In Defense of Fun

My daughter Mia was published in a magazine this month! She wrote an essay on beauty for New Moon Magazine, a quarterly national magazine for girls. Go Mia! Asked to write about what makes her beautiful, she cited her opposition to the war, her desire to succeed in school, and her ability to have fun. She says “after I have fun I am a lot friendlier to everyone, which makes other people happy…”

Which I can attest is true, and which might be good advice for adults.

I have just finished reading Jeffrey Toobin’s book on the Supreme Court (”The Nine”), where he discusses former Justice Sandra Day O’Conner’s penchant for parties and socializing. She required her female law clerks to join her in morning exercise, which at one point included a salsa class. She required her clerks to decorate pumpkins at Halloween. Her ability to zealously pursue life’s pleasures seems to have invigorated her legal mind and broadened her social views. She became, in her measured and careful style, the most powerful legal influence in this country and perhaps some may argue in the world during her time on the court.

Toobin’s book often draws you in like a reality TV show while making the nation’s legal machinations understandable to the common reader. Some of the quotes are sheer gossip but they are fun. Remember how Nina Totenberg “broke” the Anita Hill story during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings? Thomas later joked, “I have finally had the opportunity to have my surgeon remove her many stilettos from my back..” Justice Scalia, who often votes in synch with Thomas, was once asked to compare their judicial philosophies. Scalia replied, “I am an originalist, but I am not a nut”.

By the end of Toobin’s book I was left worried, again, about who might appoint the next justice.

Yesterday Mia was at the UN in her official capacity as middle school student council Vice President, strategizing with kids from dozens of countries on human rights issues. As she describes the meeting’s premise, kids from around the world became concerned that with weapons stockpiling the adults were going to blow up the planet. So they thought they better organize. Not a bad idea.