MIDTERMS!!!!!

Ok, so i just finished taking my midterms. I only had two, which is pretty normal in law school. Most classes have an all or nothing final and just skip the midterm all together. So my first midterm was a paper which I didn't do too hot on, but not terrible.

The paper was multicase analysis of the use of deadly force in self defense. Basically we were assigned a fictional client who killed someone in self defense, and we have to defend him. We were given 3 cases to break apart and analyze to use in our defense. For this paper all we had to do was take the three cases break down the elements that proved that deadly force was used for self defense and apply our client facts to those elements to see if we come out with the same result. I rocked the analysis but i lost major points for grammar and style. Here is a tip, if you ever think that grammar rules are stupid and you don't need to learn them, go ahead and punch yourself in the stupid face. I got a C+ on an A paper because of my grammar!!!! I bought a grammar book and decided the excuse that i'm just not good at grammar isn't going to cut it anymore.

My second Midterm was in my Civil Procedures class. This was an essay and multiple choice exam, pretty straightforward. I spent a long time studying for it and I even broke down the professor's previous exams to find patterns. I went into pretty confident, and left the exam completely defeated. For starters, the essay exam mentioned a statute that i didn't realize was provided on the back of the page that gives us the hypo for the essay. So with about five minutes left for the essay portion, i realize people are flipping back and forth on the hypo page. So i flipped my page and saw an enumerated statute that we were supposed to use in essay. So at that moment I felt that sinking feeling you get when you are on a roller coaster and i became drenched in sweat . . . instantly. I was freezing and every pore in my body popped open and let out all the sweat in my body. If that wasn't bad enough, i didn't even get close to addressing all the issues i wanted to address. There just wasn't enough time, and I don't feel like i managed my time as efficiently as i needed to. So the essay portion was over and I just had to get over it and move on to the multiple choice part. I figured if i did well on the multiple choice it might balance out my poor essay grade.

The multiple choice was one of those where they give you three or four real options, then two or three options that say "only answers A and B" or "non of the above" etc. There were 15 questions and i was really confident about 5 or 6 of them, and was really struggling with the rest. I just trusted my knowledge and gave my best guess. The cool part was that the professor allows you to challenge multiple choice answers. So after each question there are lines where you can challenge or explain your decisions for full or partial credit. So i finished that portion, challenging about 7 of the questions, and rushed out of the classroom without looking back. I didn't even go to my next class because i was so down about the test. Nobody really talked about the exam after, because everyone assumed they did poorly.

The test was on a Thursday and we got our results on the next Monday, so that was about 3 days of depression. The professor put our exams out on a table for us to pick up at the beginning of class on Monday. We take exams by exam number, not name to save people some embarrassment. So I walked up and grabbed my test, and too my surprise i scored a B on the essay. I was on cloud 9, i thought i got an F, so a B was welcome surprise. The professor explained how she graded, and in the end it didn't matter that i didn't get all issues or use the statute. As long as the analysis was right on the stuff I did write about, she would award the points. I picked up my multiple choice part as well and i got a 12.5 out of 15. Not too great, but better than the 6 out of 15 I thought i was going to get. I was actually awarded a couple points for my challenges which was pretty cool. The professor mentioned that the highest score on the Multiple choice was a 13, which means i was .5 away from the highest grade in the class for the multiple choice section. Not too bad!!!! This was all without the curve, so I assumed that a curve might bump my final grade up a few points maybe too a B+ or an A-.

A week later the final curved scores came out and I was excited to see what I had earned. I opened the email with my final curved grade and I got a . . . C-!!!!! A fucking C-. Talk about the most brutal curve on the planet. Talk about a bad morning. So I emailed the teacher about the final grade and how i was very concerned about my performance. I worked really hard and that grade was a punch in the nuts. I felt pretty worthless. So the professor sent out an email about how the curve worked and why the grades were different than what we expected. She hadn't responded to my personal email yet so I assumed that there was no mistake and that is just the nature of the curve. Wallowing in self pity i tried to do my homework for the day, but i couldn't get motivated. I even started to think that law school wasn't for me and that maybe i won't cut it in the legal field. Basically i was acting like a BITCH!!!! We all have our weak moments. So by midday i finally found my testicles again and started to regroup. Then, as i was giving myself a pep talk, i received an email from the professor. It basically stated that based on my email, she reviewed the formula for the curve and found a MISTAKE!!!!

