this is the last chance I have to...

I feel like these last six months are filled with statements that begin with this remark.

...travel somewhere big.
...read for leisure.
...cover sports.
...explore San Diego.
...improve my Chinese.
...learn other grown up things.

Sigh. It's almost overwhelming, and seemingly more things are added every day.

...Maybe I should add writing better blog posts to that list.

An ode to Jeremy Lin

During my freshman year, the extent of my UCI basketball fanhood (which was in its infancy) was casually scanning the box scores and attended home games when I could. I remember thinking that it was interesting that they were playing Harvard on the road that season, and also thinking that it was somewhat embarrassing that it took overtime to beat them. Upon checking that box score though, a name jumped out at me: J Lin.

"Hey, an Asian guy! And what? A 20/13/3 night? With five steals and 43 minutes, the most on the team!? This guy is pretty good!" Being the blatant homer Asian athlete fan that I am, I proceeded to read up on him and continued to follow him for the rest of his collegiate career.

I learned that he was Harvard's best player, and that he had gone to Harvard the East Coast because no West Coast California Pac-10 teams had offered him a scholarship, despite gaudy high school numbers (Harvard doesn't give athletic scholarships). I learned that he was a devout Christian who was considering becoming a pastor. I even learned that he was his high school newspaper's editor. Needless to say, he quickly became one of my favorite college players, someone I would always update Yi on whenever he had a particularly good night.

That being said, I never thought that Lin would make it to the NBA. He wasn't drafted, and while he was good in college, he wasn't carry-his-team-to-the-NCAA Tournament good. At least so I thought. Sticking in the NBA is an extremely hard task, even for those drafted in the second round and from bigger name schools. It isn't like Lin was some 7-foot big man who could exist in the NBA simply due to his size. It isn't like Lin is super athletic or even the quickest guy on the court. When the Warriors signed him as a rookie free agent, I thought it was more of a token nod, due to Lin being from the Bay Area. When he started to actually do well in the preseason rookie games, I was impressed. When he made the team, I was excited. When he stuck with the team minus a few trips to the D-League, I was happy. But always lingering in the back of my mind was a sense of doubt. Maybe Lin was there as a sort of publicity stunt due to the high amount of Asians in the Bay Area. Maybe he was only there because the Warriors stunk that year.

This year when he was cut by the Warriors, I thought it might have been the end of the line. Plenty of players get a cup of coffee in the NBA and then disappear, never to be heard from again. I thought that Lin's ~40 games his rookie season were a fair cup of coffee, and just hoped that he would at least get a few 10-day contracts. When the Houston Rockets claimed him, I was again pleasantly surprised. Again however, I wondered if the Rockets were just appealing to their Asian fan base recovering from the lack of Yao. When he was bounced to the Knicks, I started thinking that Lin was just hanging on by a thread, not playing very often at all. I always hoped and rooted for him to persevere, but I didn't expect anything too crazy.

Then a couple nights ago, Mike D'Antoni played Lin in the first half, as one of the first guys off the bench. A beacon of hope! Last night, Lin finally got his chance to shine. He proceeded to lead all scorers with 25 points, outplaying all-star Deron Williams and carrying the Knicks on a night when Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire weren't getting it done. He even got all of Madison Square Garden chanting his name and "MVP! MVP!". Big time stuff. Some significant quotes to sum it up:

“Jeremy came out and gave us a great spark off the bench, and that was phenomenal for us tonight,” forward Amare Stoudemire said.

“If you would have told me Melo would go 3 for 15 and Amare would get in foul trouble, I’d think, `Man, we’d win by double figures,”’ Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “But when you have a guy coming off your bench like that and getting 25 points, it’s pretty deflating.”

“I had my doubts, but we just stayed with it and he has some of the qualities that we needed,” D’Antoni said.

“There is so much focus on Carmelo, Amare and the other guys that our game plan was to help off him and go under (screens) on him,” Williams said. “He started knocking down shots, got confidence. He was taking it to the basket and had a lot of success.”

"At times it did cross my mind; maybe I might not get a chance," said Lin, who played sparingly for Golden State last season.

"Let me go home and digest this a little bit, but obviously we're going back to the well," D'Antoni said. "He can give us something that we can't do without."

To sum it up, Jeremy Lin is the proverbial Hollywood story of an underdog who everyone doubted. From college coaches to the NBA, it's been Lin that has had to prove people wrong. As the first Asian-American NBA player, Lin is an inspiration and role model. He strives to know God more intimately, and is unashamed of his faith. Today, his tweet after the game began: "God is good during our ups and our downs!"

