A Tribute to Michael Jackson

There was a heated discussion today at lunch regarding Michael Jackson. The question on the table was whether you grew up listening to Michael. Almost everyone in the room was around my age, and so, naturally, in my mind, they all should have grown up listening to Michael (and they all did except for one guy, which shocked us all). Sure, I don’t exactly remember when Off the Wall or Thriller came out because of my young age at the time, but I do remember listening to the music when I was young. And as I grew older, I went back and became familiar with his music. I remember my mom telling me how she watched the 1983 Motown 25th Anniversary Special where Michael Jackson performed with his brothers as the Jackson 5 and then performed ‘Billie Jean’ live on stage. Thriller was still a new album at the time and his performance seen across the country that night helped boost the album to become the best selling album of all time. He also performed the Moonwalk on stage for the first time in that performance and changed his image forever. The passion and emotion he showed that night instantly catapulted him to another level. Young, old, black, white, it didn’t matter, everyone was listening to Michael after that.

When Bad came out, I was old enough to follow music on my own. I remember watching the video for ‘Smooth Criminal’ over and over and trying to mimic his dance moves. There was no doubt that at this point he was the King of Pop. He had transformed the music industry and revolutionized music videos and live performances. Later in my life I caught Michael Jackson performing live at the 1995 VMA Awards and remember thinking he was the best dancer in the world. Despite what he became and the problems he had in life, he will always be remembered for what he did. For me, the Michael Jackson prior to the Dangerous album is the King of Pop. He is an American icon and no one will ever come close again to achieving what he did. He is the one and only. On this day that the world pays tribute to MJ, I wish to add my own tribute to him as a great artist and part of my childhood. Thank you for the great music and memories.

A Growing Problem

Last week I drove to Washington D.C. from New York. The traffic was out of control.  I left Thursday late morning, well after the morning rush hour. Getting out of the Bronx and across the George Washington Bridge took much longer than expected because of traffic. There were no accidents or construction projects. The delays were merely a result of the volume of cars on the road. Later that day further south, traffic caused us to be further delayed on the I-495 Beltway around D.C. Again, no accidents or construction, just volume. Not only have I ranted before about the poor condition of much of the this country’s roads and infrastructure, but I am now convinced that the current infrastructure is severely inadequate to handle a growing population that will undoubtedly result in additional cars on the road. Largely due to immigration, the United States is one of the few industrialized countries in the world with a steadily increasing and not steadily declining population. But more people could equal more potential problems in the future, not just fiscally, but in the time simply needed to travel from point A to point B. I doubt the U.S. traffic will ever rival some cities of the world (e.g. Bangkok), but traffic problems will be an ever-growing problem in the future with no easy fix. All we can do is try to reduce the amount of pollutants traffic causes while increasing mass transportaion options. We can also be thankful for the freedom we have to travel when and where we want in the U.S. of A.

U.S. Soccer

As I sit here and watch the U.S. vs. Spain semifinal soccer match of the Confederations Cup in South Africa (I work at a European firm and so we can watch soccer in the office), I must say that my allegiances are somewhat mixed. If it was any other team besides the U.S. national team, I would be cheering for Spain, the home of my heritage and the current number one national soccer team in the world. But this is the U.S. we’re talking about, and I’m an American. I have always followed sports, but have rarely had a team that I truly rooted for consistently. Soccer at the national team level is the one exception. It brings out more passion in me than any other sport (and I know I’m not alone). With the U.S. up 1-0 at half, I must say that despite my affinity for Spanish soccer, I’m yelling ‘Go U.S.A.!’

The Timepiece as Art

Since I have been periodically traveling to Switzerland for work the past many months I have become fascinated with watches. Switzerland is the gold standard for watchmaking, with Japan a distant second. No other country has a monopoly on displaying time like Switzerland. But it is not just my fascination with knowing what time it is constantly that has me interested in watches. Rather, I have become interested in timepieces as works of art and an everyday accessory. I almost always have my watch on, and for the past three years that watch has been a Citizen Eco Drive, a functional, yet elegant watch that has served me well. With no reliance on a battery, I have no intentions of letting go of it. But I am becoming ready for a new watch, if only to add something new to my wardrobe. The problem is that, like with so many other things out there, today’s selection of fine watches is overwhelming. My conundrum is whether I go with one of the many Swiss-made watches, and do my company’s homeland proud, or do I go with the only real competitors out there – the Japanese brands of Citizen, Seiko or Casio.

Most everyone has heard of Rolex, Omega or Tag Heuer, but not everyone has heard of other fine Swiss timepiece manufactures, such as Jaeger Le Coultre, Chopard, IWC, Hublot, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Tissot, Maurice Lacroix, Ulysse Nardin or Audemars Piguet. Each of these manufacturers is a master in its ability to craft detailed timepieces. The technology as well as the craftsmanship in today’s watches has become so advanced that it truly can be considered a work of art. These watches are not cheap either. Although fine watch stores sit on every respectable corner in Zurich or Geneva, not everyone has the money to spend thousands of dollars on a watch. And neither do I. I am looking for function and style. I want a watch that does more than tell me the time. I demand that my watch now feed me information. It’s true that many people these days can look at their smartphones for the time, weather or up-to-date news (as can I), but I still enjoy looking at my watch strapped to my wrist. In thinking about style versus function, I have even considered getting a nice G-Shock watch for my next watch, evoking memories of the two years I spent in Japan with my men’s Baby-G watch. Or, the next time I am traveling to Zurich, I could pick me up a Swiss timepiece. Then again, I have been very happy with my Citizen watch and like their new collection of timepieces. What would you do?

Vacation Days

Last week someone from my office returned from Argentina and another colleague is in Italy at the moment. Someone just flew back from Australia a few days ago. Another person in the office has a trip to the Galapagos Islands later in the summer and even others are traveling to China, the Bahamas and Croatia, all on their personal dime for vacation. Even my brother is in Brazil at the moment on vacation. My vacation plans this summer include a short trip to Washington D.C. in a few weeks. It will be enjoyable, but will hardly be the most glamorous of vacations, especially with our two young kids. Later this year we have talked about visiting the exotic locale of Utah, but nothing has been finalized.

My company offers me five weeks of vacation and I am encouraged to use it. I sometimes wish I could. I am dying to get back to Japan and visit Hong Kong and China while I’m over in that part of the world. But in reality, how much emphasis should be put on taking a vacation? Some people refuse to travel, saving money for a day when they hope they can afford to travel while others are out there traveling and making memories when they can. Opinions vary on what the best approach is. I have read that someone should take two relaxing vacations a year. It has been over a year since I have been on a non-work relaxing vacation with family or friends. My wife has not been on a vacation for even longer and the last time we traveled together has been quite a while. I am not advocating traveling when it clearly cannot be afforded, but am merely wondering why if all those around me can do it why can’t we? Should I plan something and surprise my wife for her birthday? Would she be okay with that – the fact that I spent money for vacation purposes? What would we do with the kids? I will try to come up with some ideas and will report my progress as I do so. We need some time off together and her birthday in October presents the perfect opportunity for us to do so. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Rise and Shine

I have always been a night person. I grew up that way and it’s how I am wired. But I am trying to change that little by little. I am finding that life with two kids leaves me very little time for myself. With our first child, there was a point each day that she went to sleep, leaving me and my wife time to accomplish what we needed to in the evenings together or on our own. But with two children, not to mention an increasingly busy work schedule, the time I used to have in the evening is dwindling. The need for the time, however, is not. In searching for a time for myself, I found that the only realistic time was early in the morning. I had already been waking up around 5:45 am each weekday morning to get myself ready and off to the train station to get in the office when expected, but the more I studied it, the more I realized that the early morning was the only time I had free. Besides, it was the only time of day when it was calm and quiet at home. I have read of thousands of people who swear that the key to the successes in their life is the personal time they spend each morning. They wake as early as 4:00 am to get a jump start on the day. They use the morning to plan and asses their personal goals, exercise, meditate, read, ponder or write (I woke early this morning to write some thoughts that I had been meaning to, but couldn’t find the time). Some of the most accomplished people in the world are early risers, and it would make sense that they would be. We are not all equal in life. We each have different talents, traits, skills, educations and backgrounds. The only thing that is equal across mankind is the amount of time each person has in one day. How one spends each twenty-hour period, however, varies widely. It will be a struggle for me at times as a night person, but I am starting slowly and will build day by day to waking early and enjoying my personal time prior to the chaos of each day. Once I am used to having my morning time I hope that I won’t be able to live without it. I am aware, though, that this means trying to get to sleep at a reasonable time each evening, which will also be a struggle at times. But for now I am dedicated to waking early and using the time to enrich my life.

Lost Identity

For the first time in my life I have been the victim of identity fraud. Sort of. I received a call from my credit card company this morning asking whether I had recently purchased several tickets on Delta Air Lines. I stated that I had not, although my credit card apparently had. Trips from Miami to New York, Los Angeles to Philadelphia and even a trip to Hong Kong were booked all with my sixteen digit credit card number, three digit verification number and home address. I spoke with the member of Delta’s fraud department who spotted the suspicious activity and he confirmed that my name was not used. In fact, it was the various names used with the same card number that caused the activity to be spotted in the first place. I have never been uncomfortable using my credit card to make purchases online through legitimate sites, but my personal information was hacked somehow, somewhere. I am happy to say that people were doing their job and I will not be charged for the $3,500 worth of travel that was purchased with my card. Luckily this was caught when it was and it was not worse. I feel bad for those that have to suffer through true identity fraud and the years it takes to piece their life, credit and finances together.

It’s Our Anniversary

This week marks five years since my wife and I were married. It has gone by quickly in some ways, and in others, it’s hard to remember the pre-marriage life. We have accomplished a lot together since 2004. We have each completed our education and have begun careers. We have taken some risks, moved across the country to New York, and most importantly, have had two beautiful daughters together. We have very little to complain about. But we do not have a perfect marriage. In the end, I believe that we sometimes struggle with the same issues that all couples struggle with if they are together long enough. There is no doubt that an excellent marriage takes work, patience, love and forgiveness. Being good at each of those traits all of the time, day in and day out is difficult to do. But a successful marriage requires it. Over the past five years, there have been many more good times than bad. The key is to turn the times in between, the mediocre and uneventful times when real life happens and the weeks become months, into good and memorable times. That will be my focus for the next five years. If we can get that behind us and get a rhythm going, the rest should come naturally.

And by the way, I can’t say the above title without signing the song of the same title in my head by Tony! Toni! Toné!

Happy Birthday Hanna

It has been two years already. In these two years I have seen my daughter Hanna develop from a small (but still large for her age), helpless baby to a charismatic, fun, energetic, smart little girl. It is amazing how fast the time has gone as well as how much she has changed. Hanna is now two years old and we have a second daughter at home. If she can spend her first two years in life similar to Hanna’s, we will be off to a great start. Happy birthday Hanna. Daddy loves you.

A Real Family Man

I am now the proud owner of a Toyota Sienna. I looked at various minivans and midsize SUVs over the past several weeks, but in the end it came down to a Toyota Sienna or a Honda Odyssey. And how could we go wrong with either? Each was rated almost identically and there are tons of either vehicle on the road (for a reason). For me, it came down to style and price. After looking around, I was convinced we could get a good deal by purchasing a certified pre-owned vehicle instead of purchasing a brand new minivan. Interestingly, when I mentioned that I was looking and was considering those two vehicles, several people told me to go with a Honda. We have had a Honda Civic for the past three years and it has been a great car, but I liked the Sienna. And in the end, that’s what we bought. A 2007 model, silver blue with a standard package. With two kids now we needed the room. All I can hope for is that it lasts us for years to come.

En Español

You would think I speak better Spanish than I do given my last name, but I unfortunately feel like I can barely get by en Español. This past week I had the chance to interact with my uncle from Spain as he made a rare visit to the U.S. with my dad. Sure, I have studied Spanish for a short time, have spent six weeks in Mexico (years before the swine flu scare) and have traveled through parts of Spain, where my roots lie. But my Spanish was elementary at best and has been stagnant since returning from Spain in 2003. I want to speak better, but have instead focused my language efforts on maintaining my Japanese. Even now, I can be comfortable in Japanese for hours, but am embarrassed with my Spanish abilities. Yet, people have told me my Spanish isn’t bad and that I have a knack for languages. Perhaps I should focus on Spanish, given its utility in this country. The resources are out there for me to study and my commute provides ample time each week. Maybe next time I see my uncle or family member from Spain I can feel like I am actually communicating and not merely struggling to understand.

