(First off--sorry this is so late in posting. I'm home with what I hope is not Death Flu from Hell and slept right through the morning deadline.)

A couple years ago, I was taking an out-of-town friend of mine to the Aquarium for the first time, and one of the divers getting ready to feed the fish in the big spiral tank recognized me. He happened to be a friend of a friend; that same weekend we ran into another friend of mine whom I'd not seen for some months, and as we walked away after this second encounter my guest said to me "You know everyone in Baltimore."

It's funny because it keeps coming back to me when I run into people I know. This isn't a small town, but it feels like a very small world. This past Wednesday I went to see the performance of Eliot's The Waste Land (preceded by some fantastic jazz from Lafayette Gilchrist and The New Volcanoes) and who was starring in it but Gina Braden, who had taught me drama what now feels like a thousand years ago at Park School.

Afterward I got to talk to her--and it turned out she wasn't the only old friend there that night: my art teacher from Park, Ann, and Molly Moores, with whom I'd been in a 1995 Theatre Hopkins play, were there too, and it was amazing how little time seemed to have passed. I'm almost thirty and as I get older the importance of friends has become more and more evident to me--and since I've been here at UB I've begun to make new ones even as I run into old ones. It's a wonderful feeling.

This week's Advice from a City Resident: If you haven't already done so, take the time to go visit the Walters Art Gallery (just up the street from campus). I can remember when the Arms & Armor exhibit was in a wonderfully dungeon-like concrete structure, the only Brutalist building I've ever liked, but even in its new white-painted iteration the gallery is a fantastic resource for artists, writers, playwrights, and anybody who has an afternoon to spend marveling at Iznik tile and Faberge eggs, Lalique jewelry and Greek statues, Renaissance paintings and inlaid hunting rifles.

Movin' on up...

It's official: I'm moving to Baltimore City.

I've lived in Baltimore County for the past three years (and Harford County before that) and the commute has finally gotten to me. In the morning, it takes me an hour to get to work. It should only be a 20-minute drive, but the county is apparently the hip place to live and 8am is the hip time to drive to the city. I'm tired of being hip.

The only problem is, I don't know where to move! Canton is nice, Fells Point is fun, Mt. Washington is cute... but do I want to live there?

Here's what I do know: I need an apartment with AC and a washer and dryer. (I will never be able to live without these things, so please don't ask me to.) I don't want to live within sight distance of UB (no offense, but I see enough of you). I want to have a grocery store within a 10 minute drive (or walk). And a place where my chances of getting jumped are not higher than 15%.

Please send me your suggestions! Should I avoid a certain apartment building or landlord like the plague? Do you love your current neighborhood?

Receiving Graciously - The Details Work Themselves Out

The people in charge of the UB Blog asked that I kindly have my blog up by 8 am of the day in which I am assigned to post. I was right on time last week but this week the entire week slipped away before I realized that I was an hour an thirty minutes late and I still didn't know what I was going to write about. When I realized what it was that made me completely lose track of time the topic came to me pretty quickly: Get inspired about what you want to do and go do it - the details will work themselves out.

Priorities in the Wrong Place at the Right Time:


The first week of class I ended up dropping a Wednesday 5:30-8 pm class not because I didn't like it, the professor or because I thought I would fail it. I dropped the class because it was an elective and my roommate and I were discussing joining a Wednesday night flag football league in Baltimore. I ended up picking up a class right before it - International Management from 2-4:30 pm. This was the best decision that I've made in a really long time for the worst reason possible.

The first day in my Int'l Mgmt. class the professor let us know that there was a trip to Portugal available for anyone who like to go and she talked in depth about the project that we would be undertaking while there. The trip is a social entrepreneurial endeavor in which UB has teamed up with Mr. Jose Lucio in order to help him create a for-profit arm of his NGO (non-governmental organization - a.k.a. non-profit.) Mr. Lucio has a museum (currently his home) of hundreds of traditional Portuguese guitars, thousands of LP's and a lot of traditional sheet music. Our job is to create a plan for a living museum where he can not only display his collection but also have a place to have concerts and practice space and instructors for people who want to learn the traditional Fado style of music. The main goal of this museum is to preserve the tradition of Fado.

The Inspiration:

I have been itching to travel for quite a long time now. I am a musician and very interested in world music. Above all else, I am a believer in social entrepreneurship - in my eyes it is the only way to solve the worlds problems.

