The Right Side of Life

kris720: Tebow, UF vs FSU 2008 Explain to me again how he lost...

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:29:13 -0500

kris720:

Tebow, UF vs FSU 2008

Explain to me again how he lost the Heisman?

After historic win, Obama looks to future

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:02:15 -0500

After historic win, Obama looks to future:

A recent purchase

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:35:57 -0400

So, I just got one of these on eBay:

And a copy of this, also:

Here’s to productivity going down the drain!

Coincidence?

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:12:00 -0400

Is it just me, or does John McCain remind you of a certain villain from the Batman movies?

Sex, drugs, gifts uncovered in government oil probe

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:33:49 -0400

Sex, drugs, gifts uncovered in government oil probe:

It’s nice to see our government acting responsibly in these times of economic woe, energy crisis, and deadly war overseas.

The Rebirth of Hope

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:04:00 -0400

Remember LiveJournal? It’s still around of course, but my fellow Generation Y-ers who used LJ have since moved on to Blogger, Tumblr, Wordpress, their own Web sites, or any number of other options for blogging. To say we’d outgrown the capabilities of the LiveJournal platform would put it simply.

But I didn’t quite grasp the profundity of that idea until the other night. Late into the night and on into the earliest reaches of daylight, I read all of my old LiveJournal posts, dating back to early 2004. And suffice it to say, I’m not the person I used to be. But that’s putting it mildly. Not only am I not the same person, I’m not a shred of that old person. But even that doesn’t really do it justice.

I’m so far removed from the person who wrote those posts, I can barely remember what it felt like to be that person. In good literature, it’s fairly easy to not only get inside the author but also get inside his or her characters. You can feel with them, cry with them, laugh with them. I found it difficult to really empathize with the character I had described, but the funny thing is, I was writing about myself.

Hope, sensitivity, naivety, tasteful discretion — they all bounced off the pages with the effortless energy only a kid could contrive. Despite the somber and saddening nature of most of my old posts, I found myself laughing at them more often than anything else. How young I was, how immature.

But aside from the emotional infancy displayed in the posts, I also saw the tenacity, vigor and determination that shaped my entire life up to that point and has since fallen from its apex in 2004. I was cocky and confident, not worried about early academic difficulties in college, because frankly, I knew I would succeed. I had nothing to worry about. It was me; I simply did not fail. I had it all planned out — a degree in Finance with a close-to-perfect GPA which would then vault me into any MBA/JD program of my choice. I had my sights set on UPenn, Harvard and any of the other top universities.

I had made the rookie mistake of becoming content with myself, and I had reached a plateau. After succeeding for so long, I had come to expect perfection, even when I didn’t put forth a perfect effort. I had, quite simply, made myself a synonym for perfection and excellence.

Needless to say, life got in the way. Plans changed, I was beaten down, humanized, and forced to see life for what it really was — a challenge, a journey, and a quest to better yourself. And it was at that point, in mid-2005, when I realized that in order to succeed in this new battleground, I had to change my combat tactics. The old methods would no longer work. And I resolved to change, for the better.

And as I continued to read my posts, and as the tone began to shift from hopeful determination to absolute despair and depression, I began to remember. I began to empathize with the old me, the me who had written so eloquently about so much pain, the me who never ever lost hope, the me who really thought he was reaching his breaking point, the me who nearly lost sight of his hopes and dreams, the me who finally found the strength to persevere, to grow, to develop, the me who made a beast out of himself to get rid of the pain of being a man.

It was close to that time that I stopped writing in the LiveJournal, and despite my growth, despite my Phoenix-like ascendancy from the proverbial ashes, despair was still right around the corner, ready to take me down again. The very last sentence I ever wrote in my LiveJournal was this:

“I’m so, so frustrated.”

It was over something trivial, but at the time, the weight of the world was still crushing down on my shoulders, and a baby’s breath could have taken me down. That was on April 7, 2007. At that point, I felt like I had nothing left to say.

But my Rebirth of Hope came soon, and almost a moment too late. It’s been more than a year now, and I’m going strong. I’ve left a lot of my past in the dust, and I’ll reflect on it, but it feels like an eternity ago, and I’ve since been reborn. I have my drive, I have my determination, I have my goals, but more importantly, I have myself back. I have all the tools to do everything I’ve always wanted. My rebirth has come, my hope is here, the future is near. And it’s looking brighter every day.

Amazon Prime is awesome...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:56:32 -0400

…because it will bring me this faster.

I just discovered it on iTunes, and go figure, it was less expensive on Amazon. Plus, I get the CD’s album art, too. Sweetness.

I love John Mayer’s live performances, but I think he’s about due for a new studio album, too. Come on John, woo us once more.

An Homage to the Greatest Generation

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:25:12 -0400

Tonight at dinner, I asked my grandma to tell me a story. My grandma just turned 86 years old and is a recovering stroke victim from a stroke about 10 years ago.

She replied, “I can’t think of any.” This is the same person who would regale me with endless stories of her life during World War II, her childhood, her art career, and so on. A little discouraged, I tried to coax her into thinking of one, knowing that her memory and mind aren’t what they used to be.

“What about the one about how you were at the football game with Papa Joe when they made the announcement about Pearl Harbor,” I said, hoping to remind her of one of her most infamous stories, which I’ve heard dozens of times but wanted to hear again nonetheless.

To my surprise, she said, “I can’t remember.”

I was shocked, but not only that. I was sad. This is THE story she told me. I wish I could remember the teams that were playing, but long story short, she and my grandfather were at an NFL game when an announcement came over the loudspeaker that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor.

Gradually, I kept pushing her to remember stories. Not the football one — that one has been lost forever, I’m afraid. But others slowly but surely came back into focus for her. She remembered the one about the Arizona Army base she and my grandfather were stationed at while he was training troops. How the camp doubled as a German POW camp. How it was so barren, and so desolate in Arizona at that time, the POWs would rather stay in the camp on their own accord than try to escape because exposure to the Arizona desert, with no civilization for hundreds of miles, meant certain death.

She remembered how the soldiers my grandfather was training would beg her to paint their portraits so they could send them to their mothers. How they would push and shove each other to be next in line.

She remembered her career as a commercial artist, and the time someone in the city wanted a painting from her so badly, he bought all the supplies for her to use, including the paint and a piece of stretched canvas so big, it had to be delivered to her home studio on the back of a truck.

We talked for a while, she remembered stories, she laughed, she smiled, and I told her I was going to make her tell me a new story every day. She said, “That’s a great idea.”

Why do the elderly forget things? Why do they lose track of what they were passionate about?

I think it’s because no one asks them to remember. Well, I’m going to start asking both of my remaining grandmothers. I’ve heard millions of stories from each of them, but now is the time to listen.

America’s Greatest Generation is lonely, and we are losing them now more quickly than before. If you’re able to, talk to your grandparents. Ask them a question. Ask them to tell you a story, even if you’ve heard it all before. Hear it while you still can, because one day, there will be no more stories to listen to.

Hard times force parents to send eldest son to orphanage

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:31:00 -0400

Hard times force parents to send eldest son to orphanage:

This is one of the saddest stories I’ve read and watched in years. Maybe I’m naive, and maybe I’m just being triggered by the inherent sadness of this story, but why can’t these kinds of people be helped?

It’s ironic. Today on VH1, there was a show about the top-20 most ridiculous celebrity “extravagances.” Among the atrocities on the list: Bono paying thousands of dollars to have a favorite hat flown across a continent; a 500 sq. ft. doghouse, complete with tile floors and other luxurious amenities, that was more than $15,000; and the burning of almost $2 million in cash by a 1980s European band.

The world’s rich can do these things, and the world’s poor have to give up their children to orphanages because they can’t afford to feed them. It makes me absolutely fucking sick.

Japan fights fat -- Japan is taking fighting obesity to the extreme

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:19:35 -0400

Japan fights fat -- Japan is taking fighting obesity to the extreme:

Good or bad idea? Do people have a right to be “overweight,” or is it acceptable for companies to be fined for having employees with waist sizes larger than a predetermined circumference?

People are made up of millions of variables, any one of which could drastically affect a person’s size. Is it really fair to fine someone until they are “thin enough” if their genetic disposition almost mandates a larger-than-average body type? Absolutely not.

I’d love to see Overweight America’s reaction if they ever tried this in the U.S.

Watch this now

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:06:57 -0400

I just watched this documentary, No End In Sight, about the American occupation of Iraq. It’s poignant, yet infuriating; an exposé, and a call to arms.

http://www.noendinsightmovie.com

Rent it and watch it. Now.

Deseret News - Video - Starting over: Things we lost in the fire

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:20:35 -0400

Deseret News - Video - Starting over: Things we lost in the fire:

An amazing piece of journalism by Tim Hussin, a guy I went to school with, about the loss of a family’s home to a fire and the beginning of the recovery process from it.

Tumblr-ing

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:54:46 -0400

Tumblr-ing

Did you hear that, Blogosphere?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:25:25 -0400

I’m now keeping two blogs. This one, Mr. Tumblr himself, will be utilized for the exact reason the Tumblr creators made this software: to share the more-interesting side of life. If I take any interesting photos, read a wacky news story, find awesome anti-GOP video footage, have a sensual chat with a friend, or hear a scandalous quote, you can expect to find it here.

However, for you left-brainers out there, head over to my Blogger, Amusing Musings, to hear my serious commentary and the details of my quest to get into a great law school.

Let’s see how this goes.

Comments?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:24:07 -0400

I think I just enabled Disqus comments on my Tumblr? Let’s see…

I have a question...

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:46:12 -0400

Can someone explain to me why so many Clinton supporters are vowing to now vote for McCain instead of Obama? What happened to party unity?

"I mean, really, if you can’t check-raise your mother, what kind of player are you anyway?"

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:30:47 -0400

“I mean, really, if you can’t check-raise your mother, what kind of player are you anyway?”

- Daniel Negreanu in Hold’em Wisdom For All Players.

Obsessed

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:56:05 -0400

Gimme Shelter — The Rolling Stones

Since they started running the commercials for The Discovery Channel’s “The NASA Missions: When We Left Earth,” I’ve wanted to listen to Gimme Shelter over, and over, and over. And I have. Then I had to buy the entire Let It Bleed album on iTunes, and I haven’t been disappointed. Who knew I was a Rolling Stones fan?

Poker Success

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:26:37 -0400

After a disastrous few weeks at the online poker tables, I finally ended my slump. I got 8th place in a tournament that started with more than 1,100 people. Not too shabby. Made about 22 times my buy-in, so I’d say it’s a nice pay day. It almost got me back to where I was before my losing streak.

Now, if I could just improve my final table play, I’d be much better off. This time around, I don’t think I got outplayed or played badly, per se. I just got unlucky.

I had AA preflop, and reraised a guy who had put out 3X the Big Blind pretty significantly. Turns out he had 66. Well, the flop was QQ6, and I was almost drawing dead from the beginning. I kept betting, and he just kept calling it down. I checked the river, he went all-in, I called, and my tournament was over.

Now, poker experts would debate my play here. Some would say I could have raised much more preflop to try to get him to fold his pocket 6s, but at a final table, when he was second or third in chips, he was calling no matter what. So, I played the hand preflop correctly.

At the flop, however, is where the debate would come in. Should I have kept betting when he was just calling everything? Should I have anticipated him having a Queen and slowed down? The thing here is, even had I checked, and if he had bet, there’s almost no doubt in my mind that I would have called it down. I don’t think I could have gotten away from those Aces.

Oh well. As they say, that’s poker.

Here’s the hand history for further inspection. I’m “joeysun.”

PokerStars Game #17882601379: Tournament #90360715, $2.00+$0.20 Hold’em No Limit - Level XX (3500/7000) - 2008/06/03 - 05:17:45 (ET)
Table ‘90360715 13’ 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: kwjammer (149179 in chips)
Seat 2: maggi930 (63845 in chips)
Seat 3: JJ Half Dome (251391 in chips)
Seat 4: Crash469 (77694 in chips)
Seat 5: ezboys (459881 in chips)
Seat 6: joeysun (260652 in chips)
Seat 7: snickers57 (359600 in chips)
Seat 9: Erick7413 (29258 in chips)
kwjammer: posts the ante 700
maggi930: posts the ante 700
JJ Half Dome: posts the ante 700
Crash469: posts the ante 700
ezboys: posts the ante 700
joeysun: posts the ante 700
snickers57: posts the ante 700
Erick7413: posts the ante 700
ezboys: posts small blind 3500
joeysun: posts big blind 7000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to joeysun [Ah As]
snickers57: raises 14000 to 21000
Erick7413: folds
kwjammer: folds
maggi930: folds
JJ Half Dome: folds
Crash469: folds
ezboys: folds
joeysun: raises 28000 to 49000
snickers57: calls 28000
*** FLOP *** [Qs Qc 6c]
joeysun: bets 21000
snickers57: calls 21000
*** TURN *** [Qs Qc 6c] [9h]
joeysun: bets 14000
snickers57: calls 14000
*** RIVER *** [Qs Qc 6c 9h] [8s]
joeysun: bets 28000
snickers57: raises 154000 to 182000
joeysun: calls 147952 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (6048) returned to snickers57
*** SHOW DOWN ***
snickers57: shows [6d 6h] (a full house, Sixes full of Queens)
joeysun: shows [Ah As] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
JJ Half Dome said, “wow”
snickers57 collected 529004 from pot
JJ Half Dome said, “gg”
kwjammer said, “vnh”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 529004 | Rake 0
Board [Qs Qc 6c 9h 8s]
Seat 1: kwjammer folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: maggi930 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: JJ Half Dome folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: Crash469 (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: ezboys (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: joeysun (big blind) showed [Ah As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 7: snickers57 showed [6d 6h] and won (529004) with a full house, Sixes full of Queens
Seat 9: Erick7413 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

Seeing if this works from my phone!

Sat, 31 May 2008 20:39:31 -0400

Seeing if this works from my phone!