The CardTurner

Alright, everybody, listen up: I know I preach reading children's books all the time, and I know people don't have time for other things, much less reading books meant for kids, but READ the Cardturner, by Louis Sachar. Great stuff. Like Sachar says in the preface, it's a book about bridge, but you don't need to know how to play bridge (the card game) to read the book and like it. Just leaves a great feeling about life after you read it, you learn how to get better at (or learn how to play) bridge, and it's even got a little love-triangle in there, like all great stories need.

Here's another suggestion: Listen to the book on audio (CD or Ipod or other audio devices, whereever available). Yes, I'm serious: Some of you might relate to me when I say I HATE wasting time in traffic. It just makes my blood boil wasting my life on the I-10 in Los Angeles, going bumper-to-bumper, basically sitting in a parking lot. Radio doesn't really help. But put "The Cardturner" in the CD player, sit back, and relax. PLUS, the Cardturner is read by Sachar himself, as if the author's just giving you a long nighttime story, directly from his own thoughts. I though it was awesome. Exactly how stories are meant to be told. I've also read "Open" by Andre Agassi on tape: Not as good, but the concept is still fine.

Reading good literature.........something I WON'T be able to enjoy when BarBri starts. Every summer after graduation, recent law school grads enjoy a nice, long TWO-DAY weekend before they start classes for BarBri, basically the equivalent of a 2.5-month long blitzkrieg of information that you have to learn by Late July. I'm wretching just thinking about it. NOT looking forward to re-learning old material I was supposed to learn during law school and learning new material.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

New Stuff

Time for an update on my life........(I know, Snooze, right?) But followed by......tada!!! An explanation as to why doing new things is so awesome.

New: 1. I joined the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic. These are all lawyers who play orchestral instruments.... some of them also happen to be VERY GOOD. It's kind of a step up for me, not gonna lie: some of the music is hard, and sometimes I feel out of my league. But then I'm remember I'm no slouch at violin myself. I like it; great networking opportunity as well.

2. New group of friends: Over spring break I spent almost every waking hour with 20 new people from USC: I barely knew any of them going in and now I feel like we've known each other forever. It's an awesome feeling, making new friends (I feel like this is pretty universal).

3. New season of Amazing Race......is pretty damn good. I haven't seen tonight (Sunday's) ep yet, but last one had a BUNCH of key elements of Amazing Race bundled into one. A double U-turn where 2 teams were U-turned, lots of racers passing each other, the Express Pass being used, a SUPER-HARD U-turn, a team getting back into contention after being on the brink of elimination, good stuff. O and did I mention it's the All-Star (Unfinished Business) edition? So I feel like (again) I've known the Cowboys, Flight Time & Big Easy, and Zev and Justin (the Special Kid & his Friend) for the longest time.

4. My parents bought a new car for themselves this past weekend. Black Toyota Camry, Hybrid. 2010. Sigh. I'm not sure I approve, considering we just bought an SUV in 2009 and now we technically own 4 cars, one more than the number of people in our household who can drive. Alas, it's my parents' decision; and fortunately for me my parents have steady jobs and financial security. I cannot stress how lucky I am that we are in the shape we're in, especially after meeting some people at the new....


5. Naturalization clinic I volunteered for over the weekend. Learned lots of new stuff, met some people who were......NOT as fortunate as I am. They were all permanent residents trying to get naturalized and become American citizens. To do so, they needed to fill out an N-400 form, and because most people there had limited English, my job was to translate for them in filling out the form. Dane, my Mandarin-translating skills were stretched. I had to look up "alimony" and "naturalization" in the dictionary the night before, but I think I got it done. Which is why I ......

6. Got a new Chinese-English dictionary for $19.95. Best investment I've ever made, I think. I will LITERALLy actually read that dictionary, cuz Chinese, IMO, is as valuabe for someone like me as learning the law. Seriously.

7. Got a new game called Munchkins. The last true game I bought was this little game I like to call.......Catchphrase. Superfun, best entertainment investment I ever made, great for making new friends, partying it up. Let's see how Munchkins does. I've got a good feeling about it....



OK now to the good part: Why I think most of us like new stuff:

A. Cuz we need to escape the "Mouse in a maze" once in a while. If all you're doing is going to work or school every day, coming home, eating, and watching TV, rinse and repeat, you get BORED.

B. It's scientific: your brain likes it. It wants new stimuli, more stimulation. New stuff allows it to work in different ways, and you can feel it. I sometimes literally have my heartbeat go up and my brain feel like it's churning extra-hard when I am playing a new (intellectually challenging) game or something.

C. We find out there's more out there in the world. There is so much stuff out there; there's stuff we know that we don't know, and there's stuff that we don't even know we don't know; (at the risk of sounding like Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns.") It's good once in a while to tear into those unknowns, turn an unknown into a known. At least for me anyway.

D. It's also social: Every time you do something new (learn how to play bridge, play dodgeball, solve a crossword, watch a new movie) you're either doing it with someone or at the advice of someone. And it forces you to become a social creature; interact. Sometimes that's all you need: Get out of the house, walk around, TALK to people....and the newness is just a subplot.

E. Turning a new leaf, starting fresh, Getting back on the horse, whatever you wanna call it, new stuff gives us a chance to start at zero, do something right, and esecpailly, escape the mistakes that we've made before. O how much many of us would pay for a clean slate.


I mean, obviously it's not hard to analyze why people like new things: Duh. But I think there's something to be said for ACTIVELy trying to do new things, have an open mind, and live a little. That's my philosophy anyway (for now). Ask me after I've graduated law school and taken the bar....then we'll see if I still have the same 'tude.

Fantasize on, Robert Yan

Fantasy Baseball Preview

Every year around this time of year, a fever spreads throughout America like wildfire. This fever builds as the days go by and cannot be easily stopped. People infected with the disease are physically prone in bed reading magazines, often taking off from work to cure the fever or when they're at work, spreading the disease to other co-workers (at the water cooler, breakroom, etc.) This disease is called Fantasy Baseball, and it all culminates in a giant fantasy mishmash called Opeing Day, April 1st.

This time of year, EVERYONE is making fantasy baseball prognistications, player projections, rankings, position depth charts, etc. etc. They all give the illusion that their projections are gonna be 100% correct, or at least substantially accurate. I only want to be 60% correct (or better). I know I'm gonna be wrong on some of this stuff; it's just pure logic. If I was 100%, I should be in Vegas. Or buying a lotto ticket. Or predicting the weather or future sites of earthquakes, not fantasy baseball. I can only give you what I think should happen based on educated analysis; no blind faith about this. I've been burned way too many times on a "gut feeling" on players to rely too much on my own instincts.


Here's a look back at my picks for 2010 and how they fared:
1. Ben Zobrist and Jason Bartlett are going too high in drafts: Yup. I was totally right on both of these. And they're not gonna be any better this season (Bartlett's now in San Diego). Notice how this was the NUMBER ONE predictin for me last year.
2. "Ricky Nolasco looks like he could go out and throw a no-hitter on Opening Day." --- Yea, not so much.



So here's what I'm giving you for the 2011 MLB season.
1. Wait on starting pitchers. (AND relief pitchers). I'm doing an auction draft this year with $260 budget, and I'm prjecting to spend no more than $60-$70 (25% of the money) for pitchers. Every single year, starters at the end of player projections do awesome. (Trevor Cahill, Madison Bumgarner, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Tim Hudson, Jaime Garcia, Brett Myers, Gio Gonzalez etc., etc., etc. come to mind). And it's not like high-premium starters get double the number of starts or something: they have to take their normal 4-game break, like all the rest of us. So what's the difference between a $25 pitcher like Felix Hernandez and a $2 pitcher like Jhoulys Chacin? Very low, I would say. Don't buy the Cy Young awards......buy the numbers and potential.


Here's list of starters you can swoop up really late: (and remember, I only need to be 60% correct)
1. Michel Pineda: young prospect in Seattle, huge ballpark and , great stuff.
2. Erik Bedard: the Anthony Randolph of Fantasy Baseball: if he's on the field, he's awesome.
3. Jhoulys Chacin: notice how these guys all pitch in the west (AL West or NL west? A solid strategy)
4. Gio Gonzalez: Unheralded Strikeout machine.
5. Phil Hughes: carried my team April -May last season. He plays for the Yankees, people!!! You go six innings for the Yankees and you have like a 60% chance of victory.
6. Tim Stauffer: Opening Day starter for the Padres. Great stuff, call him this year's Mat Latos.
7. Jonathan Sanchez: possibly better than Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum?
8. Jorge De La Rosa: the Aztec Warrior.
9. Kyle Drabek: Relying on raw talent hasn't been a problem for fantasy owners in recent seasons: just ask Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey owners.

