I know exactly when I became a sports fan. October 5, 2000.

My brother and I were about to leave for dinner, and I turned on the TV to check the score of the Giants game. Bottom of the ninth, JT Snow hits a 3-run homer to tie [...]]]>

I know exactly when I became a sports fan. October 5, 2000.

My brother and I were about to leave for dinner, and I turned on the TV to check the score of the Giants game. Bottom of the ninth, JT Snow hits a 3-run homer to tie the Mets. It was the first round of the playoffs.

Up until then, I’d occasionally check in to see how the local teams are doing, but I never followed too closely, even when the Niners were racking up Super Bowl rings or when the A’s & Giants were in the World Series. My family didn’t care and, with them being the arbiters of everything when you’re 7, neither did I.

But that day, everything I’d been hearing about with all the hype from the new ballpark and “magic numbers” and all, it finally made sense.

[I discussed my experience with the home team winning the world series a little while back, btw]

I mean, I wouldn’t say that my awakening to pro sports was transcendent, by any means. But it’s a hobby that’s shared by millions, which I now began to partake. It’s something to talk about. Something to celebrate and worry over, and you’ll probably make some new friends in the process.

And really, that’s the best part. The parades, the swag, the garlic fries… even if you have nothing else in common with every other fan, at least you have this.

Apparently I have a reputation. Going out quite a lot during & immediately after college and amassing a facebook friend population the size of a Pennsylvania township have made me seem like quite the party guy.

And, like I talked about in a previous post, those times were fun and great, albeit excessive. I [...]]]>

Apparently I have a reputation. Going out quite a lot during & immediately after college and amassing a facebook friend population the size of a Pennsylvania township have made me seem like quite the party guy.

And, like I talked about in a previous post, those times were fun and great, albeit excessive. I took full advantage of what’s considered ‘acceptable behavior’ for a man in his early twenties. The friends and parties. The alcohol and fine dining. The constant uploading of pictures to hammer home the point that, yes, I’m living a very fulfilling and active life.

It’s a bit different these days, however. I’m older, my crazy friends started to settle down a bit and I actually started to appreciate silence on a saturday night. My weekends are now, preferably, spent reading sci-fi or horror while listening to trance & house music. All while using twitter to make snide comments about fellow coffeehouse patrons who irritate me.

[The ones who fidget are the absolute worst, but I digress]

I mean, I still go to the occasional “soiree,” eat out and generally do great and incredible things- I’ve just pulled back a bit. And I don’t need to constantly “check in” or post photos or review places on yelp anymore because, really, who gives a shit?

But I guess that showing some restraint still hasn’t helped shed that ‘party guy’ image, even years after the fact. A facebook profile can only say so much, after all.

So if you’d like to know what I’ve really been up to, we’ll have to actually sit down and have a conversation, won’t we? How about next week?

I’m not gonna call it a “break,” since I’d been actively twittering these past three months, but I’ve just kind of been waist-deep in it all, with work and interviews and travel and dragonboat. I’ll take it one subject at a time, with the [...]]]> It’s been a while so let me just get right back to it.

I’m not gonna call it a “break,” since I’d been actively twittering these past three months, but I’ve just kind of been waist-deep in it all, with work and interviews and travel and dragonboat. I’ll take it one subject at a time, with the overall idea that none of this I saw coming, at least a few weeks ago.

I often exult in the passive victory of San Francisco Giants games, and my patience has, for the first time, rewarded me and my hometown with a championship run. I caught a few games at bars, and the clincher at Civic Center, and enjoyed every damned minute of it, except for when I was getting involuntarily splashed with beer.

Of course, you have to catch it on the radio and be somewhere raucous that doesn’t charge $9 a beer. Trips to Underdogs and Pedro’s with weekly resets at The Bitter End were the epitome of being a sports fan, and I’m already beginning to wonder what happens after this. You hope your team is successful, and then what? For now it’s still sinking in, and might not completely until either next season. Or until a heated confrontation with, say, a Dodgers or Phillies fan. But that’s another subject altogether.

Work and interviews took me to Southern California last week, with a stop in Burbank, “LA Live,” Westwood & Malibu. The most interesting part, though, had to be the occupational-safety-hazard-nightmare of a machine shop at UCLA, but it quickly passed.

