Bobby Yan The Working Man

               

                My schedule is so different than it was a year ago. I remember a time, long long ago, (a year ago) when I had plenty of free time: wake up at around 9:00AM, casually eat a nice breakfast, check my fantasy team, mosy on along to school, stroll into class at 10AM, take lunch for an hour, maybe have 3.5-4 hours of class a day, hit the gym, play some basketball, drive home, watch Game of Thrones, watch how my fantasy team did for the night, hang out with the guys and shoot the breeze for a while, and then call it a night at 1:00PM. (After all, I'd only need to get up by 9:00PM). And don't even mention when I was unemployed for a month (August-Sept. of last year) when every day was literally a picnic (stay at home, watch the tumbleweeds roll on by). I have NO time nowadays as a working man. Schedule is very much work-based; everything revolves around the office; I barely get out much, and if I do, I have to take "hasty" workouts like running around the Rose Bowl. Weekends barely give me enough time to recover before Sunday nights hit (like it is right now) and I have to prepare for the work week. I think this is what people describe as "work to live." I've been pampered and enjoying myself for the last 6 years (throughout college and law school). Time to pay the dues. Welcome to the rest of your life, Robert.



                Btw, Game of Thrones Season 2 progressing a little slower than last season, but a very powerful speech this past episode by Jorah Marmont (Danerys Targaryen's right hand man): spoke of why Danerys would be the perfect ruler for Westeros and why she'd be a once-in-an-eternity ruler. I tend to agree, which makes me think at the end of 5 seasons (or 6 season, however long this series goes on) that Danny will finally rise to her rightful seat on the Iron Throne, depending of course on what the book does with it. She's gotta survive all these deaths to powerful figures, though, as another one just recently bit the dust (spoiler alert). Note: People 18 and under reading this blog, do NOT watch that show. For mature audiences only. Seriously.



 Fantasize on, Robert Yan

Facebook/LinkedIn

The spelling bee website just reminded me we are less than 32 days away from the Spelling Bee. Times go quick, I remember 2008, my first spelling bee viewing, like it was yesterday; so many possibilities, so much hope, so much spelling! I will definitely be watching this year, especially since it'll be a respite from work. I readily admit: I don't use social networking that much. I don't have twitter, joined LinkedIn but don't update it too much, and barely sign into Facebook anymore. Facebook was a MONUMENTAL idea in 2005-2006: everyone and their mother (literally) had one. It was as essential to one's life as a car, or a toothbrush, or a phone: very few didn't get one, and if you didn't, it was cuz you had this anti-mainstream streak or something just to not go with the convention, which was a testament to the power of facebook. Many argue that the website is still those things, and even more: now you know what your friends are doing, what they'e having for lunch, what games they've just played, what their friends have said about them, which friends you just befriended, which friends your friends have just befriended, etc., etc. Many people call it a miracle, a best invention, the epitome of our times, the thing that links us together. After 5 years + of service with Facebook, though, I call it something else: a distraction. Besides its addictive effects, Facebook is really a menace to the dedicated study program/workplace. One thing Facebook does better than anything else: it makes you multi-task, it makes you focus on it, it makes you do cool things on it, it makes you divert your attention to it. That's great when you're bored and have nothing better to do, NOT great when you don't have time and shouldn't be doing other things, like say.....working at the office. Or studying at school. Or in class. All things I have done, with so far not-disastrous results, but I don't feel good doing it. When I consider after using facebook what I have cost myself in going on facebook, I realize its problems. Sure, you get social responses out of it, it's good for keeping track of friends, keeping in touch, etc., but at what cost? Facebook is I think part of a growing problem of our youths: a shrinking attention span due to the amount of media and things thrown at them. It's almost not their fault. Nowadays you have Ipods, Ipads, facebook, Iphones, blackberries, bluetooths, all things designed for multi-tasking and for people to bring with them WHEREVER they go. Yes, the internet and Ipods and technology arfe more interesting than biology, world history, and French. It's more interesting than a lawsuit, a Mergers & acquisition deal, or a science lab. We flock to it. Some of us who know better can restrain ourselves, but many young kids cannot. They just cannot concentrate on the book in front of them without thinking of using the internet and getting on whatever obsession they recently acquired, unless you physically take away those things, which is tantamount to capital punishment in some cases. Facebook (and other things, I only target Facebook because it is literally the face of this movement) feeds that desire for distraction, the desire to get away, the desire to easily access something that feels good, feels better than what you're doing at that moment. (geez, am I describing facebook or a drug?) It's a very dangerous thing for young minds, and might be more detrimental than its inherent value. Facebook is awesome and something that's changed the world forever, but is it really something that's all positive change? Certainly not.



