While sitting in the overly crowded T bus, gym-socks and other nasty smells dispersed into the ether. I usually read my security analysis book but I forgot it today so I had to amuse myself in another way. I let my mind wander today.

My imaginary self was walking down a warmly lit street, with the sun shining and a wonderful Bossa nova song rang throughout my head. Then a rustic torn up sack dropped down into my field of vision and hit the ground in front of me with a ballsy smack. I went over to it like any other curious imaginary mental me would, reached out and poked it with my index finger. A million thoughts rushed through my mind as to what it could be, but it crunched at the very touch of it. So, that means it couldn't be a box of rocks, though I would say I was dumb as a box of rocks for thinking that because clearly it was a bag and not a box. Also, it was crunchy. It also had a "n" smell, as sometimes I have synesthesiatic cross manipulations of my senses, that is very hard to describe. The only thing I can relate it to would be to a spring day after a cold shower and the smell that emanates from a cow pasture. If your not from the country your out of luck.

Enough with the non-sense sensational tangent, I crouched down spiderman style and opened the bag and out popped something quite unusual, dollar bills. What a stereo-typical day dream this was. But I started to think as this money came out of nowhere, sort of quasi lucky charms without the delicious marshmallows or the annoying Leprechaun. There had to be some meaning to this random thought.

Actually the day dream makes perfect sense. I have been snacking on information having to do with the value of money and the creation of it, in my spare time.

Back to my little day dream, I got a little giddy when I saw all this money falling out of the bag. Who wouldn't, right? Well hopefully in real life you would, but I thought wait a minute, what happened if a bag full of cow dung fell out of the sky in front of me? I can safetly assume I would be either a) horribly afraid that the world is ending b) very angry that I might have a trace of dung on my clothes or c) quite delighted. What?????

You might ask, why would anybody be happy to have a lot of dung? Well if you valued it and could trade it for services or commodities like the dollar, or any currency, you might. This is exactly the case in remote parts of Tibet. I'm sure if the bag full of dollars fell in front of a Tibetan youngster that had no contact with the West, he might look at the "money" and seem confused about the paper. It would probably hold no value to him because the whole tribe only accepts dung as the common form of trade. Think of those Discover card commercials, "Discover excepted everywhere." However, the young man or lady who found the paper in a bag might come up with resourceful ways to use it. I'm sure they don't have toilet paper in the dung currency area of Tibet :)

We live all our lives using dollars and a majority of our precious lives are spent working for this paper, but do you ever stop and think where on earth does this money come from? I've always wanted to know this fact, but our awesome school system didn't seem to teach this knowledge that is oh-so pertinent to our daily lives.

Today in America and other parts of the world, money is created by someone, but not the governments. The money is created by central banks that are privately owned and federally unregulated. A lassiez faire type of situation. In America this central bank is called the Federal Reserve. What a nice pun. Federal yet not federally controlled by congress. They produce money out of thin air and the people have no control over it, sounds like democracy to me.

Largely with the creation of the Federal Reserve our monetary system is based on debt. This is called a fiat system. The government and banks, who later trickle their money down to lay person, gives the federal reserve a dollar in return for 10 more dollars but have to pay interest, mind you. Think of it like this, the Federal Reserve is the poppa bank and the little banks and the government borrow money, but they still have to pay interest, it's the same as we do when we get loans from a bank. This is only different in the fact that it is with exponentially larger sums of money to pay off wars, government programs and mortgage backed debts of banks. When there is a war who funds the sides? The big banks because they know they can profit from both sides. The loser gets paid by the winner, because that is good war etiquette and the winner has to pay the HUGE interest. I wonder why we have meaningless wars. Maybe it was a coincidence that the Federal reserve was created right before the First World War and the second quickly followed. Vietnam war, Korean War, Gulf war, Afghanistan and Iraq. Get the picture? The politicians are bribed with MONEY and vote on the greed effect. It is totally true when Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson said whoever creates and controls the money control everything.

Ok so now you see a pile of money that is created out of thin air, or you work your tale off to earn your next check, what will you think? The Fed has the complete control of the money supply, interest rates and everything else money. That money you dearly hold value to, might have value today but maybe not tomorrow. All currencies have a life span. Will we value hair next? If we do I'm rich!!!

