Does anyone have any tips on how to get rid of an ear worm?

Someone put a song in my head yesterday, and I'd like to get it out. Don't get me wrong, it's a good song, but after almost 24 hours, I've had enough of it.

Although it could be worse I guess....could be this again:

No poker.

Some music. Some musings. A lot of babbling. Same old, same old.

****

The post title comes from my new favourite band, the Kills. Can't tell you why exactly I like them so much, I just do.



I've been all over the place in my listening lately; putting the 4,000+ songs living on my iPod on shuffle mode seems to fit my current scattered moods. Massive Attack to GBH, Nick Cave to M. The sublime to the ridiculous, lather, repeat, rinse.

****

To prove that spring is here in my neck of the woods, here are pictures of fern, fleur and red trillium taken on our walk Sunday:




****

Question: how do you tell a man that is sweet enough to bring you flowers that you really don't like yellow? And never have?

****

I saw some early lilacs blossoming and it got me to thinking of my mother, who loved them beyond all other flower.

It suddenly hit me that today is the 17th anniversary of her death. I thought about how I've changed in those 17 years, and it made me wonder if she'd be proud of the person I'd become. My mother played her cards pretty close to her chest, to use a poker analogy, and one was never too sure what she really thought about a topic or person. So while I think she would like the me I've become, there's no real certainty behind it.

She had something that she would say after every visit from the bitch-aunt-who-is-dead-to-me:

You can choose your friends, but you're stuck with your family.

I've learned that that is not necessarily true; you can disengage yourself from family members who's sole purpose in life seems to be to bring you down. You can re-invent the word family and fill your life with people who are meaningful, who will both challenge and support you.

You know who you are.

****

Thank you to my 14 neighbours who are too lazy and/or stupid to bother setting up a secure wireless connection, thereby allowing me to surf, play online poker and wax philosophical while sitting out on the patio listening to robins and blue jays in the valley below.

It used to be the case where you had to leave the house or invite people over in order to find a good poker game. And, as can be expected, this was often a problem to the average person as many people don’t have a group of poker enthusiasts at beckon call. But nowadays, they can just go to an online poker room. A decade ago, online poker was just as small scale as the game of poker itself. One really had to search around to find a quality online poker room. However, anyone can easily find somewhere to play at in today’s world. All it takes is a simple search on the Internet and one is taken to a number of options with regards to an online poker room.

Another thing that makes these places so easy to find is that there are often advertisements all over the net that try and coax web surfers to their online poker room. They run on many different poker sites as well as websites that aren’t even related to poker such as car, bodybuilding, hunting, and mainstream sports sites.

Regardless of how one comes across an online poker room, they should always check out what others have to say about playing there before signing up. Some places have had ethical issues regarding money and, as a result, some people have been gypped out of their money.

Almost any good online poker room will offer people the option of playing with real money of play money. If you really think that you can win some cash with your skills, then by all means play for the real money. However, if one’s skills aren’t quite up to the task of making any money, and could lose lots of money in the process, then try the play money games to practice in an online poker room.

Glass half empty: Eighth place = no money.

Glass half full: Made final table and points while playing not at my most centered. Worked through a few late stage poker issues (thank you, Zeem!).

Vodka martini.
French martini.
French Kiss martini.
Black martini.
POM-tini.
China Martini.
Choconutini.
Mocha Tini.

It's patio time here in Tee-Oh, and we took advantage of the soft spring night to hang out on Wish's patio to have dinner and catch up. From there we meandered over to the Park Hyatt where we found a good seat on the roof terrace and spent the rest of night sipping martinis and taking in a killer view of the city while discussing the state of health care and education in Ontario.

And yes there were other topics, but this isn't an X-rated blog (yet).

BamBam, Pebbles and Tuckfards, can I bring a guest to the Monkey Game? The Goddess wishes to try her hand at poker *grin.

Sometimes, someone in your life will say a phrase that echoes and vibrates in you like you're a gong that's been struck.

The conversation was about many things both big and small, and this sentence was typed when we started talking about movies, Kill Bill in particular.

I'd never noticed before how many of my favourite movies all deal with common themes. Betrayal. Revenge. Sacrifice. Redemption. The ultimate triumph of love, of friendship, of good.

I guess I'm not as much of a jaded fuck as I'd thought.

Of course it does help to make it to my fav list if the movie has a great big sword fight in it too.

****

Spring has arrived in my neck of the woods (finally), and with it come colours again. The golden glory of a sunlit tangle of forsythia. A tulip glowing so red it almost hurts the eyes. The deep purple of a pansy as dark and matte as a goth girls velvet top. The new green of leaves and grass.

I am dazzled.

****

I've long resisted it, but I received an invitation I couldn't refuse.

I've crossed over to that special dark side reserved for those with short attention spans.

****

The Martini Goddess is in town tonight, so there will be no Donkament for me. To the people whose cell numbers I have, I apologise in advance for the drunk dials.

Tomorrow will be spent recovering, and Sunday is Hunny Bunny's birthday; I'm taking him to the same restaurant that we met CC at in February. We should be back in time for me to rejoin blogger hijinx in the Big Game on Sunday.

****

To all my IIF's; thank you.

Due to circumstances that were well within my control at one point, but aren't anymore, I am going to be absent from the poker blogosphere for a few days. Maybe longer.

See you on the other side.

Edit: My friends, TY for your concern, but all is well. This was written while tired and stressed, and obviously didn't convey my meaning adequately. I just need to step back and see the forest for the trees.

And Astin darlin', one can tell you're an aficionado of foreign films ... "ominous string music"? "a small boy crying out"? Very evocative.

Yesterday, some people were playing online poker, some were doing yardwork, some were celebrating a family birthday, and some were even shoveling snow (eew).

Me, I hopped on the bike and rode north to visit the cool cats in Bedrock.

Words fail to describe how open and friendly these people are. All it takes is me typing "I'm thinking about going for a ride, can I come up and visit" (or something along those lines), and next thing I know, I'm hanging out on BamBam and Pebbles' back deck with NuttzCarson and SuziQ watching the woodpeckers, finches and orioles at the feeders while steaks are grilling. The conversation ebbs and flows, there's some great music through the speakers on the deck, and the sun slips a bit further to the west. Thank you all so much for a wonderful day and a memory I will cherish.

I wish I could have stayed, indulging in the comforting presence of friends. But alas, I had to drive Hunny Bunny to the airport early early this morning, and according to my beginners bike license, I can't ride after dark.

Which is a damn shame, because I love riding at night, especially on those summer evenings where the cool moist air slips over your skin like silk and carries the scent of fields and forests to one tired of city smells.

I didn't used to like riding after dark; when I started riding, the way the darkness seemed to close around me felt claustrophobic. I was still a new rider, and the unknown beyond the glow of the headlights shook my new confidence and made me fearful. After that, I avoided the night ride, not really willing to take a look at that particular fear just yet.

But it all changed one night as we raced to clear the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park by the closing time of nine and then ride to Wapiti to look for accommodations. We hustled along the road, and just made the park gate; they were literally starting to swing it shut as we got there. The sun was setting behind us, and as the light faded we descended from the mountains along a river valley where the road followed the twists and turns of the water.

It was better than any rollercoaster, better than just about any bike ride before that. The same things that freaked me out during that first night ride thrilled me now. I was in the lead, and the world constricted to only the bit of road illuminated by my headlight and the challenge of navigating it; everything else, and I mean everything, dropped away. The dials of speedometer and tachometer glowed a soft green but I never glanced to take in the speed - I couldn't. Relying on the sound of the bike to know when to shift up and down, I pushed it, hitting the continuous S-bends of the curves as fast as I could.

When we got a motel, Hunny Bunny told me how foolish I'd been - an animal of any size appearing on the road would have been disastrous. "But there wasn't, " I said as I grinned at him.

It took me most of the night to come down off the high of that ride.

Doublestack Limit Hold 'Em - like trying to get drunk by drinking with a thimble.

I lost the side bet - I figured it would be over by 3 - Shipfaced12 took it down around 1 am - congrats! And w00t to Joanada for her fourth place! ITM bay-bee *grin.I lasted to the exact mid point, busting 39th of 78. I just did not have the patience for limit last night after the leaving on the bubble in the RakeBrain, and it showed.

Ah well.

Don't forget, tonight is the Donkament with all the lovely rebuy therapy your bankroll can handle. MeanHappyGuy's rebuy record of 54 had been held for a year, but was broken by TwoBlackAces last week. 73 is the new black!

There are a lot of other games this weekend as well:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6074909519: LeCheese Challenge II (46205658), Table 3 - 200/400 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 20:12:41 ET - 2008/04/17
Seat 1: huntsvegas (5,328)
Seat 2: katitude (6,171)
Seat 7: jacksup (14,111)
Seat 8: td8507 (14,890)
katitude posts the small blind of 200
jacksup posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to katitude [Qc Qs]
td8507 folds
huntsvegas folds
katitude raises to 1,200
jacksup has 15 seconds left to act
jacksup raises to 3,600
katitude raises to 6,171, and is all in
jacksup calls 2,571
katitude shows [Qc Qs]
jacksup shows [Tc 8c]
*** FLOP *** [3h 4c 4s]
*** TURN *** [3h 4c 4s] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [3h 4c 4s Th] [Ts]
katitude shows two pair, Queens and Tens
jacksup shows a full house, Tens full of Fours
jacksup wins the pot (12,342) with a full house, Tens full of Fours
katitude stands up

****

Have I mentioned recently that I hate bubbling? Hate it with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns? Yes it was a freeroll, but honestly that does not make it sting any less.

Bloody hell. Ten. Eight. S00ted.

****

Many, many thanks to RakeBrain for inviting me to play. I did have a lot of fun, and that will remain after the tilt has faded *grin.

One would think that being the benificiary of multiple pocket pairs in the first half hour (AA, QQ x2, JJ x3, 77, 99 and 66) that one would be able to rack up a nice chip stack in the Mookie.

And so I did.

But then I played the rush and pissed it all away, going out just before the first break (insert a brief bout of tilt and minor self-loathing here).

Congrats to Surf's pal Memphis00 for taking it down, and a "go Canada! to Astin for taking down second.

I also played the Dookie; the less said about that the better.

The big fun of the evening (and trust me it was big fun being on BDR last night) were the pushfests. I managed to luck my way into winning the first one and could not stop laughing as suckout after suckout kept increasing my chip stack. I finally went out 9th, one place away from Donkette's record. There was one more that on_thg won before everyone called it a night.

Overall, I'd say it was a successful night. on_thg summed it up best with this line:

If you can't be good at poker, at least you can have fun.

Indeed.

****

There are two games for me tonight; for some strange reason I've received an invitation to the LeCheese Challenge II, a Hold 'Em/Omaha Hi freeroll put on by RakeBrain. It's an interesting mix of players that will be congregating on Full Tilt at 6PM EST:

Schaubs
TNSpaceman
huntsvegas
garycarson
Buddydank
Pokerpeaker
VinNay
Donkette
katitude
pking19
willhopper
Gcox25
Kickasspoker
Drizztdj
NightRanger
BadBlood
mookie99
AlCantHang
ToastOnTilt
Crazzynesss - RakeBrain staff
td8507 - RakeBrain Rakeback Member

There's also the Riverchasers game at 9 EST tonight. This sucker is double stacks limit hold 'em tonight, so even the most idiotic of online donks (i.e. me) should be able to get a lot of bang for their buck and play past the first hour.

Jesus Christ - double stacks + limit. We'll be there until the sun comes up. Maybe I better book tomorrow morning off work.....

This crossed my bloglines today and it's just got me SPINNING:

From Feministing.com, a story of a new children's book that will be released on Mothers Day. This book aims to explain to kids all about Mommy's new plastic surgery.

I wonder if there's other books coming in a series, to interest kids in plastic surgery themselves, or better yet, to explain to kids why they're not going to college since Mommy blew their college fund on a nose job and new boobs.

But that's ok. Why do girls need to college anyway? As long as we all look like blonde Barbies, we'll get through life just fine, right? Who cares if we have any substance as long as the surface looks all pretty.

Fuck.

That's a magnet on the locker of grade 9 student. It makes me crazy every damn time I see it because:

1. Her mother sends her to a private school that is highly academic, especially in math and science, then gives her daughter this magnet. Nice message.
   
2. No one is too pretty to do math.
   
3. The reason why people are thought pretty is primarily to the mathematical proportions of their face. Math is everywhere. Get used to it.

Me, I'm definitely not too pretty to do math; I was a total math geek in school, and am trying to reconnect with my inner mathaholic thanks to Sensei CK and JoBi Wan Kenobi. But sometimes I am too distracted, tired, passive, and generally clueless to do MATH which is why I went out in 49th place of 70. Congrats to 23skidoo for taking it down!

But on the other hand, BDR was funny as usual (hence the distraction part), and I did see a 50% profit in the post-MATH cash game. Which sounds really impressive until I say it was a nickel/dime blogger game with a buyin of 10 bucks.

But hey, a profit is a profit and that's certainly better than ScottMc stacking me in razz.

I don't like any kind of censorship, especially self-censorship, but I'm deleting this post anyway.

The train wreck has been cleared away. Regular service will resume sometime.

...but I'd like to be a bride (only in this context, of course. Twice is enough.)

Skillz game - 11th
Mookie - 14th
Riverchasers - 16th

Can anyone recommend some strategies / reading for surviving the later stages of MTT's?

I love Tuesdays. Love them. And today was better than usual.

I skedaddled out of school after my morning classes and met Hunny Bunny for a great lunch (I LOVE sushi!), then silly me thought that since it's such a great day out, let's go rollerblading. An hour later, I'm all sweaty and achey but happier; nothing like some exercise to kick out the blues. I've only been out skating twice in the last two years (used to go every day!) so I'm pretty impressed that I made to the end of the trail and back (12kms). But I am so going to pay for it tomorrow.

We hung out at home later and watched some Long Way Round. Ewan McGregor + motorcycles; what's not to love?

I decided kind of at the last minute to play the Skillz Game. I went into it with one goal - to toss in my $13 bucks and play donkey poker with wild abandon.

Somehow I ended up on Buddy Dank Radio with Joanada and things went south. I really don't know why conversations with both Joanada and I in them seem to descend into innuendo in record time (she says SINnocently). This was no exception. BTW, for those who didn't get the link, the Porsche of vibrators can be found here (remember this is not really SFW) . Buddy, Tragedy, thank you - that was hilarious!

And yet, with the silliness on the radio, the 127 chat windows I had open and other distractions of varying degrees, I managed to do this:


I was unhappy to leave before the cash, but it was a good call by NumbBono - I was seriously shortstacked and it was pushtime.

Frankly, I'm shocked as hell I got that far. I mean seriously....it's no secret that I really only know two fifths of the components of HORSE, and even those are meh. But wow, does doublestack limit play really give you a lot of bang for your buck!

So it's 2:23 am, my alarm will be going off in about four hours. Tomorrow is going to be a long, painful day. Edit: it's 9:30 am, I'm stiff and sore, I'm so tired I've gone punchy, the coffee isn't working and it's already a long, painful day. I'm plotting an escape route home.

Events are conspiring to place me in a foul mood today so it's best if I just keep to myself. Rather that lie and put up an all-is-well-in-my-world post, I'll direct you to some more entertaining reading:

Blogger High School, written by Riggstad as inspired by Instant Tragedy.
Very. Funny. Post. This post has actually made me think that perhaps I should stop reading through my bloglines while in class; it doesn't look good when I break into peals of laughter after telling the class to be quiet and focus.

Joanada has posted!
Go show her some love, and maybe we can get her to post more than once a month.

Truckin'!
Pauly's got the new issue of Truckin' up with some cool stories from our blogger brethren.

bighappyfunhouse
To look at... nothing to read here, but a curious mix of vernacular and found photography to view.

Coffee Break Spanish
To listen to... I started Spanish lessons last night, and have been using these to practice.

Middle of the Road
To watch...because the middle of the road is indeed trying to find me.

Sometimes you have weekends that were so good, that come Monday you feel rested, relaxed, and yet recharged and ready to take on the world again.

This was one of those weekends.

On Friday night, my colleagues took me out for "my birthday"; really it was just a chance for us all to unwind after the week. And unwind we did. To paraphrase that old Campbell's Soup commercial, Guinness is good food.

Actually I unwound so much that I barely made it back for the Donkament. I'm very glad I did, as the rebuys were flying fast and furious and for once it wasn't me seeding the pot - I think I only had a total of 5 rebuys plus the add on. And for those who said my first was proof that it was rigged, all I can say is darlings, if it was rigged I'd have ITM'ed WAY more often than I have. Think of it more as the poker gods throwing me a bone.

I spent Saturday doing the usual stuff I do on Saturdays when Hunny Bunny is working. That is to say, nothing. SFA. Zip. Zilch. Zero. No scratch that, I think I knitted some. And watched TCM's Bette Davis marathon all day.

I did play the Dr. Pauly PLO game on Stars, and made the final table thanks to a bunch of gatecrashers (their word for it, not mine). One of them put a random bounty on my head because my name is Kat, and the ensuing private jokery made me get my stubborn on. In other words, you want the effing bounty? Work for it. I outlasted all but one, and made sure I busted to someone not in their circle.

PPPBBBTTTTT!

Sunday was a pretty amazing day here in the neighbourhood, the first real spring day. The plan was to take the bikes to the Bike Show, however Chaos Kitty had some issues and we drove instead. Boooo. But the show was good - lots of vintage and custom bikes on display, leather everywhere, and some great people watching.

I'd had an brief IM with Riggstad about poker addictiton/compulsion on Saturday when Full Tilt went down. I'll be frank, I've been a bit worried of late, wondering if I've tipped over the edge, from "I want to play poker with you donks" to "I have to/need to play poker with you donks".

But after at the show, I am no longer worried about being addicted to poker, because I know what I am truly addicted to.

Steel and chrome. The deep rumble of cruisers and the high pitched whine of crotch rockets. The smell of oil and gas and grease. The fit of leathers that have seen thousands of kilometers. The vibration that transmits from the engine to your core via handlebars and seat. The butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling of a deep curve. The promise of the unknown around a bend. The curvey, squiggley line on a map. The journey rather than the destination. The thrill of danger, the relief of successfully avoiding it. The necessary deletion of distractions and the ensuing clarity of thought. Grace.

It's time to ride.

That was the reply I got when I asked a Grade 12 student to regurgitate some homework reading and explain what Web 2.0 was. And this quick witted, smart ass child answered me with a grin and a Douglas Adams quote.

I have never been so proud.

****

I had a good time last night in the Riverchasers. I'd like to say I had a good time and I made it to points/money, but alas, KK < AA.

Who knew.

I got to hang out with some of my favourite people of all time in the girlie chats, and listened to the dulcet voices of Buddy Dank, Instant Tragedy, ScottMc and Riggstad.

That last statement is worth far more than the 11 bucks I donated to the prize pool, IMHO.

****

Congrats to Carmen and her two year Blogiversary! It's hard to believe it's been two years that I've been calling her my pal :-)

****

Sounds like some people may be taking a rest from online poker this weekend so it may be a light field tonight at the Donkament. Hope not...let's face it, the Donkament is less about poker than it is about bingo anyway. In any case, I'll be there and will be pushing all in the first ten hands - I need the therapy *grin.

This landed in my Inbox this week...



His "The Impotence of Proofreading" is also very good, for those of you who think that the spellchecker in Word is awesome *grin.

I hate this shit.

So I hereby give notice to all and sundry, that I will be playing all future BBT3 and blogger games with one goal in mind.

Fun. I highly recommend it. (Thanks Drizz, for reminding me!)

Seriously kids, take a big ole dose of chill the fuck out. You're annoying my friends to the point where some of them are abstaining, and that's just not cool. Take your snotty comments, your sarcasm, and your name calling, and shove them right up your ass.

You know, the place where your head is right now.

My Dad was a man of many sayings; my brothers and I find ourselves saying these "Dad-isms" on a daily basis. Onward and upward. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. A million of them. The one I'd like to share with you now is:

Don't shit in your own nest.

or more appropriately:

Don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Al has created a thing of beauty with the BBT series, and I'm sure he's wondering right now why the hell he even bothers. The rise in douche behaviour is even greater than the last time, and we still have 2 months to go. At this rate, the likelihood of a BBT4 will be slim to none.

I beseech you, I implore you, lets all go look up sportsmanship in the dictionary and move on (see - I even made it easy for you). I believe that everyone has something good and unique to bring to the table; please stop proving me wrong.

And on a personal note, I want to apologise if anything I may have said in the table or girlie chat smacks of douche behaviour. That was NEVER my intention. I have had my tilty moments (for which I always feel badly afterward), and I've been told that my particular brand of slightly sarcastic and cynical humour does not always translate well to the typed chat. I adore you all (in varying degrees), and I hate that the thought that I may have unintentionally pissed anyone off or hurt someone's feelings.

So, fuck the points, fuck the prizes, fuck the pressure, fuck the competitiveness, fuck the backbiting and bitchiness. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to strive to win and play the best game I can. But the reason why I want to play with bloggers is not for the money or the stuff.

It's for the fun.

Live poker at Taylor and Tawny's was big fun with lots of laughs. I think I set the tone when I walked in and announced

I'm here. Take my money.

And they did.

The best hand (read: funniest hand) was the one I went out with. The prior hand had been 88 vs AKo. 88 was the short stack and pushed all in preflop; no K or A hit and the pocket pair was good. Very next hand, I have 88, and being the new short stack, pushed all in. Taylor called, and flips over AK. Of course a King hits on the turn.

Live poker is so rigged.

And to prove my point, I'll be joining Mr. Aces himself at the club for more live poker tonight. I'll be home in time for the Mookie if everything runs true to form *grin.

Well. it's not a severe hangover by any stretch of the imagination, but it's enough of a morning after to make me a bit logey. Sluggish. Dimwitted, even. Thank god Tuesdays are my short day.

Thanks to all who made last night fun; I truly appreciate the fact that the IIF's can rally around a sad case left alone on her birthday like that! The girlie chat was cracking me up to the point of crying. And yes, BamBam, I do feel like a total tool for leaving my cell phone in the car!

The Martini Game Redux was it's usual donkaliciousness, and the bounties were collected by:

• Riggstad - while nowhere near a record breaker, he had the most rebuys at 3o.
• Schaubs - first one out after the rebuy period was over
• On_thg - busted me with pocket Aces. There are worse ways to go *grin.

w00t to Astin for winning the thing! And thanks to Joanne for bailing on work to be silly with us *grin.

I also played the MATH, and finished in 29th place, busting out due to an ill-timed and martini-fueled push with the Asian Jew on a Q J rag rainbow board. My thinking was to get Breeze81 to fold, only to have him call with AQ. Shows how faulty martini-fueled thinking can be *grin.

I'm abstaining from the PLO8 Skillz game tonight as I've had an offer of live poker and frankly live poker > getting called a donkey idiot in PLO8. Again.