"Everything that need to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again." Andre Gide.

A friend recently posted this on FB, and I really like it, I'm not sure why. Maybe because when it comes to what we are seeking or how we think about ourselves, everything has already been said.

To earn a living I am an immigration attorney - I think I have had clients from over 80+ countries at this point, and I love hearing people's stories - how they got here, what they are doing with their lives, what they think of the country they have come from. I have traveled a lot myself (though I haven't been to all the counties my clients come from), though it's harder to travel now with my daughter and my practice. But I moved to Seattle 20+ years ago to have a balance between work and play, and I really enjoy the play side of life.

Ok February 2013 update: I haven't really done much with this profile for quite some time now. But my daughter is about to turn 6, so she has a new birthday birthday present: Zia: an eight week old Bernese Mountain Dog! A very sweet dog so far, just getting to know things.

I think I am a good conversationalist, though some people don't really like east coast sarcasm. I'm working on being more kind and joyful, I think these qualities are very important, even if they don't come naturally sometimes.

Favorite books: For easy reading, anything by Nick Hornby; TC Boyle short stories (his novels aren't so good), most books by Paul Auster (though he started repeating himself). More important books in my life include: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (now that's someone who could flat out write); A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving; The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera; Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (mandatory for those of us sent off to boarding school), Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch by Henry Miller (though most of his books are terrible); the Dharma Bums by Kerouac.

Movies: I really like French film noir, especially the movies from around 1950-1970. There is something about the style that I can't explain. I wish I could have lived in Paris in those years. "Jules and Jim" is perhaps my favorite movie of all time.
I don't really watch any TV, but I will rent out the BBC production MI-5, which is great fun, though not as good now in (I think) its 9th season.

1) the New Yorker magazine (followed closely by the NYTimes)
2) Distance running;
3) bridge (the card game);
4) good coffee and good beer;
5) my friends
6) my daughter (the most important)

I always thought when I got older I would gain wisdom and understanding. I have, in a way, but I'm not sure my decision making is any better now than 20 years ago.
I think a lot about raising my daughter, I'm a single Dad sharing joint custody. It's not a position I ever imagined myself in, and I think about what went wrong and what could have been done differently.

I really should be using reading glasses....sigh.....

Message me if you have seen the Documentary (or read the book) "Man on Wire" and it moved you. A beautiful story.