An afternoon in South Bend, IN

After finishing up business with Stephen at the Subaru dealership, I hopped on the bike and went back and checked into the same Motel 6 room as the night before. On my way, I decided to get a haircut. New engine, new haircut, I saw the connection. Now most of you know that South Bend is the home of the famed University of Notre Dame. Here are some pictures:

The entrance to The University of Notre Dame


The dome on the central building on campus. This is probably why the Fighting Irish helmets are gold, eh?


I think this mural is painted on the side of the library.


Basketball and Indiana

Right on the edge of campus, literally a hop, skip and jump away from the library is the famed University of Notre Dame football stadium. One of my top five favorite movies, Rudy is a true story about a kid who's sole dream was to play for the Notre Dame football team. It also was filmed here on campus. The first time I watched it, I bawled. It's cheesy, but then again, I'm a sucker for cheese.

So much history.....


Hallowed grounds.....

From campus, I rode about five miles to get to the "big" mall that the woman at Motel 6 told me about. I was hoping to find a Starbucks or Borders to get onto the Internet. The mall was a BIG disappointment. I must say that in this vulnerable time of having my car meltdown and being alone in an unknown city, I was comforted by knowing that I was going to a mall. The greatest disappointment of the mall was the movie theater choices. The Passion of the Christ, New York Minute and Hellboy. I skipped the movie.

I rode back to the Motel 6 and saw that the Hampton Inn across the way was advertising high-speed internet in every room. I cleaned myself up after dinner and walked right into the lobby/bar and plopped down to do what I needed to do. I'm learning how to pilfer wireless internet.

It must be something about that summer solctice....

It was Monday June 21st, 2004. The longest day of this year 2004. I was driving east through Illinois and crossed into Indiana. I decided that instead of heading into Ohio and going south of Lake Erie, I would veer north, through Michigan and cross into Upstate NY via Niagara Falls. The best laid plans...........

About 6PM Eastern Time (Michigan is on Eastern time) I was about 15 miles into the State of Michigan, way down there in the SW corner. All of a sudden I heard the engine of my car clicking. I stepped on the gas and nothing happened. At this point, I knew that it was time for me to pull off to the side of the freeway and get some help. As I stopped the car, it started to smoke from the engine. Luckily, it stopped after about five minutes.

I called AAA and they sent a truck for me. I had found a Subaru dealership in Kalamazoo, MI, which was about 75 miles further east of where I was on I-94. In my great planning, I had purchased the AAA Plus membership, which gave the the right to be towed up to 100 miles at no charge. When Randy (of Randy's Auto Service) arrived about an hour and fifteen minutes later, I was still calm. In fact, I am quite proud of how calm I am still.

He told me that there was a Subaru dealership only 30 miles from where I broke down. The reason AAA didn't tell me over the phone is that this dealership was in Indiana. During my tow, Randy briefed me completely on the NASCAR race he went to the Saturday before and I now know all about a racer from South Bend, IN named Randy Newman. But, I digress.

I arrived at the Subaru dealership as it was closing. I packed a bag of things, pulled my bike off the top of the car and rode down the highway to the Motel 6. I was in for the night. This morning, I went back up and spent the majority of the day in the Subaru dealership.

There is good news and some bummer news. The good news first, how about that? The car, at the time of breakdown, had 58,800 miles and was just four years old. In addition, I had also had the 60,000 mile major checkup done on the car on June 4th, a mere three weeks ago. I brought all that paperwork with me. Turns out, there was either little or no coolant in the radiator and the engine overheated and burned up. Yup, it basically melted. The car has a 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty. And since I had all my maintenance records, I will pay NOTHING for the repairs. I'm basically getting a new engine built (essentially a new car) here in South Bend. We are all big fans of Mr. Stephen B. of Subaru of Michiana. He has been on my side the entire time and it took the better part of a day, but we are now on the road to getting my car back on the road. Because Stephen has to order parts, it will take a couple days to get to South Bend. I will pay for the expedited shipping as well as for a new timing belt. The parts will get here Thursday the 24th. (Happy Birthday, Mom!!). Hopefully, he and his mechanics can get me back on the road by Friday the 25th.

The bummer is that I will not get to see my friends Mike, Michelle and their new son, Ray, in Ithaca. I also will miss out on seeing my high school advisor Anne S. in Vermont. I will getting all the downtime, now, here in Indiana. It's going to be and Indiana summer, considering I'm going to be back 100 miles south of here in three weeks.

So, I'll check in with Stephen tomorrow morning and then rent a car and drive up to the resort areas around Saugatuck, MI, which is the Provincetown of the Midwest. I'll stay up there tomorrow night and then return sometime Thursday afternoon.

I am quite zen about this entire experience. I haven't gotten mad, there really is nothing to get mad about! Yes, I will admit, I did get a bit antsy today because I just wanted there to be answers and progress, but I was quite patient. In the end, I'm getting a new engine out of the experience and I get to see some of the sights around the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. I'm also biking all around the city of South Bend and thank god it's FLAT.

All in all, just part of the great crazy journey I have embarked on.

