Recently I was at a Starbucks and witnessed one of the most
awkward moments in my life: a man coming from the street asking the woman next
to me if she was single (after confessing that “she was the most beautiful
woman he had ever seen,”) and the woman promptly breaking the news that she was
married. Devastating. I felt bad, almost as awkward as watching an Office
episode sometimes, getting that cringing feeling and not wanting to see the car
crash. But is that the worst kind of rejection I’ve ever had? The different
ways I’ve been rejected:
1.)
Going to Vegas with a girl, rooming IN THE SAME
HOTEL ROOM and then when out gambling, random guy cuts in and asks girl “if we
were together.” She says “No.” Ouch.
2.)
Sending out “hopefully intriguing” emails on
match.com and just getting no reply. That’s not that uncommon and actually
preferred over some of these others.
3.)
Asking if a girl was available over the phone
after texting back and forth and basically just being told no.
4.)
Asking a different girl who had gone to tennis
with and chatted for months if she wanted to go out, told “she was too busy.”
5.)
Asked a girl at work (temporary position, was
leaving the position soon) by card (attached a flower to the note writing a
large section asking to get coffee sometime, and was sent an email later that
night indicating “maybe at a later time.” Yea ,this was a confusing time…..why
did I send a card, you ask? It’s complicated and has to do with “not getting
the timing down when the co-worker was leaving work to ask personally as well
as mental lapses caused by being “restructured” (Japanese euphemism for being
let go).
Yea so a lot of NOs. Fortunately I’ve gotten a few “yes’s”
in my life so I haven’t gone totally crazy, but what I’ve learned is that
usually when a girl wants you to ask them out, they’ll give some hints, and you
gotta pounce on those (I didn’t pounce on several “could be’s” that could have
turned out to be “yes’,” and when a girl doesn’t want you to ask them out, you’ll
probably know. Again, life is difficult when you’re not a movie star/very handsome/good-looking. Again, I liken dating
to buying houses or any other type of goods in supply: the best-looking houses
will get snatched up quickly because most people objectively like that house,
the lesser ones eventually might get picked but it’ll take some time and some
massive selling for someone to go in and take a deeper look……..which might lead
to GOLD! (Yes, I’m comparing myself to gold). Gosh, I really hope I can look
back at these last couple posts and be able to laugh and not have it be just
the beginning of a downward spiral of bad experiences.
Anyway, lots going on in fantasy right now……October, as I’m
sure has been mentioned by me on this blog as well as lots of sports experts
everywhere, is (along with March and April) the best sports month in the year,
and it just passed. Baseball ended (congrats to the Boston Red Sox, possibly
gate-to-gate the best team in baseball all year, unlike previous champions San
Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals), football’s in full swing, and
basketball just kicked off.
Here’s Bobby’s Novel Betting Theory: Just look up what the
majority of people are betting on, and just take the opposite. I just tried it
on ESPN Pick’em league today, went a very snappy 8 for 12, should have went 8 for 11 if not for the Texans blowing a 24-6
lead at halftime after their coach collapsed on the field and losing 27-24 to
lose a +2.5 spread. (Yea, I was not happy).
Bobby’s new “becoming an adult” theory: In almost all fantasy leagues nowadays I’m
starting to embrace a “this guy finally is becoming an adult” theory, where I
try to get guys who are entering their 3rd, 4th, 5th
years depending on the sport. I think this has a lot to do with me personally
gaining experience in the world (my 2nd full year in the “real world”
and understanding that maturity and experience sometimes trump skill and
resisting the ever-so-tempting hype of a pure-talent rookie. This doesn’t
always apply and sometimes applies differently for different positions, like QB
(the older the better, really) v. RB’s (the younger the better) but definitely
applies in baseball and basketball. I like Nicholas Batum (5th year)
more than Kyrie Irving (2nd year), etc.
And as Alfonso Soriano, David Ortiz and Carlos Beltran
proved this year (they were key cogs on my fantasy team too, btw), age can
sometimes be a boon, not a deterrent.
Gravity is a great movie. The way a 3D movie truly should
be. Do not watch Captain Phillips if you get seasick. I got seasick AT THE
MOVIE.
The more I think about Halloween, the more I think of how
great a holiday it is. Other countries don’t have it; definitely something the
people should rally behind. It’s not just for little kids; sure there’s the
built-in component of candy on Halloween and scary movies and what not, but one
of the essential themes behind Halloween is dressing up as someone else: being
able to dress like someone that’s not you for a day, take up a different
identity, whether that be a superhero, a villain, a monster, a profession, a
celebrity, a cartoon character, whatever, you take on the characteristics of
that person and can act like that person without fear of being accused of hypocrisy
or shameless pandering. We’re ourselves 364 days (sometimes even 365) days of
the year, it’s good sometimes to take up another personality, see life through
another’s shoes, mix it up a little bit. I’m sure most people, if not all, have
wondered what it is like to be someone else for a day; I know I think about it
about every day. To be able to just change personalities, change your entire
way of life, now that’d be powerful. Halloween allows you to do that (with the
caveat of not being able to do so permanently as well as the knowledge that you
aren’t really that thing) for a day. I think that’s really powerful and should
be embraced, not only in this country as a holiday that’s more significant that
the no-official-recognition-you-still-have-to-go-to-school/work status it has
now and in other countries as a holiday worth having.
My favorite expression (ichiban-suki na kotoba) in Japanese
currently is: giri-giri maniatta!, meaning “barely making it on time,” which
happens all the time in L.A. due to traffic, if not being late altogether. Also
it just sounds cool. That and “Daijobu desu.” (meaning it’s OK!)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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