For purposes of travel, not at all. I'd be there for the mountains and the wildlife.

In a broader sense: I am not a fan of assuming that one culture is better tan another — but I definitely recognize that the differences are real, and I think it is reasonable and right for those in one culture to apply their sense of morality to another country in their real terms. In other words, while I think that, say, China's general approach to human rights is not inherently inferior to ours, we feel as we do and I think that that alone should prevent us not only from being allied with them in any sense but in fact from having any significant economic ties — and **** the global economic devastation implementing that would cause.

where in the bay area did you live?

The dating experience, I'll sleep on and get back to you because no single one stands out. (Background: I have had, off and on, a profile on Match for perhaps four years total, and have met two serious girlfriends there, one of whom remains one of my very few close friends.)

Never married. Engaged twice — but neither one was my son's mother. there are lonnngg stories available here.

There are no hedgehogs because TL is asleep.

The first question gets a long answer that I'll probably right up tomorrow. He (I'm not sure whether giving his first name, which is unusual, is wise — thoughts, anyone?) is the most important thing in my life, and there's a lot to tell. At the moment he's with his mother; he spends summers and Christmas with me. I have had about quarter time with him since his mother and I moved apart when he was almost three.

Seer. I have done so much of it I have come really to like it.

Never practiced law — there's a story there too. I did clerk for a for a Ninth Circuit judge. As for medicine: no. My students were always stunned that someone who could get into med school my scores are very good) would choose not to, but I have no desire to do that.

best way to learn to play bridge well if no one i see on a regular basis does?

ybos? you bipolar or something?
what jobs have you had in the past?
what do you do now?
favorite color?
why is your son troubled?

You could just give him a fake name so it will be easier to talk about him.

why did you put in the work to get into medschool if you had no interest in being a doctor?
same for LSATs if you never did law

Why is there no c in your screen name?

Lordy.

Australia. More specifically, I suppose it was the Queensland rain forest, but my whole trip there, a few years ago, was so wonderful that it all rolled together in my mind. A couple days screwing around on Kangaroo Island, nearly a week in the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef, birding in Queensland, then a couple days in Sydney doing what my father wanted to do (climbing the bridge over Sydney harbor, on a perfect Sunday afternoon, and then seeing an opera you-know-where)... just all around amazing.

Not like there aren't other possibilities. Foz do Iguaccu are great. I've spent a bit of time in the upper Amazon. Kenya is pretty much how it looks on the wildlife specials — which sure ain't bad. the Matterhorn (which unfortunately I did not get to climb) is the best-looking mountain I've ever seen.

You'll note an paucity of populated places on the list — that's not accidental.

Give me specifics. People used to move to Austin for a month so they could get my help, so I should be able to offer some useful advice, but I need to know the situation. The more I know, the better.

Not sure if I'm reading this correctly. Are you saying you think the U.S. (or some country) should sever economic ties with a country like China because of differences in the two cultures? Don't you think the world as a whole would be a lot worse off if this was applied world wide?

It comes from a license plate I used to have: ATAKDUG (my name's Doug). And... I just like it.

There's another atakdog out there on a fair number of sites I've tried to join over the years, which annoys me, but I know nothing about him/her except that sometimes I have to choose a different name.

For someone who is not going to have a good GPA at all,whos strong spot is math. How long should I dedicate to studying for them? Is guessing better or worse on these tests? do I get points deducted for wrong answers?

you a coffee drinker?

Yes, I think that, though the specifics are up for debate and I might back off to some extent. I definitely think we should not do anything that helps cultures with fundamentally different views of the value of human life unless we absolutely have to.

Would the world be worse for it? Economically, certainly, but wealth is not happiness, and I believe in fact that in some ranges the two are negatively correlated.

Three or four cups, black, every morning, or I do not function well and am unpleasant to deal with. If I have no caffeine I am 100% certain to get a headache that day, usually in mid- or late afternoon.

Do you think your caffeine dependency is unhealthy?

Also, religion, your viewpoint?

withdrawal symptoms

I know them well.

You like Peets? I didn't know you were in the bay area.

do you have any tattoos?

rate your confidence level in performing the following:

resetting a dislocated shoulder
cpr
emergency tracheotomy
karaoke

If good GPA is under 3, you need either more undergrad course to raise the GPA — I'm serious - as much as two extra years. Need to be all As at that point. Med schools are not in the habit of letting in people with bad GPAs regardless how they did on the test. Unless you know someone (which helps a ton), you are not getting in with a sub-three GPA.

Note: this is assuming you're non-hispanic white or Asian. Racial preferences in US med school admissions are huge.

Assuming we're still talking: tell me how comfrtable you are reading moderately dense material (say, an issue of the Economist) quickly, how well you did in Physics, algebra PR calculus based, how much organic chem you remember, and I'll continue the answer.

Peets only. Sulawesi or aged Sumatra.

I was in San Francisco itself for a couple years, had a house in San Mateo for a few, then a couple places in the east bay mu last year of law school. there was a brief homeless period in there too, and some temporary stays in the afr eats bay, Milpetas, and San Carlos.

I left there for my clerkship and haven't been back; that was about a dozen years ago.


All: forgive me, I type very slowly. I eschewed typing class because I wasn't sure I could get an A in it, and that has haunted me ever since; also, my boy (let's call him K) did serious damage to one of my fingers a couple years ago.

I'm trying, just bear with me.

This is really tough. there are classes, but it's so much better if you are learning among people with whom you're really comfortable, because bridge is stupidly complex to learn — a couple orders of magnitude more than poker imo.

I would say if you really wanted to, you should combine going to a class (most bridge clubs have beginner classes) with reading. If you want I can dig up a list of begininer books I put together — it's somewhere in the bridge thread. Also, Siegmund knows more than I about bridge books.

Also, you and I have another thing in common — I think you were a kayaker. I kayaked a lot for a few years while I was out there, until a destroyed and reconstructed shoulder put a stop to that — but not until I'd come a lot closer to death tat I think anyone ever should, in one instance in particular.

well, do go on with the near drowning story....