Giving thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all, whoever and wherever you may be.

I am thankful for many things, too many to list all of them here. A few highlights:

• My wife and son, who are wonderful people
• The good health that my wife and son and I have enjoyed over the past year
• Friends and family
• Financial prosperity - we aren't millionaires, but we don't lack for anything we need

I am truly blessed, and I hope I will always remember that when things aren't going as perfectly as I would like.

My wish for anyone who reads this is that you may be half as blessed as I am, because you would be doing mighty fine.

New poker blog

I have started a separate blog for my poker entries, because I want to save this one for non-poker ramblings. For now, the poker blog may get more posts, but I hope to keep things going once in a while over here too. I invite any poker fans who may have ended up here through an old link, or anyone who is just curious, to stop by the other blog and check it out.

Blogger Poker Tournament "live" blog

I didn't think I could keep a running blog of yesterday's tournament and still concentrate on playing properly, so I am posting this the day after. I did take a few notes while I was playing, which form the basis for this entry, but I have added in some from memory, and from the transcript I requested from PokerStars (what a handy feature).

3:00 PM (all times Central): The tournament starts. I am on table 75, and only four of us are live; the others are sitting out. I have the button for the first hand, and I get A2o. I raise and get one caller. The flop comes Q-5-5. I bet, the caller folds. I've won my first hand; an ominous sign, no doubt.

3:09 PM I haven't had much in the way of starting hands. I just stole the blinds with A9o. Everyone is playing pretty tight, including me. A fifth live player has joined us.

3:33 PM After a few marginal hands that get me nowhere, I finally get a hand worth playing: AKo. I'm UTG, and I bet 100 (twice the BB). I get reraised 200 by one player, and I call. Flop comes 8d 3c Kd. Top pair, top kicker; I bet 250. My opponent folds. The warm and fuzzy feeling this hand gives me unfortunately won't last.

3:49 PM I've been back to getting crappy cards, and the blinds keep going up.

4:00 PM After being blinded down below 1000 in chips, I go all in with KQo. My one caller shows KTo. A ten comes on the flop, and I don't improve. Busted out in 1,081st place.

After the tournament, I observed a couple of tables. I watched Wil Wheaton for a little while, and peeked in on the table where Card Squad blogger Joanne was playing. Eventually I got into a small stakes NLHE ring game and won one whole dollar (which I lost back later in the evening).

I enjoyed playing in the tournament, and I feel like I made the correct decisions most of the time. I probably should have made a play at the pot a couple of times, but a lot of my cards weren't even worth a semi-bluff or blind defense.

I look forward to my next tournament, whenever that turns out to be. Hopefully my luck will be a bit better.

Turning it around

Yesterday was an up and down day for me at the virtual poker tables. After I played in the Katrina Relief tournament a few weeks ago, I have been playing in some small stakes games with the money that was left over in my PokerStars account. I played in a couple of $5+0.50 Sit-N-Go (SNG for short) tournaments - cashed in one, busted early in the other. Mostly I have played in ring games at $0.05-0.10 or $0.02-0.04. Although I have quit while ahead a few times in the ring games, mostly I have lost. I have probably played lots of hands that I shouldn't have, and not paid enough attention to how my opponents have played so I could get reads on them and play accordingly. One thing that has surprised me is how often people have folded in these microstakes games. I expected a lot looser play for such small amounts, but that hasn't seemed to be the case, at least in the games I've been in.

Anyhow, back to what happened yesterday. I played in a 0.02-0.04 game for a while in the afternoon. I jumped ahead early by taking advantage of some good hands and some poor play by a couple of loose opponents. Maybe I got over-confident because by the time I quit, I had lost back my winnings and more. The amount that I lost wasn't enough to buy a Snickers bar, but it was the fact that I didn't play better that disappointed me. After my family and I went out to dinner, I decided to try another SNG to see if I could have more success. Keeping my risk low, I got into a five-table tourney for a $1+0.20 buy-in. I got a few marginal hands at the beginning, but didn't get past the flop much. I did manage to win a few pots here and there but my chip stack wasn't building to speak of. My tight play kept me in the game while some of the more aggressive players started duking it out and eventually busting each other out of the game. I was patient, and let the others make their mistakes. It worked for me, because eventaully I made it to the final table. I was one of the shorter stacks when I got there (as is usual for me), but I still exercised patience because sixth place and up cashed, and I didn't want to bust out on the bubble if someone else decided to take a stand first. That tactic paid off again (literally) as more people went all-in and were eliminated while I waited for the right time to make my moves. The chip lead changed hands more than a few times on that final table, and I got some good hands to double up on several occasions. By the time I got heads up, my opponent "msdoodle" and I were pretty much even in chips. The best hand I got near the end: msdoodle had about a 3 to 1 chip lead on me. I was dealt pocket aces and went all in; msdoodle quickly called with QJo. The board came all rags and my bullets took the pot. The funniest hand was the second to last when msdoodle was down to his/her last 266 chips and went all in with Kc 2s against my Kd Qc. Nothing paired on the flop or turn and it looked like I'd won it, but the board ended up all hearts and we split the pot. On the next and final hand, msdoodle was all-in in the blinds but had K6o vs. my 96o. The board came 3-J-2 rainbow, then A-9, and my pair of nines won the game. I now have $14 more in my account than I did before I started the tournament, and that's a very nice feeling. (OK, $12.80 when you subtract the entry fees.)

I don't know yet why I tend to do better in tournaments than ring games, and I plan to keep working on my skills for the latter, but I'll also keep playing tournaments and trying to improve in those. Gotta go with your strengths, right?

That reminds me, I'm playing in today's PokerStars Inaugural Blogger Tournament. See below for more info. Wish me luck!

It's OK, I'm with the band...

....my son's high school marching band, that is. Ben is a freshman, and plays trumpet in the Colleyville-Heritage High School band. He opted for junior varsity at the beginning of the school year, so he doesn't march on the field during football game halftimes or at competitions; but he does play with the band in the stands during the games, and he takes band classes during the school day. He has been playing trumpet since the fifth grade, and has done pretty well at it: he was first chair for most of his middle school years, although he has started back at the bottom now that he is in high school.

The parents of band students are encouraged to volunteer to help the band program, and there are plenty of opportunities. They need chaperones for away games, concession stand workers at the home games, and lots of other assistants. To get more involved in Ben's activities, I decided to volunteer to be a "pit dad" this year. Pit dads help load and unload the large instruments and other band equipment at the football games and band competitions. They are called "pit dads" because a large portion of the equipment to be handled are the "pit" instruments, i.e. the stationary ones that aren't carried around the field during the shows such as the marimbas, xylophones, tympani, and such. Those are (typically) set up at the front of the stands at the stadium, while the field is left open for the marching players. Loading and unloading those things can be a chore, but fortunately we have had a good turnout of dads each week so far and we haven't had any trouble getting them where they need to go. The pit dads in our group are a nice bunch of guys, and I have enjoyed the games and competitions that I have gone to so far this season. I don't actually interact with Ben much while we are at the venues for the performances, but I am glad to be there and help his school's band program. The arts don't get enough support in our school systems, IMO, and I am happy to do any small thing that I can to pitch in. It also gets me in to watch the football games and competitions for free, and that's a nice bonus.

The CHHS band is highly respected in our area. We have done well in two competitions so far this year; two years ago (before Ben was there) the band was selected to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I am very impressed by the show they have put together this year, which uses music specifically composed for them by a noted school band composer whose name, I believe, is Key Poulan. This year's music is based on Pachelbel's Canon in D, and the composition and arrangement is quite well done, in my opinion, as is the marching routine that the band directors have created to go with it. I always enjoy watching and hearing the show at each performance. Ben has already said that he wants to move up to varsity the first chance he gets, so I expect that he will be out there on the field with the band next year.

I haven't been all that involved in Ben's school activities in the past. I think I've tended to be too busy (or thought I was) with my own personal interests. I am sorry that I didn't do something like this sooner; I'm enjoying it, and I think Ben is glad that I'm participating. I know I am.

