somewhere between

Growing up can be boiled down to a gradual whittling away of what society deems acceptable for one's life accomplishments and general abilities.

It's okay he can't form sentences, he's only one years old!

It's okay he isn't potty trained, he's only two years old!

It's okay he can't read, he's only three years old!

The excuses of youth continue for a surprisingly long time. Even into your twenties, people have somewhat low expectations of recent college graduates. Even after law school, people have low expectations for those who are just starting out in their careers. 

The built-in excuses and low expectations sunset somewhere around age 30 though. At that point, you aren't expected to be at the height of your career, but you're expected to at least have a career. Maybe you don't own your own property, but people generally start expecting you to not live at home with the parents anymore.  

Heading into my age 30 year, it's something I've been thinking about. We're not old, but we're not in our youth either. We're somewhere in-between, and life starts coming at you real fast.

I'm not all that sure that this prelude is a fitting intro for my annual year-end recap (which is what this started out as). More than anything it comes across as general melancholy, which is not an apt encapsulation of my 2018, so I'll stop here for now. 

2017: The Year That Was

In a marked departure from the past few whirlwind years, 2017 was not filled with a slew of firsts and life milestones. Instead, it was a year of second-time-throughs and building upon past experience.

On one hand, it's reassuring to not feel like a complete rookie. On the other, it's easy to fall into bad habits and days that thoughtlessly bleed into each other.

Anyway, as this post is woefully delinquent, I'll cut to the chase. Some proverbial highlights from the past year:

1. A Place To Call Our Own. It feels good to build toward something long term, rather than making a monthly expense payment. We are very lucky and grateful to live where we live.

2. Travel Bug Stayed Strong. Oakland (house warming in Temescal); Las Vegas (Traci watching the Backstreet Boys); Anaheim (BWT Finals, where UCI lost for the third time in four trips since 2008); Phoenix (Spring Training 2017, Dodgers autograph success!); Crater Lake and Bend, OR (where our car was sideswiped overnight); Temecula (friendly wine servers winning over certain members of our party); San Francisco (Edge/softball wedding); Seattle and Whidbey Island (law school wedding); Ensenada (birthday celebration); Joshua Tree (Mom's birthday); Santa Barbara (quality wine); and Sonoma (capstone wine tasting trip).

3. A Return To Costa Rica. This trip gets its own paragraph. Long on Traci's bucket list, I was really excited to go back to one of my favorite countries. The trip itself was awesome, but the journey back, not so much. We'll always have being stranded for 23 hours at a closed down Houston Hobby Airport in the middle of Hurricane Harvey as a memento of our second year of marriage.

[January 2019 EDIT: BLOGGER FAIL]... Just noticed this never got officially published. Half-written draft just hung around in the unpublished posts section for an entire year. Oh well, on to the next...

2016: The Year That Was

Well, it finally happened. Proverbial Putts went an entire year with just one sole post.

I suppose as one gets older, less and less time is spent selfishly pontificating about your own life and emotions. Having a job that requires sitting in front of a computer all day, reading and writing, also doesn't inspire much desire to come home and do more of the same.

I actually did reboot Zotcubed in an effort to keep my "writing for fun" juices flowing, and I thought about writing on here a couple times, but it just never happened.

Old habits die hard though; I'm not quite ready to retire my annual year-end reflection post. So let's see...

2016 was the first full "join the work force and be a real adult" year of my life. It was also a year that challenged me in new ways, shaking my confidence tremendously at times. I feel somewhat accomplished for having successfully reached the other side, but I'm more excited to build off this past year with a better one in 2017.

2016 was a year of cramming travel into long-weekends. Due to losing my student-life freedoms, we substituted my international trips for short weekend getaways. Las Vegas, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, Lake Cuyamaca, Napa, Orange County and Los Angeles, all fun times in their own right. We capped it all off with our quasi-one year anniversary trip to Hawaii (Kauai and Oahu) over Thanksgiving, a vacation I was especially thankful for.

2016 was another big year of weddings. I was lucky enough to serve as a groomsman for Fooks and toast Yibs as one of his best men. We had another joyous Ambalamps reunion for Ambrose, and a Glory reunion in SF for Vince. All friendships and celebrations I cherish.

2016 also saw the addition of a new family member. Pippin the dog (after Peregrin Took) overcame her bout with a canine version of lyme's disease, not to mention whatever other hardships she experienced on the streets of Mexico, and spent many-a-night happily thumping her tail under our bed. Although she still has some peculiar behavioral issues that we're working on, she went from zero tricks to three and a half in the course of four-ish months. So there's hope yet, even if she manages to get by on her cuteness regardless.

And finally, 2016 was a year for exposing the many ways that I can improve as a husband. There seem to be so few precious hours in a day that we're not occupied with work and other obligations -- hopefully 2017 will be a year of maximizing the hours we do have to make strides onward and upward.

2015: The Year That Was

2015 was an eventful year. So eventful, in fact, that it may never be topped. There were many great things, some not so great things, and some other general milestones that will go down in the history books. This blog is getting old, and desperately needs some fresh air, so instead of rolling out one of my typical TLDR year-end recaps, I'll try to summarize things into a few main points.

1. Wedding/Married Life

It's still surreal to say "my wife" or see the name "Traci Gao" on paper, perhaps because the entire turnaround between proposal and marriage happened within the year. Regardless, the wedding was just about everything we could have hoped for, and those moments were some of the happiest of my lifetime. It's something special to have all of your closest people in the world, all in one space, and all present for your sake. It was like if someone combined all of your birthday parties throughout your life and hosted one giant party with all of those people, only on top of that you got to celebrate being with your for-real-best-friend-for-life on top of that.

Married life is a lot of fun because it means never having to say good bye for long. That being said, I'm quickly realizing that being a good husband requires additional effort and thoughtfulness, and I hope to improve in certain areas of my new role in life moving forward.

2. Wanderlust

In terms of travel, I would be astounded if 2015 was ever topped. I was lucky enough to go to China, the DRC, Burundi, the Netherlands, Fiji, and New Zealand. In each country, my worldview was broadened, and perspective on life widened. And by that, I don't mean boasting about how "worldly" I now am, but instead realizing how narrow my worldview was before, and trying to quench my thirst for learning more outside the limited scope of our daily lives. The same applies in the U.S as well, on a smaller scale. Shout out to weekend trips to SF, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Portland!

There's not much I'd rather do in the world than travel with good friends and loved ones. Thank you to those who made my 2015 travels full of laughs, interesting conversation, and all-around good times. I can't wait to explore again when the opportunity presents itself.

3. Law Stuff

2015 marked my graduation from law school, which was cool. It also marked less savory experiences, such as studying for and taking the bar.

I suppose life is a sequence of events where you over-stress and make a bigger deal of each hurdle you have immediately ahead of you, only to look back and realize that the hurdle wasn't really such a big deal after all. Too bad you can't realize that the hurdle isn't so bad until you have the wisdom in retrospect!

4. Back Home in Sunny San Diego

After four years in Irvine, a transition year, and three more in Los Angeles, it's nice to be back in San Diego for the long haul. I do miss all of my friends now scattered up the coast and in other parts of the country, but all things considered, living in the downtown area of San Diego isn't too shabby.

Looking forward to diving into home improvement, exploring the city, and hosting more friend visits in 2016.

All the Groom's Men

In one week's time, I will be one day into the married life. I've struggled with capturing the emotions that come along with such a statement, so a post on that will have to wait.

One week ago, however, I got to spend an excellent weekend with my nine groomsmen up in Big Bear Lake, and I thought I'd write a bit about that for now.

The most common response I've received from people is something about the number of groomsmen I have enlisted. "Nine!? Geez! Why so many!" 

It's a question I had to consider when Traci told me that she would only have five bridesmaids. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no one I could cut!

All nine of these guys have affected some facet of my life in a big way, and it was important to me that all nine of these guys were up there by my side on the wedding day. From my childhood in St. Louis, to my high school days in San Diego, to college life in Irvine, to post-college life in Los Angeles, each stage was represented. These guys are the friends and brother that I leaned on through the hard times, who I could count on for a hearty laugh and a fun time, who I could be open and honest with.

II have been extremely blessed to have each and every one of these guys in my life, and I am so glad that each one of them can be part of my wedding festivities. Without them, my life would have been drastically altered for the worse.

Thanks guys for the awesome weekend. There was epic ping pong tournaments, challenging water sports, vintage MLB Showdown duals, fellowship over home cooked meals and even some good old 5-on-5 basketball. It was everything I could have hoped for from a bachelor's weekend, and I can only hope that there will be many more similar festivities in the future.

UCLA Law Class of 2015, you guys were alright

I graduated from law school this past Friday and it's a surreal feeling. It sounds cliche, but I could not have done it without the consistent support from my friends and family. So grateful for all of the blessings that I have been given over the last three years, and very thankful that I had the opportunity to pursue this additional education in the first place.

In some ways, I feel the same as when I started law school. But then I also look back at everything we've done in a relatively short amount of time, and I kind of marvel at how far we've come. I know that aside from resume accomplishments and more ordinary "law knowledge," I've also gained perspective on the way our country and the world works. I feel like I can now more confidently see all sides of a contentious/political argument, and speak on the matter if need be.

And now, time for some bar studying! Woohoo!

done with law school classes

“Lawyers are alright, I guess — but it doesn't appeal to me", I said. "I mean they're alright if they go around saving innocent guys' lives all the time, and like that, but you don't do that kind of stuff if you're a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. And besides, even if you did go around saving guys' lives and all, how would you know if you did it because you really wanted to save guys' lives, or because you did it because what you really wanted to do was be a terrific lawyer, with everybody slapping you on the back and congratulating you in court when the goddam trial was over, the reporters and everybody, the way it is in the dirty movies? How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is you wouldn't.” 

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

To (and from) Africa! Part I

They threatened to charge us a ridiculous amount for taking pictures with this sign.
Here is the free surreptitious shot I got instead.

It’s now been nearly a month since I came back from my spring break trip to the DRC with a pit stop in Amsterdam. I dragged my feet in writing partially because it’s been a heckuva busy time in life, but also partially because I felt like it would be hard to do justice to the experience. I’ve decided to break up the posts through a recap of our trip in itinerary form first, and then follow up with a separate post with overall thoughts.

LAX à Amsterdam

• Worse leg of the flight. End up with a cramped middle seat with no leg space and a chatty older lady who keeps asking me to help her with her in-air TV console controls.
• On the positive side, KLM is generous with the alcohol selection and the warm towelettes.

Amsterdam à Nairobi

• In Nairobi, we get to depart the plane through the ladder and runway walk, and it hits everyone that we are now in Africa. Sometime around this time Ivan starts singing that Shakira Waka Waka song.
• Electricity goes out a couple times, but overall things are not bad in the Nairobi airport. Tusker beer.

Nairobi à Bujumbura

• Kenya Airlines takes the cake for the best airplane food. Who knew!
• By this time, people are delirious from over 30+ hours of travel.
• Bujumbura airport looks like Tatooine.

Bujumbura à DRC à Mboko à Baraka – Day 1 

Our lovely accommodations in Baraka.

• After an extremely abbreviated night at the Hotel Du Lac Tanganyika in Bujumbura, we cross the border by foot and meet the team of translators and drivers who we would be spending the rest of the week with.
•  It was hard to believe that we were actually in the DRC.
• Commence extremely long and bumpy land cruiser ride to the remote village of Mboko.
• The drive through Uvira and Fizi territory is actually breathtakingly beautiful. We’re along the lake on one side and green mountains on the other.
• “Welcome to Uvira, where there are goats on the road.” – Fixer
• There are three general greetings we receive from passersby: “Jambo!!” (hello! – usually the kids with frantic waving); “Muzungu! (white person – usually teens and young adults, said with general amusement); “money! money!” (self-explanatory -- usually also kids)
• This was the first of many long bumpy car rides, but also the dustiest day by far. By the time we arrived at the village, all of our belongings were covered in a coat of dirt, and everyone looked like they had received a bad orange tan.
• The interviews started that same day with surveys regarding villager’s opinions of the judicial system.

