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Florida: Days 6 through 8

Well, power was restored here a couple days ago and we finally got cable/internet back up today. This trip has been a lot different than my last trip because it’s basically been about seeing people and spending time with them. Usually, I spend time with people by getting a meal with them. My routine has been to wake up around 10:30, go to lunch with someone around noon, then come home and nap or whatever, then go to dinner with someone else (usually a group) around 6:00 or so, then hang out and play cards or something till around 2 AM.

Last time I was here, I spent more time playing frisbee golf and basketball and stuff like that. Ironically, though the two trips are a lot different, they’re very similar in that my goal is to spend as much time with my friends as possible. Last time, it worked out so I was playing sports with them; this time, I have spent my time just sitting around and eating with them. Both experiences have been equally fulfilling.

Last night, I went to a Crusade meeting and I was really impressed with how well it went. The emcees were great and the meeting flowed smoothly and was effective. I enjoyed it and I had a great time seeing everyone while I was there.

Tonight, I’m getting the crew together to head out to Newberry for Newberry Backyard BBQ–the best babyback ribs I’ve ever had. Then, we’re going to come back here and watch the FSU vs. Miami game. Hopefully, FSU will lose by a field goal. I guess the only thing better than that would be if they lost by a field goal that was allowed by some ridiculous oversight by the ref’s.

Only a few more days and I’m headed back to Texas. Looks like I’ll be traveling a lot over the next few months: First week in October, I’m going to be in LA; Third week in October, I’ll be in LA; Thanksgiving, I’ll be in Florida; Christmas, I’ll be in Florida and Atlanta. All this traveling is already putting a huge damper on my workout schedule. It’s a hard-knock life.

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Florida: Days 1 and 2 Well, my plane ride in was uneventful and quick. My only beef was that the A/C on the plane was weak and it was freakin’ hot the whole way to Florida. The hurricane has been a non-factor so far in my trip. Some friends picked me up at the airport and we immediately headed for Outback for some Cheesefries and a Special. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and talking. Friday, I spent the day with my family (as is my tradition when I come back this way). I had some great conversations and spent quality time with my parents and the rest of my family. At night, a couple of my buddies drove up from Gainesville and picked me up. We headed back to G-ville and played some poker till about 5 AM. That’s about it so far. We’re headed out to lunch pretty soon.

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Inside the Actor’s Studio: Harrison Ford

I’ve seen many episodes of this show, but Harrison Ford’s interview is up at the top of the list as far as content and honesty. I have learned little things from others’ interviews, but it seemed like almost everything he had to say was something I could use as I pursue acting as a career. Ultimately, I think the thing that floored me most was his humility, a characteristic not often demonstrated by actors and others in ‘the business’.

This one’s under ‘Keep until I delete’ on my TiVo.

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Gettin’ ready for vacation

I haven’t had much going on lately because, in one way or another, I’ve been constantly preparing to go to Florida. I spent 8 hours at ‘the office’ (or ‘my cubicle’) this weekend and I’ve been trying to get everything done that I need done before I go: finish my workout cycle, get in some cardio, buy luggage, buy other clothes and stuff, etc. I leave Thursday afternoon and that leaves less than four days to tie up all loose ends and get ready to leave Texas for 10 days.

Pencil me in

I’m already trying to set up appointments, dinners and the like with my friends in Gainesville. While I’m a big fan of living on the fly, sometimes it’s necessary to intentionally set time up to spend with people, especially when I know they may or may not be hanging around where I am. Of course, I’m already looking forward to making a trip (or two?) to Newberry Backyard BBQ, Leonardo’s (deep dish pizza), Burrito Bros., Mellow Mushroom, and probably a bunch of other places around Gainesville. Anyway, I haven’t posted much lately because I’ve basically been preparing to leave. I know it sounds a little ludicrous to spend a week preparing to go on a 10-day vacation, but I like to get things done right and this is how I do that.

Braum’s

All this time in Texas and I’d never gone to Braum’s until today. I decided to drop in and try a shake because a buddy of mine at the gym said they’re pretty good. Turns out he was right. I went with the old standby (for me): strawberry. It was thick, filling and super tasty. I may’ve found a new vice.

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Coasting along

I haven’t posted much recently because I haven’t done much recently. My basketball team played our 7th and final game of the season on Wednesday and we won by about 20. I probably played my best game at Point Guard, although I didn’t have many points to prove it (I think I finished with 7). Our team played well and it’ll be interesting to see how we do in the playoffs starting Wednesday. Fortunately, our first game is against another team that we beat by 20 (and they ran 10 guys to our 6), so hopefully we’ll win again and continue working on a team strategy that will work for us. So far, it seems to work with me at Point because I do a good job of bringing the ball up, but also because it allows the other guys to play in the positions where they’re most comfortable (wings and post).

Online Poker

Next week, I’ll probably start playing a little poker online for real money. I think I’ll initially stick to playing “Sit N Gos”, which are basically one- or two-table tournaments where the top four places finish in the money. Because I feel more comfortable and confident in tournaments, I figure I’ll start with these to build up my bankroll before I start playing cash games. Above all, I’ll be playing only with the money I’ve put into my account for the next month. In a month, I’ll evaluate and decide where to go from there. If I’m up, I’ll just keep playing online. If I’ve lost the cash I allotted myself, I’ll have to decide whether to try again or find another hobby.

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Current Competition Compilation

Well, after the tournament a couple weeks ago, I started playing in a home game with a few of the guys that were in the tournament. Last week, I didn’t do so well. I lost 30 bucks in 3 hours (it was a 20-dollar buy-in) and just didn’t seem to be able to win a hand. So, I thought about it all week and decided upon a strategy that I thought could be used to beat this home game. It’s simple: I don’t raise before the flop (there’s simply no point in trying to drive anyone out before they see the cards in this game), I slow-play almost everything and I’ll play drawing hands only if it’s really cheap to draw. This week, I won 35 bucks, so I made back what I lost last week and then 5 bucks bonus. I only played about 6 hands in 3 hours, but that’s because I just didn’t need to play any more than that.

I’m probably going back next week and I’ll see if the strategy is legitimate or if I was just experiencing the large swings that come with a loose aggressive group of players.

Basketball: Game 6

Well, we’re now 3-3 after starting 3-0. We lost badly tonight, 51-29, or something like that. I only scored 5 points, but that’s about my share since we had 6 guys. We just couldn’t execute in offense and we got outplayed. However, I felt I played pretty well. I certainly could’ve shot better and put up some more points, but I ran Point Guard for most of the game and I did it pretty well. I was playing very aggressively because they were playing a high 2-3 zone. That meant there was a huge soft spot about 18 feet out, all the way around the arc. I felt like I was finding open men and making passes to set them up for open looks, but we simply couldn’t hit our shots. I only had one turnover and probably 3 assists, but that assist number really should’ve been higher.

The last few games, our biggest weakness has been simple offensive execution. We just didn’t put the ball through the hoop, and we had plenty of opportunities. I really hope we can get back on the winning track before the playoffs in a couple weeks. Until then, we have one more regular season game against the first team we played. I expect we’ll win, but it’s hard to say with this team. We’ve shown that we can be very inconsistent.

Time to sleep.

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Stephen Hawking: Genius, funny guy, kindergarten teacher

Well, after about a year, I have finally made more progress on A Brief History of Time. What really blows me away is his ability to explain some really complicated stuff in an interesting (well, I find it interesting… I wouldn’t want to speak for anyone else), entertaining and concise way. His writing isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, though it does have its moments, but at least it keeps my attention. More importantly, he’s able to cover ridiculous topics like black holes, the space-time continuum (Back to the Future flashback), mesons and time cones in just a few pages each. Not only that, but an idiot like me can actually understand some of what he’s writing. The guy’s got a unique combination of intellect and eloquence that I doubt I’ve seen elsewhere.

I guess one thing I’m learning as I read his stuff is that I’m probably always going to be a bit of a nerd at heart. Ten or fifteen years ago, that might’ve bothered me, but I’ve been learning for a while now that I just have to be comfortable in my own skin. I guess that’s an idea I’ll have to continue getting used to since I’m still just breakin’ it in.

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Weekend Update

This week, I read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris. I enjoyed it and I got the feeling that his “voice” is similar to what mine would be if I was actually a writer. He’s sarcastic, satirical, sardonic and short. Basically, the book is little vignettes from his life. A collection of autobiographical short-stories that are disturbing and interesting at the same time. I found myself compelled to continue reading by a sort of morbid curiosity. Anyway, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a relatively quick read that will make you simultaneously laugh out loud and grimace for the characters.

I’m also still trying to finish reading other books I’ve started and put down. I’m working on The World According to Garp, The Illustrated A Brief History of Time, The Truth in Comedy, Money Matters and probably a few others that aren’t coming to mind right now. Between these books, TiVo, GameCube, Netflix and the gym, I’ve been keeping pretty busy doing things that ultimately don’t matter. I guess maybe I feel like I’m educating myself and killing time until I start moving into the next phase of my life.

One other thing I think I’ll start pursuing is sign language. I’ve been wanting to learn another language and, although French, Italian and other languages have a sort of romantic allure, I feel that learning ASL could actually be a useful way to invest my time. I don’t know if I’ll actually do this, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

More on music

A while ago, I wrote about shopping for an electric guitar. Well, I eventually decided I just didn’t want to spend the money on something that is essentially a variation on something I’ve already invested a lot of money in. That being said, lately I’ve been looking at digital pianos. I played for about five years until 10th grade, then I quit and picked up the guitar a year later. Since I got to college, I’ve been itching to play piano again and just haven’t had any way of scratching that itch… until now. I figure I can get a decent digital piano–weighted, pressure sensitive keys, good sound, etc.–for $500 or so, which ain’t bad. I’m trying to take my time and be patient about it, but the truth is I’ve been patient for the last five years and I’m really gettin’ the itch.

Maybe it doesn’t help that I’ve been listening to a lot of Billy Joel lately.

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Game 5 a better loss

We lost the fifth game of our league season, but only by one point, 45-44. We played pretty well both defensively and offensively, but just didn’t hit the one shot we needed to win. Basically, we made the mistake of starting in a 2-3 zone and they outscored us by about 12 while we were in the zone. Then, we went man (for about the last three-quarters of the game) and outscored them by 11–one short of what we needed to go to OT and two short of the win.

All in all, it was a good game and we played well. I did alright, but mostly was a quiet contributor tonight. I was pretty pleased with my performance, but of course I’m kicking myself for not hitting one more shot.

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My team’s collective ego got a boo boo

Last week, we won by 20-something. This week? Lost by 20-something. The main factor: the guys we played were just more experienced and a lot more aggressive on both offense and defense than we were. We flat got outplayed. I had my worst game in a while. I scored four points–same as in the first game–but I did it on something like 14 shots or so. I missed several easy lay-ups, didn’t have any 3’s and couldn’t get 5-foot jumpers to fall. My teammate said I (and we as a team) were playing scared and I think he may be right. As I think back, I missed some easy shots, but they were shots that should’ve been a lot easier. I wasn’t jumping too hard on lay-ups and jumpers because I was trying for a quick release to avoid getting blocked; my 3’s were falling short because I was shooting too high and quick to avoid getting blocked.

We were caught off guard because they played very aggressive defense. They only had five guys and we had seven, so we figured we could “run ’em”. Well, since they had at least one guy who played Division 1-A basketball, they were in pretty good shape and weren’t intimidated by a fast-paced game. Ironically, our team totally forgot that we beat a ten-man team by 20 last week and we only had six guys.

Anyway, it was humbling, but it was good to see what we need to work on in practice and throughout the season. We’ll probably see this team again in the play-offs and I think we’ll be more ready for them this time around.