12-1

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bring on the Pac-10.

UCLA Laker

Click the pic for an article on the most recent Bruin addition to the Lakers. I'm hoping that connection becomes a common one. As much as I would love to see Kevin Love play all four years at UCLA and win 4 national championships, it would be somewhat consoling to see him at least stay in LA and play for the Lakes. I know it made losing Jordan Farmar a little easier.

11-1

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!

You didn't think I was going to stop putting these posts up, did you?

Why Does It Happen?

I have recently been challenged to bring this blog back to the level that it once was. There are a number of reasons why I have been reluctant to do so. One reason is the time it takes in order to write about something more than just sports or do something other than just post pictures of my adorable niece and nephew. Since I started at my current job, there is little to no time for the blog in comparison to my last job where there was an abundance of time. That being said, I realize that I can still overcome this obstacle if I am willing to find time either after work or on the weekend or wherever there is time to be found and used.

The more likely reason and/or obstacle has nothing to do with time however. It is relatively easy to celebrate each and every UCLA Bruin basketball victory. It is relatively easy to share my joy and love for my family through pictures. It is not easy to be real. Being real makes you ask questions about yourself, about others and about certain things for which you have no guarantee of an answer. Being real makes you face potentially scary or troubling realities about the world you know or thought you knew. Being real is hard…real hard.

I had one of the most satisfying while at the same time most frustrating conversations with a dear friend the other night. We talked about everything. Life, God, humanity, morality...you name it. It was frustrating because at no point in the entire conversation did either of us disagree about one fact: neither of us had all the answers. Yet we chose to continue the conversation. And continue it we did...for hours. It was not frustrating because we were expecting the other person to have the answers. If that was true, the conversation would not have lasted 5 minutes...or even happened at all. It was frustrating because with each passing hour, we became more and more convinced that the quest for answers exposed a daunting conundrum:

If you are guaranteed to always have unanswered questions, why ask a question at all?

If the above statement is true, what would drive us to keep having the conversation? That is where the satisfying aspect of the conversation came into the picture for me. It wasn't that I was asking the questions with no hope or expectation of an answer. I wasn't even being masochistic about it. I think the reason I felt so fulfilled after the conversation was because of two things. One was that the person I had the conversation with was very caring and thoughtful about how vulnerable I was willing to be in sharing my thoughts. At no point did I feel as though I ran the risk of this person taking advantage of my honesty. I felt as though my friendship with this person grew tremendously as a result of this conversation. The other thing was that I did not see the answers as the end and the questions as the means to that end. I won't lie and say that I am always going to be content with the fact that there are some answers that I will never have or know. But to not ever ask...to me...is to not truly live.

I realize that this concept or idea or theory will have a lot of different responses to it whether people decide to say something or not. I don't want this to be viewed as my attempt to indoctrinate those people who happen to read this. This is just me trying to be real.

10-1

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!

9-1

Heck of a way to end the game. 33 point spread: covered.

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!

8-1

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!

Still here...

I turn 32 today. Despite numerous adventures including saving the ark of the covenant from the Nazis, eating monkey brains and finding the holy grail, I have managed to survive this long. Okay, maybe I didn't really do all those things but, I saw them done in the movies. Anyway, I thought about putting up some baby picture of myself in honor of my special day but then I got these from my brother and couldn't resist. Enjoy my adorable niece and nephew.

Guess what I saw last night...again?

It was just as good/wicked as the first time. This time was pretty cool because I got to meet one of the actresses and go back stage after the show.

Much thanks to CP for taking me...and much thanks to both Georges for letting me tag along afterwards. Always a pleasure.

7-1

No pictures. Just the box score.