The world is occupied by 6 billion people and keeps growing exponentially every year. Upon hearing this statistic many people roll their eyes and say “whatever” as they would not like to think of their life as being a futile existence. But many people suppress a Saturday morning cartoon watching 7 year old inside of themselves that wants to make a difference in this world. When I was 7 years old, I wanted to change the world into a better place but my mind was far from comprehending the vastness of the earth and the amount of people that dwell on it. I’m sure many other people had that need for change. So, many older wiser people in the child’s life try to put the child’s thought into perspective, that it would be absolutely impossible to change the entire world by oneself, a prime example being world peace. The wiser figure in that child’s life, if the child is lucky, tells the child that if every person changed just one’s person’s life for the better, than the child’s dream of positive difference would come true by collective help. I was fortunate enough to hear that wise piece of advice many times throughout my life and I think that I have changed people’s lives for the better, though in a menial way. But, the feeling associated with helping someone achieve a goal, reach their absolute potential or notice their true inner-self is an amazing feeling, one that I must delineate in full detail.
As many people may know, or may not know, that I have many interests, jobs, talents and hobbies. Often I have heard many people say you do too many things and you must be stressed all of the time. I snicker under my breath and think about telling them my whole story, but to save time and keep the person’s interest I just opt with the easy answer “I love what I do. You can’t get stressed doing what you love to do.” The conversation keeps going from there.
I will first describe my job as a personal trainer. Personal training I would have to say is the most rewarding job I have ever had, period. Many people think that it is the most superficial job that you can have on the planet, but I disagree with that opinion so much, for many reasons. Though on the surface it might look like a personal trainer helps someone achieve superficial beauty, but in actuality a good personal trainer changes the person’s life by reconstructing their media induced superficial beauty beliefs, poor dieting habits, poor posture, poor lifting technique and poor body image and attitude. I have many people, especially women that come up to me and ask me “How do I get rid of this?” They expect one sentence from me that will rid that stubborn fat from….insert area….. I get frustrated when they ask me, because I know exactly how to get rid of that stubborn fat but I have no way of saying it in one sentence. It is like asking someone how they can construct the theory of everything in one sentence. Not going to happen. First you have to change your perspective on immediate satisfaction and then once you are aware it will take time, then I will guide you. After getting immediate results out of their mind by way of suave talking, I enjoy the training way more and the trainee does as well.
I would like to comment on a few of my star clients. I call them star clients because they come to me with an open mind and with my guidance they have reached their goals and I have reaped so much happiness from having them attain those goals, be it physically, mentally or emotionally. I will first speak of Donald, and I have permission to use his name as he says “I’m your biggest fan of your blog!” He is a 63 year old man that is not your ordinary senior citizen. He has been strutting around the gym 4-5 days a week cycling or lifting for years. At first glance, you might think he is in his mid 40’s as he is lean, peppy and full of life. I sure was fooled. Even though Donald was in great shape before he commenced training with me, he still had areas he needed to work on those being poor posture, poor range of motion (lack of stretching), poor habits and poor self-esteem. We have worked through those challenges and I am happy to say that each time Donald achieves something new, it might not be totally physical but it has meaning and worth to him, which in turn has meaning, and worth to me. Just being able to help him express his emotions through exercise and exertion makes my day much more enjoyable. I can have the worst day and Donald can have the same, but by helping him achieve another goal my day can be changed around instantaneously. It is amazing. Donald also has taught me many things about myself and inspired me as well with his determination of physical health at his age, not common.
My other two clients that I would like to talk about are sisters and for the sake of confidentiality I will keep their names to myself. Again these two ladies came to me with goals to achieve and I helped them achieve those goals. The neat thing is, I don’t like saying this, but I think I got a lot of inspiration from them and learned much more from them then I could ever teach them about training and again got that intrinsic reward after they achieved their goals. They taught me life lessons, financial lessons, relationship lessons, everything you could imagine. I inspired them and they inspired me, it is such a beautiful thing when you help people.
Furthermore, I tutor and volunteer as much as I can because I help these people achieve goals that are so important to them. When I tutor a student English or volunteer tutoring it is amazing to see the delight and happiness that they express when they figure out they are able to correctly use an idiomatic expression or some tedious grammatical exception.
Going to Japan was the same thing. We went and played with orphans. Simple as it might sound, we actually became friends with these kids and showed them a different side of the world. Because they are marginalized in society, they won’t have opportunities like this in their future. That is a sad thing, so we gave them the care and affection that they needed and gave them that cultural experience that they are doubtful to have. The happiness they expressed and the intrinsic bubble of emotions that happened in me in seeing this was truly beautiful.
I feel that when I inspire someone to see something differently, teach them something new or put a smile on their face I feel that I am spreading my goodness across the world. It feels like I’m adding another block to one of the amazing pyramids that will stand as long as humans live on the earth. Now I just have to figure out how I can have inspire more people to live by the ideology that one person helped is equal to the whole world helped.

