Ascending Order

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A friend at SEC told me that there is a problem of high "turn-over" rate at SEC: most people at the SEC are lawyers, and most of them are young and inexperienced. Once they get experience and get that line on their resumes, they leave SEC and go to large law firms. Then SEC has to train young, inexperienced lawyers again...

There is a rumor about the SEC: young lawyers are sent to Madoff's firm. Madoff would personally show them around. And once they are amazed by such personal attention from such a famous/rich man, they forget why they are there: i.e. they are there to check whether Madoff complies with SEC regulations. They never get to inspect Madoff's paperwork, instead, they submit their resumes to Madoff...

So even if we have the best security regulation system, it is not going to work if our private sector is so strong that it chokes up our regulatory system. A young lawyer at SEC makes around 70k to 80k a year, so who can blame them for leaving for private law firms that pay 250k+ a year? One solution is to drill in the concept of "public service"-- that lawyers must serve public good; Yet another solution is to follow the "China Model": you make the government so powerful that nothing can be done unless you bribe government officials. So if we say: you cannot list on NYSE unless you pay/eat/drink/sing with the SEC agent first, we can then be sure that SEC will not lose more lawyers to the private sector... sounds good?

Apparently kcat and i did not come to New York with the same agenda. He wants to try good food whereas i want to remember old times... i bought him a nice overcoat-- I am now determined to dress him in New York style, since people said he looked nice in those lean and mean dress shirts.

New York now looks a little worn out: it still has all races of people on subway cars; it still has expensive restaurants on 22nd street; it still has huge crowds on 34th street. But it is quite strange for New York to look the same as half a year ago.

Kcat rowed our boat around the turtle rocks. No matter how close we got, the turtles do not move, as if they are enjoying eternal peace, as if New York City has reached its zen moment.  

Another friend chose to live far away from his gf because of his job. Kcat said people have different ways to prioritize things: some choose career first; some choose love first, some choose to waste time first.

I think he's somewhat right: if i only feed my pet fish once every two weeks, it dies. So my friend's gf has to be stronger than fish. Otherwise she'll die, too.

True love spans over distance. But i'd rather hold my close, this is my way of prioritizing things. 

After several trips to family court in summer, i decided not to take on family cases again. Reason: too much drama. But now my skin itches... i miss drama. I think i am having a love affair with the family court itself: ups, downs, and dramas.

Whenever i tell people that i do family law, people always say: "Whoa! I have a friend... blahblahblah." I've never met a person who does not have a friend who is not undergoing a family crisis of some kinds. Ooops, that's double negative. Put it in another way: everyone has a friend who is undergoing some kind of family crisis. That's where the drama comes from: when a family case opens, you always ask: first, how much money you and your spouse have? second, what are the two worst things your spouse can say about you that are true? Then the drama starts...

The 3rd, and then most important: YOU MUST LOVE YOUR CHILDREN MORE THAN YOU HATE YOUR SPOUSE. This is not legal advise, this is life advise. All of us... have experience of: when people we love start hate each other, fight each other, throw things at each other, how do we feel? not very well, right?? For children, the people they love most are their mama and papa, they are seriously seriously hurt when mama and papa do not get along.

Every parent in court claims that he/she loves children. The common trick to test is, ask simple questions like: what is the shoe size of your child? what's your child's english teacher's name? when did you child last see a dentist? The sad thing is... many parents have no clue at all.

This weekend i have one party to attend and one party to host. And then i will fly to California next monday.

The new apartment is taking shape: i bought bed, dresser, desk, couch, TV, TV stand coffee table, side table, dining table, chairs, etc. Next i will order small items: wall mirror, yoga mat, wireless keyboard, flowers/plants, and wine.

Several days ago while i was carrying boxes after boxes. A girl suddently came to me and declared: I KNOW YOU! I put down my new plants and looked: it's Destiny! We met in Beijing last year. And now we are living in the same apartment building.

After all, we live on a small planet.