Lately, as an unemployed law clerk / attorney hopeful, I've had plenty of time to cold-call tons of law firms here in the good ol' State of Emergen - er Louisiana. Of course, I half expected the response to be somewhat less than enthusiastic. The idea of a law firm having to open its doors to the displaced coincides with less money to go around and more competition - right?
So why is it that the architecture community has the exact opposite view? They basically got together, had a pow-wow and decided to simply open their arms, buildings, and not to mention payrolls to people from New Orleans and other areas affected by Katrina. For instance, Mrs. The Buffalo interviewed for a job on Friday morning and had a job by Friday afternoon (the week following the hurricane). I know that plenty of building and rebuilding means more work for architects and that = more demand for architects, but can't the same be said to be basically true for attorneys? I'm sure that a TON of lawsuits are going to emerge in the next few months and years as a result of the storms along the gulf this year. So what gives?
I guess what I'm essentially doing is griping, but it is a bit frustrating to be turned away from several law firms when I openly ask them for a
temporary clerking position with
absolutely NO guarantee that they keep me on when business assumes a somewhat acceptable level of normality. Basically, they're saying that they don't want the guilt of having to lay me off when I already know and accept that possibility. Either that, or they're such tight bastards that they honestly believe they can't afford to splurge on hourly law clerk wages. (Somebody please remind me to write a happier post later and thank the creator of
heisman run for all the help and
good things that have transpired in my little corner of the world.)
Either way, being unemployed also has given me a chance to catch up on reading. I recently read two
Haruki Murakami novels;
I must say, I was very impressed by "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World," but I was not as delighted by "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." In my opinion, both were well written, but TWUBC left a little too much to the reader's imagination to stand alone as an intrigue or mystery. Too many loose ends left me feeling a bit disgruntled. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Hard Boiled Wonderland. It was definitely a page turner and captivating from start to finish. I am now looking forward to completing the four book series beginning with "Hear the Wind Sing" and ending with "Dance Dance Dance." Although the second book in the series, "Pinball, 1973" is a bit hard to find (for less than 200 USD), thankfully it is still available in digital format (for 0 USD).
Having delved into Murakami's fantastic landscapes and mythical worlds, I believe it will also be a nice retreat when I later attempt less fantasy-driven works like "Norwegian Wood" and "South of the Border, West of the Sun." A good author with range is certainly to be appreciated. That said, for the faults I have found in reading Murakami, I still find I am no less inclined to forge on and finish his entire catalogue. He is both verbose at times and refreshing. Again, a big thank you to Luke at
useless and pointless and by extension to Scott at
on the rocks for turning me onto this great author.
And now for some more self-deprecation:
Mr. The Boss
Mr. The Buffalo
Mr. The Boss
Mr. The Buffalo
