Wolf
What Is Your Animal Personality?
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January 31, 2003
Someday, I'd like to meet an end-user who knows the good balance point between planning and spontaneous suggestions...
Here's this week's Friday Five...
Here's this week's Friday Five...
- As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why?
Batman. I'm a gadget-whore. - What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?
I don't remember much of what I wanted. I know that Lite-Brite didn't really float my boat, and while I thought the Big Wheel was pretty cool, it wasn't a particularly fervent want. - What's the furthest from home you've been?
Taipei, Taiwan, which was my original home. - What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet?
Either another language... French, perhaps, ASL, maybe Ruby; or how to cook well. - What are your plans for the weekend?
Reading Genome by Matt Ridley for my upcoming book club meeting, playing poker, and playing Soul Calibur II at Andretti Speed Lab.
Somewhere, I'll catch up more on TiVo, as well...
January 30, 2003
Five First Lines and a Last line.
Here's some first lines of favorite books/stories. Extra credit for guessing the works:
Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet.
By my bed, gathering a little dust now, I'm afraid, is a small paperback book. I've kept it there ever since it was published four or five years ago, and it's become one of those things in my apartment that I see every day without seeing anymore.
The order to abandon ship was given at 5 P.M. For most of the men, however, no order was needed because by then everybody knew that the ship was done and that it was time to give up trying to save her.
This is true. Ten years ago, give or take a year, I found myself on an enforced stopover in Los Angeles, a long way from home.
In the hospital of the orphanage--the boys' division at St. Cloud's, Maine--two nurses were in charge of naming the new babies and checking that their little penises were healing from the obligatory circumcision.
The last line, from one of the previously quoted books:
Some said that Sørlle turned away and wept.
Once again, I've somehow stayed up until 2:00 AM. This time I was ego surfing my old alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer posts, and a particularly long thread about how "The Body" just wasn't that great an episode--Joss could have done so much more with it. He painted a portrait of grief, and while the portrait was emotionally moving, he should have filmed an hour-long drama about it.
Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet.
By my bed, gathering a little dust now, I'm afraid, is a small paperback book. I've kept it there ever since it was published four or five years ago, and it's become one of those things in my apartment that I see every day without seeing anymore.
The order to abandon ship was given at 5 P.M. For most of the men, however, no order was needed because by then everybody knew that the ship was done and that it was time to give up trying to save her.
This is true. Ten years ago, give or take a year, I found myself on an enforced stopover in Los Angeles, a long way from home.
In the hospital of the orphanage--the boys' division at St. Cloud's, Maine--two nurses were in charge of naming the new babies and checking that their little penises were healing from the obligatory circumcision.
The last line, from one of the previously quoted books:
Some said that Sørlle turned away and wept.
Once again, I've somehow stayed up until 2:00 AM. This time I was ego surfing my old alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer posts, and a particularly long thread about how "The Body" just wasn't that great an episode--Joss could have done so much more with it. He painted a portrait of grief, and while the portrait was emotionally moving, he should have filmed an hour-long drama about it.
January 29, 2003
January 27, 2003
Weekend Recap
Had a fun enough weekend. Stayed in most of Friday night, feeling a bit anti-social, and just caught up on the copious amount of television that the TiVo has racked up. The main problem lately is that Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming now shows Samurai Jack, Inu-Yasha, and Futurama five nights a week. I've pretty much seen all of the Samurai Jacks, but I think there might be one or two episodes that I've missed.
Aside from cartoons, there was an episode of Buffy, John Doe, and Fastlane. It's rather shocking to me that Rob doesn't like Fastlane...I mean, last week's episode features an intra-hot-tub kiss between Tiffani Thiessen and Jaime Pressly--what's not to like??
After brunch on Saturday, I got the oil changed in the Pathfinder, and the beast is running far better now. It's no longer doing the hiccuping thing at 70-80 mph/3K rpm. I had gone about 4000 miles before changing the oil, so I guess this new 'high-mileage vehicle' oil might just be a lousy euphemism for 'crappy' oil.
Saturday night, I went with Gene to the Television Preview thing. We got to see a chopped-up pilot for a reincarnation-romance-(melo)drama called Soulmates. It was mildly interesting, only because I'd never seen a pilot in that sort of user-panel setting. They'd edited the hell out of it so the plotline was largely undiscernable, and the lead actress' acting was a bit too histrionic.
After watching another pilot, Gene and I realized that the entire exercise was merely to gauge our reactions to the commercials and proto-commercials that they inserted into the programs. I feel dumber having sat there for two and a half hours.
Luckily, we played poker afterwards.
Ghetto poker was somewhat kind to me--I ended up exactly twenty dollars up. We first played a ten-dollar-entry No-Limit Hold 'Em tournament. Starting with fourteen players, we split into two tables and I ended up sitting with, Patty, , Earnie, Blake, and Runa. I played tightly for most of the game, but was knocked out after Runa, Earnie, and Jeech. Both Blake and Patty had amassed an enormous chip lead playing some pretty gutsy (read: amateur) hands. Earnie went out after he went all in with a pair of cowboys, with sixes on the board, and Patty's pair of eights caught an eight on the river.
I went heads-up with Blake on a hand where it looked like the board was going nowhere. With J3 suited and two spades on the board, I raised trying to bluff Blake out. I don't recall the board exactly, but I seem to recall he was chasing a nonexistent straight, but he wasn't betting it up too much. When nothing came out of the river, I ended up with a pair of threes, bet it up, and he had rivered a pair of sixes. Who chases that??
My final hand of the tournament was rather entertaining--I just had 125 in chips, and I went all-in with a T6 unsuited (ten of clubs, six of diamonds), because otherwise the blinds would have killed my dwindling stack. Apart from myself, Jason and Blake fought with their cards to see a club four-flush come on the board. Right before the turn, Jeech, who's dealing, peeks at the next four cards (the turn, river, and burn cards) and reaches over and peeks at mine. From there, I figured that I had the flush--but would it be good enough?
Blake folds after Jason's bet on the river, and we both reveal our cards. I have the AT flush. Jason...has a pair of jacks, giving him the AJ flush.
Jackass... :)
From there, we go on to play our regular games. One of the games featured five players (Jeech,, Runa, Mark, and myself) playing Screwy Louie, and I had the nut low. Runa and Mark, however, are betting it up big time, both showing pretty good lows. On third street, Runa's showing 542, Mark: 642,and I've got 62A. Jeech is showing Kings and Queens, and Nandu's got Jacks and Threes. Mark starts raising, and I figure the worst I can do is split the low two-ways with Mark. By this time, we've all started to just put eight dollars in the pot each time ($0.25-$2.00, max. three raises). Fourth street comes and Runa shows a three, as do I, and Mark shows his Ace. I knew I had it in the bag. It was a bit heart-breaking beating Runa and Mark like that. Earnie admitted later that he passed me an A3 and Mark a six.
