Yellow Submarine
(12-21 March 2006)
21 March 2006
-Time to buckle down, figure things out, turn it
around. I know I say this often, so let's see if I mean it today.
-I guess I did. Well, at least the ball is
rolling in the right direction. Things can be so difficult sometimes.
20 March 2006
-That's quite a haul. I could get used to
that.
-There are times that I want to step in front of a bus rather than face my problems. This much isolation is
really very bad for me.
19 March 2006
-The poker tourney last night was a raving success,
even though I went out 11th (of 19) & Em ducked out 10th. Amy Floyd took down a gargantuan pot cracking KK with
trip 8's & went on to a heads-up victory over Pedro. I dealt the final table with my commentary, that drunk people
seem to like even more than sober folks. I feel like I've found something I could do & enjoy almost as much as
being a professional debater: random for-hire dealer at your home poker game. I'm sure there's money in it, but I
know I don't have the energy or interest to really do it. Plus, so much of my commentary requires a slight
comfort/familiarity, & at least the ability to feel comfortable making fun of people in a good-natured way. If I'm
dealing someone's home game for hire & make a crack they don't feel is funny, or happen to guess their hand from the way
they're playing, I don't think things would stay comfortable for very long. But this was recommended to me as a career
choice about 12 times this weekend. Anyway, we then packed up, got cinnamon rolls, & sped up the coast. Em's
exhausted & I'm just glad to be done driving.
18 March 2006
[from Oceano,
California]
-Okay, I take back everything negative I said about this Pismo.
Today's going to involve a green chile breakfast, basketball, & the poker tournament. Hooo boy!
-Green
chile was great, but basketball left a bit to be desired. We only played 2 games, the result of the big mistake of
playing full-court for the first one. One can't really play 6-on-5 half-court, but this is quite a large court, so that
much running up & back wiped a lot of people out completely, & definitely winded everyone. I was simply awful
on the court today, though I found my stroke late. From playing with me a few times now over the years, Em's boss
described me as the guy who misses his first 15 shots & then can't be stopped. Dunno if I like that reputation,
especially since I almost single-handedly lost us the first game before hitting the last 2 shots, including the game-winner.
We got torched in the second (half-court 4-on-4) game, but I had 5 of our 7 points. Then people gave up & we
got fries & shakes, which were perfect.
17 March 2006
[from Oceano,
California]
-Migraine: 16 hours, right side, severe, caused by
food.
-Longest... meeting... ever. I'm not coming back to this part of the Pismo program next year.
-Well
this is shaping up to be almost as disappointing as last year.
-Nothing like poker to turn things around. & even
losing is okay in the face of entertainment value.
16 March 2006
[from Oceano,
California]
-Well, there goes my bracket. Nevada's out before I can even look at
a screen in Pismo. So it goes.
-Doesn't seem to be quite as bad weather-wise as they were predicting, but I guess
the rain comes tomorrow.
-Ouch.
15 March 2006
-I am thinking very seriously about dropping Amazon
from my advertising base. I love the idea of being able to buy the Book Quiz book you just got directly, but I've
learned that counting on someone being ready to buy a book, even that book, directly after getting the result, is just plain
unlikely. To date, in fact, no one has done that. A couple people have followed the links, gotten
distracted, & purchased things, but never a Book Quiz book. So it might be time to give the reigns to AdSense
entirely. Which would mean I don't get my 3 bucks from Amazon. I think I can live with that. Maybe when I
get back from Pismo, which I'm leaving for tomorrow.
-I can't believe I'm only a few days/weeks/months (probably weeks)
away from living across the street from a place that serves fries. I may never eat anywhere else again. Just...
too... convenient!
14 March 2006
-I heard on the radio that today was Pi Day. I
heard this because I was traveling all the way to Emeryville merely to get Sharpies, when I already bought a 10-pack of
Sharpies, 5 of which are untouched. I write D&C with Sharpies, & they're one of the many things missing (but
assuredly not gone) as a result of the move. So I have acquired even more Sharpies, & there will be even more
Duck & Cover. It scares me to think that I've written almost 250 of them. At least it makes me feel
like I'm doing something.
-Is there anyone out there who believes daily life for the average Iraqi is better than it was
under Saddam Hussein? That it will be for the next 5-10 years? Honestly, people, regardless of your feelings on
violence or pacifism or war in general, the practical benefits of constructive engagement with "bad" leaders so
vastly outweigh armed conflict that it isn't even funny. Being free to be killed or tortured either by the Americans or
any one of the factions in Iraq right now isn't really freedom.
13 March 2006
-Migraine: 11 hours, right side, moderate,
caused by excessive light.
-Well, it's been six years since the first entry of Introspection. That's a lot of
reflection. In six more years if I make it, I'd be 32 years old. I'd better have something accomplished by
then.
-To commemorate the day, I've started the Blue Pyramid Ongoing Olympics, which
will track monthly international traffic by country. It's partially the result of switching stat-trackers that come
with my webhost, & since the change is somewhat retroactive, I have data dating back to April 2005. It appears that
I'm almost as big as Conan in Finland. Well, you know what I'm saying.
12 March 2006
-Exit Freez. After a lengthy breakfast at Mama's
Royal Cafe (a good place, but perhaps the most over-rated restaurant in the East Bay), we dropped Freez off at the airport.
It was great to see him out this way, which marked his first visit out this way since the wedding.
-Just when I
begin to think that things make sense, people do things that blow my mind. But I need to realize that when it's only
costing things that don't matter, I shouldn't care.
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