This trip was a perfect opportunity for me. The only problem is that I spent my summer "living it up" as it was my last summer still being able to be responsibility free. Instead of working hard and saving money all summer I worked when I had to to support myself but I went sailing, laid by the pool, played my guitar, womanized, partied etc. almost every day. This gave me no money when it came time to go to Portugal.

When contemplating this trip I thought back to something that my uncle, Sam, said to me after I graduated from high school. Not ready for college yet I was contemplating going out to California and Hawai'i to live it up a bit. I was hesitant because naturally I am a planner and I was trying to plan my entire trip, which was going to last several months, and I didn't have a job already lined up. Sam told to go do what I really wanted to do and the details would work out. The money would come, I'd meet the right people and I'd get the right opportunities. I took his advice and he was right.

I decided to go ahead with the Portugal trip despite the fact that I would be in debt when I got back because I feel like the opportunity is worth way more than money so I started a blog about my trip - milestoportugal.blogspot.com. I sent all of my friends and family a link telling them why I was inspired about my trip and to follow along if they were so inclined. I would be updating my blog daily while in Portugal with photos, videos and written accounts of my daily activities. I let them know that if at any point in time they felt inspired by my blog they should let me know simply for the satisfaction of knowing that I've inspired someone. I went on to let them know that if they were truly moved at any point then I would have a place where they could make a small monetary donation - perhaps buy me a drink, meal or a train fare - on the website.

The Details:

My plane from BWI to Portugal takes off in exactly 24 hours. The donations that poured in the first week blew my mind. I received almost $700 - probably double what I thought I would get total. I hope the grand total amazes you as much as it does me. I started this blog on Friday, September 11th. At the time of this writing I have received one thousand nine hundred and seventy dollars in donations through my blog.

Yes, some of my family members donated but I also received donations from people that I would never expect and from people that I do not even know. I have hooked my blog up to google analytics so I can see where people are coming from that are looking at the site. I have hits all the way from Washington State (where I know no one) to Pakistan (where I do not know a soul.)

Tony Robbins Rant:

Some people would call me lazy and say that I need to get a job. They would say that I should've worked harder this summer and saved money - which I should have. They would say that I shouldn't even have a place where people could donate on my website, that's the same thing as panhandling right? Clearly I disagree. Not only do I believe firmly that in "carpe diem and the details will work themselves out" but I also believe in "receiving graciously." Many people like to give gifts but feel guilty or awkward receiving them. Think about how good it feels to give someone a gift though. When offered a gift if I do not graciously receive it the person offering it doesn't get to feel good about it.

This is not a prescription to be a bottom feeder and to take advantage of people. It is to let everyone know that it is not only a good thing to give but also to receive - back to that whole yin-yang balance thing. The moral of the story is go do what inspires you. Quit waiting for someone else to tell you what to do and tell you that it will be okay. Quit making a plan, back-up plan and an emergency plan for when the back-up plan fails - nothing ever goes to plan anyway so you're wasting time that you could be spending living the dream.
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My next blog will come from across the Atlantic. I'm sure I'll have no shortage of things to talk about. Maybe a topic on taking advantage of the opportunities here at UB. The following week when the class goes home, I stay back and three of my boys fly over to kick it for the week I'll be blogging from the Algarve - the South of Portugal. Just to prove that the details work themselves out I will post my blog while laying on a gorgeous beach that has soft white sand, turquoise water, topless, exotic, dark skinned Portuguese women and I'll do so with a cocktail in my hand and a guitar by my side. Wish me luck.

Remember kids: be well, do good work and always know your dealer.

Cheers.

Miles.

So Much On The Mind...need an outlet

The joy of having Thursday as my blog day is you have all week to read everyone else's blog, listen to the radio (Rickey Smiley Morning Show) actually and just hear and try to figure out what has touched you or sparked some fire (or rage) in you. It's only Tuesday and already I'm starting this blog...I'll save as a draft and post on my day, of course !!! My co-worker asked me to talk about women and football and I considered it since the Ravens do seem to be starting off on the right foot !!! But then you got so much in the news and now this morning Rickey Smiley talking about children and crime. And now on Wednesday Michael Baisden talking about youth and it is so sad. And hence, my rage came.



A few weeks ago, Rickey Smiley talked about his friend burying her only child. I think he said he was only 19 years old. Again today he is speaking on it and it almost brings you to tears to hear him describe her behavior..the anguish of having to sit through a funeral....FOR YOUR CHILD. I don't consider myself hood, in the least bit, but I know that pain...I've seen that pain of a parent (and family) losing a child in a number of ways. A cousin, wanting a baby so bad only for him to pass away, my sister losing a baby and then my mom losing my sister. Even before that my aunt losing my cousin to violence. It is this death that is the worst.


