Paris, je t'aime

Oui. Paris is and will always be our favorite city in Europe. One reason we chose it for our honeymoon destination. Grand, incredibly vibrant, always relevant, and genuinely foreign. The language, culture, architecture, food, all combine to imbue a "local color" that is truly unique and endearing. Anyone who sits in a streetside cafe along the Seine river on a clear day in Autumn, explores the crooked alleyways of historic Montmartre as the bells of the grand Basilica de Sacra Coeur ring in the distance, or dines for the requisite four hours within earshot of native Parisians arguing politics or literature, will no doubt agree. Don't get me wrong, London is great. But London, like much of the Commonwealth, is just a tad bit "familiar" to most English-speaking Americans, especially amongst Anglophiles like myself who have been raised on the BBC for more than twenty five years via PBS. It doesn't help matters that Brits love and embrace American culture and commerce; it's apparent on any random walk through central London where you can pass the same billboards and storefronts as you would find in New York or San Francisco. By contrast, Paris shuns such cultural and commercial dependencies. One of the reasons it holds a special place in most travelers' hearts. Rightfully so. And soon, there will be a cinematic tribute to this love of the City of Lights. A film project entitled Paris, je t'aime (link) is underway involving twenty well-regarded directors each assigned to one of the twenty districts (or arrondisements) of central Paris. Each director will be creating a five minute vignette that captures the essence of their respective arrondisement. The final product should be spectacular given the vastly different styles of the directors (e.g., Jean-Luc Godard, the Coen brothers, Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant) and the respectable lineup of actors and actresses (e.g., Juliette Binoche, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Orlando Bloom) that have signed onto the project.

Field of Dreams

Had a great evening with the equities and commodities traders from the floor who procured the Wells luxury box suite at the Oakland Coliseum for last night's Oakland A's-New York Mets game. There were fifteen of us in the room elevated just above the spectating "sweet spot" between home plate and first base. For the three hours we were there, the catering service kept busy replenishing the food and drink bar. We had a fridge full of premium beer and a side table stacked with a variety of hot and cold food including pulled pork barbeque sandwiches, steamed dimsum dumplings, large bratwurst sausages, and tasty steak fajitas. Now that I've experienced "first-class", I'm not sure I can go back to "sitting in coach". Sat for an inning next to the Executive Vice President for our business group. After seeing him stuff his face with jalapeno poppers and down a bottle of Hefeweizen, I definitely see him in a more human light. Definitely look forward to doing this again, possibly at SBC Park. And yes, the A's won 3-2 with the winning run coming off a dramatic bottom of the ninth, two-out hit by a player traded away during the offseason by the very same New York Mets (game recap).

Embrace the Good and the Bad

While the Jobs speech (separate entry below) is quite serious and high-minded, this one given a while back by Conan O'Brien at his alma mater, Harvard, is decidedly less so (link here). But once you get past the humor and lightheartedness, he does share a nugget that is infinitely more practical and useful to those listening, about the value of taking the good with the bad, of accepting that failure and success go hand in hand, and of not being timid for fear of failure or rejection. In other words, "don't be afraid to fail because failure is a normal part of the process" and "don't be handcuffed by success if you're ready to move on with life even if it means leaving the comfort and safety of the 'cocoon'": I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed. Your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve. Because success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way. I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of The Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet, every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good.

Find What You Love

With the buzz of university graduations around this month every year, there is typically a handful of commencement speeches that get some notice usually because of the celebrity or cult status of the speaker. This year, it was Steve Jobs' speech at the Stanford commencement (link here). Thought it strange and ironic that a college dropout would be asked to speak at a graduation ceremony, at Stanford no less, but then again, he is Steve Jobs, founder of two of the hottest companies around, Apple and Pixar, he is a billionaire, and he conveniently lives just a few miles down the road in Woodside. His speech was not your typical feel good kind of message; rather, it was a cold bucket of reality with the central message being "you're going to die, so find what is important to you and live life your way": When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that your are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes. This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Destination: Portland, Oregon

For the Memorial Day weekend, T and I, with parents in tow, drove up Interstate 5 all the way to Portland with stops along the way in Lake Shasta, Ashland (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Eugene (University of Oregon), and various points along the scenic coast including the sandy beach stretch of Lincoln City and the New England-style fishing town of Newport. While our stay in Portland was short, we did manage to visit a number of interesting places including two that we enjoyed on our last trip, the vibrant 23rd Street neighborhood and the Classical Chinese Garden. My favorite memory of the trip was the amazing Sunday brunch we all had at the historic lodge overlooking dramatic Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge (link here). Great food, one-of-a-kind scenery, and perfect weather. Definitely one of the best brunches ever.