Lessons from Japan, Part II

11.) No matter what, no matter where you are, no matter what time of the day it is, be at a computer with internet access 15 minutes before 10:00AM Pacific time on Sunday morning. You never know what might happen right before the first NFL games kickoff, especially for fantasy football. I personally braved the langugage gap and the deepest of nights in god-knows-where Japan at 3:00AM to set my lineup. Lesson here: fantasy football comes first. 

12.) Here's an idea: a monkey park where anyone can come and see about 2 hundred monkeys in their natural habitat, as well as get peanuts/fruit/chips to give to the monkeys in an enclosed area to get the experience of "feeding the animals." Also included: a very scenic view of an entire city whence you just came. Good idea or bad idea? Well, this worked n Kyoto, Japan.......probably the highlight of my trip, feeding monkeys and watching them mess with each other/scratch their behinds/urinate freely while getting a great glimpse of the whole expanse of the second largest city in Japan. 

Picture that same monkey park.......in Los Angeles, CA. Up high, somewhere around Griffith Observatory or right near the Getty Center. I think it'd work. 

13.) Don't go to Himeji castle: not open after 4:00PM, far out of the way of anything, main building not open until 2015. Jus check it out on the internet or something. 

14.) Take out all the money you think you mae at the beginning of the trip, at the airport. The currency exchange process is unnecessarily difficult, in my opinion. I had to go to a post office, give my name, my passport, social security number, life savings deposit, favorite color, etc., etc..........just not a great experience; it was like I was checking into prison or applying for a heart transplant. Guys, it's real simple, I give you $100 American dollars, you give me 8000 Yen, minus a little for your commission. I'm not trying to rip you guy off or anything, seriously. 

15.) It's probably me, but I LOOOOOOVVVEEEE getting on a train right before it closes its doors and get off. Knowing that I JUST made it it somewhere really excites me. Like I got away with highway robbery. All right it's definitely just me. Plus, half the time I realize I'm not even on the right train. 

16.) But that leads to my next point: you can afford to get on a train without knowing exactly which one it is, or go towards a shrine without knowing where it is, try a new food you've never heard of before, or talk to someone with the proper training in Japanese.....you can afford to take risks. If you ge off or on the wrong train, you can always take the next train, arriving 5 or 7 minutes later (even in the reverse direction). If you go towards the wrong shrine, that shrine could be just as beautiful. If you talk to one Japanese person and they just stare at you with a blank look, you can just ask someone else. Doesn't hurt to try new things. 

17.) Japan is PRECISE: the gardens are managed precisely, the trains run on time, the Japanese language is spoken with precision. No shortcuts or unfinished jobs in this country, they know what they're doing. 

18.) Another idea based on animals: a city fully devoted to the deer, who is a holy messenger and considered an honored guest of the city. Deer roam all around the city; people, buses, and cars all have to stop for them. Tourists come from all around to see them; they go to tourists whom they know have food and want to feed them. GREAT IDEA! Imagine if you're a city like Milwaukee, you don't have much tourism, you're not really known for anything, and you have a sports franchise named the bucks. Get a city permit for the deer, avoid animal strict liability lawsuits, ship 1000 deer from like the Minnesota backwoods, cut off horns of the males to make sure they don't gore somebody, and have a great home court advantage for all Bucks games. The advertising campaign is already made: "Fear the Deer." TNT cutaways to the deer munching on grass outside the stadium. If you're Milwaukee, why WOULDN'T you do that? This message was approved by Robert, running for mayor of Milwaukee 2020. 

19.) NEVER take the Kodama train. It's technically a "Shinkansen" line meaning it's a "bullet train" and should go really fast, but I really wanted to just take a bullet and apply it to myself, cuz it stops at each station and is parked a LONG time at each of those stations. As if people don't have somewhere to be. Take the Hikari or Sakura instead if you have a JR pass. 

20.) Have fun. Don't stress about money, schedule, language, food, and (definitely not) work during vacation. Take a vacation. Especially now that I'm a "responsible adult" and realize how rare vacations come along, I value these things a lot more. Fantasize about something: fantasize about living in a foreign country, living a different lifestyle, being a different person. Lose yourself. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan. 

