Thoughts of -e^πi man - Tien Nguyen

So football season obviously can’t come soon enough, and there is hardly a more exciting underachieving team to look out for than the RAIDAHS. They’ve spent the most money on guys, and their season rests upon guys full of unknown potentials–WHO ARE ALL  MOSTLY YOUNGER THAN ME (wah).

Initially it was LeBron James who’s a full year (and 4 days) younger than me that made me realize that I’m no longer a child looking up to these athletes who I wished I could be at one point in time, but I’m actually older than a lot of these guys, muchless being in the same generation of them.

LeBron of course a ridiculous phenom–but now these guys are just getting younger and younger (obviously it’s not me that’s getting older, that’d be silly).

The core of the RaiDAHS now include…

Jamarcus Russell - born August 9, 1985, 602 days younger

Michael Bush - June 16, 1984, 183 days younger

Darren McFadden - August 27, 1987, 1350 days younger :-O

DeAngelo Hall - November 19, 1983 (okay he’s a month older than me but still damn young)

Oh there’s a white guy too, Zach Milller - December 11, 1985, 726 days younger

At some point I’m going to start feeling like a pedophile.

It was just about two years ago to the day when the fate of our livelihoods were temporarily taken out of our hands and put into that of a handful of 4,000 behemoths running down a narrow path with many a twist and turn everywhere in the annual, week long event known as the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

They say its your past that defines your present–and I’d certainly say that holds true here, as if I had died on this particular day, I wouldn’t be here today, alive.

Non-sarcasm aside though, it certainly is true that you never feel more alive the closer you are to, or at least the threat of death. And on that particular day, having stared death in the eyes in the form of a 2-ton cattle with horns like machetes, I can honestly say I felt more alive then than I currently do sitting on my bedroom typing away on my laptop.

Having been able to escape a date in purgatory then, I have been allowed to look toward a brighter, more exciting future in which unknown variables exist on every corner of life.

And of course by that I’m referring to the NFL SEASON.

To make things more interesting then I’ve put together some bets to make the upcoming season all that more enticing, and currently they’re as follows:

Bet #1:
subject: # of total Raiders regular season wins
o/u: 5.5
bettors: me, on the over; Will on the under
payout: lunch, from the usual rotational spots for a week

Bet #2:
subject: outcome of Raiders/Chargers game on September 2, in Oakland, CA
bettors: me: +400 on Raiders Rick: -400 on Chargers, M/L
payout: $100 to Tien, $25 to Rick

This past weekend was filled with reuniting with different people from different stages of my life whom I had formed different relationships with who I hadn’t seen in what seems like forever ago..

One was from my old work place, one from college, and one from high school who’d I share many math club moments with.

There are few things as fulfilling and wonderful as opening up old chapters again and adding new pages to them–and bringing your past together and connecting it with your present.

On the other end of the spectrum my loneliest/most depressing times come shortly after those moments pass, as I sit by myself here reflecting on the good times that were had, and reminisce on not only in the immediate past but further back as well, to different times of my life.

It’s like the low one gets after being high the night before as your brain is deficient in serotonin as it regenerates them or something.

I blame the socal heatwave + humidity for the emo puke above.

You first heard of the adventures of Tien N in an entry posted a while back. Today then, yet another chapter has been introduced.

This time though a much happier ending is involved..

Long story short: a few weeks ago we stumbled upon this new frozen yogurt joint about 53 yards away from our office. Instinctively I go back to the office, finish off my wonderful dessert, and rave about it on Yelp. And since it was brand new, I end up being the all important first reviewer of the place-the only voice of reason seen to those looking to explore here..being a fellow business owner just looking to eat, I felt it in my responsibility to support his cause.

Skip ahead to today then, with the four of us looking to get our yogurt fix on, we head on down back to Capri.

I finish topping off my cookies & cream flavored froyo with some strawberries–and just as I was about to pay for my purchase the owner, an older Asian dude, comes on in, and looks at me.

Owner: *gasp* Were YOU the first to review?
Me: Yup yup, that’s me, that’s me.
Owner: Oooh, thank you so much *looks toward cashier* this one is free for him.
Me: *grin* Really? Thanks!
Owner: No problem, thank you again.
Me: Not a problem..we’ll back again soon!
Owner: Oh I know you will..(he says with a smile)

-conversation may not have been as corny as remembered

Moral of the story? Kiss up to others if you want free stuff…although, I feel as though if I had badmouthed the place I’d have gotten a month’s worth of free yogurt, so who knows.

I posted an item a while back posing this ever so stringent, age old question:

 “I’ll take famous UCLA Bruins for $1000 Alex”

Alex: “This is what Tien Nguyen and Kevin Love have in common.”

“What is they’ve been been mentioned in the New York Times?”

And yet another similarity has arisen..

Ever since we’ve moved on from our previous lives toward bigger and better things, we’ve both managed to lose some 15lb or so–though Kevin might just have slightly more at stake and purpose in doing so..

Also, both our hairlines may have receded a bit over the past few months as well..

But, I’m pretty sure he’ll beat me to the big paycheck mark and whatnot..still I maintain that my vertical leap will always be greater than his.

First there were 30…

Object of round 1: down/eat/inhale 27 pieces of sushi as fast as you can. First two in each group of 10 advance to the final round. The ringer to my left finished in like a minute, and I was in a neck to neck race with the rest of the 8 guys.

