Spent the morning in La Jolla interviewing high school seniors for the Cal Alumni Association’s Leadership Scholarship.  This is the one that’s not just about academic excellence, or sports accomplishments, because we’re talking about Berkeley and everyone is academically and/or athletically outstanding, but demonstrated leadership potential.  Not going to talk about the five I interviewed other to say they’re all amazing kids well-qualified to rule the world at some point in the not too distant future.

Just dropping a note about the interview parameters and the hilarity of political correctness and willful ignorance.  When the interviewers arrived we were told to primarily stick to the official questions, but that we could do some chit-chat as a warm-up as long as we didn’t get into politics or personal issues.  Nodding our heads like good little sheep, we quickly scan the first application: intern for a city councilman, founder of his high school’s Straight-Gay Alliance, blah, blah, blah.  Fortunately there’s a two page limit.

Uh, miss, so are we allowed to ask him about his resumé or not?

Wanted to go up to Irvine this weekend to catch #4 Cal water polo in action, but alas, it is not to be.  C’est la vie.

Going to have to let my alumni spirit be pumped by last night’s high school outreach session.  These college fairs are always fun events, with the alums working the table to talk to high school students about Cal, what it means to be a Bear, and why Cal is Cal and not just another UC[FillInTheBlank].  There were three of us at it last night: an attorney, a banker and a Marine officer with graduation years from 1984 to 2001, and it was a blast.  As always, there were just enough kids that had the right attitude and class that I can really hope to be seeing them at alumni events in six years or so.   There were a lot of others too, mostly being towed around by their parents, but I’m just tuning them out.  Looking for leaders and hope, not more sheep.

Need more positive thinking and hope for the future.  California, and Cal, have huge problems facing them.  Years and years of chronic mismanagement have led to a state so gridlocked that it can’t keep office doors open for forty-hour workweeks and courts have to take furlough days to keep their budget balanced (and it’s not like they were providing timely services in the first place).  Really having a lot of doubts about the future of this state, and not yet seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Maybe one of these kids will have the answer.  Unfortunately I think they’ll have a shot at solving the problem.  I don’t see the current officials in Sacramento (or the self-proclaimed outsiders positioning for office) having the answers, and certainly don’t see anyone paying down the massive public debts before these kids graduate and enter the work force.

Sorry this is turning so serious.  Maybe I should’ve been irresponsible and headed up to Irvine anyways.  Fiscal extravagance is the California way.  Then I could be sitting back in the bleachers saying ‘oh, that’s pretty‘ and watched Cal dominate the way Bears should.

It’s been a long week.  I’m ready for the weekend.  Big thoughts are just depressing me, so, to paraphrase Buffy “fire pretty.”  If I remember right she meant fire literally, but I’m just thinking of the hotness and the glistening light.

Cal’s 2007 Alumnus of the Year and a great philanthropist passed away today at age 81.  Let’s have one last big GO BEARS for a great man.

Big Game week is upon us. The only football game that really matters, ever, will start in a few minutes when Cal and Stanford meet for the 111th Big Game at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. We did Big Game dinner with the local alums at The Linkery on Thursday, and though Spinner had met the alums before the look on his face when it came time to perform the various drinking songs was priceless. Seeing the local matriarchs who probably graduated well before The War doing their Grrrahs (complete with bear clawing motion) was a little too much for him. Even with all that though, I won’t pretend to be much of a football fan – just a Cal fan who tolerates football as a means to financially to get us through to the sports where we win. Want the better views of the blue and gold? At least rugby, water polo, rowing and swimming are all considerate enough to visit those of us in extreme southern California.

Early court appearances lead to long, long days, but it’s been a good day.  Lots got done, and now that hump day is over I’m ready slide into Crew Classic weekend, always a good time.  Even better since the alums are comping my admission in exchange for some photography. 

Alumni posts have admittedly been lacking of late.  Cal Football melted down, Cal Water Polo hasn’t traveled this far south in years, and my seasonal efforts to twist the minds of America’s youth by pimping Cal at college fairs with the alumni went up in smoke at the same time as the local hillsides.  Nice to see this post show up in the morning news feed.  Cal Men’s Water Polo and early indoctrination for the next generation of Golden Bears.  Football can be ignored until Big Game next weekend. 

It’s officially spring now, and young not-too-old attorney’s fancies are turning toward frolicking in the sand and shore.  Unfortunately, winds described by the L.A. Times as gale force and approaching 60 mph (inland) are blowing allergens deep into my sinuses and causing the sky to alternate between a beautifully sunny blue and a dark rainy grey. 

I’m supposed to be working toward the deadline on an article.  I’m trying to chase down a client who was supposed to be paying for my spring break.  One of the pools I frequent is closed this week, and the other will close next week, both for seasonal maintenance.  A certain teacher is spending his spring break miserable, watching lousy TV amidst the empty keenex boxes in the living room and cursing the same allergens that are torturing me.

But on the other hand, I have the weekend alumni Spring Break bash known as Crew Classic to look forward to.  The local alumni boosted by ego a bit by using one of my photos from last year’s event to promote this year’s tent.  Some comments originating from one of the other sites also pumped up the ego a bit too, making think that I might even know what I’m talking about on some of this legal stuff. Even the strawberries are cooperating – we might have a shot of daquiri’s worth sometime soon here.

Gotta have a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Cal Crew teams I saw at the Crew Classic last month have gone undefeated this season and look poised to win at the Pac-10 championships.

From today’s California Monthly, the six-times-per-year sadly misnamed alumni magazine, another great-American Cal alumni obituary: Shigeya Kihara ’37, MA ’39. Kihara was one of the original faculty members at what’s currently known as the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. From the obituary,

[h]e witnessed the roundup and internment of thousands of his fellow Nisei in concentration camps after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. … [H]e was exempt from relocation because of his post with the language school. He never forgot the internment of friends and family, however, and after 9/11, he warned Americans to avoid discriminating against persons of Middle Eastern descent.

Go Bears.

On the more personal side, in what should be genuinely terrifying news to some, I’ll be attending a Cal alumni reception this Sunday. I was invited to this last year but ducked out at the last minute, so when I got cornered at the alumni tent at the Crew Classic this year I said yes. It should be fun. Time for the alums to chat with prospective transfer students about their experiences at Cal. Answer some questions, tell some war stories, and try to make the kiddies curious without scaring them too much. And munch snacks.

Spent most of the day down at the San Diego Crew Classic, an annual event held down at Mission Bay. Its always a great time (this was my fourth year) and the alums are great people to hang with. Sunshine, sports, grilled food and cold drinks help too.

I’d love to say there was drama or suspense, but really, it was a blowout. Cal’s Men won at the Novice, JV and Varsity levels. Cal’s Women won at the Novice, JV and Varsity levels. Not every Cal crew won: the Mens Lightweight boat lost badly. Also, in the Mens Novice and JV races, the Golden Bears had two boats running due to their amazing performances in the petites (preliminaries), so there was no way that every Cal boat could win. But enough did that the alumni tent was a very happy place to be.

Some of the pics are up; go ahead and click on the thumbs above to go to the gallery. I’ll be posting more as I go through them.