Back in the Saddle

Ah the blog. How I have missed you.

I apologize to all and to the blogosphere. My life got a bit out of control, but I am back. A little bit larger around the waist, but I am working on that.

So school really began to kick my ass. There is no other nice way to express that feeling. I decided to take three classes instead of two back in the winter semester and my life became a blur of posts, papers, and group projects. Sigh. I have very much enjoyed going to school up until recently because it was at my pace. I had taken one to two lower level courses and easily kept up with the work. Community colleges are cheap in California and everything was gravy. Then I transferred to Cal State. Even though it was more expensive, it still didn’t seem like that much of a deal. But then, the dreaded winter quarter arrived. I figured I would pursue a major in Latin American Studies and pick up a minor in Hospitality Management along the way. Why? Well, I have travel industry and restaurant experience and I figured it might be a nice and easy fit on the resume if I needed it in the future. Wow, big mistake. First off, upper level courses demand more work than lower level courses. Secondly, how dry can you make travel industry management? This is a subject I am passionate about and the course material was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Analyzing lunch and dinner statistics across markets and different parts of the food industry, P x W = X – Y + (B – C). Yikes. I have never been so bored in my life. Yeah, not happening. And all this for a minor I will be doing nothing with? Umm, no. Not happening. I eeked out 3 A’s that quarter (earning me a spot on the Dean’s List), but I vowed never again. Fast-forward to this quarter and a couple of online classes related to my major. One class is going fine, but the other was taught by this complete ***hole. Another student in the department had warned me about him, but I thought I could win him over with my sparking writing skills and superior charm. This did not happen. After the third threatening e-mail to the entire class about how he wanted his posts formatted, I had had enough. So I now have dropped down to one class for the semester, but I still cannot get the professor to return my e-mails. Good times. Starting from this summer, I have vowed to return to one or two classes per semester maximum. I will not qualify for school loans this way, but my sanity stands a good chance of returning. Being a supervisor at work has proven to be more work than I had counted on and I cannot handle a full-time job along with loads of these classes that require mucho reading and writing each week. I have now reached the point too where I am going to have to start attending some classes in person and this is hard to do with my varying schedule each week. But somehow, it will get done. All this work and all this worrying for a degree that I will likely not be using. (I need to keep reminding myself of this fact.)

In the meantime, since I had no time, the winter pounds accumulated. I am not obese, but I definitely am a bit round around the edges. I am working on that and hoping to fit back into my clothes in a few weeks.

I went to Asia in March and had a GREAT time. I took Cathay Pacific which was a great airline. The service was great and the inflight entertainment superior to anything U.S. carriers have going. I think I have gotten a bit too big to sit in the back; on future long trips, I am going to have to bite the bullet and pay for business. There’s something about being squished into a seat in an upright position that prevents me from sleeping well. Economy Plus on United worked fine for a recent Hawaii trip, but 14-16 hours necessitates more space.

Hong Kong was amazing, as always. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HK. I love being there and visiting there. It just feels like an old friend. Some about the chaos and the mix of old and new that makes me love it there. The other nice thing about traveling now is that I can afford to stay at nicer places. Back when I was a flight attendant, I was always scared about running out of money. I remember coming back from Australia one time and panicking because I had no money left for a hotel if I didn’t get on the flight. Lol yikes. Those years were a lot of fun, but really lean. It never felt like I could get ahead. So for that reason alone, personal stability, I am glad I do not work in the airline industry anymore.

After a too short weekend in HK, I moved on to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) for a few days. I had not been to HCMC before, so I did not really know what to expect. It turned out to be a really interesting experience. The Vietnamese, on the whole, are not the friendliest towards white people. I suspect that there are lots of wounds inflicted by us that still lurk just below the surface for a large majority of the older population that lost family or friends during the ‘American War’ as they call it. Saigon itself hums with excitement. Armies of motorbikes, most driven by young kids, race around the city at a frenetic pace. Buildings are being taken down and rebuilt at lightening speed. In a few years, a whole area just across the river from the current heart of Saigon will be transformed into an enormous complex with a football stadium, business towers, and more. The whole country felt like it is on the verge of emerging onto the Asian stage in a big way. I had a really nice time there, but then again I am the gregarious sort who will point to something on the street and eat it without the slightest idea of what it might be. The Iced Coffee there is like rocket fuel, at least 3-4 times the strength of the Americanized version here. The women on the street pour it out of these old soda bottles and it looks super dubious. But the affect in the steamy heat can be really cool, a jittery high in a dusty, sauna-like cement jungle. There’s a couple of Americans that have set up motorbike tours of Saigon on Vespas and it is a really great way to see the city. I look forward to going back and seeing more of the country in the future; most people have told me Saigon is the most industrial place in Vietnam and that the North and the country are much different in character. So I look forward to visiting again and exploring more. Overall, I had a good time and the food was amazing. Plus I got to dust off my French which was fun.

After HCMC, I boarded a Qatar Airways flight to Bangkok. It was an interesting routing, SGN-BKK, BKK-DOH with a crazy mixed crew staffing an A330. The purser was British, assisted in First Class by an Egyptian guy. Then the staff on my aisle consisted of a couple of Thai girls, a guy from Hong Kong, and then a really cute girl from Madrid who had an accent like Penelope Cruz. We had a fun conversation in Spanish, which was nice. I was having withdrawals from not speaking with anyone for a week or so.

I arrived in Bangkok for the first time in many a year. What a wonderful place Thailand is. Very friendly people, great weather, still very cheap. The new airport is very interesting; I know the Thais ran out of money near the end of the financial crisis, but the overall design of the airport seems very rough. The duty-free areas were well organized and the airport was a much-needed improvement from the old one. Still, how many people view Bangkok as a hub for air traffic in Asia? This is pretty much needless griping though; Bangkok continues to be a marvelous time. The train system has been expanded and an underground subway has opened since I last visited. The Skytrain is still a great way to get around town and there is still a happy and gentle nature to the country, even though I did witness a fairly big Red Shirt protest on a Saturday. I had a great and very relaxing time. I shopped until I dropped, got a bunch of foot massages, and came back much refreshed

So that was my big spring trip. I also visited Honolulu a few weeks ago for a quick weekend and had a terrific time. We are definitely feeling the beginning effects of global warming. It down poured almost the entire time I was there, something I have never seen in my almost twenty years of visiting and living in the Aloha state. These super tornadoes and floods are just a preview of what is likely to come in the coming years as people in this country argue about whether or not global warming is real or not. Sigh.

On a personal note, I have had some distractions as well that likely have contributed to my neglecting the blog. I am in love people. I have been seeing a great guy named Paco since Thanksgiving. We met unexpectedly on one of those typical nights out at a bar when no one is expecting anything. I was dancing, he flirted, and the rest is history. We met up the day after meeting and slowly began seeing each other each weekend. Paco and I both work a lot, so it is nice to be in a relationship with someone who understands my pain. He manages the kitchen of a popular local joint in the East Bay and stays busy with the day-to-day pains of the restaurant business, something I can appreciate all too well. We usually end up spending a couple of days a week together and then texting or talking on our busy days. So far, it is perfect. He is a really great guy, very sweet and very chill, not a stressor at all. So we compliment each other well. My OCD planning seems to be a good match to his lack thereof (outside his work, of course). He also thinks I am funny! Bonus points. So far, I have been wrapped up in the giddy stage where everything is rosy. This is bound to eventually come to a close, but he has been very successful so far at chipping away the cynical wall I have built up over years of bad relationships. I hope you all get to meet him very soon.

So that’s a long, but semi-concise update about what has been going on with me. I hope you are all having a great 2011 and I will try to get on here more often. Promise. Blogging is not dead yet.

Cuidate.

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year to one and all!

I realize I have not blogged in a good while, but I was not feeling it these past few months. Between Facebook, Twitter, and every other social media site, it feels like we are both connected and unconnected, all at the same time. I recently met up with a friend that I had not seen in over a year, but it seemed impossible because I read his Facebook updates so regularly. I knew where he’d been, what he’d done, and who he had done it with whereas he did not know the same information about me because I’m not a frequent poster or check-in-er on FB. There’s such a sharing of information between texts, Facebook posts, check-ins, and tweets, but at the same time most of it seems so mindless. Nothing personal, but do I need to know that you’re hungry? Do I need to know that you’re watching Glee? The advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages, don’t get me wrong. It is great for family members to be able to see family photos and videos in almost real time provided one has an Internet connection. But the chatter can become overwhelming and I was feeling like I did not need to add my silly rants to the cacophony of ‘Dave likes Ice Cream!’ or ‘Susan is feeling SAD :(’.

Things are going really well for me. I finished off my first two classes at East Bay last semester with 2 A’s. I am taking three classes this semester and they started this week. Pretty decent, two Latin American studies courses and then a course in hotel and restaurant marketing for my minor. I feel like the marketing course is going to be very educational and very beneficial to me. Work has been good; we had a nice holiday season and it looks like we will be starting over with a new round of trainees in the next few months. The two that we had been training did not cut the mustard; one is gone and the other will likely follow in her path very soon. I have to admit, it has been a strange transition in becoming a supervisor these last few months. I do not take myself very seriously, but I am almost forty years old. One of my co-workers told me that she thought I was very intimidating to some of the new people. I had to laugh, I do not see myself that way at all. But I do tend to be a perfectionist and I like things to be done a certain way. So I am working on letting go a bit and not being so OCD. This may be a harder challenge than I thought though. Wish me luck.

I am planning a trip to Southeast Asia in March, looking forward to getting back to some of my old haunts. I hope to visit Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Saigon this trip. I have not been to Vietnam before, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I realize that one could easily spend a week or two in Vietnam and that Hanoi is supposed to be a lot more historic than Ho Chi Minh City, but I figured I would get my feet wet this trip and then revisit in another few years. I have not been to Bangkok in six or seven years which is stunning to me. I used to try and go once a year to shop and relax, so I’m really looking forward to seeing it again.

Hope you are all doing well and had a wonderful holiday season.

Cuidate.

You've Got Mail

Sorry I have neglected the blog for a bit.

I suppose it feels like all of our lives have been taken over by Facebook, Twitter, and news feeds, so I have not wanted to add to the cacophony of beeps, whistles, and screaming voices that have begun to blend together. Especially with the recent political ads, all of the yelling and accusations began to resemble the snow and static of old TV sets. (Which anyone younger than 20 to 25 today will not remember. Scary.)

Culturally, it feels like people are married to their devices. I was sitting at a coffee shop recently having coffee and chilling out, waiting for a friend. Even though I live in a relatively urban area, it feels as though no one speaks to each other anymore. Everyone is constantly glued to their laptops or their phones. When I hold the door for someone or smile at someone these days, most people nearly faint from surprise. It is a bit disconcerting to be honest. I am worried that the next generations of people are not going to be able to communicate with each other face to face. Believe me, I am not immune to this phenomenon. I definitely find myself reaching for my phone whenever a message or text chimes through. Also if I’m in line for something or waiting. But if I am having dinner with someone or having a conversation about something substantial, I try not to interrupt the conversation with constant texting or checking of my phone. I wish other people would do the same. Technology has made things immeasurably easier for us. (This is most easily illustrated by the religious use of my phone’s GPS function. I honestly cannot remember what I did before GPS besides get lost a lot.) But in the same vein, we are filling our time with such trash in so many ways; reality TV, Farmville, Facebook, and youTube jump to the front of my mental list. If people could spend, say, 30 minutes to an hour a day relaxing, getting out in nature, spending time with a family member, volunteering, etc., any number of things rather than the crap we will our days and nights with, I believe our country would be a much nicer and more harmonious place.

In that vein, I have some days off coming up and I am hoping to get off the grid for a few days. Work has been a bit crazy lately with a lot of extra shifts and drama going on. To be honest, I am feeling a bit burnt out. I am hoping a few days in the woods clears some of that up.

Hope you are all doing well. Cuidate.

Overload

Lately, I have begun to experience feelings of a slightly dark nature, feelings that I don’t have much of an outlet for. So what better place to meditate on such apocalyptic musings as a blog where everyone can share in the joy, er misery, or how about the apathy that I am trapped in? I feel pretty confident that I am not the only one wrapped up in this ugly cycle. Maybe we can all vent collectively.

Issue 1 – The Oil Spill. WTF? (I know that use of the term WTF is not that eloquent or original, but go with it.) Does anyone else have ridiculously overwhelming and lingering depressing feelings about it? It seemed like day after day as the news networks covered millions upon millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, there was little to be done. Every day, press conferences would be held; partisan politicos would yell at each other, and nothing would get accomplished. We are being told that fish stocks will be ruined for a generation, coral reefs throughout the region will die, and a large part of the oil is trapped thousands of feet below the surface and there is no viable solution for cleaning up oil in the water at those depths. In a freak coincidence, I finished an oceanography course this past spring and what they’re not telling you on the news is that sunlight only penetrates the first 100 feet or so into the ocean, maybe down to 200 feet in exceptionally clear water. So oil that is trapped at 1000 feet below the surface or 2000 feet below the surface has no chance of being broken down by sunlight. It may be there for decades, if not a century or more. Yet there are no technological solutions for this problem. Even potential solutions would need to be tested and researched and by the time that work is complete, the oil will likely have been broken down into some other byproduct that needs a new solution. Sigh. I just don’t really want to think about it. It makes me ill.

Issue 2 – The Economy. Anyone? I cannot wrap my head around the complex issues that we are dealing with because I’m not a figures person. Several issues here, all boggling my mind. The first is the banks. Our government just bailed them out with hundreds of billions of dollars in the past two years. So now they are reporting record profits and doling out enormous bonuses, but yet they can’t loosen their belts and begin to lend to businesses across the country to stimulate the economy? WTF? (There’s that expression again.) They can’t modify people’s home loans and stop foreclosing on them? (I realize that a lot of people bit off more than they could chew and should not have bought such large homes in the first place, but the responsible people who really are making an effort should be given a break.) I don’t get why the Obama Administration does not force the banks to start lending. It just does not make any sense to me. Leadership needs to come from the top and we’re not seeing much of it right now. Secondly, the issue of raising taxes. Guess what? When our country has record deficits and can’t pay its bills year after year, uh I think we need to raise taxes people. Why is this such a hard concept? The rich need to be taxed more. It’s not that hard. But across the board, we should all be paying more taxes. In return, our government would have the money to maintain our roads, to provide us with healthcare, and to build a quality education system. What kind of a first world nation are we that our schools do not have basic supplies like paper, pencils, books, etc? I realize that I am advocating a move towards a socialist country, but does that not seem like a more humane and fair approach to governing? Do we really want to be a nation of people that says, “No, you don’t deserve healthcare because you don’t make enough money.”? Really? REALLY? That is the kind of person and the kind of country we want to be? Yes, people game the welfare system. People game the system all over the planet, this is not simply an American problem. But basic human rights dictates that one’s citizens should have access to clean drinking water, basic medical care, an education, and an opportunity to succeed in life. If the government dedicated enough money towards programs such as these, then generations of Americans to come would have the opportunity to better our country and to give back to the country a return on its investment in its own population.

Issue 3 – The Media. I am a news junkie. On downtimes at work, I am constantly reading either local papers, The New York Times, Google News, or any number of other global news sources like the BBC. It has just begun to affect me recently in ways I can’t put my finger on. Every headline seems to have to do with something horrific; murder, genocide, bombings, floods, apathy, conflict, and the lists go on and on. I like to know what is going on as much as anyone, but the stories of suffering, war, discrimination, famine, pollution, lack of opportunity and loss take their toll after repeated exposure to them. I’m going to have to take a break for a while. The worst part about these stories is that there seems to be nothing one can do about any of it. How am I in a position to help a drowning family in Pakistan? How am I to restart the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks? How can I help to improve local schools in my neighborhood?