Round 1..

And then there were 7…

Round 2..

4th place was what I managed..It was pretty much one of the greatest thing I’ve ever participated in–which is a bit sad when you get down to it.

Though how can you beat 52 pieces of sushi for $15..

So we’re closing in on a month when my life got flipped turn upside down so I’d like to take a minute just sit right there…and so forth.

My primary thoughts so far can be simply summed in the following statement: where the fuck has the time flown?

I feel like I’ve gone through weekends that have lasted longer than this past month has, and I have little doubt that I’ll wake up tomorrow, look at the calendar and realize it’s 2010.

Things have surpassed the already high expectations I set for myself, and the few hitches that have come have seemingly vanished before they even came.

There were essentially two fronts that had anxietized (my new word) the emo side of my brain–on the social side of things: I was moving to a strange new town in a non-college setting away from the friends I’d come to known and created many memories with. What would my nights and weekends end up being like? Would I be a poor old sap who spends his Tuesday nights writing drawn out, overdramatized blog entries?

On the business side of things then, how were four kids (brought together because one was randomly assigned the other as a roomate, and another who happened to sit diagonally behind the other in a high school science class) who had only recently graduated from college with less than 2 years of “real world” experience be expected to succeed in a world where over 90% of startups fail (presumably run by people who actually knew what they were doing) in a recessitizing (again a new word) market?

As it turns out, these worries were completely unfounded, and things apparently just have a way of working themselves out. On the first front– *pretend I put in some kind of interesting explanation of this here*

And on the second case then, the transition from working for the man while at the bottom of the totem pole to becoming 1/4 of a whole company has proven to be quite the world of paradoxes.

From the transition itself: which has been drastic and rather overwhelming, yet quite seamless even from day one.

Then there’s the high level of responsibility that comes with business ownership, but with that comes ultimate freedom to do what I want, when I want to (to a great extent at least)

The hours are near endless and essentially around the clock–yet they fly by faster than anywhere else I’ve ever been. Instead of counting down the clock come3-4pm, I’ll blink and it’ll already by a quarter to nine.

The tension of having a serious business conversation with crucial consequences is often quickly transitioned into an inappropriate joke that would surely bring upon the HR department and perhaps a pending lawsuit in any “normal”office situation..

It’s been quite the ride so far, like a rollercoaster that only goes up..with no peak in sight yet *knock on wood*

Reflection time over.

This article pretty much has it spot on..

UCLA coach Ben Howland is a nice man, and his team is a reflection of that. He has a nice center. A nice power forward. And on and on, all the way down to his nice point guard. Howland has put together a program that is presentable and competent, like a conservative haircut — each part in its rightful place. 

…

What happens when an entirely respectable college basketball team runs into a snarling monster? What do you think happens? Monster wins. And big.

The old adage certainly ran true in the past–3 runs.

How can you expect a bunch of guys who look like they’re supposed be on the glee club..

To compete with a bunch of guys that just came out of prison?

And now, did we change anything for our next incoming class–ranked #1 in the country mind you–you be the judge.

YUP!

Sike..It looks as if it’ll end up being another “nice” season..

We’re not going to be serious contenders again until we pick up this guy:

On another note, how sad is it that the joy of my life comes from studying 16-17 year olds and their street cred?

I don’t normally pay attention to lyrics of “poppish” songs, but a couple have stuck out in my head as songs that on the surface seem pretty nice, romantic, and all that hoopla, but if you were to really pay attention they’re just downright creepy and stalkerish.

First one is James Blunt - Beautiful:

I saw an angel.
Of that I’m sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won’t lose no sleep on that,
‘Cause I’ve got a plan.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.

So basically the premise is you have a guy who’s smitten not over someone he knows, has ever said a word to, or even gotten within a 3 ft radius of–but rather someone he got a glance of  on a subway, the place where the most creepozoids prey for the hunt.

Then he calls her beautiful, as if that somehow makes things nice, pure, and innocent..when what he’s really thinking is, “God you’re hot and I just want to rail you”. But in the context of a song that’s probably not so catchy.

There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it’s time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

He’s got that latter part right, but there’s only one word to describe someone who thinks that this random ass girl who probably has huge boobies is one an angel sent to him–PSYCHODELUSIONALGETAWAYFROMME

And then there’s: Plain White T’s - Hey There Delilah

I know times are getting hard
But just believe me, girl
Someday I’ll pay the bills with this guitar
We’ll have it good
We’ll have the life we knew we would

It’s a nice little message isn’t it–a guy promising him and his better half a good future via his guitar strumming. Lovely, is it not?

Except again in this case, it’s written to a girl he had just met..According to this.

A friend introduced Higgenson to his muse five years ago.

“I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen,” he says. “I told her, ‘I have a song about you already.’ Obviously, there was no song. But I thought it was smooth.”

He waited a year to write the song. Now, it’s inescapable.

Yeah that’s not creepy at all..now I’m all about confidence and being self-assured, but I’m not so sure how a line of: “Hi I’m Dave, I think “You’re Beautiful” and I just wrote a song about you” may work out in the real world..

The creepy stalker angle simply doesn’t work.

I would know..

Nostalgia defined.

The Americanized, modern day Pamplona bull run; sans bulls, sans culottes, sans exclusion of females.