Choices, Choices, Choices

I reached the Nebraska/Iowa border and had choices to make. If I took the northern route, I would get to see the Field of Dreams baseball diamond in Dyersville, IA. If I took the central route, I could see the Bridges of Madison County. If I took the southern route, I could cross the Mississippi River at Fort Madison and go to Nauvoo, IL to see where Mormon church was founded. Who thought I would have such choices in the state of Iowa?

I caved and took I-80, the central route. It took me to Madison County, IA, which is just southeast of Des Moines.

Hogback Covered Bridge in Madison County, IA

John Wayne's birthplace in Winterset, IA. (Still having some problems with the camera)

I continued on I-80 to Iowa City, IA where I had a great dinner of sushi. Yes, good sushi can be found in Iowa. I found Iowa City to be beautiful and clean. I think that is the mark of most midwestern college towns. The scenery (in all facets if you know what I mean :) ) is spectacular as well. The University of Iowa is located in Iowa City and their mascot is the Jayhawk. All through town, there are statues of the Jayhawk dressed in different garb.

The University of Iowa Jayhawk dressed as a ???

There is a map that you can get to try and track down all the Jayhawk statues. I didn't have the time, though.

Genoa, NE

The central Nebraska landscape is dominated by the many braided rivers that serve as breeding ground for birds. Here is a picture of the Loup River that runs through Genoa, NE.

The Loup River

Genoa, NE also claims itself to be the Pawnee capital of Nebraska. From what I gathered, the Pawnee's used to inhabit this part of Nebraska until the settlers came in and moved the Pawnee south to Kansas and Oklahoma. However, there was a woman who decided the Pawnee boys and girls needed to be educated in the western way and so she got the government to give her money to set up and Indian School in Genoa.

The last remaining building of the US Indian School complex

During the 1860's the Pawnee's were sent to school here. They boarded here and were required to wear military looking dress. From the historical pictures I saw, they also were required to do military looking marches. Within a couple decades, the education of Pawnee's at this school was abandoned, although this one building remains.

I must comment about this incredible desire to educate people in the Western educational manner. This is also a theme in White Teeth. Why do we impose our knowledge upon others?

Small town American life

One of my habits on this trip is to pick up the local newspaper of the places I stop to visit and the places where I stop to eat. I have always found the local news and personal stories in newspapers fascinating. Perhaps that is why I always read the local section (the B pages) of the SF Chronicle first? Small communities are vibrant and dynamic places, even though it doesn't look like it on the outside. The facade may be one of sleepy main streets, but just as the case is everywhere, there is lots going on beneath the surface. I know that it is true for me, and perhaps many of us big city dwellers, that I carry a stereotype of small towns being boring or uninteresting. They are interesting in different ways, but also very much the same as large metro areas.

I have two papers with me at the moment, that I have kept in my travels, the Sterling, CO Journal-Advocate and the Genoa, NE Leader-Times. In it there are stories about high-school reunions and taxes to pay for new hospital services. But in both papers there is a story which has the theme of essentially, "how can we remain a vibrant community both economically and culturally?" Isn't that a question for all communities, large and small?

Lastly, I want to share with you an advertisement I saw in the Genoa paper"

Come to a Hometown Tasty
And Buy a chance on a
$1.00 Raffle to win a non confinement, non medicated, butcher hog

We will haul to locker,
winner pays own processing bill
Drawing held on the 4th of July

That's a lot of bacon!

A Smith family wedding

The first real stop of this two month tour was to bring my friend Michael to wedding reception of his nephew Tommy and Tommy's new wife Jennifer in Genoa, NE. Genoa is a town of about 1,000 between Grand Island and Columbus. Tommy is now 24, but I met him back when he was a 19 year old wide-eyed kid from Monroe, NE. TOMMY.

Unfortunately, due to unforseen circumstances, Michael was unable to make the trip, so he sent me along with some gifts and boxes to deliver to the Smith family and told me to attend the reception anyway. Since I have met most of Michael's family at some point, it seemed natural for me to go.

I arrived on Friday evening at 7PM, was eating dinner by 715PM and at the reception hall at 8PM setting up chairs and getting the St. Rose of Lima community center ready for the big day. On Saturday morning, I biked the three miles to the center to help with set-up again. This time, I was in charge of sweeping the hall and setting out the candy kisses on the table. Big stuff!!

Tommy and Jenn actually got married last June in Omaha. He was to be assigned to the National Guard and they wanted to get married before he got his papers. Where did he get assigned? Wisconsin! Two weeks ago the bride and groom renewed their vows in a church ceremony in Cheyenne, WY, where Jennifer grew up. This reception I attended was for the Nebraska side of the family, Tommy's neck of the woods. I joked with Tommy and Jenn that they needed to dedicate their marriage to I-80.

The bride and groom

The mother of the groom, Michael's sister Chris

The groom and his grandmother

Erin (Michael's youngest sister) and Logan (Michael's nephew and Tommy's cousin)

Now, the highlight and main event of this reception is the Smith family tradition of a mock wedding. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Uncle John dressed as the bride

Michael's brother-in-law Lenny and the "bride"

Even though the Smith's aren't Jewish, doesn't this look like a horah?