Issue 4 – The Environment. The Global Warming people are on media channels ALL the time and they continue to sound the alarm on reducing global emissions, but no one cares. The global meeting on Global Warming in Copenhagen this year was a joke; no one committed to anything concrete and the problems continue to be ignored. To be honest, I am in my mid-thirties and probably will not live to see the broad effects of global warming hit the planet. But for the generations of kids that will follow us, our grandchildren and great grandchildren, the world we are wrecking for them is going to be a far different one than the one that exists today. I do not understand why the U.S. government does not push harder for broad changes across the board in energy policy and environmental concerns. The French have been using nuclear power as their primary source of electricity since the 80s and generate enormous amounts of energy with no fossil fuel emissions. Yes, we are a nation with a lot of coal resources. But this fuel is also incredibly harmful to the environment in the current ways it is used. Until cleaner coal technologies are developed, our country should be pursuing other sources of power. Every home in the Southwest U.S. should be required to have solar panels on it; wind farms should be built in areas where it makes sense to have them and they shouldn’t be tied up in local lawsuits because some rich person’s view of the ocean might be obstructed. People need to remember that there is no ‘I’ in the word team. We are all in this together and sacrifices will be required to achieve solutions to global warming as we confront this problem in the next decade. Finally, does anyone besides me question whether recycling is truly working or not? I diligently sort through all of my trash and separate it before placing it out by the curb in a variety of brightly colored containers. But where is it all going? How many products do we see in stores that state ‘made from recycled materials’? Is anyone in the media following the trash companies to make sure they aren’t just dumping all of this material into the Pacific Ocean trash pile? Lots of questions with few answers.

Issue 5 – Politics. The gridlock of Washington has proven to be nothing short of a one of the ugliest fights in political history that I can remember. The Republicans in the Senate, both last year and this year, have systematically opposed almost every piece of legislation put forth by the Democrats in the majority. Is this really something that they want recorded in history for their children and grandchildren to witness? Is this a badge of honor? That Grandpa decided to play the spoiled child and not vote for any piece of legislation because that’s what his political leadership told him to do? Frankly, I just don’t get it. I get that the Republicans lost the election. I get that they are sore about that fact. But obstruction is not a political tool; it’s a cowardly tactic and the behavior associated with a spoiled child, not an adult. When our country is having a difficult time and finds itself in one of the worst economic states in its history, it’s not the time to play games like these. Republicans continue to stall on environmental reform, immigration reform, energy policy, and a host of other issues. Considering that Hispanics are fast approaching the majority of people in this country, it is unthinkable that Republicans have chosen to deny the people who do their dirty work (ie. clean their homes, do their dry-cleaning, cook their food, raise their children) a place at the table. These policies are simply driving one of the largest (and growing) voting blocks into the hands of Democrats at a tremendous cost. Nice going braniacs. Sarah Palin / Glenn Beck 2012. The Republicans are definitely on the losing side of history, but their delays and obstructions now will only prove to haunt them and all of the global citizens affected by these issues in both the short and long terms.

I could continue, but this rant is already far too long. I don’t know how people deal with things like this day in and day out; it simply gets to be too much to take in. For me, personally, my life has been pretty good the last few years. I am grateful for this, but being raised Catholic and by Depression-era parents, there is always this fatalistic sense that things such as my job or my health could disappear at any time. I fight against this constantly, but it is hard to get rid of completely. I went to therapy a few years ago when I was contemplating leaving the airlines and the therapist tried to convince me that these feelings were not based in reality. So it is something I need to remind myself of and something that Ketut Liyer (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) told me when I was in Bali. “Believe me, no BELIEVE ME. You will always be ok in this life. You very lucky, VERY LUCKY. Always have good health and good luck in this life.”

I am going to take Ketut’s words to heart tonight as I fall asleep and try to calm the racing thoughts that normally occupy my head.

Thanks for listening all, hope you are doing well. Cuidate.

The Painful Truth

Great article from Paul Krugman, a must read.

America Goes Dark

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The lights are going out all over America — literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.

And a nation that once prized education — that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children — is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.

We’re told that we have no choice, that basic government functions — essential services that have been provided for generations — are no longer affordable. And it’s true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped. But they wouldn’t be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases.

And the federal government, which can sell inflation-protected long-term bonds at an interest rate of only 1.04 percent, isn’t cash-strapped at all. It could and should be offering aid to local governments, to protect the future of our infrastructure and our children.