It’s Automatic

The other night I heard a song that took me back ten years. The song is “Automatic” by Utada Hikaru and it is legendary in Japan. You see, ten years ago, in 1999, I was living in Sakai, Japan, near Osaka. We had just exited a long, cold winter and spring had finally come. The cherry blossoms had bloomed across the country and had already fallen to the ground, but the country was alive again. People hung out outside, doors and windows were continuously open, and everywhere I went I heard “Automatic.” Fortunately I liked the song, and eventually bought the CD, more as a memory of Japan than anything else. But now, ten years later, whenever I hear “Automatic” I can vividly recall walking into a Japanese McDonald’s or Family Mart or Lawsons and hearing “Automatic” blaring from the speakers. If I could create a soundtrack for my life, that song would be a part of the 1999 edition.

A Storm for the Next Two Years

I recently purchased the Blackberry Storm and thought I would post a review on amazon.com of my experience with the touchscreen device. And yes, I am one of those people who probably would have bought the iPhone had it been available on Verizon. But not wanting to change service providers, I did my homework and went with what I thought was the next best thing, especially with RIM’s launch of the App World. As it turns out, Verizon may be getting the iPhone after all. The bottom line of my review is that after some initial disappoint, I am now satisfied with the phone. The full text is below.  

Amazon.com Review

As merely a cell phone, the Storm would be mediocre at best. In fact, my prior LG clamshell phone was a better phone in terms of handling, use and overall experience. But the Storm was not designed to be merely a phone, and I didn’t buy it for that purpose. The Storm is a multimedia device, and after having the phone for three weeks now, I can say that I had my doubts, but am now satisfied and intend to keep the phone. I did my homework on new phones and went with the Storm once the Blackberry App World received glowing reviews within days of its launch on April 1, 2009. There is a learning curve with the Storm, but once you learn how the device works, it can be a useful and functional computer in your pocket. Many reviews complain about how buggy and slow the phone can be (and prior models and OS apparently were), but I have learned that the key to optimum performance for the Storm is managing the application memory. Close all applications properly, do an occasional battery pull (or get a free app to simulate one) and learn a few other tricks and you can have a wide-ranging multimedia device on a network faster than AT&T. Pandora is now available for free through the App World, which, as a music lover, is worth quite a bit to me. Not to mention the ability to take pictures with the Storm’s 3.2 mp camera and upload them on my Flickr account within seconds. Like I said – a multimedia device.

The instruction manual Verizon provides with the phone is virtually useless for anyone vaguely familiar with how a Blackberry works. But with an investment of time online at crackberry.com and a few other sites you too can unleash the Storm’s full potential. This is a strong touchscreen debut for RIM and the Storm will only get better with time (may I suggest a trackball/touchscreen combination).

Reflections of London

For years now I have been trying to get myself to London to see the sites and experience one of the world’s greatest cities. In the summer of 2003 I travelled with a friend around many of the great cities of Western Europe, but London was noticeably not included as we didn’t have the time. I knew I would have to make a separate trip to visit London one day, but was unsure as to when I would be able to make it. I thought it would be a great trip to do with my wife, especially since we’re now living in New York. But every time I brought it up she had no interest in going there. If we were going to travel oversees for a vacation, it was not going to be to London, in her mind, not to mention the costs involved in a trip to London. And so it was, London beckoned me and I could not oblige. Until this past weekend.

I spent this past Saturday and most of Sunday in London cramming in as much as I possibly could. I walked a tremendous amount, even by my standards, but learned long ago that walking is the best way to see a City and feel its pulse. Having studied and worked in Manhattan for the past five years, London’s size and numbers of people didn’t faze me one bit. In fact, a few areas of London felt like New York City to me, but with an English twist. I knew prior to my visit that London was a very international city, and it was, with people from all walks of life and corners of the globe living there. From what I saw, the city also appeared relatively clean for its size, the number of people living and visiting there and its age. To be fair, however, most large cities come across as pretty unpolluted when compared to New York City. Although there is still a lot more to be seen in London, the sites I did see were impressive overall and worth the visit hands down.

On Sunday I had a chance to visit the new financial district of Canary Wharf. While it is a pain to get there given its out-of-the-way location, it was a striking place once I made it. It had a similar aura to the World Financial Center in lower Manhattan, but was more modern. I can only imagine what Canary Wharf must be like during normal business hours. I’ve wondered a year ago what New York would have grown to if it was not limited to the island of Manhattan. If Manhattan was connected to Long Island somehow (say the East River didn’t exist, for example), New York may have matured much more like London, with the city developing several central business districts spread out over a good portion of land instead of simply redeveloping land on the existing island. All in all, I loved London, and if you could ever afford to live well there, it would be an exciting place to be.

