I only blog when it rains

We have been in a long drought that finally ended yesterday, so I decided it was time that I get back to dropping my witticisms on my eager audience.

Emma the English setter puppy and I went for a nice hike today.  We walked the Enchanted Canyon subdivision that is near our house and then part of the Centennial Trail.  Emma is a good companion, although she is far from trained.  Each good thing she does is tempered with something terrible, like stomping on me when I'm sleeping, licking my face when I'm sleeping, biting my ear while I'm sleeping, or barking at me when I'm sleeping.  In other news, I'm tired during the day sometimes.

Ada is continuing to do good stuff most of the time.  She is getting quite good at recognizing different letters and numbers, even without prompting.  I was wearing my Basketball Jones T-shirt yesterday and she pointed out many of the letters on it.  However, there was some confusion regarding the fact that the letter "T" was on the shirt, but the entire shirt was a T-shirt.  I know I am on record as saying that the language skills of young children are not that impressive because they are being taught language every day of their lives with literally no other responsibilities, but even I have to admit that English is a confusing language.  Sometimes I think that my bad puns may be stunting Ada's growth.

The all-too-common scenario is that I will be driving with Kat and Ada in the car, I will see a sign, and then make a bad pun.  Ada will then say "Daddy, what you saying?" (Ada speaks a pidgin of 2.5 year old and jive).  Kat will then begin to explain the terrible pun, give up, and say she is taking a nap.  This happens at least twice a week.

Ada is great at asking questions.  She may not be quite so good at listening to the answers, but I am glad that she is inquisitive.  She is also excellent at saying her last name and listing the names of people she likes.  That list is Mommy, Daddy, Marc, Susan, Eric, and Grandma Shirley.  Sometimes Gpa G makes the list.  Keith and Elliott you have work to do.

Ada has also been helping Kat with a painting project in the house.  Now that we finally own the floor we walk on, Kat has thrown herself into painting the cabinets.  The lower cabinets will be blue (the actual name is calm ocean or itinerant whale.  Something like that, I don't recall exactly).  The upper cabinets will be cream.  (Actual name cream, I think).  Anyway, I think it will look great.

In law news, I really have nothing for you.  Although I was interested in this opinion from the California Supreme Court denying Stephen Glass admission to the California bar.  As a journalist and now a lawyer, it was quite interesting to me as Glass was a disgraced journalist turned law clerk.  Maybe it is just my forgiving nature, but I feel like Glass should have been admitted.  Telling the truth in written work is sort of a lawyer's stock-in-trade, so I understand a hesitancy to admit someone who lied in writing for years.  But it seems that Glass has made the necessary changes.  And it seems like he would be a very good lawyer.  I simply do not see the grounds for not admitting him and giving him an opportunity.  Every year hundreds of lawyers make bad decisions, and they face the consequences and are later reinstated.  I think it is naive to pretend that Mr. Glass can never be a lawyer because he invented a web site for Jukt Micronics.

In other news, I heard some rumblings about controversy regarding Arizona, but I have been pretty busy lately, so I am not super familiar with it.  I've got nothing for you on that matter.

I recently read Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin, who for many years was Carson's attorney.  I expected more discussion of the legal ethics of writing a book like that, but the book did not have it.  I think it likely that the publisher reviewed the manuscript and said something alone the lines of "99% less about boring law stuff and more salacious details about a contract being out on Johnny's head."  I also did some online checking to see if lawyers were complaining about the breach of confidentiality, but I did not see much.  Now Carson treated Bushkin shabbily and the end of their relationship was not pleasant (similar to all of Johnny's relationships), but the details of the representation are still confidential, except for certain exceptions.  And I don't think that the mob putting out a contract on Johnny's head in the 1960s falls under any of those exceptions.

It's much easier to maintain confidentiality when an attorney has information in which there is little interest, but I still think it is important.  My thought is this: you take it to the grave.  The best example of this might be in the documentary Shadow Billionaire when the titular billionaire Larry Hillblom's attorney is interviewed.  Even though Hillblom was dead, his attorney said that he had asked Hillblom (during his life) whether he was the father of certain children who were claiming to be heirs.  The attorney said he told Hillblom that he would not tell anyone what Hillblom said, and then the attorney looks right into the camera and says "And I'm not going to."  That is what confidentiality means, and that is how such things should be handled, at least to my mind.

OK, that was too much typing.  And I did not even get into sports.  However, mark your calendars for March 16, 2014, when Ada will attend her first spring training baseball game.  She is already excited.  It's the Angels and Mariners with Ada and I on the lawn for probably like two and a half innings!  Pujols! Trout! Cano! Ada! Funnel cakes!  It should be great.