Every human has covert needs that must be satisfied in every passing day to survive and live a happy fulfilling life. Abraham Maslow introduced those needs in the early 1940’s, using a 5 category hierarchical system. The components of that system were: physical, safety, relationship, self-esteem, and self-awareness ranging from the most needed to the least needed respectfully. He stated that the physical needs consisted of food, sleep, water, shelter, excretion and sex all in the core of every person. In the past humans have had to survive in a harsh world, but we have used our intelligence and ingenuity to make it less harsh and more convenient. Most people today do not think too hard about whether or not they will eat later. Without food or water people forget everything in their life and seek that one meal that is on their mind. Just imagine being secluded on a stranded desert beach. There is no food within miles. In this situation, many people would dream about having food. This is also true with every other physical need. Once deprived of the other needs, people tend to lose focus and crave that need.
Safety- We all need a safe haven in a shelter and from parents as children.
Relationship— We need relationships from lovers, family and friends to enjoy life.
Self-esteem— We seek fame recognition, reputation, materials and evaluate ourselves.
Self-actualization- We become what we do. Painters have to paint and musicians have to create music. They hone their craft for themselves.

My take on Maslow’s model is a little different and I introduce a metaphor of a person climbing a mountain. Instead of having five human needs I have listed six needs that lead to a total awareness of self and harmony with the world. It would be transcendence, almost a total meaning of no meaning in life. My system is similar to Maslow’s but includes some necessary needs. Those needs are Physical, Social/Emotional, Self-Esteem, Self-Actualization, Passion/Discovery and Truth Beauty all leading to divine transcendence. Think of it like this there is a mountain in everyone that is miles high and at the top is total contentment, which everybody strives to achieve. Inside each person is a climber that is an embodiment of themselves. That climber eats exactly the way the person does, sleeps the same—everything. However, the climber has trouble climbing the mountain because of certain needs are not being properly handled by the person.
The base of the mountain is mammoth in circumference, is the tallest and is fairly shallow in angle. The base is considered, as Maslow would state, the physical needs of someone. These days we can get by nonchalantly through this survival phase or need. Though it is easy and easily taken for granted, most people don’t take the necessary steps to make sure their inner self is performing to their fullest potential. They do this by not exercising and not eating quality healthy food. Ask yourself, would you climb a Mount Everest when you eat burgers and totally disregard your health? I don’t think so. So, it would make sense that if you were to have the most fulfilling life then you must be as healthy as possible. It will become clearer as I explain myself more.
So people get by the physical phase of the mountain half assed and they have high hopes of achieving the top. The next phase that I introduce is Social/Relationship. You must have a good support group of friends, family or lovers that you can absolutely trust to help you in dire situations. Imagine again, that you pass the first phase of the mountain and now you are onto the steeper, more challenging part. Without a group of friends supporting your climbing and say a friend spotting you, you are going to have a hard time going further. What if you had a person who did not support what you did and every time you did something they negatively responded. You would have less courage to do it and because you trust that person you would believe them. Also without someone with you, you become lonely and easily irritated. Most climbers who scale Everest do so with a group of highly trusted friends.
If you have a support group of friends and the Social/Relationship phase is going well you move onto Self-Esteem, slightly more challenging then the last. You start to evaluate yourself, what your purpose is, confidence, other’s perception of you and your reputation. As Maslow states “Satisfaction of the self-esteem need leads to feelings of self-confidence, worth, strength, capability and adequacy of being useful and necessary in the world. But thwarting of these needs produces feelings of inferiority, of weakness and of helplessness. These feelings in turn give rise to either basic discouragement or else compensatory or neurotic trends. An appreciation of the necessity of basic self-confidence and an understanding of how helpless people are without it, can be easily gained from a study of severe traumatic neurosis.” You’re still climbing but you start to get tired. You assess who you are, the fame you will achieve for climbing this mountain and the strength and purpose you will intrinsically receive when reaching the top. However, I find most people stuck here in the real world. They worry too much what others think, keeping up with fads and the latest gossip. In a way that is the furthest they will ever reach because each time they reassess themselves they are unhappy. It becomes a never-ending reassessment. Even if that person achieves great fame or material possessions they are always left un-happy. But they continue to do what they do. The climber in them can’t ever get any further either because he isn’t healthy in some way. Either it is him or his wrong choice of path in climbing the previous phases of the mountain that have led him to repeat the same mistake. Eventually he becomes tired, gives up and dies unhappy because he does not reach the top.
If the person has successfully assessed themselves and does not worry about fame, materialism or what others may think of them, they advance to Self-actualization. You work on self-fulfillment. You become what you do and you strive to work on your weaknesses to become a better person. The climber inside of you does the same thing. He needs to realize what he has been doing so far and be all he can be to reach the top as this part of the mountain is the hardest and the fatigue is setting in. Because you are aware of yourself you have more time to think about and come up with creativity.
Creativity leads me to my next two phases Drive/Passion and Truth Beauty. Most of you have maybe heard second hand the torture one must endure physically and mentally to run a marathon, well that holds true, I’m sure, with climbing Mount Everest. You have to have mental toughness to achieve and passion to keep being successful at whatever you do and to reach the ultimate part of life. But along the way you notice that all of this work has been the most beautiful experience you have had. And that everything you see now looks brand new almost like everything has a hidden beauty that might have gone without noticing before. No challenge really can step in your way because you can peel the skin on everything and look inside. Everything is beautiful. Pieces of gravel you might have kicked before gleam with brightness and purity. The protrusion in the wall juts out in a way that brings chills down your spine and you look at everyone as if they are all good people with good intentions. You are able to value things that others can’t, and notice how much they are missing out. While people are still struggling with themselves, you have achieved the top and are able to enjoy the beauty of nothing as nothing is beautiful. You’ve come to the realization that life is meaningless but so amazingly beautiful and fulfilling. Too much of a good thing is bad for you but nothing of the most beautiful thing is the best for you.

