Day 5:

Happy Halloween! I wore my traditional Jack o' Lantern t-shirt to work today to liven things up a bit. Since my deadline for submitting my law school applications is quickly approaching (read: tomorrow), I am gearing up to finish my personal statement tonight. There are a few auxillary essays to write still, but those should be much easier as the scope is more defined ("Why our school?").

Listening to news clips of the recent debates has really depressed me, not because of the mudslinging and name calling, that has always existed, but because of the intelligence level of the statements being made. Compared to speeches and debates of the past, candidates speak to the nation as if we were 3rd graders. Spend two minutes reading transcripts (I couldn't bare to read much more) of the recent Democratic and Republican debates and you get this sense. Compare that to the Lincoln-Douglas debates or even the more recent Kennedy-Nixon debates and today's candidates look like they were picked straight from some community college debate club (no offense to community colleges).

My favorite excerpt from Barack Obama:

"Well, first of all, I think some of this stuff gets over- hyped. In fact, I think this has been the most hyped fight since Rocky fought Apollo Creed, although the amazing thing is, I'm Rocky in this situation."

Do people really hear this and say - "What a way to start off a debate! Wow, this guy referred to a movie I like. He must be like me. He would be a great president. "

I want someone who is not like me to be president. They should be smarter, more well read, have an exceptional memory, be emotionally balanced, and thorough knowledge in economics. It wouldn't hurt if they were fluent in other languages as well. Those people do exist. How about someone with extensive knowledge of other religions? That could be handy.

While I've opted not to comment on the current administration, we can learn from their failures; the ability to surround yourself with only the highest qualified appointees & advisers is the most underrated skill. Warren G. Harding lingers near the top of many 'Worst Presidents Ever' lists and he wasn't that bad of a guy, it was the people around him. Sound familiar? On the other hand, Herb Alpert was certainly not the best trumpet player ever, but he was the most successful (monetarily speaking) because he had business smarts and surrounded himself with the best musicians in the world.

Either later today or tomorrow I'll post my solution to the endless election process.

Day 2:

I enjoyed a nice respite last night from my applications by attending the infamous Fortune Halloween Party. With the exception of having to walk up the steepest road I've ever seen, the party was great. It's always awkward going to parties where there a several people you somewhat know, even worse when they are in costume. People I would normally recognize (but not know their name) would start talking to me and I would be clueless as to where I knew them from. I guess that's a sign that my costume wasn't good enough since they could recognize me!

I made a dent in my law school applications yesterday by pounding out some supplemental material (work experience, honors received, etc.) for my long shot Yale. I was proud that I got through the dreaded 250 word essay, with great editorial help from my Mom. My next task - the personal statement.

While I spend time on social sites like myspace and facebook, I have noticed that when filling out my profiles I have always had problems with the "About Me" field, often times leaving them blank. Why can I list hundreds of books, movies, songs, heroes and things I enjoy doing, but not a single thing about who I am? Is it a self esteem issue, where I don't want people to read what I think about myself? Is it because I enjoy being undefined? This has created a dilemma for my personal statements, where I need to fill 2 pages worth of interesting, non egotistical yet self marketing stories depicting who I am.

At the same time, I need to convey my reasons for going to law school. It is tough for me to sound convincing since my passion is for music and I don't want to come off as being negative or a quitter. Maybe I just need confidence in the validity of my decision to switch careers. I have always been interested in the law, its processes and to some extent its mystique but never enough to pursue at the sacrifice of my music.

I'm going to think this through some more before I start writing, but after I take a short hike outside and listen through another Japanese lesson to clear my mind.