So much can change in a week. Sometimes entire months go by when nothing happens and you’re droning on-and-on but then in a span of three days your life gets turned upside down. That’s amore! Of course I’m talking about my Boston Celtics! For a seventy-two hour span, there was a chance that the Celtics would win a GM7 against the Wizards, win the #1 overall draft pick in the 2017 draft, and then win a GM1 on their home floor against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. That would have qualified as the greatest Celtics period since our championship almost ten years ago. As it turned out, only the first two happened, but they were the most important happenings. It’s been a banner week. Let’s recap.
May 15: I start the day meeting some friends at Tea N More for boba and some laptopping. Then, while I sit in a PacArts programming meeting, I discretely have the BOS-WAS game on. Turns out I don’t even need the leave the room because Kelly Olynyk is the One True Manbun and had a career night to give Boston the victory.
Mostly I’ve been avoiding watching the actual games this season because every time I watch we lose. Case in point, I watched the first two games and Boston went down 0-2 to the Bulls. I stopped watching for six games and we ripped off four straight victories and went up 2-0 on the Wizards. I resumed watching after a GM3 loss to Washington and we go on to lose GM4. By now I’m ready to start watching games again, but during a huge GM7, my friend — who had been texting me and filling me in all playoffs — told me to shut my viewing device off as GM7 started winding down. As soon as I stop watching, the Celtics pull away for a huge win.
May 16: Regardless of any game results this season, the most important thing for the Celtics this year has been to win the #1 pick. We had the best chance based on Danny Ainge’s prescient deals with Brooklyn years ago, but “best chance” was only 25%. Twenty-five percent is pretty damn low, and no sure thing. (Plus there was a decent chance that the NBA would conspire to let the hated Lakers vault over everyone for the first pick.) The last three times the Celtics had such high lottery picks we lost a player to cocaine overdose two days after he was drafted, and then we whiffed on the Tim Duncan and Oden/Durant lotteries. So yeah, there was no way I was going to watch the lottery, not with my luck. Instead I played League of Legends to distract myself until someone told me Boston had won.
I was beyond excited and texted 🍀 emojis to anyone within internet distance. I was planning to stay home but sheer joy lured me out and I went to my friend’s house to laptop and chat until 3AM. Again, 🍀🍀🍀! Note: I want the Celtics to just take Markelle Fultz, and not trade away the pick. Please just take Fultz!
May 17: Still giddy over our last night's lottery win, my banner week includes the premiere of MTV’s Champs vs Pros. George orders $75 worth of Thai food for three adults and a baby, and we watch as Lolo Jones becomes the Kevin Garnett of the Challenge and destroys ex-WNBA star Candice Wiggins with her competitive intensity. I didn’t know about the Lolo hate from before but now I'm caught up and am still solidly cheering for her. Also, the Celtics get blown out by thirteen points in GM1 against LeBron and Co., but who cares, we won the lottery! Woohoo!
May 18: I go for day one of volunteering at a museum downtown. I not only prove that I can use a hammer and a level, but I meet my name/life doppelgänger working on archiving the collection. Let’s just say that this person and I have the same last name and our first names are only one letter off. Plus we graduated from college the same year. “Who are you!?” I kept saying to her. Life always surprises.
After we attend my friend’s non-profit networking event in the evening, I go back with my friend to her apartment to counsel her and her friends on a future Taiwan trip. I learn the power of modular furniture — and vehicles — and decide I must have more modular items in my life as well.
May 19: The Celtics suffer one of the worst defeats in NBA history, losing by 44 points in GM2. In addition, Isaiah Thomas, the King in the Fourth, goes down to injury. For "weeks that a lot happened,” nobody can top Isaiah. He lost his sister, played in a playoff game the next day, had his teeth knocked out soon after, received oral surgery, and then scored a career-high 53 points for a GM2 win over the Wizards. And now it’s revealed that he’s been hurt most of the time, thus explaining his slightly sub-par performances recently. Everyone loves Isaiah.
As for me, I was up from 7AM-4PM, most of that time spent hanging stuff at the museum and trying to be handy. It felt productive and unusual, and I liked it. Banner week continues.
May 20: After the second of four upcoming airport runs, I am at the museum briefly for a tea lecture before I head off to book club — Sarah J. Maas’ Court of Thorns and Roses series. I had severely underestimated the length of the last two books, and I didn’t exactly finish the 600/700 page books, respectively. However, I did dive deep into the fandom of Maas, and her haters. While I didn’t love the series, nobody should be hated/bullied this much.
After a cat nap, I get Indian food and then have a PS4 game night with friends. Among other things, we played What Remains of Edith Finch, a sort-of game about a girl who returns to her house to figure out how her family members died. Edith Finch is incredible, from both a mechanics and storytelling perspective. (It's also Annapurna Pictures' first foray into video games, and more than lives up to their quality reputation.) I had been waiting to play it with a friend, in case it was scary. Turns out, it really isn’t scary scary, but neither would I play it alone.
May 21: I stumble around at home until the afternoon, when I must hit the airport again to pick up AMR/George from their weekend in San Franciso. On the way back we pick up (in this order): a New York deli sandwich, many bobas, Mexican food for soon and then their child.
And somehow, magically, even without Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics battle through and win GM3 on a last second three-pointer that bounces around and around. If my sister’s next child isn’t named "Lolo," I am going to push hard for “Avery.” Or maybe “Avery Kelly Jonas” Although those names have a few too many negative connotations. I know the Celtics (probably) can't beat Cleveland, but even taking one game off them -- in a beautiful comeback to boot -- was enough. The sprinkles on top.
