What I'll Remember

It’s been no secret that my maternal grandparents were always “better” parents and grandparents than their paternal counter parts. They were nurturing and very good with children, whereas my dad’s side of the family has always been better with adult relationships than adult/children ones. Thus there was always a slight feeling of being cheated as children because my maternal grandparents always lived on the East Coast and my paternal grandparents were always two hours away at the most.

When my maternal grandfather died over a decade ago, I was left only a few memories and connections from our visits and similarities. When my maternal grandmother started having some serious physical ailments over the last six months, I was again faced with just a few memories to hang onto (thankfully, she seems to have recovered well).

But I have also come to appreciate my paternal grandparents as I’ve grown into an adult. Their little idiosyncrasies have been a source of amusement for the past few years. And as I have come to spend some time with them this Christmas before heading home with my family, their quirks have become even more endearing as their health starts to ail dramatically. I figure now is a good time to chronicle what I will remember…

I’ll remember this fun time when their short term memory seems to simply a slight nuisance. Like my grandmother asking me if I wanted to have breakfast, and then asking me again five minutes later.

I’ll remember them discussing “current” movies with my uncles admitting quite unashamedly that they really haven’t seen much in theaters in the past decade. My grandfather will blame my grandmother for being unable to stay awake during movies, and as my uncles tried to get my grandmother interested in the Harry Potter movies so grandpa can go see it, my grandma promptly responds “well, I can sleep through anything.”

I’ll remember how my grandpas knee got so bad that he had to start using a cane, and how this thanksgiving we saw him showing up with a fancy walker that also became a mobile seat. He’s become rather adept with wielding his cane to pint out things in the sky or across the room and sometimes hitting people in the process.

I’ll remember them making the bed every morning together.

I’ll remember my grandpa still calling my 88 year old grandmother “kid,” though he usually uses the pet name at the end of a question and she won’t realize she’s being talked to until he says “kid.” Then they’ll stare at each other for a few seconds and while he waits for an answer and she waits for the question, and then she’ll turn back to her crossword puzzle and he’ll stop caring about the conversation and go back to eating.

I’ll remember that they gave us savings bonds for every birthday growing up and how I came to know that these were truly gifts with foresight as they kept me alive for my last year of undergrad and have kept me out of real debt.

I’ll remember that they always put an orange in the bottom of our stockings just so there was a little bit of healthy food among all the candy of Christmas.

I'll remember their house dearly. They've lived in since my dad was young and has such an authentic feeling of "home." The cousins would usually stay in the front living room while the adults visited in the dining room and the family room, this is a tradition we continue to revive, though the oldest of the cousins is 27 and now drags her new husband into the "cousins room" with her.

I'll also be reminded of them every time we go to La Selva beach where they own property. That beach get-away has provided the only place that feels like "home" on the 4th of July and as been the source of many relaxing and wonderful days.

Where my maternal grandparents might be "better" at nurturing their families, my childhood is far more closely tied with my paternal grandparents. Though I think as we all recognize their decline into their 90s, we are choosing to take this time to prepare ourselves for their passing and be thankful for all the memories we are now afforded by their kindness and generosity.

First Prize?

So I am a bit of a connoisseur of Buffalo Wings. I have tried many, many varieties of this delicious food. I'm either craving wings, or nothing else on the menu seems as appetizing.

The worst Buffalo Wings I have ever had were from Tahoe Joes (Rocklin/Roseville, corner of Taylor and Roseville Blvd, across from Sunsplash). I didn't even get to sink my teeth into one before I felt like I knife was stabbing my tongue. I immediately looked down at the rest of the wings and said "I'm not eating any more of this."

As far as the best? Well, I've had a lot of recipes that were okay, and a lot that were good, but I've never had one that I could consier the best.

This morning/afternoon: I had the Buffalo Wings at Boulevard Cafe in Daly City. They are the best wings I have had thus far. They had standard spice and flavor, but the big thing that has put them at the top thus far is that the residual spice was minimal. A quick swig of water really brought ones mouth back to (almost) normal, so continuous eating was relatively easy and enjoyable. I was very content with my wings.

Do I think I've found the best? No, I think there is a better recipe available somewhere. And I will continue to search for it.

Signing off.

Growing Up

My first two weeks of my new job have been great. It's a bit painful getting up at 5:30 to make sure that I can somewhat leisurely lug myself out of bed, into the shower, and out the door (hopefully with something for breakfast in my stomach) by 7:00, but I'm slowly getting used to it. The people I work with are fantastic and I'm pretty sure that I love working with high schoolers. And I'm slowly (or at least it feels like it) getting better at my job.

Tonight, some of my friends are planning on traversing up to a casino to gamble for a while, my guess is that they're already en route, and had been invited to go with them. There was a large part of me that had wanted to throw caution to the wind and accompany them. To enjoy the fleeting hours of the Sunday before Labor Day, to spend some of my newly-earned money. Yet, I know myself and I know how I am with routines and I know where I'm at with my job right now. I was just started in on one of the most crucial and detail heavy portions of my job: Data entry of new applicants...where error is simply unacceptable. And I haven't adjusted to my new sleeping schedule, meaning that I'm still having a battle with my desire to pass out after lunch every day at work. Thus, I made the choice to stay home, and get to bed at an earlier hour so that I can adjust my body to my new schedule and not put myself in a poor position for tomorrows sleeping schedule.

