"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." -Exodus 3:5 This morning's headlines called me up short with a story in the UK Guardian about the sudden proliferation of Christian energy drinks. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/04/jesus-christian-energy-drink The author took a tongue-in-cheek approach to the topic, and how could one not when trying to review with a straight face product

"You can tell it's good if you light it and a blue flame comes up; that means it's good moonshine and it won't make you go blind." -Johnny Knoxville A few days back, Jim's godfather sent me an article highlighting how much we pay in taxes on distilled spirits, and how it has driven a resurgence in bootlegging. https://reason.com/2026/05/27/high-liquor-taxes-and-a-home-distillation-ban-guarantee-a-thriving-booze-black-market/ I remember this was very much a thing in the north

"It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it." — Seneca When I first came into this profession, I carried a discipline I learned during my summer clerkship at Morris, Manning, & Martin in Atlanta (alas, recently swallowed by a huge regional firm, another point of light gone out in the legal landscape). The firm expected 1920 billable hours a year, pretty typical of Atlanta firms at the time. I figured I needed to work an average of 7.6 billable

"If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." -Yogi Berra Back to this view, after months away. I spent the morning cleaning, after P expressed her general displeasure at the dustiness and veneer of cat hair and dander we encountered when we got back. I wonder if she'll notice. All in all, sort of a gloomy day. I miss Manhattan. I'll admit it. I miss getting up with a goal, walking with P to campus and back, the conversations and the energy all ar