When It Rains, It Pours

While I hardly ever watch any talk shows, I consider myself a fan of Conan O’Brien, perhaps partly because he was a fellow Harvard alum. But more importantly, it is because he really is not only funny but also very smart. It is therefore no wonder that I consider NBC’s decision to push out Conan to accommodate Jay Leno not only downright stupid, but also absolutely unfair. When will the old people leave or retire gracefully to leave room for the younger generation? How come we don’t see any more George Washington’s type today?

The weather in California has been rather depressing lately, with pouring rain accompanied by thunders and lightening. Tina Fey quipped at the Golden Globe ceremony when it was raining cats and dogs, “It is not raining. It is God crying for NBC.”

Indeed, don’t we always feel that when it rains, it pours? – No pun intended, but surely there have been a lot of bad news, besides Conan getting replaced by Jay Leno. This morning, the stock market went down dramatically presumably due to some bad earnings as well as the Chinese government tightening credit to control inflation. The special senate election in Massachusetts, which I had assumed to be a safe seat for the Democratic Party, was won by the Republican candidate in the end. Ted Kennedy is probably turning in his grave now, as it would be hard for him to believe that this state could possibly vote a Republican to replace his senate seat! Perhaps Massachusetts is not so liberal as people believe. Politics turns out to be very personal for people, in that people vote for rather personal reasons. People voted for Ted Kennedy because he was a Kennedy first and foremost, as opposed to a Democrat.

This morning, Michael and I drove to the Stanford Faculty Club to have breakfast together in this pouring rain. The traffic was slow and I was questioning my unwise decision to pick today to drive such a long distance to have breakfast. I am not a graduate student any more, and free breakfasts (even if they are great ones) certainly do not hold enough appeal for me to brave a rainstorm. However, I love the idea of doing something that’s not part of the daily routine. Although the heavy rain made it very hard for me to appreciate the scenery by the 280 freeway, I still found the drive soothing.

The Stanford Faculty Club is nothing compared to the lavish Harvard Faculty Club, but I loved the feel of its coziness. I was giddy like a kid when I was putting spinaches, mushrooms and bacon onto my plate and pouring myself a hot decaf coffee with lots and lots of cream. Somehow, it felt like such a treat. While we did not talk to others there, the fact that we were eating breakfast in the vicinity of these Stanford professors made me feel that in some obscure way I am rubbing off some of their intellectual minds.

On the drive back from Stanford, it was still raining and it was still gray, but I had my radio blasting out dance music, and I was happy as a bird. Yes, indeed when it rains, it often pours. But even when it’s pouring outside, we can always find something that makes us happy or keeps us engaged. As I am writing this, I am getting ready to go home to see Winston. Every time I think of him, I can’t help but smile, because he is so adorable and so funny, and he’s completely oblivious to it all!