Probably Usable After All

Who is Eh Nonymous? You probably recognize the name from his frequent comments on Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground. But you have to go back to the original blogspot version of the blawg our next Blawg Review host calls Unused and Probably Unusable to find out who's behind this username.

I'm an anonymous Philadelphia lawyer with strong ideas about law and society and culture. Also science, linguistics, history, sexuality, logic, illogic, and blogging.

This week, while trading emails with our upcoming host in preparation for Blawg Review #47, I got a chance to ask Eh Nonymous to tell us a bit more about himself than might be gleaned from his law blog.

Um, what to say.

I started reading blawgs (sorry to David G., but it's a full syllable shorter than lawblogs) as a law student, primarily How Appealing and the VC guys. I was delighted when the lawschool-law I was studying appeared in current cases, and liked seeing "behind the curtain" to the thought processes of prawfs via academic blawgs. It made studying law seem more immediate and relevant, made professors seem more human, and made theoretical discussions of law more approachable.

As a very junior associate, I often read blawgs in my leisure time, and realized I couldn't adequately express my agreement, disagreement, or further thoughts in the comment sections of other blawgs - say, Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground. I had more to say, and wanted an outlet for creativity and to respond to current events.

My blawg is not at all like practice blawgs designed to attract clients; the purpose is intellectual discussion and fun, not attracting business.

What can we expect on his blawg?

* No rants - except by accident
* Thoughtful, informative posts on diverse and weighty subjects - except by accident.
* Helpful links to interesting and/or new sites - except by accident.
* No typos or grammar errors whatsoever, except ... you know the drill.

Unused and Probably Unusable topics include (in addition linguistics, usually as it relates to law) politics, philosophy and jurisprudence, and other stuff worth reading—books, articles, posts, caselaw, whatever. His interest in linguistics was inspired by none other than Professor Mark Liberman, of Language Log fame, who taught our host at UPenn.

Unlike most Blawg Review hosts, who keep under wraps their creative themes, Eh Nonymous leaked.

The upcoming Blawg Review will use an organizing metaphor: the electromagnetic spectrum. It's pretty (the rainbow's merely the small part we can see), it represents an awesome accomplishment of science, and it nicely symbolizes the vast range of legal topics, types of blog, and types of blawgger out there.

As our host says, "Read, share, and enjoy."