Bizarre Trip

After watching the Flying Scotsman before I went home for Christmas, I decided to get more into biking to and from places. My goal is to bike to and from the bar review class that starts next week. It is about 4 miles away, so it shouldn't be that much trouble. In the meantime, I have been biking to and from and store, post office and just around the area. Today, on the homestretch to my house, I heard what was the beginning of a bizarre afternoon in the Little Italy/Mission Hills area. A woman, perhaps in her 40s, walking hand-in-hand with a small girl, said to the girl, "What you're doing is worse than cussing [swearing]. You are beginning to talk like me." I didn't realize this would be the start of my interesting afternoon. 

I showered and headed down to the liquor store just kitty corner to my house. On the walk over there I was talking to my mom about my loan repayment situation. You see, conveniently before I entered law school I signed a lengthy consolidation agreement to lock in my undergrad loans at a single, fixed rate. What I didn't realize was that I was waiving the post-graduation deferment period. Accordingly I have to start paying my undergrad loans in two weeks. The worst part is that my lender no longer offers bar-prep loans (or many other lenders for that matter). So during a time when I have no income and cannot obtain a loan, I have to start repaying my loans. A very cruel situation. 

My mom asked me how much the total of the sum of the consolidated loans was. I stated it was $24,000. I didn't realize that standing directly next to me was a bum/transient/hobo/vagrant. By the time I had crossed the street, he said, "Don't worry, I didn't steal your wallet." I hadn't given him any bad looks and I guess he didn't notice my bum/transient/hobo/vagrant beard that I had grown. What gives?

At the liquor store, the attendant asked if he could split the 12-pack of beer with me, as he had just turned on a football game. I said I wish I could stay but I have to watch the game at home. He replied, "Well, have a good new year then." I've noticed this year more than any other, people have offered this salutation. Maybe they are excited about Obama coming into office? Starting a new economic year? Had a good Christmas? Nonetheless, I have always said warm greetings and good manners go a long ways. 

Finally, when I exited the market, another bum/transient/hobo/vagrant made a comment about my beer. He said, "must be a football game on." I said, "Yeah. Go Ducks." To which he replied, "You gots to get drunk man, gots to get drunk. Have a good new year!" There it was again! Maybe there is hope for that little girl after all...

Recommended Songs:

Free Fallin' (live) - John Mayer

Track 4 - Sigur Ros

7/4 (Shoreline) - Broken Social Scene

Missing Items

DVDs:

Matrix Trilogy (yes, all three)

Se7en (pretty sure Jordon had it last)

The Prestige

I heart Huckabees

The Dark Knight

Arrested Development-Season 1 (Tim)

Books:

Areas of My Expertise (Maller)

Some book on magic (Erin)

Audacity of Hope (Jordon def has this one)

Jihad: History of Radical Islam (Mariam)

Sojourn

I don't specifically remember anything peculiar about my flight into Oregon, except that I was lucky to be flying into Eugene and not Portland. My family made it out of the Portland area, but only after grinding down I-5 with snow chains. I did, however, have lunch at the San Francisco airport. And for some reason I always go to the Boudin Bakery and get clam chowder in a bread bowl. I could claim that it is only a San Francisco thing, but I often get the exact same thing here in San Diego at the Boudin Bakery. 

On the return trip though, many notable things happened. For starters, when the Chargers game was 'flexed' to the Sunday night game, I decided to fly standby in hopes of catching the entire game, rather than flying during it. Accordingly, I got on an early flight into San Francisco and decided to watch the game on my layover. On the flight down, the couple in the seats opposite of me had sat down in the wrong seats when someone confronted them. They said they thought they were in their row, which was 2. Now I understand someone miss counting or miss reading a sign, but when you are in the second row, it is pretty easy to find - right behind the right. 

At the San Francisco terminal, I decided to head down to the international wing to catch the game. I figured international travelers wold probably be less interested, and thus less crowd, the bar areas in the international wing. I also love being in the international wings. It is just so exciting looking at people and planes that will soon be in far off places like Auckland, Taipei and Mumbai. It is really amazing how small our world has become and the sheer mobility provided by airports. Yet my clever plan to watch the game was foiled when the venues with TVs were showing the Sound of Music. Although I had a weird craving to watch the movie that I was forced to watch when I was young, I needed to watch the big game. 