In fact, it’s a good time for bandwagon jumpers to jion us now, as we’re set for at least a decade of success. That’s how important winning the lottery is: ten plus years of happiness ahead. Make wise choices, plan for the future, execute where you can, get 🍀. That's how May 15-21 will go down as the week that my life got so much better. See you on the hardcourt (of life)!
May 15: I start the day meeting some friends at Tea N More for boba and some laptopping. Then, while I sit in a PacArts programming meeting, I discretely have the BOS-WAS game on. Turns out I don’t even need the leave the room because Kelly Olynyk is the One True Manbun and had a career night to give Boston the victory.
Mostly I’ve been avoiding watching the actual games this season because every time I watch we lose. Case in point, I watched the first two games and Boston went down 0-2 to the Bulls. I stopped watching for six games and we ripped off four straight victories and went up 2-0 on the Wizards. I resumed watching after a GM3 loss to Washington and we go on to lose GM4. By now I’m ready to start watching games again, but during a huge GM7, my friend — who had been texting me and filling me in all playoffs — told me to shut my viewing device off as GM7 started winding down. As soon as I stop watching, the Celtics pull away for a huge win.
May 16: Regardless of any game results this season, the most important thing for the Celtics this year has been to win the #1 pick. We had the best chance based on Danny Ainge’s prescient deals with Brooklyn years ago, but “best chance” was only 25%. Twenty-five percent is pretty damn low, and no sure thing. (Plus there was a decent chance that the NBA would conspire to let the hated Lakers vault over everyone for the first pick.) The last three times the Celtics had such high lottery picks we lost a player to cocaine overdose two days after he was drafted, and then we whiffed on the Tim Duncan and Oden/Durant lotteries. So yeah, there was no way I was going to watch the lottery, not with my luck. Instead I played League of Legends to distract myself until someone told me Boston had won.
I was beyond excited and texted 🍀 emojis to anyone within internet distance. I was planning to stay home but sheer joy lured me out and I went to my friend’s house to laptop and chat until 3AM. Again, 🍀🍀🍀! Note: I want the Celtics to just take Markelle Fultz, and not trade away the pick. Please just take Fultz!
May 18: I go for day one of volunteering at a museum downtown. I not only prove that I can use a hammer and a level, but I meet my name/life doppelgänger working on archiving the collection. Let’s just say that this person and I have the same last name and our first names are only one letter off. Plus we graduated from college the same year. “Who are you!?” I kept saying to her. Life always surprises.
After we attend my friend’s non-profit networking event in the evening, I go back with my friend to her apartment to counsel her and her friends on a future Taiwan trip. I learn the power of modular furniture — and vehicles — and decide I must have more modular items in my life as well.
May 19: The Celtics suffer one of the worst defeats in NBA history, losing by 44 points in GM2. In addition, Isaiah Thomas, the King in the Fourth, goes down to injury. For "weeks that a lot happened,” nobody can top Isaiah. He lost his sister, played in a playoff game the next day, had his teeth knocked out soon after, received oral surgery, and then scored a career-high 53 points for a GM2 win over the Wizards. And now it’s revealed that he’s been hurt most of the time, thus explaining his slightly sub-par performances recently. Everyone loves Isaiah.
As for me, I was up from 7AM-4PM, most of that time spent hanging stuff at the museum and trying to be handy. It felt productive and unusual, and I liked it. Banner week continues.
May 20: After the second of four upcoming airport runs, I am at the museum briefly for a tea lecture before I head off to book club — Sarah J. Maas’ Court of Thorns and Roses series. I had severely underestimated the length of the last two books, and I didn’t exactly finish the 600/700 page books, respectively. However, I did dive deep into the fandom of Maas, and her haters. While I didn’t love the series, nobody should be hated/bullied this much.
After a cat nap, I get Indian food and then have a PS4 game night with friends. Among other things, we played What Remains of Edith Finch, a sort-of game about a girl who returns to her house to figure out how her family members died. Edith Finch is incredible, from both a mechanics and storytelling perspective. (It's also Annapurna Pictures' first foray into video games, and more than lives up to their quality reputation.) I had been waiting to play it with a friend, in case it was scary. Turns out, it really isn’t scary scary, but neither would I play it alone.May 21: I stumble around at home until the afternoon, when I must hit the airport again to pick up AMR/George from their weekend in San Franciso. On the way back we pick up (in this order): a New York deli sandwich, many bobas, Mexican food for soon and then their child.
And somehow, magically, even without Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics battle through and win GM3 on a last second three-pointer that bounces around and around. If my sister’s next child isn’t named "Lolo," I am going to push hard for “Avery.” Or maybe “Avery Kelly Jonas” Although those names have a few too many negative connotations. I know the Celtics (probably) can't beat Cleveland, but even taking one game off them -- in a beautiful comeback to boot -- was enough. The sprinkles on top.
- Boston Celtics’ NBA Draft history in the top ten (2015)
- The Winners and Losers of the NBA Draft Lottery
- Isaiah Thomas’s 53-Point Night Deserves to Be in Boston’s Postseason Pantheon
- Who Owned Celts-Cavs Game 3?
- The Once and Future Celtics
In fact, it’s a good time for bandwagon jumpers to jion us now, as we’re set for at least a decade of success. That’s how important winning the lottery is: ten plus years of happiness ahead. Make wise choices, plan for the future, execute where you can, get 🍀. That's how May 15-21 will go down as the week that my life got so much better. See you on the hardcourt (of life)!
