This is the second part of my controversial interview with Ken Goldberg. He’s gone through many phases in his life. Today, Ken talks about the gun range, being a lawyer, and more struggles with substance abuse. You can also watch the video of his appearance on the Ali G Show (and no, he didn’t know it was a fake interview.)
Ken Goldberg: Once I got my law degree, I started practicing law with the same population, in large part, I’d been social working to.
Jennifer Barry: That makes sense. You understood them and knew they needed a lot of legal help.
KG: I was perfect for it. Juvenile cases, criminal cases, it didn’t matter, I could smell b.s. from a mile away. I could bust my client’s bad story, I could bust a witness’ bad story. I was bright, although I wasn’t successful, and then I met Gerry Spence. He taught me trial law in 1994, and then I became a minor star in my own little world. I learned what was wrong with my technique, and I became monstrously good. But I wasn’t interested. My history is that when I become really good at something, I lose interest. Continue reading From Gunslinger to Monk, Part 2
When caught in the act, bankers change their stories.
This is a continuation of my interview with Nye Lavalle. Sixteen years ago, he began investigating mortgage fraud when a bank attempted to wrongfully foreclose on a family property. Many of the issues he uncovered more than a decade ago, like robo-signing, are just being recognized today. Lavalle continues to try educate others about problems in the banking industry and the US economy.
Nye Lavalle: That’s why it was funny in Florida when that bank said they lost a note. I would kind of laugh, how do you lose a $2.5 million note? That’s like $2.5 million floating around somewhere.
Jennifer Barry: There is some evidence that the banks aren’t necessarily losing the notes so much as destroying them.
NL: But why would someone destroy a $2.5 million note? The only reason someone would destroy a note would be to cover up endorsements on that note which would have indicated another change of title to whomever really owned that note, so they actually destroyed the evidence.
After a short break from the computer, I’m back with another controversial interview. Ken Goldberg has gone through many phases in his life from runaway to lawyer, and yes, Buddhist monk. With all the violence in his life, it’s amazing that he’s still here at age 58. Ken is proof that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself if you really want to.
Jennifer Barry: Thanks for agreeing to the interview. You’ve had an amazing life, starting at a very young age. I know that you spent a lot of time on the streets in Chicago.
Ken Goldberg: I started out in an affluent Jewish family, and I started running away when I was 13 from a physically abusive dad. I tried to poison my father when I was 10. I finally left home on a regular basis at the age of 15. I would come back home when I was too sick to cope with the streets anymore. At 17, I moved out for good.
I hung out mostly in the ghetto in those years because white, middle class families didn’t want a runaway hanging around. But black families said, “Don’t make any trouble or any noise, and you can go to sleep in that room over there.” Continue reading From Gunslinger to Monk
When people learn I’ve been studying Spanish for four years, so many tell me they wish they could do the same. When I ask them why they don’t learn the language of their choice, I get one (or more) of the following excuses. Today I will help you by blowing up all these excuses so you can cross this off your bucket list.
1. I don’t have the money for classes - If you are trying to learn a rare language that isn’t spoken near you, it’s true, you may be out of luck. Immersion in a program or a visit foreign country may be best, but it’s not cheap.
But for most of us, we are trying to learn a tongue that’s spoken by millions around the world. For a major language like German or Mandarin Chinese, check your local library for CDs, dictionaries, and even children’s books. Radio Lingua has free podcasts in over 20 languages. My favorite resource, iTunesU, has free online classes in everything from Armenian to Urdu. Continue reading 5 Language Learning Excuses and How to Get Past Them
Here’s my third interview with a travel blogger (check out Phil and Shannon if you haven’t yet), but this time you get a two for one! Jack and Jill just started on their global adventure, but they are already having fun. Fortunately, they are travel veterans so they have a realistic though optimistic view. I want to thank them so much for giving me time while they’re on the road!
1. To Jill: Tell us a little about your background. Why did you leave Indonesia?
I was born and grew up in Indonesia until I was 16. Then we had that big riot in Jakarta where they were targeting the Chinese minority? Well, my parents had always wanted to send me abroad for college, but decided to do it a couple of years early because of the riot. But instead of sending me to cool, multicultural cities such as Melbourne or Sydney, they sent me to podunk Adelaide instead (no offense, I ended up really liking Adelaide).
But I guess it turned out for the better. There was only one other Indonesian in the whole school and it forced me to pick up English much faster than I would have if I had gone to one of the bigger cities.
After I graduated high school in Aussie, I studied art in Seattle and graduated. Then I realized I missed science and decided to go study engineering in California. Which is a very nice segue to your next question.
Before the web, Lavalle had to fly to courthouses for research.
Jennifer Barry: It’s very disturbing, because this unit of Bear Stearns was pushing you around and you could actually fight back. Did you say they spent $2.5 million fighting your family?
Nye Lavalle: Over $2.5 million, and the month before trial our law firm withdrew and we got a default judgment against us. It turned out our law firm was representing Bear Stearns and hadn’t informed us of the relationship and banking interests. And we had paid them $75,000 and then capped their fees, and they racked up a $750,000 bill themselves.
Here is the twelfth installment of my series which spotlights content I’ve been enjoying recently. These links are listed in no particular order. I hope they help you to live a little more richly!