But Washington is providing only a trickle of help, and even that grudgingly. We must place priority on reducing the deficit, say Republicans and “centrist” Democrats. And then, virtually in the next breath, they declare that we must preserve tax cuts for the very affluent, at a budget cost of $700 billion over the next decade.

In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation’s foundations to crumble — literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education — they’re choosing the latter.

It’s a disastrous choice in both the short run and the long run.

In the short run, those state and local cutbacks are a major drag on the economy, perpetuating devastatingly high unemployment.

It’s crucial to keep state and local government in mind when you hear people ranting about runaway government spending under President Obama. Yes, the federal government is spending more, although not as much as you might think. But state and local governments are cutting back. And if you add them together, it turns out that the only big spending increases have been in safety-net programs like unemployment insurance, which have soared in cost thanks to the severity of the slump.

That is, for all the talk of a failed stimulus, if you look at government spending as a whole you see hardly any stimulus at all. And with federal spending now trailing off, while big state and local cutbacks continue, we’re going into reverse.

But isn’t keeping taxes for the affluent low also a form of stimulus? Not so you’d notice. When we save a schoolteacher’s job, that unambiguously aids employment; when we give millionaires more money instead, there’s a good chance that most of that money will just sit idle.

And what about the economy’s future? Everything we know about economic growth says that a well-educated population and high-quality infrastructure are crucial. Emerging nations are making huge efforts to upgrade their roads, their ports and their schools. Yet in America we’re going backward.

How did we get to this point? It’s the logical consequence of three decades of antigovernment rhetoric, rhetoric that has convinced many voters that a dollar collected in taxes is always a dollar wasted, that the public sector can’t do anything right.

The antigovernment campaign has always been phrased in terms of opposition to waste and fraud — to checks sent to welfare queens driving Cadillacs, to vast armies of bureaucrats uselessly pushing paper around. But those were myths, of course; there was never remotely as much waste and fraud as the right claimed. And now that the campaign has reached fruition, we’re seeing what was actually in the firing line: services that everyone except the very rich need, services that government must provide or nobody will, like lighted streets, drivable roads and decent schooling for the public as a whole.

So the end result of the long campaign against government is that we’ve taken a disastrously wrong turn. America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere.

Sobering words to consider. Cuidate.

Happy August!

I've been busy. Here's a meme for you all 'til I have something profound to impart.

1. Was your dad named after anyone?

Interesting question. I’m not 100% sure where the name Barry came from, it’s not a family name that I know of. My dad’s middle name (Leon) came from my dad’s uncle.

2. What do you think is the minimal age to get married?

In American society today, I propose 20. Even that seems a bit young to me, but to each his or her own.

3. What’s the longest time that you‘ve been involved with the same person?

2 to 2.5 years. It’s hard to determine exact end dates to the “What are we exactly?” question.

4. What actor/actress do you consider hot at the moment?

The cast of Glee. Alternatively, Betty White.

5. What is your favorite album by a band?

1, The Beatles.

6. What is your favorite album by an individual artist?

This one is super hard. (In my examination of this question, I realized I like vocalists, but not bands!) I’m going with Ray of Light by Madonna.

7. What is something that you‘d rather be a bit dirty?

A taco truck.

8. What was the last TV show that you watched?

Kathy Griffin, My Life on the D List.

9. How many people have you met from the blogosphere? Who are they?

I would say that I have met a bunch of people from online, but I have yet to meet a ‘blogstar’ per se. I have several friends who have blogs, so counting all of them up, probably…10? Rich, Suzanne, Jerry, my brother, I'm sure there's a bunch more.

10. What's your philosophy on life?

Don’t freak out over small stuff, don’t take for granted the little things (good health, family, a place to live, clean drinking water, food on the table, friendship, love), and laugh as much as possible.

11. Do you think prescription drugs are over prescribed?

Yes. The desire of our society for instant gratification is unhealthy. Of course some people need them, but a generation of kids being raised on Prozac and drugs for A.D.D.? Perhaps if we were paying more attention to our families and each other, we wouldn’t have kids that need to be medicated.

12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?

Yes.

13. What is your favorite memory in the last year?

Taking my parents to NYC.

14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Sleeping up to 12 hours on days off, then being lazy. I don’t do too many things that I don’t want to do.