She re-worked the formula and re-submitted our final grades and at the end i came out with a B+!!!! Only a few points away from an A-. Talk about a miserable morning.

Kishimoto in Denver

The Kishimoto family came to visit Denver this past weekend. They made the trip up from Santa Fe to catch some soccer and enjoy all of Colorado's natural beauty . . . actually not really. They mainly came up to eat Peruvian food. Apparently there is no Peruvian food in Santa Fe, Wilt was going through serious withdrawals. So after a busy day of soccer watching we went out to a small restaurant called Cebiche. The food was really good and Wilt returned to his old self after having some lomo saltado. He had a smile for the rest of the night.

Wilt came up with the whole family so i had the pleasure of enjoying the company of Abby and Sophi as well. Those two are way too much fun. They are little balls of energy that transform into dinosaurs, monkeys, ducks, chickens, and strange raspy voiced characters that i didn't quite understand. The best part was when they were showing me their best dance moves. It was a good time.

It was a glimpse of what is to come in my future. I just found out a few days ago I might be having a little girl. I really didn't know what to think about that. I don't know anything about raising a girl. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about having a girl i just don't know the in's and out's of female psychology and their development. With a boy its easy, beat the fear into him when he is little, keep his labedo in check when he's 13, then kick him out when he's 18. bada bing bada boom your done. I think I'm entering a world of dresses and barbies. I think I'm going to resist it though. The first thing my little girl is going wear is a pair of soccer shorts and a Barcelona jersey. Then when she is old enough, i'm going to buy her her first Brazilian jiu jitsu gi. I wonder how long i can hold on that, before she wants to wear make up and dresses, and be more interested in boys than breaking arms, but i'll give it a good fight. Hopefully the jiu jitsu training will make my job easier, otherwise i might need to buy a gun.

Watching Wilt and Ali handle these two little hurricanes was really interesting. They do it with so much grace and patience. Up until now i've always enjoyed hanging out with kids, but in the back of my head i knew at some point i'd get to go home and they were another person's responsibility. I don't know what kind of parent I'll be, but i hope i can have their patience. Their arrival into Denver couldn't have been timed any better. I was in the midst of all this confusion, but seeing that family made me even happier that all this is happening to me.

Now i get my very own hurricane, one i get to take home with me everyday and every night, and i can't wait.

ULTRASOUND

I know its been a while since I've posted anything, but here is an ultrasound picture of my kid. We still don't know whether it is a boy or a girl, but the doctor says that it is developing nicely. The doctors originally gave us a due date of Feb 6, but now it looks like the it will actually be born a few weeks later. It's pretty amazing seeing my kid for the first time.

I apologize for not keep you guys more updated but this whole law school thing has been sucking up more time than i could've imagined.

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

It's Saturday night and i can't sleep for some reason. So i figured now would be a good a time as any to blog about my first week of school.

On Monday i had Civil Procedure with professor Duvivier. She is a nice lady, but not very good at explaining things, or maybe in not very good at understanding things. I had her 3 times this week (Mon, Wed, and Thurs) and I always left more confused than when i walked in. Civil Procedure is basically the rules that guide how you progress in a law suit. They will teach us how to figure out who has jurisdiction, what laws to use, what court to choose, what cases are applicable, etc. Its actually pretty interesting, its kind of like a puzzle.

