"We Be Burnin'" Sean Paul

This is how much money I've spent in the last two days:

• $11 for lunch at Koo Koo Roo's
• $47 for a dinner at a nice restaurant
• $31 for my dry cleaning
• $18 for the string job on my tennis racket
• $14 for lunch today at a Vietnamese restaurant
• $3 for Java Chip Frap at Starbucks

This is too much money to be spending and I will need to cut back.

I saw on ESPN.com today that Paradorn Srichipan, Thai tennis star with one of the finest one-handed backhands around, shaved his head and retired his racket to take up the life of a Buddhist monk.

There are people who are of this world. I mean they just fit right in. These are the Donald Trumps and the Princess Dianas among us. Then there are people who seem to continually fight this world. These are the Che Guevaras and Yoko Onos. And then there are the Drew Barrymores and Dalai Lamas who seem as if they're simply passing by.

Right now I am thinking about 5 years down the line.

"If Your Love is Real" David Gray

The best thing that happened this week was running to catch my train home and waving at the passengers because I missed it by 30 seconds. And then the train stopped and the doors opened and I went in and people grumbled. I never felt so special and wanted.

Last night, I hung out with a couple guys I used to work with. I've shot better games of pool. We talked about work, about ambition, about going back to school. Ambition is strange. I feel a little weird when people say "I want to..." because sometimes I get very excited for them, and sometimes I know they're not going to do anything to get it done. But I have to respond the same way.

I work with very rich men who handle the money of those who are even richer. I spend time in their offices fixing their computers, explaining to them what replication in Lotus Notes means and fixing the synchronization process between their local address books and an online CRM that we use. But what I really do when I'm in their office is absorb their photographs, the books they've chosen to display, the "You're the best dad in the whole world" school projects that soften their personalities. I respect these men because of how they treat me. They, moreso than the others I support, respect my time. I'm observing as much as I can.

Here are some common traits:
1. Respect towards others
2. Quietly, methodically, and patiently consider data
3. Exude things like "busy" and "on-the-go" but are never dismissive. When you're in a conversation with them, they are fully engaged.
4. Concise.
5. Easily admit when they're wrong or when they don't understand.