(I apologize for the lousy pictures. I'm still learning how to use my camera!)

Who said there isn't cross dressing the heartland?????? I had a great time with the Smith family. Thanks to them for being such wonderful hosts and letting an acquaintance be a part of their family time. Michael, yes, you are right, your family is a bit nuts. But I think we all have families like this and would we want it any other way?

The "gap"ing of gay entertainment?

After two days of camping and time in the arid and lightly populated American west, I climbed over the Rockies and descended into The Mile High city of Denver. I met up and stayed with my friend Dave and his friend up from Colorado Springs, Eddie.

My friend Dave

My new friend Eddie
After dining on Mexican food, the three of us started our evening at JR's Bar and Grill. JR's also has establishments in both DC and Chicago. From there we progressed to Charlies, THE place to be in Denver on a Thursday night. Charlie's is a "complex". It has two dance floors, three bars, pool tables, a back patio and other places that I didn't necessarily see. Charlie's also has locations in Phoenix and Austin. Now, as you know, I am not necessarily one to make judgements about things, I just like to understand how they fit into a larger social context.

So as a high school teacher, I see certain small groups of students get marginalized. These kids dress differently and talk about things that aren't what the more "mainstream" kids are talking about. It is these "edge" groups that often have more colorful personalities, take chances with thought, and obviously standout from a crowd. My sense is that the gay world used to be just like this marginalized group of kids. We were definately more "weirder" and had lots more personality and less sanitized. My sense is that the Castro in SF has definately become less personable and more "mainstream". I come to Denver and can go to JR's or Charlie's and I know what I'm going to find. Just like I can go to the Gap or McDonalds anywhere in the USA and know what I'm going to get. Is it a good thing or bad thing that gay entertainment now has this element of consistency? Who knows, but it is another indication that gays and gay culture are becoming more like the rest of America.

So what about the night itself? I have to say that the crowd that was out in Denver was much more real looking that what one finds in places like SF or NYC. Men of all shapes and sizes were there and it made the whole experience less intimidating/offputting. I enjoyed watching all the scenery go by, and have to say that I did find amusing the whole cowboy culture. Many times I just would see a cute guy and the cowboy hat on his head would just make me laugh. Point of fact, I was one of two Asian men in either bar and one of perhaps 10 men of color I saw the entire evening.

Lastly, I found the bars here in Denver (and I assume I'll find this to be the case in cities except for SF or NYC) that because land is not as much as a premium, the spaces are bigger and less claustrophobic. The night was fun, highlighted by Eddie and I trying to predict the profession of a cute cowboy. I thought he was a social worker and Eddie predicted investment guy. I took the situation into my own hands and went up to ask the cowboy what he did for work. Rob, the cowboy, was a personal banker and personal trainer who had one time been a 7th grade teacher. So, we called it a tie. However, just like it always seems to be, the mystery of Rob was better than the real Rob.

John Wesley Powell

I am a geologist by training. Some of you probably didn't know that, eh? Well, one of my hero's in the world is a man named John Wesley Powell. On Thursday June 17th, as I was driving east on I-70 through central Utah, I stopped for gas in a town called Green River, UT and lo and behold they have an entire museum dedicated to him.

John Wesley Powell has a museum!
Anyway, why all the fuss about him? Well, he was a professor at Illinois Wesleyan University in the late 1860's and got a grant from the US government to do a study of the vast unknown (at that time) study of the area of the map that is now Utah and Arizona. Side note: he lost one of his arms below the elbow at the Battle of Shiloh and did all this exploration with one arm.

In 1869, he and a crew of men were the first to navigate the entire Colorado River. They started in Wyoming and went through what is now called "The Gates of Lodore". In 1996, during my Outward Bound leadership course, our group navigated this exact stretch, so I feel a kinship with Powell. Powell's trip was arduous and he had a couple mutinies along the way, but he and a couple of his men did make it to the through the Grand Canyon. In 1871, with more money and fewer problems, Powell navigated the river again. This time doing much more extensive scientific research and mapping. Stud!

After these huge successes, Powell became well known and powerful in Washington, DC, eventually serving as the head of the US Geological Survey.

May I suggest a couple books. To read about Powell and his adventures on the river read Beyond the 100th Meridian by Wallace Stegner. To read about the history of water resource management in the west, read Cadillac Desert by Marc Reiser. Both are excellent.

Country Music

Loving it. Enough said!

June 16th - Nevada (and a lot of it)

I drove east across US50 through Austin and Eureka. Eureka was a great town, kept in great condition, with the store fronts nicely painted. It was the picture postcard of small town American life. I stopped in at the town museum and this wonderful woman who runs the museum gave me a tour of the printing press area, which was in use until 1960.

From there, I headed east again through Ely (e-lee) and then went to a national park, I and you probably have never heard of. It is the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. The highlight of the park is a huge underground cave. I took the tour.

They used to hold dances and weddings in this cave; you can still do the latter.
I entered Utah (lost an hour) and will head into Colorado tomorrow. Here are some pictures of the central Utah landscape. The United States is an amazing place.

The scenery as you drive across America!