Baraka à Abala – Day 2

Fording the river in our Indiana Jones cruisers.

• Our most grueling day. The night before, we experienced our first dose of living in DRC accommodations. Inconsistent running water, general lack of cleanliness, and the weirdly comforting notion of sleeping under mosquito nets. Early the next morning, it was back on the road to the remote mountainside village of Abala. The prior night, it had rained buckets, so the roads were kind of mushy in parts. At one point, we had to get out of the car so the drivers could rip through and not get stuck.
• We encountered a group of Chinese soldiers serving in the UN. They were there fixing the roads, and in good spirits. We both seemed to get a kick out of seeing each other and talking in Mandarin while in the DRC.
• Abala was our control village, which meant that there had been no intervention from outside sources since the mass rapes occurred. A very sad and depressing experience.

Baraka à Bwala – Day 3

A joyous welcome in Bwala.

• By now we started getting the hang of things. We were also becoming more acquainted with the team of translators, as well as the other students, which made the various down times more enjoyable.
• This village was situated in the hills with low-hanging clouds beautifully draping the lush green forests. The land was naturally abundant and spectacular in most every part of the DRC that we traveled.
• Here, we received probably our most celebratory welcome. We walked in to the entire village singing and dancing. The school kids performed some skits for us. They remembered the UCLA team from years past, and seemed genuinely happy to see us again. Although things weren’t perfect here by any means, it was clear that there had been much improvement compared to the control village.
• On the way back, we inexplicably stopped at an artisanal gold mine to check it out. It ended up being probably the most unpleasant/underwhelming/worrying experience of the trip. On the way back, the drivers were blasting it over the potholed roads, because apparently the area we were going through wasn’t the safest.

Ivan trying to stay positive in the gold mine.

Baraka à Uvira – Day 4

• We closed our time in Baraka by conducting a few more judicial surveys in the main town area. People seemed generally more well off (ex. Cell phones) in the town center.
• We then had our only real lunch of the week (every other day we just snacked on packaged goods in the car), and headed back north along the lake up to Uvira.
• Here, we stayed in what seemed like a really nice hotel. It was right on the lake, and it looked like a converted mansion. We had the most down time of any day here, so everyone had a good time drinking Primus (the DRC beer) and playing various games (including some Congolese games involving passing smiles and stacking cards on beer bottles).

Uvira à Kiringye Day 5

• Unfortunately, the hotel (“Eden City” or something like that) was a typical example of a nice façade and a terrible interior. The mosquito netting had gaps which resulted in several bites, and our professor, located right next to the kitchen, suffered through an onslaught of cockroaches.
• We headed out to the remote village of Kiringye, which was run by a Catholic priest. Here, we were slated to interview former combatants and commanders who were part of militias that were perpetrators of the mass rapes.
• It was very difficult to get entirely truthful responses from the subjects, as expected. However, we also had some language barriers that imposed further challenges.
• Most surreal moment: Ivan and I were specifically called out during welcome introductions for “looking of Chinese descent.” We were used as a teaching moment that although we were of a different ethnicity, we were indeed still Americans and ultimately an example of how in America, different ethnicities are able to work together. Everyone couldn’t stop laughing as the translator interpreted.

Uvira – Day 6

The group in Kiringye.

• We finished our time in the Congo by staying at our Eden City hotel and welcoming in a second group of ex-combatants and commanders. It struck me how young some of these subjects were. Some 18-19, with three years’ experience in militias.
• Again, it was tough to get straight stories from many of the subjects. However, it was easy to tell when you had someone who was more genuine, and those surveys were arguably the most interesting surveys of the whole experience.
• We finished the day by crossing the border back to Burundi, saying goodbye to our now-friends on the translator and driver crew.
• We all were able to appreciate the luxuriousness of the Bujumbura hotel a lot more this time around. It was so great to have a real shower and flushing toilets, not to mention air conditioning. Truly things we take for granted in the western world.

Burundi à Kenya à Amsterdam

I Amsterdam (said with a Dutch accent).

• It would have been quite the whirlwind shock to jump right back into real world responsibilities and school work, coming off such a loaded and demanding spring break. Fortunately, most of the group was able to take an extended layover in Amsterdam, where we stayed at the Flying Pig hostel.
• It was another culture shock to experience the liberal ways of the Dutch, especially coming off the Congo. There were a few unfortunate connections between the histories of the two societies as well. Overall, everyone had a blast walking around, eating great cheeses and cookies, and unwinding with the perfect amount of time for a mini-vacation.

one thing at a time

Many things happening in 2015. Congo Clinic trip, graduation, taking the bar, starting work, moving back to San Diego, finding a place to live... hard not to get overwhelmed sometimes.

One thing at a time! Here's to important life events, and the blessings that they represent.

2014: The Year That Was

Life in law school with a job lined up isn't such a bad place to be. Okay, who am I kidding. It probably rivals undergrad for some of the best times in my lifetime.

Going to approach this rendition of my annual wrap-up post with a chronological slant.

January

• My second semester of 2L started off with my very own APILSA event -- Rich Cho, GM of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), spoke to a healthy crowd at a law school lunch event. It was really cool meeting one of my professional world API heroes, and it was satisfying to have my own brainstormed event turn out so positively.
• On a last second impulse, Jonathan and I saw the Eagles at one of their Forum re-opening concerts. 2014 was a year of crossing off numerous iconic bands from my see-live-in-concert bucket list, and the Eagles started things off in grand fashion.
• Returning to Edge Retreat as a counselor was a trip and a half. But ultimately, it was a refreshing return to some of the things that made my college fellowship experience so great, and an effort to pass that on to a younger generation.