 Fantasize on, Robert Yan

Victory!!!!

    As your champion, I'd like to thank some people.



 1. Thank you, Commissioner Hayden, for running the league and inviting me back every year to this league and especially this year, giving me the chance to win.
 2. Thank you, J-Smoove and Dirk for being the studs that you were all season. Expected big numbers, got big numbers.
 3. Thank you, Manu Ginobili, for your awesome performance in Week 1 of the Playoffs and rewarding my faith in you, especially going 14/15 Free Throw's to come from behind and beat Lee (tough loss for Lee, that 1st-round playoff matchup could have gone either way).
 4. Thank you, Austin Daye and Evan Turner, for nothing.
 5. Thank you, Isiah Thomas for being this year's Ty Lawson/Dorell Wright (coming out of nowhere to have monster season) and NOT poisoning everything you touch like your namesake. 6
. Thank you, Serge Ibaka, for winning me blocks in every matchup.
 7. Thank you, Liz Jiang, who traded me Joakim Noah.
 8. Thank you, Phil Gutirerrez, for giving me a great challenge at the end after a great playoff wrong. And for starting Marreese Speights..... I couldn't wait for that guy to play.
 9. Thank you, league, for a great season, twas fun (and for paying your league dues retroactively.... hopefully? Please?)
 10. Thank you, fantasy basketball gods, this game, especially due to its weekly-transaction nature, takes a lot of luck, like avoiding injuries.
11. Thank you, NBA, for allowing us to have a fantasy basketball season.
 12. Thank God it's time for some NBA Playoff basketball. Can't wait.



              I realize that winning a fantasy basketball league isn't the biggest accomplishment, nor is it an exclusive accomplishment, nor is it a very esteemed accomplishment nor very productive accomplishment, but sometimes, you just need a little victory in your life. This is gonna sound like a car/alcohol/razor commercial, but sometimes a man needs to feel like he's on top, he's invincible, that he's floating in air and nothing can bring him down. It's how Johnny Drama must feel on Entourage when shouting his famous catchphrase from Viking Quest; it's how athletes must feel when the confetti comes down from the rafters/roof after winning a championship, it's how President-elects must feel on election night, it's how Amazing Race winners and marathon runners must feel upon passing the finish line. Granted, my fantasy basketball victory is a lot less satisfying as knowing you're the best in the world at something, but it's still justification for hard work, for dedicating yourself to a cause, to setting a goal and actually accomplishing it, a sense of achievement and personal pride. You feel like a winner, see yourself as a winner in the mirror, walk with a little stride in your step. Well, at least tomorrow I will. Then it's onto trying to get out of the hole I've put myself in in my fantasy baseball league.



 Fantasize on,
 Robert Yan

Change!!!

     

     "Change!" "Change is coming to America!" The battlecry of Barack Obama in 2008, change definitely happens all the time, but by definition it's not always good: otherwise the world would never have battles, diseases, villains, or organized crime. Truth is, what Barack should say is "Positive Change is coming!" or "Positive Change!" Cuz I'm not sure what the exact percentage distribution of positive change is to negative change, but I'm pretty confident (95% confidence interval-from statistics class) that it's near 50-50.


            Yea, "change" is always one of those expressions/ideas I always cringe at, kinda like "Ok. Why not?" Well......"Why not" is you could lose a lot of money, people could die, you could get hurt, etc. etc., etc., so that question is definitely NOT as rhetorical as people make it out to be. The same concept applies to "change"..... most people make it into some positive energy field that people should always be striving for: in fact, the Resident Adviser training at USC preaches that as part of its curriculum: Change!!!! At the time I followed the herd and repeated their mantra, but even then I didn't totally agree with it: I mean, don't you need some caveat in there? What if someone "changes" from the nicest person you ever met a raging alcoholic who doesn't care about anyone else? I mean, especially at a top-tier university like USC, the students tend to be high-achieving, well-mannered, driven young studnes (albeit maybe a large proportion than most schools having pretty rich parents), to the extent that it becomes a bad gamble to try to change them, given the large amount of things they could become that are worse than a high-achieving, well-mannered, driven young student at a top-tier university as opposed to the list of things that are better? ( I guess you could be the same at Harvard, etc., and be just ANGELICALLY nice...)


            The point is, telling someone to "change" innately assumes that there's something wrong with them and that they NEED to change something, which may not be the case. Same thing with presidential elections: telling a country it needs to "Change" might not be the best: Consider that although the US has its flaws and imperfections, it's still one of the top 3 countries in the world economically, socially, life-style wise... it's why other countries model their governments/business systems/court systems after ours.. it WORKS. It could be a lot worse. Consider that even in 2008, when Obama was running for President, right before August when the finanical meltdown happened, that was probably one of the BEST times in American history. Dow Jones running high, new inventions coming out like Youtube, Iphones, electric cars, housing market still booming, gradually pulling out of wars in the US...... wouldn't you actally WANT it to be more 2008 than say.......late 2011? ( This is not a political plea, although it may sound like it, about the competence or abilities of one President Obama). Actually, you can say the same thing about the last several presidents and their election years.... 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992........don't we kinda want some of those years too? I mean, at some point it becomes, "if it's working, don't fix it," or "the grass is always greener" or "be content with what you got" or any number of other cliches. Personally, for me, if the world could always operate like it did in 2005, that'd be just groovy: White Sox win the World Series, booming housing market, booming tech market, booming global trade, you name it, we got it. Plus, some people just don't LIKE change.



              My grandpa doesn't like to change habits: he goes throught he same daily routine every day: get up at the same time, do morning exercies, read the morning paper, do some advanced math, eat lunch, go out for a walk, spend dinner with the family, watch news on the TV, read a bit, and then go to bed, call it a day. That's what he wants, he's content with that, he wants nothing more: nohing can be improved on that. I personally also do not like change. I'm moving out into a new apartment and I'm apprehensive about it (not like in a "I'm going to get murdered in a haunted mansion" kind of way, but only in that it's outside my cofort zone, I don't really need to move over there. It's a hassle, Change is risky; there are a lot of variables, a lot of unknowns, known unkonwns and unknown unknowns (as much as Donald Rumsfeld sounded terrible on that soundbyte, it's actually a valid point). Personally, the less ambiguity it is the better. Heck, stocks on the Dow Jones trade higher because they have certainty; investors pay for that certainty. It's why if you were offered Choice A) have a 50-50 shot at getting $50 or $0 or Choice B) just get $25, you would take Choice B. You get the sure thing. And I'm not saying I'm perfect, or for some reason I can't or won't change. In many ways, I should change:


I should put 2 hands on the steering wheel instead of 2, I should give more to charity, I should clean up my room/car more often. I admit I need to change in those areas. Positively. I do NOT admit to needing to go into a blanket "change" mode where I change things just for the sake of changing, or being spontaneous, or whatever. I think it's irresponsible to ask people to do that. Change for the positive, yes. "Change," generally? I'd rather take the sure thing. Gimme 2005 all over again, don't ever change.


 Fantasize on, Robert Yan

Overreaction

            Overreact: I do it all the time, I see other people do it all the time. It's what people do. We overreact. Sometime it's reasonable to react strongly, to be overcautious, to go above and beyond, but most of the time it's wasted energy and can even be dangerous ( a prominent example explained later). And it's tough not to overreact, I know: our bodies are trained to pick up little details, to send signals to the brain that things are happening, things are changing, but it's important for us, especially those with more life experience and know better, to restrain that overreaction, process the information first and then react appropriately. 



           Watching Game of Thrones Season 2 with friends.....another show with a lot of overreaction. Ned Stark overreacts to learning Joffrey's a bastard, Joffrey overreacts to Ned Stark's crusade, John Snow overreacts to being a bastard son, Robb Stark overreacts to Ned's killing (although, arguably a rational reaction), Daenarys overreacts to her husband's death by burning a witch at the stake and producing her dragons, etc. etc. And lots of those "overreactors" are now dead, in danger, or captured. Lesson here: Don't make a rash decision that will impact your life months and kindoms down the road.




