Toys

I retrospect, I realize I spoke out of turn when I said I only have one vice. Actually, I have three. The others are electronic gadgets - toys - and women. I mention these because I want to create and full verbal picture of myself, which includes the positives with the negatives.

The first vice, electronic toys, is created from the presence of too much disposable cash. I do not want to mention actual numbers (to dissuade any gold diggers out there), but I am VERY well compensated for what I do. I own a nice three story brownstone near the Art Museum in Philly, with plenty of furnishings. I drive a nice car, I have investments portfolios and bank accounts with plenty of liquid cash on hand. What I do not have, do to the lack of family, is a lot of responsibility. So I need SOMETHING to spend my disposable cash on. So I tend to be the first buyer of any new electronic gadget that comes on the market. (Hint: I am eagerly looking forward to the new iPhone!) That directly impacts how I spend some of my free time. If I am inclined to surf the internet, I tend to frequent sites like www.msmobiles.com; www.gizmodo.com, or www.engadget.com to see what the next big thing is going to be. If I am out shopping, I tend to be drawn to stores featuring technology.

I say this, because there aren't a lot of those kind of stores in Old Orchard Beach.

So I have to be content to play with the two cell phones I brought with me. Just so you get an idea of the depth of my love for gadgets, I have two cell phones, one for work, and one personal, and each one of them has a back-up cell phone, in case the primary fails. What happens in reality is that I tend to trade the SIM Cards in each phone to whatever phone I am the mood to use on any particular day. With four phones, I can have many possible combinations. I end up switching phones on a day to day basis the same way a guy may change his watch to match the suit, or women change their shoes to match their mood. I've given a lot of thought to this phenomenon, and I think it is an outgrowth of my undergrad days (at Penn State) when I used to collect pieces of stereo equipment. Same type of thing going on. For those of you keeping score, I only brought two cell phones with me, the Blackberry 8800, and the RAZR V3xx.

The lack of . . . choice . . . of cell phones is making me feel somewhat out of place. So you know one of the first places I looked for when I went into "downtown" Old Orchard Beach was some type of strore to satisfy my urge. I ended up disappointed. That was short lived due to the third vice.

Let me preface my comments. I love women. I personally think they are God's greatest creation. I can imagine a more compelling or perfect collection of lines and curves in the entire universe. But, the man upstrairs is not without his sense of comedy. He has made it impossible for men, including me, to understand what makes a woman tick. And THAT, my friends is the great mystery of it all. The mystery, is, of course, my kyrptonite. The women in my office once asked me what I liked in a woman (in an effort to cxonstruct a checklist to play matchmaker). It was not possible to articulate any one personality trait, or physical characteristic (such as blue eyes, or a great rear end, etc.). The only thing that I was able to express to them is that is is something I know (or recognize when I see it). More accurately, when I FEEL it. The only thing I could tell the women in my office is that if I meet somebody, and my heart beats faster, that is the person. It is no set combination of factors.

However, when pressed, I was able to tell them that one quality that will draw me like a bee to honey is the sense of mystery about the woman. The greater the mystery, the greater the attraction. I cannot explain how it works, but it does. Unforutnately, those are the worst type of women for me. The relationship, if it indeed gets started, is always a train wreck. The primary cause of the wreck is the mystery, and my compulsion to solve the mystery. I have often wondered if I should just concentrate on a pretty piece of fluff, with barely a thought in her head. It would require no mental energy on my part. But I would bore very easily, and I know that. It is like eating vanilla ice cream. I mean, vanilla ice cream is tasty and all, but, really, how many times can you eat it before you get bored of it.

Which leads me to the primary physical characteristic which attracts me. Women of color or different ethnic heritage. To me, Caucasian women are like the vanilla ice cream I just described. I dated them all of the way through my life, high school, college, law school, and even after law school. I grew bored, especially American Caucasian women. They all have that same sense of entitlement and privilege toward relationships, marriage, and sex.

Boring.

But women of color, or other ethnic heritage, or even other countries, have this overwhelming air of, and here's that word again, mystery about them. They come from a background, culture, and attitude/beliefs about sex, realtionshps, and marraige than the one I was brought up in. It makes my heart beat faster. And, if I have to choose a woman of color or cultural origin, it is usually an Asian woman. There is s0mething about them.


Which FINALLY brings me to my point.

Yesterday, after making an entry into this blog, I went downstrairs and asked the person at the front desk for directions into town. I was in time to see two women, between 25 to 30 years of age, getting ready to leave for the beach. One was a little taller than the other. Ther shorter one had straight black hair to the middle of her back, My "radar" was immediately alerted to the possiblity of an Asain woman, maybe an attractive Asian woman, staying in the same Inn as Inn as I was. She must have sensed my thoughts, or, maybe, heard my heart racing, because she turned and looked right into my eyes. She was, indeed Asain, and using my powers of observation, must have been of Japanese descent. She was perfect.

