• Day 58/90 – Playing Hooky

    Day 58 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to play hooky from work . . . sort of.

    IP16 cropped
    This is how playing hooky feels! Photo by Patrick McLeod from Ignite Phoenix 16 (Creative Commons License)

    It’s probably more accurate to say work played hooky from me.

    Today had a good start. I got to the office early and cranked on some client work, had a few networking meetings, . . . and then our file server went down.

    No worries. As long as I have the internet I can get work done.

    And then the internet went down.

    I looked over at Rosie the basset hound and said, “Well, we’re out of here.” I loaded her up and headed for home. The internet was still working at home so I could still get some work done. It reminded me of how I worked when I was running my solo shop – I only went to my office a few days a week and I often got to leave by early afternoon when my work was done.

    My therapist suggested that I need a vacation. I snickered sarcastically at that. He’s probably right. Rosie and I got out of dodge for a night last summer and it was immensely helpful for recharging my batteries. I think I might work from home tomorrow, have a more unstructured day, especially if the file server at work is still down. I can go for a run, do some errands, and work in pajamas if I feel like it. I think breaking up the monotony would be good for me.

    I’ve actually been thinking about the concepts of time and how we as a society divide our time. How did we decide that we would have a 7-day week where we have a 5-day work week and a 2-day weekend? Why do we work 9am-5pm? I’m not sure this norm is necessarily the best thing for me. Don’t get me wrong – I need some structure to keep me on task, but it might be time to re-think my schedule a bit.

    In case you missed it: Day 57 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I love when my work brings me joy.

  • Day 57/90 – Laughter at Work

    Day 57 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to laugh at work.

    When most people think about the practice of law, they probably don’t picture people laughing at their desks (except maybe the evil laugh). I’m lucky that I get a lot of joy from my work and sometimes my work is so much fun it makes me laugh. And part of my job is keeping up with contacts on social media, which tends to make me burst out laughing throughout the day. Here are two of today’s highlights:

    1.  My friend, The Namby Pamby, tweeted:

    I responded that he and I would be Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets if that were allowed.

    2.  I’m working on a contract right now that might be the best contract I’ve ever written. (It could top the one where one party had to attest to the other that he is “a sexy bitch.”) I love it when my clients are thoughtful and creative with their contracts. This one is a licensing agreement for a unique project and my client is a down-to-earth, somewhat blunt entrepreneur and I’m trying to write in his voice rather than legalese. I asked him if he wanted any “Easter eggs” in his contract and he gave me some suggestions. I wish more clients asked me to write crazy awesome clauses in their contracts.

    I love my work.

    In case you missed it: Day 56 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I did my first underwater photo shoot!

  • Day 56/90 – Underwater Photo Shoot

    Day 56 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I did an underwater photo shoot!

    One of Sara Santiago's underwater test shots from a few days ago - gorgeous! (Photo by Redline Designs Photography)
    One of Sara Santiago’s underwater test shots from a few days ago – gorgeous! (Photo by Redline Designs Photography)

    My friend and fellow model Sara organized a kick-ass photo event today. There were 5-6 photographers and 6-7 models. We had 3 set ups at a house – an indoor backdrop to do bodyscaping and silhouette work and then we dropped a drape across the middle of the pool to do underwater photography on both sides! It was so much fun!

    I loved seeing how each photographer worked with models and all the models’ ideas for photos – especially under water. We had big billowy dresses, swirls of loose fabric, bathing suits, and nude work going on. I had as much fun watching as modeling.

    Silhouette Image from my last Photo Shoot (Photo by S-A Studios)
    Silhouette Image from my last Photo Shoot (Photo by S-A Studios)

    Underwater work was really interesting. You have a lot more freedom of movement but you also have to fight the body’s natural buoyancy and you have to think about things like air bubbles. Some of the photographers had plastic cases around their cameras to keep them dry but it also made it challenging to determine what they were seeing and capturing.

    I also did some bodyscaping and silhouette work with three different photographers. I can’t wait to see all the images for all the different photographers and models – so much beauty and diversity.

    I’m really enjoying modeling and I hope I get the chance to do more. I find myself spending more time looking at others’ work for ideas for new poses. If I were a professional model, I would do yoga almost every day because having core strength and flexibility makes it so much easier to create beautiful shapes with your body. Every time you see a beautiful model, even when the pose looks natural, I bet he/she is standing or sitting in a way that no normal person would in their everyday life. There’s a lot of leaning and arching involved in creating the best shapes your body can make.

    In case you missed it: Day 55 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Running with Gary Vaynerchuk!