The funniest hand of the night was Earnie and I going low with Runa and Nandu going high. Jeech and Nandu are duking it out, while I'm getting a bit wary of Earnie's 234 showing. I had passed him a six, so it's not out of the question for him to have a really good low. I, however, have the wheel. Nandu is showing three cards to a royal flush. Runa's got a pair of sevens. At this point I think to myself, Earnie's got the low, I can't beat him going low with the wheel, so I fold. Earnie just looks immensely relieved when I do so, and starts betting it up against the two players who look like their going high. Runa ends up with four sevens, and Nandu had A high (AKQJd, 3c). Just as Earnie's about to show his card, he says, "You're going to hate me." Knowing that I had a straight, I reply, "no, I'm not," and this goes back and forth a couple of times, until he shows his STRAIGHT TO THE SIX. "Actually, yes, I do hate you," I correct myself, and proceed to show my wheel, and hit him a couple of times in the shoulder. "All in good fun," I chuckle to him, and shake his hand. Both Nandu and Jeech were kinda humorously upset, given that Jeech folded a 9 high low hand, and Nandu could have taken the low with K high amongst the remaining players.
Sunday, we went to Andretti Speed Lab and rode around and played lots of video games. Soul Calibur II has been out for a while now, but I got a chance to see it for the first time at Andretti's. It's pretty cool, and there's a couple of different modes of play. I'm sure sometime later, Nandu and I will be heading back up there to continue our conquest games.
All in all, a pretty fun weekend. I'm horrendously sore from the driving about the track. I only managed to bump the barricades twice this session, but everytime is pretty jarring.
Oh, and I missed a good number of the commercials from the Super Bowl, while eating at Outback following Andretti's. I kinda wanted to see the Hulk, X-men 2, and Matrix previews, but, hey, I'll see them eventually.
I'm pretty glad about the Bucs winning their first championship. The good thing about the Bucs winning, though, is that this guy gets to lose again. Re-smoted.
Aside from cartoons, there was an episode of Buffy, John Doe, and Fastlane. It's rather shocking to me that Rob doesn't like Fastlane...I mean, last week's episode features an intra-hot-tub kiss between Tiffani Thiessen and Jaime Pressly--what's not to like??
After brunch on Saturday, I got the oil changed in the Pathfinder, and the beast is running far better now. It's no longer doing the hiccuping thing at 70-80 mph/3K rpm. I had gone about 4000 miles before changing the oil, so I guess this new 'high-mileage vehicle' oil might just be a lousy euphemism for 'crappy' oil.
Saturday night, I went with Gene to the Television Preview thing. We got to see a chopped-up pilot for a reincarnation-romance-(melo)drama called Soulmates. It was mildly interesting, only because I'd never seen a pilot in that sort of user-panel setting. They'd edited the hell out of it so the plotline was largely undiscernable, and the lead actress' acting was a bit too histrionic.
After watching another pilot, Gene and I realized that the entire exercise was merely to gauge our reactions to the commercials and proto-commercials that they inserted into the programs. I feel dumber having sat there for two and a half hours.
Ghetto poker was somewhat kind to me--I ended up exactly twenty dollars up. We first played a ten-dollar-entry No-Limit Hold 'Em tournament. Starting with fourteen players, we split into two tables and I ended up sitting with
I went heads-up with Blake on a hand where it looked like the board was going nowhere. With J3 suited and two spades on the board, I raised trying to bluff Blake out. I don't recall the board exactly, but I seem to recall he was chasing a nonexistent straight, but he wasn't betting it up too much. When nothing came out of the river, I ended up with a pair of threes, bet it up, and he had rivered a pair of sixes. Who chases that??
My final hand of the tournament was rather entertaining--I just had 125 in chips, and I went all-in with a T6 unsuited (ten of clubs, six of diamonds), because otherwise the blinds would have killed my dwindling stack. Apart from myself, Jason and Blake fought with their cards to see a club four-flush come on the board. Right before the turn, Jeech, who's dealing, peeks at the next four cards (the turn, river, and burn cards) and reaches over and peeks at mine. From there, I figured that I had the flush--but would it be good enough?
Blake folds after Jason's bet on the river, and we both reveal our cards. I have the AT flush. Jason...has a pair of jacks, giving him the AJ flush.
Jackass... :)
From there, we go on to play our regular games. One of the games featured five players (Jeech,
The funniest hand of the night was Earnie and I going low with Runa and Nandu going high. Jeech and Nandu are duking it out, while I'm getting a bit wary of Earnie's 234 showing. I had passed him a six, so it's not out of the question for him to have a really good low. I, however, have the wheel. Nandu is showing three cards to a royal flush. Runa's got a pair of sevens. At this point I think to myself, Earnie's got the low, I can't beat him going low with the wheel, so I fold. Earnie just looks immensely relieved when I do so, and starts betting it up against the two players who look like their going high. Runa ends up with four sevens, and Nandu had A high (AKQJd, 3c). Just as Earnie's about to show his card, he says, "You're going to hate me." Knowing that I had a straight, I reply, "no, I'm not," and this goes back and forth a couple of times, until he shows his STRAIGHT TO THE SIX. "Actually, yes, I do hate you," I correct myself, and proceed to show my wheel, and hit him a couple of times in the shoulder. "All in good fun," I chuckle to him, and shake his hand. Both Nandu and Jeech were kinda humorously upset, given that Jeech folded a 9 high low hand, and Nandu could have taken the low with K high amongst the remaining players.
Sunday, we went to Andretti Speed Lab and rode around and played lots of video games. Soul Calibur II has been out for a while now, but I got a chance to see it for the first time at Andretti's. It's pretty cool, and there's a couple of different modes of play. I'm sure sometime later, Nandu and I will be heading back up there to continue our conquest games.
All in all, a pretty fun weekend. I'm horrendously sore from the driving about the track. I only managed to bump the barricades twice this session, but everytime is pretty jarring.
Oh, and I missed a good number of the commercials from the Super Bowl, while eating at Outback following Andretti's. I kinda wanted to see the Hulk, X-men 2, and Matrix previews, but, hey, I'll see them eventually.
I'm pretty glad about the Bucs winning their first championship. The good thing about the Bucs winning, though, is that this guy gets to lose again. Re-smoted.
January 24, 2003
The Friday Five
The Friday Five
- What is one thing you don't like about your body?
Other than the proliferation of acne that I've had for too long, I'm getting a bit tubby. - What are two things you love about your body?
Despite the general feeling that most people are in some way bigger than me, I've found that I'm taller than the average person.
The hollows of my larynx have caught the ear of a lot of people as well. - What are three things you want to change about your home?
I would like to- Replace the hardwoods with ones that aren't so warped--maybe go a bit darker with the color, as well,
- Paint the walls something less neutral, and
- Replace the windows that face the parking lot with the multimedia windows I read about on Slashdot which can opaque themselves at the touch of a switch to be projector screens/speakers.
