As usual I've waited till today to do my Christmas shopping. I had a great excuse this year....the world was supposed to end yesterday according to the Mayan calendar.

So, as is my compulsive pattern, I arrived early for a holiday party last week and was one of the very first on the scene. The problem with that was  no one I knew was there. Thus, there was no one to commune with (and hide behind). I know this is a business development, socializing, connecting "no no", but problem is, I'm shy. Painfully shy in new situations. In friendly, home field, familiar crowds I can float around and riff and connect with my guys and gals, but not as the new solo guy in a strange room.

My son came home from school.  It was Monday night...a week night...a school night.  Normally we would have just chilled out watched TV and went to bed.  I had an urge though (need?).  When I asked my son if we wanted to go to the movies, he got excited quickly.  I tried desperately to get my wife to go with us, but she was tired.  She insisted we still go without her.

With an 11th grader in the house, we spend a lot of time talking about college, undergraduate programs and various career paths.  Putting aside for purposes of this blog my daughter's thoughts for her future, this process started me thinking about the college majors that we all chose (more years ago than at least I will admit) and whether in the end, they bear any resemblance to our professions.

I have seen the term “birth order” mentioned a lot lately on the internet. Many psychologists say that birth order influences one’s personality. Other scientists state that there is no convincing evidence that links personality or behavior to birth order.

The news struck me like a shot to the gut. I felt sick to my stomach when I heard what happened in Sand Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. It is so senseless. Facebook and Twitter have been burning bandwidth with an outpouring of grief, sadness and anger. I've seen demands for stronger gun control and people defending the second amendment.   No matter what you think of guns, one cannot turn away from the fact that a 24 year old took the lives of 26 individuals, 20 of them children and one of them his Mom. It is a tragedy beyond comprehension.  

Last week I blogged about how free, unfettered time is creatively fertile and raged against the "noise" of all our modern technology. However, being a lawyer requires one to be able to advocate either side of an argument, ergo, point, counter point. To be fair, the flip side of my last blog is that the technology, eg, internet is a free avenue for self expression and creativity.

For those of us who commute on the LIRR (or Metro North), we know all about the “quiet car” where heightened requirements of respecting your neighbors are expected and enforced.     But how about the quiet gym?  Is there etiquette around gym conversation?