JANIE at Colloquium - Our FEATURED VILLAGER

This next Featured Villager is not only a lawyer, she has accomplished my life long dream to play in Carnegie Hall. That’s right! Janie Hickok Siess is pictured with her flute as the Delta Winds performed in Carnegie Hall on March 28, 2007! Along with the wonderful soundtrack of their debut, Janie is an avid fan of “The Soprano’s” and pens a weekly installment to recap the show.

Janie keeps busy on her blog with memes for almost every day of the week: Sunday Scribblings, Monday Candle Moment, Wordless Wednesday, Thursday Thirteen, Friday’s Feast, and Photo Hunt (on Saturday’s). Her day of rest must be on Tuesday’s!!! Don’t forget to check out her other blogs, “Here’s looking at…me!” and “The Stockton Concert Band”. So without any further ado…I introduce you to Janie @ Colloquium…

Janey Loree ~ Who is Janie? Tell us something about Janie that you haven’t posted in your blog Colloquium!

JHS ~ I don’t come from a privileged background (my father was a car mechanic and my mother was homemaker) and couldn’t care less about money, wealth or the social status those things bring. I just want to have enough to live comfortably. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, I realized I could not spend the rest of my life looking at balance sheets, ledgers, tax returns, etc. because I just couldn’t make myself care about any of it. I needed to earn my daily bread doing something that required a more meaningful investment of my entire self. So I continued on to law school. There, once I took my first civil rights course, that was it. I knew I had found my niche.

Janey Loree ~ What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

JHS ~ I was moved to start blogging during the final days of Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s life because I was so distraught about the fact that her parents’ legal appeals all proved futile.

For six years, I litigated Conservatorship of Wendland all the way to a victory before the California Supreme Court. I am among a select group of attorneys who understand the stress of handling a high-profile, high-stakes case over a protracted period of time.

The cost for all involved was enormous. In my case, it impacted my physical health, but also changed me in many other ways. I wanted to share my experiences by telling the cautionary tale in order to encourage everyone to make end-of-life decisions while they are capable of doing so and communicate their wishes to their friends and family orally and in writing. A battle about how to proceed in the face of incapacitating illness or injury is devastating to family, friends, caregivers, attorneys, guardians, judges, justices. As noted, I, along with everyone else involved in the Wendland case, am living proof that no one comes out of the battle unscathed.

A lot of people told me I should write a book. I prefer to blog about it . . . which I am doing gradually. It’s too overwhelming to try to write about all of it at once and more than five years later, I’m still processing my thoughts and feelings about that momentous battle.

From there, the blog evolved into a discussion of all sorts of topics, some very serious and some more light-hearted.

In January, I also became a featured weekly writer for Write Stuff. Between the two endeavors, I’m having a great time and learning a lot about writing and myself.

Janey Loree ~ When do you find time to read other blogs?

JHS ~ Late at night and on weekends. I can lose a lot of hours following links . . . I’m sure your readers can all relate!

Janey Loree ~ Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

JHS ~ I clicked on the link that I found on another blog . . . don’t remember which one, though.

Janey Loree ~ Why did you name your blog “Colloquium”? Is your blog personal, business, therapeutic, or just plain fun?

JHS ~ The word has several meanings, but this one is the reason I picked the name: “An informal meeting for the exchange of views.” That’s what I hope this blog is: A place where people feel comfortable dropping by, reading my ramblings, and sharing a thought, feeling, opinion or viewpoint.

Janey Loree ~ How many BLOG VILLAGE blogs are you linked to?

JHS ~ Oh, gosh . . . I don’t know! Where do I find this information?

Janey Loree ~ If you join sites like “Technorati” or “Referer.org” and add the appropriate HTML coding, you can keep an eye on who links to your blogs. I am sure that other VILLAGERS can give you pointers on this as well…such as Jim over at “Tips For New Bloggers”.

Janey Loree ~ Bonus Question: Of those BV blogs that you are linked to, which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?

JHS ~ I enjoy Scribbit.

But there are so many wonderful blogs listed . . .



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.