February

• Intramural basketball made its return with an APILSA + Tim team. Although we started off slow, things turned around with the addition of a few key recruits, and a good time was had by all. In the end, we were about 30 seconds away from winning the semi-finals and most likely winning the championship as well.
• I got into dress shoes around this time, doing a lot of research in preparation for work and weddings coming up in the new year. I'm pretty happy with the selections I ended up making (Allen, Jack, and Bruno), and Traci got me my own shoe polish and brush to boot.
• I had the lucky opportunity to intern for the UCLA Athletics Department in the spring semester. Previously flirting and ultimately failing to work in collegiate athletics in some capacity, I finally found the right position within the Compliance Department.

March

• A thoroughly eventful month kicked off with Anthony's bachelor party weekend in a Lake Arrowhead cabin. Good times were had by all, and especially those who were fans of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, Orange Wheat, and Monopoly.
• We made the early morning drive out to Glendale, Arizona to experience our first Spring Training, a longtime bucket list item of mine. Unfortunately, it was in Arizona and not Florida, and I found myself watching the Dodgers and not the Cardinals. Still, it was a cool experience and something I may repeat in the future.
• Mark's wedding and bachelor party festivities, which meant my first return to St. Louis since the summer after high school, and Traci's first ever trip to the Gateway City. I don't think I stopped smiling this entire weekend.
• Tim and I attended our first ever March Madness games. Although we were there to see our UCLA Bruins, the best game might have been the SF Austin - VCU tilt, which featured a crazy come back from the Lumberjacks. We also got to witness UCLA dismantle Tulsa in the first round, before dispatching SFA fairly easily in the round of 32. I won't forget the overwhelming camaraderie of Bruin fans doing the U ---- C ---- L ---- A chant around the arena's four sides, contagiously spreading even to non-UCLA fans.

April

• I celebrated my 25th birthday with one of the best gifts in recent memory -- a record player/turntable from Traci. Much research, used vinyl perusing, and pure and unadulterated music listening ensued.
• The 2014 baseball season saw a return of Mwen and I to the ranks of season ticket holders. This designation should come with a strong asterisk as we wound up selling most of the tickets from our 21 game package. Unlike before however, we beat the system by making profits on more desirable games, and then attending a few others with friends at ridiculously low costs. The Padres still sucked, but in kind of a lovable-loser way. If nothing else, we got some nice side thrills from Stubhub "SOLD!" notifications.
• 2014 was a year of many new hobbies. Thanks to the patient tutelage of my friend Thomas, I received the first real golf instruction of my life. I can now drive the ball straight and in the air once every three or so swings. 

May

• Jason and Nancy, Traci's future roommates/parents, had a very lovely wedding in Anaheim. Apparently my hair reached its all-time peak during the festivities. Although my hair has fallen back to its former drab ways, it's excellent to have more cool friends in San Diego!
• Billy Joel at the Hollywood Bowl -- my number one bucket list concert -- as the perfect way to celebrate the end of 2L.
• The return to the Big Apple. The Metropolitan followed by the Mets. Traci losing the ability to speak while meeting Clayton Kershaw. Catching up with old friends, eating delicious things and watching singing puppets on Avenue Q. Thanks for the hospitality, Le Chez Diane!

June

• The summer of 2014 focused entirely on my summer associate position in downtown San Diego. It was somewhat stressful trying to constantly make a good position, but it was rewarding to learn so much while being challenged on a daily basis.
• It's nigh impossible to rank the weddings I've been to, but Anthony and Emma's wedding was a fantastic time. Like all "Edge weddings," there was a lot of great catching up with old friends. There's also something extra special about standing up there with one of your best friends that cannot be duplicated.

July

• My time as a summer associate came to a conclusion with the entire firm coming together for a Padres-Cardinal baseball game with suite seats. It was strange wearing professional attire and not cheering my head off. Something I may have to get used to in future years.

August

• More wedding fun in August, as Will and Trisha celebrated with cute vows and epic introductions. I loved the parts about fulfilling dreams at Disney and tearing up about UCLA. 
• Before school started up again, my family flew up to Anchorage where we adventured on the Great Alaskan Railroad. It's nice to be able to do more adventurous activities while my parents can still manage.

September

• Visits from Vince and meeting Jeremy Lin stand out as some of the best memories of September.
• Traci and I also belatedly celebrated four years by seeing Sir Paul McCartney himself in concert at Petco Park. Quite a surreal experience to see the legendary Beatle live and in the flesh. Plus, the Live and Let Die fireworks. Rock and roll, indeed.

October

• Playoff baseball returned in spectacular fashion, with the Cardinals and Dodgers facing off again. Although it was the NLDS and not the NLCS this year, the Cardinals still took care of business and utterly annihilated the aforementioned Mr. Kershaw not once, but twice. Although Luigi and I again failed to exact revenge at Dodger Stadium, the Cards came through again with some postseason magic, at least until the Giants (again).
• Somewhere in 2014, my childhood love for baseball cards was rekindled randomly. It sounds silly, but it brought me back to some of those little kids moments of joy to look through my old collection and add a few new cards to boot. #2014hobbies

November

• Traci and I made a short trip up to San Jose and the Bay Area thanks to the graciousness of Karen and her 49er connections. Although I braced myself for the worst, my Rams actually found some miraculous way to come through and beat the niners by the skin of their teeth. First ever NFL regular season game, first ever Rams game, and first win! Not too shabby.
• Relient K mmhmm 10th anniversary tour. The return of Dave Douglas. Aw yehh.
• UCLA defeated USC in football for the third straight year. Although the Bruins would ultimately disappoint (again with Stanford), it was a sweet victory and awesome to finish my law school career undefeated against the bad guys across town.
• UCI took down LMU in the fourth-ever Pappy-Gao Superbowl. All-time record: 3-1 UCI.

December

• The ultimate sports gambling weekend in Vegas finally happened, and it was pretty awesome (for the most part). Although money was lost overall, our teams (Chargers and UCI) won the games that mattered in dramatic fashion, and we experienced the best that sports had to offer with crazy comebacks and edge-of-your-seat buzzer beaters. Just be careful any time someone suggests implementing some seemingly logical strategy that they just looked up on their phone 24 hours ago. #Martingale
• Our family returned to the ski slopes for the first time in a while by making the trip up to Yosemite and Badger Pass. This year, we also swung by Sequoia and King's Canyon, to check out the largest trees on the planet. It was cold, but it was pretty. Particularly memorable was a 7-mile snowshoe hike we did in Yosemite, climaxing with a gorgeous and majestic view of El Capitan and Half Dome. 

An Homage to University

It's hard to believe I'll be done with my lifetime's worth of schooling in (almost exactly) six months time. Walking around UCLA, I'm from time to time struck by not just the beauty of the campus, but also the unique privilege and environment that makes up my higher education experience.

Clearly, these benefits are not unique to my own experience at UCI and UCLA. A few of the more universal qualities that I will miss about college (and its professional school variations)...

1. A sense of community. This is probably the most missed aspect of school for new grads moving home or to a new setting. There's something comforting about simply seeing a group of people on a near-daily basis, walking the halls, in class, and at class events.
2. The ability to purely learn. Of course there are those who are simply trying to do the bare minimum to graduate, and can't wait to leave school, but for the most part people are paying excessive amounts of money because they have some genuine interest in learning. The freedom to choose your area of interest, and the ability to pursue goals unattached from a direct monetary-sum reward (as in work settings) are equal parts precious and invaluable.
3. A sense of pride in your school. This unifying quality is partly what keeps people so attached to their alma mater, I think. People like to belong to a larger entity, and while there are some elements of this at work, there's nothing quite like showing off your schools' best eats and sights, or cheering for your basketball team or football team.
4. Freedom. Sure there are your occasional enslaughts of exams and papers, but on a day-to-day basis, school affords you unparalleled daily freedom in your schedule. The lack of consequences for missing a day of class and convenience of planning a short trip unhindered are seriously taken for granted.

Okay, enough brown nosing to the higher education system for today. Down with tuition increases, down with the student loan system, down with ugly bureaucratic waste!

RIP Oscar Taveras

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

                             - Mary Elizabeth Frye

Following a baseball team is a weird thing. For a good six months of the year, your team is like 25 friends who you keep up with on a daily basis. You bask in their triumphs, and you share in their sorrows. In the end, the game is just a game, but it brightens an otherwise gloomy day, it brings excitement to what would be a lackluster weekend, and above all it distracts from life's harsh realities.

Unfortunately, today the game of baseball and the harshness of life collided in a most unexpected way. Oscar Taveras, the wonder kid uber-prospect, just 22 years of age, has passed away. Just two weeks ago, he was hitting home runs in the playoffs. And now, we are abruptly and shockingly left with the tragic emotions of "what-if" and "too young, too soon."

I distinctively remember feeling a similar emotion when Darryl Kile and then Josh Hancock passed away while members of the St. Louis Cardinals ball club. I was younger then, and struggled mightily with putting my thoughts into words. I still struggle today, some 10+ years later, but reading all of his teammate's thoughts makes me realize that this news goes beyond anything related to the game of baseball. Taveras was a friend, a son, a future husband and father. He was taken away too early. Baseball means very little in comparison. But as a fan, I mourn the loss of one of my 25 guys. Rest in peace, Oscar Taveras.

Old Habits Die Hard

The proverbial putts has emerged from the abyss.

Today's post is inspired by my recent encounter with Jeremy Lin, of whom I am a fan.

After seeing his tweet announcing an appearance at the nearby Foot Locker, I rounded up a few willing-if-slightly-less-enthusiastic compadres and stood in line for about an hour and half to meet my favorite basketball player in the NBA.

All the while in line, I knew it would be a brief encounter. A few words, hopefully a picture, and then on to the next. With so much time to prepare, I assured myself and my friends that I wasn't even nervous. I had three different things I could say to him, and I would calmly deliver one of them while taking a picture.

No sweat. No pressure. Isn't this even a bit silly that we're waiting for so long?

And then of course, we actually enter the store. And the power-tripping Foot Locker ex-refs are unnecessarily shouting and telling everyone to be ready, no pictures, move quickly blah blah blah.

And all of a sudden, I'm up next and I feel all rushed. I trip over my words, avoiding eye contact while simultaneously and sheepishly handing over my/his jersey to get signed.

I get a response, to which I don't even reply to. By this time, I'm feeling that time limit ticking, and I realize I haven't gotten a picture yet. So I whip out my phone and take a picture... of Jeremy Lin. By himself. No selfie game at all. He smiles, trying not to make the moment too awkward.

Sorry Jeremy.

And then it's over. Fail, David, fail.

Despite all my self assurances that I'd be fine, and that this wasn't a big deal, I reverted back to my nervous-starstruck teenage self. Sigh.

Just goes to show you. No matter how much you think you've gotten over old habits and tendencies, they'll rear their ugly head when you least expect it.

More than anything, I just wanted to have a normal conversation with JLin. In just about every aspect, he grew up just like me and many of my friends. And six years after I started following him during his sophomore year at Harvard, this is the epic failure that I muster up.

Ugh.

reliving the past

Recently some have suggested that my friends and I talk about the past too much.

I thought about the allegation some during my work commute, and ultimately decided that while I did like to relive the good old days more than the ordinary person, that that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If you dwell in current happenings 100% of the time, life will end up just flying by and the entire journey that got you to where you are today will simply be hazy and forgotten.

With that being said, it has been rewarding to focus on the present this summer in order to set-up a more certain future. Now that one critical step has been accomplished, I will take my time and appreciate the journey that got me here over the last three years, post-college graduation.

Cheers to one more checkpoint in this crazy rat race that is adult life.

Although not the original inspiration for this post, an honorary shout out goes to Allen Craig and Joe Kelly today. Thanks for the memories, fellas. You will be missed with the Birds on the Bat.

Concert Review: Billy Joel at the Hollywood Bowl

Billy. Freaking. Joel. 

