The winners goes to...

Nathan Boyes and Tracey Tasselli

Of course, I don’t intend for this to be a competition at all. But if I HAD to pick someone who did something beyond my expectations, then it would be them.

They’re currently living in Oregon, as they had their second kid, Ace, last July. I’m a proud godfather of their adorable and fast-growing kid, Zayne. Tracey took the kids to Pennsylvania for her friend’s wedding (also where she’s from). Nathan elected to fly down here to visit me for a week, including a Labor weekend retreat to Monterey Bay with several great friends.

FYI- He’s a DIE-HARD disc golf player, and a damn good one at it, I must say. He is constantly encouraging me to play disc golfing and to improve myself on a daily basis. Moreover, he is currently the president of Deaf Disc Golf Association (DDGA), and the organization has been flourishing under his reign so far.

Anyway, upon his arrival to Bay Area, right before our first dinner outing, he said he had something for me. I saw him picking a circle-shaped from his bag, and I knew it was a disc. However, I found this odd, as I already purchased 13 discs from him couple of weeks ago. But when he presented me the disc, I was completely floored… Truly spee----signless. Without further ado, let me show y’all what he got for me.

Amazing, I know. Major props to them for coming up with a gift that will be dear to my heart for rest of my life. Nathan has a great networking in disc golfing world, and he was fortunate enough to find a guy who was willing to help him out with “dying” a personalized disc at a reasonable price (a MAJOR shout-out to the guy was willing to help him out!). Despite his suggestion of me using this disc at certain times (it’s a Beast disc, in case you guys are wondering), I will not dare to use it AT all. Instead I’ll hang it in my room to ensure nothing bad will happen to it, as I cannot afford to risk losing it in the woods or lake or whatsoever!

For Deaf disc golf lovers, I WOULD recommend you to become a member of DDGA, for it’s fast growing organization. The more, the merrier! You can check the website out at www.ddga.org. The membership fee is only 20 dollars (for a year; but 10 dollars for renewal), and best of all, you will even get a free disc from them! So what are you waiting for? Go and sign up! For more information, you can contact him at snap7times@gmail.com.

Many thanks to Nathan Boyes and Tracey Tasselli once again for their very inspiring gift, and words aren’t definitely sufficient to describe my feelings for this amazing surprise, really!

til’ next time,
adam j.

Samson, I am...

Yep, you heard right. My ‘fro is officially gone. It was a bit more than a week ago when I decided to shave it all.

Why? My hair wasn’t exactly falling out, but it was clearly getting easier and easier to pull them off. After each shower session, I would have to remove a blob of hair clotting the drainage. My hair was getting thinner, hence making my scalp more visible. I think the population of my hair has decreased by third or so (some serious nuclear warfare going on my head, apparently). Truth to be told, I was not too sure if my hair was actually becoming sickly, or if it was my imagination jumping to conclusion. But enough, I say. Just get rid of them and say good riddance for now.

I told my mom to shave it all, so she did (poor her aching heart, I must say). I had a friend of mine who was staying at my place for a week to shave my head with razor. Oh boy, it’s Bald Day (an infamous tradition for freshmen at Gallaudet University) all over again. Naturally, in last decade, I grew accustomed to my good ol’ jewfro, thus I feel pretty naked without my hair. It took me few days to get used to my new look (well- I don’t think I’m ever 100 percent used to it, though). For some reason, my new look reminds me of Lex Luthor. I think I am going to secretly plot an evil scheme to conquer the world soon... ofc, with help of kryptonite.

All kidding aside, it was also somehow liberating for me to shave it all, because it meant less hassles for me. No longer I have to look at mirror searching for potential bald spots. No longer I have to dump my hair off in trash (or floor) after twiddling with them too much with my fingers. Just a simple bald head that require no maintenance.

I got a card from a dear friend of mine few weeks ago and had to chuckle at its humor. It was actually a card explaining the advantages of losing my hair. Without further ado, let me share the advantages as mentioned in the card:

-Eliminates bed head

-Can be a shining example to others

-No need for expensive hair products (how true)

-Takes off years, because you look more like your baby photo

-Gray hair? What gray hair?

And the number one advantage of losing hair…

-More places to be kissed!

Brilliant card, I must say. It did actually help me to ease my mind a bit when I was ‘bout to shave my ‘fro off.

Ok... Ok… I know you guys are dying to see pictures of my bald head, so time for me to shut up and let you enjoy the pictures.

Dude, where did my ‘fro go?!?!?

My lame attempt to be a “model”

I’m done for now. 'cuse me while I’m off to destroy couple of pillars to send a building crumbling down, and then head off somewhere to get galore of kisses from fair maidens nearby.

til’ next time,
adam j.

P.S. The card was actually submitted to me by my friend, Violet Blake. She has recently written an article in Buff n Blue (Gallaudet University newsletter) about her experience working with Deaf children in Africa last summer. She’s in need of some donations for her cause, so I figured I would help her out (especially to show my appreciation for her brilliant selection of card). :) Here’s the link to her article: http://thebuffandblue.net/?p=2836