First Base targets:
1. Mark Teixeria or Prince Fielder: At least one of these guys is just gonna be an absolute monster. Then go with "injury risks" Kendry Morales or Justin Morneau as your second tier. As much as thes guys have had highly publicized injuries, at least one will bounce back and have his usual career year. Bank it.

Second Base targets: If you're going for broke, I'd go for Dustin Pedroia. Mid-tier, stay with either Gordon Beckham or Aaron Hill, both youngs who should have "broken out last year." They'll do it this year at a steep discount.

Shortstop targets: I advocate grabbin any of the top 4. Who knows what'll happen after that. Sure you might get lucky and grab a Starlin Castro from last year, but you also might get stuck with like JJ Hardy (never a fun prospect). Out of the top 4, I advocate Jeter of HanRam (Tulowitzki comes with too much hype, Jimmy Rollins is dead to me).

Third base targets: A-Rod. Sandoval. Youkilis. Do NOT leave the draft without one or more of these guys.

Outfield: Kinda like starting pitching; Don't overreach for early guys. Plenty of value in late rounds. Jay Bruce, Ellsbury, Abreu, Swisher, Adam Lind, Jason Bay all lurk in the later rounds (or values, depending on auction

Catcher: I tend to want to just grab Joe Mauer and just get it over with, but if for some reason you don't, Geovany Soto and Miguel Montero are gonna be good. I think either Buster Posey or Carlos Santana, or both have a sophomore slump; don't wanna gamble on one of'em.



Kansas is gonna win the Final Four/NCAA Tourney, btw. My pre-tournament pick, now that they've reached the Final Four there's no doubt in my mind. (As I write this, VCU is up 33-17 on the Jayhawks in the first half. Damn).


Fantasize on, Robert Yan

Seattle, WA

Remember a few months ago when I said I wanted to live in San Francisco when I (grow up)?

Well, I'm revising that to......Seattle, WA. (For now. I'm actually pretty sure if I lived there for a full year, I would change my mind...after several consecutive days of rain, I'd call it quits).

However, here's what I loved about Seattle in the few hours I was there:

1. It rained. Yes, laugh. But for a former cold-weather Midwest guy who's lived in Southern California for the last few years, rain was a welcome sight.

2. I caught a fish from the fish-throwing guys!!! Yay!!! Thanks, the group I went with, for allowing me the pleasure of doing that. Selfishly, it was the highlight of my trip, individual-accomplishment wise. The guys showed me how to hold my hands (to the side, so that the fish doesn't hit you right in the chest and dirty your shirt, but more importantly the fish), the guy wound up with a giant halibut-looking fish (I still have no idea what species it was), and launched a direct shot right into my hands. I don't think I could have dropped it if I tried, but it was still fun. A small group of people around the market watching, pressure was on, it was something new for me, and I aced the test. Felt awesome. Fish didn't feel so awesome.

3. Food Tour: OK, there's some GRREEEEAAATTTT food in Seattle. I went on the SavorSeattle foud tour (highly recommended, this is my shout-out to Brett on the SavorSeattle tour, you know what you're doing, man) and loved it. It's a short tour around Pikes Market that doesn't cover a lot of land, but covers some GREAT restaurants. Clam chowder, Polish pastries, salmon, salmon jerky, the best doughnuts you've ever had, crab cake, and cherries + chocolate. Basically the best of everything restaurants offer, and you get to sample some of them. YES. If I ever get to go again, I'm going on that tour.

4. Space Needle: sure, a bit pricey ($18 for an adult ticket), but it's a main tourist attraction, and the view was great. And there's some cool stuff on there, like and I can say I've been on top of the space needle. O yea, cool stuff included interactive program showing all of Seattle's attractions, testimony from different residents in Seattle, etc.

5. Seattle downtown: walkable. Sure, some homeless people asking you for change, some not-so-kind drivers, but that's standard. Nice, quaint, seaside city. I could get used to it.

6. Pacific Ocean: entire city's just resting right next to the Pacific Ocean, which, although is kinda what LA is, is pretty cool.

Just imagine if Seattle was a little sunnier, and its sports teams were a bit better.
Btw, if I haven't emphasized it enough, shout out to the Orcas Island volunteers who went movie on the spring break trip with me this past week. You guys will always be in my thoughts, wherever you are or will end up being. We'll always have that week of March 12-19, 2011. 'Twas awesome.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Orcas Island!!!!!!!!!

