Greetings from Alaska!!

Yes, I know, I know....long time, long time.

Since last time I wrote (wow, more than a month ago, July 5) a LOT has happened. Let's run it down:

1. 3 more weeks of studying for the bar. Grueling process, do not wish it on my worst enemy. The stress, the 12-hour-days, the practice essays, it was rough. Please, please, PLEASE let me pass!!!!

2. Taking the bar itself. 3 full days, an endurance competition. Basically, 6 full-length law school exams, except all packed into a stretch of 3 days, one after the other. I felt uneasy on some of the essays, rebounded with the multiple choice, and if there was any doubt, I think I salvaged myself on the performance tests. Overconfidence won't affect my score now that the test is over, so I'll say I'm fairly certain I passed, but that doesn't mean I won't be opening my results on Nov. 18th with baited breath.

3. The stock market crashed. Sigh. All those impressive gains I achieved over the past several months, all down the drain. The federal government had a debt crisis and ALMOST defaulted on its loan, which would have been a global disaster. The equity markets responded accordingly by nosediving. Portfolios around the world are hating life right now, including mine ( Why didn't I just stick with Chiptle and Amazon? --- those 2 down but still holding pretty strong).

4. I achieved a W17 streak on Streak for Cash, 2 short of getting $50,000. Kicking myself so hard, although the 17-gamer was no joke and feel proud of myself, also realize I got super-duper lucky just to get that far. Still, the soccer match between Columbia v. Peru (a.k.a. my streakbreaker game) will forever haunt my memories. Columbia should have scored like 7 different times that game, missed a penalty kick, and hit the post twice. URRRRRGGGG!!!!

5. Disastrous month of July saw my fantasy baseball team go 19 games under .500 and currently out of a playoff spot. Murphy's law: anything that could go wrong did go wrong for me (actually, one of the bright spots of the month was picking up Daniel Murphy, who hits everything). Frustrating, to say the least.

6. Dodgeball team riding strong, winning 3 in a row to roll into the playoffs and then won our opening-round playoff match, but now it might be naught because......

7. I'm in Alaska for a week. Post-bar trip with the parents because I'm poor, I don't have a girlfriend to go on a romantic trip with, and I needed to get away. Living in an RV with my parents in blustery, windy Alaska in the middle of summer....... yea, it's the high life.

8. Big Brother stinks. I now see how blinded I was by my eagerness to get on the show....looking at it neutrally now, it's really not even that great of a show and really depends on the casting. Big Brother 11 looking like a perfect storm of great characters coming together....prospects for 12 and beyond look bleak.

9. Reading "50 jobs in 50 states" by Daniel Seddiqui....yea you might remember him, the guy who went around the country doing odd jobs representing those states over the course of a year. I'm more impressed by his story now that I know more about it. He was at an absolute low point in his life: jobless out of college, living with his parents, unsuccessful interviews, no girlfriend (very similar to my situation, by the way) but came up with an original, creative, sustainable, cost-effective idea that propelled him to national prominence and a slice of the history books, and plenty of supporters. Truly, it's a real-life success story that has me pumped up about the future: it IS possible in the world to do something like what Mr. Seddiqui did, to do something that he truly wanted to do and achieve success.
O yea, I also realized it was NOT easy for him to do what he did. Driving across the country by himself, waking up at 4 in the morning to book future jobs in other states, calling all kinds of people and being rejected MANY, MANY times. Sounds like a lot of perseverance was needed, something not everyone possesses. Well done, Dan. And good book.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan