Five more questions, this time from Julie:

1. Have you ever seriously considering living outside New England? If so, what would be your first choice of locations?

Not really, if you consider serious consideration being relocation for an indefinite period of time. There was about a month where I was going to William and Mary for law school (deposited and everything), but hadn't thought beyond that about living in Virginia. I had job interviews in Tulsa and Titusville, Florida during law school, and would have lived in either place, though I don't think I ever saw myself as a staying in either place for the long term.

Were I going to pull up stakes, I'd like to stay coastal. I like the water, even though I don't swim very well and find the beach a little boring (not to mention the sunburns!).

2. One thing we have in common is having taken "bent arrow" career paths. What have you found to be the most important predictors of job satisfaction vs. dissatisfaction?

For me, it's been the amount of trust a supervisor puts in me to work independently. My first few jobs out of school were all ones where I had a significant amount of freedom to complete tasks, which I still prefer to this day over a boss who keeps tabs. I'm probably a little more sensitive to this than the average person, but not tremendously so.

3. Following up on Greg's question: A few years ago, you posted a truly moving tribute to your late sister. What characteristics of her do you see in yourself?

I've been thinking about this for a few days, and it's been hard to come up with something. We tended to be opposites in just about everything, which is something I think I've only appreciated in the last few years. If forced to say something I'd go with sense of humor; mine's probably drier than her's was, but they're pretty similar.

4. Riffing off the same post but on a much lighter note: You mentioned that your family was very supportive when you played sports. What sports did you play as a kid, and which one was your favorite?

In an organized sense, I played baseball and soccer, and was part of a youth bowling "league" for a few years (it's wasn't a league per se, as there weren't teams but rather recognition for individual achievement). Baseball was the sport I really wanted to do well in, but I was a no-tool player. The best think I can say about my baseball career is that I managed to play every position but pitcher, which I'll spin as a willingness to do what the team needed.

I also played a lot of street hockey during the summer as part of a town rec program. We'd play every night for an hour or two on weeknights. I probably did this every summer between the ages of 7 and 14. This was probably the sport I enjoyed the most, given its informal nature and the discovery that I was a reasonably good goalie. I never made the jump to ice hockey due to a lack of opportunity and skating ability, but the street hockey was fine.

5. And, on a still lighter note: Describe, in as many words as you like, the Tao of Gerbilitude.

Gerbilitude is 80 percent knowledge, 15 percent team dissention, and 5 percent dietary intake that would make a cardiologist weep.