We'll see where this goes...

Nice, mom!

2008-08-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

So I was being a good son and calling my mom. And you know what she said?

"Write it on your blog. I'll see it there. Or we can communicate by e-mail."

Nice.

I got stung by a bee

2008-07-31T17:04:00.001-07:00

And it hurts :(

Savings

2008-07-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

I opened a savings account. It makes pitifully low interest, but I think the idea is more that I try to keep a separate pot of money that I don't touch. Maybe I can put away enough to last me a week or two after I finally end up graduating.

Doubt it.

Really exciting weekend

2008-07-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, that was hyperbole.

I did make it to day 3 at the gym yesterday. Day 4 is planned for tomorrow morning. I've taken to the urg. We'll see.

Really the most exciting thing this weekend was that I reorganized my office. Moved all the furniture around and everything. Again, we'll see.

Gym Day 2

2008-07-10T11:17:00.001-07:00

Would blog.... too sore.

Damn it

2008-07-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

So I started managerial accounting yesterday, and during the break the guy next to me introduced himself and asked me how I thought the class would be.

I think my exact quote was, "I think this is going to be a long, tedious six weeks".

Of course then I go to section today, and it turns out he's the graduate student instructor, in charge of, you know, grades.

Stupid, stupid me.

wait, really?

2008-07-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

I went to the gym today. This was the first time in ... I'm really trying to figure it out right now... ummm ... I think I went last summer, but I'm not entirely sure ... no, come to think of it, I don't think I did.

Well, it's definitely been awhile.

The reason I don't like going to the gym is the idea of having awkward interpersonal contact. I really don't mind working out, and while I am lazy, that is not the main factor here.

But I think my new time will be perfect. It only seems to be senior citizens in the weight room at this time.

Added bonus: the senior citizens all leave the weight machines at the appropriate weight for me!

:(

Watch this

2008-06-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

OK, totally stealing this from Leslie, but watch this:

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Goodbye Eva

2008-06-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's been 27 hours since Eva left, and today we hear that she has settled in safely in her new apartment with her Argentinian host family.

I've been sad all day. Probably self-indulgent, but I've just been lying around all day, watching TV, cleaning a bit.

I probably should have been working or something, but sometimes I need a day like this to recharge.

Anyway, I wish her well down in South America, and I'm counting down the days to my hopeful visit there.

55 to go.

Let's give this another shot

2008-06-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm going to try to sneak back in here quietly. Let's try to forget that it's been eight months since I was last here, and that even then I didn't have anything particularly interesting to say at the time.

So let's try for a quick update on the last few months.
- Eva and I went to Iowa. Very cold. Kind of sad. Great experience though.
- I then spent a semester in Washington, DC. Worked at the Center for American Progress. Have this and this to show for it.
- Wrote a pretty extensive paper on China and global oil strategy.
- Now back in Berkeley, having taken the helm at the DC, and taking some classes (macroecon and managerial accounting). Lived in a leprechaun house for a while, but now back in my apartment.

Eva's off to Buenos Aires for 5 months this Friday. :( But the good news is she has a blog. I hope she can keep it going better than I've been able to.

Quick hits:
- Mood: Down, but varies day-to-day
- Stress: Pretty high
- Future: Looking good

I'm an "instructor" now

2007-09-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've started teaching my class "The Daily Cal DeCal: An Introduction to Print Journalism". It has 51 students and that's after kicking 20 out because there was no room. It's pretty crazy.

Anyway, picked up the course reader today (which I spent many an hour putting together). It's pretty sweet. Here's a bad picture of it, care of my camera phone:

One-Minute Update

2007-09-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

So here is what has been going on in my life:

I've been coordinating the hiring for the Daily Cal, with some 300 applicants. That's pretty rough, esp. considering how many rejection letters I'm going to have to send out this week.

I've started back with the Edwards campaign, doing fundraising and events here in the Bay Area. He came to Mill Valley last week, which was a lot of fun.

I'm applying to UCDC, a program in Washington, for the spring semester. A professor of mine just wrote a really nice letter of recommendation, so that feels nice.

I'm not the biggest fan of my classes this semester. The good news is, I hardly have any time to pay attention to them. (Joke, parents).

I'm in the middle of 6 weeks worth of dental work. And to top it off, I got a speeding ticket on the way to my last appointment. (To be fair, it wasn't "speeding" in anywhere that's close to sane. It was "speeding" in Mill Valley at 6:30 a.m.)

Well, that's all for now.

Eva got a new puppy!

2007-08-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

And this is a picture of him sticking his tongue up my nose:

Awesome Lion v. Buffalo v. Crocodile Video

2007-08-09T11:54:00.001-07:00

This is seriously worth a watch. See the whole thing through to the end.

woo hoo, earthquake

2007-07-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

There was an earthquake super early this morning. Eva woke up screaming, but I'd had some weird premonition about it and was already awake and knew what was going on.

So what does any responsible person do when this happens? They write a story.

If there was ever a day worth a blog post...

2007-06-25T08:02:00.001-07:00

...it would be Friday.

Without going in to too many details, I was on CNN.

I also appeared in this nifty YouTube clip.

Good times.

whoops

2007-06-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

So according to the archives of this very blog, I made 58 posts in 2006, yet have only made 6 so far this year.

I suppose I've been pretty busy.

I'm presently in Chapel Hill, NC. Yup, I ended up going for the John Edwards gig, and I now work as an intern in the press department. Good times all around.

North Carolina is an interesting place. It's the first time (not counting my few weeks in New Orleans) that I've ever really spent time in a "southern" state. I'd like to tell you that a whole lot is different, but in truth I'm in a pretty liberal college town, so it's a lot like home.

Anyway, got to see the senator today. That was cool.

I'm 21 now

2007-05-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

and somehow have made it to my 9:30 a.m. class.

Good times last night. And the night before. Hopefully tonight too.

Dilemma

2007-04-25T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hello again. OK, I admit it, I have a paper due, so I'm back. But that's just how it goes. (It's a major paper, by the way. For a class that has been structured entirely around the research and writing of such paper. I really probably should be done with this by now.)

But I've come across a major dilemma that for some reason I feel like I have to address now.

The John Edwards campaign is offering summer internship positions at the major campaign bases in North Carolina, Iowa, Las Vegas, New Hampshire and South Carolina. It would be totally unpaid and all, but excellent experience and great fun.

How is that bad? Only because I have many many scheduling conflicts with it. I have plans to visit friends and family, but most of all, I am planning to take a full load of classes for the second half of the summer.

So, what to do? I'm pretty sure I would be very suited to the internship, especially in the media department. It is something I have wanted to do for more than a year now (ever since this, actually). So do I cancel a whole bunch of other things? Maybe.

What to do, what to do?

update

2007-04-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

Spring break was excellent.

Eva and I babysat Zoe and Tristan overnight. That was amazingly unbelievably tiring.

Back at school now. It's alright. But now I'm sick. :(

I still don't have a cell phone.

Exciting News!

2007-03-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

So while some bad stuff has been happening recently (which I didn't really talk about in that last post), some good news came today!

I was accepted into the Haas School of Business undergraduate program. It's a really good school. And I didn't think I had a chance of getting in, because I applied a year after they normally want. What it means is I have to (get to?) stay an extra year at Berkeley.

So I was sitting here pretty pumped. And then I realized I actually have to switch my whole college now. But I still want to do my old major, meaning I have to be double-enrolled. And that means multiple advisers, calendars, requirements, etc.

But if I'm not anxious, then something doesn't feel right.

Hello Again

2007-03-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

I'm back!

Betcha thought this was dead.

I sorta did too.

A quick update on my life:

School is going much better this semester. A combination of easier classes and better time management are really working for me.

I'm very happy in my new apartment. As lonely as I thought I might get, it turns out it's very nice to have a place to be alone for a while every day.

Daily Cal is still chugging along. I just got back from a conference with the three other news editors in Portland, and The Daily Cal won the Best in Show award there.

My summer plans are very much up in the air. I think I need to find a job.

Spring Break's coming. Eva and I are going to Canada to do some skiing. We're pretty excited.

Also, it is very hot here. Record breaking, in fact.

A month and a bit later

2007-01-27T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I haven't totally forgotten about this thing.

It's not that things haven't been happening. We could pretend I'm too busy to post, but we all know that I only post when I am too busy, so we all know that's not true.

Anyway, a quick recap:

Break was awesome. Which is not to say I did anything. Just spent time with Eva and the fam, and went to Tahoe for a couple days.

Then I moved into my new apartment. It is really great, especially to come home to after long days at work (which, if we can be honest, is every day).

Work and school are going all in all pretty well.

Anyway, I'll make an honest effort to return here every once and a while.

Halfway through Finals

2006-12-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

So, halfway through finals. What's the verdict?

Well, this pretty much sums it up:

No, that wasn't mine. But that's only because I wasn't thinking nearly creatively enough during my microeconomics final.

Well, French comes up tomorrow. Bonne chance à moi!

Guilty Pleasure

2006-12-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

I'm am now the proud guilty owner of "Now that's what I call Christmas, Vol. 3."

I may have two major finals tomorrow for which I am as of yet unprepared, but as long as I have Elvis Presley singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" then life can't be too bad.

scary video

2006-11-16T04:43:00.000-08:00

Check out this link: http://clog.dailycal.org/other/in-need-of-a-copwatch-decal-ucla

It links to the Daily Bruin article, but also has a video of police officers using a taser multiple times on a UCLA student who didn't show his ID at the library. The guy is tased multiple times, even after being in full control of the police officers.

It's difficult to know what to think about this, but the one thing that is good to see is a number of students standing up to the officers.

What do you think? I'm freaked out.

Shocking!

2006-11-16T04:41:00.000-08:00

A post, and it's because I'm supposed to be doing something else!

This time it's a midterm paper, which is due in 11 hours. I've been working on it so far for 9 and a half hours, but hope to finish within the next couple.

But I don't really have a lot to complain about. I did it to myself.

In other news, there is an ASUC (student government) hearing going on that's been going since 10 p.m. It is now 4:45 a.m. It will likely continue until daybreak, possibly later.

We have five people down there covering it. Five people. That's called dedication.

can you tell I only blog when I'm totally stressed out?

2006-11-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

Got my car back from LA this weekend, and Eva and I spent a great weekend in the Bay Area.

Except then she got the flu real bad. And now I have it too.

No big deal though, not like I have anything else to do this week. Except that damned election to cover.

Oh, also Microeconomics midterm which there is a real chance I will fail. A real chance.

Lost my cellphone at the game this weekend. Again, not a problem, because someone picked it up. I arranged to meet that person in San Francisco today. But then he said his rooommate took it, and he doesn't think he can get it back. No big deal.

Library now. Only got a cumulative 3 and a half hours of sleep last night. No big deal.

Thesis: LA is out to get me

2006-10-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Last year: Trip to LA for UCLA-Cal game, Cal loses, car headlights won't go off, spend way too much money for a slice of pizza, get $400 speeding ticket.

This weekend: Trip to LA for journalism job fair. Car breaks down in the middle of the 405 at 10:00 p.m., car now sitting in some shop in West LA, then rent a car for trip home, get in a 4-car-pileup on the 5.

Now home, with no car. Have to fly back down on Friday to drive back here.

Also: I have had an all-time total of two mechanical difficulties with this car. Both were in Los Angeles. When I had the car fully serviced in May, I was told it was in excellent condition.

Counterevidence: I was with Eva for much of the weekend, so when you think about it, anything that went bad didn't really matter after all.

Conclusion: Sometimes life's a bitch.

My weekend

2006-10-16T00:32:00.001-07:00

Rejeuvenating: yes.
Exhausting: yes.

Really very happy: yes.
Really very sad: yes.

Midterm tomorrow: yes.
Fish at work in the process of a slow death: yes.

I miss you eva. :(

Difficult Week

2006-10-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this has been a really hard last few days.

I've had midterms and haven't slept more than about 4 hours at a time in any of the last week but really there's been a lot going out at work too. It's been really exciting at times, but also really draining.

Anyway, I really shouldn't go into it too much, but here's something I've been working on.

Also, on a lighter note: a column.

Even though it's all been rough, there have been good moments. I got a B on a midterm I was pretty sure I'd fail. Also I finally got my keys out from the bottom of the elevator shaft. And in about 16 hours I'll be hopefully heading to Los Angeles.

We'll see if I make it until then.

Fleet Week Follow-Up

2006-10-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the brief I did on fleetweek.

It's nothing special, though there will be a few more photos up there soon.

All I really like is the dateline in the story.

how did i do that?

2006-10-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I managed to drop my keys down the elevator shaft.

It's not like this is easy to do. There is not a large gap between the elevator and the floor.

Someone said this is the type of thing to only happen in movies.

I think it only happens in bad movies.

I landed on an aircraft carrier today...

2006-10-08T00:21:00.000-07:00

...and other news.

It was quite an experience, to be sure. We did the whole catching by a wire thing with the whiplash and all.

Then I spent the whole day on the carrier, with pretty much the run of the ship. We went under the Golden Gate Bridge and saw the launch of two F-16s from the runway. Pretty amazing.

I have 645 photos from it. I'll try to whittle them down. Who knows if I'll find time to do that.

For now, I'll just find some random photo and put it below. Hmm.

At least now I know where that quarter of our federal budget is going. TO AWESOMENESS.

The other news is that Cal won the Homecoming football game today, and it was amazing, but now I do not have a voice. Oh well.

(I don't think this is the coolest photo, but then on the other hand, it may be.)

melancholy

2006-09-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this has been a tough week. I won't be too mopey, but Eva left last Friday, and it hasn't even been a week yet, but it's been pretty rough.

She's settled in and everything, having a good time. But clearly I'm the one we should be paying attention to, all sad and lonely.

Oh well.

I feel like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. That is all.

Creepy or Cute. You make the call.

2006-09-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Vote in the comments:

Also, this is definitely cute:

Awesome news break!

2006-09-01T02:31:00.000-07:00

So the Daily Cal is breaking some major news in today's paper.

This is actually a pretty big deal, even though it's only $2,000.

But what's awesome is we got the audit through a public records act today, and we posted it online before anyone else.

Finally it feels like we're doing some real journalism.

Major props to Cristina who actualy wrote the story. I just got back from the office (2:30 a.m.) because I was staying to help get it up online for the major news scans, including on the east coast.

The only other story on this right now is an AP story, but ours is better.

In other news, this is not good for my health.

And it's here!

2006-08-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

My new baby nephew was born at 8:28 a.m. at 9 lbs. 2 oz. His name is Tristan.

I really can't tell you if he's cute or not, because I haven't seen him yet. But if he's anything like his parents or especially his sister, then he probably is.

I really want to go see him, but I'm back at work full-time so I don't know when I can go. :(

a new baby!

2006-08-28T08:51:00.001-07:00

I just got the word that Jen is going into labor.

That means that later today I will have a new nephew!

I'm so freaking excited.

Back in Berkeley

2006-08-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back, and it looks like it's for good this time.

The mono is getting better to be sure, but is still very much here. I'm just worried because if I don't get completely rid of it by Sunday when i start full-time, then it'll probably come back heavy on for the rest of the semester. So that'd be pretty cool.

Still don't have a roommate, though that may change later tonight.

Bad news is we now have cable tv in our rooms. Though I don't suppose it's really bad news, cause I'm never here anyway during the semester. But I am for sure watching Friends right now.

Went back to the office for the first time today. Got a lot done, but mostly in just realizing how much more I have to do.

Infectious Mononucleosis

2006-08-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

So, some of you may or may not know, but I've been really sick the last week or so. Anyway, I finally got home and I saw the doctor.

There's good news and bad news.

The bad news is I'm diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis! I really don't know how I got it, but it probably happened at some point in my travels between New Orleans and Canada.

The good news is that I can sleep all freaking day and no one can say anything about it. I just really really have to get better fast, because I have a lot of work to get caught up on, and school starts real soon.

Also, Eva's coming home tomorrow. And this disease spreads by saliva. DAMN IT.

NASA

2006-08-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

I'm at the Johnson Space Center of NASA in Houston, TX now. I went to the Mission Control, of which there are 3, and then also the mission control for the Apollo missions. It was awesome.

That is all.

Zoe's Morning

2006-08-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, just wanted to let you know that Zoe's evening went great, and in the morning she got caught up on all the current events.

right on cue

2006-08-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

just as i was missing my little neice zoe, it turns out she's staying at granny and grampy's tonight, and I got a photo from when I was talking to them on the phone!

Fernie, British Columbia, Canada

2006-08-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

So I've been spending a lot of time on other people's blogs, posting comments and stuff, and then feeling guilty about neglecting my own blog. So not because I have anything interesting to report, but really because I have about 10 minutes before dinner, here goes:

I'm at my dad's in Fernie, BC, Canada. It's in the middle of the rocky mountains, which is definitely a cool place to be. We're working on rennovating his 100-year-old house (seriously, built in 1906), which is a lot of fun. My primary project has been working with a carpenter building a deck.

Did you know I'm Canadian? Cause I am. Born in Montreal, Quebec. But I'm also American now. Meaning my life is pretty well summed up in two ways: One, mocking the polite unobtrusive Canadian, and two, blasting the stupid American and his silly foreign policies.

I don't take too much offense from either.

I'll be here for another week, and then I'll be visiting my brother in Houston for a couple days. But I have to say I'll be glad to get back to California. I've been away far too long this summer, and haven't seen people nearly as much as I'd have liked to. But that's the price you pay for being a world traveller. (Australia + New Zealand + Louisiana + Canada + Texas = World, just in case you were wondering.)

It turns out that my neice Zoe has acquired a new car (Honda Odyssey, yes with the dvd players) and has stopped wearing diapers. This, on top of the fact that my sister is more than 8 months pregnant, pretty much means I can never leave for this long again. I just miss too damn much.

Also, I miss Eva. A lot.

But all in all this summer ranks right up there near the top. I've just done too much cool stuff, and have worked so very little.

Anyway, that's my cue for dinner. See you later.

I'm a freaking maniac

2006-07-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last night: New Orleans
Tonight: Dallas
Tomorrow night: Calgary, AB, Canada
Sunday night: Fernie, BC, Canada

Don't you wish you were me? Admit it, you do.

almost forgot!

2006-07-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot that for our last night as a team/family (see previous post) we headed into the French Quarter to celebrate. Now the last time I was there, I was with several hundred college students, so it was a little bit crazy, to put it mildly.

But let me tell you, old(er) folks know how to party too! We ended up in a bar with a karoke stage, and we all performed, of course, "We Are Family." I won't say the other bar patrons enjoyed us too much, but we had a blast. One of the homeowners that we've been working for even came and sang with us. It was awesome!

Again, I have pictures, will post later.

I'm bored....

2006-07-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm at my halfway in New Orleans now (well, actually St. Bernard Parish, but whatever).

Most people stay for a week, so my entire team left me this morning. We had grown really close. (Like, surprisingly close, so that we were much more of a family than a demolition team.) So now I'm sad they're gone, and bored because I don't know anyone.

Most people here now seem to have come as part of large groups, so they all have their own things going on. Whatever, I'll have a new team by 5 p.m. tomorrow. But there's no way they can replace my old crew. I'll post a photo of them as soon as I can.

Anyway, I just want to get back to work. I finished the first season of 24, and now have nothing to watch, and so am trying to buy Commander in Chief from iTunes, but it takes about 4 hours to download an episode. So sad.

Update from N'Orleans

2006-07-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have a really awesome team working with me. We finished our first house, and made a strong dent in our second house today, which is awesome.

It was a few degrees warmer today, which wasn't fun, but we all survived.

I also spent a couple hours in the attic today, dropping huge amounts of stuff down on the ground. I know, that doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but trust me, I was a major fan.

Tonight our whole team is going out to dinner. I'm excited, I think we're getting po'boys.

The only thing that really sucks is that we've been handling a lot of insulation, and I'm now covered in tiny fiberglass particles, which itches worse than anything i've felt before, and is leaving rashes. Oh well, what can you do?

Up and Down

2006-07-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

Nice hot showers make Bryan: Happy

Psycho preaching religious nut for roommate make Bryan: Nervous

Hello from N.O.

2006-07-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I know I just wrote that I was back, but now I've left again. That's what happens when you're really trying to avoid a summer job.

So now I'm back in St. Bernard Parish right outside New Orleans (as I was a few months ago). I'm staying in a place called Camp Hope, which is actually just an elementary school that was destroyed, and now consists entirely of walls made of blue tarps. Seriously, to make doors they just knife down the center of the tarps.

Anyway, it's incredibly hot and humid here, and to top it off we're in the middle of a tropical storm cycle, so it's pouring too. Ugh.

I don't start work until monday, so I'm just going to lie around and watch dvds of 24. Sweet.

Home from Down Under

2006-07-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome back me.

Eva and I had a freaking awesome time in New Zealand and Australia. We did everything you would expect us too: hiked, kayaked, swam, went scuba diving, broke our van down.

I could really talk about it for a long time, and though this seems to be an appropriate venue, I don't really want to write it all out. If you do want to hear about it, call me. I'm bored now.

But I do have photos, and lots of them. They're on the costco website (I know, random.) Anyway, you have to register, which sucks, but it's just an e-mail address and a password, and they don't spam, so it's not a big deal.

Anyway, look forward to seeing people soon.

quick hello from New Zealand

2006-06-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hello from nz!

We're just in the airport actually, heading for Sydney.

All has been really fun. We've hiked a lot and went kayaking. I screwed up my knee a bit, being stupid, but it's getting better now.

I have photos, but they're tough to send, so I'll have them when I get home.

Send me an e-mail to let me know how your summer's are going. Can't guarantee a lengthy response, but look forward to talking to you when I get home!

G'day!

Three new posts

2006-05-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Look below for three (yes 3!) new posts.

Unless you count this one, in which case it's four.

Exciting.

Barry Bonds' Number 715

2006-05-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I have pretty mixed feelings over Barry Bonds and the steroid scandal. Well, they're not that mixed, I pretty much think he did them knowingly, and it's really bad for baseball.

But that doesn't change the fact that it was amazing to be in the stadium as Bonds hit homerun number 715 to break Babe Ruth's record. People were on their feet for so long, that when they tried to start the game again they had to stop for another Barry field appearance.

It was also really lucky, cause we got to the game a bit late, and so it was just about 5 minutes after we sat down (the yellow dot in the photo below) that Barry hit it.

"I'm gonna steal you"

2006-05-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

So then after the prom (see previous post) i did what I swore never to do and went to a high school party. Whatever, it was all right, except there were some "thugs" there. Except this is Marin County, so they're not real thugs, just come to steal stuff, I guess.

Anyway, this is seriously a really long story short, but I found myself in the position of fending off a group of 40 by myself, and then later getting a knife pulled on me.

Seriously, who pulls a knife around here? This isn't Berkeley. Oh, and when he pulled it he said, "I'm gonna steal you." What the hell does that even mean?

Anyway, that kid got arrested, and I might have to go to court, but i hope not, cause that'd be a waste of time.

Another kid also took my picture with his camera phone and promised that he'd come find me and he'd have friends.

Stupid high school.

My junior-year chemistry teacher

2006-05-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hey, i have a few posts to do here, because recently my life has rocked.

First of all, I went to prom this weekend. Yes, I did. I'm 20 years old and I went to a high school prom. Laugh if you want to, but I know you're jealous.

But anyway, my chemistry teacher from a bajillion years ago was one of the chaperones, and long story short it turns out that she's going to be in Australia the same time Eva and I are. So we were sorta talking about if we'd run into eachother, but then she decided to pick us up from the airport, let us stay with her and her family, and bring us around the city. Yeah, Dr. Hart pretty much rules.

More to come....

I've been spammed

2006-05-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Who would spam this blog exactly? And why would they say useless things? I got 50 comments today, all saying "good job" or "nice color scheme", etc.

This is kind of mean too, because whenever I get a comment notification in my e-mail, i'm not going to lie, it's about the happiest thing.

Anyway, i have that stupid word verification thing on now. And I have to go through all the comments individually and delete them. But I guess since finals are over, I don't have a lot of better stuff to do.

update

2006-05-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

I'm eating pizza for dessert. Dinner tonight was ice cream. That's how today is going.

I had my first scuba diving lesson, which was all right. tomorrow we actually start with the equipment. Which I lucked out on bigtime because I borrowed eva's dad's stuff, so now i have hundreds of dollars worth of equipment for free.

I'm at work right now, because I have to do an interview with someone in France at midnight. Kind of odd.

Ironically this interview is delaying studying for my French final. Funny how life works sometimes.

a column, etc.

2006-05-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

I wrote a column. It's really not very good, and pretty typical, but here it is.

I'm almost to the point of wrapping up finals, so that's pretty cool. Just one to go (French) on Wednesday.

I'm also starting Scuba diving lessons tomorrow. :-)

My Day So Far

2006-05-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

7:30: Alarm rings. I guess I should get up. I have class at 8 a.m. and as it is the last lecture of the semester I really should go. But I don’t know. Will this one make any difference?

7:45: I decide to go to class for two reasons. For one, the final paper topics are being distributed, and that really seems like something I should pick up. But more importantly I just really enjoy doing the round of applause at the end of class. I’m sure this professor was great. This is what I hear from those who go to 8 o’clock classes.

8:15: Big mistake to come. I think I’ll play Tetris on my cell phone.

10:00: Last French class. This one I actually have gone to for the most part. We don’t do the applause at the end of class though, because it’s a class of 15 people, and it feels a little weird. Nonetheless, I think the GSI deserved it.

11:00: Well, that’s all the class for the semester. It feels pretty unsatisfying. And now, with the spring production of the paper finished, I don’t have to go to the Daily Cal office either. Hmm…

11:15: I went to the office anyway. It’s pretty sad around here. Somebody else is sitting at my desk. I guess it’s her desk now. Oh well.

11:30: I return home with not much else to do. One of the guys in my house caught a mouse in his room. We have them in our room too, I think.

2:00: I go to a review session for what will be my hardest final. I almost fall asleep and instead pass the time playing Tetris.

4:00: I sit down with every intention of studying for finals and writing papers, and instead spend three hours trying to download the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album and the latest episode of The Office. My computer keeps overheating and shutting itself off. Maybe it’s trying to tell me something? If so, I’m not listening.

I'm back!

2006-05-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. And by everyone, I mean mom. Because i'm pretty sure she's the only one left.

Anyway, I 'm coming off of my first truly legitimate 100% all-nighter. I've done a few "sort-of's" before, but I usually get at least an hour or two of sleep in. Not last night! I don't feel so good.

But there's plenty to be happy about, so let's try to be positive! Last night was officially my last night of work for the Spring semester. I now have three months off before I work fulltime again! This means no getting into the office before class to news scan, and being in the office all day, every day, with very little reward or recognition. (except this)

But I'm going to miss it.

Here's the other big news: It's my birthday on Sunday!!! I have a crazy weekend ahead. Daily Cal Banquet/afterparty tonight, then massive beach birthday party tomorrow, then family day sunday, and a west wing viewing sunday night. This is all assuming, you know, that I'm awake.

Big assumption.

Anyway, I should probably copy-edit my paper. Or, maybe, write a thesis for it. Also, conclusion? Right, not quite done with it. That's cool though. I have two hours left before it's due.

I miss seeing people, by the way.

evan

2006-04-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

So my brother (evan) just defended his Master's Thesis and got highest honors. Now it's in a library.

I read the abstract, and not to brag or anything, but I actually understood the first two sentences. And in today's day and age, how much more do I really have to know?

Anyway, it's pretty awesome because now he's a Ph.D. candidate. Oh, did I mention he's saving Africa too? Cause he is.

In other news, my special issue on the anniversary of the 1906 quake came out. It's pretty cool, I'm pretty happy with it.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

2006-04-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

It turns out the reason our internet server has been down is that someone discovered the fifth hit on the Google Search "Ways to Improve Masturbation" directs you to the Daily Cal site, and someone has posted that on their website, leading to an inordinate number of hits. Thanks internet!

In other news, here's that story and photo I did yesterday.

catching up

2006-04-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

so I've been a bad blogger, I know, so here's a little bit of catchup work:

I've had several midterms and papers; some have gone well, some have not.

I had spring break. Sort of. I didn't really do anything except try to rapidly assimilate into popular culture by catching up on all sorts of TV shows I'd never heard of.

Now my life is consumed with a special issue of the Daily Cal for the 75th anniversary of the 1906 quake.

Oh, and last night I got to run out to a crime scene and write and shoot a picture, so that was fun. Dailycal.org is down right now, but when it's up I'll post the story.

Daily Cal Story Part II

2006-03-23T00:25:00.000-08:00

Hey, here's my second story about the New Orleans trip. Honest critisicm always welcome!

We pulled a tattered American flag from the wreckage. We found the signature book from the homeowner's daughter's wedding. And we found a white dress decorated with shamrocks exactly one year to the day since the dress had been worn by the two-year-old granddaughter of the homeowner.
But we also found Confederate flag magnets, a book about Hitler's war options and a history of the Ku Klux Klan. We weren't in Berkeley anymore.
But that was the point. There was a lot that divided us from the people we were there to help. It didn't come to conversation, but I imagine we wouldn't have seen eye-to-eye with Cheryl, the homeowner we were helping, about politics or social issues.
We weren't there, however, to debate these issues. When we found those books and magnets, we tossed them aside and no one, regardless of race or ideology, put forth any less effort.
After all, I'd like to think that if California suffered a major disaster, we could expect help digging through our wreckage: rainbow flags and yoga manuals.
At some level, all our work may actually have been futile. Local government officials say they want to rebuild St. Bernard Parish, but without much funding available, locals say whole neighborhoods may be bulldozed. Cheryl said she and her husband are already building a new home an hour north of what is left of their home. The 1,000 hours of labor poured into the 65 houses our teams worked on last week may go to waste.
We knew all this while we were there. We could also see that the amount of work that needs to be done will take years or decades at the present rate, if it is even completed.
But what could we do except work? Thousands of college students have flown down at their own expense during their breaks to do what they can, and thousands more will do the same in the coming weeks and months.
Even if Cheryl's house is torn down after our efforts, our trip will still have been worthwhile. Twenty students have now returned to UC Berkeley with stories of the situation, which will encourage more to give their time or money to the effort. Dozens more UC Berkeley students will return to the New Orleans area next week during spring break and will return with still more stories. At the very least, awareness has been raised.
And nationwide, thousands of college students are returning home with a renewed sense of dedication to help others. Not only will these students help Louisiana get back on its feet, but their compassion will translate back to their home communities.
To call working in Louisiana a life-changing experience would be too passive. Instead, these students actively went out and sought the change they wanted to create.
With all the political maneuvering that has occurred in the months following the disaster, I fear that people may forget there are still people who need help. Mardi Gras went on this year, but just miles from the French Quarter, there are still houses soaked with flood water. Across the country in places as far-flung as Berkeley, there are evacuees who are still essentially homeless.
The help should come from the government to be sure, but after seeing all those college students last week, I now know the country can help itself. As it was in the 1960s, with students' initiative to reach out and fight for civil rights, it is now students' task to fight for compassion.
In a time when the country seems so divided, it was an honor to work with students from Texas, New York, Wisconsin and 30 other states with a common goal, with no ulterior motives and no barriers standing in our way.

Daily Cal Story About New Orleans

2006-03-22T02:41:00.000-08:00

Hey, here's a story I wrote about New Orleans for the Daily Cal. I've never really written first person journalism, but we'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think, please.

Flying into Louis Armstrong International Airport, I peered out my window searching for any sign of destruction. It has been more than half a year since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, so I thought I would have to look hard to find evidence of damage.
It didn't take long to realize how wrong I was.
During the 30-minute cab drive into downtown New Orleans, I saw traffic lights still lying in the middle of lanes, shattered windows in dozens of buildings and the now-infamous blue FEMA tarps still serving as roofs for houses.
New Orleans, however, would seem untouched after what I would see during the next several days in the devastated St. Bernard Parish just southeast of the city.
It was here that water swells from Katrina pushed levees to break, and the people who did not evacuate the area-the ones who survived-later reported they were faced with a 30-foot wave of mud and water. It was here that many of the 1,400 total Katrina casualties were found at this site. For about one month, St. Bernard Parish was literally under water and, to add insult to injury, an oil spill from a nearby refinery poured 25,000 barrels of crude oil on the houses during the flood.
Driving in our charter bus into the neighborhood where we would be working, we had to dodge overturned cars and even boats which had landed miles away from the nearest lake when flood waters receded. Painted on every house was the date it was inspected by emergency responders, how many people they were expecting to find and how many bodies they found.
Even six months after the hurricane, we were warned that we might still find body parts in some houses.
When my work group of 10 students, mostly from UC Berkeley and San Diego State University, disembarked at 2008 Decomine Dr., we met Cheryl, the homeowner we would be assisting. She had lived at the modest one-story brick building for 14 years until the day before Katrina struck. Now, she says she will never return.
That didn't stop us from doing all we could to salvage the building. However, because the damage was so extensive, we could only gut the homes, removing mud, furniture and even taking the walls down, until just the frame remained.
When we entered, we were standing on top of at least one foot of mud and debris. The drywall and insulation of the ceiling had caved in, and one had only to rest a hand on the wall to push through to the next room. The refrigerator had traveled from the kitchen to the living room and was now on its side, filled to the brim with floodwater. In the back bedrooms, furniture and debris were piled higher than our heads.
I don't think any of us were prepared for what we saw, and it seemed we could have no reaction other than to start working. I bent down and picked up a chair to bring outside, starting the first of two debris piles that we would eventually build to be taller than the house itself. When I turned to walk back inside, I saw Cheryl crying in her truck.
Along with her husband, she had left before the hurricane hit with many, but not all, of the 67,000 St. Bernard Parish residents. It wasn't the first time they had evacuated, so they didn't take anything more than clothing for the trip to Florida. But she said that as they drove away, she knew she should have grabbed her photographs and sentimental jewelry.
We found her photographs, most of which were totally ruined. Three team members spent hours on their hands and knees, fingering through debris and looking for the jewelry, but it was nowhere to be found.
The work was hard. We were dressed in full body work suits and wore goggles, dust masks and gloves at all times in the house. I drank at least a liter of water an hour but still felt dehydrated.
But among my team members, I didn't hear a single complaint.

Birthday Week of Fun!

2006-03-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

Or Death.

Monday: Jen's Birthday
Tuesday: Matt Bechelli's, Kevin Jewett's Birthdays
Wednesday: Eva's Birthday
Friday: Mom's Birthday

Kill me now.

Back from New Orleans

2006-03-19T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hey, so I'm back from New Orleans. No time to write all about it yet, but I probably will later tonight. But for now, check out this story (and picture!) on the trip from the Contra Costa Times Sunday paper.

If you click on the image, you can see it full size.

UPDATE: Sorry I haven't really filled in all about the trip. I'm working on a story about everything for the Daily Cal and as I get closer to publishing that, I'll post some version of it here. I have a lot to say, but I'm finding it one of the more difficult things I've had to write. Anyway, sorry for the suspense.

So sad...

2006-03-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not a child anymore...

Another week, another...

2006-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

...I don't really know.

Just wanted to let people know that I am still well and alive. After pulling one night with 3 hours of sleep and then another immediately following with about 45 minutes, and then driving to Los Angeles and back over the weekend, I made it!

I'm just at work still, nothing really exciting in my life right now, except of course babysitting this weekend, and then flying to New Orleans next week for some rebuilding.

Ooh, also, Eva and I booked our flights to New Zealand and Australia! From June 15 to July 4 we will be saying "hasta la vista" to California and "g'day mate" to the folks down under! I'm pretty excited about that. And if Eva is, she should comment.

Checking in

2006-03-03T02:44:00.000-08:00

hello! I am just checking in. I'm working on my paper due in a few hours, and I'm making very little progress. It could have something to do with not having slept in a long time.

It has been a long time since I've written an English paper, and it's a lot harder than I remember.

Good Morning!

2006-03-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Good morning. I managed to get a little over two hours of sleep which was pretty cool, but it was in the office, so that was not.

Anyway, gotta keep positive. I'm about to turn in one of the papers, so that's one less thing to worry about, and, perhaps better, there were no earthquakes last night! I mean in California. I guess there was a 4.6 in Pakistan. Thank you USGS!

Okay, next life task--don't fall asleep in lecture.

Bye!

Speaking of natural disasters...

2006-03-02T02:36:00.000-08:00

...we felt a few earthquakes today. This is interesting for quite a few reasons.

1) We are rapidly approaching the 100 year anniversary of the 1906 earthquake that ravaged San Francisco, and I've always heard seismlogists say that the big one's come once about every 100 years.

2) We just published the first story in a series I'm directing on the 100 year anniversary. Tuesday night I assigned a story about seismologists' predictions about when the next "big one" will be. Hmm... don't blame me if it happens.

3) The Daily Cal occupies the 6th floor of Eshleman Hall, which is well known to be very seismically unstable. It is pretty much assured that a major quake along the Hayward Fault will seriously damage this building, including the possiblities of ceilings caving in. I have some sort of satisfaction knowing that I'm near the top of the building, because I feel like we'll not have as much stuff land on our heads, but that's probably just self-preserving thinking. Considering I'm in the office six days a week, for about 10 hours a day, I'm thinking I'm going to get a front-row seat when this happens.

4) Apparantly, the seismologists my writer talked to say that these quakes we felt today could be pre-shocks, indicative of a bigger one coming. Reassuring. Also, someone once said that it is usually rainy during an earthquake. Which it is now. But I don't remember rain during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Can someone reassure me on at least this point?

You can now get RSS feeds of recent earthquakes from USGS. I'll be keeping watch.

Okay, I have to be positive.

2006-03-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

The great thing is, this is the worst week of the semester, and then it lightens up a fair bit. It's not like last semester where I had something almost every week. After this, I'm free until after Spring Break.

Speaking of which, I have a busy few weeks ahead of me.

This weekend I'm heading to Los Angeles for a collegiate newspaper conference, and then we're going to hit up the red carpet at the Academy Awards!

And two weeks from yesterday morning, I'm going to be getting on a plane to head to New Orleans for a rebuilding event. I'm pretty excited. We'll only be working for three full days, but we should be able to get some good stuff done. And then I'll also get a sense of the work to see what returning this summer will be like.

2:15 a.m.

2006-03-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

Well, this did turn out to be hell, exactly as expected.

I have a major paper due tomorrow, as well as what I expect to be a very difficult midterm. I also had a French composition due today, but didn't get to until tonight, so that's unfortunate. Then Friday I have a major paper due for English.

So you know, I'm just taking it easy.

I took my first day off work this semester. It was a little odd not to be in the office, even though I did stop by a few times, and ended up coming back here to work for the night. I feel pretty bad about it though, because it was a pretty heavy day of work, but I had to do it.

I'm trying to figure out my gameplan for the next 36 hours, of which I expect to be up for most of them. On the other hand, the caffeine is wearing off, and once that goes, I will fall asleep in whatever position in whatever place.

I'll keep checking in.

an excuse...

2006-02-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is really just an excuse to put a photo of one of my most favorite people in the entire world on this blog.

My sister called the other day and asked if I could babysit for my neice, Zoe. That's all, but here's her photo!

Week of Fun!

2006-02-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

I've officially started my week of fun. It actually started this morning when I slept late and showed up a bit late to our big training day for the paper. It's been followed by an entire day in the office where I've "started" work on my two papers for the week, and "started" studying for my two mid-terms this week.

I say "started" only because it took a good couple hours to start after sorting through e-mails, looking up funny videos on Google and playing a few games of Freecell.

But it's not all bad. I'm about to go out to dinner with a friend I haven't seen in a while, and then there's a scheduled West Wing viewing party to catch some friends up in the best show on earth.

At the end of the week, if I make it through alive, I'll be driving off to Los Angeles for a college journalism conference, and then, if we have time, we're going to check out the red carpet walk at the Oscars. So that's pretty cool.

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to start posting when I have something interesting to say, and not just when I'm really, very bored.

Incommunicado

2006-02-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

I signed on instant messenger the other day and my friend Carly said, "You're alive!"

This reminded me of when Kevin posted on my Facebook profile a couple weeks ago: "bryan. earth to bryan. does bryan thomas exist? or was he just a figment of my imagination? explain yourself mister." And for the record, I haven't responded.

Yeah, for those who don't think I'm dead or missing, they probably think I'm being a total jerk. Which, I'll admit, I am a little bit.

For those who don't know what's going on in my life, I'm working about 60 hours a week on top of a full-load of classes.

I actually haven't seen some of the guys who I live with yet this semester. It's been 5 weeks since I moved back in.

Please don't take it the wrong way. It's not that I don't want to keep in touch or see people more often, it's just not very realistic to do so as much as I'd like.

I'm not proud of this.

But I also promise to get better. I have started checking voicemails at least. I guess the next step is to call people back.

But with all that said, I welcome you to this blog. Certainly no promises with regular updates on this, but when I think of something to say, I will.

I miss you guys.

-Bryan

Back from Tahoe

2006-02-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

I went to Tahoe over the weekend with the Daily Cal staff.

It was basically a whole hell of a lot of fun. We went skiing/snowboarding, had snowball fights, went sledding, and, because we're major nerds, played card games during our "parties".

I'm pretty tired now. We got up at 5 a.m. and drove back, and then had to come into work at noon, and I just finished, so that's pretty cool.

For memory's sake, here are a couple quotes from our favorite game "Apples to Apples":

"You all keep giving me these cards like hand grenades and barbed wire. Is that because I'm Mexican?" - C. Bautist!

"I like how we both connected on the whipped cream is dirty idea." - Leslie
"We can connect on that later too, if you want." - Me. It was actually way more awkward than I thought it'd be.

Also, I may or may not have thought Bratwurst was a fruit or vegetable.

This is Theresa, about to pelt me with a snowball.

Welcome

2006-02-15T23:35:00.000-08:00

As the title of this blog states, we'll see where this goes.

I'm going to have to warn you, it may go nowhere. This is the first post. And it could be the last.

I'm writing this because I'm supposed to be studying for my first midterm in my fourth semester at UC Berkeley. The midterm is for Journalism 141, which is a survey course on the state of modern mass media.

It's ironic that I write this from my desk at the Daily Cal, the newspaper where I spend most of my life nowadays. I just finished reviewing a whole section of material talking about the decline of newspapers, and the takeover of the media by things like Blogs.

So, I guess by starting this I'm contributing to the decline of my own life purpose.

That, well, sucks.

I think an interesting story would be how many college blogs are started as a result of procrastination. I think a less interesting story would be how many tests were failed because of time spent writing on blogs.

So I'm going to go, for now. I think I'll be back ,but you never know.