Anf then she smiled at me. She gave me THAT . . . look . . . that said she had a secret that I didn't know. A mystery.

Then she said, in a musical voice, right to me, "I'll see you later . . . "

My heart actually skipped a beat. An invitation. An invitation to solve her mystery, to pry her secret from her.

And then she was gone. Out the door, and to the beach, for a day in the sun with her friend. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath.

I turned to the another person out in the front lobby, some type of delivery person, and asked, "What is a good place to go for lunch? Maybe something down by the beach?"

She told me, "Try JJ's Eatery. It's down on East Grand, right by the beach. Best seafood sandwhichs in New England. Trust me."

"Can you give me directions?"

"I'll draw you a map."

I collected the map, and my car keys, and headed out, hoping to see that little Asian Doll again. I thought about asking the person at the front desk for information about her, but then stopped. That would be too easy. I wanted to find ouyt on my own.

It's getting on to about lunchtime now. I have to shower, and get moving for the day. I will try to post more about my first day in Old Orchard Beach a little later. Interesting town.

It has that same atmosphere and aura as Breckingridge, Colorado during ski season.

The Trading Post Inn

I can now see that the most important factor in maintaining a Blog or a Diary is discipline. It is so easy to get distracted by what is going on around you, and completely forget about it. I intended to add an entry when I checked into the Trading Post Inn, but, here I am. I think I will stick to the John Grisham model. He writes a book by writing a page (no more and no less) a day. It is not this insurmoutable "thing" or "task," and you can do it realtively painlessly when you have free time during the day. The only proviso is that you HAVE to do it. If you miss a day (or two or three or four) then you have to play catch-up, and then it DOES become a huge "thing" or "task" that you will not do. Enough said about that.

I also have to apoligize to whoever may ultimately read this (esepcially the ladies) that I am not as inarticulate as my gramatical errors or spelling errors would indicate. I usually have my legal assistant clean those up in the edit. What I do requires me to be very prescise in words, and how they are used. But what I do, is not necessarily what I am! What I write here is the yin to the legal yang. I can be free and rambling, and just let the keys on the 'ole laptop take me where it wants to go. What is a few grammatical and spelling errors between friends? To be able to write this was is . . . liberating . . . which is exactly the point of the exercise. I don't want to have to worry about this Blog being letter perfect.

Let me see if I can express it this way. Although I have never been married, I have lived (co-habitated) with three different women. I have been "trained" to keep things extremely neat and tidy. That said, I need one room, all of my own, to be just mine. There I keep a mess. It is my catharsis. That the messy room exists, allows me to maintain the balance of my organized existence. Contradictory, I know, but there it is. I ask, dear reader, that you consider this Blog my "messy room" and not hold me to the professional standard the rest of the world would hold me to.

Ahh. I feel better already.

Which is exactly the way the Trading Post Inn makes me feel. I arrived later than I planned (I had to wait for the car rental, and got lost along the way). I think my official check-in time was 10:38 p.m. I did not get a chance to meet the rest of the guests. The individual that checked me in told me the place only holds 13 people. I was the 13th person, although several of the guests are out on a side excursion up in Maine, and will not be in until sometime next week. So, over the weekend there will be less than the full complement. The Inn is a realtively small/quaint place, and it reminds me of somewhat of the youth hostels that you see in Amsterdam. (Yes, I had a chance to experience the cliche' European tour during undergraduate school). What I mean is there are a lot of double rooms, so you can end up rooming with a total stranger for a week or two. When I look back on that European vacation, I remember this odd arrangement actually facilitated friendships (and adventure) that ordinarily would not have happened. I look forward to re-capturing that same atmosphere, here, later on it life. I had no idea that a place like this even existed here in the United States.

I, forutnately, have the single room.

So, I went to bed. I slept in late today, for the first time in along time. Until 10:00. I plan to shower, and go out and explore the area. Maybe meet some of the locals. Maybe meet some of the other guests.

I can tell you this. This place has totally relaxed me. It is like breathing crisp fresh air for the first time in a long time. That is the perfect environment to get a persepctive on your life, and decide where you are going.

For me, it is easy. Do I continue on this professional life track, or do I take a step back to start a family of my own? A nearly 40 years of age, it is getting rather late in the game. If I am going to start a family, I have to start soon. I do not want to be one of those older guys with a really yound wife, and younger kids when I retire. It's not fair to me, and not fair to them. I want to be able to experience the joys of marriage and parenthood, when I can share it with others in my age group.

Maybe after the trial on the nig case I was talking about, I'll sit down and really decide what I am going to do. I have enough money stashed away from my other cases to scale down my practice. The only potential problem is that the reast of the firm, esepcially financially, revolves around my success. If I scale back my professional life, in favor of a personal life, I may be affecting the careers and financial health of a lot of other people, including my partners. We all know that nothing lasts forever, but still, that is a lot of weight and responsbility to carry on one's shoulders.