Blogger Championship poker tournament registration

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 5038784

Survival of the tightest

I have been meaning to update my blog for some time now, but of course lots of things get in the way. I don't consider myself a particularly skilled writer; I also don't feel like I have a great facility for putting my thoughts into typed words and sentences. Writing takes effort for me, at least if I want what I write to be worth reading. I know, I know: I won't get better at it or find it less difficult to do if I don't sit down and do it regularly. I don't have my Mom here to nag me to practice, like she might have if I had had piano lessons when I was a kid. I have to motivate myself to get cracking. Or I have to have some outside incentive that gives me a reason to overcome my reluctance. It seems that a motivation like that has come along.

On October 23, PokerStars will be hosting a special tournament for bloggers. You don't have to write a poker blog; you just have to have a "regularly updated blog" that is at least two months old. The good news is, I started my blog in February of this year. The not-so-good news is, I've only posted here seven times since then, which is barely an average of once a month. Does that qualify as "regularly updated" in the eyes of the PokerStars staff? I guess I will find out when I try to register for the tournament. If you have a blog (or don't) and are interested in more info about the tournament, you can find it here:

http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/index.html

I'm looking forward to playing in the tournament, if they let me.

While I'm here, I might as well talk about my poker adventures of recent times. I have been playing on line pretty often, and I play every Tuesday in a live (and free) Amateur Poker League tournament at Willhoites's, a local bar/restaurant. I tend to do better in tournaments than in "ring games," i.e. games that are continuous and have players that come and go at any time. In a cash tournament, all the players pay an entry fee which gets them a set number of chips and a seat at a tournament table with other players. The entry fees make up the prize pool, less some amount that is kept by the host of the tournament to cover their costs and make them a profit. Once the tournament starts, play continues (with occasional breaks) until one player remains with all of the chips. As the tournament goes on, the blinds (forced bets that rotate around the table) go up in amount, to keep the tournament from lasting forever and to make the action more exciting. This is a simplified explanation but I hope you get the idea.

At the APL tourneys, there are no entry fees and no cash prizes. However, the players who finish 16th or higher earn "points" that determine their rank in relation to each other over the course of a season. I have finished "in the points" most of the weeks that I have played over the past few months. My highest finish so far has been second, once. I am not among the top points leaders in my region, but I generally get an invitation to the monthly championship tourney at Willhoite's. The APL events are fun and give me a chance to practice the principles that I have learned from the various books that I have been reading on how to play the game, without putting up any money. There is a group of regular players at Willhoite's each week, and they are overall a friendly bunch that I enjoy playing with.

But, my biggest tournament yet was one I played in on line on September 14 at PokerStars. It was a fund-raiser for Hurricane Katrina relief, with virtually all of the entry fees donated to the American Red Cross and matched, dollar for dollar, by PokerStars. There were a total of four tournaments hosted by PokerStars that week, and in total they raised over $100,000 for the Red Cross.

I originally entered two of those tournaments, one with a $5 fee and one with a $20 fee. The $50 and $100 events were a bit too expensive for my blood. I couldn't play in the $5 tournament on Sept. 12 because my Internet connection was down that night. At least my $5 still went to the charity. By Wednesday our connection was back up and I was able to play. As it turned out, there were a lot of people who didn't show up for the tournament that night, although I doubt that they all had technical problems like mine. Many undoubtedly just wanted to donate and didn't plan to play anyway; that made for a lot of players who were "sitting out" at the tables. It took some time to win the chips from those absent players, but eventually there were just live people left in the game. I played conservatively, got some good cards and made some fairly decent moves early on, and built my chip stack enough to get me through the dry spells when the crappy cards fell my way. After nearly four hours of playing my way through countless hands and moving between tables, I had the honor of making it to the final table of the tournament. When I got there, I had the fewest chips of anyone at the table, but I didn't mind. I was just thrilled to have lasted that far into the tourney. Shortly after I got to the final table, I busted out, finishing ninth in the tournament. I felt really pleased with how I played that night, and with my finishing place. After all, ninth out of 738 entrants is a pretty high percentile. It's my proudest moment so far in my very short poker "career."

All of the players who made it to a final table in these tournaments are to get prizes donated by various celebrities associated with PokerStars. I believe that I will be getting an autographed copy of a book by Wil Wheaton, who hosted the tournaments; if there are other prizes forthcoming, I don't know what they might be. But my experience with this tournament has been all positive, with the most important part of that being the fact that the Red Cross has benefited greatly by the generosity of PokerStars and its players.

