Having stealthily attained his PhD in psychology and graduated from UCLA without a proper celebration amongst his UCLA Club Tennis peers, Mark deserved at least a celebratory dinner - or so Nick DeGoede probably reasoned and to which many of Mark's team mates and admirers enthusiastically agreed. Nick thus arranged a dinner at Bucca di Beppo in Mark's honor and via the communicatory medium of Facebook, sent the word out to the online tennis community.

At 8 PM sharp - no one was at Bucca! Adeline Yang sat outside by the meter, totally unaware; honored guest Mark Otten was delayed by Anthony Horsley's gift of Top Spin 2; event organizer Nick De Goede grated his teeth as his stomach howled in starvation - after a day that began at 5:30 AM. Luckily by 8:30 the party filled up with the arrival of Christina Toth and Emily Watt with Mark, Janis Hui, Anthony Horsley, Kelly Iwanabe, Lee, Alana, Eric Radke, and Andrew.


Adeline, Mark, and Andrew

After waiting nearly an hour for another table, the twelve hungry tennis enthusiasts finally entered the restaurant and began the long-anticipated process of chowdown. Galic bread, water, diet Pepsis and regular... Caesar Salad, mozzarella cheese! It was an excellent beginning to a truly Italian feast. With one table of eight (Andrew, Mark, Adeline, and Emily on one side and Christina, Kelly, Janis, and Nick on the other) and one table of four (Eric and Anthony versus Lee and Alana) all expected plenty of food - and some got a lot more than expected. In fact, some even got the expectations of the others!

As Anthony's table looked on, Nick's received dish after dish, delicacy after delicacy. The Chicken Marsala and penne pushed their buttons; the Macaroni Rosa was the final straw. The voracious table of four could only glare at their meager plate of chicken and enviously steal glances at the dishes piling up on the adjacent table.


Eric, Anthony, and Lee

It was not until Nick's table received its fourth massive platter that everyone began to feel sorry for table two's delayed grub delivery. In sympathy Nick offered them the sparse remnants of his Caesar salad. As the rest of his table continued to revel in their newly attained gourmand status, Nick attempted to placate his increasingly irate neighbors. When the fifth entree arrived and no room could be made for it on Nick's table, Mark looked about in bewilderment - and had an epiphany that would set both tables rocking!


Mark's special moment

To the shock of all those around him, Mark realized that the newly arrived dish was afterall his - but that the Macaroni Rosa was not! All eight agreed that none had ordered the delectable dish, and when sixteen eyes turned to look at Anthony, Alana vehemently proclaimed her ownership of the dish. Janis and Adeline took one good look at each other, glanced at Mark, and promptly took a plateful of the barely touched macaroni. Laughingly they passed the dish to their left - away from Anthony's table - and it made a full voyage around all eight before finally making it, albeit bedraggled, to where it belonged.

Nearing the meal's completion Mark took a timely and lengthy trip to the boy's room and Nick began plotting the party's next move. Previously another group in the room for 267 had celebrated a birthday and sang the birthday melody to the chorus of the entire restaurant; Nick motioned his waiter over and suggested to him that something similar should be performed for Mark. Eric brilliantly suggested singing a revised version, "Happy PhD to you." Upon sitting back down, Mark was bombarded with the joyous ensemble and the startling vocals of absurdly happy people. To Mark's surprise a luscious dark chocolate cake and a lengthy bowed candle were placed before him as the entire room serenaded him.



Twenty-two eyes bounced off Mark and onto the lovely visage of his beautiful slice of cake. Sighing, Mark started to cut. And cut. .. and cut. Ten pieces were divided from that one slice - ten pieces, all minuscule triangular pyramids less than three inches in length and 1.5 inches in base. Thus it was no surprise - MARK ANGGRRRYYYY!!



... Just kidding! Mark had merely been attempting mass pokage of Adeline when this picture was taken. Finishing their last course, the group decided to take a late-night stroll about Santa Monica's famous 3rd Street Promenade. Heading straight for a chic bar, all but Mark, Christina, Adeline, and Emily entered before realizing that all entrants were being carded - and that two silly twenty year olds had infiltrated the party!

So instead of having a cool drink at the luminous bar, the party reluctantly did an about-face ... and faced a dolphin. Having had plenty of water to drink and having been denied his ethanol, Eric decided that riding a dolphin was the next best thing.



This, probably moreso than anything else, tied in best with the group's meeting with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Carson - whom they all met while he shot scenes from the Promenade streets. When they all crowded around the celebrity, Carson cast an admiring gaze at Eric and told him "... what a hottie!"



After this starstruck meeting the group continued their stroll towards a famous gelato store (this was becoming an Italian-themed night). On the way Lee and Mark took a detour to reveal their deeply religious sides, going so far as to willingly entrap themselves inside the constricting bounds of the most orthodox pietism.



Given a pamphlet for their troubles, the sideparty rushed to catch up with their peers in front of Angelato and went inside to purchase a delicious treat. With an ice cream in hand and a pamphlet in his other, Mark found that his hands had a bit too much to handle. Emily did not appear to be susceptible to the idea of carrying the pamphlet's burden, so by a crafty trick Mark wrangled Adeline into taking a look at answering "The Big Question." Flipping the pamphlet over, she read, "If you have frustrated Jesus today..." and a camera flashed:



Confused more than anything else Adeline turned to Eric, who had taken the picture, and as he took a closeup of the pamphlet Eric explained the entire bizarre situation with Mark and Lee's religious fanaticism.



An old man, presumably homeless, used this opportunity to approach Alana and showcase a nearby street performer who he claimed was serenading her. After soliciting our group for spare change (since, as he reasoned, many had just bought ice cream and must have something left over) he eventually departed. The group continued conversing with one another in front of Angelato's, but also gradually dispersed and by 11:30, all were on their way back home - ready for the next graduation celebration in September!