The movie gluttony 2012

On my way to and from Japan, I watched exactly 10 movies, of varying qualities. Btw, Korean Airlines, for having tickets available for $800+ to Japan round-trip, has nice service, including a nice selection of movies, and up-to-date, a lot of 2012 hits and new releases. I tried to select a wide array of releases, genres, and actors/actresses. This is NOT including the 5 minutes I gave "Out of Africa" (couldn't bear with it) or "The Life of Timothy Green" that I literally fell asleep through. I honestly gave these movies an honest viewing and neutral mindset going in, not what I usually do, which is try to watch a movie while doing other things. I also hadn't seen the IMDB ratings for these movies, so

Watching 10 movies (4 on the way over there, 6 on the way back) has its percs: you've really got nothing else to do: reading gets boring after awhile, sleeping requires being in the right state, and and daydreaming is only exciting for so long. You get small screen, the screen can move depending on the person in front of you, and the headphone quality can get spotty, and the captain always wants to interrupt you with the completely extraneous news that "Hey we hit turbulence again!" I mean, what else are you going to do when sitting in the middle seat of a double-digit hour flight in economy class, with no legroom, poor lighting, and no access to the internet? the airplane movie probably was one of the best inventions in airplane-related history; it's like the the armchair sofa to the TV.

Without further ado, here are my top 10 movies that I saw, in order from worst to first:

10.) Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - seriously, what was this? Besides being completely unbelievable even at the end of the world that a 55-year-old boring dude whose wife just left him would fall in love with a 28-year-old hyppy woman within about 36 hours, this a character development movie that had Steve Carell and Kiera Nightly being the wrong characters. And unlike the other cruddy movies on this list, it didn't have any comedy or action to even salvage it. It's like right before one of your friends is about to make a horrible decision and you just wanna yell, NO!!! NO!!!!....that's what I wanted to tell the producers when they decided to make this movie. I wholly wish I could have had my 90 minutes back. (Rotten Tomatoes 55%- they had an extra 5 in there).
9.) Men in Black III - you'd think with all those years in between and the "Back in Time" storyline it'd be good, especially as a 3rd movie in a franchise, but this was really just bad. I coulda sniffed the plot a mile away, no love interest for either J or K, the time travel thing had more holes in it than Spongebob Squarepants. Wasn't there a time when Men in Black was good to watch? Maybe that was just me as a kid liking all movies (Rotten Tomatos 69%- woulda went MUCH lower)
8.) The Watch - was barely watchable. Ben Stiller and Vince Vaugh not funny, Jonah Hill kinda funny but not enough to salvage it. Once the aliens started popping up, the plane ride and this movie mercifully ended. (17%- about right, maybe a little higher for a tad of comedic value if you were in a lonely, lonely place and needed something, anything)
7.) Snow White and the Huntsman
- This got really weird to me, and half the time I kept thinking how Charlize Theron looked worse than she did in Monster, Kristin Stewart is just in some bad movies, and why there's like talking birds and mass violence in this Snow White story I used to know. Manageable with a bit of intrigue, but it's like a butterless piece of undercooked toast......you can do better.  (Rotten Tomatoes: 49%- I'd have went lower)
6.) Brave - seriously one of the worst Disney movies I've ever seen, and that's a euphemistic insult (the opposite of a backhanded compliment) in the sense that I at least grouped it as a Disney movie (commonly known as instant classics the second they came out). This was not. I couldn't feel any empathy for the main character (bad sign), the Scottish accents were horrible, and nothing was even solved. And there wasn't really even a villain!!!!!! No wonder Brave, for all the hype going in, got no pub after it came out. Disney/Pixar probably just wants to pretend that one never came out and start publicizing the next one.
Note: Instantly regretted not seeing Ice Age 3, which was also available as my "cartoon flick". (Rotten Tomatoes 78%- I woulda went MUCH lower)
5.) Safe -at this point watching a Jason Statham movie is like going to the zoo: You know you're gonna get a bit of excitement, you know exactly which roads to take and plot twists you're gonna get, but you go anyway and you still get some pleasure out of it. And there was a bit of a plot here, not great but made you watch.(Rotten Tomatos 57%- about right, a very bread-and-butter formula for mild success movie)
4.) Celeste and Jesse Forever (Rotten Tomatoes 70%)- also another one that Rotten Tomatoes got about right. Interesting stories, very believable (including the artsy-guy-has-awesome girlfriend and good looks but-doesn't-wanna-get-a-job part) that isn't heartbreaking but good enough to get me a glimpse of another lifestyle and all the rough edges of living out life. I'll say that it was a very interesting ending given the name of the movie, but like many good movies it wasn't about the ending, it was how they got there).
3.) The Amazing SpiderMan (Rotten Tomatoes -73%).... once again, Rotten Tomatoes, spot on. 20 minutes in I realized I knew the exact plot of this movie having seen the cartoons and Doc Croc (they called him the Lizard, which is just factually inaccurate but I'll live), but the movie still was pretty good, which is a good sign. Seems like the start of a great franchise with a better (than Tobey McGuire as Spiderman and the That-70's-guy guy as Green Goblin) Spiderman.
2.) Ted- great. Lots of toilet humor, sexual humor, crude humor to the point of being excessive, but that just made it excessively funny. Exactly what I was looking for to start off my trip to Japan, a laugh-out-loud comedy with at least one hot chick (Mila Kunis never disappoints, although there were some lookers amongst the co-workers). (69%- the movie was better than that, America's just a bunch of haters on this movie.....a great comedy and a great lesson on growing up).
1.) Safety Not Guaranteed- accidentally clicked on this just searching desperately for a good movie after having endured through Brave. No. 1 choice and boy was this movie a surprise. It wasn't a great start, and there were parts I was plenty confused about and "where is this going?" but the ending was just great and just tied everything up before that, one of the better endings I've seen for a long time that made me going "Wow" at the end of it. I'll say that it's a movie about believing, about trying something new, and a little laughter and romance in between. It's somewhat a movie about time travel, and it handled it miles better than Men in Black did: it built it up, it gave reasons for the time travel, it made the time travel realistic in terms of real life, "Can this time travel thing actually happen?" Absolutely smart and well put-together, you actually feel smarter coming out of it (unlike many of the movies on this list). Just like the theme of the movie, it made you consider trying new things again and taking a chance on things (and people). Can't recommend it more highly.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Lessons from Japan, Part I

Just came storming back from a trip to Japan...Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Osaka, Narita, the little sushi stand at the train station in Himeji....you name it, I went there. A whirlwind of a trip (not of the hurricane or tsunami kind) and left quite an impression. Not really, unless you count the number of Japanese natives who were frustrated and impatiently waiting while I tried to understand what they ere saying or showing my inability to conjure up basic Japanese greetings and phrases.

Anyway, here are some life lessons when visiting Japan:

1.) Stay to the Left! Like the little-known and less-remembered Rihanna hit "To the left, to the left," that's what you should be singing to yourself walking (or driving) in the streets of Japan. Can't tell you how unnatural it felt to do so, fighting my every instinct, as well as how many times I almost collided with an incoming stranger because he (rightly) went left and I (not rightly) went right. (See what I did there?) That should be in every traveler's manual and tourbook about Japan. It's irresponsible not to.

2.) Sewer systems in Japan leave something to be desired. First night in Tokyo, big downpour. My Nike shoes were not well-equipped, but the real problem was the puddliness on the streets of Tokyo. I didn't see sewers or gutters anywhere. One would almost think they're not well-suited to handle water!


3.) Flip a coin when you have to talk to a random Japanese person..........about a 50% chance that person will know English and be able to converse. Relatively good odds, I'd say, for a non-European/Australian country with no history of being dominated by an English-speaking culture.

4.) Most toilets (the ones that aren't just squat-and-go, i.e. just a pit) have a Japanese symbol that means "big" and another one that means "little." Not sure about what that meant, but I have some ideas. I think it has to do with how much water is needed for flushing, if you get my "drift."

5.) unlike a lot of places I've been too (many of them in China), it smells......neutral.

