Sometimes when I daydream I'll remember a random memory from my past, like this one: in my early teens, I started mowing the lawn. Instead of using a gas can to fill the mower with gas, my dad taught me how to siphon gasoline from one of our cars into the mower. I would take a long black hose, shove it down the gas tank of the 69 Mustang, and suck on the end of it until I tasted gas. Then I would immediately point the end of the hose into the mower to get the gas into the mower, while spitting/gagging/coughing up all the gas in my mouth. At the time, I thought this was perfectly normal. I didn't I even know what a gas can was. How else do you get gas into a mower? It's not like you can drive it to the gas station...
Have you noticed that digital cameras are practically disposable? Why is that? In the 8 years since I've switched to digital cameras, I've already gone through 3 of them. I'm on my 4th one now. My first camera, the Olympus C2020, just stopped working after a few years. The battery compartment wouldn't close completely, so there was no power to the camera. Plus, the memory card somehow would always lose the pictures. So I sold the camera on eBay. Our 2nd camera was a Pentax Optio 33L, and Jocelin left it in a restaurant in Hong Kong. Our 3rd camera was a Casio Exilim S100. I really liked this one. Super compact and super stylish, it also had a big LCD screen and lots of cool features. The only problem was that it didn't take good pictures. So we sent it back to Casio to get repaired, but then someone stole the camera out of the box before it even arrived at the Casio Factory. But at least we got reimbursed from FedEx. We just got our 4th camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX8K, and I'm really excited about this one. I just hope it will survive longer than its predecessors...
Every once in a while we have tiny little sugar ants that show up on our kitchen counter. Jocelin does a good job of finding out where they come from - a small crack in the baseboard, an uncaulked seam between the backsplash and the laminate, or through a small opening in the window sill. Even though she is obcessed with cleanliness, hates all things unclean, and detests all kinds of insects and bugs, she doesn't have any problems smushing the little ants with her fingers. In fact, I think she kind of enjoys it. After she finds (and smushes) one, she'll spend 5 more minutes looking for any relatives in the area. Sometimes, she'll smush 3 or 4 of them on one finger before cleaning the remains off. I will never completely understand my wife...
Today I was meditating on the person of Jesus Christ, and a few questions came to my mind:
1. Did Jesus tell jokes? Did He ever gather His disciples together while they were cruising on one of their boats and say, "Have you heard the one about the preacher, the aggie, and the shepherd..."
2. Was He ever late to anything? I asked Jocelin this question, and she pointed out that Jesus was "late" when He went to visit Lazarus, and that's why Lazarus died (John 11). But after examining the text, it is clear that Jesus didn't say He was going to be there at a certain time. Mary, the brother of Lazarus, sent word to Jesus to tell Him her brother was sick. Jesus didn't say, "Oh no! Mary, I'll be there on Wednesday at 11:00am." In order to be late, you must give a commitment to be somewhere at a certain time. Therefore, technically, He was not late...
3. Were there any foods that Jesus didn't like to eat? Almost everyone I know has an aversion to at least one type of food. But having created all things, including all kinds of food, did Jesus not like any of them? My gut tells me that He would eat all varieties of food, and like it. Just like Mikey.
4. Did He fart? Being fully human, I have to assume that He did. Which leads to my next question: Did they stink?
These days, it's easy to find something wrong with America. Whether it's the budget deficit, the war on terror, or our materialistic culture, the media always has something negative to say about this country we live in. So, instead of bashing America, I'm going to dedicate this blog to a few good and positive things about our country that we often overlook...
Tonight I played my largest buy-in poker tournament to-date. It was a $200+16 $200,000 tourney paying 99 places. I won my buy-in by placing in the top 3 in a $6.60 tournament last week. There were 1031 entrants in this tourney, including several pros: Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, Clonie Gowen, John Juanda, Keith Sexton, Allen Cunningham, Toto Leonidas, Aaron Bartley, Steve Brecher.
A few weekends ago I spent many hours working on our website. I was writing new book reviews, reorganizing website content, writing new blogs, and figuring out the best way to display our photos. Working on your website is kind of like working on your house - there are always things you can do, and you can always spend more time on it. But after logging many hours, I was ready to "call it a day."
Can you remember the last time you used microfilm? Well, for me, that was today. I had to go to the the Travis County Tax Office to do some research on a piece of land, and all the files were on microfilm. First, I had to find the film I needed and that was an adventure by itself. It's kind of like being at the library but not really. You know how we've all been trained on the Dewey Decimal system? Well, microfilm is not categorized by the Dewey Decimal System. As far as I could tell, THERE IS NO SYSTEM.
Last night was my biggest online poker tournament win to-date, as well as my biggest tournament comeback ever! Here are the stats: $8.80 buy-in, 181 players, 8 places paid, $1,448 prize pool, with the top two places getting a automatic buy-in into the $500+35 WSOP Satellite on July 16th. 100 players from that tournament will advance to the 2006 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas.
Within the first 20 minutes of the tournament, I was down to 160 chips (we started with 1500) when my KK ran into AA early. From that point forward, I was just grinding it out, waiting patiently for situations to move all my chips in. It didn't hurt that I also got lucky on a few hands (i.e. I like to think of it as divine intervention).
Jocelin, Christina, and I were hanging out at Barnes & Noble the other night. We were sitting in the cafe section, each of us grossly immersed in the books and magazines we had picked out from the store. I was going through the new poker books, Jocelin was looking through magazines of hairstlyes and food, and Christina was glancing through books on interior decorating and fashion.
Jocelin, of course, did her share of people-watching. (She can't stay focused on a book or magazine for more than 6 minutes at a time.) And she noticed something very interesting. At one of the tables sat a single guy, sitting all by himself. On his table was an open Bible, but he was also reading a book called, "Taking Care Of Your New Puppy." When Jocelin pointed this out, we immediately bust out laughing. This guy has got it all figured out! He must be a professional pick-up artist, or maybe a con-artist of some sort? What kind of girl wouldn't be attracted to this? If you're a single guy and reading this, pay attention! Don't you see what this guy is advertising to women?
As we left, I thought to myself, man, I'm glad I'm married. If you have to resort to these tactics, things must be really tough these days.
Sometimes when I daydream I'll remember a random memory from my past, like this one: in my early teens, I started mowing the lawn. Instead of using a gas can to fill the mower with gas, my dad taught me how to siphon gasoline from one of our cars into the mower. I would take a long black hose, shove it down the gas tank of the 69 Mustang, and suck on the end of it until I tasted gas. Then I would immediately point the end of the hose into the mower to get the gas into the mower, while spitting/gagging/coughing up all the gas in my mouth. At the time, I thought this was perfectly normal. I didn't I even know what a gas can was. How else do you get gas into a mower? It's not like you can drive it to the gas station...
Have you noticed that digital cameras are practically disposable? Why is that? In the 8 years since I've switched to digital cameras, I've already gone through 3 of them. I'm on my 4th one now. My first camera, the 
Every once in a while we have tiny little sugar ants that show up on our kitchen counter. Jocelin does a good job of finding out where they come from - a small crack in the baseboard, an uncaulked seam between the backsplash and the laminate, or through a small opening in the window sill. Even though she is obcessed with cleanliness, hates all things unclean, and detests all kinds of insects and bugs, she doesn't have any problems smushing the little ants with her fingers. In fact, I think she kind of enjoys it. After she finds (and smushes) one, she'll spend 5 more minutes looking for any relatives in the area. Sometimes, she'll smush 3 or 4 of them on one finger before cleaning the remains off. I will never completely understand my wife...
Today I was meditating on the person of Jesus Christ, and a few questions came to my mind:
These days, it's easy to find something wrong with America. Whether it's the budget deficit, the war on terror, or our materialistic culture, the media always has something negative to say about this country we live in. So, instead of bashing America, I'm going to dedicate this blog to a few good and positive things about our country that we often overlook...
Tonight I played my largest buy-in poker tournament to-date. It was a $200+16 $200,000 tourney paying 99 places. I won my buy-in by placing in the top 3 in a $6.60 tournament last week. There were 1031 entrants in this tourney, including several pros: Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, Clonie Gowen, John Juanda, Keith Sexton, Allen Cunningham, Toto Leonidas, Aaron Bartley, Steve Brecher.
A few weekends ago I spent many hours working on our website. I was writing new book reviews, reorganizing website content, writing new blogs, and figuring out the best way to display our photos. Working on your website is kind of like working on your house - there are always things you can do, and you can always spend more time on it. But after logging many hours, I was ready to "call it a day." 
Can you remember the last time you used microfilm? Well, for me, that was today. I had to go to the the Travis County Tax Office to do some research on a piece of land, and all the files were on microfilm. First, I had to find the film I needed and that was an adventure by itself. It's kind of like being at the library but not really. You know how we've all been trained on the Dewey Decimal system? Well, microfilm is not categorized by the Dewey Decimal System. As far as I could tell, THERE IS NO SYSTEM.
Last night was my biggest online poker tournament win to-date, as well as my biggest tournament comeback ever! Here are the stats: $8.80 buy-in, 181 players, 8 places paid, $1,448 prize pool, with the top two places getting a automatic buy-in into the $500+35 WSOP Satellite on July 16th. 100 players from that tournament will advance to the 2006 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. 
Jocelin, Christina, and I were hanging out at Barnes & Noble the other night. We were sitting in the cafe section, each of us grossly immersed in the books and magazines we had picked out from the store. I was going through the new poker books, Jocelin was looking through magazines of hairstlyes and food, and Christina was glancing through books on interior decorating and fashion.