I needed a jolt to my life so I decided to move to New York.
I had been considering it for a while and finally stopped with the excuses and did it last week!
It’s definitely provided the jolt that I was looking for so far. I’ve actually never lived in a big city before (not even San Francisco), so I’m taking it all in and enjoying the good and the challenging.
Not looking forward to having to go to a laundromat to do laundry, but there’s an energy here that’s hard to ignore.
Walking around, it feels like the center of the universe, where there’s so many people around and so many things going on, but no one gives a shit about you.
It can be easy to feel lost in it all.
It’s such a jarring juxtaposition that I didn’t feel when I’ve visited in the past. It’s exciting, scary, and dreamy all wrapped up in one.
I watched the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once yesterday (would highly recommend btw) and it really resonated with me how every decision could’ve led to a completely different path in life, which can be overwhelming to think about and lead to regrets about missed opportunities, but through it all, a constant we can control is to be kind, and love.
A decision on business school could’ve brought me to New York three years ago, but I chose a different path, and well here I am now: ready to experience what this city has in store for me, with open eyes and an open heart.
Just needed a little jolt to remind me of some of the reasons why life is so amazing.
My prediction for my 2021 ended up pretty on the dot.
This year has been about re-finding myself and rediscovering my interests, hobbies, and things that I like. And also a state of mind: that bullshit, my bullshit. I was back on it.
This is the top definition for that phrase on urban dictionary:
…that’s pretty true to how I’ve been for the most part.
I think a lot of this year’s rediscovering came as a result of the end of a long-term relationship. For better or for worse, I just sort of fell into a familiar routine and some of what I liked kind of fell to the wayside. There was someone else important to consider and I didn’t prioritize myself as much.
This is probably quite common and expected with long-term partners. I cherished that time and I grew a lot and learned a lot, but I think I also lost a bit of me.
Which led to getting back to myself this year.
One part of it was me taking action and doing things on my own or planning out trips that I wanted to go on. The other part was just saying “yes” to everything my friends invited me to.
I visited a bunch of national parks and did a lot of hiking, went on some great group trips, learned how to play the ukulele, was a gameshow contestant, did some gardening, and overall became more confident in who I am as a person.
Finding a healthy headspace was definitely harder with trying to adjust to everything going on in the world and also seeing friends move onto other life stages (more of my close friends getting engaged or married and my best friend having a baby).
Going into the next year, I hope I remember where I am today, what’s brought me here, and why it’s made me happy. Obviously, there’s more to live and to learn, but I’ll stay true.
For 2022, I’m looking forward to further growth and transitions in career and personal life.
Surprise, I was a contestant on the gameshow Wheel of Fortune!
It was a really fun experience and I want to share a little about my application and audition process, as well as how it was to actually be on the show.
If you want to watch my episode and didn’t get a chance to do it yet, don’t read too far below (*spoilers*)! And if you can’t find the episode, let me know and I’ll get you a link.
August 28- Submitted my application
I kind of applied on a whim. It was some combination of pandemic boredom and an idea that popped up while I was playing ukulele one afternoon. I used to watch Wheel of Fortune a lot as a kid and it seemed like a fun show. This year, I’ve been on a bit of a yolo (you only live once) streak and thought why not.
The online application itself was pretty basic but also allowed you to submit a short video. For my video, I came up with a short song on the ukulele, singing about the time in third grade when I disappointingly lost the only spelling bee I’ve ever been in. Wheel of Fortune was going to be my chance to redeem myself.
I practiced the song a few times, hit record, and submitted my application. I had a fun story and hoped my song would catch the producer’s attention but didn’t really expect much especially since the odds of getting on the show are so slim (out of over one million applicants, only 600 people are selected to appear each year).
If you came to my watch party, you are one of the lucky few that got to see my audition tape :)
September 11- Was invited for a virtual audition
A few weeks later, I was in Las Vegas for a work conference and was sitting in my hotel room when I received an email from WOF saying that I was selected for a virtual contestant audition. I signed up for a slot later that week.
There wasn’t much time to prepare, but I watched some recent episodes to get a good idea of the show’s different games and how it flowed.
The actual virtual audition was a group audition and there were two other potential contestants in my audition. A WOF contestant coordinator asked us to introduce ourselves (like the first part of the show with Pat) and some basic questions about why we wanted to be a contestant.
After that, we played some mock games! We did six rounds of toss-ups (this is one of the game types on the show) as a group, including holding up a pen to mimic the buzzer, and then we also had some individual word puzzles to try to solve (similar to the bonus round on the show). I got some laughs from the group with my intro about the spelling bee story and thought I did okay on the mock games, so was pretty happy with how my audition went.
The contestant coordinator said that they would let us know any time within 6-12 months, and all there was left to do was wait.
September 27- Selected as a contestant
It was just like any other day of work-from-home… until it wasn’t. I got this email in my inbox:
I couldn’t believe it!! I screamed/yelled a little and danced around and punched the air in my room. I had to read over the email again just to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things.
The first person I called was my mom and she was so excited. She preemptively reserved one of my audience seats for my tape day. We had watched the show together when I was growing up and she overjoyed that she was going to get to see me on stage spinning the big wheel.
Now that I was selected as a contestant, I still had to wait to hear when I would go down to LA for taping. Since they don’t confirm taping schedules very far in advance, I would get two weeks notice and then had to find my way down to the studios to tape.
October 8- Notified of tape day
I was in Austin with friends when I got the email for my tape date later that month.
With my tape day confirmed, I started to really ramp up my preparation for the show. I researched and studied up on Wheel of Fortune strategy from fans and previous contestants. I also looked up recent episodes and watched as many as I could in my free time, practicing my puzzle solving while watching.
