The Extravaganza

The following is the live-action style blog documenting the 24-hour casino extravaganza that Joe and I recently participated in.

7:54PM--Parking spot found at Prarie Meadows Casino in Des Moines, Iowa. I think it took 10 minutes just to find a spot. There are horse races tonight, so there are a few thousand people here right now, just about the number of one-dollar bills I could be leaving with tonight.

8:00PM--Twenty, twenty, twenty four hours to go. Sedation not desired at this moment. So, 24 hours in a row is no big deal you say. Some people spend three or four days in a row at the casino, at the same table even, you say. Well, to our credit, we aren't strung out on coke; we're just two sober guys looking to stick it to the casino for 1 24-hour period. Current status: even ($250).

8:07PM--Some dude just bugled over there, seriously. Joe filled me in on the intracacies of horse betting. I throw down $2 on an exacta for the first race. Picked the 4 horse over the 6.

8:23PM--A late charge by Ablumin Miracle, charging from fifth to first in the last 100-200 meters hits my exacta exactly. The 4-6 finish nets me $12.20. That was in Joe's face. Just right up in his face. Current status: +12.20 (262.20)

8:44PM--I am hot right now, I mean I'm picking winners left and right, or just left so far. One out of one winners. I place a win bet on the 6 horse Mingo Mohawk, a 12-1 bet, and a show bet on the 50-1 underdog Tricky Mocha. The tickets singe my fingers when they are handed to me these picks are so hot.

8:45PM--Got a look at the horses. Tricky Mocha is about half the size of the other horses. Dang it. Joe picked the 1-4-6 trifecta. The fool.

8:52PM--Tricky Mocha runs out to a huge start, leads at all the rails, leads halfway down the homestretch, then...finishes sixth. I rip up my tickets in disgust. Sorry kids, daddy can't afford new shoes this year.

9:04PM--I just realized the sun has set on this day, with it my chances of winning? That is yet to be seen. I throw-down another hot exacta bet (7-6), Joe with the (7-8-3) trifecta.

9:23PM--None of the horses that were on our tickets even showed in this race. The 2-1-5 underdog finishes would have payed out $3193.20 on a $2 trifecta bet. Incredible. This horse racing stuff is getting boring, plus I spent on my winnings already. Current status: +0.20 (250.20).

9:49PM--Time for the party to start. Bought in for $80 at a 3/6 hold-'em table.

10:02PM--Big blind special. My K-7 matched a 7-7-10 flop and I placed some bets, a check-raise and raked over $40. I think I'm the only guy at the table younger than 50.

10:15PM--Big blind special #2. My K-10 hit trip Kings to win another good pot. I'm up over $60 already.

11:15PM--It's been awhile. One hour to be exact, no wins. 5 pocket pairs, 0 hands won. I saw that the Yankees lost to the Orioles again. Joe is apparently up over $200 after riding a long rush of cards.

11:23PM--Earlier Joe and I had seen that a wedding and reception had taken place over near the hotel. The bride comes into the poker room and asks if her husband has been in there. They had been married two hours earlier, and she had hardly seen him since, apparently he was hiding somewhere in the casino. Many poker players found it funny. I thought it was sad.

11:37PM--I get annoyed when people complain about their poker luck over and over at the table. I always sit next to some guy who shows me his cards over and over and complains about how he never hits the draw he's on, as if I'm his new friend and should show him some sympathy. Well, actually sir, you've hit your draws a few times tonight, in fact, about as often as statistics say you should.

11:45PM--Bathroom break. Things are looking grim. I'm already doubting whether $250 can actually last 24 hours. Or 6 hours.

12:03AM--Past midnight now. I'm drowning in an endless sea of K-7, Q-7, J-7, and the occassional A-7. I believe I've had a 7 in my hand over 50% of the time. Approaching the two hour mark without winning a hand.

12:21AM--SUCCESS! J-J holds up and I'm up to $97 at the table, a net gain of $17. Nothing great, but much better than the alternative. Joe's cards have cooled and he's been hovering around $200 for some time now.

12:34AM--First suited aces joke. Did it really take this long? This is one of the most annoying things for me at a poker table, when people mention having suited aces. What gets me is that people at the table actually laugh or chuckle. All right, maybe I'm just on edge right now. One winning hand in 2.5 hours can do that.

12:43AM--A-K big blind. Board comes 3-6-9-8-10. Nuts. Or lack thereof.

1:19AM--Pocket cards come A-K again. Nothing on the board. I'm bored.

1:40AM--One more hand....one more hand....one more hand....I'm finally able to leave. Cashed out $55, down $25 from when I started. I was sitting at the table with my chips racked and saw one more hand. A-10 suited. I just threw it away, aces were not kind to me today. As I walk away, the board proves me right.

1:56AM--Find Joe downstairs, doing moderately well at a Texas Hold'Em table game. I watch for a while and find the game interesting. Maybe I'll buy in for $50.

2:12AM--$50 gone. I almost lost it all in three hands, which would have been very embarassing, but held on to play about 10 hands. It helped me last longer that they had a five minute break to shuffle in and count new cards. I just don't think I can play table games at $5 a bet and make it through the night.

2:20AM--Forget about table games, it's slot time. I approach a Mr. Lucky machine.

2:24AM--Up $6.55 on the Mr. Lucky machine. Notice an opening at the Deal or No Deal machine, where Joe is already up $80 or so.

3:22AM--Done playing slots. Down to $150 left. I was able to last over 6 hours. But can I make it 12?

3:57AM--Eating some nachos with Joe. I just watched Joe lose $180 at blackjack in the most excruciating way. Each hand for him was like another kick in the already swollen and painful testicles. I saw him lose three 20 hands to a dealer blackjack, complete zero double downs, and lose both hands off of split aces. I think the dealer felt really bad too, but it's his job to stand there and kick people in their already swollen and painful testicles. Current status: -$103 ($147 left).

4:13AM--I casually slip Joe a card. 1-800-BETSOFF. I'm so zany.

4:32AM--Played a variety of slots. Went shrimping, played Wheel of Fortune, Monopoly, and Top Gun. Just a slow steady burn-off of money. Well, that's not entirely true, sometimes it was a fast burn-off. The Top Gun machine was interesting. Lots of sound effects, low bass rumblings in the chair, and a weird bonus game, but as far as I know, a near 0% payout rate.

5:12AM--I am down to $100. Joe is down to $20. What do your heroes do? Do they make their last stand at the blackjack table, letting each victory ride and redoubling their money on each epic hand, earning themselves a place in gambling lore? Nope. We raise the white flag, surrender to the adversary, and walk away to live another day.

5:46AM--I lay my head down to sleep and have to wonder, did I do the right thing by leaving? What if I was just about to go on some hot-streak? Just kidding. I just fell asleep, I was really tired.

Survival

I was watching Man vs. Wild recently, a survivor type television show where they drop a guy off into the most remote places on earth and his objective is to make his way back to human civilization. I've seen two or three episodes, one where he was dropped onto a glacier in Alaska, one where I think he was in a jungle somewhere, and one where he was dropped into the Kimberley in Northern Australia, basically an outback-like environment.

I enjoy watching the show, but I can't help but feel that the host is simply showing off, in addition to trying to survive. On the Australia show, he mentioned that he had some sort of military training, but he seems more like surfer dude than a Navy SEAL.

The last show I watched, the Australian one, he was dropped into the Kimberley without water, food, or shelter, and I thought they said he was 150 miles from the nearest town or city. In the intense heat of the outback, he keeps talking about how important it is to stay hydrated. There is no readily available water, so he proceeds to start drinking his own urine. At this point, he isn't even exactly thirsty, he just knows he has to stay hydrated. They show him urinate into his water bottle, then immediately begin drinking it. He complains about how salty and warm it is, saying "there is no getting around this". Later, when it does start raining, he didn't exactly run over to fresh water. He says "I'm so thirsty right now, and all I've had to drink is recycled piss." Then, he doesn't even wash out his water bottle, which up to this point, had been filled with urine. He just fills it up and starts drinking.

Later on in the show he is talking about how hungry he is. He puts himself in danger by climbing a tall tree to get some figs, then once he is up there, eats a few figs on camera, puts a few in his pocket, and climbs back down. If he was so hungry, why wouldn't he grab handfulls of figs, especially when he didn't know where his next meal was coming from?

Well, then he finds it. He comes across a spider web and notes that the spider is only "moderately" poisonous. He grabs it out of the web, crushes its head, and eats it whole, commenting on how it tastes like "brains and guts". The whole thing seemed pointless. If he is starving, why eat one tiny spider instead of a bounty of figs?

So is this show just entertainment? Don't get me wrong, I'm entertained. If this show were truly about survival and he was truly in danger of perishing in the wilderness why does he do things the way he does? Why wouldn't he walk and travel at night in the outback, instead of in the heat of the day? If he knows he has to drink 1.5 liters of water a day as a bare minimum, why carry a water bottle that only holds about 20 ounces, especially when water sources are scarce?