I met an 80 year old man today while doing laundry quite randomly. I walked down the stairs and this old guy cuts me off and throws a piece of lint in the garbage can. He didn't even say excuse me... I then popped 6 ones in the coin dispenser without really even noticing that it even happened. Then I preceded to do my normal laundry routine, all my clothes in the triple washers. 14 quarters and a cup of laundry detergent later, I was ready to sit down and do my Take the A train walking bass line. I always have to be doing something productive while I sit and wait for laundry.

10 minutes pass and the old man who cut me off sat next to me. He kindly asked me if I knew what Sonata Form is. I have taken Traditional Harmony 2 and I have learned about this 3 part form famous during Beethoven and Mozart's time. He then went on to tell me he has been writing a piece that would be played along side of Romeo and Juliet. He leaves and no later then 10 minuets later he is back with 3 pieces of lined paper with the weirdest notation I have ever seen in my life. Letters were all over the paper with weird symbols depicting the range and note value. The man asked me if I could help him notate it into regular notation.

I was really interested in what he had to say after that.

He talked about how he never learned to read music notation quickly so he developed this system as a quicker system. Being retired, he found that he could put much more time into his musical interest and has been working on this piece for 4 years. On the back of these sheets of paper I noticed familiar looking graphs. I had to ask them what they were and low and behold they were stock charts.

We talked about stocks and commodities such as oil and silver and gold for the better half of my laundry cycle. His wit was very quick and pessimistic old man style. A I don't give a flying willy about anyone who takes advantage of him. I even whipped out my Security Analysis book and taught him how to value stocks. He seemed skeptical as he was a market trader and traded as the market moved up and down. Ps- that is not really a smart way to do it. Quite risky.

I was so impressed by our interests that I agreed to listen to his piece in his apartment. All the while, I am kinda weirded out that I was hanging out with an 80 year old and going to his apartment. But he was the sweetest old man.

Walking into his room was an experience in itself. Stock papers cut out and neatly organized, books on physics, Law and his weird music notation covered his room. I thought wow he reminds me of me in 60 years in a eerily odd way. Beautiful paintings and murals he had made were hung throughout his room as well. He, Al, is what I'd like to call a renaissance man.

Al then played me his piece. My jaw dropped a little. He had a really good minor motiff that expressed romeo's despair. It was classical but a hint of modern elements. Very interesting. It was as if I had walked into a movie in the silent picture days. By the way he had 5, 6" stacks over paper with his song.

After fighting Tybalt and Romeo longing for Juliet, I taught Al about my stock valuation method. He took notes as if a eager miner had just stricken a gold vein. He inhaled what I taught him so quickly I was dizzed in astonishment.

What I noticed was that Al told me a lot about his life and even how he could escape from his room in case of an emergency. As we age we have a need to communicate with others and if a strong relationship isn't there such as a husband or wife there aren't many opportunities for seniors to meet people. So, they are very happy to make a new friend. That just makes me wonder how I will be when I turn that age. Even in the presence of loneliness, Al has transformed what some people might call loneliness into a drive that is not reproduced by many seniors his age.

Life sure does throw the weirdest things my way, but I eat it up like little kids eating up chocolate bunnies on Easter Sunday.