I'm also unashamedly pleased that Wil reported the results of the tournament that I played in on his blog, and he mentions me (by my PokerStars screen name, yestbay1) in the entry. You can read that entry here:

http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/2005/09/

You will need to scroll down to the September 15 entry. Go ahead and read the rest of his September archives while you are there. Wil's blog is always a good read, IMO. (His archives look rather funky at the moment because he is doing a redesign on his site.)

I hope I get to play in the Bloggers Tournament on the 23rd. I don't have high expectations of making the final table again, but it happened once; who knows, with good play and some luck I might get there again. And this time the prizes are more substantial, such as a trip to (and buy-in for) the 2006 PokerStars Carribean Adventure, flat-panel TVs, X-box game systems, and more. I'll just be glad to play and have fun. Bonus: there is no entry fee! Like I always say, free is good.

Wish me luck!

The Baltic Blast - Cruise Trek 2005

My wife, son and I just went on one of our most memorable vacations, a cruise of the Baltic Sea. Although I could probably write a book about the experience, I'll try to capture some of the highlights here without overwhelming the readers (however many or few of you there may be).

I should mention up front that we booked our trip through Cruise Trek, a company that invites Star Trek fans and people who have worked on the various Trek TV shows and films. It's like a mini-convention at sea for those of us in the Cruise Trek group. The Trek activities are only a small part of the cruise, but they added quite a bit of enjoyment for those of us involved.

The cruise left Copenhagen, Denmark on Thursday June 30 and returned there on Sunday July 10. We spent the day before departure in Copenhagen, which is a lovely city. Wednesday afternoon, we met a group of Danish Star Trek fans at a local eatery to get acquainted with them and learn more about Copenhagen. Pat, Ben and I ended up going to dinner with several of the Danish Trekkies, and later walking with them to visit Tivoli Gardens, a small amusement park right in the city. Legend has it that Walt Disney was inspired by this park for some of his ideas for Disneyland in California, and I can see why. It has beautiful grounds and a very nice ambience.

Thursday afternoon our cruise ship, the ms Westerdam of the Holland America Line, departed Copenhagen. After an evening of settling in and (re-)introductions to our fellow Cruise Trekkers, we had a day at sea on Friday. The Trek activites are only held when the ship is not in port, so several of them were crammed into this day. The actors' Q & A panel was held, where guests Garrett Wang (Harry Kim from Voyager), John De Lancie (Q), and Bob Picardo (the Doctor from Voyager) answered questions from the audience quite graciously. Bob P., in particular, is quite a gregarious guy, and kept us all entertained during this panel and every time he got in front of the group. There were Trek-related games and presentations throughout the cruise, and all of them that I attended were lots of fun. I placed second in a couple of the games but I don't know enough Trek trivia to beat out the more dedicated fans in those contests.

Saturday we spent in Tallinn, Estonia. I knew virtually nothing about the city or country before this trip, and while I can't say I am an expert on it now, I did find it to be a neat place to walk around. We spent all of our time in the Old Town, with its ancient streets and buildings including a couple of beautiful churches. We ate lunch at the Olde Hansa, a medieval restaurant housed in a very old building which apparently was used as a dining hall hundreds of years ago. The menu there includes game such as bear, elk, and wild boar, all cooked over open flame (no electricity!). We wussed out and settled for chicken. It was quite good, and the medieval side dishes were surprisingly tasty.

Sunday and Monday we were docked in St. Petersburg, Russia. We were glad to have two days here because there is so much to see. However, because the Russian visa process is so cumbersome and expensive, we booked our trips ashore through the cruise line because we didn't have to have our own visas that way. It worked out very well, and the excursions were well organized and informative. On Sunday morning we visited Catherine's Palace in Pushkin just outside the city, and in the afternoon we went to the Hermitage Museum downtown. Both are enormous places with gorgeous works of art and elaborate decor. Our tour guide said it would take years to look at each piece that the Hermitage has on display, and I believe it. Sunday evening we went to a Folkloric Spectacular performance, featuring energetic and colorful Russian music, songs and dances. A wonderful show which I missed a few bits of here and there from nodding off due to jet lag. After spending the night back on the ship, we took another tour bus Monday, this time to Peterhof Palace in the morning and more sights in downtown St. Petersburg in the afternoon. Peterhof is another grandiose complex of buildings with similar furnishings to Catherine's Palace, but the exterior grounds at Peterhof are its most impressive feature to me. There are acres of gardens, with lots of fountains, sculptures, etc. to enjoy. The main attraction of the afternoon tour was the Church on the Spilled Blood, an amazing Russian Orthodox cathedral whose interior is almost completely covered with astoundingly beautiful mosaics that have been painstakingly restored after damage suffered during World War II. Most of the palaces and major buildings in St. Petersburg have undergone extensive restoration, which is a testament to the pride that the Russian people have taken in their history and culture.

Tuesday's stop was Helsinki, Finland. While Helsinki doesn't have the ancient feel of the other cities we had visited thus far, it was still a cool place. My favorite sight there was the "rock" church. No, they don't play the Rolling Stones there at services; the name comes from the fact that the church was built by blasting the top out of a rocky hill and building a domed roof over the hole. It's one of the most unusual structures I have ever seen.

Wednesday: Stockholm, Sweden was our port destination. If I were to pick a city from this trip to visit again, Stockholm would be it. It is a cool city, with a fascinating old town section as well as a modern newer part with all the amenities of a major metropolis. The setting for the city is especially beautiful since it is built on 14 islands which we sailed among on our way out of port that evening. It reminds me of the San Juan Islands in Washington state. Lots more historic and interesting stuff to see here, much of which we didn't have time for. As the governator might say, "We'll be back."

Thursday we stopped at the Swedish island of Gotland and walked around the small but thriving town of Visby. We saw many ruins of old churches dating back as far in the 1200s, and (most of) a stone wall surrounding the city that is at least that old. The feeling of ancient history was strongest for me here of all the places we saw on this trip.

Friday we made port in Warnemunde, Germany, a seaside resort town. We didn't spend any time in Warnemunde, though; we took the first train in the morning to Berlin, a 3-hour ride away. We joined a small group of Cruise Trekkers who were riding the same train, and met with a local who is a friend of Richard Arnold, Trek historian and guest on the cruise who was our de facto leader on our "tour" of Berlin. Because we had another 3-hour train ride back to the cruise port, our time in Berlin was limited. Still, we saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the "Hollow Tooth" church, and a warp speed tour of the Pergamon Museum. Berlin is another place I would love to go back to when we have more time to see all it has to offer.

The last full day of the cruise was spent in Arhus, Denmark. (There should be a little circle over the A in Arhus but I don't know how to make that in this blog. The same goes for the two dots over the u in Warnemunde.) Arhus isn't a particularly remarkable city, but we saw some interesting places and had a nice walk through the downtown area.

The cruise ended on Sunday morning July 10 when we returned to Copenhagen. We were sorry to see it end, but were ready to head home. There is more to tell but I think that I have written enough for this entry. I hope you have enjoyed reading it a tiny fraction as much as I enjoyed experiencing it.

Milestones

Yesterday, June 6, 2005, was my 50th birthday. No, I'm not fishing for birthday greetings - if I had wanted to do that, I would have mentioned it before the actual date, and would have done so where more people would have got the hint. It just reminds me that time is not standing still, for me or anyone else. I have had a wonderful life so far, and I hope I continue to have the good fortune that I have been blessed with up to now, for a long time to come. But I have coasted for a good part of the journey, and not put in as much effort as I could have to make it even better. Coasting is a hard habit to break. I'm telling you, I've really liked having it as easy as I have, and knowing that it will take some hard work to get over some of the obstacles that have cropped up is a bitch to deal with. I guess I'm hoping that writing this down, somewhere that it might be read by someone other than me, will prod me into getting off the dime and applying myself where I need to. I know that I can do it; motivating myself is the trick. Will this work? Time will tell. Maybe I should print this out and tape it to my bathroom mirror or something. In any case, getting it off my chest gives me a small sense of satisfaction. I'll see if I can build on that.

Loops and bonds

My son and I recently took a quick trip to California to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain. My wife was on a business trip and Ben had a day off from school on a Friday, so I took a vacation day that day so he and I could spend it together.

I have flight benefits from my job. We have season passes to Six Flags Over Texas, which are good at any Six Flags park. I decided to put those two perks together so Ben and I could check out the rides at Magic Mountain. When I lived in southern California, I would go to Magic Mountain about once a year, and when Pat and I started dating, we went there together several times. It's much more of a thrill ride park than Disneyland, and they have lots more roller coasters now (14 in all!) than they did in 1990 when I was there last. Ben, being a 13 year old boy, is a big thrill ride fan and was understandably excited when I told him of my plan for us to go. Pat was happy that we would be going, but also a little jealous that she would miss out. She isn't nearly the ride fan that Ben and I are, but she enjoys coasters occasionally, especially if she hasn't tried them yet. We'll have to make another trip there when all three of us can go.

This was the first time that Ben and I had traveled without Pat. He and I get along quite well, at least these days; who knows if I will be able to say that a year from now, when he is 14. We share a lot of likes and interests, and going to amusement parks is definitely one of those, so I was glad to have the opportunity to take him to this one while we had some father-son time. We rode nearly every big ride they have there. The park was practically empty, the lines were short to non-existent, and the weather was postcard perfect. We enjoyed every minute of our adventure there, although by the end of the day my stomach had endured just about all the twisting and turning that it could. Of course, Ben was still raring to go try Deja Vu, the one coaster we hadn't been on. I told him that would give us something to come back for.

We drove back towards L.A. through Friday evening rush hour traffic, but I didn't really mind it that much. We didn't have to be anywhere in a hurry. We did stop in Westwood Village, where Pat and I went nearly every weekend for dinner and a movie when we lived in the area. Ben and I had In-N-Out Burgers for dinner, and then bought some Diddy Reese cookies (cheap but absolutely delicious) to bring home for Pat (and ourselves). We got to the Rodeway Inn near the airport in time to hit the sack early because we had to get up before dawn to try to catch the first flight home in the morning.

My flight benefits expire at the end of June this year. That is another reason I wanted to make this trip, and I'm very happy that I did. I can't say for sure whether Ben and I bonded any more than before in just that one day, but it certainly didn't hurt, and we both had a lot of fun. Maybe it will be a day that will be a fond memory for both of us in the years to come. I'm fairly sure that it will be for me.

Catching cards to chase the blues

I didn't have the most pleasant day today. Work was a bit sluggish; it felt like I was treading water most of the day, trying to get various things done but not making much progress on any of them. After work, I taught the children's tae kwon do class that I teach every Tuesday, and stumbled around in that. I called out the wrong techniques a couple of times, and counted off the moves incorrectly in a form that I was trying to teach - which most of the kids in the class reminded me of quite loudly. When I left that class, I felt like I had lost a bit of the respect of many of the students. I was in a funk when I finally got home.

Nothing of interest in the TV Guide. A chapter or two of the novel I am in the middle of didn't do much to keep me enthralled. I decided to play some Internet poker to kill time until lights out.

I have been playing poker on line for several months now. I started last year when some friends talked about it on a message board that I visit from time to time. I played poker in my college dorm back in my youth, rather poorly. I remember running to the local supermarket once to cash a check so I could have a few more bucks to play with after losing in a game that night. Fortunately that check was only for about $7.00. After that, I only played sporadically until last year. When I found out that there are Internet poker sites where one can play the game with fake money against real people, I thought, "What a cool idea. I can practice my skills and learn more about how to play, especially this weird game called Texas Hold 'Em." Hold 'Em is the most popular form of poker today, at least among casinos and professional players and the online poker community. I won't go into the specifics of it here; there are plenty of sites where you can find out how to play it, what the rules are, etc. There are also dozens if not hundreds of books about Hold 'Em and poker in general on the market. I own and have read a number of them, and they can be quite informative and often entertaining to boot. I know they have helped me improve my play.

Anyway, I signed on to Pokerroom.com tonight to play in a single table tournament. I thought I would take a gamble and get into a higher stakes game than I usually enter. Maybe I was trying to goose myself out of my dark mood by going a little further out on the limb than normal for me. Of course, I'm still only playing with cyberbucks, so it's not as if I'm risking anything that matters, but it's the thought that counts. I "bought" into a $500 + 50 (the amount of money you have to pay to enter) table; I typically play in $100 + 10 games. I have played in single table tournaments many times, although I'm sure there are players who are much more dedicated (addicted?) than I am and play much more often. Still, I know some of the patterns of play at these tourneys, and I can usually last until the most of the starting players have been busted out. Tonight I was playing pretty well, and also getting some good cards. To make a long story short, I won the table, enriching my play money account by $2,500. I felt almost as good when I finished in first place at that table as I would have if I had won 2,500 real dollars. Now, I'm not going to go empty my savings account and catch the next flight to Vegas to hit the poker rooms. But it's a nice little morale booster to have that small success at the end of what was otherwise a downer of a day.

So who out there wants to play some online poker sometime? Let me know and we'll get a game together.

Choices, choices

It's a Saturday morning and I am sitting at my computer as usual, before my wife and son get up. I log on weekend mornings for a few reasons. A good friend and I often IM at this time, if we are both on line (we are chatting as I type this). I'll use the quiet time to catch up on e-mails and reading things on line, like friends' blogs or news about my various interests. I'll pay bills if I have any coming due - on line banking is a great convenience, let me tell you.

So now that I have started this blog, I may do some of my blogging at this time too. But the problem is, how do I decide what to write about? Sometimes I can't think of anything that I think would be worth posting. Other times I have a million ideas in my head competing for their space here. What to choose, what to choose? Today, I choose to write about the fact that I find it hard to choose what to write about.

I have lots of interests. I study martial arts. I act in community theater. I'm a big fan of the band Yes, and other progressive rock artists. I love science fiction in all media: books, movies, TV, etc. I love Monty Python and that style of humor. I like baseball. I love to travel. I could write about any or all of those things. I could write about my everyday life, or my philosophies, or I could make something up that has no basis in reality. I think I will eventually write about all of those things, assuming that I don't get sick of this blogging thing, and that everyone who comes by here doesn't tell me to please shut up.

For the moment, I think I will just sign off. I have things to do that require my attention. But I'll be back. Now that I have posted the list of things I might write about, I can refer back to it to remind me, and find some inspiration when I need it. On the other hand, I just might come up with something that isn't on the list. I will try not to be too predictable.

Yeah, this was a boring post. But get used to it; there may well be more.

Read this (other) blog

One reason I decided to go ahead and start my own blog is my enjoyment of reading Wil Wheaton's blog. In case the name isn't instantly familiar, Wil played "Wesley Crusher" on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and "Gordie" in the film Stand By Me, among many other roles. Wil has had a blog going for several years now, and I have become hooked on his writing. He has a very readable style, quite literate, laced with plenty of humor, but most importantly, brimming with honesty and candor. He has gone through a lot in his life and career, and has shared a great deal of his struggles and triumphs with the readers of his website. The popularity of his blog helped lead him to publish two books, which are collections of his writings on the blog. The two books, Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek, are fantastic reads IMO. They are published by O'Reilly and are available wherever fine books are sold, as well as at the usual spots. Get them, now.

Anyhow, Wil's blog entry dated February 7, 2005 is one of my favorite ever. I won't tell you about it; you need to read it for yourself. Go here:

http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/001787.php

After you have read that one, scroll through some of his other recent entries, or take a browse through his archives. I'm betting you will enjoy the read.

Testing, testing..... is this thing on?

OK. I started a blog. I did it because I wanted to post a comment in a friend's blog. Now I have one of my own. I suppose maybe someday I will post something interesting in here, but don't hold your breath too long.

I've thought before about starting a blog of my own, but never took the time to do it. Maybe I'll make some use of this thing; many's the time when I've said to myself that I should write down some of my thoughts, whether anyone else ever reads them or not. At the least, it could be a place to practice stringing words together to see if they make sense.

I guess I'd better go post that comment, if I can remember what I was going to say.