               The George Zimmerman thing: I hate to be the politically incorrect guy or the oddball of the room or whatever you call it, but I think America is HUGELY overreacting on the George Zimmermann thing. I'm not a fan of George Zimmermann and I think it's really unfortunate that Trayvon Martin died, but there's worse people in the world that George Zimmerman. It's really unfortunate what's going to happen from this outrage, too: less people will want to become "volunteers" and safety personnel due to the risk of accidentally hurting someone. Sure, it may have been an intentional shooting, it may have been Zimmermann overstepped, but I think America's forgetting that someone's innocent until proven guilty. America preaches that all the time, but in a case so sensitive as this one I think that gets lost in the headlines and hoopla. Here's a guy, Zimmernan who called police before the shooting to report Martin as a suspicious character, indicating he was trying to go through the normal channels, doesn't have a criminal history (minor assault charges and other transgressions), but 2nd-degree murder in this case? Be objective, people, don't get lost in the moment. He didn't shoot Trayvon Martin with premeditiation, there was no motive for it. Overzealous, trigger-happy, overreactive, sure, but not murder. Don't do the exact thing that George Zimmerman did when he shot Trayvon Martin: overreact.


        Lawyers overreact. I sent a nice, friendly email the other day to an attorney about whether she had any information on a case she was working on: back came a 20-minute phone call that was much more of just a monologue by her about how she felt the email was objectionable, she was not going to reveal any confidences of her clients, how she felt like she was getting set up for something, why I was wrong, why what I was doing was "dangerous," made me feel like an awful human being when in actuality I hadn't really done anything wrong: just send an email. Non-lawyers (and lawyers, too, actually), just know this: Be careful of ANYTHING and everything you do around an attorney, because they will remember it, log it, and use it against you later as an admittance/ move for sanctions. Sigh. Welcome to the legal field.



        Fantasy baseball players overreact. This is a perfect time to do it too: early in the season, a few weeks in, hitters struggling, pitchers having a few bad outings: very easy for fantasy managers to lose patience and drop guys (Paul Goldschmidt,Kendrys MOrales) or pick up the latest hot trend (AJ Pierzynksi, Luke Scott) without giving it ample thought. It's only April, people. Don't make a rash decision that will impact your life months and fantasy championships down the road.



 Fantasize on, Robert Yan

Thoughts about Fantasy Baseball season

         

              My fellow fantasy baseball managers probably wondered where my blog posts about baseball were so they can delve into my thinking and lowball me with offers for players that I like. Sigh. But here goes, albeit a week late and with certain players already hurt (Michael Morse! Damn it!) and a lot of players already hurt.


1. Derek Jeter - off to a torrid start (thianks for saving it until this year, guy) but I don't buy it....The guy's nearing 40 and has passed all historic benchmarks (3,000 hits) that he needs. Also a candidate to miss some time later in the year. This could also be me being bitter about last year.


2. Still love Howie Kendrick this year. The Angels offense should be operating on all cylinders soon.

3. Matt Kemp, you're so good. Sigh.

4. Mike Napoli, I do believe you'll struggle until June or so.

5. Not buying David Freese's fast start, AND he's already hurt.

6. DO like Pablo Sandoval's start. He should guide that team to a bounceback season.

7. J.P. Arencibia.......sigh.

8. Blake Beaven and Kyle Drabek.......one of these unheard of guys could be very good this year.

9. Closer carousel continues into May......watch for news cuz there'll be plenty of changes due to all the early-season blowups.

10. Ryan Dempster solid candidate for 200 strikeouts, and cheap.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Your Friendly Local Library

I've been a HUGE library guy since I've been a kid. Remember the sensation of going to my neighborhood library for the first time and getting a library card: felt a lot of power. Since then I've been to a lot of libraries: public libraries, school libraries, law libraries, historic libraries, personal libraries, online libraries... You name it, I've probably been there. With the advent of the internet, facebook, google, and all these other fancy library-precluding inventions out there, brick-and-mortar libraries seem a little outdated, a relic of the past, but I say, Bring it back! There's plenty of great surprises to be had at the library: updated versions of popular magazines, daily newspapers, atlases, DVD's (watched a whole season of 24 using library resources), CD's for listening to audiobooks in your car while driving to work, and what do you know.....computers for going on those very computer-precluding devices. Best part? Free.. just return those books in time.

Here's a brief list of what libraries could do to make a comeback in our society today: ( Boy do I love lists)


1. emphasize COMMUNITY. People go to facebook, concerts, parties, etc. not just for those things themselves, it's cuz they're friends are there. Make it community-friendly, plan "reading parties" there, get cool people out, do a marketing campaign.

2. Appeal to the young crowd. Kids go to libraries and need a ride to get there. Maybe they still have th

3. To get to the younger generation.....have DVD's, music. Young adults/ twenty-something's flock to the Apple store in droves for the hipness. I firmly believe libraries have the resources to stock their shelves full of some good CD's/DVD's. Get those.

4. Team up with schools for a service that allow students to get there conveniently after school. If the idea is to get kids in the door, I know in California and probably many places around the country it's a PAIN to get rides after school. Schools get out around 3:00PM.....Parents get off work around 5PM to 6Pm. Do the math. Kids need to go somewhere. If you have a shuttle service, kids don't have to scour the school looking for someone to bum a ride off of, just go to the library and do your homework or just...read a book.

5. Workout station. OK, a bit of a wild idea, but what if you just put some workout machines at libraries? Then you get the double-sensation of reading while on the treadmill/exerciese bike!!! Holy cow!!! Let's call it the "Libra-gym." Let "Libragym-mania" commence.


Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

New Computer, New Language, New Name?

First of all, let me express my condolences to the families of the two USC international students killed on Thursday right around USC......it hit particularly home for me because a.) the students were Chinese, b.) I knew many international students when I attended USC, c.) the students were around the same age as I was, d.) I lived very close to the incident area.

* For those who didn't hear or are for some reason reading this blog outside the LA area, on the morning of April 12, 2012 two USC students, a male and a female, both Chinese were sitting in their car around Vermont St. near USC housing when they were killed by whom police suspect to be a carjacker who shot both of them in their car. Truly tragic story. Apparently the male student was going home to China for the summer to do an internship and was very active in the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC.

Written with no agenda in mind and not as a sales pitch for USC, I lived just off campus at USC my first year of law school and perceived the housing to be fine. There were a few isolated incidents and I certainly didn't venture outside too late at night, but all in all it was pretty safe: no gunshots at night, gang activity, mostly just students and drunken undergrads walking around on party nights. However, once you venture into certain areas outside of campus, the neighborhood gets a little rougher. Basically the farther you get away from campus, the worse conditions become, with being within the campus grounds of USC being 100% safe, there is no danger there for you at all as it's gated and patrolled 24/7 by security. USC even has roaming security and Campus Cruisers outside of the campus area and around student housing at all times, but there's only so far it ventures into, as it's still near downtown L.A. and into some of the rougher neighborhoods of South Central L.A. I would have no problem recommending anyone to USC in terms of security, with the caveat of: Be safe, act as you normally would in any situation, don't venture out at night, travel in packs, etc.


New things are happening in the life of "DaMan!" I've basically picked up a new name... I used to be "Yiqing" ( officially my name from birth to age 21, when I officially changed it, was known as Robert for most of my life, and now, thanks to a very nickname-heavy friend of mine, I've been coined with the name "Bobby." Different offices at work know me by that name, my fantasy leagues know me by that name....it's pretty much my moniker now (ooo, vocab word). I accept it, it has a certain ring to it, certainly not a name you'd associte with a 24-year-old Chinese-born American attorney, but I like it. And "Bobby McDreamy" or "Bobby McSteamy" just roll right off the tongue, don't they?

New computer. Typing on it right now, it's that new "out-of-the-package" feeling that gets me going. However, in terms of operation, New computers are like new poker strategies for me: I don't have much luck with them. I also don't cherish them/maintain them as well as I probably should, so I'll try to keep up a healthy upkeep.

New Kendry Morales jersey: gonna wear it to the games this year. This is the year, Angels, c'mon baby!

New language: Yea learning a new language is pretty exciting. A lot of work, but exciting. I don't know why I just struggled with French: a combo of being in high school and not understanding the value of learning a language, not being exposed to it for enough time every day, it being a hard language to pronounce (never ever learned how to roll the R's), not having much practical application (I mean, I grew up in suburban Chicago, IL, there's not many "baguette" stores and delicatessens to go to for practicing le Francais, right? Regardless of the reason, it just never stuck. Japanese is different. I have a whole different motivation for Japanese, I'm a really a step ahead because I know Chinese, and I'm a different stage of my life: I know the value of everything I do, I focus my energy and don't think about Pokemon or sports or ice cream sandwiches or the 2012 election or anything when I'm learning Japanese: I just go about my business. It really delves you into a whole different language, a whole different culture: To the "pachenko" game boards to the traditional kimono dress and all different ways to "wear" it to the very strict emphasis on formality between "san," "kun," and "sama," a country's culture is reflected in its language. Ever so slowly.


Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Easter Egg Huntin' for Vocab Words

My sister's a freshman in high school. And for every Asian parent, you know what that means: SAT/PSAT studying. Yup, it's less than 24 months away from having to take those things, and it's never too early to study. And a BIG part of that test is the verbal section. The more words you know, the better it is. Therefore, acting on a suggestion my friend, I tape notecards on the wall around the house in prominent areas for my sister with vocab words on them (o did I mention I still live at home with my parents?) and then have my sister actually look at them when she's living her life. A bit insistent and intrusive, I know, but....necessary? I think so. And she's learning the words. I never needed physical "on-the-wall" visualization, but hey.




Negligent (not paying attention)- my stance towards this blog in these last few weeks. A mix of being busy + forgetfulness + laziness, and then just turning into a habit.

Hegemony (Dominance over other people)- my fantasy basketball team!! Well, actually, hegemony would be overstating it, and actually "squeaking in" would probably be the proper term for slipping barely into the playoffs (#6 seed) and needing every single player this past week (it literally came to my last player going, little Isaiah Thomas) for me to beat my opponent.

Inaudible (unable to be heard)- my silent hope that I don't want to articulate by stating it out loud to win all 3 major sports' fantasy leagues this season (I won football, in the Final 4 for basketball, baseball season just started). My own little triple crown.

Diligent (hard-working) - certainly described my work ethic in late February-March, when I took on TWO jobs while working roughly 60-65 hours a week. I know, pales in comparison to the first-year associates at their big law firms, but for a few weeks there I was acting like a worker-bee junior associate. March Madness.

Maelstrom (whirlpool)- a storm of events going down at the firm with depo, EB-5, private placement memorandum, new client intake......so THIS is the life of a lawyer, eh?

Lackadaisacal (lacking energy)- My March Madness pool. For the umpteenth year in a row, nothing doing and was basically out of it from the getgo. DID manage to pick the actual winner this year (Kentucky) but so did half of the world. Basically got no other teams correct.

Futile (pointless, incapable of producing any result) - MegaMillions jackpot. Everyone and their mother bought a ticket, and unfortunately so did I, in the wild hopes of capturing the $640 million grand prize. End result? Nothing, except maybe some false hopes of what you'd like to buy with the money. I guess people will spend a $1 for a hope, right?



Intricate (complex)- the Japanese language. Very interesting language with its own mix of alphabet and Mandarin-based hieroglyphs. Supposedly as a Mandarin speaker I should know 1/3 of Japanese already, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.



Meander (wander)- In a fit of stupor one night I wandered through West Hollywood. On foot. On Saturday night. Alone. Don't ask. I ended up on a bus that distinctly smelled like urine trying to get back to my car.



Usurp (to take the position of another)- Ahh, Game of Thrones. And the beginning of the baseball season. Deliciously intertwined with each other, both involve gallant armies dueling each other in pursuit of one specific goal that shall not be determined for a long time, but the pursuit of is the prize. Feels like it's gonna be a great summer.



Fervor (a state of passion)- learning a new language is exciting; it's triggered a feeling that's been dormant deep inside me for a while: the thrill of learning something completely new and different. Still need law, still like sports, still do exercise, still speak English, but learning Japanese is a new endeavor that's made me passionate about doing something again. I needed it and I'm dedicated to it.



Quintessential (representing the most typical example of a class)- Am I on the quintessential 24-year-old? I don't know. I think perhaps in America, I'm pretty close to that. Living in a big city, newly graduated from school, working 9-to-6 every day, listen to sports talk radio, read the newspaper, exercise every day but less than I probably should because that whole "there's not enough hours in the day" thing, wanting to travel around the world at some time or do something new but knowing I have to pay my dues first, being in graduate debt, doing my taxes at the last second, driving to work through rush hour traffic, watching mainstream movies, listening to the IPod, gaining experience at work, Facebooking..... all of these things are probably much of what the average 24-year-old is doing. I am very close to what a quintessential person of my demographic is doing. How do I feel about that? I feel lucky enough that I have a lot of these things, have the pleasure of doing certain things, and the privilege of living in a great society, but I want more. I want to be special; I want to be able to dictate life, not have life dictate me. I want to seize control. I have a plan to do that.





Fantasize on,



Robert Yan