Today’s Rant No. 27: Fall Edition

Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

1472

Abstract

ng leaves turn red, orange, and yellow in the fall. There is something majestic about seeing piles of beautiful leaves on the ground and having cool winds blow them through the air. Ironically, I live in Southern California, where none of this happens. In fact, we get sun and 80-degree heat in the fall. Nothing “cool” about that. We have palm trees lining every street, none of which turn red, orange, and yellow. It would be like inviting quarterback Joe Montana to your house for dinner and then having actor Joe Mantegna show up instead. Still “cool” (well, depending on who you ask), but not quite the same thing.</li><li>Although Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” is the world’s utmost fall-themed song, Green Day’s somber “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is my personal favorite. In the song, front man Billie Joe Armstrong nostalgically sings about his father, who had died after a battle with esophageal cancer. The song always reminds me of my college years as it was popular at the time. While I enjoyed my undergraduate experience, it was also a somber period of transitioning from a teenager to full-fledged adult, ultimately leaving my childhood in the past.</li><li>I had never celebrated Halloween as enthusiastically as I have since meeting my wife, Kay. I had been one of those boring people who would wear a sports jersey as my costume every year. But my life is different nowadays. Kay, her sisters (Quet and Mari), my goddaughter (Moon), and I go

Options

all out every Halloween with elaborate costumes, planned trick-o-treating routes, and more. This Halloween was particularly special since it was the first one for our son, Mateo. He had accompanied us this year to Disneyland’s annual Halloween event, Oogie Boogie Bash, and even told me he loved it. (He cannot speak yet, but I can luckily read his mind. He likes to use colorful language when I fail to feed him quick enough — but we can save that topic for my next article.)</li><li>Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for three reasons: football, family, and food. Despite my thin physical build, I can actually eat a lot of food in a single setting. Seriously. I probably eat more than my father and father-in-law combined. In fact, if eating were a sport, I would have been inducted into the hall of fame years ago. Ironically, I have a problem keeping weight on my body and cannot pass the 140-pound mark no matter how much I consume. Go figure.</li><li>This fall marks my two-year wedding anniversary. Kay and I had planned to have a church wedding and reception in 2020, but then COVID-19 wagged its finger and said “not so fast, jerkwad” in a high, screechy voice. Hence, we chose to move forward with a private ceremony at a nearby courthouse and postponed the formal festivities for one whole year. Although the day turned out differently than we had planned, it was still the second happiest day of my life behind only Mateo’s birth.</li></ul></article></body>

Today’s Rant No. 27: Fall Edition

Fall has always been my favorite season. Not a fan of cold weather (winter). Also, not a fan of sweltering heat (summer). Spring is fine if I can avoid getting wet from the rain. In fact, rain and “MasterChef Junior,” one of my favorite television programs, are similar in one way— they might be fun to watch, but nobody really wants to be in them. Wearing wet clothes can feel as bad as being called an “idiot sandwich” by Gordon Ramsay.

Fall is the start of the NFL and NBA seasons, which means my two favorite teams — the Las Vegas Raiders and Golden State Warriors — are back in action. Although the Raiders’ struggles are no secret, the Warriors are coming off their fourth championship victory in a span of eight seasons. As long as they have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green on the roster — and all three are healthy at the same time — the Dubs should be in contention for a championship again this season. As a life-long fan, I had hoped they would win the NBA Finals once during my lifetime, but even I had never expected to witness them win it four times.

I love watching leaves turn red, orange, and yellow in the fall. There is something majestic about seeing piles of beautiful leaves on the ground and having cool winds blow them through the air. Ironically, I live in Southern California, where none of this happens. In fact, we get sun and 80-degree heat in the fall. Nothing “cool” about that. We have palm trees lining every street, none of which turn red, orange, and yellow. It would be like inviting quarterback Joe Montana to your house for dinner and then having actor Joe Mantegna show up instead. Still “cool” (well, depending on who you ask), but not quite the same thing.

Although Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” is the world’s utmost fall-themed song, Green Day’s somber “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is my personal favorite. In the song, front man Billie Joe Armstrong nostalgically sings about his father, who had died after a battle with esophageal cancer. The song always reminds me of my college years as it was popular at the time. While I enjoyed my undergraduate experience, it was also a somber period of transitioning from a teenager to full-fledged adult, ultimately leaving my childhood in the past.

I had never celebrated Halloween as enthusiastically as I have since meeting my wife, Kay. I had been one of those boring people who would wear a sports jersey as my costume every year. But my life is different nowadays. Kay, her sisters (Quet and Mari), my goddaughter (Moon), and I go all out every Halloween with elaborate costumes, planned trick-o-treating routes, and more. This Halloween was particularly special since it was the first one for our son, Mateo. He had accompanied us this year to Disneyland’s annual Halloween event, Oogie Boogie Bash, and even told me he loved it. (He cannot speak yet, but I can luckily read his mind. He likes to use colorful language when I fail to feed him quick enough — but we can save that topic for my next article.)

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for three reasons: football, family, and food. Despite my thin physical build, I can actually eat a lot of food in a single setting. Seriously. I probably eat more than my father and father-in-law combined. In fact, if eating were a sport, I would have been inducted into the hall of fame years ago. Ironically, I have a problem keeping weight on my body and cannot pass the 140-pound mark no matter how much I consume. Go figure.

This fall marks my two-year wedding anniversary. Kay and I had planned to have a church wedding and reception in 2020, but then COVID-19 wagged its finger and said “not so fast, jerkwad” in a high, screechy voice. Hence, we chose to move forward with a private ceremony at a nearby courthouse and postponed the formal festivities for one whole year. Although the day turned out differently than we had planned, it was still the second happiest day of my life behind only Mateo’s birth.