K.I.S.S.

For all the complications in life, simple is still the best way to go.  1+1=2.  Sun rises in the east, sets in the west.  Right shoe goes on right foot, left on left.  Simple is good.  Take, for instance, cooking.  I love to cook stuff.  I love to bake, grill, and BBQ.  I like making casseroles, salads, cakes, pies, and anything with chocolate.  In fact, following are two of my simplest recipes:

How I cook asparagus:

1. Pour about 4-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a sauce pan
2. Add a few dashes of sea salt,
3. Add a bunch of asperagus (cut off the bottom 1^1/2 inches), 
4. Cook on medium heat until tender (but not wimpy)

How I BBQ corn-on-the-cob:

1. Pull down the husk (but don't remove it) and remove the silks,
2. Smear corn with butter,
3. Generously shake on sea salt,
4. Pull husk back up and wrap in tin foil
5. Grill on medium heat (turning occasionally) for about 10 minutes

Yep, simple is the way to go - especially when you're doing legal stuff.  For instance, the other day I had a lady come to me asking how she could write a "legal" letter.  Seems a judge told her she had to write a letter to a lawyer giving him notice about an upcoming hearing.

First, I asked her, "Have you ever written a letter to anyone?"  Indignant, she snaps, "I'm not stupid - of course I've written letters to people!"  Calmly, I explain that letters to lawyers are no different than to anyone else.  Date, dear ______, body, conclusion, very truly yours, and you're out.  Easy peasy.

"But, but, but...don't I have to cite any laws?!  Don't I have to sound like a lawyer!?"  What most people don't seem to grasp is that when people start acting like something they aren't (in this case, a lawyer), they get in trouble and start sounding like a bunch of tourists.

"Keep it simple," I told her.  When you become a lawyer, you can write like a lawyer.  Until then, write like a person who is just trying to give notice about an upcoming hearing - and seal it with a K.I.S.S.