- Replace the hardwoods with ones that aren't so warped--maybe go a bit darker with the color, as well,
- What are four books you want to read this year?
At the very least:
Bringing Down the House, Ben Mezrich.
Super-System, Doyle Brunson.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt.
American Normal, Lawrence Osbourne. - What are five promises you have kept to yourself?
Hrmm... Other than my own insistence to get out of Miami and my parents' house (a la Less Than Jake's "Al's War"), I've never really made promises to myself--it keeps my expectations of low.
January 23, 2003
Uhh... ok.
I take too many quizzes.
Which smiley are you?
 I hate you. You hate me. Get a dog so it can just shit all over your floor. Then kick it in the face. I'll leave it at that. |
Which smiley are you?
I've got little cuts everywhere. The obvious one is the small cut on my bottom lip, from the excessive dryness, as well as a small paper-cut-like slice on the side of the middle finger of my right hand, where I tried to dig some more hair gel from a near-empty bottle. There's a small cut on the first knuckle of the same finger, though, and I can't fathom where it came from.
At the moment, I'm torn between working on this entry, working on porting the Bronze Archives to Livejournal, and reading Bringing Down the House. Pondering that just now, I just remembered that I also bought some more comic books today.
Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today did. I had an ass of a time trying to debug the system that we're working on, especially because of a previous request that our client made. He had wanted a particular menu item in our product to behave differently depending on the context in which it was called. While that might make sense for some applications, this was an Invoice Review screen. I had to wade through a library of code to ultimately realize that there was some vestigial calls which were screwing up the system.
I'm going to read some comics now.
At the moment, I'm torn between working on this entry, working on porting the Bronze Archives to Livejournal, and reading Bringing Down the House. Pondering that just now, I just remembered that I also bought some more comic books today.
Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today did. I had an ass of a time trying to debug the system that we're working on, especially because of a previous request that our client made. He had wanted a particular menu item in our product to behave differently depending on the context in which it was called. While that might make sense for some applications, this was an Invoice Review screen. I had to wade through a library of code to ultimately realize that there was some vestigial calls which were screwing up the system.
I'm going to read some comics now.
January 22, 2003
More Musings
You are orange. You are emotional. Outside, you are bitter and stubborn, inside you are hopeful, hoping someone will come save you from the bitterness of your own mind. You constantly feel the need to prove yourself, and you look up to those who can make their dreams happen. You are broken, but not beyond repair like maroon.
What inner color are you?
Quiz by Shirono
Hmm... So I guess I'm yellow on the outside and orange on the inside...
In an effort to get fit, I'm convinced that all of my friends need to pool their monies to buy me this. It's only 1500 dollars at the moment. There's another one on sale in case the bidding goes too high. And you're all welcome to use it at anytime (for a quarter a ride--hey, that's probably 75 cents cheaper than you'd find it anywhere else).
January 21, 2003
When you laugh the world laughs with you...
The Universality of Experience really amazes me sometimes.
Arrgh. It's time to exercise.
Ok. It's time to start exercising. My gut is now protruding beyond the level where my pecs jut out to. I'm looking rotund even while wearing black.
Sigh.
Sigh.
January 20, 2003
A Bronze VIP Poll...
In case some of you didn't know, I have a website devoted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you don't know what this is about, ignore this.
In case you're not an LJ user, the questions I posed involved porting the new VIP Archives into LiveJournal format. The primary changes would be the address would be simpler, and you may be able to comment and discuss the posts in question. Do you think this would be a desirable feature to the VIP Archives?
If you have any suggestions, you can post an anonymous comment...
In case you're not an LJ user, the questions I posed involved porting the new VIP Archives into LiveJournal format. The primary changes would be the address would be simpler, and you may be able to comment and discuss the posts in question. Do you think this would be a desirable feature to the VIP Archives?
If you have any suggestions, you can post an anonymous comment...
A quiz I found trolling for LJ memes....
Well, writing the 100 things meme put me in a confessional sort of mood so I went trolling for more stuff to write. I guess I'm just an LJ whore.
- What's the first thing you remember wanting to be when you grew up?
A hotel manager. - Describe a dream you remember. The first one that comes to mind.
The dreams that I mostly remember are the ones where I've found something of incredible value to me, say like, a girlfriend (or perhaps ex-girlfriend). Invariably, though, I'll wake up and realize it was just a dream; I'll then spend the rest of the morning trying to will myself back to the dream to somehow pull whatever or whomever from the dream to my reality. - What book are you reading?
Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich - What colour are your sheets? Curtains?
Sheets: Burgundy, with a disintegrating black comforter which I've had since my freshman year of college.
Curtains: Some Burgundy, some a light olive-toned green.
- What song is in your head right now?
"Proud of Your Boy," Ashman & Mencken - Waitaminnit... Where are you?
In bed. - I am afraid of...:
Being alone. - Your day job/dream job:
Day job: Software consultant.
Dream job: Writer/some other creative role. - What movie have you seen the most times?
While Star Wars is probably up there, Jerry and I memorized all of the dialogue to Superman when we were younger. - One question for Jesus, or Buddha or Muhammed, etc:
I'd rather figure it out on my own... - The guilty pleasure you'd really rather not admit to here:
I spend an inordinate amount of time playing games with the computer which I could be playing with a wealth of actual opponents, like Chess or Gin. - Comfort food of choice:
Soup. "Mmm...Noodle Soup." - What's the last video you rented?
Minority Report on DVD. - Who do people say you look like?
About a billion other Chinese people...?
Edit: Actually, a bum once thought I looked like Elvis. Go figure. - What's the bane of your existence?
Poor drivers. - What's the last thing you found on the ground and picked up?
A dime. Everytime I see a dime on the ground, I think of Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes saying, "WOW! A Dime!" - A writer worth reading:
Rumiko Takahashi - Where would you like to grow old?
I'm not sure...California? Colorado? - A word of wisdom:
Rest... - The question you get asked ALL THE TIME!!!:
"What?!" - When was your last hospital visit?
Several months ago, a kitten crawled into my engine block, and I unwittingly started my car. In trying to get a hold of the kitten so I could take it to a vet, it bit me, and I had to go to the Emergency Room for Rabies shots. - The last thing you said out loud:
"See y'all later." - Current clothing:
Two t-shirts, layered; boxers and sweatpants--my pajamas. - Your favourite season:
Winter, although Fall is definitely getting better in my eyes in a locale where it's not perennially 85 degrees. - In my last lifetime I was probably...
A womanizer.
January 19, 2003
As near as I can approximate, what I'd look like as a South Park character. Of course, there's no Chinese eyes available...
APA Eight Ball, Part Deux
As I mentioned last Sunday, despite our losses last weekend to the Hammerheads (Troy Freeman's team out of Maggie's in Toco Hills), our first place status in the Midtown division enabled us to continue playing this weekend. And this time, it sucked considerably less.
We made it past two further rounds, and despite our loss in the third round today, we're qualified for the city finals in June. Should we maintain solid play throughout this session, we continue to have a chance to win a trip to Vegas.
That's all for now. I'm horrendously tired. Thanks to a shower and soft bedclothes, I'm no longer feeling the wretchedness of spending about 14 hours at Cue's II.
We made it past two further rounds, and despite our loss in the third round today, we're qualified for the city finals in June. Should we maintain solid play throughout this session, we continue to have a chance to win a trip to Vegas.
That's all for now. I'm horrendously tired. Thanks to a shower and soft bedclothes, I'm no longer feeling the wretchedness of spending about 14 hours at Cue's II.
January 17, 2003
Transcriptions, or Three Middles and An Ending.
I remember the book I once loaned to her. She had perfumed each page with her scent, the luxuriant sweetness permeating each letter. I still breathe it in once in a while, though her aroma has long since faded from the binding, trying to taste a trace of those tiny wisps of nostalgia and melancholy.
. . . It had been nearly two years since he last saw her. He still recalled the long mornings growing into long afternoons spent in bed with her while the day's tasks went unheeded and forgotten. They would make love and laughter, watching the shadows shrink and grow long on their bodies. He would find himself bold with her soft embraces, attacking her lips and mouth while she laughed at his appetite for her.
It had come as quite a shock to him when she had decided to break off their relationship. Granted, they were never much of a match together--practically nothing in common, often bickering over the most trivial things. But they did have "chemistry," which, in retrospect, was just a socially-acceptable euphemism for, "sexually compatible." Months later, after sharing his bed with only cold and time, he'd come to this realization--that the furor of their relationship was far more about sex than about love.
Afterwards, he stumbled out of the bed, taking care not to disturb her slumbering. Out of habit he went into her bathroom, undressed and showered, though this time he took special care to scrub himself a little too throughly.
After scrubbing, he stood motionless under the stream for some time, noticing the echo of the water on the tiles--a sound he'd hardly paid attention to in its faint volume. He would inch the faucet ever so slowly to the left each time he felt the temperature retreat. By the time he stepped out from under the water, the faucet was turned directly to the left, pointing at the imprinted 'H.' As he dried himself, the towel irritated his raw skin.
. . . It had been nearly two years since he last saw her. He still recalled the long mornings growing into long afternoons spent in bed with her while the day's tasks went unheeded and forgotten. They would make love and laughter, watching the shadows shrink and grow long on their bodies. He would find himself bold with her soft embraces, attacking her lips and mouth while she laughed at his appetite for her.
It had come as quite a shock to him when she had decided to break off their relationship. Granted, they were never much of a match together--practically nothing in common, often bickering over the most trivial things. But they did have "chemistry," which, in retrospect, was just a socially-acceptable euphemism for, "sexually compatible." Months later, after sharing his bed with only cold and time, he'd come to this realization--that the furor of their relationship was far more about sex than about love.
Afterwards, he stumbled out of the bed, taking care not to disturb her slumbering. Out of habit he went into her bathroom, undressed and showered, though this time he took special care to scrub himself a little too throughly.
After scrubbing, he stood motionless under the stream for some time, noticing the echo of the water on the tiles--a sound he'd hardly paid attention to in its faint volume. He would inch the faucet ever so slowly to the left each time he felt the temperature retreat. By the time he stepped out from under the water, the faucet was turned directly to the left, pointing at the imprinted 'H.' As he dried himself, the towel irritated his raw skin.
January 16, 2003
100 Things
I found this 100 Things meme mentioned on 's friend page, and I thought I'd try my hand at it. Heavens, it was a pain in the ass. Like just about everyone else that has done this, I need to add the disclaimer that some of these entries will more than likely qualify as TMI...
100 Things about that yellow bastard
It's taken me about four days to complete this, sometimes staying up past 2:00 AM. I've mentioned Rose Marie in ten entries, Lee in five, Marcia in three, Stacey in four, and the woman of my dreams in three. I have three different regrets. I talk about high school in ten entries, and college/grad school in 8. I'm tired now.
- Sometime when I was in middle school/junior high, I visited my father in Taiwan. He had moved there to try to make a living for his family, which was quite difficult on my mother, who opted to stay behind and continue raising my brother and me in Florida. Part of me was ok with his departure, as he was the disciplinarian of my family.
- My ex-girlfriend, Marcia, used to hit me until she got her way.
- While visiting my father in Taiwan, I met my great uncle, and sometime after that meeting my father took me aside and told me that I should never grow a beard or moustache. My great uncle, he explained, had skills as a fortune teller, with face-reading as a particular specialty. He felt my complexion and attributes were extremely dark; any facial hair would darken them further and give me a high propensity for murder.
- One day, after coming home from high school, in a fervent stupor from having to urinate, I rushed into my house, and unwittingly pissed in the kitchen sink.
- When I was quite young, my tooth decay/cavity situation got to be so bad that I had to have seven different crowns placed on key teeth. To do this I seem to recall that I had to actually be put under anaesthesia.
- For approximately six to seven years, I played the viola as a soloist, as part of a string quartet, and as a member of various orchestra. Given the relative scarcity of viola players, I rose to first chair in the junior orchestra for the Greater Miami Youth Symphony, the GMYS itself, and my high school orchestra.
- For all the strict training that I had learning the viola, I honestly cannot read music. I can see the notes, but somehow, I can't parse the timing and beat patterns in my head. For some reason, it doesn't translate very well. It's only after hearing the music for a while that I can in essence memorize the tune and timing.
- When I was in college, even while I was dating Rose Marie, I constantly said, "I'm not getting married until I'm thirty...then I start looking."
- I'm not sure if I've started looking early or not.
- In middle school, I set the goal of attending Cornell and majoring in Hotel Management.
- In high school, I set the goal of attending the University of Florida and majoring in English.
- In grad school, I learned that English majors can be really, really pretentious.
- Following grad school, I remembered that I could be really, really pretentious sometimes.
- My first kiss was with a classmate named Kris, while playing Truth-or-Dare sometime in either the fifth or sixth grade. I recall that, like David Mura's Spin-the-Bottle experience, Kris had really no desire to kiss me. She was sitting on the floor against a wall, and I was standing over her, with the both of us uttering protests to whoever had issued the dare. Finally, I quickly leaned down and pecked her lips, but hard enough to elicit some pain and shock from jamming our teeth together.
- I wonder, in retrospect, if that was her first kiss, as well...
- I have been sexually intimate with five women. Of those five, at least three have lesbian/bisexual tendencies. Several people have told me the rumor that one more is completely out of the closet. I don't know what exactly this says about my taste in females.
- One of my most shameful memories was the slight twinge of hope that Rose Marie and I would get back together after I learned that her husband, Scott, had died of heart failure.
- One of my biggest regrets is not taking Kristen up on her offer to accompany her to a party. We had met briefly at a condo association party, where we hit it off, talked and laughed for a bit. When she invited me to join her to a friend's birthday party, I froze, and didn't really speak another word as someone else drew her attention.
- I'd like a tattoo. What I'd like it to be is in a decisional limbo.
- Back in high school, up until about the midway point of my senior year, I had a bit of a mullet. It wasn't like Billy Ray Cyrus or anything, just slightly long in the back.
- I never attended my senior prom. I pretentiously felt like protesting the entire affair, and likely robbed myself (or at least Rose Marie) of a key rite of passage for some idiotic principles that I've long since forgotten.
- I did attend the prom my junior year, with Kyra, who was then a senior. On our way home, we made out in the back of the limo. Perhaps it was because I knew Kyra would be leaving for college soon, but I had flight reaction amidst our make-out session, and hurriedly excused myself from her arms once the limo had reached her house.
- Most of the bad poetry and English assignments I wrote in high school were mildly plagiarized from books and comic books that I'd been reading at the time.
- The first time I told Rose Marie I loved her was atop the Sears Tower.
- In the first stage of my relationship with Lee, she was a bit hesitant to get sexual, and I told her that our relationship was not about sex. In the last stages of our relationship, I would renege on that assessment.
- I've made a cursory study of Tantra.
- I've often described myself as a complacent hypochondriac. The most prominent example of my complacency is the strange, recurrent lump in the back of my throat that I'm convinced is throat cancer (a self-diagnosis after remembering The Doctor with William Hurt and Elizabeth Perkins). I've had it for years, and I've only tried to see a doctor (a campus infirmary doctor) about it once.
- If somehow given the fantastic opportunity, I would trade my life for Scott's, so that Emma would know her father.
- I tend to fall in love extremely easily.
- I've actually met The Woman of My Dreams. When I told her that I was in love with her, she replied, "I'm sorry."
- I'm pretty horrible at keeping in touch with old friends. I've found that technology has helped a bit in this regard--with Instant Messenger and LiveJournal, but somehow these tools also aid my complacency.
- In a loose sense of the word, I've stalked three people in my life. At around 4 to 5 A.M., I wandered about the Graham Area dorms at the University of Florida, hoping to catch some sign of Rose Marie in her dorm room, after I saw her holding hands with Scott. I looked up Stacey's address, and drove around her gated community, following my breakup with Rose Marie. And I find myself drawn to look at Kristen's balcony everytime I walk by to get my mail.
- The longest relationship I've had lasted five years.
- Following my father's move to Taiwan, I essentially stopped playing the viola with any sort of conviction. Without my father's strict insistence that I practice and play, I would eventually find playing the instrument uninteresting.
- In my senior year, I represented my high school in the Academic Decathlon (a geek sort of competition) with a handful of fellow students. On the road trip up to the North/Central Florida competition site, I developed feelings for Stacey, a close friend who apparently harbored feelings for me. At the time, however, I was seeing Rose Marie. The entire situation would progress throughout my last year of high school and culminate my freshman year in college, with Rose Marie finding some letters from Stacey, and sending my glasses flying across the brick stairway of Graham Area Pool.
- Towards the end of my freshman year at UF, I voluntarily cut off all contact with Stacey in order to save my relationship with Rose Marie.
- On a somewhat related note, I have never had any form of sexual contact (not even a single kiss) with Stacey.
- I've found myself to be an extremely giving person, and will often sacrifice my own desires to meet those of my friends. I know some of my friends tend to take advantage of me because of this.
- Blame it on Dave McKean and the Vertigo Tarot, but my favorite tarot card is the Five of Cups.
- I actually enjoyed Titanic when it first came out and saw it three times in the theaters. I can only cringe now when I watch it.
- In 1995 or 1996, I wrote Abraham following my breakup with Rose Marie. Part of me is convinced that I will never write anything as good again.
- In high school, Walter's garage band Sacrificial Poultry recruited me as a singer following the departure of their two former frontmen. I would later go on to form Bizarro in Gainesville with our drummer, Brian. I never played a show with Bizarro, however; my return to Miami over the summer saw the band continue without me.
- I almost failed out of the accounting program in my second year of college. Until a former high school teacher changed a dual-enrollment grade of mine from a B to an A, I was in danger of losing my scholarship.
- Two semesters after that, I switched my major to Computer and Information Science.
- Having searched on Google for "100 Things Meme," I realize that I'm writing too much for this damn thing.
- I know of at least three other people with the name James Hsiao--one attended the University of Florida at the same time I did, and he encountered numerous problems with my peers from the Inter-Residence Hall Association (i.e. Dorm Student Gov't). He also happened to call my mother to try and get a scholarship from the Chinese woman's group she was president of at the time. Another waits tables at a local Atlanta Chinese restaurant. Another plays (or has played) volleyball at M.I.T.
- I've never been to Europe, and regret not going in the nine months I had free after I got laid off from my former job.
- Out of all my fingers, my left thumb is the only one that's double-jointed. I think I made it that way by pulling back on my left thumb until something clicked. I did this when I was quite young.
- I've only literally "asked someone out on a date" once. She was a waitress (The Devil!) who kept hounding me to buy dinner from her. I replied, "So how about instead of buying dinner from you, I'll buy dinner for you?"
- She would stand me up on that dinner...twice.
- I've fallen ass-backwards into just about every other relationship that I've had.
- I don't smoke, and I really can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke.
- My favorite hang-out, DuPree's Tavern, is a smoke-laden pool hall.
- I advocate Linux use, but run Windows 98 at home.
- I have a mild fear of heights.
- I've been bungee jumping twice.
- My sport of choice is rock climbing.
- For some reason, in the past year, I've made the choice to replace the strength-training workout of rock climbing with the carcinogenic-fog, coughing-muscle training of playing pool at DuPree's.
- The shortest relationship I've ever had spanned 1.5 months. The second shortest, nine months.
- My favorite meal by far is breakfast; so much so that I tend to eat it for brunch, lunch, and dinner as well.
- I have a Master's Degree in Computer Science, although I think my thesis is a bit of a farce. I have discovered, however, that Creative Commons is using a system not unlike the one I described in my thesis for intellectual property rights tracking.
- I don't use deodorant. I just don't perspire that much.
- I do use a great many breath mints.
- The woman of my dreams is now married to someone else.
- I have a fierce (and sometimes misguided) sense of loyalty to the people in my life.
- My loyalty, however, needs to be earned through respect, friendship, and/or competence.
- The Chief Technology Officer at my former job was not a recipient of said loyalty.
- In the course of my career, I have:
- Entered prospective teacher data into a mainframe.
- Created a database to track computers and software.
- Helped create a website bulletin board for construction projects.
- Prevented schoolchildren from surfing porn on school computers.
- Made it easier for people in Atlanta to see pandas.
- Made it easier for a liquor company to process orders.
- Entered prospective teacher data into a mainframe.
- Given that schoolchildren can download porn anytime they want on their home computers, my greatest contribution to humanity so far is a poem, and a colorful metaphor for bowel movements ("I need to go evict some tenants").
- I've only ever (somewhat) intentionally hit one woman, and that was Marcia. We were having a argument in the middle of the school, when the first bell between classes rang. When I insisted that I had to go to class, she refused to let me and clutched onto my arm. When I proceeded to walk forcefully toward class, she tripped me. I stumbled and fell, and got up, livid and seething, and in my rage, punched her in the arm. Despite some later cheers from one of my brother's classmates who really detested her, I still regret what I did.
- I consider the man who married the woman of my dreams a friend.
- I wonder, however, what he thought about the vibrator that an ex-girlfriend had left rolling around the floorboards of my Pathfinder, when a bunch of us piled into my truck to grab lunch.
- I can get pretty emotional when I'm not fully awake--I've often found my own tears flowing in that semi-conscious stupor over the most inane things, like the silly morals that Pokémon ends with on Saturday morning or Number Five racing off to perform some insipid act of movie heroism in Short Circuit 2.
- At a party following my junior year of high school, I saw my friends Walter and Marianna holding hands, and envied them their couplehood. As I sat next to Rose Marie, I placed my arm around her, and she let me. This is how I fell for her (the first time).
- From high school, I graduated fifth in a class of over one thousand.
- For a long time, I was extremely bitter about the way Rose Marie and I parted (she left me for Scott, a mutual friend). This was not helped when Lee, my next girlfriend, left me for Allen, my former roommate.
- I've lived so long with my bitterness, I cherish it sometimes.
- If given the choice between Buffy, Willow, or Cordelia, I would choose Willow.
- My favorite variation of poker is Omaha High-Low, followed by Screwy Louie, an Anaconda variant.
- I once lost four 9s to my friend Patty's four Aces. The next day I found forty dollars in a garbage can at Aprés Diem. A few months later, I lost four 3s to Patty--who again beat me with four Aces. The next day I found a job after nine months of unemployment. I consider this Karma.
- I watch about 17 hours of television a week.
- My TiVo, therefore, is one of my most precious possessions.
- There are actually two separate events which I could label "losing my virginity." An afternoon fumbling about with my first girlfriend while her parents were downstairs, where I didn't really feel anything, and an evening with my second girlfriend while my parents were away, where I felt everything. That's all I'm going to say.
- I have two premonitions of my death--the first is just the feeling that I'm driving through an intersection and someone runs a red light and broadsides me. The second is a recurrent dream where I'm rounding the bend on one of those really tall highway on ramps. My vehicle skids out, and breaks through the outside wall of the turn. Somehow I'm out of the vehicle, and am falling from the edge of the ramp. This particular scenario makes a lot more sense now that I know how to ride a motorcycle.
- Sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the motions of life.
- I started dating Marcia simply because she liked me, and I knew that I really had no chance with Paula, the younger sister of Marcia's best friend. Marcia actually set Paula up with my friend Paul, so she could have my undivided attention.
- Lee broke up with me on Valentine's Day.
- Following almost three to four years of skiing, I tried to take snowboarding lessons. After falling on my head a few times, I gave up on it, and went back to the skill where I could actually get some velocity with little effort.
- While at a party in Gainesville, a confused girl asked me, based on our behavior, if Lee was my girlfriend or Allen's girlfriend. I replied, "she's both." And now you've seen my prolific life as a polyamorist.
- Lee asked me once, hypothetically, what I thought of joining a threesome with her and Allen. At the time, I was so enamored of her, that I contemplated it for a moment. A brief moment.
- I sometimes browse the entries at Yahoo! Personals or Lavalife, and even go so far as to contemplate filling out an application.
- I never do.
- Part of me misses the college rite of going to a 24-hour supermarket with your dormmates and trolling the aisles for groceries, while avoiding the big, floor-polishing machine.
- About eighteen months ago, I decided that I wouldn't buy anymore corporate-produced CDs because I didn't like where the RIAA wanted to stick their invasive noses. Since then, I've purchased:
- Two Elvis CDs.
- VNV Nation - FuturePerfect
- Amélie Soundtrack
- Delerium - Poem
- Two Elvis CDs.
- I've had laser eye surgery, but not for vision correction. I had a retinal detachment, which I suspect I got from falling 12 feet off of a climbing wall onto my side. The doctor had to shoot the laser about 1500 times into my eye to spot weld the retina back into place.
- A week ago, I discovered a black splotch on my back slightly smaller than a dime. I'll eventually get it checked. Eventually.
- The first girl I had a serious crush on, Sandra Vargas, wouldn't give me the time of day.
- I started writing (really banal) poetry for the second girl I had a serious crush on, Melissa Goldstein.
- When I was living with my parents, I decided to get a cat when I moved into my own place. When I moved to Atlanta, I discovered I was allergic to cats.
- In my first two weeks of college, I gained forty pounds.
It's taken me about four days to complete this, sometimes staying up past 2:00 AM. I've mentioned Rose Marie in ten entries, Lee in five, Marcia in three, Stacey in four, and the woman of my dreams in three. I have three different regrets. I talk about high school in ten entries, and college/grad school in 8. I'm tired now.
January 15, 2003
January 13, 2003
On being a yellow bastard in the U.S...
How America Unsexes the Asian Male.
Today I found this article, originally published in August of 1996, reposted from the New York Times.
Today I found this article, originally published in August of 1996, reposted from the New York Times.
January 12, 2003
APA Eight Ball
I played in my first division championship for APA Eight Ball today. To quote Xander from Buffy, "on a scale from one to ten, it sucked."
Because the team we were playing couldn't make it at the scheduled time for the championship (3:00 P.M.), we, consummate sportsmen (err... sportspersons) that we are, opted to postpone the match until 8:00 tonight.
At about 10:45 this morning, gave me a call asking if I'd like to join him for a 1:00 lunch at Yen Jing, a Chinese-Korean restaurant close to Mr. Cue's II, the site of the tournament. I assented, despite my lack of sleep from stupidly going to bed the previous evening at about 5:00 A.M.
After watching some television, I met Jeech and Rob and Kym at the restaurant. Following lunch, we went ahead to Cue's II and met the rest of Rob's eight ball team. While they practiced and played, I basically hung about and socialized. I did play a bit on their practice table, but I didn't feel that I should take too much of a resource that they could potentially need.
Their team did extremely well, with Jim,, and winning in the first three matches. We were able to get out of there relatively early, and , , and I got some dinner at Chili's.
We returned to Cue's II at about 7:00 P.M., and had to wait until about 9:00 to get our match started. Our practice table bordered what basically amounts to the spectator's area for tournament matches, and my team spent the better part of five hours asking various bloated redneck warthogs to move their misshapen asses, so we could actually access the table to shoot.
While I wrestled with the immovably rude, played the first match and won. Runa and Ollie would fall to their opponents, however, and Nandu looked to me to break our slump. I played a relatively tight game against my opponent--playing defensive shots and offense-with-defensive-leaves if I felt less-than confident about a shot. My own offensive shooting was, excuse the pun, however, offensive; I just stunk up the place with some horrendously missed shots.
Case in point: I found it easy to take advantage of some weaknesses when my opponent, Gary, would leave me well. But the end result of the first two games was that I would barely, just barely miss the eight ball, leaving it tucked into a pocket, and Gary would then run the rest of the table. I must have missed at least 4 shots on the eight ball in the first two games, and even with Cue's II's small and pronounced pockets, that's inexcusable.
I would lost the match 0-3, and we would allow our foes to continue in the championship.
Because we were first in our division, however, we do continue to next weekend; so we're looking to practice sometime in the coming days, so we can hopefully do better.
I left Cue's II feeling wretched. Not so much because of the match, though. By the time we returned from dinner, I had had just about my fill of the insipid atmosphere and oppressive cigarette and cigar smoke which permeates the sweltering armpit of a pool hall, and once our match was complete, I felt it had infected me with some horrid disease spontaneously growing from the tar-flavored miasma. I just know my spending about an entire day's worth of time in what should be called "Cue's Inferno" has robbed me of some precious time on the mortal coil...
Once we got back to DuPree's, however, I did spy yet another lithe, effulgent young Sweeney-type playing on Table 3. She was most cute. (No, I did not talk to her. Nor her boyfriend).
We're going to help Patty move to the Mattress Factory Lofts tomorrow, so I'm going to try to catch some shut-eye.
Because the team we were playing couldn't make it at the scheduled time for the championship (3:00 P.M.), we, consummate sportsmen (err... sportspersons) that we are, opted to postpone the match until 8:00 tonight.
At about 10:45 this morning,
After watching some television, I met Jeech and Rob and Kym at the restaurant. Following lunch, we went ahead to Cue's II and met the rest of Rob's eight ball team. While they practiced and played, I basically hung about and socialized. I did play a bit on their practice table, but I didn't feel that I should take too much of a resource that they could potentially need.
Their team did extremely well, with Jim,
We returned to Cue's II at about 7:00 P.M., and had to wait until about 9:00 to get our match started. Our practice table bordered what basically amounts to the spectator's area for tournament matches, and my team spent the better part of five hours asking various bloated redneck warthogs to move their misshapen asses, so we could actually access the table to shoot.
While I wrestled with the immovably rude,
Case in point: I found it easy to take advantage of some weaknesses when my opponent, Gary, would leave me well. But the end result of the first two games was that I would barely, just barely miss the eight ball, leaving it tucked into a pocket, and Gary would then run the rest of the table. I must have missed at least 4 shots on the eight ball in the first two games, and even with Cue's II's small and pronounced pockets, that's inexcusable.
I would lost the match 0-3, and we would allow our foes to continue in the championship.
Because we were first in our division, however, we do continue to next weekend; so we're looking to practice sometime in the coming days, so we can hopefully do better.
I left Cue's II feeling wretched. Not so much because of the match, though. By the time we returned from dinner, I had had just about my fill of the insipid atmosphere and oppressive cigarette and cigar smoke which permeates the sweltering armpit of a pool hall, and once our match was complete, I felt it had infected me with some horrid disease spontaneously growing from the tar-flavored miasma. I just know my spending about an entire day's worth of time in what should be called "Cue's Inferno" has robbed me of some precious time on the mortal coil...
Once we got back to DuPree's, however, I did spy yet another lithe, effulgent young Sweeney-type playing on Table 3. She was most cute. (No, I did not talk to her. Nor her boyfriend).
We're going to help Patty move to the Mattress Factory Lofts tomorrow, so I'm going to try to catch some shut-eye.
January 11, 2003
Blasphemous rumors...
Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, has dubbed TiVo, "God's Machine"
January 10, 2003
Hopefully this will work...
As you know, I've been working on an email-to-LJ gateway where I can send in entries via email. Hopefully I can set things up so that I can compose messages offline and have them queued into the system accordingly.
Yesterday was a pretty cool day. The weather was really nice, and I had rousted to get up and fix my car. So when he was all done, he picked me up from work, and we ate some scrumptious Indian food at Udipi.
The car's running far better than it was before...it seems positively spritely (if you can ever use such an adjective for an SUV) compared to the way it drove before. Taking a cue from Airplane, "sluggish...like a wet sponge" seems the best way to describe my Pathfinder prior to yesterday. Jason mentioned that my fuel filter was probably the dirtiest one he had ever seen. Jason, given that it should have been changed about 13K miles ago, do you think the exhaust manifold leak had something to do with that?
The previous version (yes, the one we just released) of our code is currently having issues, so I've got to get it working.
Yesterday was a pretty cool day. The weather was really nice, and I had rousted
The car's running far better than it was before...it seems positively spritely (if you can ever use such an adjective for an SUV) compared to the way it drove before. Taking a cue from Airplane, "sluggish...like a wet sponge" seems the best way to describe my Pathfinder prior to yesterday. Jason mentioned that my fuel filter was probably the dirtiest one he had ever seen. Jason, given that it should have been changed about 13K miles ago, do you think the exhaust manifold leak had something to do with that?
The previous version (yes, the one we just released) of our code is currently having issues, so I've got to get it working.
January 9, 2003
What in the hell is James doing?
If you've noticed some weird entries in my LJ this afternoon, you'll have at least figured out that I'm testing something. What I'm testing is an e-mail-to-LJ gateway, by which I can make entries by e-mailing one of my various e-mail addresses and have it post my entry, complete with moods/pictures/music details.
Yes, I know I'm a geek.
Yes, I know I'm a geek.
From the diary of Nazgul No. 5:
Yes, Sauron definitely gearing up for something. Have been given orders to sally forth and hunt down hobbit and close personal hobbit friend, who have somehow gotten hold of Ruling Ring.
Witch-King of Angmar's suggestion to place pictures of Ruling Ring on milk cartons and wait for calls to come in was ignored.
January 8, 2003
January 6, 2003
For a good while on Saturday night, I was up around 25 dollars. I ended the night down six dollars and 75 cents. The turning point was a Screwy Louie hand where I had Jacks full going against Amy who ended up having Kings full. That was a tough beat.
I played tightly the rest of the night, even going so far as to fold a pocket pair of threes in Omaha Hi-Lo after the turn. I had flopped trip treys with QA3. The turn showed a 5, and and both started betting it up. I played it ultra-tight and folded, thinking at least one of them had the wheel. And the fourth 3 showed up on the river.
Come Wednesday, I'm heading to Jackie and Harry's place to join in their book club discussion of The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. So far, I'm enjoying the book, but I've got such a large stack of things I have to read, not to mention that wants to recommend yet another book that I neither have nor have read over one that's already in my reading list (the aforementioned Bringing Down the House).
I played tightly the rest of the night, even going so far as to fold a pocket pair of threes in Omaha Hi-Lo after the turn. I had flopped trip treys with QA3. The turn showed a 5, and
Come Wednesday, I'm heading to Jackie and Harry's place to join in their book club discussion of The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. So far, I'm enjoying the book, but I've got such a large stack of things I have to read, not to mention that
Note to self...
1. Quit buying poker books for other people.
2. Start reading the poker books that you have.
2. Start reading the poker books that you have.
January 3, 2003
Cold
I just stepped out from work to pick up some foodage from Panera Bread, and it was frigid. The wind bit into me from the empty spaces which my jacket leaves uncovered. My long scarf and gloves were of little help.
I was just discussing weather with Bethany,'s friend, last night, agreeing with her that we're both Winter people. Growing up in Miami leaves you without a good sense of Winter, so I tend to find myself wanting more cold weather situations--skiing, mountains. Of course, Winter is far easier to take with a firm, yet supple . . . tight embrace.
Walter is visiting town today. Our tentative plan right now is to meet up at some point and try to catch the Thrashers-Penguins game, if we can score some tickets.
I was just discussing weather with Bethany,
Walter is visiting town today. Our tentative plan right now is to meet up at some point and try to catch the Thrashers-Penguins game, if we can score some tickets.
January 2, 2003
January 1, 2003
And then there were three...
Following a freak Frigit mishap, I now have only three of the original twelve marbles that came included with the toy.
I need more marbles.
I need more marbles.
Ill Poker
Poker went pretty well.
I woke up around 9:15 or so from the restless, metaphoric sleep which always accompanies illnesses. I remember when I was taking Linear Algebra my senior year of High School, I got really ill, and tossed and turned all night feeling boxed (as in, for those of you who know Linear Algebra, [James]). Today, I just felt a bit like an medieval Army marching to war, with miniature lances and halberds, raised high, lacerating my mouth and causing me to drool.
Hey, don't ask me what it means, it's the strange hypnogogic ramblings which always permeate my sickness-infused slumber.
But, as I was saying... I woke up around 9:15, played Chess and Pachisi on the computer for a bit, and then got up to get ready for New Year's Eve Poker. For some reason this took me a bit less than two hours, because I ended up leaving for DuPree's at 11:00. I actually made a circuit of my place and the SaveRite parking lot after realizing that, in my rush to gather everyone's Christmas presents, I left my poker money on the kitchen counter. Once I got there, I gave everything I could out. Keely wasn't there, so I'll have to come out Friday or Saturday to get her gift to her, and I'm not sure when I'll catch up with Team Boobie.
For the most part, my sore throat didn't bother me (maybe this is because my throat is always kinda sore in the smoky confines of DuPree's).
One of the first hands we played was Jacks or better, Trips to win. I had kings and fives plus a ten kicker. I traded in the ten to (amazingly) pull out a fives full boat and got the pot from Tony, who had pat trip aces.
Bill dealt some five-card stud, and I had ace in the hole, king showing. Everyone else was showing relatively low cards, except for Bill who had a queen showing. I was the first to bet, and quickly bet the limit (two dollars), and the only person to call was Bill with his queen. I figured him for a pair of queens. From there, we would check/bet/call our way to fourth street, where I paired up on aces. Thanks to Doyle Brunson's Super/System for the tip on how to bet an Ace in five stud.
I won a Screwy Louie hand going low with a pair of Aces. Of course, it was AA234, and I had scared the other lows out.
Don't try to push too hard if you flop trips in Omaha. There's just too many possibilities of losing to a simple straight or flush. On one hand, I turned Alabama Night Riders (trip kings), played too loosely and too aggressively, and lost.
On my last hand, we played Screwy Louie and the first round of betting and card pass resulted in just three players: Tony,, and I. As we revealed our cards, it became readily apparent that the three of us were all going low.
So when it came time to declare, we all went high because of the relative un-lowness of our high cards (Tony had an 8543A, I had an 8654A, and Nandu juked us with a T643A). Ridiculous, but quite entertaining hand.
So I'm up anywhere from 30-40 dollars, which is a fairly good day for me. At one point, I was down about 26 or so, but caught a couple of lucky breaks.
Happy New Year, to everyone.
I woke up around 9:15 or so from the restless, metaphoric sleep which always accompanies illnesses. I remember when I was taking Linear Algebra my senior year of High School, I got really ill, and tossed and turned all night feeling boxed (as in, for those of you who know Linear Algebra, [James]). Today, I just felt a bit like an medieval Army marching to war, with miniature lances and halberds, raised high, lacerating my mouth and causing me to drool.
Hey, don't ask me what it means, it's the strange hypnogogic ramblings which always permeate my sickness-infused slumber.
But, as I was saying... I woke up around 9:15, played Chess and Pachisi on the computer for a bit, and then got up to get ready for New Year's Eve Poker. For some reason this took me a bit less than two hours, because I ended up leaving for DuPree's at 11:00. I actually made a circuit of my place and the SaveRite parking lot after realizing that, in my rush to gather everyone's Christmas presents, I left my poker money on the kitchen counter. Once I got there, I gave everything I could out. Keely wasn't there, so I'll have to come out Friday or Saturday to get her gift to her, and I'm not sure when I'll catch up with Team Boobie.
For the most part, my sore throat didn't bother me (maybe this is because my throat is always kinda sore in the smoky confines of DuPree's).
One of the first hands we played was Jacks or better, Trips to win. I had kings and fives plus a ten kicker. I traded in the ten to (amazingly) pull out a fives full boat and got the pot from Tony, who had pat trip aces.
Bill dealt some five-card stud, and I had ace in the hole, king showing. Everyone else was showing relatively low cards, except for Bill who had a queen showing. I was the first to bet, and quickly bet the limit (two dollars), and the only person to call was Bill with his queen. I figured him for a pair of queens. From there, we would check/bet/call our way to fourth street, where I paired up on aces. Thanks to Doyle Brunson's Super/System for the tip on how to bet an Ace in five stud.
I won a Screwy Louie hand going low with a pair of Aces. Of course, it was AA234, and I had scared the other lows out.
Don't try to push too hard if you flop trips in Omaha. There's just too many possibilities of losing to a simple straight or flush. On one hand, I turned Alabama Night Riders (trip kings), played too loosely and too aggressively, and lost.
On my last hand, we played Screwy Louie and the first round of betting and card pass resulted in just three players: Tony,
So when it came time to declare, we all went high because of the relative un-lowness of our high cards (Tony had an 8543A, I had an 8654A, and Nandu juked us with a T643A). Ridiculous, but quite entertaining hand.
So I'm up anywhere from 30-40 dollars, which is a fairly good day for me. At one point, I was down about 26 or so, but caught a couple of lucky breaks.
Happy New Year, to everyone.
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