Check out what we got, Ryan!

Ryan wasn't able to come out with Dave and me yesterday because he had his father-in-law's birthday party. Well, check out what he missed out on:


Dave caught two fluke and I caught one. Unfortunately it wasn't fluke season so we had to throw them back into the water. Also unfortunately I had a ten minute bought of sea sickness and chummed the water with Dave's mom famous sausage and peppers which I ate the night before.

Gone Fishing...again

We got rained out yesterday. We're headed off to try our luck again this morning...

Gone Fishing...

(PICTURE: My grandpa Macky fishing.)

I have always loved to fish. I have so many fishing memories from being the king of fishing at Jeff Lakes Camp in 1st grade to catching a whale of a fish in a small lake with my Dad and sister to going out to Long Island once a summer during college and fishing with my buddy Shankles to bi-yearly deep-sea fishing trips in LA.

There's no doubt that I've gotten my love of fishing from my father who grew up going out on boats with my grandpa Macky. Here's a couple other pictures of my grandfather out on the sea:
(PICTURE: My grandpa Macky was the captain of his own boat...)










(PICTURE: ...and dressed like the captain on a cruise ship. Lounging to his left is my grandma Nanny and lounging to her left is my Aunt Jane.)

Today I'm in Long Island, fishing with my college buddies Shankles and Ryan. If I catch anything good I'll be sure to brag about it tomorrow!

Reverse Culture Shock #6

I'm a giant wuss. When I was younger, I took great pride in my ability to weather bad weather. At Syracuse -- one of the coldest places in America -- I rarely wore a winter jacket. I would merely layer up under a fleece and walk to class.

After college I moved to LA where it's, well, a lot warmer than anywhere I had ever lived before. Over the years, whenever I'd visit home, I started to notice that I was colder than I had been in the past. My body was acclimating to warm weather.

After living in Vietnam, I'm downright pathetic. I've been freezing since I came home. Granted the weather has been less than stellar on the east coast but I've been wearing layers nearly every day. Last night I wore a t-shirt, a button down shirt and a hooded sweatshirt (although after walking 15 blocks and 5 avenues I took off the sweatshirt).

Everyone in New York seems to be praying for good weather. Well, I'm praying to the sun god too because I crap-you-not, I'm a week away from pneumonia.

Belated Father's Day

I've written countless blogs saying how great my parents are. Being home, spending time with them, only solidifies how strongly I feel to have an amazing mother and father.

Whenever my father talks about his dad -- Max August -- he always has an obvious sense of pride beam across his face. I know my father loved his father as much as a son possibly could have. I know my dad feels that his father was the greatest father in the world. And well, that's how I feel about my dad too.

Here's a picture of my grandpa Macky holding my father:

















Happy belated Father's Day, Dad! You've truly followed in your father's footsteps as an amazing dad.

Reverse Culture Shock #5

(PICTURE: Lilah and me.)

Here's a big reverse culture shock: I'm around lots of babies.

One thing you notice in your mid to late twenties is that you're rarely around babies. If I had to guesstimate, I would say that maybe 5 times a year between 2001-2008 I was around infants. Sure there is the occasional coworker with a baby but none of your friends are popping out kids till you're usually around 26 at the earliest. I wouldn't say I'm nervous around babies but, well, I'm just not 100% comfortable. To me it's like the first time your dad gives you his car keys. You know what you should and shouldn't do but you're still slightly frightened you're going to do something wrong.

In Vietnam I often hung out with Huyen's nephew Viet Hoang. However, Viet Hoang is two years old which is a whole different world compared to a ten month old. And well, Vietnam is a whole different world than America. In 'Nam you drive 2 year olds on your motorbike. I'm pretty sure if you did that here you'd lose custody of your kid in a heartbeat. That said, one thing that Lilah and Viet Hoang due have in common is that neither speaks English. Kids are the same everywhere in this regards -- if you smile and make stupid faces, they'll love you.

Celebration Dance

Michael Halper is a long time friend of mine. I've known Mike since we started playing traveling soccer together in fourth grade. However, more importantly than Halper being my friend, he's an avid Ahoy Hanoi fan. For a while now, Halper has sent me emails complaining that I've never given him a shout out on the blog. In fact, Halper wrote me this email on May 26th after I mentioned on the blog a few of our classmates I had seen Memorial Day:

Would just like to point out that ___ and ___ made the blog before I did. I can't believe it!! Seriously, of all the meaningless events you pointed out on your blog over the year, I couldn’t get one shout out. I had a kid for cying out loud! You were on the distribution list (I think) of her first picture for one reason (and not because I like you)…SO I COULD MAKE THE BLOG!

On Saturday night I got to hang out with Halper and he decided to bribe his way on to the blog. After complaining to me in person that he hadn't been mentioned he looked me straight in the eye and said, "Oh, hey, are you still taking donations for the Habitat house?" I said I was and he opened up his wallet and handed me a donation. He then said, "This isn't just so I get on the blog." Well, Halper, congratulations, you made the blog and it isn't just because you donated towards the house...although that helped a lot.

Because Halper is a hell of a guy -- and this is a huge moment for him -- I'm gonna let him do a celebration dance on my blog: