The Wandering Sloth

Pirate

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:16:19 GMT

Katie the Pirate is 18 months old today.

I love you so much, little Pirate.

Need to log this one

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:45:29 GMT

PokerStars Game #16127268627: Tournament #80995688, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (150/300) - 2008/03/20 - 21:39:11 (ET)
Table '80995688 386' 9-max Seat #9 is the button

Seat 1: moneyguy26 (19980 in chips)
Seat 2: Madouglas (4750 in chips)
Seat 3: maxmazzu73 (19770 in chips)
Seat 4: EATMYT8NT (12750 in chips)
Seat 5: nachitomanya (5645 in chips)
Seat 6: sandstorm889 (6365 in chips)
Seat 7: Dunkeykicker (31256 in chips)
Seat 9: shir33 (4825 in chips)
moneyguy26: posts the ante 25
Madouglas: posts the ante 25
maxmazzu73: posts the ante 25
EATMYT8NT: posts the ante 25
nachitomanya: posts the ante 25
sandstorm889: posts the ante 25
Dunkeykicker: posts the ante 25
shir33: posts the ante 25
moneyguy26: posts small blind 150
Madouglas: posts big blind 300

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to sandstorm889 [Jd Jh]
maxmazzu73: folds
EATMYT8NT: folds
skibum5797 is connected
nachitomanya: calls 300
sandstorm889: raises 300 to 600
Dunkeykicker: folds
shir33: folds
moneyguy26: folds
Madouglas: folds
nachitomanya: calls 300

*** FLOP *** [Qd Kd 5s]
nachitomanya: checks
sandstorm889: checks
*** TURN *** [Qd Kd 5s] [Ad]

nachitomanya: checks
sandstorm889: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qd Kd 5s Ad] [Td]

nachitomanya: bets 1500
sandstorm889: raises 1500 to 3000
nachitomanya: calls 1500

*** SHOW DOWN ***
sandstorm889: shows [Jd Jh] (a Royal Flush)
nachitomanya: mucks hand
sandstorm889 collected 7850 from pot

This is what happens when you spend Internet time playing poker

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:08:27 GMT

fUck0 posters

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:27:20 GMT

Too Sick to Sleep

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 08:06:53 GMT

Or more to the point, too sick to breathe properly in a sleeping position. Kinda difficult to deal with at 2 am. At least it's a weekend-night.

I need more snackies as well, apparently. Grah.

Pirate Update

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:02:23 GMT

Surgery was at 7:30 am, took about 15 minutes, and we were out of the hospital around 9 am.

Pirate is running around the apartment just like nothing happened. :)

Thursday

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:39:22 GMT

Katie the Pirate is having minor surgery on Thursday morning. Please keep her in your thoughts for the next few days.

Especially for davehogg

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:35:25 GMT

http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/494175.html

Poker Update

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:51:59 GMT

I haven't done much of this in a while, for various reasons. However, I've been able recently to put some time in and have some nice results. I'm on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, but for some reason have had considerably better results on PS.

I like to play the $3+R game on PS once or twice a week and all things considered have done very well in that, cashing five times since the middle of January with a high of 87th (out of 3123) on Feb 13. My stack's gone from $10 around Jan 11 to about $165 today. That's a nice jump. I'd like to keep cashing in that tourney about once a week. It's also good to know that I can make a deep run occasionally in that monster.

Today, I played a $2 tourney on FTP and won that, which got me into one of the daily double $10 tourneys. Just finished that a few minutes ago 48th out of 1598. I only wish I had more luck on FTP. :P

(Sunday edit, 10:30 pm -- last night on FTP my account held $12 before the daily double tourney. Right now, with that placement and today's work, I'm at $79. Apparently I found the level I should be playing.)

Self Reminder

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:05:17 GMT

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/489516.html

Breaking News
Posted on Thu, Feb. 14, 2008 08:17 AM
The Kansas City Star

The Police, Costello are on their way to Sprint Center

The Police are coming to Kansas City May 13.The Police announced this morning an extension of their 2007 tour and will perform Tuesday, May 13 at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, Feb. 23.

Elvis Costello and the Imposters will open.

On tour in 2007, the Police sold over 2.5 million tickets and won Major Tour of The Year (Pollstar), "Tour of the Year" and "Top Selling Tour of 2007" (Billboard Magazine).

Tickets for the North American concert dates are $50, $90 and $225.

Check in at backtorockville throughout the day for more information.

The 2008 Demotivational Calendar

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:17:01 GMT

This year, you can customize it!

http://calendar.despair.com/

Head, Meet Sidewalk

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:34:55 GMT

No concussion, but I'm home for the afternoon.

Spell everything out, $#(&(^&(^Q@*!

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:24:14 GMT

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/index.php?gmode=index&guild_id=8313

Kids Love Books

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:26:37 GMT

For those who might be looking for a list of books for elementary kids:

http://www.kclibrary.org/guides/children/index.cfm?article=read&articleID=708

Don't Keep The Baby Down

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:34:21 GMT

This is a good one:

http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/fr/

Update

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:08:25 GMT

As some of you know, Sara and I broke up a couple of weeks ago. We have some personality clashes and have been arguing off and on for several months, so it wasn't completely unexpected. We're trying to work through a framework that allows me to see Katie and help around the edges while giving me personal time back.

In a weird sense, it's like going through a divorce.

Pirates!

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:15:41 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2174503640&size=m

Green to the extreme

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:51:23 GMT

'Green funerals' feature biodegradable coffins

What if we disappeared?

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:39:12 GMT

A presentation from the Kansas City Star about how various buildings would break down in a scenario similar to "I Am Legend":

http://www.kansascity.com/static/media/KCWithoutUs_Flash/

Brief update

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:00:16 GMT

Some pictures from Sara's, Katie's and my Christmas trip to Phoenix...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katiethepirate

How well do you know your American history?

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:08:52 GMT

Brought to you by your friends at Eschwa, who ganked it from somewhere else:

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

(I scored 49/60. But then, I hated Economics too.)

The Modern Cost of the 12 Days of Christmas

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:56:17 GMT

Per the Washington Post...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121902176.html?hpid=topnews

Fun with iTunes, from an academic perspective

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:37:05 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/education/19physics.html?em&ex=1198213200&en=f1969a5703b764c9&ei=5087%0A

Especially for mckitterick

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:36:04 GMT

Jet From Supermassive Black Hole Seen Blasting Neighboring Galaxy

A New Type of Charity

sandstorm889@yahoo.com — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:00:00 GMT

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121301721.html?hpid=sec-metro

Charity Challenge: Grow a Mustache, Keep Stiff Upper Lip

By Sue Anne Pressley Montes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 14, 2007; Page B01

Four presidents wore mustaches while in office: Teddy Roosevelt, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft.

Only once did a mustachioed presidential candidate beat a clean-shaven one: in 1908, when Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan.

The last major-party candidate to wear a mustache was a Republican, Thomas Dewey, in 1948.

Brian Hennessey, 25, who works for a D.C. nonprofit group, makes a point of knowing these things. Lately, as one of 22 "growers" in the second annual Mustaches 4 Kids DC charity event, he has become a little obsessed. Friends have been receiving a daily newsletter from him, charting "the different thoughts and emotions my mustache is feeling."

"The initial growing-out is the worst part," said Hennessey, who also participated last year. "You can't say you have a mustache. You have to say you're trying to grow one, and that's just embarrassing."

In a place and time when Tom Selleck's "Magnum, P.I." look is not viewed as fashion-forward, these men are stepping boldly into a world in which mustaches evoke strong reactions. There are mustache lovers, mustache haters and those who believe that what looks dashing on one face looks dreadful on another. For weeks, people have stared at them strangely, they said. Sometimes, even their own wives and girlfriends avoided them.

"You can't be self-conscious," said Dave Tootle, 36, a mechanical engineer who also took part last year. "People say, 'Dave, every time I see you, you've got something new on your face.' "

The event, which concluded last night with a 'Stache Bash, raised $12,004 for the Kids Care Fund at Children's Hospital, which supports special programs and other needs. Last year, with 15 men competing, the total was $7,000. Growers asked friends and co-workers to pledge donations during the five-week "whisker marathon."

At the party, the participants -- some sporting faint wisps of facial hair, others with full brushes -- arrived as various mustachioed characters, including a hacienda owner, the Red Baron and Selleck in a Hawaiian shirt. Tootle, who came dressed last year as the Ben Stiller character from the movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," complete with a mullet wig, had something else in mind this year.

"I'm taking a cue from who people say I look like, and this year, it's Freddie Mercury," he said, naming the late frontman for the band Queen. He was wearing tight white jeans, a sleeveless T-shirt and a studded belt.

The local group is part of a national organization formed in 1999, and similar fundraising events are held across the country.

"The thing is, it's kitschy, it's different," said Maggie Master, a freelance writer who helped organize the D.C. chapter. "If mustaches are going to be trendy again, we may have to do 'Mohawks for Children.' "

Eric "Spanky" Means, 28, who was crowned last year's Mustache King, said the charity's humorous approach appealed to him. "I'm not big on the walkathons that take a lot of effort," joked Means, a controller with a real estate company.

This year's Mustache King was Caldwell Bailey, 24, of the District.

For some, the early days of growing a mustache were a struggle.

Chris Hale, 28, a Spanish instructor at Georgetown University, said he got snickers from students during the most awkward phase of his mustache growth.

"They had a hard time taking me seriously," he said. "But at this point, it's clear I'm doing it on purpose -- it's not like I forgot to shave."

Hale said his role model has been his father. "Until he shaved it off a few years ago, my dad had a formidable mustache," Hale said.

Hale's father, a social studies teacher in Maine, has been showing his seventh-graders competing photos each week of Hale and his brother, Charlie, who lives in San Francisco and is participating in that city's event. The students have given Chris high marks. His girlfriend is another story.

"She's extremely not excited about my mustache," he said. "She just says, 'When are you going to get rid of that terrible thing on your lip?' "

Some of the growers anticipated the questions. They wore buttons that read, "Ask Me About My Mustache," but Hennessey said that didn't really work for him.

"People didn't often get close enough to read it," he said. "I guess I'm just a bristly character." Still, unlike the others, he won't be reaching for the razor -- not so fast, anyway.

"I'm going to keep it around for the holidays and bother my family," he said. "For the family pictures and all."