This Friday I head back to dirty, rough and rugged New York – another great city and the U.S.’s only global city. I like travelling abroad, but New York is home and I’ll be ready to go back on Friday. Now I just need an excuse to get myself to Tokyo for a week.

Guernsey For The Week

No one would ever guess where in the world I have spent this past week – the Island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, between France and the United Kingdom. In fact, when I arrived to check in at JFK International Airport, I had to explain that I needed a flight through Gatwick and not Heathrow because I needed to make a connecting flight to Guernsey. “You’re going where?” came the response back from behind the ticket counter. But this European offshore tax haven is home to a good amount of financial services companies and is the reason why I am here. I didn’t know what to expect before I came to Guernsey, but I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised with what I have experienced so far. There is more going on in the main town of St. Peter Port than I thought there would be and it is quite the beautiful place on clear days. Of course, all of this pleasantness in no way means that I am ready to pick up and move here by any means, but spending a week here has been nice. I have been able to enjoy a different and unique part of the U.K. that few people have the chance to. I am off tomorrow morning to London for the weekend and then back to Switzerland for next week before returning home to my family in New York. I doubt I will ever be back here on Guernsey, but I am thankful I got to experience this out of the way, laid-back, sleepy island.

Couldn’t Ask for More

I am now the proud father of two lovely girls. Last Saturday, April 4, 2009, our second daughter was born. We named her Sydney Ming Sanchez. She was 8 pounds and 20 inches long and has a full head of hair. She is a healthy and mild mannered kid. Her crying is minimal and she is easily calmed. She is beautiful and we are happy to have her in our family. My wife is doing well, and thanks to an effective epidural, felt very little pain or discomfort during the entire labor and delivery process. Our older daughter has been better than we expected, but I doubt she realizes that this new baby is here to stay. Forever. The attention will now be evenly split between the two girls and she will have to learn to deal with that after being treated like a rock star the past two years. It will be interesting and exciting to watch them grow up together, to learn from each other and to play and fight. They are each unique individuals that will grow to be unlike anyone here on earth. They could end up being similar; they could be very different. All in all, we are proud parents and look forward to seeing what life bring us and our family.

An Ode to ER

The NBC drama ER is ending this week. It will be missed. While many people stopped worrying what shows were aired on what network at what time, I have yet to join the TiVo/DVR time-shifting crowd and don’t have much time to catch missed episodes on Hulu. For me, Thursday at 10:00 pm, if I was home, was ER night. What made the show great was its writing and plot, the credit of which should go to the late Michael Crichton, one of the show’s creators, writers and a doctor himself. Admittedly, I only really got into the show starting in 2004, long after what some describe as the glory days of ER and the launch pad for actors such as George Clooney and others. My ER, however, consisted of Abby, Luca, Sam, Dr. Gates, Dr. Greg Pratt and, of course, Neela.

Being married to a doctor, I learned years ago that I have very little interest in medicine, but I enjoyed that I could ask her questions regarding acronyms or accuracy when watching the show together. In fact, it was one of the few shows I could get her to watch with me at all, as she generally hates anything on television. I enjoyed ER not because I care specifically about medicine, but because it was smart. Like The West Wing, it assumed a certain level of education and knowledge on behalf of its audience and didn’t dumb down the show for anybody. The issues ER dealt with were real and the characters were representative of those you would discover in this country. They suffered through hard times, rejoiced in the happy moments and trekked through everything in between. I remember on more than one occasion watching the ending of the show, music fitting to the scene playing in the background, characters struggling, contemplating, grieving or celebrating, and actually felt emotions. That’s how real the show was – it actually caused emotions to stir within the viewer, a rare feat among current network television in this country. Fans of the past fifteen years may claim that ER jumped the shark years ago, but in my mind, it was one of the dramas truly worth watching. Thank you ER for a great fifteen seasons.

She’s Almost Here

Sometime in the next week I will be a new father. Again. The nine months passed even faster this time than with our first baby. We are again having another baby girl and I feel like I can handle it, as I’ve been there before. Two years ago I remember thinking how much my life was going to change leading up to the birth of my first daughter. It did change, but it would be hard to imagine life without her in it today. I hardly remember what it was like without her, and it has only been two years. Two girls will be a handful, but I am up to the task. If nothing else, the biggest change will be for our first daughter, unaccustomed to sharing mom or dad or competing for attention. My first order of business when we return home from the hospital is to focus on her and teach her all of the wonderful things about her baby sister. With time, she will never know life without her younger sister in it. They will be friends; they may, at times, be enemies. And we will be their parents. After nine months of going about life without giving the growing baby girl in my wife’s tummy the attention she deserves (relative to baby girl number one), I am finally ready for her to come. Within the next week, I will be ready to welcome to the world _________. (We still need to find that perfect and fitting name.)

College Hoops Hits Home

College hoops season is here again. Like millions of other people, I have submitted my March Madness brackets and joined pools with coworkers, friends and family. I have watched this tournament with excitement each year since I was in elementary school and have always enjoyed the games as well as CBS’s One Shining Moment recapping the entire tournament, which I wrote about last year here.

But this year I am also keeping my eye on another college basketball tournament. The NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship from Kansas City. Instead of 64 teams like the NCAA tournament, only 32 make the NAIA tournament, and most of the schools you have never heard of and are glad you didn’t attend. But my brother currently is in his last season as a starter for the sixth seeded team. In their first-round game yesterday, they pulled off a close win in overtime and move on to play again today. I couldn’t watch the game because they don’t stream the games live online for free, as CBS does for the NCAA tournament, but I can at least follow all the stats in real time online. Today could very well be the last competitive basketball game he plays in his life at this level. His college days are all but behind him and playing basketball at the next level is not a road he plans on pursuing. For the past many years, playing basketball has essentially been a full-time job, albeit one that kept him in great shape and came with many perks.

But regardless of what happens today on the court, win or lose, he’s had a great career. I will be following the game and rooting for his team online today. I’m proud of you, bro. Sorry I couldn’t be at more games.

Lawyer Layoffs

It’s getting ugly out there for lawyers. A profession that has been fairly well insulated from economic downturns in the past is now being roiled with unprecedented numbers of layoffs. Each day brings more bad news. I check sites like “Above the Law” or “AmLaw Daily” and read headline after headline of white shoe and top tier firms laying off their associates and staff. And the numbers are staggering – 400 people from this firm, 300 people for that one and so on. Firms that laid people off in the fall are now conducting round two or three of letting people go. No one is safe. The law firm I was at until last August performed cuts in November of last year, and I could have easily been one of them. But I left just in time. After years of trying to get into a top law firm in New York, I eventually took a position at an investment firm, forever altering the path my career will take. I have left the law firm world for good, and I don’t miss it. The billable hour does not exist for me, and neither do demanding law firm partners. I have become the client and my timing could not have been better. I graduated from law school in 2006 and entered a legal market that was still strong. I was busy for most of my time at the law firm I worked. In 2008, as things started taking a turn for the worst, I was in the middle of looking for a new job at law firms in New York. I tried and tried to find that right position for me with no luck. Firms weren’t hiring, I was told, but no one had started laying people off. Finally, when an opportunity arose to jump ship and try something different, I took it, fed up with where I had been working and ready for a new challenge. There was a time I was even serious about becoming a legal recruiter, as I was interested in the legal industry as a business and felt I was good at creating and maintaining relationships. But now recruiters are being laid off or leaving the industry in droves. No one is hiring or needs their services. And for the few available legal positions out there, firms see recruiters as a cost too difficult to justify in this environment.

But above all, the law school class of 2009 is stuck with the short end of the stick. Entering law school in 2006, they studied (and borrowed money) hard, lured by the dream of rising associate salaries and constant deal flow. Even in a good market, most graduating law students do not have jobs by the time they are out of school, forced to pass the bar exam to become more marketable. Where will this year’s class find work? Coming out of college, they could have perhaps found a job in a field that interested them for a modest salary. And if so, their debt load, if any, would have been manageable and they could have started their career three years earlier. But now what do they do? Where do they turn? Bitter and upset, this will forever change the lure of law as a profession. Now, more than ever before, it is abundantly clear that being a lawyer is definitely not what it used to be. 

What makes all of this a bitter pill to swallow is that law students finish school with a sense of entitlement and a hope that their income will be a bit higher than the average. It’s the reason why many of them attended law school in the first place. This year’s graduating class will be seen as “too overqualified” to take the job they could have gotten out of college, while, paradoxically, no legal opportunities exist out there. It’s a catch 22. Of the tens of thousands of graduating law students in 2009, I would dare say that about 60% will not have a job when they graduate and will have no idea where to turn, having exhausted most of their options already in their job search. It’s one thing to be a graduate from a top tier law school. But the vast majority of law students and law schools fall outside that realm. Their first job will set their career down a path many had not anticipated or even desired a short time ago, but forced to make ends meet and pay the student loan debt most of them have incurred, they will conform. The legal industry is quick to pigeonhole its people, and no one wants to retrain and retool lawyers in this market. Wow, it is ugly out there and I am afraid the bleeding is not yet over.

Friday Night Lights Out

Friday nights used to be special. It was usually a good day at school or work and always signaled the beginning of the weekend. I attended parties, sporting events or other special occasions. If nothing was planned, Friday was usually the perfect night to be spontaneous – go out to dinner, attend a movie, hang out late with friends and so on. Having kids made the scheduled and non-scheduled events harder to do, but I was always up for finding some way to make Friday night a little different than the rest of the week. After all, it was Friday night.

Now, I find that I am exhausted by the time Friday night comes around. It has nothing to do with age (despite my mention of gray hair below), but is rather the result of a life where I feel time is my enemy. Sleeping is a necessary activity that takes up too much time. The result of living such a hectic life is that I am left with about five or six hours a night to cram in some shut eye. Some days it’s sufficient. Some days it’s not. By the end of the week I am exhausted, and the ‘to do’ list never goes away. I know I am not the only one with this experience or rant. But it’s only Tuesday and I again can’t wait for Friday night lights out.

Gray Hair

I don’t know how it happened, but there is no mistaking it now. I have a lot of gray hair. This isn’t just a few strands here and there that blend in with the rest of my natural color, but I’m talking about a lot of grayish-white hair. On my head. I’m too young for this. Where did these gray hairs come from? I noticed a few gray hairs years ago and liked the novelty of the idea, but now more hairs appear to be joining the club each week. I actually don’t mind that much (yet) and hope it makes me look a bit more sophisticated or wise, but I am afraid of where this will go. I am nearing the end of my third decade this year. Will my head be one gray mess in ten more years? Will I even have hair at all? Is stress an actual factor in causing hair to turn gray, because I have had some of that in my life? Does anyone even know what causes gray hair other than genetics (but my dad doesn’t have that much gray)? I rather have graying hair than hair loss, but I am just curious as to how this is hitting me at this age.

Facing Regret

The past week and a half has been an emotional one for me. Strong feelings that I have not had in years surfaced and the decisions from my past stared me in the face. I learned it can be difficult living with regret and I have delved into ‘what if’ moments in my mind on more than one occasion. In the big picture of things, I regret very little in my life and know I still have a bright future ahead of me. But the reality I now live in is what I must deal with, and I can say it is a happy one. I have been richly blessed in my life. Like with anyone, a few decisions years ago could have vastly altered my life now. But I cannot undo my past, and now I understand that I can live with that.

What was helpful for me to do, however, was express my feelings for what occurred years ago. I had lived with pent up emotions causing whatever regrets I had to grow more intense. I wanted a chance to get some things off my chest and say my piece. I have. And now I am finally at peace. I realized I must let go of the past and put my feelings behind me and move on. I can do that now and I thank the person that allowed me to do this. What if will always be there, but for where we are now in lives, happiness is in our future.

The City by the Bay

I’ve been in San Francisco since Tuesday for business and have been busy, but I have also had a chance to explore the city in the evenings. It has been a few years since I was here last and I was looking forward to coming back to the Bay Area. After all, this is one of the cities that I always claimed I could live in. The first night I had free I decided to explore the Financial District, as it is near my hotel and my firm’s office. The place was dead. It livened up a bit as I entered Chinatown at Kearny Street, but otherwise I was a bit disappointed with my travels around the Embarcadero Center and the Financial District. After being in Manhattan for almost five years, everywhere I go seems small, unpopulated and quiet.

Until last night, that is. After work I headed up Market Street from my hotel and explored the shopping areas around Union Square. It was there that I found the San Francisco I was looking for. The area was bustling with people at 9:00 pm, there were plenty of locals and tourists out and about and what looked to be a great deal of interesting restaurants. One of my favorite places in Manhattan is Union Square, and ironically, I can now say that San Francisco’s Union Square is among my favorite places in the city by the Bay. Each Union Square has its own unique culture and feel, even if it is somewhat similar overall. It’s too bad the cities couldn’t have been more creative in naming their public spaces. I only have a short time left here in San Francisco, but hope to find at least one more area I enjoy before I head back to cold New York.

