2006

So a long time back in one of those viral facebook “25 things” thread, I mentioned that 2006 was one of the happiest years of my life. I had been meaning to elaborate on this fact, but got caught up with life and never managed to write it. After reading this post by Jon, I decided that this was a perfect time to be nostalgic.

MUSIC: If you read Jon’s post, you’ll understand that music played a huge role in my undergrad. But never before have I ever performed for so many functions as I have in 2006. It was this year that I met Charlton, also a pre-pharmacy student who within a few short weeks would eventually become the drummer during my Vietnamese Culture Night performance. Yes…not only did I perform here, but D.Tran and I also coordinated this entire evening that we had envisioned for almost a year. It was, to this day, the one and only time I performed as a solo artist with a full band behind me:

Words cannot explain that feeling: standing before an audience of 400+ individuals on a theatre stage, with semi-pro lighting, and rocking out with three other talented musicians. Granted, it was a Vietnamese song that I performed (my attempts to make fob music sound cool…I called it V-mo–Vietnamese Emo)…but it was still an amazing experience. I also performed with Jon, Won, and Mike that night for the pre-show. JWM did our classic Yellowcard medley (probably our best performance yet)…

…then added Mike for our saucy Boy Band medley and our Boyz II Men-style Star-Spangled Banner…

All of us would go on to perform for school functions following this night, like the ICA Culture Show, and Future PILLS Banquet. I definitely made the most of my final months at UCR. Which brings me to…

GRADUATION: Not much to describe, but it was an accomplishment receiving my Bachelor of Arts in Biology this year. Yes, UC Riverside offered a Bachelor of ARTS in Biology. I remember struggling through the Bio, Ochem, and Physics series thinking, “If I ever make it out of these classes without repeating it, I’ll be damn happy.” Not only did I finish it without failing (something that was quite common at my school), they were some of my best grades (so unlike today). Graduating confirmed that the health care direction was probably a good move for me and kept me going while applying to pharmacy school the next year. Though those 4 years were probably some of the best years of my life, I was quite happy to have been liberated from the city of Riverside.

Strangely enough, I don't talk to many of these people anymore...

FAMILY: The summer of ’06 was met with lots of family events. Why? Because my cousin Binh, the first of us boys, was about to get hitched! This monumental event allowed:

1) An amazingly peaceful weekend in Seattle where Binh, Viet, and I flew up to stay at Phong’s place at the VA during one of his rotations. This weekend consisted of rafting on the lake, visiting Bruce Lee’s grave, and of course, laying down tracks for Binh’s wedding song to Diem!

Phong was doing a rotation at the VA in Tacoma, Washington next to a lake. Sweet deal!

Boards...don't hit back.

Finished product at www.myspace.com/binhmusic

2) The first bachelor party…in Vegas! Details omitted.

3) And of course, the wedding itself. Took place in sunny San Diego, a few days before my birthday. Most people hate weddings, and being in them can be pretty stressful…but Vu-Tang weddings are always fun. Why? Well, thank Mr. Remy Martin. We performed the song we wrote and recorded in Seattle at the reception. It was here where the nickname “Matthew Dinh on the Violinnnn!” was coined. Haha.

Dressed appropriately with Corona-in-hand.

INTRO TO OC LIFE: Being that this was the intended “year off before grad school”, I decided to reap the benefits of free rent and most-of-the-time free food by moving in with my brother earlier that summer. This year was intended to take some extra classes, apply to pharmacy school, and relax a bit before my life got crazy as it is now. What came with that was my first pharmacy job, that I might not have gotten had Mr. Kevin (my pharmacy “sensei”) not been working the day that application came through his fax. As I got to know the crew at CVS better, I was introduced to the OC nightlife…well, at least the Bolsa OC nightlife. One too many nights at Shark and V2O. Oh and let’s not forget about all those coffee‘s I would get every once in awhile.

Yeah...I was a club rat...

CHANG’S FAREWELL: Aaron Chang, one of my closest buddies graduated Fall ’06 from UCR and was about to move to China for this internship thing (or, more like, working-for-his-uncle thing). So what better way to send him off? BACK TO VEGAS, BABY. This trip was absolutely ridiculous. It took place the weekend before Christmas, shortly after Chang’s last final and a few days before mine at GWC. 10 or 15 of us crammed up in a Mirage suite where we would discover the wonders of Dom Perignon, the probable inspiration for T-pain’s “Bartender”, and learning how to swim in a Caesar’s Fountain. Yeah, Vegas trips are typically full of inside jokes, so there is nothing more I can say. What a better way to send the man off?

This would be the night 3 became 4...

Enter Dj Fongie, ladies and gentlemen...

And that brings me to the end of ’06. Following this Vegas trip was another great Christmas with the family, followed by a memorable New Year’s Eve at Jon’s place. That party in itself probably deserves a photo post, but since that technically falls into 2007, I will refrain from that.

Sadly enough, although the following years up until now were all special in their own way, nothing has quite been the same since. I shared it with my greatest friends who I probably see only 4-5x a year now. Not to mention the fact that my music-playing has never been even remotely comparable. The worst part of it all? I’m not even sure if what I’m doing now is going to be worth the past 2 years of sacrifice…