Women’s College Softball will be big

I’m not kidding. I just turned on ESPN, which is currently showing College Softball, and immediately thought, “What are all these pretty girls doing on TV? Oh look, they’re playing softball! … … … Softball isn’t such a bad sport. Did she just make a diving catch?! … … … She’s cute.” They even do a bio for each player.

Reasons it will be big:

• There are pretty girls
• The pretty girls look very, very serious, which escalates the unintentional comedy factor and sometimes makes them even prettier
• It’s on during the off-season for football and basketball
• The sport gets significant TV time (because of the previous point)
• This seems like the kind of pseudo-cult thing that twenty-something and college guys love
• The game is slow enough that viewers can actually get to know each player
• It’s a lot like baseball, but not handicapped by the things that make women’s basketball so unwatchable

I’m going to open a Women’s College Softball merchandising company now. It would really help if someone made a mocumentary-type movie about Women’s College Softball (a la Dodgeball)… I’ll start working on that, too.

EDIT: There are even girls who get a running start before they swing, like Happy Gilmore hitting a golf ball! How did I miss this for so long?

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Basketball team up to 10-0, in the Finals

This could get confusing because there are two basketball teams in the Finals right now–the Gators and my league team. Right now, I’m talking about the league, but I’ll get to the Gators later. We won last week, but it wasn’t pretty. We played a team that we beat pretty badly the first time around, and we were down 14-2 at one point. In the second half, we got our act together, ran a little hot and slowly closed the gap before permanently taking the lead. Most of us were shooting poorly (though we took good shots), and our defense was confused quite a bit. We were fortunate to pull out the win. This week, we’ll be playing a very good, deep basketball team and we’ll need to bring our best game to win. Unfortunately, we’re playing with only six guys because our best perimeter defender is away on business. That will hurt because the other team will have at least 8 guys and maybe 9, so we’re going to be playing fatigued throughout the game. I think we can win. but we’ll have to play good basketball.

Gators in the finals for first time since 2000

We’re there and we look great. All the detractors are back-tracking and we’re looking better by the game. Earlier this season, a common criticism of this team was that we didn’t have a “go to” guy. My initial reaction was that having a go to guy can often be detrimental if a team isn’t able to play through that guy’s bad nights. Our team is fully capable of compensating for a guy having an off night, and we have a different star every time we take the floor. I think our Final Four game was one of our best, and yet our leading scorer was the least publicized player on our team, Lee Humphrey. Our next game is against UCLA tomorrow, and I think we have a great chance of winning it all. UCLA is solid, but I think we have an advantage in most of the match-ups, and we play similar styles of basketball.

Celebrity sighting

Well, it wasn’t so much a celebrity sighting as a “me” sighting. I was looking for some dental floss at Target last weekend when a lady came up and asked if I was an actor. I figured this was a funny coincidence and that she must have me confused with someone else. I told her I had acted in a short film last year, but nothing more than that. She said, “The Might Stride?” So she did actually recognize me. Somehow, she’d seen the short and we talked about it for a couple minutes. She said she really enjoyed it and that she thought I did good work. It was really encouraging.

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Valentine’s Day

N/A

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Fear of failure

I’m a chronic sufferer. I’ve never really been “the best” at anything and it’s probably because I’ve never tried hard enough. Although it’s frustrating never being best, it’s nice not knowing that I can’t be the best. Grammatically incorrect as it may be, it’s true. If I were to give a total effort, I might fail and be convinced I can’t succeed. Without a total effort, I don’t have success, but I can maintain the delusion that I could be successful if I really tried. Round and round I go, right into inactivity.

So, that’s probably why I haven’t jumped back into acting yet. It’s probably why I have a bunch of half-started writing projects collecting digital dust on my laptop. It’s probably why I haven’t consistently tried writing music for a couple years now. And I guess it could be frustrating feeling so stagnant…

…except I occasionally get a nice little reminder of what failure feels like. All it takes is a little taste and I’m reminded why it’s so terrifying.

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Unrequited love

It seems to me that unrequited love may be one of the most intense feelings there is. Although intangible, it seems to be a real force that should be respected and is best understood only through objectivity. Obviously, I know what I’m talking about. As a sometime reveler in more platonic relationships than real ones, I know that this phenomenon is at once liberating and confusing. On one hand, it allows us to act freely while explaining our behavior with conveniently elusive nonsense such as “You wouldn’t understand.” On the other hand, it drags us from our cozy little cocoons and out into the forest, where we’re vulnerable, naive and driven to stupidity.

But the best part of unrequited and platonic love is how ridiculously transparent it is to every human being except the one experiencing it. Of course I know I couldn’t be writing this right now if I was deeply involved in a platonic relationship, but I’m experiencing a between-crush moment of clarity. Unfortunately, it seems that the “between-crush” portions of my life seem to be blending into one long “non-crush” lifestyle. I often wonder if I’ve simply given up, or if maybe Cupid has seen his folly and abandoned me completely. More often, I wonder what sort of ludicrous odds must describe the chances I’ll find another crush, she’ll actually reciprocate, and I won’t prove to be either totally undesirable or absolutely insane.

This blog is turning into a real downer.

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Where am I?

I really have no idea. I guess the bigger question is, where am I going? I’m living in Plano, working as an engineer and hardly enjoying it. The paycheck is nice, but that’s one of the few perks. My ideal of me isn’t a guy who works a mediocre job just because it provides a nice paycheck, but isn’t that who I’m supposed to be? I feel unfulfilled, but I have a greater feeling of ungratefulness.

I’ve always felt like everything I do should have a purpose and I don’t feel that I have much purpose right now. And certainly, if my purpose is just to go to work and get paid every other Thursday, then I don’t want any part of that. It’s boring and seems like a waste of time in the grand scheme of things. I understand that money is important and all that, but I also know that working as an engineer who rarely uses his education is only one of many ways to earn it.

I think it’s time for a change, but I don’t know what kind or how drastic. I think I’m going to look into acting again, but the odds aren’t in my favor on that one. Tone is sometimes difficult to convey and I’m pretty sure the tone of this post is pretty whiney. But how I’m actually feeling is more uncertain and a little melancholy. Anyway, it’s time to start getting ready for bed, I have to be up early for work.

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Back in DAL to ring in the New Year…on my couch

I made it back without any trouble. I spent a little while playing poker (more on that below) and then made the short drive to Dallas. On the way, I used my super freaky psychic powers to predict the exact location of what may be the only Cracker Barrel between here and Shreveport. Before I started driving, I decided I was in the mood for some of their Chicken Fried Chicken and I wasn’t going to be stopped.

After driving 50 miles or so without seeing a Cracker Barrel, I said to myself, “You are stupid and you’re almost out of gas. Just stop at the next exit with a reasonable food selection and a gas station and give up on Cracker Barrel before you get stranded…” But then I saw a sign that told me it was only 36 miles to Tyler, TX and I said to myself, “Tough it out! If there’s a Cracker Barrel in Texas, it’s in Tyler, Texas! You have enough gas to go a measly 36 miles, wimp. If Kramer had the guts to see how far he could go after he hit empty, you can push it a few more miles to score some Chicken Fried Chicken.”

Sure enough, Tyler had a Cracker Barrel and several gas stations. One a side note, I got 450 miles on my last tank of gas, which means I got 25 mpg. That’s pretty stinkin’ good in my car. Maybe the hail damage has improved the aerodynamics or something. Golf balls have lots of dimples, just lot my car. What am I talking about?

Today’s poker recap

I played $1-2 No Limit for about three hours today. The lady from yesterday (with the reliable tells) was back, but everyone else was new. Here are the hands I remember:

Not long after we started, I got QQ on the button. There were 2 limpers and I raised it to $12. Both blinds called, everyone else folded. The flop came KTx, the lady bet out $10, BB called, I thought for a while and folded. I knew there was no way I was ahead here and I was right. The lady had flopped a set of tens and I think the other guy had a K. The turn was another ten, and the lady took down a big pot with quad tens. I gave myself a little pat on the back for making good reads and not getting married to the queens.

A bit later, I got K6s in the BB. Two people limped and I checked the option. Flop came down K67 rainbow. I bet out something like $8, everyone folded to the button who called and the SB called also. Turn was the 5 of hearts, putting two hearts on the board. SB checked, I bet $15, button folded, SB check-raised me all-in (for about $65 more). I thought for a while and mucked my two pair face-up. SB told me he had 34h for a turned ignorant end of the gutshot straight to the 7. My turn bet was a little small (assuming the 5h didn’t make someone a hand), but it was more of a feeler bet with “value” overtones. I’m still thinking about whether I could’ve played this any differently, but so far it looks like the answer is “no”.

A few orbits later, I got K9s in the BB (I didn’t catch cards for a while… this seems to be a theme for me lately. I don’t know if I’m running bad, just imagining things or playing too tightly.) with, as usual, 3 limpers. The flop came down QcJsTs, giving me a straight to the King, a King-high flush draw and a gutshot straight-flush draw. I bet the pot, UTG and Hijack called. The turn was a red Queen. I didn’t like this card, but I also needed to protect my hand in case someone had a bare Queen or maybe an Ace. I also felt that I needed to find out where I was at in the hand. I bet about half the pot. This was also a value bet since, assuming no one had filled up or flopped a higher straight, I was a big favorite to win the hand with my straight or a flush. Again, both players called. Now, I’m concerned. The river was a blank, non-spade. I checked, UTG bet a little more than half the pot, Hijack called (!!), I thought for a while and, again, mucked my K-high straight face-up. Both opponents turned up AKo for a flopped broadway and it turns out I was behind from the beginning. I was pretty surprised that neither player raised on the flop considering there were many cards that could come to either counterfeit their hands or flat-out lose them the pot.

About this time, my $100 buy-in has dwindled to $33. I’m UTG+1 and I have AJs. I raise it to $12 and everyone folds around to the BB who calls (this is my buddy who turned a gutshot to the 7 with 34 earlier). Flop comes three low cards, BB bet out $12 and I fold. He hadn’t bet out like that since he sat down and since he was playing trash most hands, I gave him credit for at least a pair.

Next orbit, I have QJo in MP1 and I limp (this was uncharacteristically loose for me, but I only had $21 left so I was looking to gamble it up, I guess). Several other players limp behind. There weren’t many pre-flop raises at this table, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have tried limping here. Flop came down JTx rainbow. It was checked to me and I got one caller who held J9s. My Queen kicker held up and won the pot of about $45.

Two hands later, I picked up AQs UTG. I raised it up to $12 and get 2 callers. Flop came AK9. It was checked to me, I moved in for my last $33 and it was folded around to the lady. She studied me for a while, so I did a little acting and mostly stared blankly at the table and occasionally looked up and away from her stare. By now, I knew she probably had Ax (she probably limped into 75% or more of the pots at this table) and I definitely wanted a call. She mumbled a call and said, “Do you have Ace-King?” This pretty much sums up the action at this table. It seemed like it never occurred to her that I might have AQ, AJ, AT or A9, which would all beat her A8o. She had called 6BB cold in middle position with A8x, and then called an all-in from an early position pre-flop raiser (I was also known to be tight as one of our dealers and another player had been joking about that earlier). Anyway, the turn was a K, leaving her drawing to an Ace or King for a split and my Queen kicker held up to win a $115 pot.

I left not too long after that because I’d been playing for three hours and it was time to get back to DAL. To sum up, I was down to $21 thanks to some bad beats and a tough beat, but then more-than-doubled-up twice in three hands to go up for the session.

I write too much about live poker sessions. I need to get a life or a muzzle… for typing.

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Hail is bad

I guess this is basically common knowledge, but after driving through a couple hail storms today, I’ve decided I don’t like hail. Upon further review, my car isn’t a fan either. First, I was driving a little south of Macon, GA when a little hail storm broke out. I figured the best thing was to get out of the way, so I took the next exit and sat under a gas station overhang for a bit. When the coast was clear, I hit the road again.

I drove about 20 miles before I got to the end of the Macon bypass. Then, the sky opened up and spat freakin’ ice rocks all over my car. I thought maybe I should stop under the overpass, but there was no room in the inn. I pulled past the overpass and off onto the shoulder, but it seemed kinda’ silly to just sit there and take that kind of abuse, so I slowly continued moving north. A couple minutes later and the sky cleared and it was smooth sailing to Atlanta.

Turns out I was supposed to just stop on the side of the road and ride out the hail storm. I kinda’ figured there wasn’t much difference between sitting there and moving two or three miles per hour up the highway. Maybe that was stupid, but I’m pretty sure I got outta’ that hail storm a lot faster than those dudes parked on the shoulder. I am dumb.

Anyway, I didn’t inspect my car until I got to Atlanta, and I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be. Looks like there are only about 10 dings on and most of them are on the hood. My guess is that the hood is made of a different metal than the rest of the car; I can’t think of any reason that there are hardly any dings on the drunk or sides. In fact, the hail seemed to be coming from behind me, so I would expect most of the damage to be to the rear of the car. I guess this is further evidence that I am dumb.

So, I get to look forward to filing an insurance claim and giving my car up to the dealer indefinitely while they fix it. Super.

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Florida Basketball up to 11-0 for the best start in school history

That’s a pretty big deal. First, Corey Brewer gets the first triple-double in school history. Now, the team has set the record for best start. That’s pretty great, especially considering that two of those 11 wins were against Wake and ‘cuse on back-to-back nights. It’s awesome that the Gators are a real contender this year instead of a team that’s “rebuilding”.

Having fun in Florida

I’m in Jacksonville and things are going well so far. I spent the day doing my Christmas shopping and meeting various people for meals and such. I’m here in Jacksonville for several days this Christmas, so I think I’ll be seeing a lot of my friends and family.

My space on MySpace isn’t my space

I’ve set up a phantom account on MySpace so I can spy on people. Another friend put me up to it and I’m weak, so I went along with her plan. I’ve mostly been checking in on people who went to my high school. I have also been checking out profiles for friends of friends of friends because I need to know “what’s wrong with him?” or “is that so and so?” (it’s usually not).

So far, I’m pretty underwhelmed by MySpace, but that’s probably because I’m stupid and I just don’t get it. Maybe I’ll come around eventually.

This is probably the lamest blog ever

If there’s a lame blog award, I want it. I’ve earned it and it’s rightfully mine. Don’t try to keep it from me or give it to some other not-quite-as-lame blog.

Speaking of lame, Blogger seriously needs to work on their spellchecker

I just spellchecked that last blog entry and Blogger’s spellchecker flagged the word “blog”. I like Blogger and I think they provide a good service, but I think maybe it’s time to upgrade the spellchecker. Also, it flagged the word “underwhelmed” and suggested “underwhelming”; I guess Blogger has preferred tenses for certain verbs or something. It also doesn’t like the word “spellchecker”. I’ll concede that I may have made that one up, although Dictionary.com says it’s legit.

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Flu shot

It’s 10:15 and I just got a flu shot about 2 minutes ago. Last time I got a flu shot, back in 2002, I got sick a couple days later. I figure this time I’ll write everything down so that if I get sick from this one too, then maybe I’ll just pass on the shots in the future. I rarely get sick, so if I feel like I’m assuming a reasonable risk of getting sick by taking the flu shot, I might just leave it alone in the future.

Unfortunately, I’m traveling in 2 days, so if I do get a little sick, I’ll have to endure it on the road.

No, I’m not paranoid. No, I don’t think flu shots are a bad idea. Yes, I know it’s very rare that a flu shot can cause the flu and that it usually only happens in people who are already sick.

Update 1

It’s been about 24 hours since the flu shot and I feel fine. Hopefully I’m in the clear and I don’t have to worry about catching the flu this year.

Update 2

I think I’m in the clear. It’s been over two days and no signs of any sickness. I’m pretty worn out today, so I’d be feeling it if I was getting sick. No more updates unless I start feeling poorly in the next few days.

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