6.) Subways are Amaaaaaaaaaaazing. L.A. city developers, here are tickets to Tokyo, Japan....please go through the subway system and learn from the efficiency and convenience of that city. The subways get anyone from anywhere to anywhere else, and fast.......the trains run on time, there are a lot of them, and Los Angeles needs them. NOW.

6a) Subway stations are its own little city. They have food, internet cafes, etc.... even its own map in case you get lost within the station (which I did). Quick traveler's tip: If you don't know where your hotel is yet and need to drop your luggage off somewhere quick, use the "coin lockers" at subway stations so you can just explore a city and then get out quick-like.

7.) Shin- (insert city here in Japan) is NOT the same as (insert city here). Don't make the same mistake I did and wind up in the wrong city altogether and 2 subway lines away from where I wanted to be. Not a pleasant experience.


8.) Shhhhhhh......don't talk on the trains!!!!! In fact, don't talk to anybody anywhere, is the general vibe I get. Not very communicative, except for the tourist-industry people.

9.) Sumo wrestling: Yea, not the most inventive sport ever invented. It's like when a little kid gets their first pair of monster truck toys and mashes them together to see which one will win.....it's really just brute force, in my opinion. Also, it's like horse racing or MMA fight: a LOT of build-up for not much action. The "wrestlers" throw salt around, prance around, and do the crowd favorite move (apparently): slap their naked abdominal area. The crowd cheers. O, and what's that about collusion and fixed matches? Yea, definitely rumors of that.

9a) And how do the wrestlers get so humongous? Most of the people in Japan are, for a lack of a better word, shrimpy, definitely not wide or fatty. And that's because of the food........there's just not a lot of it .They eat delicate, they eat exquisite, they eat seafood. They don't eat fatty, they don't eat a lot (judging by the amount of food I received every time I bought udon noodles.

10.) I wonder sometimes if a Japanese speaker, knowing that a tourist doesn't know a lick of Japanese and having been adequately provoked, just says "screw you" to that tourist. Can't believe that's never happened, certainly I gave enough reason to.

11.) Lot of "Hai's" meaning yes. No, thy're not saying hi to you, and you saying "hai" to them is just the equivalent of going around to everyone saying "Yes," "Yes," "Yes" to everything. The epitome of a Yes Man.

FantasySportGuru Headhunter Letter, Part IV

Dear Fantasy Basketball Manager,

We are pleased to bring you our fourth annual headhunter letter, longer and better than before. We at the Fantasy SportsGuru Headhunter, Inc. do not promise any results from our recommended candidates; individual results may vary. Last year, for instance, we were in error when we brought to you Russell Westbrook and Jrue Holiday, who true to their UCLA Bruin ways, failed to live up to expectations, especially in the instance of one Mr. Holiday. The lesson was, in this instance, to never trust anyone named “Jrue.” Here in 2012, we have thoroughly researched the diverse applicant pool and come to conclusions on several remarkable candidates.

One Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (a.k.a. Al Horford) has thoroughly impressed us this season due to his dedicated work ethic, ability to work with colleagues, and positive contributions in multiple capacities (points, rebounds, assists, steals, FG%, etc.) Now separated from cancerous former colleagues (Joe Johnson), Mr. Horford will be coming back strong from a injury-plagued season

Another strong candidate is a young man with great credentials who has already reached the highest level of the college ranks is one Anthony Davis, who has thoroughly impressed all experts while winning the national championship in his first year. He will have quite a challenge adjusting to the professional ranks, but his elite skill set has really never been witnessed before in our industry. Do not be put off by his massive unibrow; Scoff at the rumors that he is not even human; enjoy this man’s role as the backbone of your organization’s defensive strategy.

Emerging from the backwoods of Timberwolves country, Luke Ridnour is a renowned sharpshooter who distributes passes with the precision of a proficient hunter during duck season in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. He has proven to be a strong adhesive in any team environment, and his salary demands will be very miniscule. He will provide his own lunch and bring his lunch pail to work. Please consider this underrated candidate as a source of glue to solidify your organization.

As always, we must caution you against some fraudulent candidates who will only weigh you down. This is our official statement that we cannot sign off on these candidates.