The day was Thursday and Boston was a little lonely without the sun in the sky. Dew swept across the ground, meshed with the sewers and climbed up into my nostril. The scene was Downtown Boston, Chinatown, Little Italy and MIT medical center. My quadriceps still housed pain from four days prior but I wasn't going to walk because of a figment of my past.

The reason for this run was of course to keep my health up but as a scouting of what was to come later. A meeting was set up the day prior by yours truly, for a unique reason. Business has been on my mind and a start up has seemed like a dream, to be my own boss and manage people instead of being a slave to another. The unique reason was to meet up with Boston's Score team and get some counseling. It is a part of the federal governments small business administration helping businesses get started, stay properly maintained, and give financial help. I'm sure many people are unfamiliar of this part of the government, as most people have no clue where their tax money goes. This Score is a group of highly successful business men and women who volunteer their time to counsel entrepreneurs. A perfect opportunity for me.

My run was successful and I scouted the large federal building where I was to be in two hours. Large, concrete, intimidating and unwelcoming would be an understatement of this building. The government subconsciously shows it's power in full, through it's building.

Fast forward two hours. When I stepped foot in the building, I thought I just walked into an airport. I got excited, was I going to Cancun? Hawaii? Wait I'm in a building. After that I found the SBA and waited for my 2pm appointment with Mr. Gold. Wow he is so successful that his last name is gold. I walked and met him and he was an old man that was very nice. I told him my idea of starting a tutoring operation where I taught foreign students English but in a practical sense. He liked the idea and gave me some ideas of how to start. He also gave me a few tips on how to charm people into giving you information while researching my target population. I will be starting my research soon, hopefully I will get it off the ground before summer.

Then I will be a young entrepreneur. Oh, how I like that word. It is a hint of power, a mountain of creativity, and a river of determination all rolled up in one.

A clear shot of alertness shot through my body at around 5:30 and I woke up in thinking of the worst, being late to the marathon. I calmly readjusted and had my usual breakfast consisting of oats, milk, almonds and a banana. One of the keys to preparation of a marathon is to be as consistent as possible be it your runs or your diet. The marathon is one of the only sports that rely on total consistency because one false move the night before the marathon could set you up for a 26.2 miles of hell. I'll give you an example, you eat something exotic the night before the race and have a large breakfast that you weren't use to eating. While running you might notice a noticeable decrease in energy or having stomach troubles during the race.

We got out the door and I was ready. The weather was a cloudy 50 degrees with winds comparable to Boston's. There were around 3,000 runners and we fed off of each other waiting in anticipation for the beginning of the race. I situated myself next to the 3:10 race pacer to try to achieve my ultimate goal of qualifying for the Boston marathon.

We started and the weather quickly became an after thought. We ran down the avenue next to the ocean and down a bridge by the Aquarium. It was a fast pace and I tuned my breathing to be slow and deep. I talked with one of the runners running in the pack who grew up in Boston but moved to Virginia Beach. He told me that one of the best things compared to Boston is he doesn't miss the weather. We had a nice chat but as soon as we hit the military base most people were quiet as that was expending too much energy. Also at the military base, we had soldiers yell to us and they performed push ups as we passed.
I tried to run with the Wheel chair marathoner encouraging him but he soon passed me.
We all stuck together till about mile 13 and I set a new PR of 1:33. However, I was starting to feel a little fatigued and I started to get a stomach cramp from the gatorade that we had at each water stop. I stuck through it and kept up with the group until mile 17. I even outlasted our pacer. I think he got a stomach cramp and never caught up to us.
Mile 17 I started to decide to slow down because the immanent wall was soon to come and I wanted to be prepared to take the unbearable pain. Around mile 21 I hit the wall. About this time the miles become longer and longer and you wonder when the next mile marker will show up. I knew that even though I wouldn't be able to break the 3:10 goal I was still able to beat my time from last year. During my slower pace I actively cheered people on and started to sing a little to pass the time. Mile 15-21 is quite boring because there is just woods to either side of you and more military buildings. I'm use to many buildings and things to look at in Boston.

The pain wasn't as bad as last year though. I didn't feel blisters on my feet and my legs didn't feel like burning boulders. But I kept feeling like I wanted to quite. I disregarded it and stuck through it.

I finally finished the race at 3:28, 7 minutes faster than last year. Still a good accomplishment.

In the past decade, some women have been suffering from a chronic behavioral complication of mythic proportions. The number of women suffering from this rare condition has been growing exponentially in the past couple of years due to unknown reasons. Top doctors are struggling to understand the actual causes of the condition and many top psychologists can't fathom the implications of the condition in the long term, as well. Many families have been reported to break up, run and scream for mercy after hearing what some of these women have had to say. One reliable source said that this might be the cause of the sub prime meltdown in real estate. Moreover, priests, when made aware of this breaking news, have cried this could be the end of the world and the start of the Apocalypse.


