulk as Lady Justice), let’s start this morning with three observations:
1) By giving over 40 awards, Blawg Review — in addition to showing great
marketing savvy — has made a crucial point: weblogging is a multi-faceted
activity, with a great variety of styles, approaches, and purposes. When
done well over a substantial length of time, weblogs fitting many needs
and niches deserve recognition. Blawg Review Awards 2005 highlights
the scope and depth of the communication form and format known as
blawging.
2) “Ed” and the other gents at Blawg Review have taken their awards, but
not themselves, seriously. Bravo.
“spotlightS”
3) f/k/a is both pleased-as-punch and punch-drunk after receiving the
BRA 2005 Award as “Creative Law [We]Blog.” Some would call our
combination of poetry, punditry and preachy professionalism a strange
symptom of the Editor’s many personalities. But, “creative” sounds much
less like a malady and more like a virtue. We’ll all be working harder than
ever to find inspiration from the exasperations of law and life on planet Earth.
If you’re new here, thanks for giving us a look. Some of our tortured history
and intentions can be found on the About page.
in the spotlight
he squints
and turns away
Many thanks to our Honored Guest Haiku
Poets, who give the poetry portion of this website so
much of its creative edge and panache.
Kudos to all the winners, but especially to our
to stay in touch and respond in kind.
for their exceptional contributions. I also want to say that
Walter Olson’s Overlawyered.com doesn’t just have The Best
Name — it also does a darn good job of demonstrating the per-
spective behind the name. Finally, I want to give the ol’ RiskProf,
Martin Grace, my own special Hazardous Duty weblog award for
making an esoteric topic interesting, often fun, and far more
understandable (even by lawyers).
update (noon): Prof. Yabut woke up late and grumpy, and had
just two things to say: (1) “I can’t believe they called us a ‘Blog’,”
and (2) “When everybody gets a gold star, nobody gets a gold
star.” Talk about a malcontent. Let’s hope he cheers up for
the New Year. (Of course, we will continue to eschew the “blog”
word and will refer to ourselves as a weblog.)
naughty child–
instead of his chores
a snow Buddha
“spotlightN”
a full round
of New Year’s greetings
at the inn
Issa, translated by D. Lanoue
“snowflakeS” When the f/k/a gang hears “creative,”
we think of Honored Guests like Andrew Riutta:
my inner child . . .
even baby shampoo
burns a little
tire swing–
the world she flirts with
through its void
so many guns
aiming for peace-
daffodils
how cold:
sunshine through
a leafless willow
“snowflakeS” Andrew Riutta
“tire swing” – Frogpond (2005)
“how cold” – Full Moon Magazine (2005)
“so many guns” – Poetry Bridge – World Haiku Club (2005)
Lady Justice [really]