Happy Birthday Short Fabulous!!

It’s my friend Short Fabulous’s birthday today.  It’s also World Intellectual Property Day, which is rather appropriate for Short Fabulous since she deals with intellectual property a lot in her cyberlaw practice.

“I thought you’d be bigger.”  Those were my first words upon meeting Short Fabulous in person for the first time.  We were standing near the baggage claim in the Seattle airport about spend the week together sharing a hotel room for the INTA Annual Meeting four years ago.  “Vertically or horizontally?” With a quip like that, I should have known we’d be friends.

There’s this idea that gets tossed around a lot in discussions about applying for jobs.  It’s the idea of the “on paper” version verses the “real life” version.  On paper, Short Fabulous and I should not be friends.  Sure, we both do IP law, but beyond that, we appear to be as different as you can get. 

We’re from very culturally different parts of the country; we’re on opposite sides of the political spectrum; she loves comfy clothes, flat shoes and as little primping as possible; the list goes on and on, we even come up on different sides of IP law issues.  In fact, our opinions on most matters are so far apart we keep a list of things about which we agree.  I think that list has like 5 items on it now.

But despite all our differences, she’s still one of my favorite friends out here.  She’s fabulous, and that’s all you need.  We both have this underlying silliness that sneaks out – ok, hers sneaks out, mine sort of rampages – and it’s super fun to have a cohort in that.  She’s always up for an adventure, whether it’s a boat ride, a new restaurant, a shopping trip or sharing a hotel room with a complete stranger.  When I get stumped on a legal issue or need to brainstorm out loud, she’s on my short-list of attorneys to call.  Plus, I know I can always rely on her when I just need to vent or cry or chat.

Cheers to a great friend!  And very happy birthday wishes!