Articles

What are we running toward?

At the new gym I’ve been going to, there is a long row of treadmills. The treadmills face a wall of mirrors. This means you get to watch yourself suffer. If you look to the left or right, you can watch other runners suffer too. You know what? Looking at yourself in the mirror when your heart rate hits 170 is not always pretty. So sometimes I steal a glance to the left or right to see if (as bad as I look) others are holding up even worse than me. Or I look at the speed readout on their treadmill to see if I’m running faster. If so, I have a little private “mwhahahaha” moment. If not ...

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Outside-In

One of the great things about the Richland County Bar is the way it embraces “outsiders” and not only accepts them, but weaves them into the community. I (reformed Atlanta boy, never going back, thanks) am a case in point. But a better example of how the “not from around here” folks are not only woven in, but have become depended on (and dare I say critical) to the just functioning of our legal community, is Sue Berkowitz. You may know Sue as the Director of South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Appleseed serves the low-income members of our community. Poor mothers and fath ...

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Something’s on the Floor

My oldest son, now a senior in high school, has grown into an amazing young man. Getting there was not always easy, and frequently characterized by moments like this: Me: “Don’t dump cereal onto the floor.” Him: “I’m not!” Me: “I’m watching you do it RIGHT NOW!” Him: “No you aren’t.” His favorite (and still sometimes go-to) tactic was to reframe things in front of my very eyes in real time and try to neurologically reprogram me into thinking I was hallucinating. While never fully convinced, I’ll admit that the fatigue produced from having to constantly debate ...

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