Futurelawyer

Google Play Books - Store Your Stuff In The Google Cloud

Google Play Books enables user uploads of e-books, documents | Internet & Media - CNET News. One of the things I love about Google Music is that I can upload my music to the Cloud, and access it from any device. Yesterday, Google announced the upgrade of Google Play Books to do the same thing with up to 1,000 books and documents. Now, my classics don't have to be loaded on to each device. They will be available wherever I am. The future is in the cloud.

Renewal

The new book is coming along, and I am combing through unpublished stuff, and doing some rewrites. This one, about Easter and Spring and renewal, didn't require a rewrite. I dedicate it to my wife, the love of my life. If you are tired of reading my poems, stop here. For the rest of you, here goes:

RENEWAL

He had spent his forty days in the desert
He wanted a drink of water
and wine.

She warned him that spring brought new growth
and 
change
and counseled caution.
She spoke the words of winter
and moved with the body of spring.

He knew only that he wanted her
with the sizzle of a summer sun.

As their voices
quietly
danced the dance of lovers
he impatiently 
awaited the coming of the rosebud
expectantly 

Its bloom was as inevitable
as the passage of time.

 

Don't Stand Too Close To A Naked Man

Humorous Quotes from Don't Stand too close to a Naked Man @ WorkingHumor.com. If you want to know what men think, read this book. Tim Allen is the modern man's spokesperson. Ladies, we all think this stuff. We are just too fearful to say it out loud.

"Like most men, I'm confused by feminism... For the longest time I wasn't sure what the word actually meant. At first, I thought it was the study of what men do wrong."

"If women are always complaining about men, please tell me who raised the men?"

"To get a man's attention, just stand in front of the TV and don't move."

Pocket Parts - May They Rest In Peace

Pocket part - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. If you are an old lawyer, you remember pocket parts. I used to spend hours in the law library inserting the book updates into a pocket at the back of the book (hence the name), so that law publishers could make money. Nowadays, legal resources are kept current on a web server somewhere. No wonder law book publishers are struggling. Does anybody buy these things anymore? I haven't inserted a pocket part for many years;  but, I wonder if they still exist? Anyone out there still keeping a paper library, and updating with paper pocket parts? 

How to Win Friends & Influence People: Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends & Influence People: Dale Carnegie: 9780671027032: Amazon.com: Books. I don't remember when I was first introduced to this book. It was sometime in college, and it changed my life and attitudes from the first reading. If you haven't read it, get it and read it. If you have a copy gathering dust on your shelves, take it out and read it again. This one book can replace all of the self help books and seminars you have ever seen advertised on cable TV. It is still amazing to me that Dale Carnegie wrote it in 1937. However, relying on a simple truth about people, that they are most concerned about themselves, he conveyed a simple path to persuasion, which is an essential skill in the legal profession, as well as all others. Knowing this truth gives us the knowledge we need to avoid thinking about our own needs, and giving attention to the other's needs. Try really listening to your clients. Often, we don't really listen to others, even though the words pass through our ears. Show interest, real, not feigned, in the life and concerns of another person. Be yourself. Ignore those who tell you to copy someone else. It will never work long term, and will result in a phoniness that can be spotted a mile away.  

Photograph

I am often greeted with surprise when friends discover my poetry. Most of us have the wrong idea about poetry anyway. It isn't about nursery rhymes that you learned as a child. It is about conveying feeling and emotion with words. The poems in "Life Is Simple, Really" attempt to do that. As an example, this poem is called "Photograph". What feeling does it bring to you, if any?

PHOTOGRAPH

He looked at the photograph closely
Image of his youth
Filled with promise
Overflowing with optimism

In a single dimension
the photograph reminded him
of another self
free to hope
free to wonder
free to grasp
looking for the future.

He remembered the photographer
prodding
annoying
motioning
jostling with the hangers on
and the wannabes
sharing his soul
whether he wanted to or not.

He took a picture in his mind
moved to another decade
and 
wondered whether the wisdom
of age
would be enough
to bring the photograph back to life.

Did it look back at him
and laugh?

 

Life Is Simple, Really

Life Is Simple, Really: Poems About Life, Loving, Fun, and Family: Richard M. Georges: 9781424121236: Amazon.com: Books. Some friends have recently asked about my book of poetry. It is available at Amazon and, if you buy it and like it, I would be very appreciative. 

Being Prufrock

1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. T.S. Eliot. 1920. Prufrock and Other Observations. Some days we feel like members of Eliot's lost generation. Between World Wars, and the insanity of the world. With Prufrock we say:

"I grow old, I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Do I dare to eat a peach?..."

Those are the times we need to get up, have another cup of coffee, and get going. The world won't wait for us. Do not ask: "What is it? Let us go and make our visit".

Google Settles With Publishers Over Book Scanning Project

Google Gives Up Fair-Use Defense, Settles Book-Scanning Lawsuit With Publishers | Threat Level | Wired.com. Apparently, Google is tired of litigation. It has settled its copyright dispute with major publishers, and has abandoned its defense that its scanning of millions of books, and making parts or all of them available digitally is "fair use". While the case won't create limits for the term "fair use", it will create an environment where Google can put a majority of print titles in it digital library, and money in the pockets of copyright holders whose books are sold in electronic format. This is a good deal for everyone, and that is the best kind. 

Survival Guide On Your SmartPhone? Why?

Survival Guide Puts the US Military Survival Manual in Your Pocket.  Okay, the U.S. Military Survival Guide is a life saver; if you are stranded on a desert island or in the wilderness somewhere. They were issue to us in the Army, and I still have mine. However, thank the Lord, I have never had the need or opportunity to use it. It is interesting reading, however, and contains some really useful knowledge about what you can and cannot eat in the wild. However, putting a copy on your smartphone doesn't seem to me like a useful thing. First, you had better memorize it during the first few hours you are lost; because, sooner or later you will run out of battery. You might have a few days if you carry an Android phone, since you can carry a couple of spare batteries with you. So, if you plan to be lost in the wilderness anytime soon, make sure you have a copy of the Survival Guide on your phone. It might save your life; if you use it in the first day or so.