It was senseless. It was violent. It hurt not only my aunt, but my whole family. It hurt my cousin's young daughter he left behind....dreams...gone...literally washed down the drain with his blood and no doubt some body parts.


I say all this because we are in a special place right now. Despite the government reminding us we are in a recession, the governor reminding me he's furloughing me to save the state money, asking my neighbor to look out for a package for me cause she been unemployed for almost a year....despite all of this, we are in a special place. I am the oldest blogger but I am still in that special place with all the rest of you.....college. A place where so many lost souls will never get to see because of someone else's selfishness and hatred toward the ones they took from this earth or because someone took their self-esteem and self-confidence. We need to wake up people. Our children need us.

You can adopt a highway but how many colleges or fraternities or sororities adopt a child or a school? I think every college that is near an elementary, middle or high school should have some type of partnership with that school. What happened to the Big Sister/Big Brother program? What happened to the college students coming to tutor young kids? We need to praise the child that is making a D just as much as you praise the A student. Remind the D student, they tried but with a little more work they can make a C next time. We have to continuously support EVERY child regardless of whether they come from a broken home or the perfect home. And please tell me what a perfect home is cause if the home is that perfect than the people in it must be imperfect....ya'll don't hear me !!!

I have been told I have an old soul. I've been told I act like someone's mother. Well guess what I am someone's mother, now. He may only be 2 but you can best believe I will do everything I can possibly do so start him on the right path and keep him on the right path. Just as I want him to see me graduate from college, I want to see him graduate from college. We need to put positive people in our children's lives early and we, too, need to be positive examples for our children. YOU are your child's first teacher. They learn from YOUR actions.

I know I got off the subject a little. But hence, my title....so much on the mind !!!! I started with deaths of our youth but we don't have to go there if we put these kids on track early.

But before I go I do want to dedicate these next couple of sentences to my co-worker....so Kim this is for you. FOOTBALL - People that yellow line indicating a first down is only on TV....There is no one at the game drawing and re-drawing that yellow line !!!!! Happy Kim !!!!! My football tip for the week !!

Okay, people next week I won't be so frazzled. I will have calmed down. Until next week.

BookFest, Books, and, um, Books

Last weekend was The Book Festival and let me just dance a little jig of remembered delight. If you missed it: What the heck, people? This was good times. There was music. Food. (Wow, the food.) Activities about books, books to buy, author interviews, and Poe was even out greeting the people and reading some of his work.

The highlight, for me, was seeing Lois Lowry. (For those, sadly, not in the know: Lois Lowry is a children's fiction writer. Her books include Number the Stars, The Giver, The Gooney books, and much more awesomeness.) She has a new book, her first picture book, The Crow Call. Listening to her speak, read from her new book, and then answer questions was a goose-bump getting experience. She's smart, she's funny, and I want to be her when I grow up. Now, if I could only back track and spend part of my youth in exotic locales like Honolulu and Tokyo, maybe I could get there.


I also would like to congratulate myself, publicly and in print: I only bought one book. This is a major thing. I had to sell about fifty percent of my books so that I could have a bed in my apartment and not just sleep on paperbacks. While someone else on the blog mentioned she's addicted to social networking sites, mine is books, books, and, again, books. In fact, as a child my mother would often punish me by taking away my books and sending me outside. (This is not an exaggeration.)

Of course, on the other hand, my sister was frequently only given access to books--TV, radio, and phone privileges having been revoked--during a grounding. We lived in strange, parallel worlds, my sister and I. (When they collided, it was bad for me. So bad. One day, I'll tell the story about monsters, bunk beds, and a concussion. When I know you better.)


However, this book is going to change my life. It is going to teach me to Feng Shui, to build bunk beds, to read palms, and to create lamps out of anything! This is not too high an expectation for a book, is it? Nah, probably not.

In other news, there's so much to do and so little, little time: Tonight, the Wasteland at 8p.m.--if I can swing it and, tomorrow, Star Wars at 7:30 p.m.. Of course, I have class till 8, but afterwards I can hang out at the Gordon Center Plaza and geek-out.

Once again, I will leave you with a few true things.

Things I've learned: Cabbie drivers are scary; do not get in their way. If you are from out-of-state, with a similarly un-local checking account, you cannot write a check for over $100 at Safeway until you have 10 checks in their system. (This was a lesson that required an embarrassing amount of removing groceries from my cart in line.) And, finally, people can see in your window during the day. (I'd rather not talk about it.)