Over the last week, I took a break off from law school to indulge myself in one of the greatest things ever created: Alternative Spring Break. This time I worked with USC's Alternative Spring Break program as opposed to Illinois's (I took 2 trips with them in 2007 and 2008, as chronicled in the archives). This time, we went to Orcas Island, Seattle, to discover wildlife, nature, and deal with environmental issues. The group primarily worked on paving a new trail deep in the woods on Orcas Island that would later become a campsite, but the trip itself was so much more. Here's why March 12-19, 2011 was one of the best weeks I've ever experienced in my life.

1. Working on the trail: I'm not good with tools. I've never learned how to change a flat tire, to fix a bike wheel, or build a birdhouse. So when the park ranger at Orcas started passing out long outdoor equipment with fancy names like McCloud, pickaxe, and Maddux, I knew I was in for a hard time. And it was no joke. I constantly was being advised, almost impatiently, by my fellow volunteers (some much younger than me) about how to work a tool,

2. living in a cabin: Spending time in 10-bed, summer-camp style log cabins gave me the outdoor camp experience that I've never really had. Sure, there were bugs, it was cold, the beds were creeky, there was no internet service (more on this later), but that's exactly what I needed to get in the feel of the outdoor experience. Imagine if we were living in a Best Western hotel or something, then going into the woods and doing outdoor work

3. NO INTERNET SERVICE.......at first, this was the thing I most dreaded about the trip: No ability to check my emails, no facebook, no fantasy sports (fantasy baseball draft coming up, yikes), no March Madness updates, no youtube.....Ahhhh!!!! But I didn't know that an Internet vacation was probably exactly what I needed, and I think I'm going to implement "Blackberry-free Fridays" or something from now on. Without the distractions of the internet, I was forced to focus on the work at hand, and actually talk to real people (gasp). Personal interactions were better, quality of work was better, ability to formulate thoughts were better, the lifestyle was better...it made me think back to maybe 20 years ago, how adults lived without blackberries, Internet, and wireless service. O the good ol' days.

4. Air quality, air quality, air quality.....without the polluted atmosphere and vehicle emission-fueled toxic smog surrounding the LA, I felt so much better, but there's something about the air in the Pacific Northwest........the cold, brisk feel on your skin is really refreshing, the sea breeze blowing in from the Pacific Ocean makes you wonder what it was like on the Oregon Trail...nothing like the hot, always-present dry air that's Southern California. GREAT to take a break from it.....my lungs were happy for it, my body was happy for it.

5. The people........every time I do a trip like Alternative Spring Break, I am amazed and humbled by the people that I meet. Always very accomplished, always very smart, but most importantly, all very high-quality human beings. And it figures...Alternative Spring Break attracts people of a certain demographic: young, college students who are service-oriented and want to do something to better others and better themselves...to want to meet new people and expand their horizons, and when you get 10-20 people like that all together on a single trip, great things can happen. One of the smartest things I've ever heard goes something like this: "You can go to the most exotic places on earth with people you dislike and it won't be enjoyable, but if you have people around you who you enjoy, it doesn't matter where you go." So true about this trip. The group of 21 people could had fun in the bottom of a basement somewhere just talking about life. They were funny, compassionate, loving, supportive, thoughtful, friendly, intelligent, and creative. It was just a wonderful mix of people, with majors in accounting, English, creative writing, engineering, bio, music, Japanese, you name it. So diverse as well.

6. The nicknames.....for some reason this trip had some AWESOME nicknames, and I didn't even have one!!! (I just got the generic "Robbie" or "Yiqing," which pale in comparison to past nicknames I've had like "The Sauce" or "Eggroll." Scotty 2 Hotty, Smellsa, Perishable, Cheese, Riles, Jackie Channing, Jo-Jo, Jo-Ro ( 2 different people), ConGao, Doris (not her real name), Petey, just to name a few. There were even alliance names (a la WWE Wrestling) with the Hydra and Scerry/Pott. I always love when nicknames are used.....it shows comfort with each other, shows people are willing to step outside their comfort zone, and almost (dare I say it) become more of a family.