Tyreke Evans is a very exciting professional and can create flickers of hope for the downtrodden masses of Sacramento with some aesthetically-pleasing performances, but upon a closer look at numbers, he weighs down the team in various capacities (FG%, FT%, TO) and may do more harm than good. Steer clear.

We have always appreciated Mr. Dwayne Wade’s “Fall Down Seven, Get up Eight” attitude and charitable spirit in giving Sports Utility Vehicles to random children, but we believe he has engaged in a downward spiral and is not keeping up with the new age. His demeanor has also shifted for the worse, becoming abrasive at neutral officials and testy with other colleagues not named LeBron James. Mr. Wade’s best years, as can be said about Mr. Bryant and Mr. Duncan before, are behind him.

Finally, despite his heroic efforts and superhuman shows of ability, Dwight Howard has never been able to cure his biggest weaknesses (lack of offensive skill and charity stripe work), and now entering his 9^th season, a change of scenery to the bright lights of Hollywood and the sharp criticisms of Kobe Bryant might be a turn for the worst. Recent reports are that Mr. Howard is not yet ready to work, and even does pass a physical he will not justify the price that you must pay for his services. Please do not invest in the services of this man.

We know that you will have many questions and doubts throughout the season about your employees, invovling many trials and tribulations, and you will develop personal relationships with the employees that you do eventually hire. We recommend that you hire mostly with cold hard facts and our numbers, (partly because if you don't in real life there's bound to be employment litigation in your future), but also so that you can have fun with your employees (short of finding yourself in a closet with your pants down with them); you will enjoy yourself if you enjoy those you surround yourself with.

Fantasize on,

Fantasysportguru Headhunter, Inc.

Chairman, President, and Omicient Ruler

Playoffs? We Talking bout Playoffs?

In this post I flip the whole  playoffs notion on its head.  

First off, About 2 weeks ago I endured one of the most taxing experiences in human life: going through a fantasy baseball playoff season. It was only 2 weeks, but it felt like forever. Happened 2 weks ago,but I’m still recovering from it.

1.)    Have to set your lineup every day.

2.)    Have to interpret weather patterns and cold fronts moving through the Midwest to the East Coast to see how it will affect the evening Tuesday games.

3.)    Makes me interested in Astros v. Marlins at the end of the season when both teams are a combined 64.5 games out.

4.)    There are some young guys who EXCEL at the end of the season for various reasons, either because they’ve finally been given some playing time, they’re playing for a new contract, the pitchers they face are September call-ups, etc.

5.)    Pitchers’ starts get moved around a LOT. And at a whim.

6.)    You get texts from your opponent all the time regarding what happened.

7.)    Anything can happen in a one-week playoff. Unfortunately, the best team doesn’t always win. (Just ask the managers in my USC Law league, who saw a regular season with 2 dominant teams who got byes as the #1 and #2 seeds only to see the #6 seed beat the No. 3, No. 2, and No.1 seeds in a epic run in the playoffs where each matchup was decided on the last day, even the last game, of the week.  *See note below about playoffs.

8.)    You need to be not working to fully enjoy it. Unfortunately, I won’t have that luxury for about 45 years.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you like them,) a playoff system is an imperfect way of deciding who the “best team” is. The playoffs are exciting, they get great ratings, and they provide some sort of way to “resolve” the season in an elimination format, in a sort of “do-or-die” system where there’s a winner, or a loser. As exciting as it is, its flaws are that it 1.) neutralizes the regular season as almost irrelevant besides determining “byes” and who actually makes the playoffs. Important to narrow a 30-team field to say, 16 teams (like in the NBA), but it really doesn’t reward the teams who had a great regular season, as 2.) the moment the playoffs begin, the regular season becomes irrelevant. Basically, 80% of the season (in most sports) is the regular season, and it’s totally made irrelevant as soon as the playoffs begin. 3.)There is no “clutch” playoff team. I’m in the camp where teams don’t magically “become a great playoff team because they’re clutch,” it’s just luck. Teams get hot all the team, at the beginning of the season, in the middle of the season, whatever, “great playoff teams” just happen to get hot at the best time, the end of the season. There’s ways to increase that chance of “being great in the postseason,” by saving your studs or trying to get the most favorable schedule, for instance, but teams inherently don’t just “get to another level” in the playoffs. 4.) It gives random, less-deserving winners. There’s been a rash of teams both in my fantasy leagues and real sports. 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, 2012 New York Giants, 2010 San Francisco Giants, 2011 Green Bay Packers, just to name a few: had mediocre regular seasons, barely squeezed into the playoffs, then made epic runs through the playoffs. Great television, certainly, and in a way “deserved” because they beat the so-called “best teams,” but were they really the “best” team that year? What if their one-month run happened in the early parts of the regular season? It’d just be a “nice winning streak,” nothing special. It makes us totally forget about the teams who were “best from start to almost-finish (right before they lost in the playoffs) of those years, including the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies, the 2012 Green Bay Packers, etc. Certainly we like playoff system in that they “pit the best teams against each other at the end of the season and may the best team win,” but let’s just remember what it is: an imperfect way of determining a champion of a sport.

The most “pure” system of determining a champion of a league, in my opinion, is actually the college football system. (where there’s no playoffs---- I know, like 85% of the world disagrees with me). Remember, though, I’m saying “purest” or “most pure” (whichever one is grammatically correct), not “ the best.” In college football, EVERY game matters in terms of trying to win a championship because if you lose, you are out of the national championship hunt. The regular season IS the playoff; no games are irrelevant, every game could end your season. (Witness USC @ Stanford 2012). The best 2 teams that play for the national championship at the end of the year are the 2 teams that have played “the best” throughout the season, managing no losses or one loss to a worse team. Now, obviously the BCS has BIG problems like why a certain 12-1 team gets to go to the national title game rather than another 12-1 team, but in terms of allowing the regular season to dictate the champions, that is pure.

However, for my sports viewing, I’m all for playoffs. It means high stakes, great action, and an excuse to sit around with friends watching athletes compete at the highest level with everything on the line. I’m a fan.  

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

Jury Duty

The Jury Duty system is one of he many things wrong with America.

Yes, from the negative tone of this first sentence, I was summoned to jury duty yesterday, and I did NOT like it. 2nd time in 3 years.......the first time, my name actually got called and I was pulled into a courtroom, but I wasn't selected as part of the panel. This time, I literally sat in a room all day for 8 hours watching my life flash before my eyes, trying to read my book(s) comfortably but failing to do so due to the sheer number of people around me and the noise level, as well as the fact you're in jury duty and just don't want to do anything anyway.

The jury duty process is just an inane abuse of time. It happens first because America is one of the only countries to use a jury system, a trial by a group of one's peers that somehow "reflect the general consciousness of society, as the theory goes. Never mind that these peers could be vastly uninformed, know nothing about the law, and could be the most despicable people on the face of the earth; or worse, they could be lawyers. In the system, the judge, the lawyers, in fact the whole judicial system, comes down to what happens in a room where random people select what happens to one person. It really unnecessarily puts the power of deciding things in a group that really doesn't deserve to, nor should.

The next problem of this "jury" process is getting all the jurors: I counted at least 150-200 people selected for jury duty on the day I was there. About 90 of those people (about half) were actually called into a courtoroom, much less actually paneled, so that out of 180 or so 20 people probably got selected, a nice 11% batting average, while 89% of the people there wasted their day in jury duty, 50% of those not even leaving the jury waiting room (like me- not holding a grudge or anything). And that's just the people in Ventura County Superior Court, an offshoot of the Los Angeles Superior Court system, on a Monday. Talk about fantasy football or iPhones negatively affecting workplace productivity, jury duty has to be a main culprit preventing Americans from working.

And the reason we need those 180-200 people every day is also due to an inane and inexplicable judicial process: Courts set about 100 cases or so for trial on the same day about 6 months in advance, hoping (and crossing their fingers) that most of them will settle, so that of the few that haven't settled, they can deal with those on the day of their trial. However, because the Court doesn't know how many of those 100 or cases might settle or not settle, they call a whole bunch of jurors in every day "just in case" they have a lot of cases. There's an easy solution to this: a week or 2 weeks before trial, CALL the lawyers on the cases and see if they've settled or not and still need a trial. If it has already settled, CROSS THEM OFF THE LIST. This is a job that one court clerk can do, instead of pull 200 people from their everyday working lives (where some of them don't get paid for that day of jury duty) and have them sit in a room all day, with not exactly the most comfortable of seats neither.


