:EDUCATED IN THE WEST

A very fictitious hypothetical for your consideration:
Brenda is an attorney in a major American city who has been nominated by her medium-sized law firm for a very prestigious legal representation award given by a local bar association. The award comes with a generous prize of about $40,000 and winning it would very much boost [...]

So, I finally got my car to the body shop. Recall that my fucktardinous new roommate backed up my year-old car into another car in our parking garage. The other car, though not parked in a designated space, was 35 feet behind. A glance in the rearview mirror would have solved everything–no [...]

It looks like my little personal experiment with the iPod touch might have come to an end. You’ll recall that I purchased this much ballyhooed device when it first came out one year ago. Now, I didn’t buy it because I’m one of those first mover iPhone types. (I rarely am out [...]

So, I finally took the plunge. I traded in my old 1990’s-style clunker of a flip phone for something more appropriate to the 21st century. That’s it up there in the picture, my new BlackBerry Curve 8330.
What? You were expecting something else, perhaps ….. oh, I dunno, an iPhone?
Well, if [...]

Spring Break. Los Angeles. Tojo. Two Korean Air stewardesses.
I’d say that these are the elements of a really, really great story.
A colleague of mine, Min, is South Korean. His wife, “Michelle,” is a very attractive woman who works for Korean Air. She’s part of the air crew. I think the [...]

As I head deep into the middle of my fourth decade, the number of weddings to which I get invited dwindle with each passing year. It kind of reminds me of the problem of overfishing where species that are in demand are turning up in nets in smaller and smaller numbers.
Among my high school [...]

My experience with animals doesn’t go far beyond eating them. The only pets I’ve really owned are a few parakeets and some fish. I had a dog for one day before it vomited worms and was sent back by my mother. Also, in Thailand, we had some cats when I was really, [...]

So, you remember that I’m doing that role playing murder-mystery-whodunit thing this weekend, right? It’s part of a surprise birthday party for my friend. She has no idea…I hope. Anyway, we all get to play a part in a murder that happens during the will reading of this moneybags who was himself [...]

Well, demon-possessed souls like mine can’t survive long without being touched by the hand of God. Did I ever blog about my evangelical Christian friend’s bachelor party? I think I did. It was his wedding that I didn’t actually blog about. Well, to refresh your memories, while at the dinner portion [...]

Well, I guess it’s official: I’m in my mid-thirties! I fudged it at 33, but there’s no denying it on my 34th birthday. I’ve been thinking about turning 34 for a few months, and now I think I’ve finally come to terms with it (just in time). I told an undergraduate [...]

I attended my first evangelical christian bachelor party not long ago. As you might expect, it wasn’t anything to write home about. In fact, I don’t even call it a bachelor party–I call it a bacheling party. Why? Because of the bonehead-ish groomsman who took the lead in organizing the thing.
Now, [...]

Well, here you have it. Below is the first picture of the real me that I’ve ever posted here. Now you know what I look like–I’ve finally begun kicking down the walls of anonymity.

Do you recognize me?

I was able to retrieve some of my parents’ old photo albums this weekend. Previously, I had stated here my intention to scan and upload some of their old pictures. I still intend to do so, but the process will be more difficult than I had envisioned. The pictures in question have [...]

This weekend I saw Mira Nair’s The Namesake starring Kal Penn from the National Lampoon Van Wilder movies and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. It’s based off the book of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri. As I feared, the film was so sad and wrenching at some points that I shed [...]

I was planning to go to Sacramento this weekend, but my plans have now changed. My mother intended to fly from Las Vegas to Sacramento today. I was to drive from Los Angeles to meet her there on Friday. However, my mother has taken ill with a pretty serious case of the [...]

A couple of weeks ago I got some great news– I learned that I had passed my first qualifying paper. This was a huge relief as I, ever the pessimist, did not think that it would ever happen. I say that it was a relief rather than a triumph because I’ve conquered larger [...]

Well, it finally happened last week. I’m now playing for the home team. Uh, that is, I was sworn in as a United States citizen. The ceremony took place in Montebello, east of downtown L.A. I was packed into a conference hall with about 900 of my fellow immigrants. It [...]

Can you believe it? I’m just now one oath away from American citizenship. Last week I passed both the English and US Civics (History and Government) exams and had my application recommended for approval by the USCIS. I feel fortunate to have had the chance to take the easy, sissy exam as opposed [...]

I can check off another one those “things to do in Southern California” on my list now. That’s because this weekend I attended the USC-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. It was the first UCLA game that I’ve attended and it was my first time at the Rose Bowl, UCLA’s home stadium in [...]

I have a friend who recently became an evangelical Christian. I’m not sure if this is something to worry about, but my gut tells me that it’s not a good thing.
You see, this guy is a close and dear friend. He was a Hindu and we often had discussions about Theravada Buddhism and [...]

It looks like very bad news for Tojo, boys and girls. Last week, I decided to go into the student health center here at Western California University for some “preventative bloodwork.” I don’t know if that’s a real term or not, but what I mean to say is that I went into the [...]

If you read yesterday’s post, you know that in the next few months I’ll be facing two of the easiest “serious” tests that I’ll ever take in my life. The first is, of course, the naturalization test to become a citizen of the United States. The second exam is a proficiency test for [...]

Yes, my friends, after thirty long years, it’s finally about to happen. After three decades, I’m about to become a United States citizen. This Saturday, I went to a Department of Homeland Security office on West Pico Blvd. to be fingerprinted for my N-400 application for naturalization. The next steps after fingerprinting [...]

It’s getting harder and harder to do anything now that I’m in this funk. It’s a sort of malaise. I can’t really do much about it right now. I’m not depressed, but I’m just a bit negative about all things. Maybe it’s this job. Five months now. I don’t [...]

I’ve put up all of my Chicago pics onto the EITW Flickr album. The shots below are just a sample of the latest additions. Click on any one to go to the album and browse around. Captions to follow.  (Seriously, I billed 72 hours this past week, so cut me some slack [...]

I’ve begun the process of putting some of my Chicago pictures into the EITW Flickr album. I’ll eventually organize them into sets and give most of them proper captions. For now, titles will have to do. So far, I’ve put up a few random pics, shots from the outstanding Custom House restaurant, [...]

I’m back from Chicago and my second wedding of the year. It was fun, but I feel like I weigh a ton after all that I ate. Check back on Monday for pictures and commentary.

No, that’s not my age, although I’ve got just a few months left of being 32 years old. The thirty-five in the title refers to consecutive days I’ve been into work at my temp law job. It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month since I had a day to myself [...]

Hey, everyone. I’m still alive, I think. Eleven- and twelve-hour days at work have been keeping me away from my appointed blogging rounds, unfortunately. The thing is, the rumors are flying in the office. Our little temporary gig is coming to a close, or so everyone says. Therefore, you know [...]

My camera phone just took a big dump. You get to see and smell. Captions will hopefully be added later since it’s late as I type this. I just got back from the late showing of Deepa Mehta’s Water at the ArcLight in Hollywood. It’s the last film in a trilogy [...]

Just a few days ago, I made yet another pledge to myself to get in better shape. After being so dilligent during my year in Sacramento, I’ve fallen completely off the wagon. Well, I guess not completely off since I still feel guilt. I tell you, it’s my gym that’s the problem. [...]

I was looking over some of my old personal documents and suddenly realized that my very first Thai passport was written in Thai and French! Mon dieu! Thailand wasn’t even a French colony. What gives? Sheesh, it makes me feel like I was born in the 19th century or something. [...]