As the subject said, it's been about 2 weeks since my last blog post. This may be the longest break from blogging I've gone since the inception! And actually, a ton has happened. To knock things off, it's Mother's day, so when I finish writing this, I am going to drive to see my mom in West Hartford.

Like I did last month, I wanted to mention what my little calendar says as far as inspiration or thought. It's an Aristotle quote...
While I'm waxing philosophy, I want to digress slightly and see what people think of a maxim I've been thinking about lately. This is a hypothetical, but it is drawn from a (much smaller) real life example, so bare with me: If a person murders 5 people, and along the way, somewhere intermittently, he steals a car, in the grand scheme of things, that transgression is completely ignored, right? The reason I thought about this is I had a really bad day a few days ago (which I'll get to in a second) when it seemed like things just were going against me. I mean, it was a bunch of little things:
-I stayed up all night and had breakfast with Dubbie, but while I had breakfast with him (he stayed up all night too) I got a parking ticket.
-The Celtics lost game 3
-The Rockets lost game 3 (and then apparently Yao broke his foot, unfortunately sealing the Lakers berth in the WCF)
-I then got a ticket for parking in a handicap spot* (this is what I'll get to) picking up food
-The food was pretty bad

Anyway, I just thought that all these small little karmic things somehow gained momentum, and in the scheme of life, a misdeed that is "lesser" by comparison gets lost in the shuffle. Or, similar to the example above but in a positive light, if you're having a wonderful day, ie. you go to a circus, get a balloon, whatever, you also get your favorite type of icecream, well, it's a small thing that is probably glossed over because there are "better" things happening immediately.

I dont know, that's what's on my mind. As far as the Aristotle quote, to me it's a very standard Aristotelian quote. If you want to change a part of your life, Aristotle argued you do so by actively changing, not just saying you will be different, and so on and so forth. "actions louder than words" is an Aristotelian idea, essentially. So it's no mystery he would feel that an honor, ie. an award or ribbon or badge or whatever that represents something a person has accomplished is meaningless without the feeling or action that goes along with actually the "doing". I feel the same; in Poker, for example, some people get lauded for things they have not done, or not accomplished. This could be seen as some TV pros, for example. Some possess honors that they perhaps do not deserve. Thing though is that's life. :/

*Ok, I posted this on 2p2, and apparently it makes me "an asshole" (to quote Apathy, heh. Who I hope meant it in jest!) but I thought I was in the right. Actually, he posted a youtube which I'll link underneath this, which actually fit the situation, so I can't really argue it. Perhaps the blog-readers will be a more pro-my side audience. As noted above I parked in a handicap spot, while running in to a restaurant to get food. I mean, who doesn't do this? I do this a lot, fwiw. I spotted a policeman while going into the restaurant, and i just had this *gut feeling* like "oh man I'm going to get a ticket". I was gone for all of 3 minutes, and on my way back, sure enough he started writing a ticket. I said, "hey man I was getting food, I'm here, no need to ticket me!" Now, HERE IS WHERE I GOT BOTHERED. as a display of authority, or whatever, he went ahead and wrote the ticket. There is a difference between having written it, and not having written it and writing it even though you could easily just let the person drive away. I mean, if the situation were reversed, I'd let the poor sap go. Anyway, I tore up the ticket in a rage and threw it on the street.

People thought my reaction was wrong, and they may be right, but I still felt very angry over this. And, as noted, the food was bad and not worth it, so I will never go back to that place (Tavern at Central Square) solely because I associate this negative confrontation with Tavern.



http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...?currentPage=1

That is a Malcolm Gladwell article that was a very good read. So, highly recommend it. I got this link from Tri (slowhabit) and for anyone that likes these sorts of reads (blink, tipping point, etc.) this hits home.

My sister leaves tomorrow for Israel. She is 26, and this is technically the last time she could do a birthright trip. (Where some organization, called Birthright, pays for most of the flight/hotel/I have no idea) She's actually rebounded very well since getting laid off ~6 (?) weeks ago; she's been working with my cousin (who is a TV producer) and apparently has a knack for producing. I have no idea how long she will be there (2 weeks?) but I guess I'll hear from her when she gets back!



Switching topics, I went to Game 1 of the Magic-Celtics series. I was able to get decent tickets through Tbach at an OK price, so I invited Travis (costanza_g) who drove on up. The game itself was frustrating, but worthwhile, sorta; we fell behind by like 26, it seemed disastrous, than the Cs made an epic run. We got to 4 w/ a min left, Ray Allen had a 3 rim out/PP with 30 secs to go drove in the lane and there was an OBV foul to Dwight that the refs no-called, and that was the game. Here's a pic: (Also got another Celtics towel, and got a chance to wear my Rondo jersey and eat hotdogs, so it's a win)


While I'm still on the topic of basketball, ~10 days ago (last Thursday) was my IM playoff tournament. essentially it's single elimination play-until-you-lose all day. I intended (that day) to write a huge recap, but since it's now 10 days in the future, my memory isn't 100%, and the details aren't really even that important. So, I'll leave it at:
-The games are barely a step up from pickup. No ref, no FTs, no TOs, it's sorta stupid.
-I played on 2 different teams (my team w/ Hammertime/some other Tufts friends and another team w/ Xorbie, as well as some other ~sorta friends like Dana and Will, who are V good at Bball).

My 1st team we lost by 1, as we had a chance to win at the end but a guy who shouldn't be taking the last shot took the last shot and airballed. I had a good game, too, but drained a ton of energy.
2nd team (Joel's team) we crushed the 1st team (final margin like 9 or so, but we were just killing them) I didn't do much as I was tired/no longer the best player on the team.
The following game, though, we lost by 1 as again the whole fouling or timeout situation went to hell. So, it was a frustrating experience, losing 2 games by 1 pt. each (falling in the semis). Hopefully I get 1 more crack at Tufts intramural bball, LOL. (Not kidding though)

I have a new video coming out soon; it's a 2parter, and it's me playing LIVE. Yeah, I've never done a no-pause video before, and frankly, I don't like it much, but I figured i'd offer some variety. I haven't been playing much, but when I have played the past month, anything holdem related hasn't gone well; om8 on the other hand, I'm like a god! Of course I am playing ~200 om8 so I sorta wish it was the opposite, but what can you do.

I broke up with Sofy yesterday, who I had been with for about 2+ months. There weren't really any negatives, the relationship itself was pretty solid, and I like her quite a bit as a person. But (always a but) I just did not feel like being in a relationship any longer. Well, it goes beyond that, but that's about all I can say Below is the picture from when we went to her Gala:


My mom came to visit last week! this was a big deal as she very rarely drives to see either my Sister (in NY) or me, historically speaking. (Very rarely would she visit us at school, as well; when Martina was at Syracuse, i think my mom went up twice total. I was never visited at RPI or in California, obviously.) She came once last year, so I guess we can say it's an annual visit. The reason this time though was I had Dalai Lama tickets. (I posted this a month ago, since I bought them a while ago!) The visit itself was good, but we did have one fight, which is standard. It was over something very stupid... Although since it is kinda funny, I'll share it:

Upon leaving the Dalai Lama (the speech was at Gillette Stadium which is a solid 30+ mins from Boston) we had a minor quibble in the car. My mom resorted to spilling Ginger Ale all over my car (I keep my car VERY clean, and this obviously upset me) so I stopped at a gas station. I got out to clean up the mess, and when I walked out of my car, she locked me out. (Standard - yes, the fights make it seem like she is 7 years old, although I guess I probably only act as though I'm 8) I stood outside of my own locked car for a solid 15 minutes until she finally relented and let me in. We were over it after that, but when we DO fight, it's intense.

Anyway, about the Dalai Lama himself... There were a ton of people there. (10k+) Also, I had solid seats where I was on the turf of Gillette Stadium. That alone was very neat. It was a very warm day, the speech was about an hour... The audience wasn't what I expected. I expected more hippy dippy types, but it was made up of a very varied group. The Dalai Lama was very funny; I'll nickname him TDL for brevity for this span.


(My view of things; he sat in a throne like chair cross legged, wore a Patriots hat for ~75% of the talk, and put on shades at one point)

TDL spoke about how important a mother is, and specifically, compassion. Compassion to EVERYONE. TDL really made himself seem like a person. From the onset he said he didn't have any supernatural healing powers. Retold a story about having his gallbladder out-if he had healing powers, he said he wouldn't have had the surgery! The doctor told him he had the body of a "young man," which TDL really thought was a hoot, since he is 73.
TDL referenced recalling his mother always being calm. he paused and than said, "My father on the other hand!.." heh. TDL also stressed realism. It actually was an interesting perspective; at the end of the speech was a Q+A type deal (TDL had a dog as a pet for a while) where prolly the best Q that was asked was "how are you able to feel compassion towards those who do not wish the same for you?" Essentially asking the q about the tragedy in Tibet/dealing with China, but also with regard to other tragedies. TDL's response was a multi parter:
1. Not all tragedies are alike. Many people feel certain things are "bad," but many can truly get worse. So, don't wallow in self-pity.
2. Many tragedies are caused by a self-cyclical attitude. Meaning, too often people look backwards rather than forwards. Further, many events were caused by the victim, or at least deserve some blame; it's not ok to simply blame the aggressor/oppressor.
3. Sometimes these events can't simply be "solved" with an optimistic approach. As noted, being a realist is very important when looking for a solution.

As I jot down random notes, TDL also made note of his definition of secular. He does not feel it's anti religious, but rather, simply separating the two. In conclusion, really, I got a lot out of him, mainly that TDL really just seems like a person. He does not view a king or president any different than a homeless man. I really buy into a lot of what he says and his whole persona. That said, he's been homeless himself for 55+ years, I do not wish that on myself!

Lastly, I got my Vegas house all set, finally. Who EXACTLY is living there is not set in stone, but I THINK it's:
-Me
-Travis (Costanza_G)
-Alex (Gary Stevenson)
-Clayton (Clayton)
-Bill (Snowbank)
-JCMoussa
-Maybe Adam (AA_is_my_friend)

I think it'll be a great bunch of guys. If anyone wants to view a virtual tour, here it is: http://www.vegasmike123.com/Silverton.htm

I'm still undecided exactly what day I'm getting into Vegas, but as of today, it's less than 3 weeks. WOW!