15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:

In a slightly Rainman-ian way, I have very detailed memories from the past. For example, I can remember all of my school teachers from kindergarten on.

16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarky) - what are they?

I would like to have a nice place in Hawaii with a guesthouse, so family and friends could come and visit.

I would like for my parents to both have long, healthy, and fruitful lives and pass on together.

I would love a ride on a Concorde.

17. Who would you want to get together with and make a cake?

Suzanne Daniels. Duh.

18. Which country is your spiritual home?

The U.S. I feel equally at home in either Northern California or Hawaii.

19. What is your big weakness?

I love to eat. I also spend with abandon, hoping the money will keep rolling in.

20. Do you think Judd Corizan is a good person?

(Apparently he’s the blogger who I stole this meme from.) Sure. Anyone who gives me a good posting idea can’t be all bad.

21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?

Languages and Geography.

22. Describe your accent:

My accent changes depending on my mood. In general, I speak Northern California American English, peppered with lots of phrases like, “Wass’up, yo?”, “Right on!”, and “Sweet!” It took me a few years to adjust, but I say freeway now instead of highway. And, on occasion, I even spontaneously use the word “hella”. Beyond the pothead speak though, I don’t carry any strong regional American accent. I do burst into Southern, British, Eubonics, Pidgin’, and various impersonations ALL the time.

23. If you could change anything about yourself, would you?

I would like to be less of a loner.

24. What do you wear to sleep?

T-shirt and boxers.

25. What is your favorite casual outfit to wear?

That would be my daily uniform; t-shirt, long sleeve collared shirt unbuttoned (or sweatshirt), sneakers, Docs, or boots.

26. Do you use cigarettes or alcohol?

I don’t smoke, but I drink occasionally. It’s not a big passion of mine.

27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?

I would gather up my good friends, rent a private jet, fly to Hawaii, rent the Presidential Suite at the Halekulani, enjoy the sunset, and party until the day was no more.

Hope you are doing great. Cuidate.

Ten Years Ago

Someone hit me up with an interesting meme the other day. Where were you ten years ago?

July 2000. I was living at 418 Pierce St (between Fell and Oak) in San Francisco, what I now affectionately refer to as The Crack Den. I had a small room in a 5-bedroom house that was dark and gross. My four roommates all had substance or emotional issues or combinations of both. I was a poor flight attendant, waiting tables on the side, and just struggling to make it work. I had broken up with Tim and moved back home to California from an apartment near O’Hare in Chicago. But emotionally I was still on the hook, we were talking, I was moping. It was an ugly time. Not only was the culture of the Haight and my home something I was not used to, but I was in a bad place. I was happy to be home in San Francisco, but I was lacking direction and nothing made any sense.

Workwise, I was finally able to begin holding international reserve that summer. United was going through an ugly dispute with their pilots in the summer of 2000 and nothing was running on time; planes were delayed all over the world; United staff were handing out hundreds of cots in a night in Chicago, Denver, and Dulles. Luckily I was spared a lot of the horror on the international side. I was flying to Asia mostly; Beijing, Osaka, Taipei, Seoul. I walked on the Great Wall of China for the first time, albeit with a lazy and contentious crew. Asia in the summer is hot, polluted, and miserable. Even though United was having a lot of problems, my being able to hold international was a good sign that I was gaining some seniority. Sadly my life was forever changed a year later, along with all of our lives, by 9/11.

Looking back, it was not the best of times, but it was not the worst of times either. I was coming to terms with the failure of my first significant relationship, but the progression of my career and my being home in San Francisco were both good points in my life. I was still struggling a bit to define myself and who I was (beyond identifying with my work), but the roots were there. Let’s face it; the twenties are an exciting time, but they also suck. One has such grandiose dreams and fantasies about life, but no clear map to guide you. I do not miss the stupid mistakes, the crack den living, layovers in Indianapolis or Tulsa, the visits to the payday lender, wearing glasses, or the constant insecurities about everything. I do miss being able to eat anything I want (within reason) and Madonna being cool. But beyond those small things, I am happier at 36 than I was at 26.

Hope you are all having a good weekend. Cuidate.