Torts is my second class. Professor Russell teaches that course and he is definitely entertaining. he did his best Shawn Johnson impression the other night by walking on a wall about 6 inches in width and 5 feet off the ground, in an attempt to illustrate how a plaintiff was hurt in a case we read. We spent most of the first day discussing the McDonald's Coffee case, where the lady burned herself with coffee. It was interesting to say the least, and i left with a lot more sympathy for that poor old lady that spilled the coffee. At first i just thought she was an idiot, but after seeing the facts of the case i'm surprised she didn't get more money.

My third class is lawyering process. I think this class is supposed to teach us how to be lawyers. How to read statutes and cases, how spot issues, how to write letters and briefs, etc. Its my smallest class and so far we've done a lot of group work. The only thing that sucks about this class is that i have it on Friday nights. The law school looks like a ghost town at that time.

The first week was pretty intense. They weren't shy about giving us reading and outside projects. I've already read about 6 cases and we've only finished the first week!!!!!!! Everyone was pretty nervous and i would even say a little overwhelmed. You could feel everyone stressing out a little. Luckily the professors have a little more respect for us night students than they do for the day students, because they realize we have lives. One girl in my class almost popped out a kid during my first session of torts. She stayed for the whole class even though she was going into labor!!!!!!! now that is commitment.

VERBS . . . FU@K VERBS . . . I PUNCH VERBS IN THE FACE

Tonight was the last night of orientation, and i have to say my classmates turned out better than expected. Most of them are older, married, with children, and careers. There is actually quite a bit of people from San Diego out here. The last two days has been mostly speakers. They all open up their talk by congratulating us first, then explaining how difficult life will be for the next 3-4 years. They even make sure to point out how it will be extra difficult for the night students.

Tonight we took a writing diagnostic. It is a test to gage our grammar and punctuation skills. I scored a solid 78%, which was 69 out 88 questions correct. Apparently i don't know what a dangling modifier is . . . and i don't. My use of commas is also suspect. I should probably add to that list pronoun usage, quotation marks, and parallelism (whatever the hell that is).

But the point where i did excel was on VERBS!!! YAY BOY!!! I dominated verbs. Perfect score. Verbs came up, i put'em down.

ORIENTATION . . . WHAT A BUNCH OF DOUCHE BAGS

Orientation is underway, and for the most part it has been fairly interesting. Orientation goes all week from about 5-9pm. Its a mixture of information sessions, forums, and time to handle administrative tasks. Monday night was the first night of orientation, and it was basically an intro into what to expect as a law student. Last night they spoke more about the services available to us as law students.

Last night was also the first time i actually got to talk to a few of my classmates. Well to make a long story short, they were douche bags. I'm a pretty nice guy . . . I'm an ok guy, but I was tempted to hip throw some of these guys and arm bar them. They were seriously asking to have something broken. To be fair, i didn't meet everyone, i didn't even meet half of them. The individuals I met last night fell into three categories:

1. The know it all: obnoxious people that know everything, have done everything, and are always right.

2. The story topper: these are people who have done everything you've done but better.

3. The I hate Los Angeles crowd:

Douche bag: "hey where are you from?"

Me: "LA"

Douche bag: "oh . . . i hate LA"

Me: [thought bubble] "go F@*k yourself!!!"

They all seemed to get along with each other, which actually saved me from getting trapped in a conversation with these people. They seemed to understand each other, but you could tell that some were faking sincerity. I observed a few conversations as i was waiting to get food and it basically consisted of one person being a douche bag, and another person humoring the douche until it was there turn to be a douche. I was going to be an ass, but i decided to just ignore them and move on to more important things, like whether or not one butter packet was enough for my roll.

I know there must be some good people at the school. I think it was a mixture of nervousness and being over eager to impress. Another thing i noticed was that I'm one of the few minorities in the program. Maybe i don't know how these white people communicate. White people are crazy!!!! I made an effort to mingle but the conversation left much to be desired. The deepest conversation i had was with one guy from Salt Lake City about the lasagna. The lasagna was really good, i had three plates of it. I was stuffed after the third serving, but i didn't feel like talking to anyone so i ate some chocolate cake. Anyways I'm just going to move on from this experience, I'll just call Tuesday night "strike one."

