predicament.

Today, at lunch with two buddies at this great little Barbecue place, the song, "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd came on.

Life has been so busy lately from my first hearing (which I won!), to a mock trial, to tons of school work and journal note edits. It has also been pretty amazing from my spring break trip to Costa Rica, a fair amount of wonderful time in New York, and having fun with friends when I have the time. Things have all been based on progress and pleasure.

So really, my question to myself is, am I comfortably numb or just comfortably comfortable?

What a strange situation I currently find myself in.

eye of the tiger

This year is the year of the Tiger for the Chinese Zodiac, which comes around every 12 years. Back when I was 12, I thought it was a HUGE deal for it to be "my" year. I kind of would like to view this year in the same personal way...full of growth, fun, and fulfillment.

My year started off with great friends and great fun in one of my favorite cities: San Francisco. Then I went off to one of my favorite places for a few days: Disney World. I had not been there since I was about 8 or 9 and it was still just as fun to see all the attractions and go on the different rides, especially the new exciting ones.

The first great accomplishment of the year for me was on January 10. After only 45 minutes of sleep, in 30 degree weather, being sick the day before, forgetting to use my inhaler and in a good deal of physical pain from my foot which I went to the physical therapist for a week prior, I finished my first marathon. The whole time, my thoughts were focused on Janet Liang, a fellow Bruin who recently was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and just finished her third of seven rounds of chemotherapy. Her fight is so so meaningful to me and kept me going through the 26.2 miles.

I have come back to school to get a new semester and set of classes and experiences to go through. I will be back in San Francisco for the summer furthering my legal experiences. I have the travel itch and am pumped to start satisfying my exploratory urges. I plan to pursue new hobbies and continue my loves, from rock climbing to running everywhere.

This year will be great to embrace the mundane, relish in the fantastical, and I guess at the end of it all, do what I want. : )

west meets east feast

Having two different cultures (that of my family and that of the society I live in) always makes holiday gatherings full of different kinds of food. I like to think that the two epicurean traditions can coexist well and not lead to some dichotomy in holiday celebration-ism.

This year, I experienced the phenomenon twice: once on Christmas Eve at home with my paternal grandparents (who are in town for a family friend's funeral) and then on Christmas Day in Sacramento with my maternal grandparents. For me, the holidays are not complete without turkey, a honey baked ham, and sparkling apple cider. For both sets of grandparents, any meal is not complete without tons of Chinese dishes. This leads to a dinner that seems like a hodge podge of food (hoards of food), but always ends up with satiated stomachs. Furthermore, there is always a heaping portion of love all around that reminds us why family comprises one of the strongest parts of our identities.

I have to admit, the meeting of two cultures, two minds, two hearts, or whatever it may be, always leads to the possibility of cacophony and discord. Nonetheless, we should be willing to take the chance to meld things together, to find out whether two things can converge and form a fit. Some of the best things in life would not exist if we did not take the chance to experiment and put together two seemingly dissimilar elements. From peanut butter and banana sandwiches to jean jackets and leg warmers, taking risks really allows for the opportunity that something great can emerge, or at least we can get a laugh out of our attempt.

The only issue . . . taking chances.

halfway there . . . meet me halfway.

As of this writing, I am halfway on the flight from BOS to SFO and also halfway done with law school. It naturally made sense to posit a theme dealing with halfness.

It is so so nice to feel a sense of relief that finals madness is over. After my final yesterday, I spent a glorious day with friends at two beer gardens with burgers and all you can eat wings, packed and cleaned up my entire apartment, and just basked in the fact that I could relax and finally have a life again.

This past semester has been such a challenging and fulfilling one for me. From clinic to journal to APALSA to schoolwork to running all the time, I have learned so much about myself, who I want to become, and what I value in life. I knew that this year was going to be a pivotal one for me in determining the course of my life and I have not been proven wrong. People say that 2L year is a lot easier than 1L, but I think that it is much busier, but nice because we have more of a sense of what it is that drives us.

Now I will be spending a little less than three weeks in the Bay Area and then about a week in Florida for some Disney adventures and the marathon. I still cannot believe that we are in the midst of a new year, which is sure to bring new stresses, revelations, and joys. I am excited not to necessarily turn over a new leaf, but to continue to grow.

After all, isn't the cup half full?