PLUS, the vehicles we rode up in had names (3 giant SUV's that were different colors) named Munificent, Silver Fox, and Black Panther. Awesome. Inside joke reference: Whatever happens in the Black Panther stays in the Black Panther!!!!

7. No more school for a week. This was, after all, USC's spring break. Whatever the opposite of school is, Orcas Island was close to the opposite of it, a sort of Hogwarts school for all of us: an island for young people with magical qualities to it. Deer roamed the island freely, there were lakes, swamps, mountains, snow, beaches, all of the best geographic places for a vacation.

8. The Music.......so much good music, so many great artists, even for a self-professed ambivalent music fan like myself.


The whole experience was so good that I just have one thing to say after the Orcas awesomeness......
TAKE ME BACK!!!!!!!!!

Fantasize on,

Robert yan

NCAA March Madness

List of reasons why I love March Madness (so many reasons)

1. Single-game elimination style: Win or go home. That's it. (Contrast 7-game series in the NBA, NHL)

2. It's Basketball (lots of action, lots of movement, lots of strategy, lots of athleticism)

3. Weird College names (Winthrop, Morehead State, Iona, etc., etc., etc.)

4. Barack Obama does a bracket........awesome

5. I usually have a stake in it (long-time Illinois fan, now a USC fan as well)

6. Hype: Yes, I get caught up in the Selection Show and all that. Just call it the sports fan's soap opera: you know you don't need to watch it cuz you'll find out what happened later, but it's so good anyway.

7. Games are just 2 hours: Not the 3+ hours NFL games take, could be half of what a baseball game is.

8. You know players are trying (HARD).......as opposed to some NBA regular season games. Nobody's' mailing it in.

9. Filling out a bracket could be one of the most addictive things I do.

10. Thursday- Sunday weekend in mid-March becomes one of the best weekends of the year.

11. Upsets.......Checking the Vegas odds before games this year has given me an appreciation of how big upsets are. 6-point underdogs, 7.5-point underdogs are NOT supposed to win that often.......but over the course of a 64-team ( I guess, now, 68-team) tournament, there are plenty of upsets.

Watching the Washington - UNC game right now on a random Sunday morning and it's just scintillating basketball......perfect example of what's great about the tournament. Lead changes, compelling stories, great coaches (Romar + Williams), future NBA players (Harrison Barnes, Isiah Thomas), GREAT competition. And that's probably my NUMBER 1, NUMBER 1 reason.....competition. I live on it. I thrive on it. And sometimes I really enjoy watching other people do it.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

This too shall pass

“This too shall pass.” -- Persian poet
One of those phrases I always thought was kind of annoying, like “I could care less” or “We’ll just have to wait and see.” However, the more I live life, the more I find this “This too will pass” is an important life lesson that can make life more enjoyable (TREMENDOUS healing effects).

You ever wake up one day and you just don’t feel right, don’t feel yourself? You go about your day, but you feel a little sad? You might be suffering a case of what is commonly known by me as… “being in the doldrums.”

Being in the doldrums stinks. It hits out of nowhere, it stays with you for hours if not days, and really puts a damper on the way you live life, etc. The worst part is, you usually don’t even know what causes the doldrums: did you have too many sweets the day before and now you’re crashing? Something traumatic in your life happened? (those cases usually aren’t being in doldrums, that’s major depression, you should see a doctor). Feeling lonely with no friends? What is it?

A lot of times being in the doldrums is triggered by sense of mortality, death……I’ve had sporadic moments when I channel the same thought pattern in my head: the sense of vulnerability of impending death: We all know it’s coming, it’s inevitable: one day we will all pass away, and we aren’t coming back (at least not in our bodily form…..I don’t want to get into religious debates, so for the sake of argument just go with me, whatever religion you follow….). And forever is a long, long time….it’s almost unfathomable……..How did we survive before we were born? What was happening? Whatever occurred? And what will I do when I pass away? I can’t do anything about it; so little is under my control; I will become insignificant and forgotten………ugh, just writing this gets me a little down…..but I record this for the benefit of readers and my future self, that it could be a possible reason…The natural prophylactic for this is to NOT THINK ABOUT IT! Brush it aside, live your life, and remind yourself you’re still very fully alive…..because of you keep thinking about your death, it’ll come faster than you think (Wow, I almost sound like a philosopher right there).