The condition these poor, helpless women suffer from is called Confidantitis (pronounced con-fi-dant-i-tis) . The main symptom characteristic of Confidantitis is what one male victim describes as the I only want to be friends conundrum. Many highly eligible single men have faced this behavioral response after getting to know a woman and asking them if they would like to date and become more then friends. But, the female in question refuses to answer or come up with a no, so she says "let's be friends." The creme de la creme of males have reported this at least once in their lifetime and some report it happening consistently over their dating career. Many people who know these highly successful males very well say "That girl is clueless." One reported a friend saying "You have no GIRLFRIEND? Are you joking?" Others hale "Women love diamonds but they sure can't see the diamond right in front of their eyes," and their older female friends declare "I'd be all over you if I was 12 years younger and your age."


These women feel the need to be as nice as possible and "we should only be friends" seems like the nicest route. Wrong, almost all of the men reported that they would rather receive a total "cold hearted" rejection of no followed by "but if you want to be friends then that is cool."


As I have been on the receiving end of this psychological calamity a number of times, I start to wonder. I am a sweet, funny guy that plays guitar, sings, has financially intelligence that is leaps and bounds over my peers. I'm driven beyond all belief, healthy, good looking and smart. I even have ethical morals! I have a clean record of not cheating on women and treating them in the highest manner allowable by the laws of physics and ethics. After realizing all of this, I always end with the conclusion that if the woman isn't smart enough to see that I have way more great qualities then poor qualities, then it is their ultimate loss. Many ladies want the amazing looks, bad ass personality and already financially successful men, but I will keep on doing what I do. I know that one day one girl will be smart enough to see the gold mine she just struck. Then I will never have to face the dilemma of Confidantitis.



(Confidantitis has been trademarked and coined by Sean)

I am sitting in the living room of the hotel room lounging after a wonderful Italian dinner. My parents know how to pick hotel rooms. We even have a balcony with a view of the ocean. I must also add that the weather here was a mild 70 degrees so I will probably go out there a little later. Eat your heart out Boston.

Though I am not a fan of traveling it seems as if the flight to Norfolk from Boston is pretty painless. Waking up at 8am and packing just a carry on (I travel light) I arrived at the airport from the T. 10 minutes later I was already past the security check, very nice. I guess I don't pass as a terrorist, too bad. Then when I sat down I started to shove my nose in my new 900 page book.

This book isn't a book you'd expect a 20 year old to be reading. I am reading a book called Security Analysis. You might say what?? Yeah I am trying to make better investment choices so I have picked up this book. It is written by the mentor of Warren Buffet Benjamin Graham, so in essence I am learning some of the techniques that Warren Buffet has used to make his billions. I will later write about that genius. But, the information in the book is very dry as you would expect from a 1950's and on the topic of picking stocks. However, I feel like I am a kid in a candy store each time I read it because there are so many things to learn and I am just drawn to it.

Anyway off that tangent. So I got on the plane and it seemed like an hour and a half later we were in Philadelphia and after another 40 minute plane ride I was in Norfolk. Very convenient. I just had to wait for my parents to get to the airport because they decided to take the 8 hour driving route instead of the plane. Soon after they arrived and we went to the convention center. We had to pick up our race chip, number and our free shirt. It was way quicker and easier than last year, though.

We then traveled to a very nice Italian restaurant that I hit up last year. I remember the food was close to amazing and a little bit pricey so it was a perfect place to have my parents treat me to dinner. I had a rigatoni and the sauce was out of this world. I've always wondered if I licked the ground in Italy if it would taste this nice. The pasta also added a fair amount of glycogen so my glycogen stores will be fully fueled up for the race on Sunday. I think I will eat conservatively tomorrow, though, as I don't want to stop every 5 minutes to the poter potties or do as my dad says the Kenyans do, go potty down their legs.

Tomorrow we'll have to wake up very early as my parents have to run the 8am 8k race.

Let's see it will be 365 days tomorrow since the last time I traveled to Virginia. I can remember the weather of that Friday pretty vividly. There was ice, slushies and snow covering the ground. The first step outside was like putting your foot into a freezing slushy machine and the weather was about 20 degrees. I remember how happy I was to leave Boston and how worried I was when I knew a storm was coming. This year the weather seems to be much more peachier then last, but again the Boston weather is sneaky.
I feel that mentally I am prepared and physically leaps and bounds over last year so I am pumped.
Wish me the luck of the Irish!

