Back on the Wagon

Apparently, blogging isn't the cool thing to do right now.

I don't have anything in particular to write about, but I wanted to get something down to appease the masses (right masses?).

I'll be going to a Robert Burns Dinner on Saturday night, hosted by a fellow who happens to be named Robert Burns. The former Robert Burns is the "bard of Scotland", a x-th century poet who wrote such classics as "To a Mouse", "To a Louse", and "Auld Lang Syne". The latter Robert Burns in the aforementioned sentence is Lana's boss. There are formal rules for a Robert Burns Dinner, but I don't believe we follow them to the letter, just in spirit. Drinks are had by all, some poems are read, some toasts are delivered, and some food is eaten. There is a traditional Burns Dinner menu that includes cock-a-leeky soup, tatties, haggis, rutabagas, and for desert, tipsy laird. Delicious. Last year I arranged some music for the poem "Green Grow the Grasses, O" and performed it at the dinner. I guess it was too much, too soon, because now I'm expected to perform again this year. We'll see.

I've been thinking a lot about investing money recently and have begun to actually think about retirement. I'm taking a class called Financial Peace University. So far, I'm not sure what to think of the class. Some of the information given just seems to unrealistic. The course stresses investing money in mutual funds that get at least 12% return each year. Well, that aren't exactly that easy to come by, nor do they come without some risk involved. Look at what happened to a lot of the tech stocks, for instance. The class also stresses the importance of getting rid of debt as quickly as possible and not purchasing items that you can't pay for outright, except for the very largest of purchases such as houses and cars. That part of the class seems unnecessary for me seeing as I don't have any debt, possess zero credit cards, and already purchase only things I can afford. I suppose I am fortunate to have a step up on the rest of the class already, even though most of them are adults who make a lot more money that I do. I need to start looking into investing money soon, though.

I'm trying to eat a lot healthier now. We're talking flaxseed, organic fruits and vegetables, salmon and other fish, whole grain and high fiber bread, beans, etc. I like eating lots of fruits and vegetables. The other day I went to the grocery store and bought blueberries, blackberries, lettuce, asparagus, apples, bananas, oranges, an asian pear, broccoli, and cauliflower, in addition to a gallon of Pomegranate juice and a couple of Naked juices. I'm not sure I'll eat all of it before it starts to spoil. I'm not too good about eating food that looks like it is starting to turn. About the only things I can think of that I still eat are apples and cheese, because it is easy to cut the undesirable chunk of food off of them. If things like bananas, oranges, bread, or milk start to go bad, I just can't excise the gross stuff out and eat the rest.

Hey, ultimate. Tournament next weekend. Not sure if I'll be too ready for it. I've been exerting myself physically through indoor climbing, racquetball, outdoor running, walking to work, and a core-strengthening class, but I haven't done any harder running/sprinting workouts until Monday of this week. It wasn't until this morning (Thursday) that I felt well again, except that my right calf muscle is still incredibly tight. Well, the tournament won't be too gruelling. Maybe two hard games that are only an hour long and my team will have six guys for a 3/2 coed tournament.

Well, shoot, looks like I've got to ramblin' again. I'll let you go.

Ten Additional Ramblings

31. I've started indoor climbing recently. It is a lot of fun, mostly in part of the facility that I go to. It is an old barn with many different climbing walls and surfaces in it. Somewhat expensive to go twice a week, but it's a great workout and very satisfying to succeed. I don't have the forearm and finger strength, nor the technique to perform anything challenging, but I hope to be able to in a couple of months.

32. I'll be playing in the Waterloo Police Association Poker Tournament in less than two weeks. I played in it last year and finished in ninth out of about seventy-five people, my best tournament finish when the field is that large. I don't know what to expect this year, mostly likely lower than ninth. I hope the dealers are better this year, or at least the one or two I have. They got UNI fraternity kids to deal and the one at my first table didn't know how to play poker, dealt and shuffled incredibly slow, showed the bottom cards when shuffling and dealing, and made a couple of dealing errors, such as throwing out a card before all bets in a round were finished.

33. I like to think of gourmet pizzas. My first was a couple years ago when I wanted to make a jambalaya pizza after attending Mardi Gras. Then, I found a gumbo pizza at Boston's The Gourmet Pizza (note: Is that seriously the name of the place). Yesterday I made a pizza that had cream cheese, apricot jam, salmon, capers, sunflower seeds, green onions, and cheese. Some future pizzas I'd like to make are Chicago Style Hotdog, Bratwurst/Sauerkraut/Mustard, Gyro, and Chicken Kiev. Not sure what to use as sauces on all of them or the cheese to top them with, but I'll try. Oh man will I try.

34. Lana got a cat last weekend. She named it Baron. The cat is black on top, white on the belly, fairly small, not sure how much it will grow. It is still rather skittish and nervous, but better than when she brought it home.

35. When I left for worlds I weighed 172. When I weighed myself about a week and a half ago, I weighed 189. That's what daily lunch buffets at work mixed with a lack of self-control will do for you. I hope to be under 180 by the time the February indoor tournament comes around.

36. Played cards two nights in a row Sunday/Monday. Some poker and pitch Sunday night. Team games on Monday. In poker I was the first out of five to bust out, but used the one rebuy to get back into it. Ended up going heads-up with Brian Lucido with more than a 3 to 1 chip advantage after winning some seven or eight hands out of ten in the middle of the game. We split the money. A number of reasons, first, I didn't really care to finish. Second, I didn't want everybody else to have to wait for Brian and I to finish. Third, I didn't want Brian to come back and beat me. The money meant nothing, the humiliation would have been unbearable! Monday, Brian and I teamed up against Joe and Jake to play our best of five card series we sometimes play. First game is spades, then team hearts, then pepper, then spades, then finishing with team hearts. Well, Brian and I took the first three games in convincing fashion. I'm sure its annoying to play against us because we (read: mostly I) like to talk about how good at cards the team is while we play. Well, trash talking is a big part of both teams' strategy, but we're almost always ahead. Well, shoot, there I go again.

37. Mark McGuire didn't get elected into the baseball half of fall. A travesty? I don't know. I don't care that he may have or did use performance enhancing drugs. Here's a number: 583 home runs. That's more than Mickey Mantle, of course he was usually using performance inhibiting drugs. But, I have to admit, beyond the home run total, what did Mark McGuire really do? Also, Cal Ripken gets the third highest admittance percentage of all time. Seriously? A good player, yes. A hall of famer? Okay, but not with flying colors. I understand he played a lot of games in a row, but he wasn't putting up phenomenal numbers season in and season out. Finally, put Pete Rose in the hall of fame. I don't like him either, but this is a hall reserved for the best players in the game. He is arguably one of the top ten players ever, certainly top 25.

38. Jake has a blog now. Now you know.

39. I'm itching to play some ultimate. Men's tournament in February in Minneapolis. It's 5/5 indoor, but we'll be the defending champions. It hurts losing Mike and Joe and Ben to Mardi Gras, but we'll still have Shawn, Brian, Jake, Dave, Jon, and myself, while adding possibly BJ and rising superstar David Bequette.

40. CLXMas this weekend in Kirksville, Missouri. Should be a fun time, if sectionals last fall were any indication. It will probably be the last time all of us are together (all of us that can make it that is). There's been some serious talk of an Iowa men's open team. Is it time (well, is it time for a non-Ethanol open team)? Yes. There is a lot of excitement from the right core of Ames area players right now. Time will tell where the rest of the players for the team will come from. Iowa City? Kansas City? Minneapolis...City? Expecting some drunken planning to go down this weekend.