The Off Topic Topic

[Caliga]

Defense is still spelled wrong.

[Grey Fox]

SRSLY?  I thought that was just a joke.

The things you do for love.

[Josquius]

-one thing I won't miss about japan when I go back to Britain: Mosquitos. Ouch.

[garbon]

Now there's a dynamic duo:

[alfred russel]

Who is the non Bieber dude?

In other news, this is the most awesome way to quit a big law job ever. A bit of a long read, but I think worth it.

http://www.departurememo.com/

In related news, Ide, there is a legal job opening out there.

[Malthus]

Who is the non Bieber dude?

In other news, this is the most awesome way to quit a big law job ever. A bit of a long read, but I think worth it.

http://www.departurememo.com/

In related news, Ide, there is a legal job opening out there.

My reaction ... it seems like, though not expressly stated, that this woman worked her job to pay off her loans and then plans basically to live off her lawyer partner. She sure as shit isn't going to be making much of a living as an artist, if her "memo" is any indication as to her skill in that respect.

[Malthus]

Well, there is something you don't see every day:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140713_ap_3e1c61bea119457fa815da10f4fc5b93.html

Ooops.

[alfred russel]

My reaction ... it seems like, though not expressly stated, that this woman worked her job to pay off her loans and then plans basically to live off her lawyer partner. She sure as shit isn't going to be making much of a living as an artist, if her "memo" is any indication as to her skill in that respect.

I can't critique her ability to draw, but I thought the whole thing was well done and entertaining.

The dudes who made South Park made a fortune, and her drawing is better than what they use. Good stories can overcome other deficiencies.

[Malthus]

My reaction ... it seems like, though not expressly stated, that this woman worked her job to pay off her loans and then plans basically to live off her lawyer partner. She sure as shit isn't going to be making much of a living as an artist, if her "memo" is any indication as to her skill in that respect.

I can't critique her ability to draw, but I thought the whole thing was well done and entertaining.

The dudes who made South Park made a fortune, and her drawing is better than what they use. Good stories can overcome other deficiencies.

It's okay, no better and no worse than many a blogger.

I have my doubts that fame & fortune await. It strikes me that there is no mention of her partner leaving *his* "soul destroying" career, which makes her decision to do so a lot more understandable. There is also no mention of actual jobs in illustration lined up, or any other indication that she intends to do anything other than paint what she wants. (Sadly, she would probably discover that actually earning a living as a professional illustrator is just as riddled with unreasonable expectations and deadlines as law).

[alfred russel]

It almost sounds like someone is trying to convince himself there are no better alternatives to a soul crushing career in law. 

[Malthus]

It almost sounds like someone is trying to convince himself there are no better alternatives to a soul crushing career in law. 

Well, for one, I don't actually find it "soul crushing". 

But yeah, despite that, I would love it if my wife had a high paying professional job, so I could just "be creative" all day, and make tons of great art.  That would rock - at least, in theory.

In practice, I know several people who have such a set-up - notably, my best friend - and it didn't work out that way. Rather than producing art, they tend to do a whole lot of nothing. I like to think I would not fall into such a pattern, but it is a concern.

[LaCroix]

i read it less about her particular circumstances, but more the general idea that you shouldn't stick with a job if it's seriously negatively impacting your life - provided your circumstance allows you to. she could afford to quit biglaw to take up art, so she did just that. many, many young biglaw attorneys also quit biglaw to take up xyz. some take up a hobby like your friends, but the majority move into a less stressful/intensive law job. only a minority of people stick it out in biglaw. i think her message translates to other professions, too. every profession has some percentage of burn out.

[crazy canuck]

But yeah, despite that, I would love it if my wife had a high paying professional job, so I could just "be creative" all day, and make tons of great art.  That would rock - at least, in theory.

Don't kid yourself, you will get used to the extra income. Or am I just projecting? 

[Ideologue]

Who is the non Bieber dude?

In other news, this is the most awesome way to quit a big law job ever.

Only because no one's set fire to the building yet.

A bit of a long read, but I think worth it.

http://www.departurememo.com/

In related news, Ide, there is a legal job opening out there.

LOL.

So, on one hand, I'm annoyed as fuck by her privileged circumstances (all but unexamined, of course), the excruciating urban whiteness of it all, and what may or may not be considered an exploitative relationship if the genders were reversed.  On the other, she waited until she'd paid off her loans, I don't doubt for a minute her job sucked shit, and despite Malthus' dead BigLaw eyes, she's a talented visual storyteller (albeit a terrible figure artist).  My favorite part was the thought balloon with her arm and middle finger upheld pasted over reality.  That's good stuff.  (Was it undermined by a second, less effective use?  Sure.)

If I also would prefer more honesty, I don't blame her for not telling the truth, which is that most of the people she worked with were lying, slavedriving assholes and she literally would not blink if she learned that they died.  (She called them cyborgs, which was about as close as she could get without potentially alienating potential future employers, although she has done that already.)

I wish her luck.

B

[alfred russel]

You know Ide, I think you are wrong.

Never went through big law, so my experience may not really apply, but I went through a big accounting firm where the work hours were quite extreme--a few nights I pulled true all nighters without sleep, once not even going home to change and shower. Some of my best friends I met working there, and I look forward to firm events that I get invited to because I love catching up with those people. Her story resonates with me, as does a kind of admiration for the guys that stick it out all the way. If they are like the people I know, the cyborg thing has the machine part being their absurd capacity for work, with the human part still remaining.