My sister, who went to Europe to study different cultures and learn about diversity, has reached the highlight of her trip by attending a traditional Spanish performance of los Backstreet Boys. Naturally, she finagled her way backstage, got to eat dinner with our second cousin once removed (practically a brother by Latin and Southern standards), and see the concert from the front row, all while speaking Spanish in a redneck accent.
My other sibling has outfoxed, or at least outdrawn, a deer 50% larger than himself (he's the one smiling, with the gun). His story is more straightforward, involving the deer being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my brother in the right place at that same time, and pointing a rifle along the right vector at the right time and releasing a projectile at the right velocity at right time, resulting in the termination of the animal's primary functions (assuming that being eaten and mounted are secondary functions; reprioritization of the stag's functionality will of course require a revision of this description).
Anyway, here's the picture.
Anyway, poker is going strong; I won $30 taking third place on Saturday night in a 39-man tournament at Sticks. The game started at 7:30 and went until about 1:15. Basically the first two hours consisted of the suckers exchanging way too many chips with each other, the third hour was spent sorting out the results of that carnage, adn the final two in a dead heat between the last 5 or 6 of us. First place took $100 in tabs, and second $60, but I was happy.
I also won $60 playing online Saturday morning, then lost it on Sunday, but I was up for the weekend. I'm now switching sites, and working on rebuilding a bankroll.
I busted out midway through a tournament on Monday, then had a date Tuesday (a situation that has resolved itself, since the girl in question is now incommunicado), but my luck picked up last night, as I found myself on the good end of several bad beats. (Nothing beats flopping a set of nines when the preflop raiser flops a set of sixes, except flopping tens, jacks, queens, aces, a straight, flush, straight flush, or 4 of a kind, or a royal, or maybe catching any of the above on the river). Anyway, I dominated the final table until we were heads up, at which time my luck ran out. My opponent was playing pretty solid poker, so I was able to bluff a few times, but never had any real hands worth betting. This is of course an excuse, since when you're only against one person, anything worth calling is worth betting. Anyway, he ended up beating me slowly, although a more aggressive player would have been more interesting to be up against. He was tough to read, since he hadn't said a word in the whole time we were playing against him. As a rule, the loudest players tend to be the first ones out, but the most sorely missed. Worth keeping in mind, I guess, if I intend to get any better.
Anyway, it's Thursday again, but not a payday thursday. So I'm at the halfway point or something. I need to check my calendar to see if I get tomorrow off, but I'm thinking not, seeing as I'm not a veteran. Of course, all our money comes from the Pentagon, so you'd think we'd take military holidays off.
In the news, it turns out that Mr. Sulu has been crossing the Neutral Zone for the last 18 years. It's interesting that one of the first leading Asian characters in a major series, and one of the finest helmsmen in the fleet turns out to be a double minority. Maybe it'll be an inspiration for gay Trekkies everywhere, or at least an excuse for those who are technically straight but have never been within phaser range of a human female.
OK, so Tronie != Trekkie, but I couldn't resist. You should thank me for finding a cropped version of this photo; the lower half is not pretty.
