He finally admits it!...

Taken from the President's press conference this morning:

Reporter: What does the war in Iraq have to do with 9-11?

Dubya: NOTHING!

So What the Fuck have you been

doing the last 5 years???

This is what happens when Dubya goes off script... Oh, and he does stuff like having an assinine conversation with the Premier of China about how far China is from Germany, and he gives the German Chancellor an unwanted massage (which could be construed as sexual assault,) and just shows us once again how he a a sociopathic child prone to tantrums...

The poker gods are laughing...

Ok - so I'm 3 levels into a MTT at Poker Stars, middle position, and I have A J of spades in the hole. In EP is a LAG (Loose Agressive Player) that will play any two cards. I'm surprised has not gone out already - much less has managed to garner more chips than me.

Blinds are 25/50 and LAG comes in for 300. I call, as does the button. Flop comes 3, 5, 10 - all spades. I've flopped the nut.

LAG bets 600. I laugh at the screen in glee, and come over the top all in. The button quickly folds. LAG calls! (We both had around 2400 at the start of the hand - he with a bit more, so he has me covered.)

The cards turn over to reveal my nut flush, and his - 3 Q of Diamonds. He called my all in with a PAIR OF THREES??? No spades?

Now I'm laughing out loud. Dancing in my chair.

The turn is the Q of hearts. Ok - now he has 2 pair, and 4 outs. But only 1 card to come...

The river - can you guess???

3 of hearts.

Frikin suck out King pulls a Full House out of his butt and busts me out.

And all my Zen practice went out the window! I stomped around the house turning the air blue and dreaming of ways to go throught the computer to punch Suck out King in the face.

Apparently I have not yet achieved enlightenment.

Still here....

I'm still here...!
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking my god - she has returned to us! Or else your'e thinking who the hell is this chick and why does she think I give a rats- ANYWAY, I figured I needed to check in.

The world is further down that road to crazy. Don't even get me started. So I'm just trying to live my life, do my thing and enjoy the days as they pass. Summer is glorious here in the Land of Bubba - the only place in North America that isn't too hot, and the evenings are cool and sweet. Xena's Kwoon is getting off the ground and we're excited about that.

And I've continued to try and improve my poker game. I'm studying, and playing some every night. I'm now in the money more than I'm not, and that makes me happy. I wanted to go with my Karma theme, but Zen in poker has already been done.

It's an interesting concept - attempting to apply the principles of Zen to a competitive game. There are some things that are easy connections -
Patience
examining the moment and paying attention
letting the frustration role off you and avoiding tilt
The biggest seeming conflict for me is that winning at poker calls for aggression. Passive players don't win - at least not in the long run. And Buddism is about a lot of things - but aggression isn't one of them.

So part of my task is to balance the Zen principles I'm using with being aggressive when necessary. It's a delicate balence - let me tell you. I tend to tilt way too much.

Tonight I came in 3rd in a S&G. Won $18. Not bad. Play the players. Wait for good cards. Then push!

My day...