trip

ummm... i've been posting on LJ pretty regularly with where I'm at/what I'm doing, but I'll do a quick post here...

right now I'm in Burbank California at Risa's place, eating a chocolate PowerBar, wasting time while she's asleep, preparing to shower, preparing to play online poker. We saw this band play at this venue last night. Good stuff. Probably hanging around here most of the day.

Location: Burbank California
Now Listening:traffic

title

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I'm officially doing my 1st post ever from my laptop... just got it today. So far, so good with that. It's not really a replacement for my desktop, since I need the 2 big monitors for poker... I've been playing up to 12 tables lately. As far as online poker goes, the president is expected to sign the bill this Friday. It will remain to be seen how profitable 'net poker is in the near future. Anyways, I'm still playing online poker fulltime for the time being, and have succesfull been playing higher stakes too. Also, I'm going to play poker with my friends in Maywood on Thurs night.

In unrelated events... my back always starts acting up after about 2 miles of continuous running. I'm toying with the idea of getting a small back brace, but I'm skeptical that would really make any difference. Also, I need to start focusing on doing more situps, which could possibly alleviate some of the pressure from my back. Not a major issue, and the pain isn't even honestly that horrible, it's more of an annoyance and frustration. I've been able to make a huge reduction in my daily back pain by sleeping on my back with a pillow directly under my lower back. That is seriously the only I can feel ok the next day.

I was just looking at ebay before to try to find deals on customs... very few costumes available for adult men really. I might have to brainstorm and come up with something on my own. I will most likely go to the haunted house at Sterling Forest with Mike and whoever else is coming this Friday.

Location:
Now Listening:

weekend

I posted it on my livejournal page, but yeah, I finished 8th/657 in the big 7 Card Stud event on Tuesday on PokerStars. Probably one of my biggest accomplishments this year really. Other than, was down in AC Weds-Thurs. Usual long marathon poker sessions, ended up breaking even.

A bunch of us headed over for Noah's bday in Nutley on Friday night. I had a good time, but that might just be because I drank excessively. Went out to a couple of watering holes last night around Parsippany, not really my favorite places, yet better than staying home. I'm saving up my credits (Frequent Player Points) right now on PokerStars, and almost have enough for another $1,000 to Amazon.com. I'm most likely going to pick up a laptop from there soon. I don't think I really need something with a DVD-R drive, really just CD-R. Some decent battery life would help also.

No plans for this week as of yet. Maybe I'll drive to Maywood again on Thurs night to play poker with that crew... we always have a good time and a lot of laughs.

Location: d-ville
Now Listening: Radiohead - Street Spirit (acoustic)

stuff

Got done playing poker a little while ago, booked a decent win for the hours I put in. Sent an email to PokerStars, reminding them they owe me $3,000. My request has neither been accepted or denied yet, and I'm getting pretty anxious. Most likely that money will fund a trip to Las Vegas for me. Once that dust settles, I'll look further into getting a job. I have also been considering picking up and heading West. Not sure of anything right now.

Here's my revised World Series of Online Poker schedule, I have to set aside good chunks of time for each of these. I really don't expect to make any money of these tournaments. I just plan on playing aggressively as usual, and I don't think I'll be disappointed if I don't book any cashes in them.



No other plans for the week so far... will probably head outside to skateboard soon in further attempts at mastering switch heelflips.

stuff

After a bad downswing in Poker, my PokerStars account is back up to $20,700, it was recently down to $18,300 which was pretty damn depressing. My highest point was slightly above $21,000 and I hope to surpass that soon. I can't connect to Party Poker right now for some reason, but I guess I have like $1500 there. Also PokerStars is going to owe me $3,000 for being a VIP in most likely 3-4 days. Right now there are deliberating on approving a Visa Gift Card for me, or a prepaid gas card, or whatever. We've been touch via email, and I'm hoping on a hasty verdict. When that comes through I'll probably take $3K of my own cash and book an escape to Vegas ASAP. When things are going well for me financially, it puts me in a better mood for sure. Also, I think I'm going to bombard Atlantic City with my resume again, and see if any jobs turn up.

I spent the majority of Saturday/Sunday night waiting to hang out with one of my "friends". She blew me off, and sent me a text message this morning with no apology, but stating "I don't think we're compatible as friends". This makes a great deal of sense considering she's one of the few people I ever confide in, and we've been hanging out for several years. Anyways, I don't care to beg people to be my "friends", and I don't need this type of stress in my life. In actuality, I feel this is just a major cop out by her, most likely she's dating someone who occupies most of her time and like 80% of the girls I've hung out with... she can't be upfront or honest about anything. I've never had anyone decide to stop being a friend before, and obviously it's a little upsetting. Anyways, I will continue to strive for success and happiness and try to not let distractions slow me down.

wcoop

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Here's my WCOOP schedule so far. I'm really psyched I satellited to get into the HORSE EVENT! These have all been satellite entries, and I believe only from FPPs, not real money. One of those Hold Em's is heads-up, which I absolutely suck at. I really enjoy tournament Omaha, and it's probably one of my stronger games.

recovering from a couple of long days/long nights right now, it will be good to sit home for a while. on saturday, mike, the ced, and i went to the loop lounge, and had to make a detour to new milford afterwards.. got home around 5AM. yesterday (sunday), I drove to jim's bbq in lake hopatcong around 5. first time i've been to his new house. i drank a few rounds, and ate a few tofu kebobs, that i suppose Keri made. next i drove from hopatcong to nutley, to meet up with noah. basically i drove across a huge span. anyways, noah, his friend kristen, and i headed over to axis lounge for a while. it was pretty crowded, lots of industrial music, and a metal band was playing in the back. anyways, that had $1 PBR's which is always a good value. they had signs up for "midget boxing", coming up this friday. i'm not sure how i feel about midget exploitation though... maybe it's a little screwed up.

Panic at the Disco

I mistakenly tried to listen to their album today, but then realized it's complete trash. Just as bad as Fall Out Boy.

concierge

had an interview today at an advertising-type company in Saddle Brook... fortunately the Interviewer/V.P. was a good looking chick. Job seemed ok overall.. probably better than most.

Crappy week of poker so far, break even/small losses, only bright side is I have over 100,000 FPPs store up again. Almost enough for $1500 to Amazon.com, or might possibly save up to 160,000 FPPs to use their concierge service. I would be able to spend around $3,000 most likely... here are some things others have bought though the concierge service.

Location: same Bat place, same Bat station
Now Listening: Merle Haggard

work

a typical day at work...





a little squished on my monitor, but it works out alright. generally I try to have 9 tables running at any given time, although if I'm in the middle of a tournament I like to tone it down to concentrate on the task at hand.





Now Listening:Sham 69 - With A Little Help From My Friends

PartyCasino

I get an email saying I have a free $10 bonus to PartyCasino.  I download software bet $10 on Blackjack, get dealt KK, bonus is cleared, and walk away a champion.

stuff

recent happenings:

went to Warped Tour at Nasseau Colliseum with Mike (last Saturday), we got right in the front for Less Than Jake... and they were awesome as always. Met up with Allen, Keith, and Johanna in NYC.. and made our way to the bar to hang out with Adam, Mike M., and Brian. Exhausting trip... but good. Caught some nice sunburn too, which has caused some peel-age.

I got this phone free from Verizon, so far so good, no complaints yet. Actually the vibrate mode come to think of it, is substantially weaker than that of my old phone. Since I normally leave my phone on silent, it's causing me to miss some calls.



There are a couple new photos up on Flickr, but I'm gonna try to put my digicam to more use this week hopefully. I had a pretty decent week in poker, several small tournament victories (posted on livejournal), so that's got my feelin' pretty good. Nothing planned for this week so far, that I can recall. Most likely 12-hour marathon internet poker sessions, with intermitent outings to Taco Bell, Dunkin Donuts, Barnes and Noble, skate spots, jogging, etc.

Yep, very exciting.

order

I had $300+ laying around on Amazon.com, so I ordered this stuff today:



Shipping estimate for these items: August 11, 2006 - August 14, 2006
Delivery estimate: August 18, 2006 - August 25, 2006
1 "Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker"
Stewart Reuben; Paperback; $15.75

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Omaha Poker"
Bob Ciaffone; Paperback; $16.00

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Seven-Card Stud for Advanced Players (Advance Player)"
David Sklansky; Paperback; $18.87

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Poker Essays, Volume III"
Mason Malmuth; Paperback; $16.47

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Cache (Hidden)"
Michael Haneke; DVD; $19.87

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Instrument - Ten Years with the Band Fugazi"
Fugazi; DVD; $19.99

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "New Order - 316"
New Order; DVD; $12.99

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Elvis - Aloha from Hawaii (Deluxe Edition DVD)"
Marty Pasetta; DVD; $21.99

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "People's History of Less Than Jake"
Less Than Jake; DVD; $12.99

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)"
George Clooney; DVD; $13.02

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "Let's Rock Again"
Joe Strummer; DVD; $14.99

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"
Tommy Lee Jones; DVD; $17.99

Sold by:Amazon.com
1 "We Jam Econo - The Story of the Minutemen"
Minutemen; DVD; $19.99

Analysis:

PLHE and NLHE - Good reviews, I can never find it in local bookstores.

Omaha Poker - Updated version of Bob Ciaffone's PLO book. I never read the original, but it got good reviews.

7 Card Stud by Sklansky - I've skimmed it several times, but wouldn't mind owning it. Unfortunately Amazon.com did not seem do have this in stock as an alternative - There don't seem to be many publications of odds for 7CS???

Poker Essays III - I don't think I've really ever read this either.

Cache (DVD) - I dunno, some random movie that got good reviews, hence I ordered it.

Instrument (DVD) - documentary/live footage of the band Fugazi. One of the most influential post-punk bands, and a personal favorite of mine.

New Order: 316 (DVD) - 2 live concerts by new wave band New Order... another favorite

Elvis (DVD) - no explanation required

Less Than Jake (DVD) - punk band, live footage, interviews, etc

Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition DVD) - another movie w/ good reviews

Let's Rock Again (DVD) - performances/interviews Joe Strummer, deceased singer from the Clash

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (DVD) - some other movie

Minutemen (DVD) - fun 80's punk band documentary, Jackass's theme song is one of theirs


_______________________________________

I also ordered an olive colored canvas wallet and The Acoustic Guitar of Jorma Kaukonen, 3 DVD Set [DVD]. Fingerstyle Acoustic guitar instruction, to possibly aid with my awful guitar playing.

july update

looks like its only been about 30 days since my last update.






My new computer is here, and it runs much better than it's successor. Even when I have 10 tabs of Firefox open constantly. (used to kill my computer). I have to swap power supplies tomorrow, and then try to run 2 monitors at the same time. 2 Firewire ports, USB 2.0, 200Gb HD, 1Gb Ram.

Went to Springfield (Dayton High), to see Kate's boss's daugther perform classical Indian (Hindu) dances... ate free vegetarian Indian food. We drove down to Point Pleasant later at night... it was raining slightly there, which kinda sucked. Played some BuckHunter and Air Hockey.. no major scores on the skill cranes.

Nothing major planned this week, though I do hope to make it to Clerks 2. I'm trying to figure out exactly how the PokerStars travel certificates work. It is through a company called ePlatinum, which is an agent (?) of expedia.com.

Location: home
Now Listening: The Lightning Seeds - The Life of Riley

update

I guess I haven't updated this lately, huh?

Well, here's a couple of news briefs:

1) saw The Break-Up tonight (Vince Vaughn movie).. I found it pretty entertaining.
2) Ed's buying my Nano... glad it's going to be bought and used
3) read Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis (thanks to Keith)... good book
4) just ordered this!

Location: nowhere
Now Listening: Social D (discography)