Once More Unto The Pitch, My Friends…

I have just had my first game at the Chelsea Piers Soccer league with my new team.

(yes, that’s the name)

Who am I always looking out for?

Anticipation.

And people walking.

My terrible attempt at an action shot.

They came short handed, with only a late sub, and still they outplayed us a few minutes, but sweet delicious victory was ours.

Good job guys.

Good job.

Poker. Like it or Not…

81st opened its loving arms again.

Jim got busted and had to get the checkbook out to buy back in.

These are your cash outs.

And, with no previous knowledge of previous posts, I got the crotch surprise again.

Linzie came in for a quick ten and lost after a short while.

Katz didn’t believe me early on and lost twice. Then he took me for a nice pot on a higher ace. Then he lost it all. He tries to bluff too much I think.

Cassens is a wild man. He bluffs, he plays smart, you never know. His aggression leads to swings, though, and tonight was one of those days he lost it all.

Jim plays quiet, I stopped raising on him until I got a hand. Sometimes he keeps the middle pair, but the lesson is at least have something if he’s still with you in the end.

Bombus lost early, then made most of his money back to come out six ahead. He played some psych games on me on two hands, which almost took me out, but then he lost it to john. He’s crafty, watch out.

I came out second most profit with 30. I bluffed all in with a 4 seven that did not get called, and one with 2 7 suited that did; the seven spiked and I won. I used my position ruthlessly, I caught a few bluffs with middle pair, but I did try to steal a pot from chip leader john with a silly ten dollar bet and got slapped the fuck down with a quick all in. I must learn patience.

John went up early, taking two people out just as I arrived. He never looked back. Whatever his mission statements were that day, they worked. He left with 40 profit, chip leader.

I am up 145, and it feels good to win.

Another double-booked Saturday…

Cristina came back from Idaho again to hold court at mickey’s blue room before she leaves. Again.

She’s so excited.

All her peeps came to say farewell.

Elyse (sp?) and I became the stupendous unstoppable Team Ed.

Pool Warriors.

Micah and I approved of the Sierra Nevada.

Later Cristina. Again.

The later shift…

After the blue room madness, I went south to 151, a swingers like bar that has no sign or anything demarking it as a water hole establishment. How do people find these placees?

We took over this crowded corner.

To celebrate Aaron’s birthday with a nipple tweak.

He kindly returned the favor.

And it was also Sara’s birthday too. I guess chest groping was just in the air.

Because Cat and Brielle got into it too.

Noah and Carolina dicuss.

While Matt questions and i get way too excited.

Ben and I reminisced about our days as flatmates.

And I fell into this bead induced psychadelic trip.

Cute couples.

Cute friends.

Guys with toothpicks (they’re there, just look closer).

Happy birthday you fools.

(ps. what's different?)

Food with Females…

Last Sunday I received an invitation to a dining party for the following Friday. The invite came so early, that when I called to get directions the day of the party, Rebecca forgot she had invited me. Which led me to stand at the doorway to my house wondering whether or not they actually wanted me there, or if I should just call and cancel.

But I went, and im glad I did. Rebecca whipped up some delicious couscous, sautéed vegetables, and delicious sweet kielbasa.

Nina showed off her new room.

Eva showed off the incredible features of the slapbracelet watch.

Suzy claimed that she actually fucked up pasta.

The girls lounged.

Mark came home, making me the only male no longer.

Old postcards were unburried.

And I became a devil.

And passed out on the foam mattress.

Mark then made breakfast.

And another enjoyable visit came to an end.

The Books, the god damned Big Books…

In my time spent traveling upon this spinning orb, I have read some things. Like these behemoths.

We begin where we must, at the best book ever written, Ulysses.

The incredibly rich and diverse structure, the shear knowledge, the sublime and superb stylistic control, this book lives in a category all its own. (It stands with its own gloss book, Ulysses Annotated, just to give you a chance at seeging how deep the man went.)

Up next, the WWII streaming sprawl, Gravity’s Rainbow.

Grittier, druggier, but just as erudite, this dense world of words and characters insanely arcs through hilarity, insanity, and poignancy.

And following that succession of humongous books through the timeline comes Infinite Jest.

A tale of tennis and addiction twirling in a hamletan way, a piercing satire of a slightly apocalyptic near future, this savvy, quasi technical, verbose as hell epic justifies its name in all its connotations. (It comes accompanied by the incredible in its own right, just not as mature or ambitious Broom of the System, which includes the best college scene in literature with the leg.)

End of junior year, I tried out for a play based on IJ, and failed to get the part, so vindictively, did not go see the performance. But I became curious about the book while having sex out the window, and took it on throughout the summer. That august, while staying at Middletown, I found Ulysses on the shelf, read a few pages, and took a class on it that fall. Then took another class on it that spring. Then in the summer, I found Gravity’s Rainbow in the bookstore, and sailed through that sea through the hot days. It was a year for slaying monsters.

Guns, Germs, and Steel is one of the most informative and interesting books on how we got to were we did.

It explains how The West ended up being the dominant culture in such a scientific and well-researched way, and its totally not racist. It was more just luck of your surroundings.

Confedracy of Dunces.

The comedy epic, the original Seinfeld-like intertwiner, the ode to a culturefilled city, a very fun ride following the life of a unique character.

Which brings us to the classics of the more present times, starting with The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay.

(amazon picture because stepmom has borrowed copy). The magical, inspiring, incredible tale of survival, love, and storytelling, written in one of the most gorgeous placement of words I have ever seen.

The Corrections.

A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, and this one doesn’t need to title itself that to actually achieve it. An incredible look at those wacky, stinkin’ rich nineties, through a marvelous family of unforgettable people in unforgettable situations .

Middlesex.

The modern classic (as in the actual classic, meaning greek) diaspora epic with the contemporary sexual wrench thrown in the mix, through a loving, exceptional narrator.

My favorite right now, The Fortress of Solitude.

A pop culture examining masterpiece. The coming of age amidst magic and trauma, brisk reality and utter naïve joy, it makes you want to kiss whoever wrote it (I know who wrote it, you know what I mean).

And why not, The System of the World.

One book divided into three (yeah just like, Rings, which I have read, but doesn’t belong on this list) vividly showing you a peek at how the entire planet got along during the late 1600’s.

So what’s next? Mason & Dixon.

Yes, I am ready to try my pynchon hand again, even though it will be difficult (I don’t have the guts to go after Finnigan’s Wake yet).

Books.

I love them like the intellectualista nerd snob that I am. These are just a few that I read in the last four years, but they are probably some of the best.

I need to read more russians.

Toeing the line…

Derek hooked up the impromptu Sunday gamblethon.

I took pictures late, after matty and liz busted out. Matty left, but liz, from the couch, would only pose her arm, there in the middle.

These people cashed out with chips.

An interesting night. Matty went up early off of, well me. There was a full house on the board and just i did not believe he had the higher full house, but alas, he turned over the jack for the win. Then he didn’t believe john and Thayer and lost twice before anyone else, not buying back in. He’s a steady player, but sometimes gets cowed and puts down a hand, and sometimes calls when he should not. But he sure took me out with his jacks over nines.

Liz fading away has become tiring. I have seen her win a 200 dollar pot tourney, going all the way down, but in the last three weeks she’s been playing sloppy (and getting unlycky, too I guess).

Rutkoff, nearing the end of the game and only having the money he put in, complained that he was tired of just leaving even; he wanted to win. Its better than losing, I said, but rutkoff was not convinced, until he lost it all, boo hooing his uneven leave.

Thayer betrayed his even keel way by swinging up and then down, losing to john on a close kicker loss. And then kept it even and cashed out only down 2 dollars.

Of course, I went down fast against matty, but I tripled up on two tens when matty himself didn’t believe me. I lost all of that, and some of my buy back, and then grinded it out, winning a lucky pot, going all in a bunch, muscling john out of another, and catching Derek on a bluff, I left up one dollar. Unlike Aaron, ill take even any day.

Derek left with 40 in his pocket, playing that calm non abrasive game. No wait, in this game, he straddled along all game, until the end, when he was either catching the cards of his life, or playing excellent poker. He raised preflop allot, and usually won on the flop with another bet. Over and over, never showing a hand. Well done.

And john. Swinging pendulum john. He played well. Got a bit lucky, but once he got his stack, he managed to hold on to at least eighty percent of it.

We had dinner before the ZX show…

…and he talked about trying to curb his big swings. When he wins allot, he doesn’t want to lose it, so he has set up a system of goals. He writes down a couple of guidelines for how he is going to play, and it seemed to work this time with: win the hands you play, and cash out if you go over sixty.

I remain, 115 dollars up on my friends money.

Poker can wait, Rutkoff…

Z.X. (it used to be zx7, but whatever) had a show at the Delancy.

John and I found a fantastic stoop.

The star would not pose after this picture.

I wanted to get him with all the other barlows present, but I had to settle for just the one going to wes presently.

Lisa here, took care of my back pack.

Then a tremendous performance of slightly apathetic asian influenced alternative rock.

What more can someone ask of Sunday afternoon?

Double Party Night, Session One…

It was sara’s birthday…

…last week. But with the L train out of commission, celebrations had to be moved to this week.

What a moody meeting of Wesleyan grads.

Paul’s going to get into your head.

He’s applied to psychology grad for fall.

Micah told me he just doesn’t believe our era of movies will be remembered in a good light.

I disagreed, every generation has jewels that will go down in history.

Please Hammer, don’t hurt them.

Because, you know, they do have a ghost knife.

Una would never hurt a fly.

Look, its that play we did people again.

I don’t know this girls name, but greg and her choreographed a very impressive chin synchronization.

Don’t parties just look like weird pigeon mating rituals?

Gabe pontificated on our physical world, challenging chaos theory.

Rebecca never stopped smiling.

And doug showed up, right at as I was leaving, to win best picture of the party.

I keep telling you, late night empty subways always feel artsy.

Happy birthday sara.

Double Party Night, Session Part Deux…

Two parties in one night, that’s right. With a brief sojourn in Billsburg over, I rushed to the lower east to get some late night Meredith birthday action.

Damn, Ogo’s so money he makes you look like a pimp just by being around him.

And then—I don’t remember doing this, but I found it out upon downloading my picts the next day—I guess I had a Schwartz’s Sisters Fashion shoot.

This being the winner of best shot.

With the solo shot coming a close second.

Don’t worry, Melinda got into the fun as well.

We then found this…

What the fuck? From what I could gather from the label, it was a greek hard alchohol made from distilled wine. Who knows?

Then Charlie went all plumber and fixed the sink.

It had a screw loose. He definitely screwed it.

It got so late, the pimp left the building.

Next to Steph O’Mary.

Cutest picture of the night right here.

Awwww, look at the sisters.

Happy birthday can’t-keep-your-eyes-open-for-a-picture.