Playing in the NBA is just about THE most unlikely (and yet one of the most common) pipe dream for any young Asian American guy. The fact that JLin was able to do it gives me confidence in a small way that I will one day be able to accomplish a pipe dream of my own.

the calm before the storm

It's odd to think that six months from now, I will be launched into a stressful environments, studying like I've never studied before, living in a new city and hopefully maturing into someone who is real world-ready at a more rapid rate than ever before.

Now is like the calm before the storm. The menial tasks seem somewhat pointless, while any steps toward preparation can only do so much. And yet there is nothing else to do but to press on.

The Water Ride Smell

I have a confession.

I enjoy the smell of water rides. You know, that mix of dirty water, chlorine, and constantly damp cavernous area that you find on rides like Splash Mountain. When I mention this to people (usually on the ride itself and not out of the blue), everyone always makes a face and thinks that my weird affinity for such a disgusting smell is reprehensible. I always maintain that the “water ride smell” is not nearly as bad as such toxic smells like cigarette smoke or gasoline, but I admit that it is a bit weird.

I think I have finally determined an explanation.

While I suppose it is possible that I just inherently enjoy that mildewed smell, I realized that I only enjoy the scent because it is reminiscent of the smell of my old basement where I hung out growing up. It was my feel good place in the house, the spot where I could escape the heat of summer and invent crazy makeshift sports and watch the Cardinals or Blues game while eating a nice cold grapefruit. It was freedom from (my little) responsibility, my own little cave that I could rule over and have fun in before having to attend to the drone of homework or practicing piano. That basement constantly required the hum drum of a dehumidifier, frantically and pointlessly fighting a battle it couldn’t win.

This correlation explanation applies to other things in our lives too. So many people going to Las Vegas seek freedom and an escape from the real world, a place where people can leave their responsibilities behind. Getting drunk and doing what people commonly do in Vegas is thus associated with these positives ... but in reality, all you’re doing is smelling bad air.

2011: The Year That Was

Twenty-eleven is the first year in a while that I can look back at and say, "Yeah, it's been a long year." Usually I'm in disbelief that it's already the next calendar year, but for a variety of reasons, 2011 felt like a complete year, in a good way.

A quick rundown of times to remember, with apologies at any momentarily forgotten moments.

- My last Edge retreat (Jeff Lee's posse)
- WWKDDMTAP (and maybe a few other things)
- BWAM Boise (the first)
- UCI vs. UCLA baseball (walk-off at Jackie Robinson)
- Graduation (four celebratory meals in two days)
- The last shining moments in 122 (probably never to be replicated)
- Mammoth (a return to the joys of fishing)
- A LV 4th of July (no photographic evidence of the men)
- LSAT studying (Blueprint, not leaving the house much)
- LSAT taking (unfortunate borderline score, fortunate no retake)
- Applications (round two)
- The birth of Zotcubed (thanks for the readership)
- Cardinals Winning the World Series (Phillies, Brewers, David Freese Game 6)
- Boston (Lechmere, Dunkin' Donuts, Scarves and hats)
- Black Friday madness (madness, i tell ya)
- UCLA (third time's a charm)
- Pujols leaving (sad days)
- Finding my first full-time job (get money, get paid)

Thanks for the good times 2011. You were a year to remember.

Wowzers

Three days later, and I remain flabbergasted.

It feels great to know where I will be next year, and also to know that I won't be far from friends and family. I'm humbled and amazed by the opportunity I now have before me.

Thank you all for your overwhelming firestorm of support. God is good, and his plan is greater.

Now, I just have to get used to rooting for another SoCal school besides UCI...

get money, get paid.

It's somewhat weird that my first full-time job starts tomorrow. The fact that it's not the most prestigious gig doesn't help either. Nonetheless, I am thankful that I found a paying job somewhat quickly, and I am thankful that it is close to my present location.

Recently I've realized that in my struggle to cope with this gap year and the liminal in general, I need to slow things down and enjoy the present more. I'm in a hurry to find out my next step of life, to move on to independent living, to be able to tell people what I'm currently up to without dreading doing so. This period of life, as unappreciated as it generally is by all who share it, is still unique and valuable as a growing process. Although it's harder to discover how exactly that growth is supposed to happen, I think being grounded in humility is a beginning.

Cheers to new stages in life and being able to appreciate them despite their frustrations.