Bret alerts us to the fact that many people have less money to spend, and this situation could continue for a while. Whether this applies to you or not, it’s wise to build up a savings account. If your bank balance is small or non-existent, Little House has some tips to help.
Maybe you could save money if you had another job. Phil shares his experience earning money through freelance writing.
A great way to save money and eat well is through gardening. Andrew explains his plans to grow tasty veggies. Then once you have home grown tomatoes, why not make a pasta sauce? Kathy shows you how to make pasta by hand to eat with your fresh produce.
A unique way to save money is by living in a cheaper country like Thailand, as Shannon shows us.
However, there are many motivations for visiting foreign lands. Maybe you wish to volunteer, as Wandering Earl did at Mother Teresa’s Home For The Dying. Or maybe you want to better understand another culture as Erica did in Hiroshima. You may simply want to experience breathtaking views like Jack and Jill did in Indonesia.
Do you have problems saying “No?” Maybe you like being super busy, but this may be a sign that you are avoiding your feelings or your self-esteem is based in accomplishing tasks, as Sandra points out.
Even though it may be hard to face disapproval, as Irving reminds us, you have to live your life in the way that makes sense for you. You have to set your priorities and say no to those tasks that don’t forward your goals, as Kevin explains in his post on the power of saying “No.”
Maybe you want to make a big change in your life and start your own business. Angela advises you to check in with your intuition rather than always letting your fears stop you. On the other hand, your strongest values may be holding you back, as you may desire security over everything else. Maybe you have been hurt before, and your lack of trust is getting in the way of your success, as Bryan points out.
Many of you know I’ve been studying Spanish for four years. I have many people tell me they wish they could learn a foreign language, but they think it’s too late for them. Benny argues that you are not too old, and adults can be better learners than kids.
I think many people are afraid to speak another language even when they know many words because they don’t want to make a mistake. If perfectionism is a major stumbling block, Evelyn has some tips for you.
I’m glad Adam’s green card odyssey seems almost over. If you want to know what’s wrong with the US immigration policy, just read about his 2 year struggle with the bureaucracy.
To end, I want to give a shout out to Len Penzo who’s been struggling with web problems lately. On the bright side, the extra work has helped him cut back on his crippling addiction to iTunes.
Are you worried about natural disasters, crime or terrorism? Neil Strauss was. He tried to prepare for everything, but ended up finding himself.
Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life is an informative, funny, and sometimes disturbing memoir. It details the transformation of the author, Neil Strauss, a music critic and writer who admittedly has few practical skills at the beginning of the book. Strauss’ family lived in a high rise apartment building, so he never learned about nature or how to fix things. By the end of the book, he’s able to care for both himself and loved ones in areas ranging from wilderness survival to hand to hand combat.
The book immediately draws you in with Strauss’ moral dilemma of whether to slaughter a goat in his quest for survival skills. Emergency then bounces back and forth in time, from location to location, and from factual narrative to analysis. This stylistic choice holds the reader’s attention, but is confusing at times. Continue reading Just In Case
Defaults and foreclosures are profitable for banks.
Nye Lavalle is best known for his sports predictions. With his family, he founded Sports Marketing Group and stunned many sportswriters with his accurate calls on the popularity of figure skating and NASCAR in the 1990s, among many others. Sixteen years ago, he began investigating mortgage fraud when a bank attempted to wrongfully foreclose on a family property. Many of the issues he uncovered more than a decade ago, like robo-signing, are just being recognized today. He continues to try educate others about problems in the banking industry and the US economy. This is Part 1 of our explosive interview.
Jennifer Barry: Could you tell me a little bit about how you got interested in the whole mortgage fraud and predatory lending and things like that?
Nye Lavalle: Sure. Just to give you an idea, my email, mortgagefrauds@aol.com, has been in existence, since I believe, about 1995.
JB: That’s a very long time.
NL: It all started the night my mom and dad Anthony and Matilde Pew owned a home in Dallas, TX, that we used for our family business called Sports Marketing Group. And I had a place in New York and LA, and we were eventually going to retire to that home at first blush. But we purchased the home, and my family had money, and I had money, we were a business, and basically, soon after we closed on the loan, the bank SOA just started doing all sorts of stupid things. Nobody resided full-time in the home, and they were instructed to send the payment statements to Michigan so that they could get paid on time, and they never sent them there. They sent them to the property address and somebody wasn’t on the property for sometimes two to three months. And they wouldn’t change that. They wouldn’t take off the late fees, then when I would pay bills on time at the bank, it turned out that they would send the payments from the bank to California to the posting center, and they wouldn’t get posted for 10 more days, even though you paid it on time at the bank. And then they would put another late fee onto the account. Continue reading A House of Cards: An interview with Nye Lavalle
This is the second part of my interview with Shannon O’Donnell, travel blogger. To read the first part, click here.
Jennifer Barry: So what are the differences between Chiang Mai and the south of Thailand?
Shannon O’Donnell: Chiang Mai is much quieter than Bangkok, even though Chiang Mai is the second biggest city. It’s much smaller. Everything is motorbike-able within about 20 minutes here. But the north has a somewhat different culture, with different food than you see in the south. The islands in the south have so much Western influence in them.
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