4000 Days of Writing

Day - 920

Saturday, June 19, 2021

We went for breakfast early in the morning, then checked to see if Target had a bathing suit for Alice. She found something that would work.

We explored downtown while the rest of the gang arrived. Back at the hotel, we hung out with Ari, Connor, and yesterday's crew while eating sandwiches, chips, and cowboy cookies. No diet this weekend!

We had our informal graduation celebration in the Madonna Inn rose garden at 6. I was emcee and delivered a short, punchy, rousing speech to the new graduates. It was fun!

Alice before graduation ceremony

Madonna Inn Emcee

Recent Covid Graduates

The Dean of Deep in the Pocket Presenting Diplomas

Presentation of Diplomas

Dean Deep in the Pocket and Connor jamming

Miles, Sophie, Eric, Chellan, Trey

Outside our compound

The after-party

Up till midnight

Playing games

More partying

Day - 921

Friday, June 18, 2021

It's our first official Juneteenth and we're off to the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. We left SF around 10 and stopped for lunch along the way. Lunch was about 15 minutes from the freeway. We should have passed San Jose because after lunch the traffic got heavy and we were suddenly in sit-and-go traffic.

Eventually, we made it to the hotel, about 4 hours from SF. This is an old, funky, iconic California hotel with each room different and representing a unique theme. We had the Austrian Suite, which would serve as the party room for the weekend.

We met Richard, Lisa, Miles, Sophie, Sydney, and Maddy at a wonderful outdoor restaurant downtown. Delicious food and great company. After dinner, we hung out at the hot tub near the swimming pool. So nice. Looking forward to everyone being here tomorrow.

Austrian Suite at Madonna Inn

Inside Richard & Lisa's room

Sweet Alice

Walking to the pool

In front of our wing at the Madonna Inn

Dinner with Maddy, Sophie, Syndey, Lisa

Miles and Maddy

Richard and Lisa

Day - 922

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Preparing for our weekend in San Luis Obispo and the Madonna Inn. Made two batches of cowboy cookies for the occasion.

Day - 923

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Up at 5:45 for my 6 a.m. meeting with my fellow racquetballers. Still a little sleepy. I listened to a few poker podcasts while at work and went to the Oaks Card Club today for the first time since Covid. The plexiglass is up and everyone was wearing masks. I lost $167 today, hitting next to nothing. I only played with $100 behind. It will take a while to get used to sitting at the table again. Once I'm comfortable, I'll play with more money behind. My trip with Thom to Las Vegas is two weeks and three days away.

Day - 924

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Super busy at work and lacked energy for much else. Went to bed early.

Day - 925

Monday, June 14, 2021

Flying back home today. Actually worked for a few hours at SeaTac, then continued working later in the afternoon. What a great trip!

Day - 926

Sunday, June 13, 2021

It's not a Pacific Northwest trip without a full day of rain.

Rain equals games and good talks!

Day - 927

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Before leaving for Seattle, Kevin and I went to Neal's where his mom celebrated her 90th birthday! Kevin and I had a great walk along the Bay before the party.

After the birthday party, we hung out at Susan and Jay's, played a few hands of bridge...

....then made our way to Neal and Karin's in Redmond.

Day - 928

Friday, June 11, 2021

Had lunch with Dad and Sue, and dinner with Kevin and his mom. So much cribbage in 24 hours. Heaven!

Day - 929

Thursday, June 10, 2021

From Snohomish, I drove up to Bellingham, had lunch with Steve and Nancy, then met up with Kevin, Katherine and Tom at Tony's Coffee.

Day - 930

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Flew into SeaTac early in the morning. Picked up the rental car and spent a glorious day in Snohomish with Nicole and her family. So much fun. What a special day!

Day - 931

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Spent the day packing up for my trip tomorrow, making cowboy cookies for Nicole and her family and Kevin and his mom. Maybe we can make butter tarts for Neal and Karin. Packed light and got a new book to read.

Day - 932

Monday, June 7, 2021

Dead quiet at work today. I gave a presentation at our Monday admin meeting for an Open House in the fall, showcasing to friends and family what we've been doing this past year. Could be fun.

Day - 933

Sunday, June 6, 2021

A day of rest and relaxation. We made hamburgers and air fryer french fries for dinner. So good. Breezy again today. Just hung out in the back yard and continued reading my poker book and watching videos. So much to take in in this game.

Ideas stirring for a middle grade story of a kid who loves a girl who happens to be a poker phenom. Kid's dad is a poker coach and tournament master. So much overlap and life lessons in this simple card game. Poker has evolved much like life has evolved. It's more complicated, difficult, challenging, but also endlessly fun and interesting.

Day - 934

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Spent the day taking care of the Wu list, including buying a new humidifier at Home Depot, picking up a new outdoor umbrella at Home Depot, checking out propane tanks at Home Depot. It was windy today so no biking. Instead, read my Modern Poker Theory book. It's like reading a dense math text in school.

Day - 935

Friday, June 4, 2021

Let the weekend begin! We started the evening with an Eerie St. Theater horror film at Richard and Lisa's...Deathgasm. Super silly and hilarious horror flick from New Zealand. Definitely inspired by Peter Jackson. Hadn't seen one of these in a while.

Day - 936

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Quiet at work today, allowing me time to watch a few hold'em training videos. Learning how the pros handle C-bet decisions post-flop has been helpful. That's where I sometimes struggle. I'm identifying consistenly tricky spots to practice so that when I'm actually playing I know what to do. Because there are so many different situations that come up, it's impossible to know all spots, but having a general idea of the decisions I should make give the texture of the flop, opponent tendencies, my holding, etc. should be enough to navigate the tricky spots that will come my way.

Day - 937

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Wednesday morning meeting at 6 a.m. It was good. Lee was in Hawaii so we did not see him. Dorian arrived late but joined in the conversation without missing a beat. Tulsa has loomed large this week. The tinder box Greenwood was under suggests the outcome was inevitable. The KKK was on the rise in the 1920s. The messaging of so many generations allowed the masacre to happen. America doesn't do a good job of addressing that and the continued messaging that allows white supremacy to endure. That's what's tough about this topic. Many white people don't see white supremacy as a real thing, and yet, we go about our lives in full benefit of this fraudulent system.

Day - 938

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Alice came over to Oakland today and we went over to the Youngs for Lisa's birthday. Rossana cooked a few yummy dishes for Lisa, including a wonderful chicken dish that used a tangy, yummy marinade. We hung out in the back yard sipping mojitos. A wonderful evening!

Day - 939

Monday, May 31, 2021

Very relaxing Memorial Day. I played bridge with Alice's bridge group from 1-4. That was fun. I wish I had more time to study bridge. It's so complicated and so much of my time has been taken over with poker.

Day - 940

Sunday, May 30, 2021

We hosted a lunch for Jay and Cecilia today. I make cowboy cookies in the morning and we put the back yard together. We had poke bowls with hamachi, chicken katsu, cauliflower from the air fryer, pork belly cooked on the Korean BBQ, and cheese cake and cookies for dessert. I made them lattes. It was a wonderful visit!

I received a wonderful handmade pen and pencil set from Auntie Karen this weekend. So nice! Made of two different kinds of wood. I'm hoping to fly to Calgary in August to attend Connie's wedding. We'll see if Canada is open by then!

Day - 941

Saturday, May 29, 2021

We drove tp Redwood City and spent the afternoon at Patrick and Soren's house. They made a delicious lunch for us that included these flat onion pancakes that were so tasty. It was a bit windy but warm enough. Patrick and I played four games of cribbage. All good.

We came back home around 6 and didn't have dinner we were still so full. I spent the rest of the day reading.

Day - 942

Friday, May 28, 2021

A year after George Floyd and 100 years after Tulsa, we're still grappling with race in America. At work, I witnessed a fairly quick complacency about race, a strategy that leaned into "let's not talk about it." The anti-racist drum beat is loud this year. Here's a clip from Tucker Carlson, firebombing White Fragility and using every white male trope to dimish Robin DiAngelo's message:

Tucker is an interesting white guy. He comes across as the earnest anti-smug crucader for the little guy, but really he's just a disengenuous bully. He is so offended by White Fragility that he resorts to namecalling and insults while completing missing the major points of the book, that racism is not good/bad, but pervasive and all white people enjoy the unspoken privileges of their elevated caste based solely on skin tone. The denial here is something, but it exists throughout the country. It's what makes talking about race with white people so difficult. White Fragility is not a perfect book, but it captures certain truths about race in America that I haven't seen in any other book. Whenever a white person gets defensive about race, a red flag should go off. Tucker is a classic example, the guy who espouses replacement theory ideas on his vapid, insufferable show.

Day - 943

Thursday, May 27, 2021

More energy today. I'll play at the Oaks next week. Reading Harrington now.

Good compliment to preflop charts and hand holdings.

Great to see Phil Mickelson win yesterday at 50.