Now that I've worked myself into a huff, here are some other things we could have instead of Jury Duty day that would be more productive:


1.) "Appreciate Each Other" Day: People from all walks of life are summoned to a park or community center or some sort of large area and just talk about life, talk through their problems, learn about what others do. Every 3 years, you get a nice "recharge. Group activities like fun icebreakers, 2 truths and a lie, "One thing I love about my job and One thing I hate" are all good ideas to get started.

2.) "Physical Fitness" Day: People are called into to a gym and play different sports that they might not normally try, not only to get them physically active for that day but to get them interested in sports that they might try. Climbing wall, rope climb, volleyball, you name it. Dodgeball would be included. Seems like a great investment considering we're the "most obese country in the nation."

3.) "Driving Tips Day": Especially with new cell phone laws and new distractions like texting, seems like a great investment for our personal health to have this day for everyone, everyone go to a DMV and get updates on driving, with driving simulators, like a driving checkup. Doesn't sound as fun as the other 2, but the utilitarian benefits of that would be huge.

4.) Government Day: Everyone go in every 4 years (for every new 4-year Presidential term) and learn about new laws, regulations, policies, etc. that government has created, whether federal, state, municipal, etc. just to inform everyone about the laws. This would help society by, you know, PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM BREAKING LAWS.

Anyway, it won't be another year until Jury Duty day for me, but as evident from this post I will be eagerly awaiting that day again.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Prayer

I almost never talk about religion. I never voluntarily bring up religion in conversation (to me, it's a divisive topic that I don't know that much about and one that's hard to utilize a "cheap joke" at, so I avoid it. Many people feel strongly about it). I don't like to talk about my own religion, or lack thereof. My parents never took me to church, my parents never talked to me about religion. My friends don't talk about religion. People from different religions reach out to me from time to time, but I don't commit to anyone. I don't read religious books. I have not read the Bible or any other sacred literature. I do not observe religious holidays, except when they also happen to be federal holidays. I do not try to convince anyone that my way of viewing religion is correct. I do not pause for a prayer before meals unless I'm the guest of someone who does.


To me, there's no "correct" answer for religion. As I've mentioned before, I believe there is a higher power, just not necessarily the ones that the major religions believe to exist.

But the point of this article is, I pray. And I'm not talking about the "Prayer for Relief" that I write in lawsuit complaints. I'm talking about the prayer that most associate with communicating to a higher power, the definition : a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to an object of worship.


I pray before I got to bed. I do not pray often enough; I often forget because I have had a long day and am ready to go to bed. When I do pray, I do not fold my hands together or do anything with my hands. When I pray, I use my mind to communicate to "whoever it is" if they're listening. I used to pray for myself. I used to pray for my fantasy team. I used to pray for selfish things. I no longer pray for those things as the purpose of prayer and appealing to a higher power, I believe, should not be a selfish endeavor, and I've already been blessed enough in my life.

I pray for peace in the world. I pray for justice to be served. I pray for the weak to be relieved of oppression from their oppressors. I pray for the hopeless to become hopeful. I pray for a miracle for one person who's given up. I pray for sickness to become prosperity. I pray for death to become life. I pray for fairness, for equality, for good to be rewarded.

I pray for specific people. I pray for my family to stay healthy. I pray for people I meet randomly to be granted their wishes. I pray for people who are in agony to be relieved of their pain. I pray for non-specific things as well.

I pray for forgiveness sometimes when I have done something wrong. I pray I have the ability to prevent those mistakes from happening again. I pray that I become a better person. I know I have the ability to control myself more than prayer will.

I usually do not know if these prayers are granted. I know my family has stayed safe. I know prayer helps me stay grounded. I pray that my prayers have some good for someone in this life.


Fantasize on,

Robert Yan