Maybe it was the oddly frigid weather down there, along with the possibility of a move, but now I’m not so apprehensive about southern California and the chance of a job there. I’ve got homies and relatives right nearby and I can get back into dragonboat if I feel like it.

And speaking of dragonboat, the 2010 season came to a very abrupt, though very successful conclusion. All three boats got medals, everyone went home happy, pretty much. It’s strange to have such a regular part of your routine, especially such a calorie-burning one, get put on hold for 3 or 4 months. I’ll have more to say about it after the upcoming year-end banquet, I’m sure.

I’ll bang out the rest of the details sometime this week, a few more events I missed and pictures people are still somehow excited to receive, despite the time elapsed.

So when I get a call from people I haven’t seen in a while, I go. College friends, people I [...]]]> It’s hard to maintain friendships with those you barely see. There really aren’t very many people who you can lose touch with for long periods of time and then suddenly pick up right where you left off.

So when I get a call from people I haven’t seen in a while, I go. College friends, people I could’ve known in high school, people from the east bay, old paddlers, I try to keep everyone relevant.

[These were all kind of a while ago, I'll admit, but a lot happens in a month.]

Pretty much every time you see these kinds of people it goes like “how have you been, it’s been hella long!” So you dig deep to remember everyone’s names, the enormity of the epic adventures you all had previously and whatever you’d recently heard about them on facebook. You string all that into some type of narrative to get past those awkward few minutes of catching up, and then you play it by ear.

When the catching up is officially done, you’re in the present and officially free to act like you’d never parted in the first place. Then you repeat the process when you see them again, months or years later.

And as much as I’d like to see everyone again, it remains impossible, what with budgets and schedules and workloads and babies and stuff. We’ve all grown up and apart, and those of us with the cameras are the only ones observant enough to take notice.

But if you don’t want to lose these people forever, you have to try.

but these are all good people. i met them in school, through friends of friends,  at sporting events, and they all have their stories, equally legitimate, which makes them all worth acknowledging, and which keeps [...]]]> i have a habit of making too many friends. so much so that it makes me occasionally seem like a fraud. really.

but these are all good people. i met them in school, through friends of friends,  at sporting events, and they all have their stories, equally legitimate, which makes them all worth acknowledging, and which keeps me on my feet.

for one, there’s rob- who i hadn’t seen from 1995-2004, yet we picked up right where we left off when he traveled back west following college. it’s always a kind of special duty to entertain the “accidental president” (don’t ask) because he had such a big role in introducing me to half the groups i’d hung out with up until the present day.

so, winning enough for 3am prime rib breakfasts, visiting the world famous Tu Lan, fried chicken during the Mayweather fight and confronting a very militant staff at zeitgeist were all a part of this particular tour of duty before he returned to med school.

family’s always given, but with all the attention still being lavished on the behemoth of a niece i have, an in-law’s 92nd birthday and even my own family’s mother’s day celebration never fail to have a common theme. i’m sure the process will repeat itself with the next kid, and so on.

and of course there are the dragonboaters. while my own personal struggles as a paddler and team member are well-chronicled on ripplesf.com, off the water this group has continued to be a bedrock of entertaining and mostly wholesome stories. there was keg party or ropes course or two (where rope burn was imminent).

and a dinner party. and a karaoke. and a trip to the academy of sciences. god, i see these people too much…

somewhere in the mix, still, are my regular visits to the Bitter End bar for trivia, which had Thin Tim hosting or Erin celebrating her birthday on 4/20, with the requisite singalongs and whiskey & beer, but, again, nothing all that out-of-the-ordinary for the average san francisco male.

[even if i do like to think i round out the bell curve]

jury duty is one of those events. i got called in during april fools’ day, which had to [...]]]> sometimes you think you’re getting it all right. and then something happens to really put you in your place, or make you see it, and you have to take it from there. a new role. get used to it.

jury duty is one of those events. i got called in during april fools’ day, which had to have been some cruel joke, and had to endure two days of loaded questions over some drunk driver’s Uncle-Sam-given right to a fair trial. i have better things to do. but of course they don’t see it that way. i’m an american citizen, you know, doing my duty.

fortunately, when it came time to speak to the litigators I gave a very intelligent and honest answer. no, i won’t be fair. no, you won’t guilt me into saying that i will be. i don’t see the value in debating the pros and cons of a breathalyzer test.

i’m still an american citizen, and it’s my right not to participate in the process. so, off i went.

easter, and for that matter any holiday significant to children, is another experience that really lets you know your role. for the baby it went great, and it was actually a fun experience seeing it all unfold for this little girl, from the elaborate mass to the organized easter egg “hunt” to the meal and egg-painting.

but you realize that such holidays aren’t for you anymore. they’re for the wee ones. instead of enjoying the hunt for the golden egg, it’s now your job to to set it up, and to document the endeavor, which indeed it turned out to be at certain points, like when said toddler ran into the middle of the fray without exactly knowing what to do once there.

[fortunately my cousin came to break up the baby-focused monotony. and i decided to pick up a few crayons and decorate an egg on my own. i was so proud.]

the time trial on lake merced provided another sense of measure. in my three months of trying to perfect my form on the dragonboat (after two years of apparently just flailing about) and hold on to a tenuous spot on the competitive crew, i thought i was beginning to get it right.

let’s just say it wasn’t good enough this day, not even close, and my frustration built up to a magnificent, roaring crescendo of an expletive before we reached the dock.

i didn’t let the experience get to me, adjusting as i always do and enjoying the barbecue afterward, though i know that more discipline will be necessary to get past this. i may just turn down my volume until i get that validation.

fortunately, i did find a way to get past all the cloaked cynicism and self-loathing. I headed to Eve for Sharon’s birthday, 83 Proof for Geo’s birthday, and Chug Pub for Davin’s. i always tend to stretch myself thin when it comes to celebrating birthdays, but only because, really, you should be fortunate to have friends, and they’re all worth acknowledging.

i used to be a “party guy,” but i don’t really think that ‘nightlife’ is all it’s cracked up to be anymore. my self-consciousness about being on a dance floor has only barely moved towards anything resembling comfort since the first experience at a 7th-grade dance. at this point i think i’m good.

i’d rather be at home catching up on my shows (currently Human Target and The Pacific). it’s like i’m back in high school, staying in and watching TGIF instead of being out on a Friday night.

[or watching movies and making sushi, perhaps, like on Saturday.]

Sunday also remained very Japan-focused, with a quick trip to the  Cherry Blossom Festival and an officers’ meeting featuring mochi muffins. i’m sparing you the picture of the 350lb sailor moon, but i think we’re all aware that some people are built for cosplay. some people are not.

and otherwise, it’s back to reading in my own private corner of the 24hr filipino starbucks, ha. feel free to stop by and be contemplative. cheers.

it’s a lot of work, with [...]]]> a lot of what i do is, technically, damage control, from making sure clients don’t freak out to keeping random birthday celebrants well-fed/drank to ensuring my family remembers exactly what happened on any given day that we’re together [even though all we really do is pay attention to the bigass baby].

it’s a lot of work, with the result looking like fun. the rest of the time i’ll spend in random coffee shops trying to further myself with works of western literature, occasionally lending a pen to a hobo so she can complete her crossword. but i digress.

so anyway, before it’s April first and no one takes anything seriously, here we go.

a lot happens in nine days, especially in my life. and even apart from dragonboat.

my tuesdays are usually pretty interesting, but with some University of California students up here on spring break, last week even more so.

whenever my brother brian is in town, we go to snobby coffee shops. maybe to try their bacon doughnuts. maybe their coffee. maybe just to see if the yelp reviews and food network mentions are really a load of crap. but we go.

last week we tried Philz Coffee, the original location in Potrero. let’s just say that it takes the dirty hipster coffee experience to an entirely new level, plaid-draped clientele and grimy craigslisted furniture and all.

i had the day off due to the recent and very untimely death [so to speak] of a client, so jess took me to see the king tut exhibit at the de young museum.

the title of the exhibit, “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” is misleading because the bastard himself isn’t actually there. it should be called something more like “King Tut’s Stuff.” still, there were a lot of interesting things in there, and you can plainly see where writers get their stereotypes about ancient Egypt. or Ahn’Qiraj. whatever.

the observation tower was also kind of cool. we finished off the day looking at considerably more modern things in japantown.

when thursday rolled around, it was time again to continue the bay area’s celebration of my brother, this time with his old coworkers, all architecture-heads.

i still think i do a good job pretending to be an architect, so i was able to keep up,  though i definitely started to fade when pete showed us the kickass view from his civic center pad.

the next morning we decided to try out Dynamo Coffee, apparently the original purveyor of the bacon doughnut, but we ate more of the spiced whatever and sticky rolls, which were $3 apiece all around and, honestly, a bit ridiculous.

the night that followed was a happy hour for the dragonboat team, and the unlimited sake definitely shoved some inhibitions aside. it didn’t get too messy, though. we had practice the next day, after all.

and following the next morning’s practice [which involved the usual struggle to try out for the A-Boat, chronicled here, though a boat flip did make things interesting for the newbies], we finally got to celebrate brian’s 29th birthday with the family.

even though every family event revolves around the baby now, none of us seemed to mind, though a few minutes to peacefully drink my coffee would’ve been greatly appreciated.

on this particular monday and tuesday i got to catch up with some people i haven’t seen in a while, making a last-minute trip to berkeley for coffee [where, thankfully, cafe milano wasn't blasting bhangra at maximum volume again] and to Samovar in the castro for tea, which turned into dinner, which thankfully didn’t turn into anything else because the conversation began to repeat itself, though the food was actually pretty good. Darjeeling ain’t no joke, either.

and so it goes. i run around. i take time to acknowledge people beyond their facebook walls. i give my creative and athletic efforts to a dragonboat team that gives me so much more in return.

everybody’s happy.

the first big event since the last time was, at long last, the wrap-up of the 2009 dragonboat season. it took a damn long while, i’ll admit, but the planning and the unnecessary need to make our [...]]]> 35 days! yeah. it’s been a long, cold month. meanwhile, i’ve been playing a game of circumstances. let me explain.

the first big event since the last time was, at long last, the wrap-up of the 2009 dragonboat season. it took a damn long while, i’ll admit, but the planning and the unnecessary need to make our banquet nice like Space Dragons did make it better than last year’s slumber party. awards abounded. the food was passable.

but something was missing. maybe i felt like i was gonna get a bigger award. maybe it was how my date to the damned thing didn’t work out. maybe it was the frustration of escaping a crowded club, taking the absolutely wrong roads, ending up in alameda, then accidentally coming back across the bridge.

whatever it was, i needed some calming down, which was achieved only by a malt and patty melt at orphan andy’s at 5am.

so i had a while to stew it over. what usually helps is to be around some new people, to seek a different crowd. fortunately, AiLin’s birthday at Dave & Buster’s was that friday. the food was good, they had beer, and i couldn’t really complain otherwise, other than a few somewhat awkward moments brought upon me.

the next night was jamie’s birthday at element, and it was good to see some old coworkers that are still young enough to celebrate these things. the theme was pork/bacon/pigs, which included a roasted lechon and bacon-sprinkled donuts. it was bacon overload, to be honest, so i actually showed some restraint.

afterward i met keip and dan at kezar pub, where we discussed the viability of going to college in wisconsin and told of the funny chinese names we knew over some pizza. “forever wong” and “harry wang” were a hit.

thanksgiving came later in the week, and it couldn’t come soon enough. if 2008 was a down year, this was supposed to be better. and it was, in a lot of ways, but there’s still plenty of work to be done, and a lot of things i wish i could’ve handled better.

those things, however, didn’t involve food. i made an appetizer of tuna pintxos, which were a hit, and brought a studebaker cheesecake from andronico’s. it didn’t take long to catch up with the rest of the family, so, predictably, we got to spend 90% of the remaining time taking pictures of Claire. apparently it’s all we do until the next grandkid pops out.

afterward, we went to see the independent films being shown directly on the walls of Coit tower it was interesting, but it was also quite cold.

unlike the rest of america, i didn’t overeat the day before, and i didn’t spend anything on black friday. one of the better lessons i’ve learned in 2009 was to disregard the american tradition of overconsumption. so, there i was, content in my frugality and un-gluttonousness, watching a whole bunch of football.

being content is rare, in general, so i reveled in every second i could before the next social event.

…which came the next day. alma had her 30th birthday party in san jose, and it was an 80s affair. fortunately, i had a throwaway blazer in my trunk, so i put it on and rolled up the sleeves to look like don johnson from Miami Vice. it came full circle wen i walked in the door and Phil was dressed as detective tubbs.

again, alma and miguel never fail to throw great parties. lots of interesting people and a ton of pictures.

that night i made it back into the city just in time for the tail-end of kristine’s birthday party [or what was left of it] at bruno’s. the celebrant and her girls were falling asleep and only drinking water, her useless boyfriend sat there and took up space, and i started to get really bored. so, i did what i do best, and i started yapping.

i got sufficient entertainment out of it, and headed home. sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.

early the next tuesday i heard some horrible news about a high school friend of mine. So-Youn passed away in Morocco recently and her local memorial service would be that night. while i didn’t talk to her all that much, her sister was a good friend of mine and i can’t imagine losing a sibling.

so, off to the service i went, and fortunately i did run into a few people i knew. it wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world to find out that someone died so young, but her contributions to the peace corps and to her family & friends preceded her. i did lose it at some point, as anyone reflecting back on such a great life would, but i think we can look at the positive effect she had and try to move forward as So-Youn would like us to.

i did end up making it to trivia tuesday afterward, and the beer and loads of pringles took at least some of the edge off of the night. well deserved.

that wednesday the dragonboat team decided that they loved each other too much to not see each other again until next season, and had a potluck. 30 people ended up coming. suffice to say, i was glad to see them.

not having the time to make anything, i picked up some appetizers from Marnee Thai [overpriced, but it was on the way] and we watched the final-final version of the team’s year-end video. it’s nice to know that about 65% of the photos came from my camera.

we also started planning stanley’s 21st birthday. to start, raymond is in charge of strippers, i’m bringing alcohol, kristine is choosing the venue, and mike is bringing the midgets. it’s gonna be awesome.

with a renewed need for a new crowd, the next night i helped dave and his oregon duck friends secure a table at R-Bar for the Oregon vs. Oregon State matchup, with the winner going to the Rose Bowl. this being my first Oregon game at an Oregon bar, i came to one conclusion: Oregon fans are nuts.

at some point it was impossible to move due to the crowds. scott armstrong showed up to start his birthday celebration, but the majority of the night was spent drinking bud light out of readily available tall cans and emulating the sound and the fury of Autzen stadium as best we could.

we closed out the night at the bars on Polk, and i pulled away before they headed to Kozy Kar, enjoying the company, the manhattans, and the thai fried rice. these were awesome people.

i caught my fourth movie of 2009 that friday when we watched “Up in the Air” at the sf center. it’s good to see movies where a character has such a parallel to your own life, especially when it’s done well, and even more so when it contains the eventual transformation. go see it. dooo eeet.

that weekend was victor’s birthday, so i met him and the girls at Swig. even though their initial request, upon my arrival, was “where else can we go so the guys can meet more drunk bitches?” we ended up sticking around until they kicked everyone out, including Mr. Carreon.

i’d recommend against going to Lori’s Diner under all circumstances, however, since it’s overpriced even compared to Mel’s. we might as well have gone to lucky chances!

i didn’t have huge expectations for that night, given that the last time i partied on nob hill was the “we will party proper, there will be many bitches” incident from 2007 which followed a daft punk concert. but it was a good time.

the workweek seemed to fly by, with a visit to trivia tuesday and an interview in campbell on friday.sudden hunger at 8pm landed me at sam wo, and we ended up in the marina for dessert. let’s just say we couldn’t quite agree on what the ideal of “the one” versus “the best one at the time” really was. you know what i’m talking about. yeah you do.

things were looking up for the weekend, which started with jacinda’s birthday party in menlo park. though an important piece was missing again, the old crew was back and the newbies kept it interesting.

and yesterday i dropped by the tail-end of the dragonboat team’s fundraiser at sports basement [bought some running gloves] and then headed to tanforan for christopher’s birthday. one thing remains clear: i don’t hang out with my filipinos often enough.

fortunately, most of my november and december didn’t require consolation or validation after said events, but sometimes you need it in one form or another. i used to turn to video games, now i turn to ‘my peeps.’

what do you do?