Upon making this decision, I have decided it was boring, lethargic, and lame. It was also one of the more "grown up" decisions I have made ever, considering the ramifications on my job which now means my complete income, my livelihood, my healthcare, dental, life, etc, insurance.

When did this happen?

Olympics

Yes this is an edited post, get over it Hez, I'm giving you more words :)

Before I go onto my discussion of the Olympic games, I'd just like to say that at 9:00PM tonight in Rocklin the temperature was 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, I don't know how I'm still alive.

Anyways, I love the Olympics. I always have, and this year I get to view having a years worth of study on Chinese culture with the Humanities Chinese specialist. I took a whole class on Beijing (literally called Beijing) and I'm loving the familiarity of the landscape that NBC throws in with the Olympic theme. The level of exoticism is much lower and I enjoy knowing more about the hosty city

Seriously, when the President of the IOC states (as in the current commercial for some cell phone) in dramatic french accent, "I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Beijing"...seriously guys. A call to action, to competition, and to camaraderie.

I love that even though there are rivalries between individuals, the rivalries of nations do not mean as much in these competitions. In fact, some of the national problems are put aside between the individual competitors. There is a great respect for each other (of course not the rule, there have been issues in the Olympics but they are the exception) and their ability to compete.

There's always a good reason to root for everyone and if nothing else, I love how we rally around the seriously dominant teams or individuals? Why? I think its because the Olympics are at test of the capabilities of humans. Yes the competition is generally highly physical but there's also a healthy dose of psychological factors. Gymnastics proves that every time. You make a mistake and know you get deductions you have to mental battle to have confidence in your ability to complete the next trick.

How much are we loving the competitions of Michael Phelps, as much of a douche as he is reported to be in person, watching his swimming events is among the most enthralling and you cant help but smile when in the last half of his race he shows everyone he was reserving energy while everyone else was sprinting and is all of a sudden, not only a body length in front of all the competition, but ahead of his previous world record. He is absolutely dominant, as is Misty May-Treanor and Carrie Walsh of Beach Volleyball, before their Olympic competition is over they will likely pass the first anniversary of their last loss. Yeah, they last lost a game back in August 2007. And they make winning look easy.

Watching the Mens Gymnastics team pull out a Bronze when their medal contention was supposed to be for the bronze with three other countries when they had their stars, the Hamm twins. Their replacements, the alternates, had the final two routines to seal the bronze medal for them. How's that naysayers? And Jonathan Horton, a serious contender for the Mens all around is a fantastic gymnast. He plays the game my style. Gymnastics is all about power, especially with the men. Jonathan Horton was solid in the team competition he did not have a major screw ups and he stuck every single one of his landings, and not like land with a little hop up to present your completion. He he landed his feet slammed into the ground with a very audible thud, as if someone was hammering a steel bar into the ground. His feet didn't move after he landed, just bend to stand up straight and present. It was awe inspiring.

And is it just me or are there a lot of attractive men in this years olympics? I think there are.

I'm just really enjoying this competition, its a lot of fun and there's a lot to feel happy about.

Professional Lacrosse

Now I first came to love Lacrosse while watching the NCAA championship game while visiting my grandparents. I was excited a year or so ago to find the existence of a professional league, in fact, the San Francisco Dragons play in Keezar stadium, which is a five minute walk from my house. I even saw a game on TV once, and it was much like the large open game of the NCAA championships (which I've caught two or three times now).

Then today, while eating lunch, I flipped on the TV and ESPN2 is broadcasting the National Lacrossse League championships cup final between Buffalo and Portland. Exciting right? Flip that on and get rather confused. A) The jersey's are pretty loose compared to the ones I've seen in the past, B) The Goalies pads and jersey are waaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger than I remember, C) There's less people on the field because there's less of a field to play on. Intriguing eh?

So I hop on my trusty computer and take a look at the National Lacrosse League, and in a separate tab open up a google and search for Major League Lacrosse, which I was growingly sure was the name of the League that San Francisco was a part of. Lo and Behold, there are two separate professional Lacrosse leagues.

Kudos to the Buffalo Bandits who have won the title this year, apparently they've won it a few times.

My mind has been sufficiently blown for now, on to finish a Thesis draft.

Blowin in the Wind

I have stayed rather quiet about recent developments in California. And I think the reality is that I don't know how to handle it. I try to process the fact that I can get married in my own state, and have an emotional safeguard jump into action because I can feel the insane happiness welling up inside. It's just too much for me to handle and I'm not sure when I will be. The bad things: The decision can be overturned by a constitutional amendment which could be on the ballot in November. Good things: The California Supreme Court was not expected to make this decision, they're rather conservative on most matters. This is the most progressive decision of its kind because of the fact that California is granting marriage licenses to any comers, unlike Massachusetts which is only granting licenses to those who have been living in its state. The final good news is that our dear Governator has decided, after vetoing a marriage license twice through the state legislature and sending his minions to support the opposing side in the court, has stated that he will stand by the courts decision and not support the amendment on he November ballot.

I know there's a lot of people who are confused as to why marriage is so important to us gays. After thinking about it for a while, I believe I have a plausible answer. That which makes us different from straight people is who we are capable of being attracted to, not only in a physical and sexual way, but in a romantic and emotional way. In our culture, the way to show that you truly care about someone is through marriage. By not allowing marriage, the message is clearly sent that you are a second class human being. That which makes you different is that which makes you less. You cannot exemplify your difference in an equal way, your love is not equal to our love, you are less than us. This is why marriage means so much to us, when we are given permission to marry, we are finally allowed to be equals. That is where we can argue that the right to marry is a an inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution, because it guarantees that we are treated as equals.

I tried to process the possibility of being able to marry about a month ago, I didn't get too far because I started crying and my emotional safeguards kicked in so I didn't become overwhelmed by the feelings. I don't think I can actually let myself go there, but I do know that when I do let that realization sink in for just a moment, the burning begins in the corners from my eye. I am truly so honored and so ecstatic to be a Californian.

Though even though this happiness, I still find it tragic that my reaction is simply to be happy that the courts have decided to demand that everyone treated me as an equal...I thought that we solved that problem ages ago. Part of me wants my response to simply be "its about time."

Ah, rest the rant, it is time for happiness. How long will it take for me to be considered an equal country round?

The answer my friends is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.

P.S. I had a really good date today, how timely :)

Conference Finals And School

Okay, so I've been busy and didn't have time to predict this round of the hockey playoffs before they started.

Quick Recap:

Flyers beat Les Habitants: BOO!!! Not what I predicted or wanted! Maybe next year Montreal, you're a good young team, with a lot of playoff left in ya.

Penguins beat Rangers: Predicted!

Red Wings beat Avalanche: Predicted, sad to see the Avs eliminated in four straight, kudos to Detroit.

Stars beat Sharks: Predicted, not what I wanted. Thank you Sharks for showing up in the last three games of the series, you regained some honor, and should be very proud of game six: epic and legendary.

So that brings my record to: 9-3...not too shabby if I do say so myself. Here's to making it 12-3?

Predictions for round 3, the Conference Finals. (Yes, I konw they're both three games in and kind of decided already, I picked these out a while ago, promise, and if you want to challenge me, I don't care, there's not money on it).

Penguins vs. Flyers: The Flyers have been a gritty hockey lovers team. I mean, I don't love the Flyers but they're playing the kind of hockey that the die hards love. It's not pretty, it's physical, ugly and full of heart. They might not have the smoothest game in the league but they're play until the last buzzer and exhaust themselves doing so. Problem for the Flyers: the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing excellent hockey, and I don't think they're even playing to their potential. The gritty play of the Flyers is insufficient for the Penguins machine. They've coasted through the playoffs and are dominating the Flyers in this series 3 games to none. The Flyers might pull off a win in the next game, but look for the Penguins to wrap this up in the next game or two. The Penguins are too good for Philadelphia. Kudos for your play thus far Flyers, but you'll be enjoying your lazyboys by the beginning of next week.

Red Wings vs. Stars: This series, in many ways, is like the Eastern Conference Finals. Dallas has beaten two teams that, on paper, they had no business beating. However, Detroit, unlike all Presidents Trophy Winners (best regular season record), are continuing their excellent play in the playoffs. They have been dominant all season long. I haven't had a chance to catch a Detroit game yet, but I'm anticipating stellar play from them. Same thing, Dallas might pull out a win tonight, but they'll be done next week.

Which sets us up for the Stanley Cup Finals: Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburg has a better record in the playoffs. Malkin and Crosby are leading the charge, and to back them up, veterans who have been to the playoffs: Sykora, Roberts, Hossa, Gonchar, Sydor. Marc-Andre Fleury is playing extremely well.
However, as an early pic, I'm going to take Detroit. Zetterburg and Datsyuk have lived up to their potential with the addition of a streaking Franzen: Most Playoff Goals. In terms of support, the old Red Wings dynasty is till in Detroit, Maltby, Draper, Holmstrom, McCarty, not to mention Chelios and the best deffensemen in the league Nicklas Lidstrom. They've also nabbed Dallas Drake, Brad Stuart, and Brian Rafalski (who has won a few cups with New Jersey). And then you get to goal, you have old Red Wings star Chris Osgood who is as dominant as ever, and as a back up the have The Dominator, Dominik Hasek. There's experience in Detroit that might prove to be the difference between the Penguins and Red Wings. Between the streaking young guys who have three or four guys who have won the cup with different teams compared to nine or more who have won in Detroit with Detroit, I pick the Red Wings. It has the potential to be a long and drawn out series, but I'm thinking Detroit.

My grandma is doing well, she only has two cancerous lymph nodes. The treatment is rough on her, but we're very hopeful.

School is coming to a close, I've finished off two classes, and I have two tests and my Thesis left. YAY!!!