By the way, White Teeth is getting better. I wasn't so sure about it before.

I'm a TOTAL KLUTZ

I dropped my camera in the sand, lens down with the camera on. After shaking out as much sand as possible, I assessed the damage my stupid mistake had made. When I turn off the camera, the lens doesn’t close. This is an initial assessment. After a day with the camera, I have noticed that the camera does not focus quickly, if at all, when on panoramic mode. The camera does appear to work when zooming in, however. Whether or not it focuses depends upon usage. Sometimes it focuses, sometimes it doesn’t. Other times, the camera doesn’t show you the picture you are taking in the display on the back, instead I must look through the lens. However, the picture does get taken and when the camera is put into display mode, I do see my pictures. Hopefully, the camera figures itself out and pictures won’t be out of focus and starts to display in the back again. I have a PYSCHOTIC CAMERA. It continues to be temperamental; we’ll see how the rest of the trip works out. Keep your fingers crossed.

Biking

As you saw in the first picture of this journey, I put a bike rack on the car and have taken my bike along with me on this journey. Each morning (there have been two so far), I have arisen, taken the bike off the car and gone for an hour ride. By the way, my fear of not being able to get the bike on and off the car, let alone locked and secured has fallen by the wayside. It’s fairly easy and logical, just like everything in life that I have feared. Anyway, I thought you might like the picture below of the tire tracks I made.

June 15th - The journey begins

My home away from home, she's looking good isn't she? 
My friend Michael who was supposed to join me on the trek from California to Nebraska had to cancel on me for various reasons. This threw me into a loop as it meant that I was going to be along by myself instead of having a companion for this journey. I met with him in the morning to pick up some boxes to take to his family in Nebraska as I am still going to go to his cousins wedding. I am close enough with his family to still be welcome at this event. I guess I’ll be Michael by proxy.

I crossed the San Francisco Bay Bridge at 11:45AM on Tuesday June 15th, 2004. I was a confusion of both excitement and complete terror as to what my journey was going to hold in store. As I promised, I took as many of the smaller roads as possible that meant getting off I-80 immediately and taking Highway 4 along the Sacramento River delta. The greatest excitement about this journey was to see exactly the location of the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART station. I have ridden the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART numerous times but never knew where the terminus was. Now I do. The route took me through Antioch and then I crossed the Antioch Bridge into the delta itself. The delta river road had me cross numerous small bridges and I soon ended up in Sacramento.

One of the many bridges on Hwy 160 in the Sacramento River Delta 
As I passed through Folsom, I stopped in at a Borders to pick up the book White Teeth by Zadie Smith on tape. I entered into the Lake Tahoe region, had a picnic and then set off for Carson City. I admit, that being the gambling lover that I am, I did drop some cash on the craps table. I was in and out in less that half an hour.

Heading east from Carson City, I was faced with a decision as to whether or not to take I-80 or to head east through Nevada on US-50, named “the loneliest road in the US” by Life magazine. I took US-50 and immediately saw the sign below

Read it and weep all you Californians!

And filled up my gas tank. I had to document this for all you Californians reading this. As I headed east, I stopped off to see some petroglyphs.

Any idea what these mean?

I ended up pulling off at a recreation area called Sand Mountain (a big sand dune in the middle of the basin and range region) to camp for the night. Note the sign below that pointed to the BLM area pulled into. My plan on sleeping outside was quickly thrown out the window by the swirling wind and sand.

And it's solar powered!!

A peaceful place to rest one's head for the night, especially the first night. 
I am feeling much more comfortable about things now. But I realize that these first three days of the trip are essentially the equivalent of a “solo” that they have a number of wilderness students do. I am alone with my own thoughts and feelings. At this point I am reflecting on the fact that I am actually able to physically take this trip. To think about where I was one year and nine months ago, in that hospital in London, I am so grateful for all the support and love I was given and for all of you who told me NOT to give up, when at that point, I would rather have just said “screw it” and given up on life, let alone have hope of walking again. For all that support and love (that’s you Mom, Dad, and Marl) I am eternally grateful.

What am I doing???

I sit here and write this entry on the evening before I depart on my two month journey across this great nation and back again. There is the part of me that is excited and ready to get on the road. There is the part of me that is freaking out about this great adventure I am about to embark on. I am such a person of structure and routine that these first couple weeks of driving at my own leisure and not having a real agenda is a hugely foreign concept for me. It is going to be a struggle for me to not have a place to be at a set time, but to just stop when I feel like it and call it a day. I was talking with a friend of mine today who reminded me that once I get on the road and know what it will look and feel like that this apprehension will fade away and I will embrace the open road. I think he is right.

I truly am challenging myself by taking on this great unknown adventure. I easily could have taught summer school and stayed here in the Bay Area and taken it easy. But I know that life is about doing the uncomfortable and doing the unknown so here I am on the cusp of the great unknown. Some goals of the trip.

a) Stay off the interstates as much as possible. I hope to take US 50 across to Kansas and then cut up to US 20 and hit Nebraska, Iowa through the Midwest (INDIANA!!!!) to Upstate New York.

b) To stop as much as possible to see the small towns of America and talk to people. I hope to meet some great characters along the way.

c) To get out of the car everyday for an hour or two and hop on my bike to get some exercise but to also see these places at less than 10 miles per hour.

d) To stop doing this goal setting and to live life without having to achieve.

