is this the real life? is this just fantasy?

so much to report! first an update on the casino trip...i won almost exactly the amount i had to spend to fix my car. it's like God wants me to gamble or something, right? the bad news (or good news, depending on your point of view) is that i seem to have lost my love for the game. it doesn't hold the same allure it once did. could i have mastered the game and it no longer challenges me? has it gained too much exposure and now conflicts with my indie nature? do the people at the tables smell too foul? any of the above could be true, but it boils down to me being ok with playing a lot less poker once i leave texas.

thanksgiving was incredible...both of them. and the second one was followed by "black friday." i don't understand this term. we, as americans, should celebrate this day as a bastion of capitalism. i was at office depot at six in the morning to pick up a digital camera...the digital camera that took this picture:


that, of course, is my roommate, who hilariously took this picture:


laying with me is, of course, maddy, who also appears in this picture:


holding maddy in that picture is, of course, #2, who also appears in this picture:



next to #2 is, of course, her boyfriend--me. that's right, i of all people now have a girlfriend! many of you anticipated this coupling, and i applaude you. and i applaude myself for at long last figuring out what a great girl she is and convincing her to go out with me. as she is an avid reader of this blog, i'll omit most of the details, but know that i'm so happy and want this to last a really long time. though i have the feeling "#2" will not last as her pseudonym in this space or as her pet name in real life....

friday random 10: sittin next to vanna white....

hey kids! after a brief hiatus, the random 10 has returned. this is an action-packed weekend! in mere seconds i'm headed to shreveport to get my last poker fix for a long while, tomorrow is our annual thanksgiving potluck, and sunday i'm going to get some, like, culture and see a play. i'm very excited....

1. "Halfway Home" - Jason Mraz
2. "Carry You" - Dispatch
3. "Slow Jamz" - Kanye West, Twista & Jamie Foxx
4. "Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House
5. "All The Way Up To Heaven" - Guster
6. "I Don't Wanna Be (live)" - Gavin DeGraw
7. "Rough And Tumble" - Tribe America
8. "String Quartet No 2 - Nocturne - Borodin" - Various Artists
9. "How to Be Dead" - Snow Patrol
10. "Sweetly Fly" - Huckleberry

hmmm...this is a tricky one. one may well refer to the location where i get a speeding ticket as i tend to on gambling trips. three could (hopefully?) refer to tonight when i share a hotel room with #2. scandalous! i'm sure i'll be thinking of four during dinner tomorrow night when my closest friends are gathered together for one of my favorite college events. six and nine most likely refer to the poker tonight...as in "i don't wanna be" going home broke...again, nor do i want that feeling to teach me "how to be dead." ten and five certainly refer to the way i feel at the thanksgiving dinner and its two fried turkeys, homemade macaroni and cheese, cornbread, dirt, and sparkling grape juice. mmm...thanksgiving....

what would you say if i told you that i won't be by today? would you say that i'm just a bus driver?

i tell ya, nothing can drive a man to blogging like anger. today i had to teach, so i took the trolley as i normally do. now, the driver of this particular trolley route and i have a touch of history. it's certainly nothing torrid as you readers might hope, just one filled with the peccadillos that make me think someone hates me, as i tend to do. in this case though, it seems i might have been right.

so today i was approaching the trolley stop when i see the trolley pull up. as it starts to leave, i'm still about thirty feet from the actual stop, so i move toward the middle of the street with my right hand raised, indicating my desire to board the trolley. instead of pulling over the trolley he'd been accelerating for a total of about three seconds and opening the door, he accelerated more, steered the trolley around me, looked me in the eyes, waved his finger, shook his head, and mouthed "NO!" i stood in the street dumbfounded. i looked at other passersby for explanation. they offered none, for there was none.

the trolley driver literally went out of his way to be mean to me. is being fifteen seconds late to a trolley--that is on a loose schedule at best--such a horrible offense? have the monsters instilled in him a cynicism that surpasses even my own? i returned to the safety of the sidewalk and watched as the trolley turned the corner. i'm not one to anger so easily, but my face warmed with the flames of anger despite the whipping winds. what do i say to this person the next time i need a ride to campus? "hi!"? "thanks for the ride!"? "please sir, may i enter this trolley if it fancies you?"? maybe i should just stay home....