I would like to reminisce on some of the interesting things that happened in my Marathon training this year:
Finals time last year I got hit by a car in Brookline. Only in Boston would it be a hit and run.
I saw two homeless men fight in Central square. The little one seemed to have the advantage.
4 of those green environment people who yell "Do you have time for the environment?" solicited me for sex. Not really, but they asked me if I could talk when I was running.
About 293 weird stares. Passed about 1500 emotionless facial expressions.
Saw the largest dogs of my life.
Ran past drunks who would yell "LEFT!"
Almost ran into a baker's dozen amount of people.
Lost about 11 pounds.



A hefty 8 hours straight of midterms lay ahead, however, I'll breeze through them like the wind blowing through hair while driving 60 in a 1969 Corvette on a sunny day.

Monday:
So yeah I didn't run today as it is my day off. The count down to the Marathon is 4 days and a couple of hours.
I did want to talk about something else that happened today that was very inspirational. While many students in Berklee and at many other schools in Boston are doing midterm exams, one of my teachers did something different. We had a guest speaker which is nice any time but especially nice during midterms. It was even better because he was very inspirational. I eat inspirational talks like this up like candy.
I should first mention that the class I am talking about is my Exceptional Children class and as you might expect we talk about special education children and all of the "special" diseased and "disabilities." This guest speaker came and he told us of his personal experience of growing up with a disability. He has a rare degenerative eye disease, is now legally blind and told us of the hardships he has faced in his life. At first, you'd expect that he has been held back by his disability but achieved many great things. He didn't finish his high school degree because everyone told him he wouldn't amount to anything. But, he threw off a vibe I haven't gotten from many people. He was very open to describing his hardships and he had this zest for life that you could easily catch when you walked in the room.
People do treat people with disabilities differently because people are ignorant and only see the disability and not the person. Eventually I would like to help inform people of people with disabilities because we can learn so much from them. They process the world in a different way and are not disabled by it but come up with different ways to do the same thing we do. Just another perspective.
It is like running a marathon. It's a huge challenge to tackle but people should look at the pain one might endure differently. By looking at the pain in a different way they will enjoy the benefits of running that distance, the discipline and exploring the world much more indepth than if they just stayed home on a couch watching tv.
I just want to say I feel inspired to be me.

Saturday:
Beads of water relentlessly fell hitting every square footage of Boston. Yellow and orange signs warned of the emminant rain storm and the possible floods. Looking at this, a large overcast feeling cast a shadow over me. It was one of those days that makes you want to stay inside all day and dream of a nice warm breeze stroking your face. If I walked out at 3pm, the rain would danced around me and encorage me to go back inside. I had a feeling that the day would change. As any patient person knows that waiting for something will always reward you in the end. I waded it out until 6pm and rechecked the weather that previously made me sour. To my bewilderment, the weather had increased 20 degrees and the rain ceased. A staunt 38 with a wind chill down to 33 decided it would leave and replace itself with a moderate 58 degrees. My tune changed immediately after hearing this news.
Outside, it felt like spring. The wind was blowing as usual, but the heat gave each one of my pores a smile of delight as they were able to breath.
My pace was hovering around 5:30min/mile way faster then I ever run 3 miles and a huge leap from my marathon pace of 7:10. It felt that good. I was glad to be alive and running at that point in time.
Sunday:
Boston, as deceitful as it is, decided to go back to the "normal" weather. Breezy.....cold....breezy.....icicles.....pain.....disdain..... The wonderful thing is you forget about the weather when you get into your run. I would like to stress that to anyone who is reading this. I paint such a horrible picture of the weather and how awful it is but once I get going I totally forget it. Come on why would I continue to go out and torture myself day in and day out? It makes me forget about the weather and everything else.
The 10 mile run was much slower today as I had to run into the wind 90% of the time. That seems impossible but the wind doesn't just blow in one direction here, it blows in all directions especially across open areas where there are no buildings. Running to Harvard Square was normal there were a few interesting people that I had to dodge. It seems like people in Harvard Square prefer to walk side by side and disregard me saying excuse me. I love the pedestrians here. No really. They are hilarious.
Running to Porter square and then back down Cambridge street I got to run into more characters. There was a couple that seemed to have an argument that was ferocious and a lab puppy almost ran into me.
My legs after the run are a little sore but as I will not run pretty much all week they will be fully recovered by Sunday.

