After All We've Been Through

It was a bright summer day in the Bay, with not so much as a cloud in the sky - a perfect day for sailing. Nathan and Alex had arrived at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina and couldn't wait to get on the water.

"Hey Alex," Nathan asked, "you didn't happen to pick up a wetsuit yet, right?"

"Nope. I've been meaning to pick one up, but you know how things go."

"Yea, me too."

This meant that they would have to use one of the community wetsuits, old wetsuits beyond repair that were donated over the years by past sailors.

Alex plucked a ragged wetsuit from off the rack. "Mine smells like pee."

"Mine too" replied Nathan.

Nathan and Alex put on their wetsuits before making their way to their sailboat. They met another crew member, Andreas (from Germany) as well as their instructor Tom. Tom was a short and fiery man who didn't hesitate to tell his students that he had a function to attend later that day. He pleaded with them not to capsize their boat.

"Don't worry, chief," said Nathan assuringly, "I've never capsized a boat."

Thirty minutes later, Nathan capsized their boat. Spitting out of a mouthful of salt water, Nathan's first thought was how frustrated he was with himself. His second thought was wondering how his sunglasses didn't fall off his face.

"I'm so sorry," Nathan apologized after the crew righted the ship, "I don't know what happened back there."

Tom smiled. "That's alright. This is sailing! This is how you learn. If you ain't capsizing, you ain't sailing!"

Andreas, the most experienced sailor of the crew, took the rudder. Nathan sighed in relief - at least they wouldn't have to get wet again. He took his place at the front of the ship, where he manned the front sail.

The winds soon picked up, rocking the boat precariously from side to side. Nathan and Alex tried to steady the ship by shifting their weight from side to side. As one side of the ship started to tilt, Nathan and Alex would quickly move to the other side to help counteract the effects of the wind and water. However, the wind proved to be too powerful and soon pushed the boat so that it was completely vertical to the water.

In a last ditch attempt to balance the ship, Nathan jumped vertically to the other side. Unfortunately, he missed. His face hit the opposite side of the ship, and he, along with the rest of the crew, was sent flailing into the ocean. "Ahhhhhhh!" they yelled collectively before splashing into the Pacific.

After righting the ship a second time, Tom and crew decided it was time to bring the ship in. They docked without further trouble, and briefly discussed doing this again sometime.

Back at the dressing area. Alex peeled off his wetsuit and sniffed his skin. "Yuck, dude. I smell like urine."

Nathan nodded in agreement as he peeled off his own wetsuit. He then noticed the words "O'Neill" along with a small graphic printed in the inside of his wetsuit. "Hey, this is odd," he said. "Why does my wetsuit say "O'Neill" on the inside of my suit?"

Alex looked at his for a second, before breaking into a wide grin.

Nathan quickly realized his own mistake and laughed sheepishly. "Are you kidding me? This whole time?"

Laughing, Alex could do nothing but shake his head.

"What the hell, man," Nathan added, "What the hell."

Michelle

A wonderful person passed yesterday morning, someone whom I am proud to have known and befriended. Her name was Michelle, and she was one of the most inspiring people I've ever met. In her last days, she kept mum on her failing health, trying to keep up awareness on leukemia and on the Asian American Donor Program. Thank you Michelle, we'll miss you.



Please register to see if you're a match for someone in need: http://www.marrow.org/

worst pickup line ever

Girl: so what do you do?

Guy: I'm a contract killer.

Girl: uhhh...

Guy: yea! I have a ton of guns!

The girl looked at the guy pensively for a few moments before walking away. Well played Miss, well played.

Top 100

This list will be updated periodically.

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87. Put $5,000 on black.
86. Watch a football game at the Big House.
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80. Learn to speak Korean.
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75. Go deep water fishing (ice fishing counts too)
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73. Finish a marathon somewhere out of state.
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65. Meet Dang Thi Thu Trang
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54. Take out family/friends sailing (crewed by us)
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40. Visit Yunnan, China
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29. Visit North Korea.
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5. Watch Cal play in the Rose Bowl.
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