Thursday, January 10, 2008

random observations

I watched 3 hours of the greatest 100 songs of the '90s last night while cleaning my apartment. My apartment was trashed, so it was that time. While I watched VH1, I had some thoughts in no specific order.

1. How is Brett Michaels famous enough to have a house full of skanks who want to maryy him? Poison hasn't released a song in a decade. He wears a bandanna because he is bald. On the other hand, the idea of having girls who want to date you audition on a strip club pole is a very valid way of finding your soulmate.

2. Scott Baio? Really? This bothers me more than number 1.

3. A Brady has his own reality show about his model wife not sure if she wants to have a baby because her boobs won't look as good? This is worth an entire season? I understand why the world hates us if they are stuck with our tv.

4. I know the words to a lot of boy band songs from the '90's. Like whole verses of Backstreet Boys songs. This worries me a lot. It's tearing out my heart when I'm with you. And when we are apart I feel it too. With or without you. Enough said.

5. There were a ton of commercials for feminine hygiene products. I guess the 90's caused a lot of pms symptoms.

6. I feel cheated that Kurt Cobain didn't make any more music.

7. I found my Hootie and the Blowfish debut album when I was cleaning. It is now on my Ipod. What a great cd.

8. The 90's had some great tunes. I feel sorry for all the freshman I'm around who don't remember when Hit Me Baby One More Time owned TRL for 4 months or whatever.

9. Speaking of Britney, wow, what else can you say? Her early stuff before her slut phase was really sexy. She could sing a little too. She was no Christina, but she was ok. Good luck with all that Britney.

Hallelujah Hollaback.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

so i went to vegas for a wedding july '07

I thought this one was up already but I only had it on myspace so I cross posted it.

So I was invited to Vegas for a wedding by Jess and Jake. myspace.com/push180 is jake and jess is www.myspace.com/prollytheawesomest. Jess runs the coffee shop in Litchfield and that is how we met. I have been looking for an excuse to go to Vegas so when they invited me I said definitely. I got to Vegas and the first night there I went with Jake his brother and dad and we drank some at the piano bar. We then met up with the girls at the piano bar. I left a bit early and played poker. Kinda hazy on details but the next morning i played some cards and then went to the MGM were Jess had reserved a cabana. That was pretty stellar. I definitely recommend it to anyone heading that way. I then got buzzed and went and played cards again. At this point I got really, really drunk while playing cards and then went to the piano bar at 9 to meet everyone. I was wearing my one nice suit with a bright blue hawaiin shirt my sister bought me. For the record, when you buy Jake a round he then buys you about four. Just so you know. At this point I felt no pain and there are pictures of me standing on a chair. Singing. Along with Journey. U2. The Killers. on the table. I also danced with Megan to that I would walk 500 miles song. We were both drunk.

After the bar closed at 2 i then decide to play poker until 11. When I can't keep my eyes open anymore I go to bed. I then sleep through my alarm for the wedding and wake up an hour after the wedding. I felt pretty bad. Jess, Jake I really do feel bad about that.

I give Jake a call and meet up with the group at Circus Circus to eat steak. My stomach felt so bad I went to gag myself twice. Didn't work. Felt horrible for about 24 hours.

That's Vegas.

new year's resolutions

I thought I'd put these down for a little accountability.

1. start training mixed martial arts again. try to have a fight this year if I can get ready in time. this also goes along with generally getting in shape.

2. cook. i don't do it. i need to.

3. be a 5/10 regular by the end of this year.

4. start going out on dates with girls instead of just flirting for the entire semester.

5. continue to be awesome.

6. don't be an alcoholic

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

the good life

As I sit here and reflect on my life over the holiday season it is pretty clear to me that I have lived a charmed life. This idea probably seems strange to some considering I have done 3 combat tours. It feels like I have lived in a bubble. I was in some situations where I could have died and several where I should have. It seems like bad things come near me just enough to make me appeciate what I have. God's way of reminding me that it is good to be alive.

As I sat in the desert on guard, this time of my life was what allowed me to make it through mentally. It seems wrong not to enjoy it to the fullest.

Hallelujah hollaback

adam

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

things i love about winter

So i was finally finished with school and on my way back to litchfield. I looked out my window and saw a fresh blanket of snow. Many people see the inherent beauty in this virginal covering. I then proceeded to spend the next 50 minutes of my life driving on the worst interstate ever (I72 obv) where at some places the snow plow guy must have given up on llife. If you are a city on I72 from Champaign to Sangamon county you suck at clearing snow specifically, and life in general. If you live in Illinois you should be aware of the basics of driving in snow. If there's one lane plowed, passing me on the right through half an inch of snow so you can cut me off and tailgate the guy ahead of me, Darwin says you should not have lived long enough to get a driver's license. jack ass. If you lived in Flordia or something it's understandable. Hint: drive slower and don't be an idiot.

I also hate knowing that I will have to wear 4 layers of clothes for the next three months. I will walk in wherever I go and immediately be hot and then i have to find someplace to put my coat. It sucks.

That leads to the topic of snow as an outdoor activity. wtf am i suppossed to do with 2 inches of snow on the plain? colorado. ok. You have mountains and can ski and stuff. South central illinois not so much. I am not going to build a snow fort when it's 22 degrees and with the wind chill it is below zero. Stupid. I also hate having wet and/ or cold feet for 3 months. There's a reason humans invented central heating. Being cold sucks.

In the summer girls look much more attractive. Less clothes=more confidence. Yeah baby you look so hot in your furry boots and large parka that makes you completely formless. Let's go hike through the snow to get a cup of coffee. With a little luck we won't get hypothermia and have to cuddle naked to save our lives. God forbid.

Hey, David, guess what man. I got a job in Chicago. I hear the winters in Illinois are the most awesome thing ever! I can't wait to chip 2 inches of ice off of my car every morning to go on my commute that is going to take at least twice as long. Who wants to sleep when I can wake up early and defrost! It's like a dream come true.

I guess I have been somewhat unfair. There are a lot of awesome things going on in the winter.... in Florida.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

war

Tim O'Brien knows. He was there. I do not think that civilians know. I do not think soldiers who sat in offices and did not pound the pavement in Iraq have any clue what war is. I have tried to explain it in the past but no more. I cannot give the experiences that occur in a combat zone the justice that these events deserve. Generally they want a story that makes President Bush into a hand puppet of God, or Satan incarnate, depending on their political leanings. One side wants stories of how everything has gone to shit. The other side wants stories of Iraqis cheering as we wave the red, white, and blue up and down their streets. The experience of day to day life that soldiers deal with is what I want THEM to understand, but I cannot.
People usually do not want honesty in these matters. They do not want to hear how I kept the kids around me since I did not have any body armor below my waist. They do not want to hear about having grenades thrown at me that did not explode. They do not want to hear that thirty minutes later I was going on with my day. So I tell these stories with a smirk. With courage that only comes with distance. I do not tell them what I told my brand new soldiers before we left for Iraq. I do not tell them what I would have become if one of my soldiers was killed in a firefight.
Tim O'Brien writes about this in How to Tell A True War Story. At the end of one of his speaking events a nice older lady came up and tells him how she usually does not like war stories, but one of his had really touched her. She then smiles at him and tells him he needs to
move on with his life and find new stories to tell. O'Brien responds by changing the story around some to make her understand. But she does not. The problem is that for a soldier war is never in the past, the present, or the future. War just is. A person is shaped by many events both large and small in his or her lifetime. The events a combat soldier is shaped by are among the most traumatic and influential that a person can experience. When she told Mr. O'Brien to put it in the past, it was like telling him to cut off his leg. It is a part of him for the rest of his life, and it is unlikely that he would choose to live without those experiences. Much of his current life is defined by them.
The author makes a point about the elusive nature of truth. Many of his points are based on the idea that a person cannot understand something if he or she had a different perspective or set of experiences. I agree with his points when it comes to war and violent or traumatic events in general. These situations are unique. The adrenaline and primitive biological responses make these situations much harder to replicate than every day life. These responses are not something anyone is capable of explaining to a person who has not been in these same situations.
Tim O'Brien has said everything better than I can. He gets the letters back home right. No one wants much honesty. “Mom, today I had a rocket propelled grenade hit the wall while I was sleeping at a small observation post. I could not find my glasses to run upstairs and check on my guys. My arm was asleep too. It was pretty hilarious.” “Mom, today I found three artillery shells strapped together. It was made to blow an up armored Humvee off the road. I was three feet away. It was three in the morning, so I guess Haji was not awake to detonate it. LOL”
I feel like my friends and family does not understand who I am because I cannot share my times overseas. Relationships are built around trust and shared memories. This important portion of my life that has shaped me is completely shielded from everyone. This is not an issue with most of my friends, but there are things I do and believe that can only begin to be understood through the looking glass of a combat soldier. I have tried to explain some of this, but it falls on deaf ears. People do not listen primarily because they do not want to listen. Things that make us uncomfortable must be avoided at all costs. This is America.
I find people in general are not into honesty. I was honest a few times in letters; they did not turn out well. Lying at the beginning of things is human nature and expected. Job interviews, first dates, and loan applications. It bothers me that this is the norm. I wish truth was not such a rare thing. Even attempting to be truthful is rare. Honesty would make the world a better, scarier place.

Friday, November 23, 2007

thanksgiving and poker

Hope all of you had a good holiday season. I saw some friends I don't usually see, so that was good. I took my first shot at 400nl today. The games were not very good, so I only put in a couple hundred hands and ended up 40 or so. I played 200nl after dropping about 540 yesterday and ended up about 750 total for today. I have received good feedback from my 100nl vid and will make some more before my trial ends. I am about 4 bi away from moving up to 400 nl semi permanently. We'll see how the games are since I feel pretty good at 200nl currently.

I will include a graph of 200 nl cumulative results. It's been swingy since I'm more aggro and getting it in a big lighter. Hope all is well. I will post some hands at some point in the future.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/epdog2005/200nltotal-1.jpg

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

100 nl video

I made a 35 minute long 100nl video.

http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=5ab923e

any comments appreciated.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

some pokers

I took some shots at200nl. i dropped 3.5 buy-ins which is ok. I jammed a couple of times in bad spots and had one or two coolers. My HU game is horrible. I am down about 4 bi including a massive suckout or two by me. I feel 200nl is definitely beatable and hope to be moved permanently by the middle of December.

I haven't worked out like I said I would try to do. I have a busy week so when I get home for break I need to get on it.

I will post pt graph at 100nl a little later today. I feel like I understand that level well and can sustain 8ptbb/100 for another 20k hands. I think I'm around 18k currently.

peace
adam

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Life

Life is going alright. I have accepted that life sometimes conspires to have several negative events occur together.
I realized I am in horrible shape after taking an Army PT test two weeks ago. I am going to make a serious effort to run and work out starting for sure during November break. I ran some today and also got an e-mail from the Illini Runners club. I figure I'll start doing that some. I will probably pick up MMA again in January possibly December.

The Actuarial Science Club is having a bar crawl tonight to celebrate the end of midterms. I had a big weekend and Monday, so I am going to go out for awhile and see what happens.

Poker's been breakeven the last two days with a ton of variance. C'est la vie. My next post will continue the list of stuff I want to do before I die.

Take care all.

ADam

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

not having a good day

I have not had a good day for personal reasons that are really not that relevant and should not bother me too much. I got a lot done yesterday and this morning so I was able to put in a lot of poker. I am up a big 50 dollars for the day playing 50nl hu on two tables and grinding out 100nl on like 6. Since October 1, over 11k hands i am at 9.somethingptbb/100 with an mt of 6.something. That puts my hourly rate at 119 which is nice. We'll see how sustainable it ends up being. I am looking at taking shots at 200 nl by the end of the month. I feel my game is strong right now, but I will probalby get some coaching before I do. I had some coaching before and feel like it helped my game a lot. That's about it. The actuarial science club is having a bar crawl tomorrow, so I'll finish up this weekend's homework and head out.
I am also going to visit my sister in Peoria for her birthday. That should be fun and I am looking forward to it.
That's about it. Take care of yourself.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

month results and the best day of my life

Had a good month averaging $48 per hour including a 1/3 of my hands this month at 25nl where i was down 4 buyins over 11k hands. I have ran really well at 100nl and feel very comfortable and am properly rolled. I'll post month's results at the bottom.

I had a 9 buy in day at 100 NL, so I cut my session a bit short and went to the club house at Baytowne with my friend, mark. Mark eventually talked me in to going downtown to the bar before I went to a friend's halloween party at 10. We went and some guy was sitting next to us and programming his computer and talking about meet space. if you can explain meet space to me, please leave a comment. Eventually old creepy drunk guy started talking to him, so I was back to hanging out with Mark. I was just chilling out before the party enjoying my poker success when a blonde came up and got a water. her service was really fast and Mark mentioned it. We are semi-regulars and tip well. She said it was because she had boobs which didn't work since the bartenders were women. She stayed and talked to us for awhile. I had the time constraint and told her I was going to that Halloween party, but she was interesting and after flirting I told her I was more fun than her friends. i would like to point out Mark was a good wing man and entertained her friends. Eventually she agreed and Mark drove us to my buddies' house.
I had a red sheet and was King Leonidas of Sparta. She was Queen Gorgo for the evening. The party was a good size and a girl from class I invited came with one of her friends. Kaitrin and myself made the rounds and had a good time. She had my wallet and camera since I was just wearing the sheet, so if I lost her times would be tough. She wanted to go to a bar, so we headed out.
On the way, she saw the house where she used to live and we stopped and said hi. There were 3 not that attractive girls who lived there and the five of us were on the back porch hanging out. Somehow they convinced me to take my underwear off. It is still in their back yard somewhere. When Kaitrin wanted to head out to the bar, I said ok. It was 40 degrees and I was wearing a sheet wondering around south of the quad. I had her hold me because I was concerned about hypothermia. We eventually realized that the bars were closed, so we got a taxi and she dropped me off at my friends' house. The following morning I was freaking out, but she had myspaced me and then sent the wallet fed ex the next day.
There are certainly more outrageous activities I've been involved in, but this was a lot of fun and I just enjoyed everywhere we went.









Sunday, October 28, 2007

good day

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/epdog2005/solidday.jpg

I had my biggest day ever online yesterday. I did suck out one time in a 200bb total pot, but the rest of it was getting paid on good cards and punishing people who couldn't lay down good hands especially deep.
After I finished playing I had a pretty wild night. That will have to wait until I have pictures otherwise no one will believe me. My wallet and camera are in Peoria today and my underwear is in the backyard of some random people's house.
here's a couple of my biggest hadns.


POKERSTARS GAME #12884064038: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/10/27 - 18:29:55 (ET)
Table 'Priska II' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: viet777 ($25.30 in chips)
Seat 2: Viktor&Rolf ($210.20 in chips)
Seat 3: Xaitra ($111.70 in chips)
Seat 4: Shiko19 ($115 in chips)
Seat 5: epdog ($156.95 in chips)
Xaitra: posts small blind $0.50
Shiko19: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to epdog [Tc Th]
epdog: raises $3 to $4
viet777: folds
Viktor&Rolf: raises $9 to $13
Xaitra: folds
Shiko19: folds
epdog: calls $9
*** FLOP *** [Qc Td 9c]
epdog: bets $18
Viktor&Rolf: raises $25 to $43
epdog: raises $100.95 to $143.95 and is all-in
Viktor&Rolf: calls $100.95
*** TURN *** [Qc Td 9c] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Qc Td 9c 5s] [9d]
epdog said, "TT"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
epdog: shows [Tc Th] (a full house, Tens full of Nines)
Viktor&Rolf: mucks hand
epdog collected $313.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $315.40 | Rake $2
Board [Qc Td 9c 5s 9d]
Seat 1: viet777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Viktor&Rolf (button) mucked [As Ac]

POKERSTARS GAME #12869531214: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/10/27 - 00:19:28 (ET)
Table 'Taygeta V' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: robyrog ($136.40 in chips)
Seat 3: jsizzle20 ($212.90 in chips)
Seat 4: bradster38 ($110.60 in chips)
Seat 5: 5kingz ($91.10 in chips)
Seat 6: epdog ($100 in chips)
epdog: posts small blind $0.50
GamblerNCH: is sitting out
robyrog: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to epdog [3s 3d]
jsizzle20: raises $2 to $3
bradster38: folds
5kingz: folds
epdog: calls $2.50
robyrog: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [2c 3c 5d]
epdog: bets $7
robyrog: calls $7
jsizzle20: raises $17 to $24
epdog: raises $73 to $97 and is all-in
robyrog: calls $90
GamblerNCH leaves the table
jsizzle20: raises $112.90 to $209.90 and is all-in
robyrog: calls $36.40 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2c 3c 5d] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [2c 3c 5d 2s] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
robyrog: shows [7c Ac] (a pair of Deuces)
jsizzle20: shows [8d 8c] (two pair, Eights and Deuces)
jsizzle20 collected $72.80 from side pot
epdog: shows [3s 3d] (a full house, Threes full of Deuces)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

killing it online

Hello everyone. Life is pretty good currently. I got an A on my calc test. I did ok on my italian test and excellent on my econ midterm. My last paper didn't go so well. I thought it was alright but apparently not. I got a B-, but I can rewrite.
(Rant coming)
I did my first weekend drill with the Reserve unit. They have no clue about being a soldier or discipline. It's tough for me to pretend like I care. I also have 2 females at the top of my chain of command. This bothers me a lot. I don't have a problem with women being in charge in general, but in the military I think it is a horrible idea for many reasons. I need to go to bed, so I am not going to bore anyone with that.

I am up about 175 playing PLO. I took shots at 100nl again today and ended up 2 bi or so. I am in good shape to move up permanently if I have a reasonable weekend. I'm a bit short of 20 bi. I will call it permanent at 25 or so. I have loosened up my game and cut down the tables. I'm around 23/20 at 6-8 tables instead of 18/15 at 8-12. I think there's enough regulars paying attention that a LAG style is more profitable. I also get to play deepstacked more often which I like a lot. I am running about 7.5ptbb/100 this month at 50 nl over 17k hands.

That's about it. I have a halloween party at a friend's place on Saturday. I'm going toga style so if anyone knows how to actually make one of these let me know.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

back in the saddle

Hope everyone is well. I got some money back online. I was grinding 12 tables of 25nl and not very happy about it. I hit a 4 buy in downswing and went to play PLO for awhile. I have run insanely hot by the way. I got back to 1500 and have been playing 50nl at 6 tables. I have played better than ever and am enjoying playing at stakes that are worth my time. I enjoy playing limit but the variance combined with the fact i don't make much money really detracts from the experience. Plus I suck so that's bad.

School is starting to pick up some. I am working on my paper for Rhetoric and am enjoying my research on Sparta and Thermopylae. I have an Econ midterm tomorrow night. My calc midterm is Monday and that is going to be tough.

Overall life is good.

Until next time enjoy life

adam

Thursday, September 27, 2007

life

Not much new going on. I had to take a bunch of money offline because the government wasn't paying me, so I've been drinking more. I've played several different limit games which has been kind of nice. Not much money there though. Salsa was a no go because I couldn't find the location for it. There's always tomorrow. I'm going out tomorrow to Champaign for the first time, so we'll see what happens.

I spent the weekend down at Ft. Campbell with my army buddies before they deployed. It was a good time and most of the stories should stay in Kentucky.

Enjoy life.

adam

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

There is also a cool girl in one of my classes, so I am going to see if she wants to try the dancing of salsa on Tuesday. I have wanted to try it anyway. I am reasonably athletic with good footwork. The lack of rhythm could make it tough though.

holla.
I had a pretty horrible run last night playing tilty and not picking spots well. I am still properly rolled for 50 nl. the government isn't paying me like they should be so I cashed out all but enough to play some limit games. I am going to take a month or less and play stud high, stud/8, and maybe some plo/8 all fixed limit. I had made an effort to learn them earlier and gave it up. Once I am back in a good financial situation I am going to go back to playing no limit and some plo. I am going to try and get some rakeback which would be awesome since i'm playing so much now.

That's about it. I doubt anyone cares but I am trying to keep posting in case I get famous and people read all my old posts.

adam

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

My kind of town

I spent the weekend in Chicago instead of going home for Labor Day. My Aunt Jan has season tickets to the Cubs and gave me one for Saturday and one for Sunday. The games were great and Chicago won both. I stayed with a friend from back home and her roommates. She knows some really interesting people in Chicago, and we happened to end up at a house party where everyone but the two of us was a law student at Depaul. It kind of depressed me to think that house parties in my future are going to consist of 18-21 year old girls and fraternity guys. Neither of which can probably hold a decent conversation or challenge me like the Depaul group did. C'est la vie.

Poker is going okay. I played 50 plo yesterday and lost 2 buyins. I just missed some hands, and I think I played ok. I played a breakeven stretch of 100 PLO which is my first time playing that high in either plo or nlhe.

I have a fair amount of homework due over the next 7 days so I'm going to cut this a bit short. I may post some more stuff on Chicago later.

Speaking of Chicago, if you've never had your hair pulled you're missing out. I enjoyed it a lot. (assuming opposite sex here).

Sunday, August 26, 2007

plowned

I've been playing pot limit omaha for about the last week since the no limit grind was starting to make my face hurt. It's worked out well as I have had a lot of success with my limited grasp of the game combined with people trying really hard to burn/ throw money at me. i have moved up quickly from 25 to 50 plo with a lot of success. I am currently at about 1.8k or so bankroll wise after cashing out for expenses this month since the government is giving me my cheddar yet. At about 2.3k or so I am going to begin to play 100 nl and plo and probably have someone sweat me my first few sessions at each.

College is going well and doesn't seem like it will be too demanding after all the hype it recieved. I have found a church to attend with what appears to be a good group of people. I'll check out their campus ministry tomorrow and see what happens.

Hope life is treating you well.

adam