Moodiness is natural, I think; It’s like gravity: what goes up must come down. For every feeling of elation, joy, and happiness, there has to be at least a bit of a letdown, somewhere were there’s a valley, a doldrums if you will, where the body takes a break, the happiness hormones go to recess, and the mild depressive hormones have a party. The good news is, though, that once you get out of the doldrums, you become a lot happier. The trick is to get out of the doldrums faster and not let the doldrums get you down. Here are some tidbits I’ve gathered:

1. sometimes you can be aware that you’re in a rut: for no reason at all, you’re not happy. Identifying it is half the battle. Once you know it, select some of these methods:
2. do something that always makes you happy. (playing video games, watching soap operas, picking up after your dog- not my idea of fun but to each their own, mini-golf, bubble bath, whatever)
3. take a nap……just zonking out for 20 minutes, I’ve found, does wonders for changing the way you think and how your body operates.
4. Do something with someone you like/love. This may not be the time to hang out with your buddies, where you’re at risk of getting razzed and being the victim of zingers (i.e., witty insults that touch on a personality trait, flaw)……you probably should be socially interactive, preferably with someone you respect and that respects you.
5. Stringent exercise: taking your mind off of it. Playing tennis, playing basketball….sometimes the moodiness just gets sweated off….either that or adrenaline’s a natural cure for depression.

Anyway, hope that works. It has for me….sometimes.

And…….remember, when you’re in the dumpiest of dumps, the lowliest of lows, the doldrumest of the doldrums, that THIS TOO SHALL PASS!!!!! ( o geez, I’ve gonna become one of those catchphrase people that everyone hates. Yikes).

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

The Ragin' Rosenbluths

For those of you who don't know, I play in an intramural basketball team every spring with some of my law school friends. We were eliminated today in possibly the last organized basketball game I will ever play. As team captain, I spoke for the team when I posted this last email to our team:


To the members of the Ragin’ Rosenbluths:

I write to you mere hours after one of the most devastating sports finishes I have ever been a part of. Ranking alongside equally devastating moments like when Renee was killed in front of Jack Bauer in 24, when Steve Bartman reached over the fence and grabbed a foul ball in front of Moises Alou’s ready arms, and when B.J. Raji picked off Caleb Hennie this year to lead the Packers to victory in the NFC Championship Game, this had to be one of the most brutal defeats any of us have ever been a part of.

But amidst the devastation we have to look at what we did as a team: each one of us contributed to the team in our own way, and the team wouldn’t be the same without any of us. Whether it be Alex’s scoring and leadership, Dan’s inside presence, Joe’s defensive tenacity and high energy, Ramon’s ball-handling and timely jumpers, Scotty’s 3-pointers and ability to take flagrant fouls, Derek’s toughness and overall ability to tick other teams off, Bobby’s ability to call desperation timeouts for no reason, and even Liz’s moral support at all our games, we all contributed in one way or another. We played together, we sweated together, we argued with refs together, we won together, we died together.

Here’s how I look at it: It took a last-1.3-second, turnaround, fade-away, off-the-bank (shouldn’t be allowed on Sunday), no angle, Ramon-got-a-finger-on-the-ball, “were his eyes open?” shot at the buzzer to beat us. If that’s what it takes to beat us, then so be it. But they did not beat our soul, our class, our professionalism in the way we handled ourselves. We represented ourselves in the best way possible, and I would take nothing back from the way we played this game. Again, if I haven’t stressed it enough, it has been an honor playing with you gentlemen, and I look forward to future exploits with any and all of you, whether it be business deals, professional contacts, or just grabbing a beer.

Ten years from now, we’re gonna look back at that shot and laugh. “O, some dude made a shot at the buzzer that knocked us out of the USC Intramural Intermediate Basketball Playoffs. But it was a helluva game, and it was a helluva team with a helluva bunch of guys.” That’s what I’ll remember. Cheers.

(insert inside joke probably inappropriate joke here about a teammate that would probably cast a negative light on me for non-team members and possible future employers)

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

300th Post of Fantasy Sport Guru

Happy Anniversary to me! And Happy Birthday to my mother, who turns 54 today, who has always loved me and been kind to me despite being (close to) overbearing sometimes.......but she's an Asian parent, so I can understand.



NUMBERS:



I was born on May 9, 1987.



I have a tiny 4-game winning streak currently on streak for cash. (After having my 6-gamer busted earlier no Day 3).



I am taking the bar exam on July 27-29, 201.



There were a total of 121 episodes of LOST that aired.



