how's it going guys? i hope you and your families had a nice thanksgiving holiday. as for myself, i've been back in new york enjoying the holiday weekend with family and friends. it's been so long that i've had anything truly personal to share on xanga, but i figured that if there is one time of the year to express my gratitude and reflect on how things have been going in my life, thanksgiving seems like an opportune occasion. so, what all am i thankful for? let's see...
my family -- this one's an easy call and needs no introduction. i wouldn't be much of anything without the care and support of my family. now that i've moved out of new york (more on this later), the importance of family in my life has taken on a new meaning, and i'm happy that i'm starting to get into a point of my life where i can begin giving back to them in a meaningful way.
my friends -- for a lot of the same reasons why i'm thankful for having a great family, i'm also thankful for my friends. now that it's been over three years since i graduated from college (and over seven years since high school), i've got a newfound appreciation for the friendships i've had that have withstood the test of the time. i'm also grateful for the new people i met in the last year who've invited me to be a part of their lives, especially during my early days in texas when i really didn't know anyone there (again, more on this later).
my job -- although this is old news to most people who know me in person, i'll probably have to fill in some of the gaps for those of you that only know me via my blog. after having lived in new york for over 20 years -- namely the first 18 years of my life, as well as the 2.5 years after i graduated from college -- i decided to pack up and move to dallas in march 2008 for a new job. at the time, i knew hardly anyone in dallas, but i figured everything would eventually be OK once i got acclimated to the area.
as a way of background, i'd previously worked for a couple of the major investment banks in new york. they were a good place for me to start my career in finance, but after grinding out the long hours, hectic corporate culture, and a variety of other things that weren't good for my mental sanity, i was more than ready to move on to my present role in private equity. i had received my offer from my current employer the day before thanksgiving last year (ironically), and things couldn't have worked out any better. with the credit crisis beginning to rear its ugly head in the fall of 2007, i seized the opportunity to make the jump from the investment banking world to private equity. when i left my previous job in february 2008, things on wall street (especially at the big banks) began to sour; and while i'd like to think that i had some type of special insight in terms of the timing of my departure, it was really more fortuitous than anything else. i really couldn't have imagined the meltdown that we're experiencing today. as i look at what's been happening across all the big banks, i definitely felt like i dodged a bullet -- it's incredible how quickly and how severely conditions on wall street have deteriorated, and i think that if i had waited just a few more months before pursuing my current career goals, things probably wouldn't have worked out as well for me.
i'm hoping that economies worldwide will begin to stabilize sometime before the end of 2009. however, in the meantime, i count my blessings every day for the job i have. obviously we're far from immune from all the stuff that's happening in the markets. there are any number of "pundits" out there who believe that private equity will be the next shoe to drop; i hope that they're wrong, but it's too early to tell. but as long as i still have my job, i'll remain grateful for the people with whom i work (all of whom i admire and respect) and the new things i've been learning every day. furthermore, i feel like this is the line of work that i can see myself doing for the long haul, which is pretty cool. it's definitely true when people say that you're more likely to appreciate a good thing after you've gone through the bad -- for me, it's nice to finally be part of a normal workplace and to be able to wake up in the morning actually feeling excited about work every day.
my health -- if i had written a similar blog entry in 2007, it's not particularly likely that i would have been as thankful about my health as i am now. in january 2007, i began to experience soreness in my lower back that i thought was the result of hitting the gym too hard a couple of times. my workout routine was pretty standard, and included deadlifts and leg squats at the time (and which i no longer do). i figured that resting for a couple days would make things better, but in fact my back only got worse. i decided to skip out on the gym for the rest of the week in hopes that i would feel better, but for some reason, things continued to get worse. i recognized that my job was getting progressively stressful, but it never really occurred to me to get checked out by a physician until i started experiencing tingling and loss of sensation in my right leg. eventually, the condition worsened, i couldn't sit for more than 20 minutes without experiencing dull pain in my right leg, and the only way to shake the pain off and regain sensation in my leg was to stumble around for a couple minutes until the nerve compression subsided.
eventually, things got bad enough in march 2007 that i decided to get an MRI, and also see an orthopedist and physiatrist about my condition. i ended up getting diagnosed with herniated discs at L3-L4 and L5-S1. while herniated discs are fairly common back injuries, it was a weird experience for me to go through as an otherwise healthy and physically active 23-year-old male. but evidently the herniations were severe enough that there was considerable compression against my sciatic nerve, which is what caused my lower back and leg to lose feeling from time to time.
fortunately, after three epidural injections in my spine (even under local anesthesia, having a huge needle being stuck in between your vertebrae is not a fun experience) and over a year of going to physical therapy twice a week, i'm feeling a lot better. while there were times during which i felt resigned to having back pain for the rest of my life, i never lost my overall optimism. i have to give a lot of credit to my physicians and physical therapists, and also attribute a big part of my improvement to my being in a much better work environment. in fact, i now feel as healthy as i've ever been. my overall conditioning has allowed me to hit the weight room twice a week, do yoga once a week, and compete on a dallas USTA men's tennis team. i never really figured i'd be able to exercise as much as i do especially given the injuries i've experienced over the years, but here i am. life has a funny way of working out for the better sometimes.
relationships -- the last thing i'm grateful for this year is a bit different from the other four things i mentioned, at least in the sense that it's now just a thing of the past. but it would be unfair for me not to be thankful for my relationship with my most recent girlfriend. jane and i had dated since may 2006, and we went out for over two years. i'm single now and am happy with the way things are going; that said, jane was a major reason for the good times in my life during the last two years and i wish her all the best. being with jane taught me the importance of patience, compassion, and understanding. it also helped me realize how important it is to make time for people i know, and that i'd rather have a good work-life balance than be a corporate slave (no matter how much anyone pays me).
i could probably write more about things that have happened in the last year, but i'm ready to put my pen down. i'll let some photos do the talking from here:
LEFT: w/ friends for my 24th birthday @ zanzibar in nyc (dec '07); RIGHT: w/ mom and sis @ the christmas markets in munich last december
LEFT: w/ mom in innsbruck, with austrian alps in the background; RIGHT: in front of schonnbrun palace in vienna
LEFT: w/ jane @ aquavit cafe in nyc; RIGHT: skiing w/ jane in the poconos (jan '08)
LEFT: more skiing in the poconos w/ friends;RIGHT: w/ jane @ bond st in nyc (feb '08)
LEFT: my going-away dinner @ aja in nyc (feb 2008); RIGHT: going-away gathering, part II @ morgans hotel in nyc
LEFT: my apartment complex in dallas; RIGHT: the interior of my apartment (before it got cluttered with all my junk)
LEFT: @ some beach in aruba (sep 2008); RIGHT: halloween in nyc
LEFT: more halloween craziness; RIGHT: with friends & fellow alums @ stanford leading matters conference in dallas (nov '08)
well, that's pretty much the last year of my life in a nutshell. i hope you guys enjoyed the mini slideshow.
hi all! it's been so long since i updated my xanga that it took me a couple minutes to find the button that allowed me to create a new weblog. anyway, it's good to be back again -- i'm surprised that i still manage to get a couple hundred visitors a day given the dormancy of this blog, but can definitely appreciate the readership (or at least what little readership i still have).
anyhow, now that the election is over, i suppose it's a moot point for me to articulate all the reasons why people should or shouldn't have voted for a certain candidate. besides, it's never really been my preference to turn my blog into apolitical sounding board (though some of my readers might argue that i would have been better off turning this blog into something else -- anything else -- as opposed to not updating it for eight months, as it were).
that said, as a centrist republican, it was hard for me to see mccain lose the election, but with the way things shaped up over the last couple months with respect to internal factors (like the vastly disparate quality of the candidates' campaigns themselves as well as their selection of running-mates) or current world affairs (such as our economy, war, international trade, and so forth), the outcome of the election seemed like a foregone conclusion.
it's generally the case that charisma and the power of rhetoric always reach far when addressing the masses, and that was particularly evident in this election. now the beauty contest is now over, it's time to put aside the fancy political chit-chat and see what mr. obama can do for our country. all things considered, however, i feel grateful about being an american citizen and having had the opportunity to choose between two pretty qualified candidates. i'm also not a raving political nut, and can thus respect the views and opinions of others. hopefully better things are to come with a new man in office (keeping my fingers crossed).
on a lighter note, this newsflash just came in: Obama Supporters Devastated By Election Win! changing gears for a minute, we now continue our coverage of the terrible aftermath of barack obama's victory, which has left obama supporters across the nation with nothing to talk about..." hopefully this youtube clip adds a bit of humor to your day, regardless of your political persuasion:
I didn't think it'd be so soon before I'd be writing my next xanga entry given my tedency to procrastinate, but given the recent earthquakes in China, we really need to rally together again and help those in need. It's important to recognize that the first and foremost issue ought to be that of humanitarianism, which should far transcend any underlying political agenda out there.
As a way of background, sources have most recently estimated the death toll to be 20,000 in Sichuan province alone, and this doesn't even include the people that are missing or buried under the rubble. Granted, some might argue that it might not be the Chinese government's proclivity to ask for outside aid either, but the fact that they have issued a rare public appeal for relief, food, and equipment should give some type of indication of the severity of the conditions there. Feel free to read the WSJ for a recent update on things: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121083757999794937.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
I sincerely hope you'll consider helping out the people that need it most. There are a variety of organizations that are assisting in the relief efforts, including the following:
Remember that your donations to help China are tax-deductible (again, why give your hard-earned money to the IRS when you can help save other people's lives?), and anything you give will add up. Your money goes a lot further in that side of the world than it does here. No donation is too small, either -- if you can forgo that $5 coffee at Starbucks today or the $10 ticket to the movies this weekend, you'll be able to help provide food and cotton blankets to families in China that no longer have a place to call home. And what could be better than that?
Hey guys, I hope all is well. It's been seemingly ages since I wrote in this blog, and part of the reason I haven't gotten around to it is because I haven't been able to come up with "real content." Well, actually, that's not totally true -- since the last time I wrote, I've vacationed in Europe, moved to a different part of the country, and started a new job...and really, all of those things have been a reason why I've been a bit busy to write. But recent events around the world have reminded me that what I've done lately in my own life is comparatively unimportant anyway, so I'd rather write about those things instead.
With the death toll in Myanmar already estimated at 25,000 (according to the Myanmar government) and potentially growing to some multiple of that, I hope you'll consider helping out people who need money more than we do. Every major charitable organization is helping out in the relief, and you can contribute to the charity of your choice here:
I know work can be pretty stressful and all (I certainly feel that way sometimes), but at least we all have a place we call home and we're able to put food on the table. Look at this as an opportunity for you to do something awesome today and give help to people that actually need it. Also, remember that your donations are tax-deductible, and the people in Myanmar definitely need your money more than the IRS, even if they don't ask for it literally.
Cheers, Eric
edited 2008.05.09: myanmar gov't seizes food and supplies sent in by the U.N.?!
it's been over nine months since i last wrote in this xanga, as "real life" just seemed to take over and i never actually got back into the swing of writing here. everything'sbeen good -- i'm in good health and in good spirits, and justenjoying some much-needed vacation time with my family. some of you might be wondering what's been happening in my life, and the reality is...not a whole lot! i'm still the same old me.
well, i guess it's not quite true that my life was exactly as it was the last time i wrote here -- perhaps some new interests, new travels, new career aspirations, new friends, etc.? well, i have nearly a year of stuff to catch up on, and i'll make it a point to write about some of this soon since i definitely don't want to forget about everything that happened in 2007. (edit: just don't hold me to it!)
nonetheless, i just wanted to write and wish you all a merry christmas and happy holidays - hope you guys have a terrific time with your family and friends.
hopefully this youtube clip adds a bit of humor to your day, regardless of your political persuasion:
