I think the LA governor is a brilliant man and has quite an impressive resume for such a relatively young man. I think he "DB'ed" the people of LA - perhaps to the point where he might have lost a part of himself. It will be interesting to see how he changes over the years.
My mother did point out LA Gov has a W of Indian heritage. The man is an interesting paradox.
I noticed how Justice Thomas is gravitating back towards his roots with his new book lately. Not so brilliant - but made some identity sacrifices to get where he is today.
I suppose it is always a balancing act - how much are you willing to give to get to where you want to go... And there is an element of self esteem involved. Are you strong enough to give w/o reallly losing yourself...
I think you are right (hee hee) about people on the extreme right and the extreme left. They provide valuable perspective of the spectrum of thought that help me define where I want to be. Although - sometimes I get too attached to my own point of view and only hear "white noise" when people that disgree with me talk... Sigh...detaching enough to be able to really listen is an art form...
N_Hill - do you think you suffer from the same perfection disease that I do. We rarely fail when we set a goal - we both seem to view our failed M's as a personal failure on some level and have lost confidence in our ability to be in non-platonic R's? I have been "hiding" in safe R's for 5 years now... I am wondering how much of it has to do with a "fear of failure." As A_O posted - we seem to have a tough time forgiving ourselves and perhaps moving on when we "fail."
As for my wild times. After my visit to Houston, I have no regrets. I was single, footloose and fancy-free back then. Now I am at a point in my life where I like grounded. My body doesn't seem to recover as well from adrenaline rush induced actions anymore. For example, I use to have nerves of steel and be able to work all night to make a deadline - pure adrenaline.
Nowadays, I am trying to work steadily w/o adrenaline b/c I seem to get mentally exhausted more easily that I did in my younger days... I find that these days after 4 hours of concentration I need a break - and often a nap. I use to be able to go straight though for 24 hours or more when I was younger... And nowadays my body is getting to stiff and I limp from the stiffness when I sit too long - perhaps a product of being 40 something....
Back to multicultural and LA Gov... Many people of Indian heritage have a "western" side and an "eastern" side." When we step out the door - we use names that are western pronouncable (my father used his initials), we eat western food, or eastern food that is western acceptable, etc and essentially integrate.
In our homes, in my case, I speak Bengali with my family and my cats. My behavior and mannerisms are relatively more "Indian." The X and I were both relative more accepting and expressive our or respective German and Indian heritages at home. When we stepped out the door - there was a change. For example, The X mastered fluency in English and lost his German accent w/in a year of moving here.
For the most part, you keep the two parts of you separate. You gauge how much of your "eastern" part that the west can handle and act accordingly.
I use to be able to go straight though for 24 hours or more when I was younger... And nowadays my body is getting to stiff and I limp from the stiffness when I sit too long - perhaps a product of being 40 something....
