Trials of a Poker Apprentice: 05/01/2006

Friday, May 12, 2006

Almost ready to come back, but not quite

I really must apologize for the shit job I've done with the blog of late. The good news is that I will be ready to resume my normal duties shortly. The bad news is that "shortly" doesn't mean "now." All I really have time for at the moment is just a quick note to explain my absence.

First, the lack of posts lately is not really my fault. It's not a matter of me kicking back my feet and being lazy. God, I wish. I'm actually exhausted right now from all that I have been doing.

You see, as I may have mentioned in the past, I work for a newspaper. Not a big deal, just a small community paper. And as anyone who has ever worked at a paper can tell you, it can be a very demanding job. Obviously, not physically, but certainly mentally and emotionally. When you've been at it for as long as I have, though, you get used to it. However, there are certain times a year everything gets cranked up a few notches. Christmas is one of those times, because there's just a whole lot more work to be done, when all the extra ads creates additional pages to fill, and every group within 50 miles that dresses some schmuck in a Santa suit wants you to come take their picture.

Of course, it's not Christmas right now, but, here in Kentucky, it is almost time for local elections, which is like Christmas times twelve. It is also graduation time for local schools, which, in a small town, means running a special section with every graduating senior's picture. Add to that the fact that the paper I work for views being short of personnel as somewhat of an ideal, plus the fact that I've been doing this job so long and have gotten good enough at it that every additional task falls on my plate, and you're left with nonstop newspaper action the past three weeks.

Seriously. I get up, go to work, go home and fall asleep. Rinse and repeat. If I'm lucky, I'll have just enough time at the end of the day to watch a show or two on the boob tube. You might say that I could use that TV time to update the blog, but you would be wrong. Work leaves absolutely no energy for doing anything more than absorbing idiocy and lethal radiation from the television, and even that can be a chore, as I find myself dozing off on the couch nearly every night. Weekends? Barely enough time to rest up enough to have enough energy for the next hellacious week.

In short, I'm tired. Damn tired. And I'm not getting any younger, so it seems like it's taking more of a toll than ever.

Anyway, the election is Tuesday, but most of the hard work is already done. Assuming I'm able to rest this weekend, I could be back to normal by the beginning of the week. But then, I don't want to make a promise I can't keep, so I'll leave the door open to resuming blogging normalcy after Tuesday's election night marathon.

So, I'll be seeing you sometime next week, and hopefully I'll be able to remember all of the things I've been wanting to write about the past few weeks. See you soon.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Move along, no poker here

Well, in keeping with my promise Friday to return to the blog, here I am. Sadly, I still have nothing poker-related to say. I think it might be safe to say that I am a bit burned out on the game right now.

However, there are plenty of other things to talk about, the best being that my beloved New Orleans Saints actually seem to have had a good draft this year. Many thanks must go to the Houston Texans, for finding a way to not draft Reggie Bush. That left him available for the Saints to snag at number two, and already the Saints nation is excited for the new season. That's probably a little premature. Heck, he hasn't even been sized for a uniform yet, and folks are already expecting a return to the playoffs. Still, there are a lot of reasons for Saints fans to be excited, coupled with a lot of reasons to be skeptical. There's the signing of Drew Brees, but the question mark about his shoulder. There's Reggie Bush, but also the potential for a holdout. There's new coach Sean Payton, but he's a still unknown quantity. But despite all the questions, there's more reasons for hope in New Orleans than there have been for a long time.

I've also had fun this weekend with my new musical discovery. Granted, I'm pretty slow when it comes to making such discoveries, often discovering what is old news to the rest of the world. But while trying to catch up on some of the episodes of "Weeds" that I missed last year, I was struck by one song and had to find it. It was "Work Song" by Dan Reeder. While it was featured on "Weeds," it wasn't one of the songs featured on the show's soundtrack, so I finally tracked it down to his self-titled album and bought that. And am I ever glad I did. The best way I can describe the music is folk blues, with the subversive wit and primitive beauty of Charles Bukowski's writings, as well as just a hint of the darkness of Leonard Cohen's earliest work.

The story behind Reeder's album is also interesting. Not a musician, Reeder made the album himself as a way to entertain himself. More than that, he made his own instruments and home recording studio. Everything you hear on the album is him -- all of the instruments played and all of the vocals, layering his voice to create the harmonies. He then sent it to John Prine, who was so impressed by its simple beauty that he released it as-in on his label.

It's hard to say why a person who grew up listening to Kiss, AC/DC, the Dead Kennedys and the Sex Pistols like myself is so attracted to this album, and impossible to predict with any accuracy who else would appreciate it. All I can suggest is that if you are curious about it, punch it up on the iTunes music store and listen to the previews. You might first listen to "Work Song," since that's the most popular download, as well as the song that led me to discover him. I wouldn't consider it his best song, but it should give you a pretty good idea whether or not it's for you.

But as far as poker is concerned, there really isn't anything to write about. I've played some, but neither the stakes nor the results have been anything that would be of interest to anyone. Instead, I'll just leave you with the latest poker news.