My 20 Random Things

As almost anyone on Facebook (FB) knows, the “25 Random Things About Me” tag has been rapidly making its way from person to person across the social-networking site. I have been tagged numerous times and have yet to respond once. The tag has become so pervasive that Slate has launched quite an amusing investigation to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. The way it works, essentially, is that you, once tagged, post a Note on FB detailing 25 random things about yourself for all of your friends to see. Once completed, you would then tag 25 of your friends to do the same. Despite my refusal to post my 25 Random Things, I have enjoyed reading the random facts and intricacies of my FB friends. So I will continue to boycott posting my 25 on FB, but thought I would put up a few random thoughts about myself on my blog instead. Without further ado, my list of 20 (instead of 25):

1. I have written in a journal everyday since April 1995 and must do so before I go to sleep. During my recent move, my box of journals almost broke my friend’s back – literally.

2. I am a pretty mellow guy and handle stress well. I rarely get mad and can’t remember the last time I lost my temper or really felt upset at somebody or something.

3. Last spring I joined a group and walked around the entire island of Manhattan in nine hours – a full 32.3 miles. I love walking and this was the ultimate walk. I plan to do it again this year. Let me know if you’re interested in joining me.

4. I lived in Hawaii for three years and miss many things about the uniqueness of the island life, culture and community. I have thought seriously about moving back there with my family one day.

5. Sports and physical activities were a huge part of my youth; I don’t remember a day growing up when I wasn’t physically active in some way. This is unfortunately not always the case nowadays.

6. I love reading books and have read about 80 of them in the past two years. Only time prevents me from reading more.

7. I had a speech problem when I was a kid and had a difficult time with my R sounds. I hated when people asked my name since most people couldn’t understand me when I replied, given that my name has two letter “R”s in it. After some speech therapy, the problem faded as a I grew older and my speech is almost never an issue today.

8. I speak Japanese relatively well, even though I haven’t been to the country since the year 2000.

9. I am a person of routines and find comfort in doing the same thing the same way day after day. This is true from my morning commute to my routine prior to going to bed. When I return home from work each evening, I find it hard to do anything until I have changed out of my clothes and tidied up around the house.

10. I work at a private equity firm as a lawyer, but hope to find my passion and life’s work one day.

11. One of my goals in life is to write a book and have it published. The book will probably be part historical and part memoir; I don’t think I am clever enough to write fiction.

12.  I married a doctor and can testify as to the pros and cons of two professional working parents. I hope to convince my daughters to choose neither medicine nor the law as a career path; both professions are not what they used to be.

13. I was raised in Federal Way, Washington and am proud to be from that area. It was a great place to grow up. Despite what people say about the weather in western Washington State, I firmly believe that it has some of the best weather in the country.

14. I love looking at maps and could spend hours studying maps of various cities. My appreciation for fold-out paper maps has been replaced by Google maps. I thought seriously about being a Geography major in college, but stuck with History instead.

15. I have a strong passion for man-made spaces and architecture, even though I doubt I have the skills to do anything about it. It finally dawned on me that this is probably largely why I enjoy visiting different cities and parks. On the flip side, I don’t find as much satisfaction in nature, although I would like to further develop that trait. 

16. I bought my first cell phone in 2003 and received my first BlackBerry in 2006. Now I can’t imagine life without either.

17. I am a big listener of jazz and R&B music. I enjoy listening to other types of music here and there, but agree with the statement that life is too short to try to listen to and appreciate music that you don’t like.

18. One of my favorite things to watch is the Summer Olympics. I am touched every four years when I tune in the Summer Games and hope to one day visit the host city while the Summer Games are in session.

19. I like having our cat, Neko, sometimes to my surprise. I was truly against getting a cat when the idea first came up, but soon learned to like her and would miss her if she were no longer with us.

20. One day I want to become a full-time teacher. From my experience, I believe that teaching would truly bring me satisfaction.

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Postscript: The ironic thing about this list is that I have touched upon each of these twenty items in some form of another in one of my almost 250 posts on this blog over the past few years. Should I be concerned that I couldn’t come up with anything interesting about myself other than what I have already mentioned to the world via this site?