Preservation of Memories
I'm sitting alone in a conference room in the Marin County Civic Center, possibly the most beautiful and unusual county administration building in the country. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it feels like it's a mile long crazy layer cake. I'm working/not working, at the time of a mediation where both sides are percolating in their own conference rooms on the ideas we are batting around. The time component is a necessary part of any negotiation but it too is like a baked good. There is a perfect amount of time for a souffle to bake or a loaf of bread to rise but if you wait too long, it falls apart. It's only mid-afternoon, so it hasn't been too long yet. I traveled all day yesterday back from Alabama and I'm having a little whiplash turning around to work right away. That's how cushy my life is: I can usually build in a day of resettling before I'm back at it. This was a real whirlwind tour, though. We flew into Birmingham on Thursday, checke