MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

Question 1:  What is my total volume of music?
Well, if you don't count my husband's music collection, my answer would be roughly six cassette tapes that I bought in college and law school (though they may now be corroded beyond functionality).  But my husband has about 100 CDs, a pretty good stack of vinyl albums and a 10.6 GB MP3 library of 2947 songs that he's transferred over to my computer.  In general, either at home (especially during those periods when I had my own place) or work, I've always preferred listening to radio, either music stations or talk, just because I've always felt more connected to the outside world.  Playing music on CD or stereo while home is a little isolating, though when I'm outside walking the dog or on my bike, it's different.  There, the cool ipod shuffle that my husband gave me for my birthday a few weeks ago has replaced my dollar store mini radios that never got much reception anyway.

Question 2:  What was the last CD you bought?  The terrific Free to Be You and Me CD for my daughters for Hanukah back in December.  As a kid, we had the vinyl and my sisters and I adored the songs which turn gender stereotypes and other expectations on their head (like Atalanta, the princess who in the end befriends the prince and travels the world alone or William, the boy who wants a doll or the Carol Channing bit where she admits that EVERYONE hates housework.  What a revelation!).  So I was thrilled when both of my daughters, my eight year old in particular, fell in love with it too.   In fact, the only time I've ever bought CDs has been for my daughters; I've never, ever bought a CD for myself.  See Response to Question 1.

Question 3:  What song is playing right now?  It's 1:45 am, which is way too late for music and nothing's on the radio.  But today, on my ipod shuffle, the really cute and a little weird I Am In Love With A McDonald's Girl popped up a few times and I liked it (as for me, I was a Burger King girl and I still have my brown polyester uniform to prove it!)

Question 4:  What five songs do I listen to a lot because they are special to me? (no special order)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) - a must at every Elefant sister (there are four of us) bachelorette party or wedding!

Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) This song played on the radio the summer that I graduated from law school and spent up in beautiful Ithaca, NY studying for the bar.  Leaving law school, I was captivated by the magic of careening on an open road towards the unlimited possibilities ahead.  It wasn't until after that I discovered that the song is about escaping poverty and the homeless shelter which is a little bit different than escaping law school.  Still, whenever I hear the song, it evokes that time in my life when anything was possible and reminds me that anything still is.

Cats in the Cradle (Harry Chapin)  I always liked this song, but it took on new significance when my daughters were born.   Hearing it always erases any doubts I've had about prioritizing my girls above my law practice.

This One's for the Girls (Martina McBride) - This one's the anthem for my girls and me!

Born to Run (Springsteen)  I just love the energy of this song. The first time that I heard it was in college when some guy who was a real Springsteen freak introduced me to it.  And on one of our trips the beach when we first started dating, my husband and I agreed that this was one of the great driving songs, thus, making it one of the few songs that we both really like. 

Question 5:  Five People I'm Passing the Musical Baton To?
David Giacalone at f/k/a, one of my best blogging buddies,
Donna Thompson-Schneider, a solo, mom and blogger, just like me,
Evan Schaeffer, because he has interests outside of the law (or at least, he reads lots of non-legal blogs), he's a small firm lawyer, and no one's tagged him yet,
The Greatest American Lawyer, because he is the coolest independent practitioner I know and
Volokh Conspiracy because I am dying to know whether law professors listen to music and if so, what music it is (plus, I know from my Legal Blog Watch stint that these prolific guys will definitely carry the baton!)