"We have to be part of something larger than ourselves, because our dreams are often bigger than our lifetimes." -Rosalie Bertell Yesterday tens of thousands of people lined Broadway along the Canyon of Heroes for the parade celebrating the NBA championship of the New York Knicks. I've been following this drama since we were there, and the whole city became caught up in the most dramatic playoff run maybe in all of basketball history. When the team arrived at City Hall, Mayo

"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." -Winston Churchill Thinking of old Winnie this morning, of how he won the war by not losing it in 1940-41. Cities pounded into rubble, air force decimated, and yet the Brits soldiered on. They waited things out, and eventually the dictator who'd atta

“There are times for sleep, for inactivity, dreaming, indiscipline, even lethargy. You’ll know when you deserve these times. They come after you’ve been broken.” ― Mark Helprin, A Soldier of the Great War Another unproductive day. This last brief is proving to be a long, painful delivery. The arguments aren't flowing as they should. Maybe I'm losing my edge. Or I'm just exhausted after four months of juggling a very demanding academic program and this equally demanding job. I

"Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money." -Moliere One can't really complain upon awakening and seeing this out the window just above your feet, Peg snoozing quietly alongside. As a friend of mine once wrote about Columbia, South Carolina, as his entry into a contest hosted by The State newspaper to come up with a motto for that charmless city, "It isn't so bad." This is the week of writing appellate briefs