Al Horford is averaging 16.2 points and 10.0 rebounds this season, a career high.



The current U.S. unemployment rate is 9.8% (but hopefully decreasing?)



The Chicago Cubs won 75 games last year, brutally low. Season starts April 1st!!!



I recently applied for a $1,000 scholarship with SCCLA, I would appreciate it if I got it this year!!!



There are 17 subjects on the California bar. I am right now comfortable with 2 of them.



The Amazing Race is in its 18th season: I've now gotten my sister to watch the newest one. How many more awesome season to come?



Our dodgeball team is now 0-4. Can we salvage a win this season? I'll do my best.



I sleep an average of 8.25 hours a night. Yes, I need my beauty sleep.



The Scripps National Spelling Bee is just 88 short days away. June 1-2, 2011......early favorite? Anna Newcombe, Canada (should she get there).



The Chicago Bulls (42-18) and Miami Heat (43-19) are tied in the Eastern Conference standings, both 3 games back of the Boston Celtics, as the Bulls take their talents to the South Beach tommorrow on National TV. Bring it.



Only 12 NBA Franchise have won the NBA Finals.....ever. Seems like an unreasonably low number.

The Dow is at 12,169. Despite low employment levels, high gasoline costs, etc., I predict a 45% chance that it'll be at 13,000 by the end of the year.

U.S. national gas price average is at $3.40 a gallon, a $0.68 increase from a year ago. That's about $10 extra per fill-up. This sucks.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Justified

Justified (dictionary definition): to have shown to have a legally sufficient reason or cause.

A friend of a friend (and coincidentally the only OFFICIAL follower of this blog) recommended that I watch Justified, the FX television show in its second season following Raylan Givens, a blast out of the 1900 cowboy films living in modern-day Kentucky. Yee-ha! So far so good, and my friend was very "justified" in recommending the show......lots of build-up to the action, and then fast, ferocious shooting ensues. O and awkward romantic relationship with an ex-wife: Yikes, Raylan. Give it a shot; although I suspect the 1st season was a little better. The timeline for all multiple-season TV shows goes something like this: Put EVERYTHING into the pilot to attract the most viewers, have great programming and writing in the first season to get it renewed for next season, relax a little bit in 2nd season once the network (hopefully) orders 2 more seasons, have steady but non-original writing for the 2nd season that follows the same tried-and-true formula from season 1, then have acomplete, put-it-together season in season 3.

Da Man wonders if other events and things are justified:

Was Stafon Johnson justified for suing USC because the barbell dropped on his neck, almost fatally injuring him? As a lawyer, I'd say probably not: assumption of the risk and all, and what could the trainers do? NOT have him work out?

Was I justified to spend $120 last year for a yearly subscription of the Wall Street Journal? Absolutely. I gain lots of knowledge and get updated on the news every day. And plenty of good articles on there, like "Hymn of the Tiger Mother."

Does 3 years of law school + passing the bar justify me getting a job within a year? I sure hope so.

Was I justified in cutting off the guy going really slow in the other lane today? Probably not, but anything goes in the jungle that is the L.A. freeway system.

Was Obama justified to pass financial reform in light of the unscrupulous practices by the large private equity firms and investment firms in 2009? Most likely. Been reading "The Promise: President Obama, Year One," and the fat cats on Wall Street had far overreached their bounds, the ordinary citizens of the country were in an outrage over large executive bonuses, and Obama had to show he was tough on business.......it was correct politically and business-wise: give a little, get a little. The financial firms had to have some accountability.

Was Denver justified in trading Carmelo Anthony? I think the real question is, "Was Carmelo Anthony justified in forcing a trade to New York?" My answer: he could ask to get out of Denver, but he shouldn't have pigeonholed the team to get him to New York. You can ask for a release from your employer, you can't force them to recommend you to the next job, much less have them hire you.

Are law schools justified in charging the $40,000+ per year tuition they do of law student? They used to be, when expected salaries and employment-out-of-graduation rates were sky-high, but not in these times, and maybe not ever. Unfortunately, law schools have no incentive to decrease their rates......unless a fundamental shift in demand happens, they've got the sole advantage in these matters.

Was the Survivior tribe in the new season justified in throwing a challenge just to get rid of Russell? Probably not, kind of stupid if you ask me....seems like something where a "karma's a bitch and it came back to bite us" can happen very easily.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan