Wednesday, December 31, 2008

5 Figas


Happy holidays to all.

Last night I was owned by The Golden Monkey. I forgive.

My official month results for December far exceeded my expectation.

Planning on traveling next month to the left coast.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

This Week


I have been slacking as far as poker volume is concerned, but for good reason. For the past few weeks, I have been focusing on balancing my regular activities, in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Since pursuing poker as my sole source of serious income, structure in my day-to-day life has been lacking. My sleep schedule, eating schedule, exercise, poker sessions, recreational time, social life, etc. are constantly changing, and it leaves me feeling unorganized and unhealthy. This may sound crazy, but, without a basic sense of structure or organization, it makes things very difficult to anything to the very best of my ability.

With a full time job, I was forced into some sense of organization and exercise (and more so than most). As a result, I was focusing too much of my time on those two aspects, making me unhappy. Leaving my job gave me an overwhelming feeling of freedom, and, with that, came excitement in a scrambled and unkempt sort of way.

The same goes with unhealthy relationship(s). That's that.

That being said, I am experiencing happiness, excitement, love, and self satisfaction at a level that I did not know existed.

Cheers.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Middle East

Greetings from the Middle East.

My good friend Darrick Lucas is down from his estate in the White Mountains and we've been playing a good amount of poker. I had my worst day of poker in a long time, but I feel like I was due for a sick swing. After I lost about 100 big bets ($1k) I decided to call it a day, and fired up "You Don't Mess With the Zohan." I was pleasantly surprised.

This time last year, I would let my emotions take control of me, and would play through a downswing and make things worse. When I let my emotions cloud my mental clarity and dull my edge on the game, bad things happen. It seems so basic, but it took so long for me to understand this.

Last night, I made plans with Caitlin to go see The Ting Ting's at this bar over by Fenway. We left my warm and cozy house to battle through rain, pay for parking, walk in the rain, and decide to turn around last second. She only had a paper license, and we weren't cool with standing in the rain to get in. After 40+ minutes of looking for the car in a maze of a parking garage, we went back to my place, where Darrick and June were chillaxifying. Good times. After listening to a Montell Jordan song or two, we drove over to Razzy's for karaoke night.

I love everything about Razzy's. The bartenders are really sweet, and the enviornment is really relaxing. I remember June saying that it reminds her of a cabin. Pretty accurate, vague description of Razzy's. Darrick sang a song that I was familiar with, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. John sang a song and got pissy about being limited to only one song. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

As a side note, I was complemented on my hoodie that I was wearing while trying to grab a drink. At this point I was impaired and went on about how my mother bought it for me and how sweet she is. Made a fool of myself, etc.

A bunch of wacked out shit happened afterward that I'm still trying to piece together. Incredibly fun night.

Getting a tattoo when time permits. The word balance and perseverance spelled in Gaelic horizontally down my arm. I love it, and can't wait to get it done finally.

Godspeed.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Galleria

I haven't had such an erratic sleep schedule since my days of working in poker clubs. No complaints, other than the fact that my room is blindingly bright during the day time. It became so unbearable that I hijacked June's bed after she went to work.

Decided to put in a small session of poker before running errands. I obviously ran white hot and am dominating teh intranets this month.

I originally departed via the 80 bus to the Galleria. I got zero Christmas shopping done, but now have ideas. I am buying gifts for a ton of people. After countless hours of mall browsing, I walked from East Cambridge to Harvard Square, making a few stops along the way at coffee shops, stores, etc. This is the playlist I listed to:

"The Naming of Things" by Andrew Bird
"MX Missiles" by Andrew Bird
"I'm A Cuckoo" by Belle and Sebastian
"Flume" by Bon Iver
"Victor Jara's Hands" by Calexico
"Strange Overtones" by David Byrne and Brian Eno
"The Go In The Go-For-It" by Grandaddy
"Rising Down" by The Roots
"Roc Boys" by Jay-Z
"Carry the Zero" by Built to Spill
"Dog Park" by Minus the Bear

Went by Bartley's when June got out.
Got beer and Anna's.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Grindaments.com/shipshipmcgipp


I've been playing a ton of HU LHE 3/6 up to 10/20. Pretty sick results so far this month:

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Orpheum

Ended up going to see Franz Ferdinand last night at the Orpheum with Caitlin and her friends PJ and Danielle. I'm not really familiar with their music, but I ended up drinking a tad too much, and had a good time. The band that opened for them sucked. All around good time, though. A+ night.

I gave an effort to buy Vampire Weekend tickets via craigslist, but ended up falling asleep. By the time I responded to the email, he had already sold them (for less than face value).

I played a retarded amount of poker today. Had a 2,200 hand breakeven stretch. All hail rakeback.

I'm treking over to my buddy John's with June. Life is hard without a fully functionable vehicle.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Cliffnotes

I played a lot of poker today and coached someone briefly in Heads Up Limit Hold'em. It went well and progress is being made.

I was quasi looking forward to tonight until I had to leave a party due to social complications. June, Chief, and I ended up heading over to a party in Allston which was really lame. From there we went to Chief's dorm at MIT and hung out briefly.

Tomorrow, I'm going to head over and play poker at MIT with Chief, and hopefully head to a show.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Princeton Street

I worked on a route in East Boston today. It was right on the water, smack dab in the middle of the yuppie area of miniature dogs dressed in Santa hats, people jogging, BMW's and flashy, loud Christmas decorations.

As I left Chelsea, driving over the Meridian St. bridge, I realized that I forgot my iPod. Very glad I did. After dissecting every aspect of my life that I could think of, writing it down on the back of a Bed Bath and Beyond flyer of a vacant house, I have never felt so intensely satisfied in reading something. I did so because I wasn't able to distract myself by listening to my iPod all day.

I've confused disappointment with vexation.
I've confused happiness with comfort.

Never have I been more ready for a change of pace.
Merry Post Britmas.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Upside Down

Quitting job.
Trying to get back in BHCC for next semester.
Starting Anger Management classes on January 22nd at Cambridge Center for Adult Education.
Taking a two week vacation somewhere.
Joining a gym.
Going to increase my amount of hands by double next month.

I've realized that the USPS is not for me.
Poker can take me through the year, if I maintain a stress free environment while playing.

Eager to see how it goes.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Today


I woke up with a really strong headache and a stuffed sinus. Mildly hungover from the night before, I decided to get some errands done. When I first woke up, I played a tiny bit of poker until realizing that I wasn't in an ideal state to do so. I packed up all of my clothes and planned to head to the laundromat with my laptop to kill the time. I ended up driving all the way to Swampscott to the trauma center. I was there for what felt like forever, and felt nauseous the entire time. From there, I went to this bar on the way home by myself called The Porthole. From there I went to the mall to find a cell phone and get some Christmas shopping done. I eventually got the laundry done and most of my clothes shrunk a lot.

That's life in the big city.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Vermont

I have officially been to every New England state. Vermont is beautiful. New England is beautiful. I spent a few days with Darrick Lucas in Woodsville, NH, on the border of Vermont and New Hamsphire. I played a ton of poker, and getting back in the swing of things as far as that is concerned.

For John's birthday, I consumed my weight in liquor. Same goes for the election of our president.

I have been very unappreciative of my good friends lately.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Past Weeks

A healthy dose of Paddy Kellys.
Awesome seats to ALDS clinching game.
Parents anniversary.
Matt/Mark birthday night in Salem.
Etc, etc.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

In Progress

I'm in the process of writing a detailed description of my time spent in Boston's underground poker scene.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Poster

After searching for my first silkscreen print poster to purchase, I've decided that this is going to be the first piece in my collection. In order to prevent my poster from taking a beating via the USPS (I would know), I drove out to the Alewife store. June's friend Erin was working there. I met her a couple weeks ago when I woke up in the middle of the night to grab a glass of water and she was sleeping on my couch with a few of her friends spread throughout the living room.

I have two projects in the works that I am working diligently on. A couple of friends have agreed to help me out with one of them. Darrick Lucas, the pride of upstate New Hampshire, and Maryland's own Jeffrey Santos are likely to contribute. Very excited.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Hero

Lately, I've been hustling more so than usual at work in order to finish my mail route early. I know that I'm a little late on this, but, as it turns out, I have an overwhelming addiction to Guitar Hero. Unfortunately, I don't own a game console, leaving me to go to my local Best Buy to play (while being paid by the government.) Over the past two months, I'd say I'm averaging between .7 and .9 visits daily. Some days I go more than once. As most people know, there is a yellow-shirted security associate at each exit of Best Buys. It recently got to the point where I'm embarassed to walk by them. He knows why I'm there, and I know that he knows why I'm there. I sense some animosity between us, but once I shake him, I'm home free. The ole pretend-like-I'm-talking-on-the-phone-to-avoid-the-awkward-greet has recently been added to my arsenal of tricks.

I can put on quite a show with "Mississippi Queen" since I've graduated to expert status. Ask the 2:30 crowd of high school kids that roll up to play.

"And I know it takes a new addiction to keep you from what you're addicted to."

So, I've taken up this.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Austin

If I were to personally draw up a schedule for this year's Austin City Limits Festival, it would look very similar to the 2008 list. Coincidentally, I took 9 days off of work, which overlaps the days of this extravaganza. David Byrne, Iron and Wine, Vampire Weekend, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Jenny Lewis, M. Ward, Beck, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, and Delta Spirit all have scheduled sets, all of whom I listen to on a semi-regular basis.

Aside from the fact that it's a 39 hour drive to Austin, I see no reason for me to let this opportunity pass me by. Because of such short notice, I don't really know of anyone willing to go.

Overall chances of me being in Austin by September 26th: 65%

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

5 Albums

These are my 5 favorite albums at the moment:

5. Pavement's "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain"
4. Andrew Bird's "The Mysterious Production of Eggs"
3. Silver Jews' "American Water"
2. Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago"
1. Bedhead's "Transaction de Novo"


I won tickets to a Melissa Ferrick show on the radio. I'd classify her music as "over-the-top folksy feminist activism/angst." Her shows are always entertaining, so I'm quasi-excited. She plays at the Berklee Perfomance Center on Saturday. See you there.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Sarah

This is going to be a long, unstructured rant about happenings of this weekend and my thoughts on the views and political background of Sarah Palin.

Drinking Newcastle Brown Ale and UFO Wheat Ale while listening to Talking Heads' "The Name of This Band is Taking Heads," Weezer's "Blue Album," some boring Arcade Fire album, and Bon Iver's, "For Emma, Forever Ago," with June and Kevin. That's what my Saturday night consisted of. A lot of fun.

I voyaged with my station wagon over to East Cambridge for a party on Eighth Street on Friday night. My roommate's friend Stephanie was having people over, a normal occurance on a weekend. I never go to these parties because there's no one there I particularly like very much with the exception of my roommate, Junith. I invited a bunch of people over in order to cancel out the amount of weird, lame people there. Didn't work. After John finished up waiting tables at Cambridge Common, we filled up a bag full of Bud Light and consumed them on the ride from Cambridge to Somerville. After avoiding police, talking to a dude with knee pads, throwing gang signs (and having gang signs thrown back at us) in traffic, we arrived and there was a dying party filled with scene hardcore kids going on in the apartment downstairs. We spent a good hour drinking and subtly mocking and making fun of them. After that, I think I fell down, got up, and went home.

It blows my mind that a presidential candidate of a major political party can select a vice president for the sole reason of "shaking up a ticket." I partially understand the reasoning behind it:

- Her views aren't as widely known as John McCain's, creating a situation where her views on energy and foreign policy can be molded in a way that can properly fit the part of a conservative VP much easier than if Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty were selected.

- She expresses interest in developing Alaska and other domestic areas for the extraction of natural gases and oil. Rather than spending mind blowing amounts of money for what can only be a temporary solution to the energy crisis, why can't solar, wind, and hyroelectic solutions be further explored? I understand that these solutions are viewed as something that isn't a necessity at this exact point in time, but the more money spent and manpower used to make this a reality, the less time we would need to build 11 mile pipelines for a bandage on a rapidly growing gash in this country.

- Palin opposes a women's right to chose and is against gay rights. Enough said.

I just hope that the American publican can understand that Sarah Palin is an attractive politcal pawn with virtually no prior foreign policy experience. Running a country involves a lot more than adding polar bears to the endagered species list. Maybe in Alaska, thats a priority, but no one is going to base there presidential vote on that (wishful thinking.)

Conservative views are dated.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Gloucester

Gloucester, MA is such a beautiful place. Recently, I've been spending a lot of time there for two reasons:

1. The beaches are beautiful and alchohol consumption isn't properly regulated (at least not at Good Harbor, anyway). Paying $25 to park is a little pricy, but I'll shell it out as long as they don't take my beer away.

2. All through my childhood, I remember classmates talking about the Gloucester quarries. I went there with a slew of hoodlums (Lee Aulson, June Politano, Kevin Darcy, Matt Darcy, Ali Miller, Jim Brophy, Mark from Florida, Pete the EMT, and Barbara from Mississippi) with beer aplenty last weekend (Labor Day). Basically, its a gigantic trail with man made holes filled with fresh water, spread across acres. From what I understand, rocks were taken from the site and sold in the 1950's, leaving these giant, beautiful holes and some pretty sweet views. There are 5, 20, 40, and 70 foot jumps that are safe to jump from. Out of the group I went with, I was the only one to complete the cycle (although I did stand atop the 70 foot for 1 hour+ in order to muster the courage). It was the most liberating experience that I've encountered in a long time.

For anyone interested, I'd like to take 128 to its end for one more jump before the weather no longer permits such an activity.




Thursday, September 4, 2008

Razzie's

Today, I woke up with a foggy memory of the night before. After coming home from a long day of hard labor in the sun, I sat on my porch and played guitar while watching the cat run around. An hour of two passed, and I catch word that there is a karaoke night going on without me at a local bar called Razzie's. A handful of Molson pitchers later, I recall yelling along to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" with a couple friends and a bunch of strangers. My friend John, and his friend/co-worker, Ted, were sleeping in my living room as I stumbled toward the shower.

After a long thought about my current employment situation (in the shower), I came to the sad realization that I need to find a less stressful, less life consuming job. At the moment, I work 50+ hour weeks as a letter carrier for the post office. The management is heartless and my fellow employees are empty, unhappy people, for the most part. I can feel my surroundings starting to effect me and it bothers me. A lot of my friends in the resteraunt business tend to seem more lively than I. Maybe its that they get to sleep late or maybe its that they actually enjoy what they do. I need to find something that I'd love to do every day.