This show got me thinking about some things. Back when Lana and I were casually talking about walking the Pacific Crest Trail, I bought a survival style book, can't remember the name of it right now. It had a lot of useful information in it, and it was geared more towards actual survival techniques and things to do, rather than information on how to go on extended hikes. I did find the book to be a good read, though, even if I can't remember much from it and would benefit little from it in a survival situation.

Even now that I haven't thought about the Pacific Crest Trail for awhile, I feel like I wouldn't be able to go six months with few showers, few toilets, few cooked meals, and little time spent on a mattress. I amazed that I thought I would enjoy it. Well, I would once I was out there, but sitting in comfort makes me think I wouldn't like it.

The show reminded me of less than desirable foods and beverages, too. Lana wants to go overseas and visit countries where there aren't too many grocery stores. I was reminded of the beggining of The Poisonwood Bible where a family of missionaries first enters the village they will be staying out. The villagers made a welcoming stew for them and the family eats the soup that has hairy chuncks of meat in it. That made me think of the group from my church that went to Panama two summers ago. They were welcomed with chicken soup, except that the chicken soup had feet, chicken heads, beaks, and eyeballs floating around in it. The Panamanian people laughed at the Americans when they looked scared at the soup, and made another batch without the heads.

So, this post started talking about Man vs. Wild the TV show, but kind of turned into me vs. wild, and how I used to think I wanted to try to challenge myself out in the wilderness. I think now I'm at the point where instead of wanting to see if I could "rough it", I'd rather just sit back and think that I could "rought it", but the truth is, once I was out there, I'm not so sure.

Captain's Log: 72307

Captain's Log: 72307

The Van Buren Boys played last weekend at the Minneapolis Ultimate Disc Inviational or something, called MUDI. We had already travelled to Boston, but only with 11/26 VBBs, so this would more appropriately be called our "first" tournament as The Van Buren Boys.

Things could not have started off better. In fact, they were perfect. We played a high school team in our first game and won 13-0, never turning the disc over and even grabbing a Callahan goal. Was this a trend that would continue?

No. First point next game TBA moves it down the field and scores. 13 point scoreless streak broken. Then, with us on offense, we turn on the next possession. 14 point turnover-free streak broken. 0-1 was the last time we trail in this game, but we only lead 5-4 before making an 8-3 run to finish the game, winning 13-7. The offensive squad only turned it over two or three times in this game, I believe, and did not get scored on.

Third game, against Nocturnal, we win 13-1. Some really fast guy gets scored on for the other team's only goal. Also, few, if any offensive turnovers. Thus far, offensive squad scored on zero times, with fewer than 5 turns in three games.

In the fourth game we played Dingwop, coming off of a long game against TBA that they had lost. They played a decent game, we won 13-9, but I wonder if things could have gotten a little more sticky had they come off of an easier game or a victory. We took a quick 6-2 lead, but they chipped away at the lead, closest was 9-7, then we won 13-9.

A pretty good day overall. The zero turnover game was impressive, no matter who you are playing. Except for a short first half lapse in the TBA game and a short second half lapse in the Dingwop game, we played great ultimate. Defensive offense movement isn't looking great at times, especially in the TBA game. Offensive team was great today, only getting scored on twice, both in second half of the Dingwop game.

Saturday night had us hanging out at Ross's house. Played some hearts and spades with the Kansas guys, Lou and Brian, plus some poker. Can't be afraid to play rags. Well, it helped that I built a big chip stack early and then could pay to see every non-raised or small-raised flop. And the 6-9 deserves an all-in call every time. Took $40 home, though.

Sunday we didn't have to play until 11AM. First game against GooseEgg. This game didn't go so hot. We trail 2-5 and 3-6 before the defensive squad shows some grit to bring it back to 6-7 at halftime. Offense scores 7-7. D squad can't, 7-8. Offense scores 8-8. D squad can't, 8-9. This trend continues to 11-11. We're getting turns on every point, but it just isn't happening on offense. Leave the O squad in to play defense at 11-11 and maybe get the upwinder. A two or three turnover point ensues, but we get the score and make it 12-11. Send in a D team, poach heavily, a poor upwind huck is thrown, which is knocked down by Rob or Brian. Rob picks up but a pick is called. Rob, Brian and I are all somewhat near each other 50 yards from the endzone. I had a lot of real estate in front of me. Without saying a word to each other disc comes in and I put my head down and run. Rob throws to Brian, Brian puts up the forehand huck, I look up see the disc above me and reel it in for the win. That was a close one.

On another field Madison is playing a close game against Climax that goes well past the time cap. They come over and though we are supposed to start, we give them a few more minutes. They were probably tired, but just didn't look to effective on offense, or maybe our defense was too tight. We cruise out to a 10-2 lead and win 13-6. To this point the offense has only been scored on three times today, five times all tournament.

In the finals we have the Subzero matchup we came to the tournament for. There is a sizable crowd, with spectators lining the entire field except for the endzone furthest from tournament central. A lot came to see what The Van Buren Boys had to offer and gave a lot of positive support to us. We start by playing downwind defense, get a big block from Jimmy and proceed to move it all the way up the field to score. They respond with an upwinder, forcing our offense to go upwind. We can't and it is 1-2. Offense responds with a downwind score. 2-2. Defense comes out and gets the break back, making it 3-2. Then, we get the subsequent downwinder to make it 4-2. Game gets tied at 4-4. Somewhere in there is a heartbreaker where we should have scored our fifth point to a wide open guy, who misreads a disc and it goes over his head. Reading the disc is one our team's poorest skills. It's not exactly something that is easy to teach, though. Defense gets it done again and it is 6-4. They score for 6-5. Offense makes it 7-5. They make it 7-6. We have a chance to score downwind, and receive on offense going downwind to start the second half. We were staring 9-6 in the face. It wasn't to be. Our offense drops two to trail at half 7-8. Up to the point in the game where it was 7-6, our offense had been scored on 7 times all tournament. After that point, offense got scored on five more times. Defense can't get back on the field but two or three times in the time-shortened second half. When they are, there were a couple of golden scoring opportunities that just didn't work out.

So, which team was the real Van Buren Boys team? The one that took a 7-5 lead, basically outplaying Subzero in a lot of respects? Or the team that finished the game 2-8, fighting hard, but just not getting the job done. No question we're the first team, but we'll need to find ways to keep us at that level throughout the game. I realized my line calling was not the best in the second half. I got stuck into the pattern of believing the offense was going to score the next point and we could send on the defense, so I was reluctant to put D guys in on offense. But I learned my mistake. In addition, at later tournaments this year we'll have a few more players, a couple of whom are slated to be offense-only guys.

Notes:

-Brian and Ben wanted me to comment on each player, but that would really take a long time, plus Rob already beat me to it.

-The offensive team, save the second half of the Zero game, really got the job done all weekend. Ross, Wimer, and Mike, looked at ease with each other and moved the disc very well to create throwing opportunites for each other. I was very impressed with that.

-The defensive team's offense could be an X-factor in games this year. Which offense is the true defensive offense, the one the struggled most of the tournament against the likes of TBA, GooseEgg, and Dingwop, or the one that showed up bigtime in the Madison game and followed through with a number of breaks in the Subzero game? I believe the defense has a number of players who "step up" in the big games, so maybe we might struggle in the middle-tier games and play better in the upper-tier games.

-We didn't have a couple of players for this tournament that could have really helped. First, Jon would have added some big breaks and skilled handling for either the offense or the defense. Barrett would have given Dave a rest as a primary cutter in our offense. It would be even better to have both of them in there. BJ is getting stronger as the year is progressing, I wish he could have made this tournament to keep that confidence rising. Joe Nickels is a stud on either side of the disc and could have been another offensive substitution. Later in the year we'll have Austin, but it's unclear how much disc he's playing in Colorado. Also, we may be picking up Michael Arenson, but he hasn't been playing disc all year, and if he does join us, will he be able to blend in with us as quickly as necessary?

-Not a whole lot of hucking over the weekend, especially from the defense. There was some wind, but for the most part everything was underneath. In less windy conditions, we'll have to put up some hucks just to open up our offense. Defense was playing us almost exclusively underneath, making it hard to get the flow started, but somehow we got it done with some success.

-Dave was a workhorse this tournament. He and Mike Lun played highest number of points, but Mike was largely handling, while Dave was cutting every point he was in. Not only that, but he saved a number of possessions in the Subzero game. We wanted to talk about how close we were on a lot of plays after the game or how we let a couple of scores slip away, we should also mention how Dave saved our butts a number of times in that game. As I now remember, Lou made a couple of layout saves against Zero also.

-Josh, Wes, and Berkseth seemed to work well with each other. I felt they played the best in the GooseEgg game, repeatedly getting wide open hucks for scores when the game was tight. There wasn't a lot of extra drama with mulitple turnover points for the offense. They got on the field, got the job done, and gave the defense another shot at it. It seems like there needs to be one more cutter thrown in with these guys. Maybe Nickels, maybe BJ, maybe Jimmy, maybe Joe, maybe myself. Maybe that last spot could just be a floater spot, filled in by the most rested D guys as necessary. As said before, Barrett can sub in for or play alongside Dave.

-Stu I feel I need to apologize to for some reason. He kind of got thrown around a lot this weekend. Maybe thought he was going to be an O guy, but then Mike, Wimer, and Ross were stealing the show. I threw him into a lot of downwind D points, where we would then have to score upwind, and played him on upwind O points, but he never seemed to develop a rhythm, but I think I didn't give him much of a chance to develop a rhythm, putting him in with different players every time he went in. When Jon is thrown into the mix, maybe give one to the offense, and one of them to the defense? Or keep them both as both-way subs? We'll see.

-I still think Brian is the best downwind hucker on the team. He threw a couple of scores early on in the Madison game, plus the game winner in the GooseEgg game. My only concern about Brian is that he has a tendency to run upfield when you look to him as a dump. Two or three times over the weekend when a player turned to him for the dump he ran upfield right as the dump went backfield. I fell into a "wait for a downwinder" attitude with Brian too much and that wasn't too fair to him, because he can move it upwind too. I'll be better about it in the future. I always talk about liking playing with Jon, I really like playing with Brian too, I just don't get to do it as much.

-Brendan comes up big as the games get bigger. Every tournament I've played with him that happens. It's a good quality. Thanks B-Jar.

-Well, the VBBs are officially Beckified. Becky will be playing with us this year and showed why he deserves a spot all weekend. First guy down off the pull every time he was in, few turnovers on offense, and some good handler defense all weekend. I like having Becky around, maybe I give him too hard of a time (see: rent he owes Lou, also, The Footblock). Thanks for playing Becknasty.

-Jimmy also played very well, establishing himself as a go-to cutter for our defense. Also, he's always willing to take a hard matchup on defense. Played very big in the Subzero game.

-Rob is a guy that more than any non-CLX player on the team screams "CLX". While any of the guys would have fit in on CLX, Rob would have done so with flying colors. Like Becky, he frequently played good defense on handlers and showed a hustle that showed how much he loves playing. It doesn't matter the opponent, Rob is going to hustle, smile, and love it. And I love that.

-This is getting long. Joe is Joe. Hard cuts, hard D matchups, a true Baysh Brother.

-Matt, also a Baysh Brother. His huck in the Zero game on the first point saved us the drama of having to score. Once we got that first score, a lot of pressure was off.

-Ben continued some solid play from last weeks practice. Good cutting mixed with good defense. I wouldn't say Ben excels at anything, but he's damn good at it. I no what I'm going to get when Ben is on the field, and that makes it easy to put him out there. Big sky in the Zero game, although he says he could have jumped higher.

-Jakerz defied Conservation of Glory, getting a deep D, then throwing the huck.

-Shawn has red hair.

Well, that's everybody. Looking forward to this season. We won't play again until Cooler, with only one practice before Cooler. I'm going to have to do a lot of personal workouts, but after a tournament like this it's easy. Right now I'm excited, we did well, but there's something to be desired. Now to train to get what is desired.

Big Problem

I was thinking at work today about homosexuality, which will have it's own post very soon, and I thought about how our society is pushing everybody to be tolerant of homosexuals, which I make no stance on at this point. It got me to thinking about those people classified as "fat" and the way they are treated.

I've known a number of people throughout my life that thought fat people were disgusting, frequently making fun of them, constantly saying cruel things about them, and having a viewpoint of them that almost made them sub-human.

It got me to thinking about why that is. What follows is the best explanation I could think of.

We hate fat people because we are weak. I suppose I have to include myself in there and say "we" because although I don't necessarily dislike fat people to the extent of others, I do occassionaly see a fat person and am filled with less than sympathetic thoughts.

When our eyes fall upon a fat person, we see weakness. We see a person who is not able to keep their weight under control, whether because of bad genes, poor eating habits, poorer exercise habits, or a general lack of concern. Whatever reason the person has for being fat doesn't matter, their weakness is out there for everybody to notice. And we do notice.

Our lack of sympathy for fat people may stem from our own weaknesses. When we see fat people, we notice their weaknesses, which remind us of our own weaknesses, which in turn angers us because we don't want to be thought of as weak.

And we are all weak. Most of our weaknesses are simply not visible, or they are more readily accepted. We feel sympathy for the person who drinks too much and is addicted to alcohol, or befriend the person that spends every waking hour at the bar, yet scoff at the person who eats too much. Our society makes sex very salient, and the individual addicted to sex is seen as a "player", masturbation is a joke among guys, and pornography is accepted as adult pasttime. Those who can't control their anger may have their weakness excused as "heat of the moment", but the fat person is allowed no such moment.

Imagine if you will that your weakness was so salient. That everytime you got angry you gained a pound, that each time you looked at a person with impure thoughts you gained a pound, or that each time you drank too much you gained a pound (okay that one isn't so hard to imagine). Imagine everytime you gave into the baser urgings of the human body and mind that you gained weight. What would you look like? Would you want to see?

I guess I'm not even sure how I should feel about the fat person I see waiting for the bus. Is it sympathy? If I feel sympathy for the fat person for being weak, I should have the same sympathy for everybody else and myself. How can I learn to look a person and not see their fatness? The movie Shallow Hal comes to mind, but I didn't like that movie much.

So, I suppose, in the end I don't know what to conclude, but maybe this post wasn't about how we look at fat people, but how we should look at ourselves.

Cerberus

The three-headed dog.

At the last ultimate tournament, The Boston Invitational, I imagined myself as Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog that guarded the entrance, or most importantly, the exit from the underworld. I imagined each of the heads having their own little personality and came up with Keverus, the three-headed dog-man. Okay, skip that last sentence.

Not only do these three types show up in ultimate, or maybe it just that what is displayed in ultimate is the most emotional kind of each variety, but they are present in all aspects of life.

The first head is the head of good-times. With Lana, this is the Kevin that is talkative, tries to be funny, helps out, etc. Although I'm not always talkative or helpful, this is the way I usually feel around Lana, like there is nobody else that I'd rather be around at the moment. I'm glad she feels the same way! At work, this was the Kevin that became the center of attention, drove along the conversation, and tried to make others laugh to make the day go faster. These days were few, only about one a week. In ultimate, this is the Kevin that has boundless energy, plays well, and understands why he likes to play so much. This usually only happens at tournaments, hardley ever at practices or pickup.

The second head is the head of introspection. With Lana, this is the Kevin that just wants to be around, but not necessarily talk too much or be too involved. Just watch TV or read. This is the Kevin that usually thinks about what I've done that is good or bad and what I want to be. At work, this is how I usually am. I prefer to work alone and I like to do physical labor, it allows me to think uninhibited by other noise about whatever comes into my head. Most of my thoughts at work center around my relationship with God, my relationships with others, or ultimate. Sometimes, I think about how ashamed I am of the things that the third Kevin does. In ultimate, this is the Kevin that just isn't too involved in the game. I felt like this most of the time in Boston, just dissociated from the game, more like a spectator than a player. I didn't have a strong desire to get into the game, but I did still want the team to win, I just didn't think having me in would be the best way to accomplish that goal. This is the way I usually feel at pick-up. I recently felt this way when playing golf with Saienga and Jake. I couldn't play well, so I wanted to quit and hit some shots with a "hey, whats the point?" attitude. With Jake, Lana, Dave, and Abbey over the weekend at Saylorville Lake, I take off my shirt because of a bad sunburn, which means I couldn't go in the lake, which means I couldn't go out in the water with everybody, which made me just pull away from the situation and not really want to talk to anybody. I just went in the car, where it was much cooler I have to add, and worked on Van Buren Boys strategy.

The third head is the head of fierceness. With Lana, this is the Kevin that gets annoyed quickly and responds petulantly. This is the Kevin that doesn't want to be cheered up. In ultimate, this Kevin shows up when things are going bad. The team could even be winning, but if it is playing poorly, the win doesn't always make it better. The negative energy that works up in me sometimes makes me play better, sometimes worse, but it never helps my teammates play better. At work, this is the Kevin that wants to quit so badly that he's just waiting for somebody to piss him off so he can up and leave. He doesn't want to talk to anybody, gets annoyed when others can't do things right, and certainly wants to work alone.

Well, now that I'm done, I really don't like the fact that I've used so much third-person talk. That's kind of lame. I don't really feel into this blog anymore.