Hopefully tonight will go better. I think I'm going to try and get there early and see if i can't talk to people more one on one. All let you know how it goes.

FC DENVER TRYOUTS

Sunday was the first day of tryouts for the Football Club of Denver (FC Denver). FC Denver is a non profit, competitive, adult soccer club. Currently we have 4 men's teams and 2 women's teams. I serve as a player and coach for our premier team. I'm also a director so i handle a great deal of administrative tasks for the club. For example, the night before tryouts i drafted several contracts for the players dealing with liability, codes of conduct, and commitment to club. I've also drafted by laws and letters for the club. I also serve as somewhat of a coaching director. Mainly i just make sure there is a standard of coaching for the club, and help the coaches design training.

This weekend was our first tryouts for the fall season. We had about 30 new players turn out, which is pretty exciting. Most of the players were recreational level players, but we have teams that will suit their abilities. A few premier players showed up to tryouts and we went off to side to work on fitness. We did a long warm up to get some of the rust off, stretched, did a little more agility based warm ups, then headed off to do sprints. We did 6 back to back 100 yard sprints, and 6 back to back 50 yard sprints. Its pretty tough when you don't give the guys a lot of time to recover. After that we did a drill to work on explosiveness, and finished off with a cool down and stretch. Needless to say i was exhausted after. I think a combination of the heat, elevation, being way out of shape, and not having a good enough breakfast came together to wreck me.

The guys seemed pretty satisfied with the running, but little do they know that it was just the beginning. i have far more sinister drills in my repertoire that i have yet to unveil. i figured it wasn't a good idea to scare them away on the first day so i'll leave that for next time.

After seeing some of the guys on the premier team, i think we need to up the level of quality on that squad. Most of the guys are excellent players, but I would love to bring in players of a slightly higher caliber in a few positions. We need players with some type of college or professional experience, who might not be physically or technically superior to guys we have but are smarter. We might be a little naive for the level we are trying to play at this next season. We have enough heart to get good results, but I'm questioning our ability to manage games properly. So that is my task for the upcoming season. I need to find a way to get us up to par tactically and mentally, as well as physically.

Personally i need to get in shape, otherwise i might be out of starting job as well. It takes me about a month to acclimated to the elevation, which isn't good cause that will only leave me a week or two to do some hard training before the season starts.

Ok that is enough about that. I'm working on getting a digital camera, because the whole disposable camera thing really isn't working for me. So hopefully soon i'll have more pictures.

Things to look forward to this week: Law school orientation, Gaby gets her ultrasound and we find out if it is a boy or a girl, i return to jiu jitsu training after a long lay off do to illness, and i finally get to move off the sofa and move into an actual room!!!!!!

BLAH BLAH BLAH

Nothing interesting is going on right now, but i figured i'd just check in with everyone. I've basically been sitting at home for the last couple of days because i've been sick. The most exciting thing that has happened, was someone broke into my our neighbors place and stole stuff. They are right below us and I didn't hear a thing. I feel kind of bad about it, since my BJJ training makes me an instrument of death, i could've done something.

In family news, not about me. My little cousin Stef just got her first stripe at Hollywood Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She is a natural at the sport, and I can see her being very successful. The first stripe basically means that she is getting the hang of the warm ups and new moves she is tought. It also means she understands the basic movements and terms of jiu jitsu. It is a big first step and i am very proud of her.

The blog has gone international. My friend in Japan, Aki, is now a loyal reader. Bringing my loyal following to . . . 7 . . . maybe.

Its been a week since I have arrived and there really hasn't been much to do. I went to jiu jitsu training for a couple days, but then i got sick. Probably from all the stress of moving out here. I'm final feeling better so maybe i'll start training tomorrow.

I finally saw Dark Knight, the new Batman movie. That was freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!! So cool. Heath Ledger was amazing. He stole the show. I recommend watching it at an IMAX.

Next week I have orientation all week, then I start classes on the 18th. I already have my reading list and first few assignments. One assignment consists of reading a 300 page book before my first class. Considering i'm the slowest reader on the planet i think i'm going to get started on that.

Life is pretty boring right now. I've taken care of most of the administrative stuff i needed to get done for school and watched a lot of tv. I even watched that Jamie Kennedy movie "Kickin it Old Skool". God awful movie, i think i'm dumber now for having watched it. I can't imagine what the conversation was like when were deciding to make that movie.

Anyways, I feel like this is the calm before the storm. In two weeks time i'll be begging for some time to myself. So I'm just going to enjoy not having anything to do for right now.

GABY PENA

I've talked about my girlfriend a little bit on this blog, but i just realized that most of you have never met her. Which is too bad because she is really an amazing girl and I'm a pretty lucky guy. Now that I'm 1200 miles away from her she is always on my mind. So i figured I should blog about her.

Name: Gabriela Elsa Pena

Age:24
Height: 5'2

Place of Birth: Nayarit, Mexico

Favorite Food: Mexican and Italian
Favorite Sport: Baseball

Occupation: My Girlfriend


We met when i started working at Executive Trustee Services (ETS). On my first day of work i was sitting in the reception area completely lost. I had no idea where i was supposed to go, or who i was supposed to talk to. All i knew was that i was working for First American, even though i was at ETS not First American. A little confusing, especially on the first day. Gaby saw me sitting there and showed me where to go because i was clueless. I figured i looked like a dumb ass and just my luck a pretty girl was the first person i talked to. I probably didn't talk to her for about a month after that. She says that its because i wouldn't talk to her, but i think its because she wouldn't talk to me. She always looked good and i had contemplated asking her out, but i figured i wasn't her type. Mainly because she wouldn't look at me or say more than two words to me. Eventually I got the courage to ask her out and to my surprise she said yes.

She confessed to me that she thought i only liked white girls. Apparently there was a rumor going around to that effect, which isn't true, because i also like Mexicans.

We went to eat Italian food on our first date. I had a chicken pesto calzone and she had a Cesar salad. The calzone was huge, and delicious, but i figured it probably isn't a good idea to look like a pig on the first date, so i saved half of it for later. We hit it off really well right off the bat and started going on more dates and taking breaks together at work. Things were going great.

I found out that she was a hair dresser and make up artist. She's worked on some pretty rich and important people. She always had cool stories about the people she's met and the crazy situations that sometimes puts her in. She loved going to the beach and going for runs. We also spent a lot of time watching movies since neither one of us had really done that in a while. She also really likes MMA, which is awesome!!!!!!

Then came that fateful day when we found out that she was pregnant. That was a surreal moment for me. We had suspected it for a couple weeks, but i wasn't prepared to see that pregnancy test come back positive. I spent the next couple days in a haze. I wasn't here nor there. I felt like i was living in limbo, almost in a dream like state that i wish i could wake up from. I was scared, angry, sad, happy, curious, excited, worried, and every other emotion you could think of. It was exhausting. Some days we would lay in bed talking about baby names and dreaming about how he or she would look. I hope my kid looks like her, but is awesome like me!! haha. Other days we would spend fighting about whether or not we were doing the right thing. It was a crazy time, but we got through it, and i came out of it with a lot more respect for her. She is about 4 months pregnant right now so we still have a long way to go. She is going to be a great mom, and knowing how strong she is makes it easier to deal with this situation.

Let me tell you how amazing this girl is. She actually told me she DOESN'T LIKE SOCCER, and that our kid is going to play BASEBALL!!!!!! Normally those words would be grounds for execution, but you know what . . . i didn't care. Little things like that seem small now and i have her to thank for that.

We agreed that my education was the most importing thing right now. Me becoming an attorney is a key factor in providing a better life for my family. It was tough leaving her behind, but I know that she has a better chance of dealing with the pregnancy with her family and my family around. Still i can't help but want to be there with her.

