Starting today, I am embarking on a two-week vacation in celebration of 40 years of marriage (mine), leaving SBM Blog behind in the hands of the capable backstage crew at the State Bar. Regular readers will doubtless notice some variations in subject matter choices and tone over this period. I hope you enjoy the change, but not so much that you will not welcome me back in July.
Handing off the blog, even for a couple of weeks, has prompted some reflection on what it has become in its 2+ years of existence. The readership has grown gratifyingly and the posts have deepened and broadened in response to very helpful reader feedback. At its heart the blog remains true to its modest but heartfelt original goals -- providing a quick, useful, and where possible entertaining overview of the law-related items that surface daily in the blogosphere, particularly those with a Michigan hook. Cutting edge developments and controversies in legal ethics, legal education, and the market of legal services are always front and center. Language, the craft of writing, and neuroscience are personally irresistible topics that have proven to be popular with readers. The blog typically touches on mainstream media news only when it can add value to popularly-reported itmes, usually in the form of a link to a primary text. I'm pleased that this is appreciated. Something that is always in the back of my mind is whether a post can help Michigan lawyers get a handle on news stories that lay people are tend to ask us about. I think of these as backyard-barbecue/cocktail-party posts.
As those of you who blog already know, the daily exercise of trolling for material and posting can be a reward in itself, forcing you to connect with a variety of viewpoints and perspectives, leading to both delightful and uncomfortable finds and occasionally to the ultimate prize -- self-discovery.
But now for a vacation. See you in July, at which point I will reveal the location pictured above, and the source of the photograph.
