I'm a junior transfer at UC Davis majoring in political science and minoring in economics.

I'm a big sports fan (Go A's!), particularly A's baseball. To borrow from a friend of mine, "It is my opinion that a baseball diamond is the most perfect shape ever conceived in the history of man."

You can often find me buried in a good book or reading the New York Times on my iPod, and when I'm not with friends or busy with school, I dabble in online poker.

I have a strong interest in Law, and examining how the court system has been a major tool in advancing the civil rights of minorities in our great nation.

Ask me anything about banking, and you can watch me turn into a corporate whore (and how!) for my former employer and then subsequently explain where you can get a better deal.

A brief history

I call Alameda, CA my home, and indeed I've lived there from when I was 4 to when I went off to UC Berkeley. I lived a rather introverted life, I feel. I had a few good friends, but most of my friends I really only knew at school.

In high school I was either all about politics (a Junior Statesman Mayor!) or all about tennis. I wasn't even that great at it, but I scrapped by to make varsity my junior year, when our Dragons beat our rivals to clinch the league title with my doubles victory the deciding match. The result was every college admissions staff reader's worst nightmare essay, so I simply listed my athletics accomplishments on one line.

Political discussion is a constant source of happiness, but I was far more happy moderating the discussion than attempting to argue the point. The closet I ever came to winning a gavel for "best speaker" at one was on a topic debating the line item veto that drew 8 audience members, including the moderator and the two debaters. Ask me about Robert's Rules though, and I'll happily tell you how to keep your motion stack in order.

My best times, however, were engaging in Mock Trial. What I love about it? You take a limited set of facts and spin them to convince a judge that you have the best case. The amazing prospect that one can get a series of persons entrusted with neutral interpretation of the law to create sweeping change for the good of civil rights fascinates me, and makes me optimistic for the future of LGBT rights.

So you take all of these activities and reasonable grades and ship me just a few miles over to UC Berkeley. Of course everything falls apart. No supervision, no parent on my back to get me to do my work. Without a prodding influence I'm just, in a word, lazy. So I flunk out, move back home, start working minimum wage selling athletic shoes, and sleepwalk through community college. Another year lost.

Then it hits me, I don't want to work minimum wage. So I become a bank teller. Then another thing hits me, I don't want to have to stand all day at my post. So I ice down my bruises and start taking school seriously.

Two years later, I'm here at UC Davis, majoring in political science, and having a blast.

Right now, I'm making excellent progress getting into a regular habit of exercise and tracking what I eat. The BMI scale says I'm a touch overweight, so that's my first goal.

Peak weight on 9/1/09: 197.0 lbs (26.7 BMI)
Made my goal on 10/23/09: 182.8 lbs! (24.8 BMI)

New goal by end of fall quarter (12/11/09): 173.6 lbs (23.5 BMI)

After UC Davis, I'm looking at either law school or else getting into political campaign work (Spring 2011 is a good time to graduate for that, no?).

poker, specifically no limit texas hold 'em, and even more particularly tournament poker. I've read the books, I've played the games, and while it's still a hobby, it's a profitable hobby, and I look forward to building the bankroll.

answering questions. I don't think I'm very good at speaking up. I do much better when people draw me out.

Many people ask an awkward question about my ethnicity, or as most people say, "nationality." I curb the urge to respond, "I'm an American, but my ethnicity is..." Anyway my father is Chinese and my mother is Irish.

Books
Science Fiction
The Ender series (Orson Scott Card)
The Foundation series (Issac Asimov)
1984 (George Orwell)
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

Politics
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Al Franken)
The Truth (with Jokes) (Al Franken)
Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives (George Lakoff)

Others
Most books from Tom Clancy's "Ryan-verse"
Any poker book written by Dan Harrington

Movies
Airplane
Office Space
The Original Starwars Trilogy

Music
The Offspring
Weezer
Green Day
Scissor Sisters
Low vs Diamond

1. Internet
2. Deck of cards
3. Spectator sports
4. A good book
5. iPhone
6.

What should I say next? Oh, I just thought of something. Oh damn, the moment's past.

Looking for something to do. Ideally, I've found a friend with which to bar hop.

if you'd like to just hang out or go out, or whatever. Or, if you're far away, if you'd like to find out more about me so that someday, down the line, maybe, who knows?