Post - Educationalism

I know some people will point to any of several things as proof of the coming apocalypse: Ron Paul , hyperlinking, Habeas Corpus , the MPAA/RIAA , et al. But after being enlightened to the existence of this little gadget, the Meraki , I (perhaps unrealistically) have some restored faith in the world (in at least providing communication/knowledge to those that deserve it--i.e. everyone). This little device, coupled with our future- savior/overlord providing the masses with an open, efficient and inexpensive phone/interweb device , could very well begin creating a real-life demo of Bruce Sterling's Maneki Neko --minus all that creepy stuff at the end.

It's time once again for my monthly re-emergence into the interwebs. I really do plan on coming out more often, perhaps when I get a bed installed in my office, so then I don't have to worry about all these intra-day-transitions from home to work, work to home. I can just have a nice little work/home. Speaking of work/home, I have successfully completed my Series 63 License. Because of this little gem, you can now look me up on the FINRA website and see that I'm not a terrorist. Outside of work/home, I've been trying to create a weekly study session with the local jr college's Japanese class. We had our first meeting last week, where I met a lot of kids who are way more fluent than I was in the level 1 program. It must be the clean air and water here. I also got in touch with an old flame: Kathy Babcock . She was my old ballroom teacher/slave-driver. She was the woman who whipped our immature, high-school minds & bodies into dancing machines for a 40...

Yesterday, I passed my first license exam: the Series 6 . (And thanks to the magic of wikipedia, and a few hours, I have begun to spread liberation throughout the lands by adding some sorely needed financial law information to some of the most decrepit stubs I've ever seen) I passed with the lowest possible score: 70%. I was one question away from failing. I don't think I've ever been happier with a C-. So yeah, even though I have already started studying for the next onslaught of a test, the Series 63 , I can still take solace in the fact that I can now sell: Mutual Funds, Variable Annuities, UITs, and Municipal securities. Oh, joy.

I started work about 3 weeks ago, shadowing my father, a C.F.P , and in the process also becoming a sort of office-manager. When I don't have my head in the books, I'm either debating with clients about (T)he peak-oil crisis / metals / China / Google / the-next-big-thing , I'm shuffling from room-to-room, running critical updates on Windows and Linux (I've brought some Berkeley activism back, to say the least), designing future office arrangements (and my own), fixing printers, installing TV's and admin stations, and of course, providing legal counsel (I can use Rhetoric 110 for something!) Every once in a while though (mostly after drinking with my few friends who are going to grad school, and leaving me soon enough), I have wondered if that route is the one I should be (need to be) pursuing. Per usual, I'm still as indecisive as ever. However, I recently had the opportunity to watch a video of a professor from Carnegie-Mellon (I recommend watching the enti...

It's hard to admit that sometimes you can't answer that question. When I was in Japan, and I woke up with bed-bug bites, and cockroaches taking over the room, it was easily attributed to the superior intelligence of Japanese cockroaches vs their American counterparts (see also: japanese math scores ). But, no more than 24 hours of being back in the U.S., I received word of one of my close cousins: "He died this morning." Jarrad? What do you mean, Jarrad? Not Jarrad ? I don't know any other Jarrads. . . really? . . . Why? At 18 years old, he lost control of his motorcycle, and hurt himself very badly as a result of the fall; he died almost immediately. To Lauren, Evan, Lennon, Sawyer, and Akasha, I hope this reflection is not inappropriate. At 22, I have only experienced two other funerals, and the second one, I couldn't gather the strength to attend. I was much younger then. Some would argue that I'm not terribly old as of now, but, I think some in m...

Osaka sucks. We should have stayed in Sapporo. Only now that we are out of the fiery inferno that is Osaka and back in the dank pits of Tokyo did we realize how nice Ino's Place in Sapporo was. It was 35 and 36 degrees C in Osaka. That is upper 90's in F. We did see a few Tadao Andao buildings...he built a Christian church and a Buddhist temple; pick a side! Other than that we lived it up in our hotel for 3 nights, drinking beers and eating edamame and onigiri rolls. And as our trip winds down we are back in Tokyo for 4 more nights. I want to go to Akihabarra, and find some bizarre technology to bring back to the States. More to come after I eat my Tea Cheese Cake

Yesterday: We awoke from our comfy loft beds to a stifling heat here in Sapporo. It is more or less like Berkeley here. No one has A/C for when it gets hot. But that aside, our hostel is incredible. A get away resort more accurately describes the place. Nice hardwood floors, light colored, hardwood furniture, leather couches, beautiful kitchen, free coffee and tea, a tv with a huge dvd and cd collection, and a very very nice japanese woman with 2 little kids who speaks english very well. But yeah, we went to the beer festival in Odori Park near the hostel. It is quite impressive. Odori park is a long and skinny park spanning about 5 or 6 blocks. At each block, there is a corresponding beer sponsor, who has set up hundreds of tables, and booths, selling their respective beer and foods. The Kirin block was really rocking, so we went there. The tables were crowded with those enormous 6 liter beer bongs, and tons of japanese bar food. We joined in the fray, had some fried octop...