Our life isn't going to be something you've seen in the movies or on TV, but it is going to be interesting. I can't tell for sure how the future is going to turn out, but I know everything will be ok. I've never been one to do things very conventionally, so it is only fitting that this happen a little abnormally as well.

The story of Gaby and me is really the story of the last 6 months. She is such a big part of my life that i can't really tell you about her without talking about all the events that have happened while i was in LA.

I hope this gives everyone a better picture of my lady. I'll keep you guys posted on how this story unfolds.

MY B-DAY!!!

I want to say thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. For those of you that forgot, no worries i'll be accepting presents all year. Please send all presents to:

Daniel Valenzuela
2525 S. Dayton Way Apt. 1308
Denver, CO 80231-3914

DENVER TRIP

We left Burbank at 4am Tuesday morning, and we arrived in Denver around 3pm Wednesday afternoon. The trip was amazing. My dad kept me company for those two days and we both had our breath taken away by the scenery. We were supposed head through Arizona and up through New Mexico, but thunderstorms forced us to go through Utah. I think God was looking out for us on that one, because the trip up the 70 is something that everyone should do. Here is a breakdown of how the trip went.


We packed up the car with my clothes and wrestling mats, and by 4am we were on our way. We stopped for breakfast in Barstow and continued to Las Vegas.


We stopped in Vegas and tried our luck at the MGM. We said we were going to play for about 30 min and head out. Well 30 minutes quickly turned into about 5 minutes, because the roulette spinner refused to land on black. Dirty crooked casino dealers. Anyways i lost my money pretty fast and just sat around for the next twenty minutes or so. Vegas is a crazy place, you show up with so much hope, but in the end you leave a broken and penniless man. My dad walked away from the slot machines $37 richer. Which was good because we needed gas.

We were back on the road at around 10:30am. On our way out of Nevada we felt a few aftershocks from the Chino earthquake. One almost pulled me off the road. Right around noon the temperature rose to 100 degrees and kept climbing. We entered Utah around 2pm and saw some of the most amazing hills and rocks we'd ever seen. The colors were vibrant reds, yellows, browns, and oranges.


We stopped at the Salt Washes, and took pictures. At this point we'd been driving for hours without seeing any signs of civilization. There would be gas stations and coffee shops strung along the highway everyone hundred miles or so. There was a group of Native Americans selling knick knacks and necklaces right underneath signs that said vending and soliciting is prohibited. But they didn't seem to give a crap. That was almost enough to make me buy something . . . almost.


Next we stopped at Diablo Canyon. We walked about a 100 yards from where we parked and just stood there enjoying the silence. You couldn't see the roads from where we were and the sound couldn't reach us. It was the most peace I'd felt in a long time.

Our last stop in Utah was Spotted Wolf Canyon. Easily the coolest name of all our stops. After this spot we said goodbye to Utah and its red hills.

We spent the night in Grand Junction, Co, which is about 30 miles past the Utah/Colorado Border. We slept in that night because we were exhausted from about 14 hours of driving on Tuesday. We woke up around 8am and got ready to head out. We had breakfast, put some gas in the car, refilled the oil and headed out. We noticed that Colorado is much greener than Utah. We started seeing all types of pines and grasslands.

We started to climb the rocky mountains and saw everything from wildlife preserves to farm land to mining facilities. It was kind of sad to see what some of these companies were doing to the land, but its the price we pay for energy. We climbed up to 9150 feet at one point. In the distance we saw two peaks which were at 14,000 feet some of the tallest in the US. It really is a remarkable view from up there.

We made our last stop before entering Denver. We said goodbye to the green mountains and said hello to the big city.

We arrived in Denver around 3pm, had some lunch, then I dropped my dad off at the airport so he could head back to Burbank. I met friends after that and starting settling into my new home. The trip was unforgettable and exhausting. But I'm here in Denver now ready to start this part of my life. Ok i hope you've enjoyed this recap of my trip. I'll try to post more often now that I'm a little bit more settled.

THE WEDDING

NO, NOT MINE!!!! I'm still very far away from taking that plunge. But here is a picture of me and my lady.