Things I still need to know: Which is a good local bank! Stat! Where to buy a cheap, but not-scary-and-has-bohemian-potential couch. And, finally, where to print in color on campus. (I lost a printer cable in my move and have yet to replace it.)

The Environmental Impact of Mid-Terms

This post is unfortunately going to have to be very brief. The law school currently in the full swing of midterms. While so far I have generally been able to keep up with the work, midterms have been a completely new and somewhat overwhelming experience.

I do have a few quick points to make. First of all, UB gives (at least to the law students), 350 free pages of printing each semester. During orientation, I looked at this amount as some absurdly high number that I could never even hope to reach. "Hmm," I thought, "I wonder what else I can print? Maybe I can download and print the complete works of Shakespeare, those would look nice on computer paper bound with staples." Having reached midterms, I realize what a silly and premature thought that was. I decided to print my lecture notes from criminal law yesterday. Even after adjusting the margins, reducing the font, and checking the "save me one more page" option on the computer, my notes came to 94 pages. For one class out of four. For the first half of the course. For those of you with an aversion to math, I'll extrapolate for you, I would need over 800 pages for one semester's worth of lecture notes alone.

Additionally, many professors assign cases that are available online. I think this is awesome because it is one less textbook to buy. Printing them, however, has become a financial impossibility, as this would be an additional fifty pages per week!

On one hand, my undergraduate school allowed free printing. On the other hand, this was three years ago. When I left my job a few months ago (I previously worked at a world leading medical institution in Baltimore), they were pretty much getting ready to charge for printing to keep costs down. So I don't really blame UB for the 350 free page limit. I do not doubt that law students could easily use an entire forests worth of trees in the print lab on a regular basis. Also, this limit has encouraged me to look into other options, like not printing every single case assigned, and doing a first draft reduction of my notes prior to printing. Just like with classic poetry, the artificial restriction has expanded my creativity. I will be interested to see how much UB charges for additional pages, as I will now almost certainly need some. Also, during orientation they mentioned that soon all the print labs will default to double sided printing, I say let's hurry up and get that running.

You know how you always hear that "Piranhas can reduce a cow to a skeleton in 15 minutes" and "Rainforest the size of a baseball field is destroyed every 15 minutes?" at which point you shake your head and wonder who thought up those bizarre analogies? Perhaps a better analogy is "Each future lawyer destroys however many trees is takes to make 1,000 pages of computer paper and 10,000 paper cups of coffee each semester." Makes me cringe just thinking about it. I guess paper is easily recycled at least.

I dedicate my witty closing paragraph in solidarity to all my fellow 1Ls who haven't slept this week in preparation for midterms. Good luck to all of you!

The Art of Motivation

Ever felt like you want to accomplish a goal, but just did not feel like it? If you did, your definitely not alone. Hundreds of college students feel like that every day. Some wake out of it and some do not. This feeling is called being unmotivated. Motivation is the feeling of excitement to accomplish things. From being motivated to cleaning that typical college dorm, to the feeling of wanting to graduate. If you are not motivated, it will be hard to ever complete any thing. But there are ways for you to get out of the unmotivated slumps of failure.
You have to set goals for yourself. Make sure you do not set too many goals though. You have lots of time on your hands, so it is fine to set one or two goals at a time. If you set too many goals at one time, the stress from accomplishing each will be too much and will become unmotivated to complete them.
Get excited about finishing a goal. Find a good reason to finish your goal. There are always good outcomes after completing a goal, whether it's getting on the honor roll or losing ten pounds. Just find a positive and you will build ambition to be motivated.
Now that you have set your few goals, you have to make sure you stay organized. Too much of chaos is going to make you stressed. Another thing to do, is to have some peace time. Make sure you do not allow yourself to be all work and no play. Whether it is playing basketball or going to fix those nails, make sure you have some “me time”.
Lastly make sure you set up everything that you can, that will help you conquer your goal. Set up connects, have the right supplies, and have good support. Setting up connects with professional people or people that already accomplished your goal, makes things easier. You have to have the right tools. You do not come to a classroom without a pen and paper and expect to pass the class. SUPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT!! Having a good supporting foundation is very important. You can go to those people when your are feeling low and they can help you get back on track.
I hope you realize how important it is to be motivated. With out it no goal will be conquered. Motivation is simply a key to success.