So I headed back to the Yankee Pier grille, which, although spendy, had a good TV and an open seat at the bar for me. I stupidly drank Coors Light (kind-of implicitly supporting the Broncos) and had the fish tacos, which were actually very good. When my tacos arrived, a kid in a SF Giants jacket asked me what they were. He soon ordered the same and sat down next to me, placing his McDonalds to-go salad on his lap (presumably for his girlfriend/sister). He asked the bar for a Hennessey, and when they did not have it, he ordered Courvosier. Actually he ordered a double. After downing that, he asked if they had any cabernet. The bartender held up two bottles, and the kid asked 'which is better.' The better cabernet he tried, and ordered a glass - when she told him it was $16 a glass - whereas the house was only $10. After he ordered the house cabernet, his food was ready and apparently it was his time to go. So he pounded the glass of wine and looked at his bill - which was over $50. If it wasn't near Christmas I would think it very dubious that he paid with a $100 bill. The Christmas gift was confirmed when he only tipped just over $5, or 10%. 

Once the Chargers started blowing out the Broncos, I saw a man in the restaurant grow visibly upset. It was the idiot who sat in row three on the plane. Go figure. 

When I arrived in San Diego, I received a call from United. Apparently my original flight from San Francisco had been cancelled. Providence or coincidence?

Cue Graduation Song

I suppose it is better to be overprepared for a final, although I shouldn't care how well I did on my final final. The professor told us it would be mostly essay and take 4 hours. It ended up being multiple choice and lasting 2 hours. I think my senioritis came last semester though, as this semester was one of my most studious and most attentive. Maybe spring semesters are easier to get senioritis than fall semesters because the summer is so close and graduation is really a end-of-spring event. Nonetheless, my 7.5 years at USD (minus one) have come to an end. I started out as a small boy in room 333 of Maher Hall. At the end of the jouney, I am now a small boy living in a dance studio near Little Italy.



Here are some of the memories:

Freshman year in Maher Hall: Going to TJ with Eric and the Hawkins brothers

Sophomore year in the Vistas: Editor-in-Chief and formal in Vegas

Junior year in Italy and PB: Coming home to parties at Parker Place and Madeline

Senior year at Santa Clara: Our Christmas card and that house

1L in Tustin: Balboa Peninsula and getting my Civic

2L at La Mirage: Homecoming festivities and NYC

3L at Hazard Center: The fires and a brief addiction to a video game

3.5L in dance studio: Alaska and Ireland



It was a good run. I at least doubled my earning potential (hopefully) by obtaining a law degree. I did not choose my first degree wisely. I did, however, make many great friends (in undergrad - I didn't really talk to anyone in law school). I did not find a soul mate, like many people did at USD. But my time will come sometime, somewhere. Nearly 1/3 of my life has been spent at USD. And all of the life that I do know has been spent in formal education. After the bar exam I will enter the full-time working world. From what everyone has told me, it is not that great.

Week-end Update

After my first final I went to the Third Eye Blind concert at the JCP (Jenny Craig Pavillion for all you non-Toreros). I consider myself an actual fan of the band, as I am familiar with more songs than just "Semi-Charmed Life" (although I do love that song). The show was very good, except for the fact that they only played one song on the encore. Perhaps because I am older, or in the middle of finals, it is amazing how clearly I see how ridiculous people are. Just like the USD vs. SDSU game, I expected kids to be drunk or high because thats what kids do in undergrad. I did not expect this concert to be a romantic event for couples. Now maybe because some of the couples were drunk, they were all smoochy. But I did not know that the music of Third Eye Blind can be bumped and grinded to. This also makes it pretty awkward for people around them.

I am really considering starting a campaign to create a parking violation for diagonal parking. You know, when that that asshole takes up two spaces with his one vehicle (normally a big ass truck or tricked out Japanese car). I don't see any reason why this should not be a violation and why it could not be enforced. By taking up two spots, these individuals are defeating the purpose of lined parking spaces, effectively reducing the efficiency of the parking lot. Although there is no safety rationale for this regulation, the time restrictions placed on parking spots serve an efficiency purpose: by limiting the time a vehicle can be parked in a space, more individuals will have access. This diagonal parking violation would serve the same function.

While studying in the law library, I have found an enjoyable hobby: yelling at people. Just like a hall monitor, I have been cracking down on individuals who do not respect the silence standards of the library. The first incident was a woman who was 'dropping her son's bag off.' I knew this because not only was she talking at full voice level on her cell phone, but the volume was also so loud that I could hear the person on the other end. After several minutes of this mother being inconsiderate of studying students, I let a "DO YOU MIND" rip. The second significant incident was when I heard "American Boy" as a ringtone blasting. This individual went further though, and started chatting up the caller. I soon directed at her "STOP" and after she refused, "SILENCE," which worked. On my last day of studying I heard another student take up my mantle, offering a "GO OUTSIDE" to a group of girls. Looks like I left a legacy.

Picking Up the Slack...

...since Chad is lacking in time to post.

What I am about to write is controversial (and stirred quite the heated debate with my boss the other day) and will hopefully not compel Chad to ban me as a future guest blogger. As I went to buy my little brother tickets to Bruins game for Christmas, I was reminded of something that always irritated me when reading through the program before a Redsox game: massive sports salaries. I tend to look at salary worthiness in terms of job importance. The President of the United States earns an annual salary of $400,000 while Pedro Martinez earns ~12 million each year. Indisputably, the POTUS has one of the most important jobs in the world, while Pedro's job is dispensable. I understand that the salary of the President is paid by taxpayers while the salaries of sports stars are paid by GMs, making rational choices, and advertising revenue. I also acknowledge that players earning these astronomical salaries are "superhuman" beings of athletic superiority. I still think that paying players millions is unnecessary and, in some ways, takes some of the fun out of the game (as does trading players just to have the best team). I try to look at this issue from a logic and facts-based position but I always hark back to principled benevolence. It would be nice if some of the benefits came back to the average families trying to take their kids to see their sports idols. I think I would be satisfied if kids ate for free at games…or if there were games where children (<12) could attend for free. Bureaucrats and polititians still aspire to the Presidency regardless of the salary. Would sports players be less motivated to excel in their field if they knew the max salary would be capped at, say, $1 million?

What happens in Washington, goes global
Welcome to America...err...Switzerland, now speak english

Rivalry

I wasn't sure if I would be blogging much this week, due to finals, but this weekend presented a few good topics to discuss. 

First, I found myself on Saturday evening at SDSU, for the USD vs. SDSU basketball game. Somehow I had never been to Cox Arena before and was actually quite impressed with the facility. The USD fans occupied only one small section of the arena, a slice of 'Founders' blue in a black and red pizza. Unfortunately where the crust would be of our slice were SDSU students. They were right behind the USD fans and concordantly were heckling all of us. Those remarks included calling us pretty boys and that daddy was paying for our school. I'm sure if I was in undergrad, within walking distance from the Arena, I too would be intoxicated and spouting off horse manure. The entire crowd (mostly students) also had some organized cheers for us, including ones about kicking our asses and also the simple 'USD Sucks' yell. One student walked past us with a sign - 'sucking is a sin.' Unfortunately our basketball team did not make things easier, as they lost by 11 points. Most amusing of all though was not only Monty Montezuma, but also a midget luchador (wrestler). I'm not sure what his relation was to Aztec basketball, but it was entertaining to watch. 

Finally, I have always been intrigued by the old Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. My sister and I would always used to say, per Augutus Glump, "Let me in there I'm starving." Of course the story is interesting and the movie was good for children, but "I was more interested in what bark is made of." I could never figure out what time period or country the film was supposed to take place in. There is an eery ambiguity to the entire film, one that adds to the fantastical nature of the entire thing. The only reference to a timer period were the cars, which suggest it was probably in the 1970s. As for where it took place, it had to be either the U.S. or Britain. There is a mix of Americans and Brits, however, many of the structures and geographical features suggest it is probably on the other side of the pond. Most importantly, what exactly happened to that entire cast? Obviously Gene Wilder moved on, but I have never heard anything about the rest of the cast. Kind of like Luke Skywalker. 

Last Day of Class

After finding a space in the structure, I found myself walking to campus behind a blonde sorority girl. Very fitting for my last day of class at USD. This girl had exited her BMW, custom license plate "MANNDAZ" with a gamma phi beta license plate frame. Her tote bag was, of course, a G PHI B bag. Most notable was that she was eating cereal out of a red keg cup. Oh how those days are now past me.

On a side note, I am disgusted that The Vista - my former child - now has a Fashion section. I likely will be writing a raging letter to the editor about this (along with some other issues I have with the newspaper). More has also been revealed about Sarah Palin's stylist and wardrobe. Although I think the prices paid were ridiculous for each of these, I suppose it could somehow be justified on political reasons, considering the sheer amount of money wasted on each political campaign. My issue, however, with this news is that stating that it will be donated to charity misses the point. I mean, what value does a $300 pair of pants have to a charity recipient. I'm sure it has about $30 worth of value to them. Or less. Accordingly, there is an incredible amount of value lost. So don't try to justify overpriced purchases by giving them to charity.

Back to school...

Caught up in my finishing of school (not finishing school) and getting a new phone, I completely blanked that the December graduate reception was last night. In class I checked the emails, to see how formal of an event it would be: "This is an upscale reception with a photographer present so please dress accordingly." Of course (and for me, really, of course because this shit always happens to me), I was wearing my Converse, jeans, Obey t-shirt (looked like a prison inmate w/ black and white stripes) and a hoodie. Such things have never stopped me though. So I pressed onward into the event, however, nothing memorable is to note. Save perhaps that the photographer had a formal studio set up for cap and gown photos. I was declined the opportunity since I did not have a shirt and tie on.


I heard a bizarre commercial on the radio on the drive home - it was for a company that sells sheepskin boots. What was so strange was the peaceful sheep sounds playing in the background - not exactly tasteful for a sheepskin commercial. Shortly thereafter I saw a shirtless man (transient/hobo/bum) pushing a shopping cart along the street. When I passed I saw that he was also not wearing any pants. Maybe he was doing laundry.

The Great Debate

The hours are counting down until my phone upgrade becomes available with AT&T (although I am still bound to them until April). As many of you have seen recently, after the death of my sweet ass sweet Motorola Razr I have been using Tim O'Leary's old phone, a Nokia Beast. It's not actually called a Beast but lets just say its a newer version of Zach Morris' cell phone. I have two major complaints with the Beast: it takes forever (4eva) to send and receive a text message and the golf game on the phone is incredibly hard. Like, some of the holes are literally impossible. Thus, I eagerly await my phone upgrade tomorrow.

I have been pondering whether to get an iPhone or a Blackberry. As a very 'anti' person I naturally have not had an affinity to either of these products. However, I do see their practical use, particularly with my professional career right around the corner. The Blackberry is obviously a staple of the professional world, comes with navigation and has Blackberry instant messenger. It is also NOT an iPhone. The iPhone is being used more and more by businesses, also has navigation, and has many cool applications. It is also NOT a Blackberry. After a few weeks of interrogatories, I have decided to go with the iPhone. People seem to generally be happier with it.

As this is the final week of classes, students have the opportunity to fill out teacher evals. This is a chance to either appropriately praise or raze a professor or just apathetically fill in the bubbles. Although I do take the filling in the bubbles portion seriously, I rarely actually fill in the writing section on the back. Notably, my Negotiation professor (adjunct) bought us pizza before we were to fill out evals. Am I corrupt because I gave him a few higher marks? Maybe. But I was hungry. The few times I have felt compelled to fill in the writing section, I have done it thoroughly. I have praised some professors because I wanted to encourage them to continue their practice. On other occassions, I have ripped the professor a new you-know-what. It might be that most people are apathetic or too nice to leave a negative remark (even though it is anonymous) but I however do not refrain. I let them have it.