Thursday, December 23, 2004
Does this have Freudian meaning?
I have begun to notice in the past three months that I have been walking around with my zipper unzipped. I will go to do my business in the bathroom and well, half my work has already been done for me as I probably didn't finish the task of making myself fully presentable from before. Why can't I just remember to do the simple task of zipping myself up? Or is this god's way of telling me to move on to the next phase of my life and wear athletic pants for the rest of my life?
Vega$
Every year, my friend Jim J. (a Biology teacher at Lawrenceville) and I make a trip to Las Vegas to feed our gambling needs. Over the course of about 6 or 7 years, he and I have gone for a two day jaunt every year except the year where I was injured. We have had other friends come along, but this is my thing with Jim.
Primarily, Jim and I play blackjack. The way I have come to approach blackjack is that when I cash in for chips, the chips reflect the "time I have on the clock". The moment I have no more chips, the buzzer has sounded and I am done for that round. I don't think of it as winning and losing, I think of it as the cost of playing and the entertainment it brings. What is fun is when a bunch of people you know all are playing at the same table with a dealer that feeds that vibe. Those moments are fleeting and magical, regardless if we are winning or losing money.
Jim and I have also started playing poker and yes I will fully admit I am riding the wave of Texas Hold Em on television. I have played at the card rooms in Emeryville but this time Jim and I played a good three and a half hours straight of Hold Em. Jim also played the night/morning before when I was sleeping. Jim taught me some good things to think about but mostly to look for four kinds of players. There are smart and dumb players. Each kind of player is either a loose (bets a lot and often) player or a tight player. Everybody likes dumb loose players at the table. Alas, the table Jim and I played at was packed with smart tight players. I probably was the least skilled player at the table. The more and more I play, the more I realize how little I actually know about the game of poker. There were a couple times where I played to the end of the hand sensing that I was going to get beat but unable to put my finger on it. Sure enough, I lost. The one that hurt the most, I had full house 8's and Aces. I was beat with a full house of Ace's and 8's. Ouch. That hand cost me about $20.
Jim and I stayed at the New York New York Hotel. Many of you have seen pictures, but here's another one.
The fabulous New York New York Hotel
The room was very large for a standard hotel room and the decor was so fabulous that even I, Ernie Chen, the aesthetic idiot, took note. The accomodations were part of a Southwest Airlines vacation package. Can you believe that I got a roundtrip flight from Oakland and two nights at the New York New York for a mere $220?
In Vegas, Jim and I met up with Erin O. (remember her from the South Bend days of this year) and her family. The O'Dea family does Vegas right. They go to wine tastings and eat at the fancy restaurants. It was nice to see Erin's family again. Alas, Raymonde was not in Vegas with us this year. The big surprise was that a former Lawrenceville colleague was in Las Vegas visiting her sister. Kathy K., the teacher who inherited my classroom at Lville, her husband Rick, Jim and I all had dinner one night. What a treat it was to see Kathy again.
Kathy K., me and Jim J.
Alas, I will say that I was definitely ready to return home. I got the gambling out of my system for another year.
Primarily, Jim and I play blackjack. The way I have come to approach blackjack is that when I cash in for chips, the chips reflect the "time I have on the clock". The moment I have no more chips, the buzzer has sounded and I am done for that round. I don't think of it as winning and losing, I think of it as the cost of playing and the entertainment it brings. What is fun is when a bunch of people you know all are playing at the same table with a dealer that feeds that vibe. Those moments are fleeting and magical, regardless if we are winning or losing money.
Jim and I have also started playing poker and yes I will fully admit I am riding the wave of Texas Hold Em on television. I have played at the card rooms in Emeryville but this time Jim and I played a good three and a half hours straight of Hold Em. Jim also played the night/morning before when I was sleeping. Jim taught me some good things to think about but mostly to look for four kinds of players. There are smart and dumb players. Each kind of player is either a loose (bets a lot and often) player or a tight player. Everybody likes dumb loose players at the table. Alas, the table Jim and I played at was packed with smart tight players. I probably was the least skilled player at the table. The more and more I play, the more I realize how little I actually know about the game of poker. There were a couple times where I played to the end of the hand sensing that I was going to get beat but unable to put my finger on it. Sure enough, I lost. The one that hurt the most, I had full house 8's and Aces. I was beat with a full house of Ace's and 8's. Ouch. That hand cost me about $20.
Jim and I stayed at the New York New York Hotel. Many of you have seen pictures, but here's another one.
The room was very large for a standard hotel room and the decor was so fabulous that even I, Ernie Chen, the aesthetic idiot, took note. The accomodations were part of a Southwest Airlines vacation package. Can you believe that I got a roundtrip flight from Oakland and two nights at the New York New York for a mere $220?
In Vegas, Jim and I met up with Erin O. (remember her from the South Bend days of this year) and her family. The O'Dea family does Vegas right. They go to wine tastings and eat at the fancy restaurants. It was nice to see Erin's family again. Alas, Raymonde was not in Vegas with us this year. The big surprise was that a former Lawrenceville colleague was in Las Vegas visiting her sister. Kathy K., the teacher who inherited my classroom at Lville, her husband Rick, Jim and I all had dinner one night. What a treat it was to see Kathy again.
Alas, I will say that I was definitely ready to return home. I got the gambling out of my system for another year.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
A Taste of My Own Medicine
The following blog entry should be music to the ears of Head-Royce students Samantha W., Courtney P. and Nikki K. to name just a few. The common thread between these three young women? They have been the focus of my unrelenting teasing. Many of you know that when I get on a roll, I can be incredibly brutal in the sheer amount of abuse (all in good fun and done with the utmost love and knowledge that the victim can handle it) is pretty massive. I was particularly harsh with Samantha W., and those students who were in that section of Honors Geometry last year, can attest that I was borderline unprofessional!
So, it was Monday afternoon and Jim and I had wandered down the the Bellagio. We were working our way down the Strip to eventually meet up with Erin and her brother Kevin. Jim and I sat down at a $5 blackjack table and our primary dealer was named Sheila. Sheila was a woman in her 50's who has found that the way she enjoys her job is to talk with her players. She also, like me, has a good sense of people and knows when she can go for the juggular. I was her target. For nearly an hour and a half, I was subject to teasing, ridicule and abject embarassment. It didn't help that Jim was sitting next to me feeding her information about me. Jim, come on now, did Sheila really need to know that I snore loudly? Things that I thought were innocently said came back to nail me an hour later. NOTHING got past Sheila. The fact that I lost my $100 budget at that table and then reached into my wallet for an additional $40 to stay with Sheila must mean something. I guess I like being the center of attention. Sheila, thank you for giving me a lesson I probably needed.
On a random note, it turns out that for the entire one and a half hours I sat at the table, each and every person who was played at the table during that time was a mathematician, scientist, engineer or a teacher of those subjects. It was a total meeting of MATH CLUB. This engineer from Dayton, OH and I were fascinated by the little machine which the dealer uses to determine if the down card is an Ace or face card depending on what she/he needed to know. We wondered why the designers of the machine didn't simplify the machine to have just one button. It's a long story.....
So, it was Monday afternoon and Jim and I had wandered down the the Bellagio. We were working our way down the Strip to eventually meet up with Erin and her brother Kevin. Jim and I sat down at a $5 blackjack table and our primary dealer was named Sheila. Sheila was a woman in her 50's who has found that the way she enjoys her job is to talk with her players. She also, like me, has a good sense of people and knows when she can go for the juggular. I was her target. For nearly an hour and a half, I was subject to teasing, ridicule and abject embarassment. It didn't help that Jim was sitting next to me feeding her information about me. Jim, come on now, did Sheila really need to know that I snore loudly? Things that I thought were innocently said came back to nail me an hour later. NOTHING got past Sheila. The fact that I lost my $100 budget at that table and then reached into my wallet for an additional $40 to stay with Sheila must mean something. I guess I like being the center of attention. Sheila, thank you for giving me a lesson I probably needed.
On a random note, it turns out that for the entire one and a half hours I sat at the table, each and every person who was played at the table during that time was a mathematician, scientist, engineer or a teacher of those subjects. It was a total meeting of MATH CLUB. This engineer from Dayton, OH and I were fascinated by the little machine which the dealer uses to determine if the down card is an Ace or face card depending on what she/he needed to know. We wondered why the designers of the machine didn't simplify the machine to have just one button. It's a long story.....
Sunday, December 19, 2004
"Why don't you ask Rich?"
The second act of of "friends in town for the weekend" had protagonists Leah and Rich (of 4th of July in Washington, DC blogfame) in town this weekend. Richard has business here on Monday and Tuesday and since Leah is done with teaching her classes this semester tagged along for the shopping, eating and visiting of me.
In recapping our lives, every once in a while, Rich would ask, "did that person ever make the blog?", and in each instance, the person I was talking about was not a blog subject. RICHARD A. is a regular blog reader!!! As our conversation over dim sum continued, every time Leah asked me a question, I sometimes deferred to her husband to answer. RICHARD A., you get major cool points.
We spent the majority of our three hours dining on dim sum. Leah loves my regular dim sum place here in San Francisco. It's down on San Bruno Avenue in the Portola District. The area is off the beaten tourist path, but the kind of place were you see true locals doing their thing. We counted that today's meal was the third time they had eaten dim sum at this restaurant.
Leah and Richard taking a break from their favorite San Francisco meal.
We spent the early afternoon driving through different neighboorhoods of San Francisco to get a feel of the city and the kinds of housing available. Hmmmm????!!!! I'll leave you with a picture that simply sums of life in San Francisco.
Leah and Richard looking over the city from the top of Vallejo Street on Russian Hill.
In recapping our lives, every once in a while, Rich would ask, "did that person ever make the blog?", and in each instance, the person I was talking about was not a blog subject. RICHARD A. is a regular blog reader!!! As our conversation over dim sum continued, every time Leah asked me a question, I sometimes deferred to her husband to answer. RICHARD A., you get major cool points.
We spent the majority of our three hours dining on dim sum. Leah loves my regular dim sum place here in San Francisco. It's down on San Bruno Avenue in the Portola District. The area is off the beaten tourist path, but the kind of place were you see true locals doing their thing. We counted that today's meal was the third time they had eaten dim sum at this restaurant.
We spent the early afternoon driving through different neighboorhoods of San Francisco to get a feel of the city and the kinds of housing available. Hmmmm????!!!! I'll leave you with a picture that simply sums of life in San Francisco.
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