October 27- Tape day
Tape day was a full day affair. I got to Sony Studios early in the morning and we didn’t finish until early evening.
In the morning, we went through all of the rules of the different games and puzzle categories, signed some forms, and then got randomized into episodes since they tape multiple episodes in the same day. Everyone got hair and makeup done. We also got a few chances to practice spinning the wheel. The wheel is actually really heavy (it weighs over 2,000 pounds!) so it was helpful to try it out before taping.
Unfortunately due to covid precautions, contestants couldn’t bring any family or friends to be in the audience, and the other contestants acted as the audience when it wasn’t their episode’s taping. Another random fun fact: I was actually prepared to wear a white shirt under my navy blue suit for the show, but they had me change into my backup grey shirt after the white looked too bright on camera tests.
Before we started filming, the other contestants on my episode and I wished each other luck and hoped we would all go home with a lot of money. The actual episode flew by so fast. It’s only about 20 minutes long, and by the time I started to settle in, it was over.
I was definitely nervous once the bright lights came on and there’s so much going on when you’re up there as a contestant. There’s the puzzle board, a used letter board, and a scoreboard to pay attention to, all while you’re under the clock and pressure of calling a letter, buying a vowel, or deciding whether to spin or solve.
Our episode was very competitive with each of us jumping into the lead at one point. These were some of my running thoughts during the episode:
- First puzzle: It took me a while to figure out this puzzle even though I eventually solved it and won the round. I kept thinking “Captain Bird” for some reason. This turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise as I kept spinning to guess letters since I didn’t know it yet and landed on a big money $2500 wedge. I kept looking at the used letter board and finally came up with “Captain Kirk” literally right before I was going to spin again. It was a great start and saved me from a potentially embarrassing fail haha.
- Second puzzle: I started this round and got a T and bought two vowels. But then I made the fateful mistake of calling an S, which wasn’t in the puzzle. I didn’t get another chance during the round and fell into second place. In retrospect, I probably should have controlled this round but got a little flustered and guessed S without really thinking about the crossword clue enough.
- Third puzzle: I figured out this puzzle pretty early on in the round, but never even got a turn.
- Triple toss-up: Before this round, I saw that I was in last place and needed to do well here. Getting all three toss-ups would jump me into the lead, so I was very focused. And well wouldn’t you know it, I got them all and took the lead! Pat said I was “going bananas!”
- Final puzzle: I got to spin the wheel for the dollar amount and landed on the biggest money wedge, which meant each correct letter would be for $6,000! One of the other contestants had a great solve here and swiped the lead from me to go to the bonus round.
My biggest regrets were losing control of that second puzzle and missing out on big money in the final puzzle. But you win some, you lose some, and I was proud of how I competed on the show (in addition to walking away with a good chunk of change).
I had a lot of fun and the show also did a great job with covid-safe practices when taping. Pat, Vanna, Jim Thornton (the announcer) and all the staff were great and very nice all day.
December 2- Episode airs
I told all my friends when my episode would air and it was so much fun hearing all of their reactions when it finally aired. I also hosted a watch party with a group of family and friends which was a ton of fun as well. Everyone was so into it and cheered and booed everything as if it were a sporting event.
You can only be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune one time in your life so this really was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and honestly a dream come true for kid Stanley. I think I did enough to redeem that spelling bee loss :)
At the beginning of the year, when we were still in pandemic lockdown, I started to learn how to play the ukulele.
A few months before, I had gone down the rabbit hole of watching a lot of videos from a Youtube channel called TwoSetViolins that inspired me to get back into playing an instrument.
When I was younger, I played a lot of music. I played violin from fifth grade until junior year of high school and then switched to playing viola through college. I was in school orchestras, youth orchestras, quartets, and even played in the pit for high school musicals. I really enjoyed making music back then, and was excited to jump back into it.
And what better time to pick up a new hobby than when locked at home for a prolonged period of time.
So I started watching videos to learn how to play ukulele.
For me, the toughest part early on was learning how to sing and play at the same time, especially when singing on off beats. Practice didn’t make perfect, but I’ve gotten better with repetition. Things started to feel legit when the tips of my fingers started forming callouses.
I can now comfortably play 15-20 songs, including some of the classics, throwbacks from high school and college, and some new stuff.
It’s been a lot of fun and I love the sound that my pineapple ukulele produces. There’s a nice warmth and cheeriness to it. Has definitely helped brighten the mood in tough times.
Visited Pinnacles National Park for the first time last Friday! I had a day off from work and decided to make it a day trip (it’s only a two-hour drive from the Bay). Pinnacles actually only became a national park in 2013 so it’s one of the newest.
Pro tip that everyone already knows: go visit places on weekdays or off-days. Pinnacles is known for its “pinnacles,” tall rock spires that jut out in the landscape, and it was awesome to hike among them without many other people around.
Since my mom works on her own schedule now, I invited her along and we made it a nice mother-son hiking day.
We ended up exploring the West entrance area of the park and did a couple hikes with a lunch break and quick nap in between. Juniper Canyon Loop was a strenuous 4-mile loop that took us from the canyon bottom to the high peaks, where there’s some steep climbs and railing to hold on to. At the top, we got some gorgeous panoramic views and saw a good few California condors soaring in the sky.
In the afternoon, we explored the Balconies Caves which required some crouching and navigating narrow spaces. The shaded caves were a nice reprieve from the blazing sun.
I owe my adventurous spirit to my momma and it was fun to share a day of adventure with her. While we hiked, we recounted old stories of her taking me and my brother on trips as kids and some of the sticky situations we got ourselves into and out of haha. She is so brave and adventurous and continues to inspire me to do the same.
Some of it was unplanned, but it’s crazy to think that I’ve been to ten national parks within the last three months! Hoping to hit up some more in the second half of the year.