Sorry for getting so heavy. That's not today. Today, I am free from that world, at least for a little while. Today I am just . . . me. The me that nobody gets to see. I am going to enjoy my day.

Start of the Blog

My co-workers have been encouraging me to start this blog for a long period of time.

That probably deserves some explanation. I am an attorney practicing in Philadelphia, Pa. My area of practice is Intellectual Property Litigation (which includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets), which is kind of like being an extremely high priced detective. I used get involved representing small to mid-sized inventors and companies that have invented something, only to have it stolen by huge companies that you hear about in the business news everyday. It is my job to figure out how and why the huge companies stole the idea, and how they are using it. That takes a lot of time (and is very stressful).

That does not leave a lot of time for a social life or dating. Consequently, I am single (and have never been married), and approaching 40 years in age (in a few months). The paralegals and legal assistants in my office keep trying to play matchmaker and "hook me up" with ther single/separate/divorced friends. I tell them that I do not have the time to date. The consensus is that it is a waste, because I would make a good husband and father.

I still look good for my age. One of the few luxeries or vices that I have is working out for a hour everyday. I have seen too many of my collegues gain weight, and, coupled with the stress, develop serious health problems. So my exercise is more of a preventative measure than it is body scuplting. The side benefit is that I am 6'2", and 185 fit pounds. I probably will never have those abs that have become so popular, but at least I am not flabby. I still have most of my blonde hair (which I keep short anyway in the current style) and all of my teeth. More than a few think that I am attractive for my age.

So the women at work, some of the younger women, have been telling me that the way to meet eligible women is to get on www.myspace.com, and start a blog that women will be interested in reading. I have decided to do the later, and we'll see about the MySpace.

So what is the best way to start off this blog. The most interesting thing in my life right now is a bog trade secrets case I have been working on. I have to be careful how I describe it, so as to not breach attorney-client privilege. I will try to describe it in generalities. I represent an inventor who created a circuit, using a new diode material, which dramatically increases the efficiency of any electrical device. Used properly, it will drastically lower energy consumption. It is also possible to pair it with solar panels or wind veins to create a cheap, pleniful source3 of energy. It also makes electric cars a reality. Well, my client disclosed it to a big company under and agreement of confidentiality. To make a long story short, the stole it, and are getting ready to release the first generation of products with the technology in it. They are also seeking a patent on the technology to block everybody else, without including my client as a co-inventor.

Nasty stuff.

Naturally, that company has hired one of the biggest IP (Intellectual Property) firms in the Country to defend. They are using all of their resources (as compared to my smaller resources in a smaller firm), to make me give up by outworking me, or out spending us. As my client is a sole inventor, he cannot bear the costs of such litigation. That is absorbed by my firm. It also means that I have to do a lot of the detailed work myself.

That tends to wok in my favor anyway, because, by the time we get to trial I have seen every sheet of paper, and have figured out what it means in the grand scheme of the case. By contrast, the lead attorney on the other side has usually delegated such reading to the very same staff that is runing around, so, at the time of trial, my greater understanding serves me well. To put it bluntly, my style allows me to win a lot.

However, I have not had a vacation in awhile. Over a year. My partners have been encouraging me to take a vacation, even if it is a short one, just to get away and clear my head before the trial (which is due to start in two months).

So today when I got out of Court (on a motion to compel in the above case), I checked my calendar. I am free, starting tomorrow, for one week (until May 10th). I have time to get away for a while, no people, no phones, just me and peace and quiet.

The first thing that I did (before starting this blog as I sit behind my desk), is check for some Bed and Breakfast or Inn as far away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Somewhere where I can just think. Just be me for a while, and write my thoughts in this blog. I found an interesting place called the Trading Post Inn near Portland, Maine.

I had my secretary Lynne call and book me for a two week stay starting tomorrow. (Apparently the Inn likes to book in two week blocks, so I'll be coming in right in the middle of a block. I was lucky too, because it was the last room, the only single. Once I check in, they will be full.) She made all of the arrangements. I will catch the Amtrak from Penn Station to Portland. From there, I will rent a car, and drive the rest of the way. Lynne said there is always some sort of festival in that area, so I'll have things to do. Apparently the Inn does not have internet access, so I will take my trusted laptop, along with my Verizon data card, so I am not completely cut-off from the outside world.

I should be able to check into the Inn around 6:00 p.m. tomorrow.

I will try to post some more of my thoughts to this blog after I check in. Actually this is not too bad. I thought I would not be able to do this, but it allows me to get things off my chest, and out of my head, instead of festering. I am not all of the angry against the defendant in my big case anymore, because I got to express a little of it in here. I am thinking this blog can be very therapeutic.

I can only hope that it will help me to me the woman that my staff thinks I deserve.

Stay tuned. This is only my initial entry.