Wednesday, December 12, 2007

My dog, Sally: 1994-2007

I got back home to Hawaii earlier today, but my dad gave me some sad news when he came to pick me up from the airport: my dog had passed away. As some of you probably know, my dog had some tumors removed from her body last year and was actually doing pretty well, save for some arthritis. Well, apparently, my dog started going downhill again after I left, and finally, the day after Thanksgiving, my parents noticed my dog was not looking good at all. She wasn't really responding and just in completely bad shape. My parents felt it was best to put my dog to sleep after 13 years of life.

I am actually very grateful that my parents refused to tell me about this until today. At the time of my dog's passing, I still had all four final exams ahead. The last thing that I would have wanted to know during law school finals was a death in the family, since that would have completely thrown me off my game.

Another possible reason they waited until I flew back to Hawaii to tell me was to console me if I took the loss hard, which I really didn't. I knew she was in bad shape already, even before leaving, and even though I wanted to see my dog when I came back, I knew the chances were not good. Although it is definitely much quieter around this house now, my dog is in a much better place. We had my dog cremated and her ashes are in an urn at the house.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving...and studying

Well, I finished up my first semester of law school classes, and all that's left are the final exams. I'm not too worried about the finals; they're just tests and if I study hard enough, I'll be back next semester. Trust me, I don't really care if I lose my scholarship. I just want to get out of law school alive.

My first final is Torts on Tuesday (11/27), then Contracts on Friday (11/30). The following week, I have Civ Pro on Tuesday (12/4) and Crim law (12/7). I've made some outlines for myself, and I also have a bunch of law school supplements to help me study. I should be in good shape.

Yesterday was the first Thanksgiving that I spent away from my family. It did feel a little weird to not go to my uncle's house and spend the holiday with them, but obviously I had more important things to do, like study. I did go with a friend to his student-mentor's house, and we had a nice Thanksgiving feast.

Yes, it's cold up here. Being from Hawaii, I'm not used to this weather. Temperatures are in the 30s, when it feels like it should be below zero. At this rate, I'll be triple-layering my jackets before finals end next month. Oh well, good luck to all law students as they take their final exams.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Benoit death

Well, the latest on the death of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and son Daniel is a shocking one. Investigators believe Chris killed his wife and son (strangulation and smothering, respectively), placing Bibles near both bodies, then hanging himself using a weight machine pulley in his weight room. There were steroids found in the Benoit home, although they were legally prescribed to Chris. Chris' doctor had seen the former WWE superstar on the Friday before he died, and said nothing was out of the ordinary. At least one WWE person was talking with Chris via cell phone as late as 6:13 Saturday evening. Text messages sent to fellow co-workers (using Chris' and Nancy's phones) show Chris Benoit may have been alive as late as 3:58 Sunday morning, with five text messages being sent out, all with Benoit's Georgia address.

Toxicology reports won't be in for several weeks, but I will say this: while a bunch of people have seemingly turned on Chris Benoit for allegedly killing his wife and son, I refuse to let such a tragedy mar my feelings about the former world heavyweight champion. Chris Benoit will always be viewed by me as one of the greatest technical wrestlers of his generation, and maybe of all time. Even if it is fully revealed that Chris killed his wife and son, I will still remember Benoit for his wrestling talent, not for a crime.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Chris Benoit 1967-2007

I can't believe another high-profile professional wrestler, along with his wife and son, is dead. What makes it even worse is how I failed (and didn't want) to believe it was real until the AP released articles regarding Benoit's passing.

I am a big fan of professional wrestling. I've been a fan since Hulk Hogan was telling kids to "eat your vitamins" and telling other wrestlers "Whatcha gonna do?" I didn't follow Chris Benoit that much, since he was wrestling in Japan and Extreme Championship Wrestling at the time, but got to see him when he was in World Championship Wrestling. I didn't think Chris had the potential to be a champion, but that's only because I didn't watch a lot of WCW.

When Benoit came to the WWE, I finally got to see why people thought he could be the next world heavyweight champion. His style of wrestling reminded me of Bret Hart (Benoit was trained by Stu Hart, although Benoit's moveset really resembled more of the Dynamite Kid's because that was who Benoit idolized). Since Bret became a successful singles champion in WWE, and Benoit seemed to have more intensity in his matches, I then began to believe Benoit would be a big star.

Benoit finally did win the World Heavyweight Title from Triple H at WrestleMania XX, celebrating with the late Eddie Guerrero in the ring afterwards (Guerrero had won the WWE title from Brock Lesnar the previous month). It's very depressing to see that both Benoit and Guerrero, two great entertainers, are now gone (Eddie died in November 2005).

Benoit's last match was on ECW on June 19, 2007, where he defeated Elijah Burke to contend for the vacated ECW title. Benoit missed the WWE house show on Saturday, June 23, saying he was flying home for personal reasons. I read reports that Benoit said his wife and son were "throwing up blood," although I don't believe that was the direct cause of the deaths of Benoit's wife and son. Right now, investgators are ruling it a double murder/suicide, meaning they think Benoit killed his wife and son, then killed himself. I will wait until autopsy results come in Tuesday to figure out what may have happened. Right now, it is a time for mourning in the wrestling community.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

First post

I am just a laid-back person that loves booze, sports, and law. I'm excited about starting law school this fall. Hopefully I'll still feel the same way a few months from now.