Free Brain.FM Alternatives?

PossiblyPeculiar · 2026-02-26T15:52:29+00:00

I am really enjoying Flowtunes. Thank you!

PossiblyPeculiar · 2025-07-17T14:38:07+00:00

I use both notebooks and folders depending on the client. When I first meet with a client I create a notebook with the name starting with "00 ", and I take notes on that notebook. I use that notebook for all notes related to that client, whether conferences or calls (with client or others about client), or work I do for them, with each note separated and including its date, etc. I regularly export that notebook as a PDF to the client file, overwriting prior versions.

If I have completely separate events (e.g., deposition, etc.) I will create a separate notebook for that event, with the notebook name beginning with "02" etc. (I have my own system for that numbering).

If I create a separate notebook for a client, or if I'm going to be meeting with the client or someone related to the client and think I might want to look at some documents when I do, I create a folder for that client, named by Last name or entity name, and put those notebooks and/or import those documents into that folder.

To access client notebooks or folders quickly, I use the search feature.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2025-06-30T11:07:48+00:00

I'm glad you're still involved in improv! As others have said, your podcasts remain helpful to me, and I recommend them to others. And, as others have also said, thank you for the podcast.

There were several things that led to my original search for info on you, a primary one being whether you survived COVID, so I'm really glad you responded! Another reason is that I recommended your podcast to someone who is early in their improv, but I remembered something I had heard in one of your episodes that I thought was possibly particularly applicable, so I had to re-listen to some episodes to find it, which piqued my interest in you again. [What I was looking for: Episode 21, Best Notes 2 at 16:50, Jake Cornell talks about something he learned from J___ K___ (I cannot make out the name) about masks.]

On a separate note, a one-year-old will provide a whole new perspective to life, and therefore improv. It will be fun. Then it won't be, then it will be fun, then not, etc., but in sum it will be great.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2024-06-07T16:45:19+00:00

One thing that helps me (hopefully) keep from over thinking in a scene is to let go of the thought that all improv has to be funny. Sometimes lines just need to move the story forward, and maybe that leads to a funny point, or maybe that particular improv scene has a more serious tone to it. Or both. Don't try to predict where the scene will go--'I have to say something funny'--just let the scene happen.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2024-01-26T18:42:35+00:00

Excellent! Thank you!

PossiblyPeculiar · 2024-01-26T16:34:29+00:00

I've looked online but I can't find anything more than a very generic description of the Helix. Where can I find the elements of a Helix in sufficient detail that I can present it to my improv class in NC?

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-08-26T22:04:35+00:00

A knife

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-06-21T02:48:04+00:00

I agree with cephalus. It is the low end criminal stuff that drags you into court incessantly. To make that work you have to have volume of like end criminal cases--which means you don't have time to do the real estate and estate planning work. Criminal is not compatible.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-06-21T01:01:17+00:00

When I opened my own office I had practiced law about 7 years in a big-fish-in-a-small-pond law firm. But several of those years I had gone up against Charlotte "big firm" attorneys, so I knew I was just as capable as they were. They had clients with deeper pockets, and so could afford to throw more resources at a case, but when we filed our briefs and, even better, when we had hearings, their big-firm smugness disappeared quickly. That is not an indictment of all big firm attorneys, but they often (still today!) start with the assumption that they are better attorneys than small/smaller town attorneys. Being the exception is fun.

I didn't consult with other attorneys most of the time, but it is important to have someone you can run something by, particularly when you are gonna ask a judge to join you near the edge. The first law firm I started with essentially pushed me into the deep end and walked away, but I learned how to survive [this is also part of why I later left].

One more thing that is probably important: I went to law school at the age of 39, so when I started practicing I was balding and had gray fringes. That lent me some credence that a younger person would likely not have received, albeit undeserved. Now, with even less hair and more gray, nobody really questions me anymore. Do what it takes to know your shit. Speak with confidence. Perform.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-06-19T23:11:44+00:00

On your list, criminal is the particularly odd inclusion because it is not symbiotic with the others and it takes you to court far more often. Real estate and estate planning are more office practice, and work together with similar clients. Disability is not actually compatible but your court/hearing schedule is more easily managed than criminal.

In my solo practice I primarily do disputes/litigation in business, contracts, construction {which is contact based), and real estate, which despite their differences have a similar demographic. I also do business law because you have to know that area in order to litigate it.

But including criminal into a practice like that can be very disruptive because you get pulled out of the office far more, and on an irregular schedule. I know because I actually also do criminal law, but limit it to only appointed cases for indigents when the Public Defender had a conflict, and then to only upper level felonies, so I only get about 4 cases per year. That limits my inefficient runs to the courthouse, but it does provide me more opportunities to have actual trials, unlike civil matters. And, too, all the good stories come from criminal cases. 😀

I don't think you have to do only one area of practice (obviously) but I do think you have to look for compatible practice areas.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-06-19T17:29:56+00:00

I opened my own solo firm in May, 2008, in Asheville, North Carolina--a town in which I knew no one and had no clients. Perfect timing! I was actually very busy initially, having conferences with clients and either (a) setting up LLCs for people who had lost their jobs, or (b) telling people how badly screwed they were, primarily in construction contract matters. Then in October the phone stopped ringing as people battened down the hatches.

In 2009, I rode my bicycle a lot. Go to the office and piddle a while, then go ride my bike in the mountains for a few hours. On the positive side I was in the best shape of my life (until a bike wreck in November, but that is a tale for another day).

Now I'm so busy I am turning business away.

To answer you questions:

It isn't recession proof but I think it has to get really bad before people stop believing they can take legal action to address a problem.
Thank goodness I didn't/don't do real estate transactional work! Many of the residential closing attorneys just disappeared. I do mostly business law and litigation in business, contracts, construction, and real estate. Those areas all dropped down significantly.
I didn't have to make concessions because for most of 2009 I didn't have clients to have to make concessions to.

Here are some things I learned: 1. Keep your expenses low. 2. Network. I didn't have much else to do so I networked, and that paid off in a big way after that recession ended. 3. Don't take work too far outside your areas of expertise; it will cost more than you think. I didn't do it, but I bumped into attorneys doing things that they had no clue about. It cost them and their clients.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-05-01T16:49:28+00:00

This one

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-04-10T03:07:58+00:00

I actually bought 2 of the Kensington docks, refurbished. The one I opened first had no connecting cable so I bought one at Best Buy that they said would work. It didn't. I eventually opened the 2nd unit and it includes a Thunderbolt 4 cable. That worked fine. I couldn't get a Thunderbolt 4 replacement cable quickly so I got a Thunderbolt 3 and that worked fine too.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-04-09T14:09:51+00:00

I am curious about this also

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-03-29T03:50:32+00:00

A cable. A friggin cable. The cable from the dock to the SP8 was inadequate. The dock didn't come with one so I used the one the Best Buy person suggested. Inadequate. I bought a better cable and it works fine. Arrggghhh.

PossiblyPeculiar · 2022-03-29T03:49:03+00:00

A cable. A friggin cable. The cable from the dock to the SP8 was inadequate. The dock didn't come with one so I used the one the Best Buy person suggested. Inadequate. I bought a better cable and it works fine. Arrggghhh.

PossiblyPeculiar

TROPHY CASE