User talk:Hikiate

About Adam Levine (not from Maroon 5): My life has been a long, strange trip, with all the twists and turns of a Garcia guitar solo. It would require my writing a book to include all of the details (I am not sure that I want to include all of details). I always try to treat others empathetically, fairly, and compassionately. I also strive to be creative and to have integrity. Although I was born in New York City, I lived most of my pre-college life in Westchester County, NY. I spent a lot of time in Rye, NY playing with the neighborhood kids, including sports, outside games, and occasionally, a crab apple fight with the neighbors. When I became a teenager, I worked as a gardener, in a supermarket cleaning floors, getting carts, and occasionally packing out isles. I also worked at a boat yard with an x-sailor who always said, “Good enough for government work; good enough for me”. He may have been a drunk, but based on what has happened in Washington, he was also a prophet. It was in Rye, NY where I learned to appreciate the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan among other bands. I went to rock concerts as often as I could (which was often). I also started learning how to play the electric guitar and still play. I also formed friendships that have lasted through the years. They are part of the foundation of my life. In 1981, I started my college education at Boston University. I immediately embraced the freedom of college life. Within a couple of days, I embarked on solid friendships that are still intact today, over twenty-seven years later. I was very social and enterprising. My 500 square foot apartment was a mecca for the counter-culture. In 1983, I spent the summer at UCSC (uncle Charlie’s summer camp) and fell in love with Northern California. We regularly took road trips to Esselen (hot tubs) in Big Sur. Indecently, if you get the chance to got to Esselen, it is an experience that will last a lifetime (leave your swim suit at home; you won’t need it). After graduating college and working and living in New Jersey for a short time, I moved to the Bay Area and went to work for Bear Sterns and Company, where we did a good deal of drinking and spurting out quotes from Caddyshack. In 1988, my fiance and I moved to Hollywood and got married. Also in 1988, I began my long career in lending, and began working at HFC. I enjoyed making loans and living in Hollywood. Life was crazy and I was very socially active. In 1992, I left HFC as a divorcée, and began rebuilding my life. I went work at Long Beach Bank and fourth months later, won a cruise to Mexico with other bank employees. The worst part of the trip was when my brother Josh fell off a table at Senor Frogs and cut his hand. I had to drive him back to the ship for surgery. Other than that, the trip was awesome. My mortgage career continued, and I eventually had the privilege of being a regional manager at WMC, a subprime lender. It was a great experience for me, and hopefully, for my staff as well. More importantly, I met Rebecca, my current wife, through an introduction made by my sister Dara. It was my lucky day, as Rebecca and I have been happily married for fourteen years, have two wonderful kids and a dog named Hazel. I continue to work in the mortgage business and I now live in Ventura County. Most of my family lives in New York. We see them 2-3 times a year. My kids really enjoy their time there as New York City has a lot to offer. We also spend time upstate at my folks’ farm. Even though we are, like many fellow Americans, experiencing economic challenges, we feel very fortunate. We have many friends and supportive family. Life in Ventura County is great, and I am very confident that the economy will get better in the latter part of 2009. Maybe, under new presidential leadership, the country can get back on its feet and once again be a proud nation. Let’s hope so for the good of all of us. Life is about random acts of kindness and reaching enlightenment. The way a person lives their life will define how they are remembered in the future. Adam Levine mailto:adam@adamjlevine.com

Who I'd like to meet: Alan Alda, Bob Weir, President Obama, Bill Clinton, Chevy Chase, Zig Ziglar, Daisaku Ikeda and Bob Dylan.

http://www.adamjlevine.com