What I am learning during this pandemic is that we can stay connected and actually nurture, plant and grow our personal and professional communities, and maybe even merge them a bit into a new form of relationship that lets us share ourselves and our humanity as we go through this together, but apart.
We are now starting our 3rd week of Work From Home (WFH). Our Lazar Law team is settled in, and we are adjusting. I am in the middle of a move, which is almost complete. We now know that we will be WFH for the month of April. I have been without internet/cable since Saturday; and I can tell you that there is a peace with no TV for a few consecutive days.
As we settle in, spring in Austin will come to our doorsteps. Austin is a remarkable city. I am so proud of our city and county leadership in making the bold and courageous decision to cancel SXSW and to do so early. I am thrilled to share with you a new downtown view; and we can watch the season change together.
My hope for April is that we can make it a priority to connect virtually. Making time for virtual coffees and virtual happy hours. Not just following each other on social media, but actively engaging with each other. I love seeing you at home, with your pets and family. You can find @Lazarlaw across all platforms, and who knows with this quarantine, maybe even Tik-Tok dances and podcasts on YouTube by the time April is over.
Please stay safe.
Be Bold,
Jodi
FEATURING AUSTIN
A surprisingly wonderful discovery of the pandemic is the takeout offerings of @linasianbar. Chef Ling Wu adds a feminine chef-y touch (read: accessible gourmet) to traditional Chinese classics, like: Hawaii Sesame Chicken, Rocky Smoked Duck, Egg Drop Soup, Volcano Crispy Shrimp with Honey Pecan, sautéed green beans (not currently offered; vegetable menu changes daily, I think). And these were just the ones we tried in our first order this weekend. As in any good Chinese takeout restaurant, the menu is wide in all categories.
With a menu based on local products and passionate cooking, Chef Ling describes her food as “health forward Chinese.” One could say you can judge a good Asian restaurant by its salad. We chose the Green Tea Salad. This one was everything you hope for in green, fresh crunch—romaine lettuce with wasabi nut, pumpkin seed, sesame stick, broad bean, dry garlic, tomato with green tea dressing.
The website describes the food as mouthwatering; and turns out, that is a factual statement. All the food was delicious, every morsel from the porcupine steam bun to the dumplings (well, I cannot attest to the dumplings; they were devoured before I even sat down at the table). But in the Mouthwatering Category, the award goes to the Seafood Delight with Bird Nest (GF), as @TRIBEZA aptly describes –”tastes as good as it looks: a mélange of sautéed shellfish and vegetables cradled in an edible basket made of latticed taro root.” The crispy taro root ‘noodles’ taste like those old-fashioned canned potato sticks of the 70s, but healthy, and they soak up the delicate gravy that has plenty of time to soften as you take bite after bite of delicious fresh seafood (yes, with octopus) and mounds of fresh vegetables. The freshest.
A deserved Runner-Up in the Mouthwatering Category goes to the Hakka Eggplant, ribbons of steamed Chinese eggplant in a brown sauce that literally melts-in-your-mouth.
Along side, came a bottle of Murphy Goode Pinot Noir, which paired perfectly with the food and was much-enjoyed by all during our Sunday night family dinner al fresco on the terrace in the time of the Coronavirus Quarantine. This will be our weekly Sunday night Chinese takeout place.
Looking forward to trying it for Dim Sum Brunch Takeout, too.
Lin Asian Bar. Good Chinese Takeout in downtown Austin. Online Ordering for Pickup/Takeout and Delivery is available for Lunch, Dinner and Weekend Brunch. Download the Lin Asian Bar App for iPhone or Android. Or visit their website www.linasianbar.com to order online, or order directly from Chow Now.
FEATURED FOLLOW
THE JOURNALIST
I love the behind-the-scenes that journalist @mattvillano is sharing on Twitter, as he writes major coronavirus stories for cnn.com on the human toll the pandemic is taking inside our homes. Matt is currently writing a story about divorced people managing custody issues, and he and I were connected through #lawtwitter to be interviewed as a source for his story. His revelation of his writing process and the anticipation of the sad stories he tells make me restless for the story to go to press.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Over the weekend, we hosted @LadyLawyerDiaries Zoom Happy Hour & over 80 showed up for cocktails and conversation—people we all have come to know through Twitter but now connected by video & voice In Virtual Real Life, including law students and courthouse staff and judicial clerks and big law partners, all races, coming together in a way that was not imaginable before the pandemic.
THE TEXAS JUDICIARY
In the last two weeks, Texas has led the way in mobilizing our judiciary to build a virtual justice system that is now fully operational via Zoom video conferencing and open to the public via YouTube. I am most impressed with our Texas judges’ commitment to innovation and education as they move the judicial system online. Following @JusticeGuzman, @BrettBusby, @blakeahawthorne, @SupremeCourt_TX, @emilymiskel, @kdgarcia and @JudgeFergusonTX with the Texas trial courts, we can see in real time how this changing world is unfolding. This direct access to the leaders in the Texas judiciary, and seeing their humanity, is comforting.
