Ah, that time of year that reminds me that, for an ever-so-brief period in 2006, I was a lawyer.

MCLE is due for me this year, kiddies.

That means I need to cram 10 hours (5 participatory) hours of legal learning into the tail-end of this year. Joy.

I’m getting my 5 (participatory) hours done at the Annual State Bar Meeting in Monterey next month. If you’re there, make sure to say hi – you’ll recognize me from my “Trust me – I’m not a lawyer” t-shirt.

During law school, taking notes on my laptop became infinitely easier (and speedier) once I set up shortcuts in Word. When I typed “la”, for example, it became “lawyer”, “cp” became community property, etc. Those shortcuts still live in my computer, so sometimes while I’m typing something, up pops “fertile octegenarian”.

Tonight it happened again. “Noritake 5-pc place setting” became “Noritake 5-probable cause place setting”. A sentiment I’m sure my fiance would strongly agree with.

After the craziness of the holidays died down, I found myself with 5 minutes free tonight. I discovered a colleague on LinkedIn, and then I thought to myself, I wonder if there are any more to find on Lawbby.com? Remember that site launched in 2005 when we were all excited about the possibilities of social networking for lawyers? Many of us could be counted among the site’s first members. I even discussed it in an article. So I dug out my dusty Lawbby.com password and fired up the site.

Lo and behold, someone forgot to pay their bill.

Well now where will I get my fix of lawyers and legal types? Ah, JDJive, that bubbling cesspool of bitterness and free speech, surely it won’t let me down. I have but 3 minutes remaining of my free time, and I must fill it with something law-related!

I’m greeted by a blank page with the ominous title “Test Page for Apache Installation.”

My, how times have changed. Now where will I get my fix of law students, proto-lawyers, and trolls? The WSJ Law Blog? Sorry, it’s just not the same. It just feels dirty when I read “TTT Toilet” next to one of those classy pencil sketch portraits.

Please read this Woman’s Day article. It’s about a friend of mine.

We need a lot more lawyers like her, and a lot less of the other kind.