I ran 3 miles today at the gym after training my client Donald so there is nothing too spectacular to say about my run. Although, I can tell you D is one of the most inspiring people that I have met in my life. The man is a driven 63 year old, in amazing shape and hilarious. All things I wish to be when I am his age. I could talk about him for a while but I wanted to talk about something else that has been ruminating in my brain. Finances and the government.
If you didn't know already, our economy is in rough shape. Many people say that they think we are heading for a recession, 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth, but it has already hit. There are reasons why we are going into a recession.
Ok why? Why would a economy go sour? Well our country is relying too heavily on credit and spending outside of their means. Way too many people are buying things on credit and holding insane debt. Yes it is nice to have that huge plasma display, or that new Iphone or the newest clothes from the most expensive brand but if you can't afford it then don't buy it. It is funny because the same thing is happening with the government which is actually contributing to our recession and devaluing our dollar.
The government gets money from taxing the common man (and don't tell him what they spend). Then the government pays for Social Security, Medicare, the department of education, homeland security, national security, the war on Iraq, the list goes on and on. Think of it like this, the government goes into a mall and sees the newest gadgets, the newest clothes, books, weapons and decides they want it all. But, they don't have enough money. So, the government prints (in essence counterfeits) money and barrows it from foreign countries like China and the oil owning Middle East. By printing more money that they don't have, the government devalues the working man's dollar, and the retired ladies savings (inflation also eats away at savings). This leads the working man to either work harder to buy what he wants, buy what he can't with credit and encourages people to save less (put 2,000 dollars in a bank with 3% interest and it will be worth less in 20 years). Know I understand why so many people are so financially ignorant. Come on our government is leading us by a horrible example. Please don't be financially ignorant like the government. Ask people and you will save yourself from a life of misery. If you also don't like the fact that the government takes our money and doesn't tell us where it goes and devalues it, you should look at Ron Paul's issue on the economy. He is the only candidate with a smart plan for our economy.

Friday 28:
I woke up with what felt like a hundred pounds of bricks on my body. I did not want to get up because of the soreness that persisted throughout my body. Even running seemed like a task that I did not want to do and you know me I usually am enthused about running. Because time was not on my side, I had to get up and get my run over with.
I did leave the pissing and moaning aside and went outside. The weather did not help seeing how it was 4 degrees after the wind chill. Yuck Boston. Evey time I run in this weather it makes me want spring that much more. Maybe that is the true beauty of Boston, you hate the weather so much during the winter that when spring comes around you cherish it much more. It reminds me of the saying that I just learned in Korean 구관이 명관(pronounce it gu gwan ee myung gwan) which means you don't know what you have until it is gone.
Anyway, I sucked it up and ran. Running down Commonwealth ave past Boston University the wind roared in my face. The wind seemed to slice through my 4 layers like a million hot needles through butter. After passing Boston University and running down Brighton street the pain started to wain as my pace started to pick up and my mind started to leave my body and travel else where. I like to say once my mind travels, it's gone. I guess that is a good thing when the weather is so chillingly cold. Luckily there are hills now to worry about more specifically the hill in Brighton on Washington ave. It isn't too steep but it goes on for .7 miles which is a nice hill in my book and when you get to the top it seems to decline the 4 miles back to house.
With my face turning redder and becoming a little numb, the prudential comes into sight on Huntington ave. I ran a consistent 7:45 which is a good pace. I will have to make a strategic plan for my marathon to hit my goal of 3:10. Furthermore, to tell you how cold it was that day, I took off my hat when I got home and it was stuck to my hair. It seems like there was icicles on my hair.
If you've made it this far you finally are in for a treat or hear about the treat I had. Earlier, I said that I was on a tight time schedule and what I had to do was get ready for a massage. Oh must I say it was the most wonderful thing, making up for all of the crap I had felt in the morning. At around 11am I rushed to Newbury street as I had an appointment at an upscale spa (gotta thank my clients for this). I hoped into a robe, waited for 10 minutes feeling not to bad now because of the nice atmosphere and the warmth. Cantaloupe and cucumbers waded through the drinking water it was that upscale. It was quite delicious. 5 minutes later a tall thin fair skinned lady walked out and called my name. I was curious to how this was going to go as this was my first massage. She asked me to take off my robe and what I wanted the massage to be focused on. I quickly shouted piriformis, peronials, calfs, quadriceps and my back and the masseuse started on my back.
I have to describe the setting of the room as well. It was dimly lit with candles flickering, a large wooden massage table with towels overflowing underneath it, and relaxing music. A wooden flute and a piano playing open airy major add 9 chords can lull a baby to sleep and clear your mind so you could imagine how I felt. I didn't say a peep the rest of the massage as it was the most relaxing experience. The masseuse skillfully rung my muscles of tension first starting in my upper right back moving to the left and down to my legs. I could go on for hours of it in detail but I will leave it as one word phenomenal. My legs felt like they were brand new.
Now I am ready to run my 15 mile run on Sunday.