taking a chance on paradise

I teach a class in Advanced Reporting at UC. One of my former students, an Elder grad named Chris Hughes, just took a job at a paper on Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. I couldnt be happier for him. Or more jealous. If I could do it all over, I'd take my first job in a place I want to live. There's plenty of time to settle down, get responsible and move up the career food chain. Live big while you can... on that note, I wrote for Sunday's paper about a bar on St. John, USVI, that has hosted a Super Bowl party for the last 17 years. When we went there four years ago, we promised one of the owners that the 1st year I didnt cover the game, we'd be at that bar watching it. That would be, um, today. I didnt figure my Super run of 19 years in a row would end this soon... nor, like most of us, did I really intend to watch the game at a bar on St. John, even though I couldnt think of any place I'd rather be today... the problem is, most of us don't have the guts to live our dreams, so they stay dreams. The carpet's all paid for. God bless the TV. The 2 guys who own Skinny Legs in Coral Bay, St. John, left the States all but broke. But they took a shot. They lived the dream. Now, look at them. Nothing risked, nothing gained. Live Big, Chris Hughes. Never stop taking risks.