Perfect Pair

I have size 5 feet, 6 if I'm wearing knee high boots, which are my newest fashion obsession. Not only are my feet small, but they are also wide. This makes it a huge hassle to find the perfect pair of shoes, the shoes that make you want to go out for the night just so you have an excuse to wear them. And let me tell you, when I find that irresistible pair of shoes, those beautiful black leather heels that fit like a dream . . . I will no doubt buy them. These shoes almost always catch my eye when I am not even on the hunt for a fabulous pair. Regardless of the price (well, frankly, I am not browsing at Manolo Blahnik anyways), I will buy these shoes. Why? It's not everyday that you find something that you absolutely will treasure and have gratification that substantially outweighs any sense of regret over your purchase. In fact, it is a relatively rare occurrence that you will find that ideal match and Lord knows, having buyer's remorse is much less offensive than regretting not fighting for that flawless fit.

We always hear the saying that when you go shopping specifically for something you need, you never find it. When on a mission for that item that fits x, y, and z qualities, you are almost always bound to feel cheated, or worse, disappointed in the available selection. You will make concessions because of the necessity of having that thing, negotiations you would not have made otherwise except given the dire circumstances. Inevitably, you end up returning, exchanging, or hanging the dirty little secret in your closet after one or maybe two uses.

What I'm trying to say is, when you find that perfect (fill in the blank) for you, you do not let it go. You fight for it and know that at the end of the day, you have got yourself something worthwhile instead of letting it slip away in the hopes of finding an adequate alternative when you actually need it. Being blissful by surprise is much better than being blase by default, any day of the week. So, what really is stopping us from taking the plunge for that perfect pair when it comes our way?

thankful, grateful, and blessed

Thanksgiving has traditionally been a day I would spend indulging in turkey, a great food coma nap, and just the warm feeling of being with my family.

This year was the first year I did not spend Thanksgiving with my family (last year, I at least spent it with my cousin, her husband, and my aunt and uncle). I was really sad that I could not be home with my parents, brother, and grandparents. However, this year's Thanksgiving festivities were a great blessing and also one I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

I spent the day with my Highrock Brookline family, members of whom have been very important to me the past few months. We had a huge feast of all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, great conversations, and even got in a good game of football. It was a lot of fun to get out on the field for some fresh air and running. I felt incredibly gratified knowing I have so many people here that I can share my time, love, and faith with.

More importantly, I have found that this past year has been one I am immensely thankful for. From becoming acclimated to Boston to finding my love of the law to regaining my spiritual strength to taking on new challenges I had never expected I would take, I have been so blessed. Everyone around me has had a great impact on me, whether they challenged me to become a better person or shared in my many laughs and cries.

I couldn't have asked for a better year to start defining who I am as an independent woman making her own decisions about who she will become as a daughter, sister, friend, lawyer, and most importantly, friend and stronghold.

Even a year ago, I would not have envisioned myself doing so many of the things I have: become a certified SCUBA diver, trained for a marathon through wind, rain, and snow, advocated for impoverished clients at a clinic, and grown up to be the woman I truly want to be, among a myriad of other wonderful growing experiences.

I cannot wait for all the accomplishments I am going to make, all the people I am going to meet, the love I am going to experience, and all the adventures God has for me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Busy Bee

I have not had the chance to update my blog lately because I have been inundated with work: from clinic to journal to classes to APALSA, things have simply been chaotic. I find that a lot of my free time has become devoted to running. Thankfully, I have some great friends (and my Team from Team in Training!) who I can run with and who keep me going.

Keeping this in mind, I thought I would share some information about bone marrow registry drives.

http://www.helpingjanet.com/

Janet Liang, a recent graduate of UCLA, my alma mater, was recently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She, like all of us, has many dreams and ambitions for her life and needs our help to win the fight against her cancer.

The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is very much under-represented in bone marrow registry. Bone marrow matches often correlates with ethnicity so it is SUPER important that we all, Asian Americans in particular, change this.

Becoming part of the registry only requires a swab of your inner cheek. After this, you will only be contacted if you are a match for someone and then you can decide if you want to donate. Donating bone marrow is similar to giving blood.

Please consider putting yourself in the bone marrow donor registry. You can help save a life.

There will be a bone marrow registry drive at Boston University School of Law on Monday, November 2nd from 12-3 PM.

Please also keep my marathon efforts and fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in your hearts. Any support to this will mean so much to the blood cancer research efforts, to patient care, and to me. http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/wdw10/sliuie

Thanks so much.

Love,
Shannon