It's nigh impossible to capture the feels of finally seeing the one and only Piano Man in concert. After first discovering his music in 6th grade science class, I had gone out and bought his greatest hits CD, secured a copy of his sheet music book, and both played and listened to his ballads, doo wop ditties and rock jams non-stop. I even went and watched his "Movin' Out" musical with my fellow Billy Joel fan and oldest friend Mark. Some dozen years later, that sheet music book now has a bunch of pages falling out, and I've moved on to listening to his original albums on vinyl, but my fandom of Billy Joel has not waned one bit.

Having just finished finals and my second year of law school, I was on cloud nine. One of those nights you look back and remember fondly for the rest of your life.

Venue

The Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, CA.

- Saturday, May 17, 2014.

- My first time at the iconic Hollywood venue, and more importantly Joel's first ever performance there as well. I thought it interesting that Joel several times made comments about his time living in Los Angeles (in the Hollywood Hills), often with hints of not caring for it so much, and yet the crowd automatically loved any reference anyway.

- One such example: he prefaced "Piano Man" by telling us that the gig he sings about in the song was at a bar on the corner of Wilshire and Western. A location we had passed on our way to the bowl.

Recap

- I knew I had to get tickets once a tour was announced for 2014, Joel's first national tour in some two or three years at least. At first it was Madison Square Garden that was announced, and I legitimately thought about seeing him in NYC, but then luckily a slate of what wound up to be three shows was announced for Hollywood.

- I considered myself very lucky to have a girlfriend who also appreciated Billy Joel's music with me at the show. I looked around and noticed a few diehard fans there by themselves.

- Opener Gavin DeGraw was decent, but the crowd seemed to not really care. Such is the case when you have a crowd of mostly middle-aged and older fans.

- Joel came out just after 9 o'clock, on a Saturday. Pretty good crowd, indeed.

- Joel made a point of playing some of his lesser hits, which was pretty neat, but it also meant the omission of a few really good songs that I was hoping to see (Uptown Girl, Just The Way You Are, The Longest Time, My Life, We Didn't Start the Fire). I could see a long-time fan really loving the opportunity to hear some seldom-played in concert songs though.

- Joel had no bones about criticizing his own stuff. When one fan called for "Honesty," Joel responded by saying, "Honesty? Nah, that's another one of those bulls*** songs."

- Joel and his band played "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (for obvious reasons) for the first time in some 20 years. Prefaced the song by saying that they might mess up, which would at least prove that everything is live and not just a recording.

- The entire Hollywood Bowl crowd taking over the vocals on "Piano Man" was every bit as magical as one could imagine.

- Joel's range is not quite as high as it once was, but I didn't mind the key being tuned down a few notches. His showmanship and piano playing skills more than made up for it.

- Loved the sax solos and the overall immaculate performance of the backing band.

- Joel covered "Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys, which makes for the second straight (legendary) act I've seen that has paid homage to them. I later found out that he covered "Your Song" by Elton John in another one of his later shows at the Bowl.

- During the encore, an unannounced Adam Levine came out on stage to help sing "Big Shot." I didn't recognize him at first with his bleached blond hair, but Traci did have a minor heart attack when she realized it was him up there.

- Favorites of the night: Miami 90210, Pressure, Vienna, New York State of Mind, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, Piano Man

Wedding Fever

This semester has been so busy with various events and activities that I've barely been able to stay afloat in my classes, let alone find some time to blog. But recently I was able to experience some of the happiest moments with cherished friends from different seasons in my life, and I wanted to capture some of those thoughts before too much time passed.

Mark and Emily, March 15, 2014. St. Louis, MO

Mark and I go back to kindergarten. He and I did everything together growing up, during which we engaged in countless silly elementary and middle school conversations about girls and the like. So, it was surreal to say the least, standing up there as he was exchanging his vows. On top of all that, it was my first time back in St. Louis in about seven years, so the nostalgia was being poured on thick as I saw old friends and parents of friends for the first time since I was 18 years old.

It was nice to know that while everyone has matured and moved on to adulthood successfully, some mannerisms and tendencies never change. Despite having been away for so long, I felt like I was laughing the entire weekend. Being a groomsman with old friends Ross, Logan and Pownall was a ton of fun. Getting to go on-field at Busch Stadium as well as the Arch was the perfect icing on the cake -- I was on cloud nine. Finally, I'd be amiss if I did not mention the warm hospitality from Mark's parents, who were like a second set of parents to me growing up in St. Louis.

The wedding itself was traditional and beautiful in a classic-with-a-modern-twist way. The ceremony took place in Mark's childhood church, where I had visited several times as a kid. The reception was held in historic Soulard at the Ben Franklin room which was built back in 1905.

Wedding flair: glassware galore, homemade honey, college pride

Anthony and Emma, April 5, 2014. Sierra Madre, CA.

Coming off of a memorable bachelor party weekend in Lake Arrowhead, I knew this wedding weekend would be a hilarious college reunion, and once again the weekend did not disappoint. Anthony and Emma were one of the first couples I knew that had formed at UC Irvine, and thus a future marriage that I had been waiting on for a long time. Going back to our impromptu sleepovers and discussions about Anthony's perseverance and patience, it was awesome to see everything finally come to fruition.

It was an honor to serve as a groomsman. It's that much more special when you are present for the entire weekend, going through the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, preparation and setup time, leading up to the real deal. Although Yi and I were embarrassingly tardy to the rehearsal portion, I'm thankful that Ant + Em were able to forgive us (eventually). One thing that will definitely stand out to me from the wedding were the heartfelt speeches from both the bride and groom to their parents, as well as the toasts from the fathers to their children. Equal parts comical and touching.

The wedding was very Anthony and Emma, with telling hints of both hipster and cuteness. The ceremony and reception were both at the rustically beautiful Villa del Sol d'Oro, with superb live music from the out-of-town Isaac Gill and his wife.

Wedding flair: thai tea, selfie craze, hair cuts from Gabe

Concert Review: History of the Eagles

Seeing the Eagles live in concert has been on my bucket list since I became a fan back in 10th grade, so it was pretty surreal to finally hear those perfect harmonies and legendary ballads in person some 10 years later. I actually own one of their Live in Concert DVDs from one of their fake farewell tours, so I had some idea of what to expect. Still, the night met all expectations and will be remembered for its outstanding musicality and its impressive length of show. Not just legendary American musicians, but worldwide rock stars.

Venue
The Forum in Inglewood, CA.
- Friday, January 17, 2014.
- It was pretty cool to see the former home of the Lakers and newly renovated music venue in its colorful glory. It was also a packed house, the fifth of six sold-out shows in the span of two weeks.

Recap
- This one came together at the last minute, complete with my brother driving up from SD on the day-of and scrounging for StubHub tickets all afternoon. We were stuck with "obstructed view" seats in the end, but we made do by moving over to a relatively empty section right in front of the big screen.
- There was no opener, but instead an intermission as the Eagles played a total of approximately 2.5 hours.
- The format was neat, as the show started with just Frey and Henley playing on a couple of amplifiers with acoustic guitars. They began to tell the story of how the Eagles evolved, with each new band member coming on stage in rough correlation to when they joined the band.
- Special appearance from one of their older guitarists, Bernie Leadon.
- In addition to Frey and Henley doing their thing, I thoroughly enjoyed the songs led by Timothy B. Schmit, who "plays way down low and sings way up high" and Joe Walsh, who really went above and beyond in terms of energy and goofiness.

2013: The Year That Was

With apologies for being a bit tardy, a look back at 2013, a year that was filled with great stress but also great learning.

A few benchmark notes first:

• Proverbial Putts has crossed the five year mark! Yes, posts are down, but I am still chugging along. There's always something to be said for longevity and commitment, if I do say so myself.
• A new year brings a new layout. The postcard-photo-flip design was cool in idea, but I think it was a bit burdensome to have to click each tab just right. With this new design, I'm hoping to strike a balance of "modern interactive" with old-school functionality.

Highlights, Low lights, and some things in between

- The main thing that comes to mind about 2013 is how far I've come. At this time last year, I was wondering about my first semester grades, with not a clue on how I did. Now, I've got half of law school -- an exceedingly difficult second semester, my first real legal work experience, the stressful and tiring experience of OCI, and my first semester of upper division classes -- over and done with. It's hard not to look back and blink a few times at how quick this whole journey is coming along.

- I would be amiss not to mention how blessed I have been during that whole aforementioned process. I truly think I got lucky with some grades. Then, I really had to trust God when I went through the roller coaster of getting several callbacks but no offers for a process that spanned nearly two months. To come out of it with a situation that I am very happy with is an example of God's provision and grace.

- The summer was also a whole lot of fun in terms of the small trips I got to take. Visiting Portland, Chicago and San Francisco (twice) were made ten times more enjoyable because of my awesome friends in those cities who were kind hosts and more.

- The first part of Fall semester was an interesting thing. To have what I was comfortable with and dear to my heart stripped away forced me to lean on God only. His almost instantaneous deliverance of a great community at UCLA was an answer to my prayer, and a huge blessing.

- This increased time of introspection was also good for the soul. Sometimes you really need to do some deep thinking to reassure yourself as to what you value in life and what you're doing about that in your daily routine. God provides clarity and conviction when you put worldly things on hold and simply listen.

- Switching gears a little bit, the tail end of 2013 saw my first real immersion in the world of investments and the stock market. My dad has been telling me to become more knowledgeable about such affairs for some time, but it wasn't until now that I finally jumped in and kept up with developments on a daily basis. It's exciting to build toward a future and think about more "adult" plans.

- I got to be a part of a wedding party for the first time this year. I value my friendships a great deal, and so it was a life event that I had been looking forward to for some time. Everything involved was a fun time and the celebration that weddings ought to be. Congrats to Matt and Becca, and here's to many more joyous occasions in the near future.

- RK in concert for the 8th time (but really only 6th). It had been a good 4.5 year break since the last concer though. Also: Beach Boys and Postal Service. Superb shows, both of them.

- The year was capped quite nicely by a trip to Costa Rica with family. I really liked the country and the people, with everyone being generally chill and relaxed. I think it's pretty great that they don't have an armed forces and instead spend more money on sanitation and environmental preservation. Rafting and snorkeling were cool experiences, but nothing will top zip-lining high above the rain forest canopy in Monteverde. 

Best Music Added/Discovered

- The Lumineers (Self-titled)

- My Head is an Animal, Of Monsters and Men

- The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary

- Madness, Muse

- Moondance, Van Morrison

- Babel, Mumford & Sons

- Collapsible Lung, Relient K

- A Tattered Line of String, The Postal Service

- The Very Best of Daryl Hall and John Oates

- Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend

- Daft Punk, Pentatonix

The Sports Year in Review

- First season following UCLA basketball comes to a bitter conclusion, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with Howland fired as a result.

- UCI coming within one game of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in my Anteater fandom, only to come up short at the Honda Center against Pacific.

- Cardinals going to their sixth NLCS appearance and FOURTH world series appearance in the last 10 years. Unfortunately they came up short against the stupid Red Sox again, but it was still a good run in taking out the Pirates and (especially) the Dodgers. Got to go to my first two NLCS games ever, which is not something to take lightly.

- Rams with another uneven season. Sometimes surprisingly good, sometimes all-too-familiarly bad. It seems every year we get excited for next season, but I think there's genuinely some things to get excited about.
- Two new softball teams joined. One, a dismal undermanned group that got killed by UCLA Rec's stupid softball rules. The other, a half decent vavi summer league where I realized that a big part of softball's fun comes from playing with friends.

Baseball Scorebook Wrap-Up 2001-2013

Game	Date	Stadium	Score	Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher
1	7/13/01	Busch II	Tigers 4, Cardinals 1	Steve Sparks	Mike Matthews
2	8/29/01	Busch II	Cardinals 16, Padres 14	Gene Stechschulte	Bobby J. Jones
3	9/9/01	Busch II	Cardinals 8, Dodgers 1	TJ Mathews	Chan Ho Park
4	6/27/02	Busch II	Brewers 7, Cardinals 2	Luis Vizcaino	Gene Stechschulte
5	7/3/02	Busch II	Cardinals 4, Padres 1	Jason Simontacchi	Brian Lawrence
6	7/7/02	Busch II	Cardinals 12, Dodgers 6	Mike Matthews	Omar Daal
7	7/7/03	Qualcomm	Padres 7, Dodgers 1	Oliver Perez	Andy Ashby
8	7/21/03	Qualcomm	Padres 5, Cardinals 4	Jay Witasick	Lance Painter
9	4/30/04	Petco	Padres 7, Mets 6	Brian Lawrence	Tyler Yates
10	5/15/04	Petco	Cubs 7, Padres 5	Sergio Mitre	Adam Eaton
11	6/21/04	Petco	Padres 3, D-backs 1	Ismael Valdez	Casey Fossum
12	9/6/04	Petco	Padres 7, Cardinals 3	Scott Linebrink	Cal Eldred
13	6/11/05	Petco	Padres 2, White Sox 1	Scott Linebrink	Dustin Hermanson
14	6/23/05	Busch II	Pirates 11, Cardinals 7	Dave Williams	Matt Morris
15	6/24/05	Busch II	Cardinals 8, Pirates 1	Jeff Suppan	Kip Wells
16	8/23/05	Petco	Padres 2, Astros 0	Jake Peavy	Roger Clemens
17	5/26/06	Petco	Padres 7, Cardinals 1	Clay Hensley	Jeff Suppan
18	5/28/06	Petco	Padres 10, Cardinals 8	Jake Peavy	Mark Mulder
19	6/25/06	Petco	Mariners 9, Padres 4	George Sherrill	Alan Embree
20	7/15/06	Petco	Braves 11, Padres 3	John Smoltz	C.H. Park
21	9/21/06	Petco	Padres 3, D-backs 1	Woody Williams	Brandon Webb
22	4/28/07	Petco	Padres 3, Dodgers 2	Greg Maddux	Brett Tomko
23	5/12/07	Petco	Cardinals 5, Padres 0	Braden Looper	Chris Young
24	5/13/07	Petco	Padres 3, Cardinals 0	Justin Germano	Anthony Reyes
25	6/7/07	Petco	Padres 6, Dodgers 5	Justin Hampson	Jonathan Broxton
26	6/20/07	Busch III	Cardinals 7, Royals 6	Kip Wells	Jorge De La Rosa
27	7/16/07	Petco	Padres 5, Mets 1	David Wells	Jorge Sosa
28	4/17/08	Angel Stadium	Angels 5, Royals 3	Jon Garland	Brett Tomko
29	5/19/08	Petco	Cards 8, Padres 2	Todd Wellemeyer	Wilfredo Ledezma
30	6/28/08	Petco	Mariners 4, Padres 2	Carlos Silva	Cha Seung Baek
31	7/11/08	Petco	Padres 4, Braves 0	Jake Peavy	Jo-Jo Reyes
32	8/3/08	Petco	Padres 4, Giants 1	Greg Maddux	Kevin Correia
33	6/16/09	Petco	Mariners 5, Padres 0	Felix Hernandez	Kevin Correia
34	7/11/09	Angel Stadium	Angels 14, Yankees 8	Jered Weaver	Andy Pettitte
35	8/22/09	Petco	Cardinals 7, Padres 0	Chris Carpenter	Kevin Correia
36	8/23/09	Petco	Cardinals 5, Padres 2	John Smoltz	Cesar Carrillo
37	10/7/09	Dodger Stadium	Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2	George Sherrill	Ryan Franklin
38	5/25/10	Petco	Padres 1, Cardinals 0	Jon Garland	Adam Wainwright
39	6/15/10	Petco	Padres 8, Blue Jays 2	Mat Latos	Brett Cecil
40	6/25/10	Angel Stadium	Rockies 4, Angels 3	Matt Belisle	Francisco Rodriguez
41	4/14/11	Dodger Stadium	Cardinals 9, Dodgers 5	Jaime Garcia	Hiroki Kuroda
42	4/25/11	Angel Stadium	Angels 5, Athletics 0	Jer. Weaver	Gio Gonzalez
43	5/23/11	Petco	Cardinals 3, Padres 1	Kyle Lohse	Heath Bell
44	7/8/11	Angel Stadium	Angels 4, Mariners 3	Jordan Walden	David Pauley
45	7/29/11	Petco	Rockies 3, Padres 2	Jason Hammel	Tim Stauffer
46	8/18/11	Petco	Padres 3, Marlins 1	Tim Stauffer	Javier Vazquez
47	8/21/11	Petco	Padres 4, Marlins 3	Heath Bell	Edward Mujica
48	9/18/11	Petco	D-backs 5, Padres 1	Joe Saunders	Aaron Harang
49	4/5/12	Petco	Dodgers 5, Padres 3	Josh Lindblom	Edison Volquez
50	4/12/12	Petco	D-backs 3, Padres 1	Ian Kennedy	Micah Owings
51	8/24/12`	Dodger Stadium	Dodgers 11, Marlins 4	Jamey Wright	Nathan Eovaldi
52	9/15/12	Dodger Stadium	Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3	Ronald Belisario	Jason Motte
53	5/22/13	Petco	Cardinals 5, Padres 3	Tyler Lyons	Burch Smith
54	5/26/13	Dodger Stadium	Cardinals 5, Dodgers 3	Seth Maness	Clayton Kershaw
55	5/29/13	Angel Stadium	Angels 4, Dodgers 3	Jer. Weaver	Chris Capuano
56	6/10/13	Petco	Padres 7, Braves 6	Jason Marquis	Julio Teheran
57	6/20/13	Petco	Padres 6, Dodgers 3	Nick Vincent	Matt Guerrier
58	6/26/13	Petco	Phillies 7, Padres 5	Joe Savery	Tommy Layne
59	7/3/13	Angel Stadium	Cardinals 12, Angels 2	Shelby Miller	Jerome Williams
60	7/11/13	Petco	Giants 4, Padres 2	Madison Bumgarner	Luke Gregerson
61	7/27/13	AT&T	Cubs 1, Giants 0	Pedro Strop	Sergio Romo