Gail and Nick finally tied the knot this weekend. There were people from all over the country and the world in attendance. It was a huge event with all the trimmings a wedding can have. Gail looked beautiful, and Nick looked like the happiest man on the planet. I looked stunning in my gray suit with a pink shirt and tie, escorting the lovely Gaby Pena. Everything was just about perfect. I guess the only part that wasn't so good was the fact that we missed the whole ceremony. Yup, after months and months of preparation our dumb asses showed up after the ceremony was over. Disappointed . . . yes, Surprised . . . no. The reception was a blast though. I sat at table 11 with my brothers, girlfriend, Kim, cousin T-bone "viper" Pinto, and my aunt and uncle (who have not blood relation to the groom or bride). I can sit here and talk about how amazing the wedding was and all that great stuff, but i think there is another story that needs to be told. Among all the dancing and celebration there was a side story that will probably go forgotten. I'm here to tell that tale . . . the tale of the three jack asses, who kept me up all night with their yelling and drinking. Let me introduce you to the cast.

My little bro (23)

My little cousin Eric (18)

Cousin Tony "T-bone, Viper, Tahoe" Pinto (19)

Needless to say it was an open bar. So they started drinking and drinking and drinking . . .


My older bro Rick was also pretty drunk, but at least he maintained a certain level of decency and poise . . .

The rest of the jack asses just kept on drinking. Two, three beers at a time and they just got drunker . . .

And Drunker . . .

Finally the reception was coming to an end, and we headed back to our hotel room for some much needed sleep. But the drunk asses had other, far more sinister plans. A ferocious game of flip cup broke out in the kitchen. Leo taunting the younger dumb asses to drink more and more. Leo dominated them in flip cup and maintained his title as greatest flip cup champion ever. So a couple 18 packs later, the night finally started to wind down. Mainly because Eric had passed out face first in stale beer, Tony transformed into the Zohan, and Leo wanted to punch everyone in the stomach. Rick did a good job of making sure everyone got to where they were supposed to be, but they didn't stay there. The next morning this is how they ended up . . .

SAYING GOODBYE

So I've spent the better part of last week saying goodbye to a lot of people. I don't know why, but for some reason i always feel awkward saying goodbye. Do you shake hands? do you hug? do you throw up a peace sign and bounce out? Why isn't a high five an "OK" form of goodbye?

A memorable goodbye was from my buddy at Circuit City. I worked there for about a year in 2004 and on my last day my coworker said "take care of yourself, but lets be honest, i'll never see you again . . . and i'm ok with that. " This is true about most of the goodbyes I've been involved in, but no one ever says it. It isn't a particularly nice thing to say, but at least for me its true. My life has been so many goodbyes and so many failed attempts to keep in touch. Usually do to my failed effort. I really liked that quote up until a few months ago. I'd say there is still a pretty good chance that I won't ever see most of the people I've said goodbye to, but i don't think I'm ok with that.

On Wednesday night i said goodbye to my good friends at my jiu jitsu academy. If anyone is planning on doing jiu jitsu or knows anyone that wants to do jiu jitsu in the LA area, i highly recommend Hollywood BJJ. Shawn Williams is probably the best instructor in the city and one of the best in the country. Even though i started my training in Denver, i still feel like HBJJ is my home academy. Here is a picture of some of the guys i trained with. Most of us started around the same time and have watched each other improve over the last 6 months.


Friday was my last day of work and it was bitter sweet. I never saw myself reviewing TSGs for the rest of my life, but at the same time I'm going to miss my co-workers. Normally I'd hate seeing the same person or people every . . . single . . . day. Just sounds like a nightmare. I'd usually prefer being on my knees in the dark with a shotgun in my mouth to seeing and doing the same thing everyday. But you know what . . . I actually preferred First American to the shotgun. CRAZY RIGHT!!!!! Something about the dynamics and chemistry of our team that always made it interesting. I'll post pictures of the First Am team once i get them.

Stay tuned for a post on my cousin's wedding.

I GOT ARMBARRED

The tournament went pretty well . . . up until i got armbarred. The guy i lost to won the whole tournament so that made me feel a little better about myself. I took some pictures but they didn't come out, so I'm gonna try and hunt some down from my teammates that were also competing that day.

I taught my cousin how to drive on Saturday morning. For those of you questioning the wisdom of allowing me to teach someone to drive, rest assured that your concerns are probably right. I think the only real qualification someone needs to teach a teenager to drive is brass balls . . . and i come fully equipped. I'm actually a pretty good driver . . . now that I'm sober.

I didn't end up meeting my girlfriends parents. That probably isn't going to happen. Is it for the best? Do i really have to meet them? I don't feel like I owe them any explanations or apologies or anything? Quiet frankly I'd just be doing it as a courtesy.

I bought a suit for my cousin's wedding. I went with fashion purple and a pink shirt. The salesman said it was the most fashionable way to go, so i bought it. JUST KIDDING. I know she reads the blog. I bought a nice respectable dark grey suit . . . with a pink shirt.

Since i didn't have any pictures from my most recent tournament, I'm gonna post some from my last tournament. Enjoy!!!

THE WEEKEND

As my departure approaches, things are getting more and more hectic. Hopefully that means that i will have plenty to blog about later. Here is a look at my weekend.

Tonight i have weigh-ins for a local jiu jitsu tournament that happens tomorrow. I will definitely write about the competition and hopefully have some pictures.

Saturday morning i am going to throw caution to wind, put on my helmet and other protective gear, strap on my cape and teach my little cousin how to drive. If i make it back alive I'll definitely write about the experience.

Saturday afternoon i have the jiu jitsu tournament, and Saturday night I will probably be looking for a suit to wear at my cousin's wedding. I'm thinking . . . tan.

Sunday i get to meet my girlfriend's parents. This will probably be my last opportunity to do that before i head back to Denver. That is going to be interesting. I can't imagine they are too happy with the things I've done. I knocked up their daughter, I refuse to marry her, I'm leaving for Denver, and I'm broke. TIME TO BRING OUT THE CHARM!!!!!! I better make sure my Mohawk is extra spiky for that.

REWIND

Here is a quick synopsis of what I've been doing for the last six months

In December I moved back to California after finishing my masters at the University of Denver. I moved to Northern California for a job that didn't work out, and ended up back in Burbank after a few weeks. I got a job reviewing title polices around mid January. Career ambitions seperated me and my girlfriend of two years. I was accepted into the law school in February. March was pretty uneventful, but I got my new girlfriend pregnant in April. I also lost my good friend Leo Davalos to a car accident around this time. May I won MVP at the Temecula Soccer tournament, because i kick ass!!!!! I also watched my little brother graduate from college. June I decided to enter the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championships, and basically got my ass handed to me. I also made a trip out to New York to watch the USA v. Argentina soccer game. July I became a vegetarian and I started a blog.

DANIEL IN DENVER

I am about 2 weeks away from leaving for Denver, CO, and it has come to my attention that I am not very good at keeping contact with friends and family. This troubles me because i care about my friends and family . . . just not enough to call frequently . . . or ever for that matter. The people who have known me for a while understand that it isn't personal its just an extreme distaste for telephone conversation . . . well sometimes i just don't want to talk to people ever again, so i guess in those circumstances it is personal.

But rest assured that you are not one of them!!!! But i digress.

I understand that my inability to keep in contact with people has resulted in the loss of some good friends. So in an effort to better myself as human being, i am starting a blog. I know that blogging is kind of pretentious, but I'm going to work on one character flaw at a time.

Hopefully this blog will help keep people up to date on what is going on with me. There are a lot of exciting things going on in my life right now and i want to share them with the people that I'm close too. I'm not sure what I'm going to write about exactly, but I'll do my best to make it entertaining.

Ok, so I'm going to sign off for now, but stay tuned for more posts.