Sporting Emotions

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down)

This is the song that the UCLA marching band plays every time the football team messes up on a big play. Today, they must have been playing that song a lot because UCLA lost horribly to Utah, an unranked team.

After thinking about how riled up I was during the game-- I yelled and walked away from the television several times-- I thought about how interesting these "fan emotions" can be. I am still somewhat upset by the game, and I am not even as intense as a fan as many other people. The fact that others and I can let something that really has no impact our lives affect us is so irrational it is funny.

But as the girl who has tried to rationalize everything, I have realized that emotions are not rational. Whether it be love for another person or a sports teams, sometimes it just does not make sense. We let things affect us that should not. And we do silly things, like praying that USC would lose their game, even though that would make the Pac-10 look bad overall (unfortunately they won).

Obviously there are limits to sporting emotions. The fact that fans kill each other (primarily in other countries, primarily regarding soccer) is well, horrifying. However, I do think that vicarious competitiveness has its benefits. Besides the entertainment value of cheering on your team, there is also a sense of camaraderie that fans share with their fellow fans, both during wins and losses to unranked teams.

Family Fun & Bad Public Policy

Coming back to California today, I settled into the normal Doan family routine. My dad picked me up from the airport and, as usual, we went to Sam Woo BBQ. The restaurant is the only "B" rated restaurant that I will go to without protest, and I am not the only one. This place is always packed with people waiting for Chinese bbq pork or ducks that hang from the window.

Later that evening, my mom and I went to the mall, as usual. As we were walking through Macy's, my mom quickly ran over to me and told me to look over by the bag section. I turned around and saw a family friend, who I learned was having an affair last time I came home. He was buying a big Coach bag with "the other woman."

I could not believe my eyes. The thought of adultery itself is enough to make my stomach turn, especially when you know the man cheating has three little kids. But to see such a public display of it was shocking, and even angering. I wondered if he wanted someone to catch him. If you know Santa Clarita, you know that you always run into people at the mall because there is nothing else to do here.

Not there is probably such thing as a good affair; but there is something about a public affair that just screams arrogance (or stupidity) to me.

California Here I Come

I will be flying to California this weekend for job interviews and to visit the family. To clarify some confusion: no, I am not dropping out of school or even taking a semester off (not that anyone would believe that I would do either of those things); these interviews will be for summer associate positions for next summer. I guess you could say that the law profession likes to do things early, at least medium-large firms.

Even though this semester has not been bad at all, I am excited to take a mini-vacation. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if UCLA was playing at the Rosebowl. I will just cross my fingers that I get a call-back interview and that it will be when UCLA is at home.

All-Star Students

Part of my job is to take out students to coffee or lunch to give them advice. So far, every person who has sought my advice has been older than me, and yesterday, the student I met with was a wife and mother of two kids.

In that situation, I did not feel like I should have been the one giving advice about time and stress management. I wanted to ask her how she dealt with it, since the family-work/school balance will be something I will be dealing with eventually.

All I have to say is that I have a tremendous amount of respect for parents who go back to school at any level. I know that a lot of them do not want to be looked at differently, but after going through the first year of law school just trying to take care of myself, I will say what they are doing is amazing.

Matzoh Magic

It was not a horrible day. Just a blah day.

Despite getting 8+ hours of sleep last night, I woke up to gloomy yet humid weather, felt congested all day long due to allergies, was freezing cold because the law school keeps the school like an igloo and I forgot my sweater, ran around trying to get everything lined up for my interviews in California, and was bummed because I really wanted to soup at lunch to warm me up but today was the only day in the cafeteria's history that they have not had soup. Yes, I feel like being whiny today.

Fortunately, I felt a lot better after I went to Wagshals, a local deli by my school, with my friends after class. Lo and behold: matzoh ball soup. There was nothing I needed more at that moment than a bowl of brothy comfort.

I may only be JBA (Jewish by Association), but I think some foods transcend culture and religion.

Cat Tales

Over the weekend, Alex and I excitedly embarked on the first step of the surprisingly long process to get a cat. Since Alex has a huge apartment, we decided to get him not one, but two cats to keep him company.

The whole process started on Saturday when Alex and I took a trip over to the D.C. Humane Society. I have never been much of a cat person, but after holding and playing with a series of cats, they definitely grew on me. We ultimately narrowed our choices down to Cherry (above) and Pumpkin (below), with Pickles as the alternate. I thought from that point, the Humane Society would see if the two cats played well together, and we would be well on our way. Wrong.

Alex had to fill out a questionnaire that had asked him questions on his moral stance on issues like de-clawing (apparently a big no if you want to adopt a cat). After he finished filling out all 5 pages, the Humane Society told us that they would give us a call.

Since Saturday, Alex has had a phone interview, the Humane Society has called Alex's boss, and they are scheduling a home visit in the next day or so. I know that they are just trying to find a good home for these cats, but really? I cannot imagine what people have to go through to adopt a child.

Anyway, if all goes well, Alex could be the proud papa of Cherry and Pumpkin by the end of this week, and I will get visitation rights. We are not sure if we are going to keep the names or not, but we realized today that they are both pie-related. If anything, we hope that is a good sign that the cats will get along and we will all be a happy family.

Still Summer

Dear Fall,

Please come soon. I do not know how much longer I can take 80+ degree days with 80%+ humidity at all times of the day. You are lucky that I have free air conditioning; otherwise I would be much more cranky.

Some leaves are starting to hit the ground, yet the swamp-like conditions in DC have not been replaced by the crisp fall air. I feel like I have been wearing the same summer clothes since April even though I have cute new jeans and sweaters that standing by in my closet.

Lastly, it is difficult to be a productive student when it feels like it is still summer. If for no other reason, please get cooler so I can be a good lawyer in the future.

Thank you,

Kristina