Where I write you from next? Who knows. Will I have a story to tell, I definately hope so!

It's that time of year again

Every June, I get to dig around into my closet and pull out my robe and hood and walk down the aisle of the Head-Royce School gym and participate in the graduation ceremonies. It's always such an emotional time and I fully admit that when the processional of students begins and Paul C. declares that the commencement ceremonies have begun, I get teary eyed. It's such a proud and happy day for everyone and it's like the parents, faculty and assorted members of the audience are looking at these 81 young men and women at such a seminal moment in their lives. They are about to commence on the journey of life.

This years ceremony was highlighted by the speech given by my colleague, Warren F. Every graduating class gets to pick a graduation speaker from amongst the faculty. The honor NEVER goes to a math teacher, I mean, come on, how can we as teachers of Math inspire greatness in comparison to say, a teacher of the humanities. But Warren is an amazing person and he rightly deserved to speak for the class of 2004. And what a speech it was. We laughed, cried and were uplifted all within a eight minute talk.

The ceremony ends with all of us singing the Head-Royce alma mater, which is set to the song Die Lorelai. The words are definately a holdover from the school's days as a girls only school. The recessional is always set to a song of the graduating classes choosing. The class of 2004 has an affinity towards Disney songs so we got to walk out to "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. The day was glorious. Below are pictures of some of my beloved students. Some graduated, some are juniors but they all have a special place in my heart! Carry on class of 2004. Do great things with your lives.

Emma B. and the Sarah's (K. and H.)

Samantha W. (Cornell bound with leis) and members of the class of 2004

Penny H. of Penny's box fame

Tedd T., one of hardest working students I've ever taught and the nicest

Melissa B., it's all about the connections starting with Frank

The Kens (M. and A.), both in Honors Geometry four years ago

My class of 2005 advisee Max S., aka Mr 16 double zero

Class of 2005 Ari K., high quality basketball player and Precalculus student

Class of 2005 advisee Nick Dantzker (the middle Dantzker)

The Z's. of the class of 2005, Adam and Dane or is it Dane and Adam?

This one's for CP

Am I turning into Roger Ebert?

Due to the fact that I had a three hour wait to get new tires put on my car in preparation for my trip, I decided to spend that time at the Metreon. I saw The Stepford Wives. Commentary on the movie comes later, but I have noticed that when I read movie reviews on MRQE that Roger Ebert basically never gives any movie below two stars out of four. For example, here is his review of The Stepford Wives. See what I mean? I too like every movie I see. I kind of notice it when I see a movie and enjoy it whereas others I talk to upon seeing the same movie say that it sucks. How come I never really think a movie sucks? Perhaps I'm gullible or easily entertained? I worry that perhaps I am not critical enough, but I think I'll look at the world in a glass half full way and just say that my liking all movies allows me to at have fun at the movies instead of always being disappointed. I'll let myself live this lie to cover up what appears to be my utter simplicity and lack of discerning cinematic taste.

Ok, so what about the movie itself? I had never seen the original, but I kind of had an inkling as to the implications of something being "Stepford". Well, as the movie progresssed, I was kind of taken aback at the statement it made not on women, but on men. More to the point, a statement on weak men. I mean, how boring is that to want a partner who doesn't challenge you and does nothing but clean and look great. Ugh. By my not wanting that hopefully makes me a strong (not weak) male. Oh, notice how I use the word partner? There is a gay couple in in the updated Stepford and it's pretty cute. You'll just have to see for yourself. Lead actress Nicole Kidman, however, bugs me. It felt like that she was channelling Meg Ryan for this part. It was Meg Ryan's voice and way of speaking coming out of a plastic looking Kidman. Hey, there's some criticism for you!!! Maybe, I'm not as soft as I think I am. Lastly, Matthew Broderick? Looking so cute even with a bit of a tummy starting to show.

Good Morning Baltimore?!?!?!?!?!?!?

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a love/hate relationship with the city of Baltimore. I spent two years there in graduate school at The Johns Hopkins University when I was 23 and 24. In reality, I should not have been in graduate school to begin with, but couple that with it being my first time ever living in an inner city, it was an eye-opening experience to say the least.

So what should have I expected from a John Waters movie turned into a musical? A trip down memory lane with many references to Baltimore streets and landmarks. Last night, my friend Vern (one of the SATC friends) and Al saw Hairspray, which is touring the country and playing here in San Francisco thorugh the middle of July.

Now, I'm a total lover of musical theater. Hello, I'm gay! The opening song is titled "Good Morning Baltimore" and I knew I was in for quite a night. For those of you who have seen the movie, the musical is just as good, if not better. The songs were right on and the dancing was great. Certainly having Bruce Vilanch playing Edna Turnblad making politically pointed jokes about Arnold (is a last name even needed?) was quite a gut buster.

I leave you as I'm humming (good morning Baltimore......)

How the other half lives......

People often ask, "how can you make a living on a teacher's salary?" Well, if you've never made a lot of money, then, it's hard miss what you've never had. However, one of the ways a private school teacher gets paid (never mind the summer vacations) is being invited to play at the most exclusive private golf club in Northern California, The Cypress Point Club. The Cypress Point Club is located at a simple left turn about a quarter mile past the famed lone cypress tree overlook on 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula.

I was an invited guest of Frank H., the CEO of Transamerica. By luck of the draw, I taught his daughter Sarah, as both a freshman in Honors Geometry and as a senior in AP Statistics. Sarah is one of those girls that I love and she and I got along famously. A shout out to Sarah as she prepares to enroll at Duke in the fall. Anyway, Frank (right, below) and I played with his friend Jim T. Below is a picture of us on the tee of the 15th hole. It was taken right after I hit an 8 iron to within 15 feet of the hole. I sunk the putt for a birdie. It's too bad our bodies block the picture of my ball on the green.



The Cypress Point Club has only 240 members and has only a golf course. No tennis courts. No other athletic facilities. All you have is a golf course with a very elegant and simple club house with a small building with four rooms for club members who don't live in the area to stay in. I must say that it is this very comfortable simplicity that makes the Cypress Point Club (and also Pine Valley in New Jersey which I have also played) so wonderful. The uber-rich have no need to show off their wealth in terms of ostentacious goods and buildings. Simple, elegant and refined is all they need. In addition, the elite class is also really nice. All the people I met at the club, and most certainly Mr. H. are gracious and always have a kind word. I felt no pretension or sense that these people needed to show off. All these members of Cypress Point could buy and sell those pseudo upper class hanger on's a thousand times over. I was immediately put at ease and I had a WONDERFUL experience.

So how did I play? For those of you who do not want a play by play description can skip the remaining parts of this post. Oh, one last thing, the 15th, 16th and 17th holes of the course are the most famous because they are played right on the edge of the ocean. A picture of 16 is below with the seals as spectators.



So, the first hole is a long downhill par 4. I played onto the green in 3, but three-putted for a 6. The speed of the greens was absolutely something I had never experienced before. The par 5 2nd is the number one handicap hole. I hit a great drive, shanked the second, hit a great third and pitched to within 10 feet for a par putt, but didn't make it and make a bogey 6. The front nine is inland and played through dunes and trees. The 3rd was a par 3. I hit a shot that was the right distance but just off the green. I pitched onto the green and again, three putted for a five. The fourth was a long par-4. I hit a drive off the the right and it hit a tree and bounced back into the fairway. I nailed a three iron to within 3 feet of the cup for a birdie. Now, if I had been playing with my regular buddies, I would have had to actually made the three foot putt. I guess the elite let all these as gimmies. I think throughout the day, I holed out only half the time.

Numbers 5 and 6 are long par 5's. On 5, I shanked my way up the green for a 7. On six, I hit a great drive and great three iron to within a hundred yards of the green. Things went haywire and I scored another 7. Hole 7 is a par three on which I nailed a four iron that rolled back off the front of the green. I got up and down for par. Number 8 is an AMAZING hole. It is a 90 degree dogleg right that is played over the dunes. I pushed my drive to the right into the dunes. At this point my caddy Marty (he's pictured below)



handed me a wedge and told me to get back into the fairway. I didn't take his advice and it took me four more strokes to get out of the dunes since I played towards the hole instead of laterally. From then on, I always took Marty's advice. Hole 9 is a short par four and I hit my second shot to what I thought was pin high right. Instead it landed five yards over and in a dune again. I pitched onto the left fringe and then hit my subsequent putt OFF the green some 50 feet farther away then where I was. 7 again.

10 was a par five and I had my only flat out top of the entire round. Another 7. Hole 11 turns around and heads towards the ocean. The course is building towards the finale of the holes on the ocean. 11 is rather nondescript and I scored a 6. Number 12 is another dogleg where the green is unseen from the tee. Ignorance being bliss, I hit a huge drive over a bunker that most people don't even try. My second shot was again five yards off to the right of the green and I was again in a dune. I made 5.


The above picture is hole 13. I hit a poor drive short of the fairway in a grassy area. I nailed a great 3 iron onto the green and made 5. Number 14 is a hole that has a wide fairway but then there is a narrow chute through which you must play to the green. I unfortunately hit a bad drive off to the right, and had to pitch into the chute and then play to the green. 7 again. I birdied 15 as I mentioned above. Then we came to 16. What an amazing hole. It's a 235 yard par 3 played over the ocean. It looks like it's longer than that, even. I hit a driver that faded off the right, hit off the rocks and into the ocean. My provisional ball, ended up on the beach to the left of the green. It's obvious that golfers hit here all the time as there are stairs onto the beach. However, the green is some 15 feet above the beach and there is a cement wall acting as a sea wall against erosion. I successfully got my ball over the wall into a bunker. I made 7. The 17th tee is on a spit of land that sits above the 16th and it is such an amazing vista. There is a plaque that has inscribed something to the effect of "let us rejoice and be grateful for being one of the lucky few to have had the opportunity to stand on this spot and to have walked these grounds." AMEN, BROTHER. I hit a great tee shot. The second shot must be played over a huge stand of cypress trees. I pushed it, but ended up in the fringe. Bogey. 18 is short uphill par four. I bogeyed.

