Gone to the Beach

I am getting ready to hop on a train to the Central California Coast (up by San Luis Obispo) to spend the weekend with Alex and his family.


I have to enjoy the beaches one last time before heading back to the iciness of the East Coast. Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's!

A Down and Up Day

After spending a relaxing holiday in 70-degree San Clemente, my family came back to Santa Clarita, where it was at least 30 degrees colder and 50 mph windier. The stark climate change reflected the crash back to reality we all faced. Though technically on winter vacation, I had a lot to do and today was quite the roller coaster of emotions. Fortunately the day ended on a positive note, but here is how it progressed:

Angry: A little past midnight, one of my friends called me because his girlfriend cheated on him. I felt so bad and just did not know what to say to him. I was so angry at this girl, who I do not even know, for hurting my friend so badly.

Sad: After I woke up this morning, I checked the news and found out that former Pakastani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated. It really makes you realize how much we take our democracy and generally peaceful lives for granted. I thought this quote from Bhutto before her death was very telling: “I am taking the risk of my life. And I am taking the risk and facing the dangers in my country, because I believe that all of the children of Pakistan are as dear to me as my own children. I want to see the children of Pakistan be treated to a better future than the children of my generation were.”

Shocked: After reading the news online, I hopped onto facebook, which told me that my cousin got engaged on Christmas (she is the first out of all the grandkids). Of course I am happy for her; it was just funny to learn about the engagement from facebook. Thank you 'relationship status' updates.

Exasperated: I decided I needed to jump back onto the summer job search train today. My afternoon was spent asking some well-connected people I knew for help, emailing a number of firms up and down the coast to see if they were still hiring, learning that most firms already finished their summer hiring in November, turning to internships in the government because they hire later, and writing more cover letters for said government positions. I think searching for a job is more frustrating and stressful than law school itself.

Relief/Euphoria: Not more than 30 minutes after I told my dad, "I just want the Santa Barbara firm to call and offer me a job," they did. I felt as though the biggest burden has been lifted off my shoulders, and I will now be able to enjoy the rest of winter break with my family, and Alex's family this weekend.

I will write more on this later, but in short, I will be a summer law clerk at a small Santa Barbara firm, Griffith & Thornburgh, working on general civil law matters, including Education Law. A summer in sunny paradise, a paying job, areas of law that I am excited about, and a short train ride to my parent's San Clemente house. I am so excited and now I do not have to be jealous about my brother's job and the big gift basket they sent him for Christmas.

Post Christmas Wrap-Up

Apologies for no entry yesterday, and an advance apology for what will probably be sporadic posting in the next few days as I will be up and down the California coast.

Instead of being affixed to my laptop, as I usually am, I enjoyed Christmas yesterday with a full house. Since we go to Christmas mass, have the big dinner, and open of presents all on Christmas Eve, Christmas day is always the big day of lounging. In addition to finally beating my Uncle in Trivial Pursuit, playing with my cousins and their new toys, and eating leftovers, I watched more movies yesterday than I have in the past 4 months combined.

For those of you on break and like renting movies, here are my 2 cents to guide you in your selection. I warn you that I am by no means a "movie buff" (hence, seeing so few movies in the past few months).

Geogia Rule: I thought this would be one of those multi-generational 'chick flick' movies, but it was much darker than I expected. The movie was not as bad as the critics made it out to be, but perhaps I thought the story was interesting because the 'wild child' character Lindsey Lohan portrayed was such a mirror to her real life. I just wanted to know what was going through Lindsey's mind as she played a character with such self-destructive behavior. (Kristina Rating: B)

Nanny Diaries: Cliched movie, but cute movie once again in the "chick flick" category. Laura Linney was good and there was some creative parts of the movie (mainly, the narration modeled after an anthropological study), but overall a predictable type of movie is mindlessly entertaining. (Kristina Rating: B)

Breach: I was skeptical when my Aunt rented this, but it turned out to be a really good movie based on the true-life story of FBI agent, Robert Hanssen, who was leaking information to the Soviet Union/Russia. Chris Cooper did an amazing job, as did Laura Linney (again) and Dennis Haysbert. The only thing that would have made this better would be to swap out Ryan Phillipe with a stronger actor. I especially liked the movie because of all the DC footage; makes me wonder what other kind of crazy stuff goes on in the District without me knowing it. I also am biased towards movie that are based on true-life stories. (Kristina Rating: A)

I also watched half of Hairspray and nodded in and out of sleep during Shrek 3, so I will not give me "reviews." Finally, I watched the French movie La Mome (English Title: La Vie en Rose) with my parents. I did fall asleep during part of the movie; though the movie was long I attribute my movie insomnia to my short attention span and late night viewing. From what I saw, it was a good but tragic movie based on the life of French singer Edith Piaf.

Twas the Night Before...

I was blessed to have a wonderful Christmas Eve tonight with a lot of family, a Martha Stewart style dinner feast, 75 degree weather, and an ocean view. I cannot wait to hang out with my cousins after they have opened up their Santa gifts tomorrow-- even the eight year old who whopped me in Monopoly today.

Even though family gatherings and the holidays can sometimes be stressful (like when Santa makes a mistake on a present), at church we were reminded that this time is supposed to be a little crazy. Reading the story about the first Christmas will definitely remind you of that.

So Merry Christmas to all my family, friends, and blog lurkers.

Christmas Traditions

Some yearly traditions around the Doan household:

• My brother and I losing to my Uncle Tim in Trivial Pursuit (which was followed by my brother flipping over all the pieces- something that happened often in my childhood when I beat my brother in board games).
  
• Watching UCLA football lose its Bowl Game. Stupid blocked field goal.
  
• Martha Stewart's Seafood Stew for Christmas Eve dinner.
• Family "critique" of the Christmas letter that I write. The rest of our mailing list raves about the letter and always wait for it, but alas, you cannot please everyone. This has become such a high pressure duty.
  
• Culinary lessons from my aunts and grandma.
  
• Watching the West Wing with my brother.
• Constant questioning about whether the entire extended family is crazy or if this is how all families are (I am going to guess the latter).
  
• My parents giving me all the presents to wrap, even my own. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of self-restraint to not open the box your parents are making you wrap.

• Watching all the presents I took so long to wrap and neatly arrange under the tree get all torn up in minutes. I can't wait for it tomorrow.