Overall, I think it adds up to a 99. What a great day. After golf, Frank, Mr. T. and I dined in the Sam Morse dining room. No menus. The server gives the salads and sandwiches available and then they are made to order. A plate of cookies sat on a table in the middle of the room. Serve yourself.

Ahhh, the good life. The H. family has another daughter who will be starting 7th grade in the fall. I might be back here again in a few years.

Model Patient?

So I spent the afternoon of Tuesday, June 8th serving as a model patient for first year UCSF medical students practicing their different kinds of examinations. I was hooked up with this because a friend of mine from bookclub (a shout out to H. Carrie C. from H. Ernest Chen) runs a part of the medical education component of the UCSF medical school. I am usually put in either the full physical examination or a more basic musco-skeletal exam. One of the reasons Carrie asks me to do it is because I have such interesting findings that the first year students have never come upon. Usually, the potential doctors start at the top of the head and work down. As we all know, above the knees I am perfectly normal. However, once they get below the knee, things start going HAYWIRE. When they test my reflexes, nothing happens. The students always hit my knees looking for a my leg to move. They keep hitting for a while until the observing physician tells them that I don't have reflexes. As the exam continues, the observant students notice the big scar on my side and by asking me about are able to start deciphering what is going on. Because of the surgery on my back, I have neurological deficiencies in my lower extremities, one of them being my reflexes (I think). The more curious finding that comes for the students is when they do a test on my feet, called the Bubinsky (sp?). By running their finger along the bottom of my foot, my toes should curl under, but mine don't. This is also a function of the lingering neurological deficiencies as a result of my accident. Overall, it's an interesting experience.

So many of you are probably wondering why I have a picture of a robot at the top of this post. After my work at the UCSF clinic, I spent a couple hours exploring SF before I was to meet Helena, her husband David and Andrea (my prom date), all friends of mine from high school, for dinner. I was wandering in Pacific Heights looking at all the big mansions and I'm kind of just looking around and I notice their robot structure in the front yard of one of the LARGE homes on Broadway. I think this is a symbol of my upcoming trip this summer. I hope to take the time to observe and see things that the usually driven Ernie tends to miss. This is going to a summer of taking my time and seeing what I will usually miss.

Sex and the City

Every male (especially gay males) needs friends like these. The long time friends who know all the dirty details of your life, the people in your life who you feel comfortable revealing all of your problems, fears, conquests and loves to without judgement. I can't claim that there are no catty remarks, but it is all done with love and affection. It is with my "Sex and the City" friends that I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon. Wells, Vern, Thomas and I (sans Jose since his flight from SF to NYC) have been friends since we all rowed together in the late 90's. We gathered yesterday in Wells' backyard at noon for brunch and hours of conversation. If we had to assign roles, Thomas=Samantha, Vern=Miranda, Wells=Carrie which leaves me with Charlotte. Under the shade of a large tree, we dissected each other's lives in a way that only good friends can. It's unfortunate that the four of us live in three different area codes within the SF Bay Area and aren't as accessible to each other as the four women are on the show, but we try to meet up once a month. Yesterday was a bit out of the ordinary since it was at Wells' home. Usually, we meet up for dinner in the Castro followed by a trip to Badlands. I still have a smile on my face today from some of the things that were discussed yesterday. You want to know what they are, don't you. Sorry, it's only between me and the boys. As they say, what happens in the Vegas, stays in the Vegas.

Hey there all, so I'm back with the blog. It's been nine months since I've posted, but I'm spending the first days of 2004 in the Cruz de la Santa (Santa Cruz for those of you who aren't into the lingo) with Carlos. We spent New Year's Eve at his friend Jeff and Pilar's (love them) and it was a great time. I talked to this guy who is probably moving to Belgium in May to spend a year in rehearsal for a circus that will eventually move to it's permanent home in Las Vegas. The night ended with us trying to make every single one of Jeff and Pilar's utensils stand on end on their counter. It was the art that we left them.

Today, Carlos and I have done nothing but loaf. Up late, and after surviving the one minute walk through the storm that his the Cruz, we ate at some Irish restaurant. Afterwards we saw Cheaper By The Dozen at a local theater. Cute movie although Carlos did bring up the interesting point about whether or not it is responsible for parents to bring in twelve children into the world. Mini-crush on Tom Welling. You'll be getting lots of announcements on my mini-crushes. One of my students gave me permission to have lots of mini-crushes.

The afternoon was spent watching the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy marathon, followed by dinner at the L8 Buffet and then we watched another movie, In America. Sorry, couldn't find a link to it. As you may have noticed, I've learned how to link things here in my blog, as taught to me by Carlos. Thanks, Carlos.

I'll be back tomorrow.

I want to tell you about the blog of my bizzaro self.

So yesterday Dean and I went to see "Far From Heaven" at the Metro. It came so highly regarded and so just like every other movie I've seen in such fashion, I was not "blown away". Nice to get out of the house, though.

Finished Harry Potter #2 this morning. Then went swimming, where I can do my one-third of a mile, pretty quickly now. I think I need to increase the amount I swim. Walking goes well and I am starting to move into the shallow end. By the way, the one lifeguard who's name I don't know is named Steve. Ok, that has to be committed to memory.

I watched "A Streetcar Named Desire" this afternoon. Another Tennessee Williams play made into a movie. I liked "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" better. The story was much more to my liking and the whole father/son issue much closer to my experience than having a psycho-woman in the house. But Paul Newman and Marlon Brando....all good. But man, what happened to Brando in the time from Streetcar to Godfather. Hmmm, about 100 pounds.

Tutored a new kid today, in Calculus. I haven't done that stuff in ages, but I pulled it out of the hat just fine. And I JUST got another referral for a 9th grader in Algebra. This is getting kind of out of control. I have one a day until this Saturday. Things are getting mighty busy. It's a good thing.

It didn't work, hmmm. Let's try again.

Oh my god, did I just figure out how to insert a link? The following is a link to NETFLIX, which has been a savior for me these past three months. I am now waiting for my next movies to arrive and they are 1) Stand and Deliver and ack, something I don't remember. Oooohhhh, a link....

OK, here's the data. The Dawson's Creek marathon has begun (although due to a mistake, I learned that the four shows a day will be on 8-noon EST, which translates to 5AM-9AM PST) I'll DEFINATELY be taping them and not watching in anyway whatsoever. Second, I am now seriously engrossed in the second installment of the Harry Potter series and will more than likely finish it this afternoon. Conclusion? I have regressed to being a teenager.

Anyway, it's the end of March and I'm pretty psyched about it. April begins tomorrow and it's the second quarter of the year. I should be back in California in two or three months. That's if everything goes according to plan.

Lastly, I need to learn how to include links into this blog. Ahhh, maybe later.

Has it been five days since I've written? Time does move fast. Anyway, nothing too much is new except I got to sleep for the first time outside of this house since I left the hospital. Went up to Kendra's cabin about an hour away. First thing I did when I got there was sleep in the barcalounger. We need to get one for home.

Been realizing lately that there will be no magic day when everything will be just the same as it used to be. It will be the slow, gradual process, one thing at a time. I can't worry right now about questions like, will I be able to bend down and squat? Everything will be slower and done when the time is right.

I'm a bit annoyed at still being at home. The same old stuff, having to share things and not doing things when I want to. Dad is sometimes oblivious and pisses me off.

So my friend (my sister's best friend from high school) Kendra just called to tell me YAHTZEE. It's a game I made up when watching the Seattle Supersonics. 10 out of 17 of the players on the team have 5 letter last names. Whenever all five of the players on the court have 5 letter last names is when you get YAHTZEE. Ever since the Sonics traded away Gary Payton for two players (Allen and Ollie) with 5 letter last names, the game has been on. We've been waiting for the day and it has come!!!

Back to the regular programming today. Went swimming at the pool after a lazy morning. But I did get to talk to colleague Chris Davies who is keeping me updated on what is going on back at school. Shahana also called today. Napped on the couch this afternoon and it felt good.

The big enterprise of the day was going shoe shopping. Now my Mom has vetoed the shoes I bought on Saturday because they were too big. Living at home means that everything I do is subject to approval with the 'rents. Haircuts are done by committee so right now my hair (when uncombed) makes me look like Kim Jong Il of North Korea according to Carlos. That's really someone for me to fashion myself after, huh? Anyway, so we went to the Big 5 and I tried on shoes. Now I'm the kind of person who doesn't shop; I purchase. If the first pair of shoes fits, I'll take it. But with Mom, I had to try on various sizes and various brands. Luckily, my Mom knows this from living with my father and so she didn't put up too much of a stink when I took the second pair I tried. Hey, it's a big deal that I even got to a second pair.

A whirlwind weekend with my friend Carlos who visited. Things we did, swimming, Indian food with my sister, Whad'ya Know at the Paramount, lunch with Kristin, Jeff, Vickie and baby Nikolas, dinner at P.F. Changs, rolling/shopping around Bellevue Square, watched half of Mystic Pizza before falling asleep, swimming again, lunch at "25", dinner with our long lost friend Carrie who both of us hadn't seen since 1989 (we missed the entire decade of the 90's). What a treat to be totally busy with no downtime and not having to be at home all the time. I have to say, it was fun to torment Carlos on the fact that he LOVED driving my Dad's black Mercedes SUV. He immediately fell into being an asshole SUV driver, it suited him well.

Alas, sadness now as I saw Carlos drive off and now I am back to being my isolated self. In addition, Lakeside has one more week of school, then projects week and then spring break, so I won't be tutoring for a couple weeks as well, adding to the "nothing to do" issue.

Hey at least, starting on March 31st, Dawson's Creek (ahhh the WB) will be showing four episodes a day, thereby showing the entire five seasons worth of shows before the series finale sometime in May. These are the things that make me happy these days! Ahh, I'm just wallowing in self-pity. Have to be happy about the things that are good in life at the moment!!