Unofficial Professional Chess Player and Wet Cats

As I sip my Merlot in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace, I smile. Content in the fact that my victory over Matty Ebs will soon take place, and Jordan will swiftly replenish my dwindling poker bankroll over on Full Tilt. Yes friends, I will soon be able to call myself a professional chess player. I have yet to see a dime from my coaching gig, and the money I make from winning the first annual blogger chess tournament is more than I've made from any form of employment over the past month, thus it is now my profession.

The fact that I can't beat half of my friends at chess doesn't phase me. I'll be a professional, and they aren't, so nyah nyah! Andrew may be a professional drinker after his trip to Ireland, if he bets the right Irishman, but the Irish are supposedly strong drinkers and might require a handicap due to Andrew's size. If my friend accepts any sort of handicap, he is sure to lose, and will continue to hold the title of: Unemployed!

Today was quite the dreary day. I love dreary days in Seattle. It makes me wonder what Ichi does differently on a rainy day versus a dry day. He hasn't seen much rain since Portland, and he keeps meowing intently at me, commanding me to shut off the rain valve. I think Ichi probably sleeps more and 'cats around' less when it rains, much like the rest of us.

Another thing I've always wondered about cats is when it rains, their fur is wet to the touch, but are the cats themselves wet? Does the moisture get down to their skin, or does magic cat saliva act as Scotchguard for their fur? I guess it doesn't really matter, because I pet him as soon as he gets inside and press all the water from his fur into his skin anyways, hah! He hates that.

Hats, Hops and Hucks

Man, for only getting to play one point, due to the torn ligament in my ankle--I sure had a blast this weekend. Maybe too much of a blast at some points--especially during my fabulous dry-heaving Sunday morning. The tournament was as-advertised, and most everyone there was just a blast to be around. I took TONS of pictures, because I wasn't playing. I'll probably make a post tomorrow or the next day with a few of the better pictures. About half-way through taking pictures, I just decided to start snapping as many photos of smiling faces as I could--because there were a lot of smiling faces, and it was a great thing to see.

The team I ended up tagging along with went 0-5 on the weekend, but it was one of the most fun teams I've ever been a part of. We heckled other teams for a good six hours on Sunday, and we took numerous team-trips down to the creek to cool off. Mo, the tournament director, runs a great tournament, and after 15 years of holding this tournament, he's got it nearly down-pat. Lots of good food, too much beer to drink, and great fields to play on--I'm not sure what more to ask in a frisbee tournament.

My downfall came Saturday night, when I drank about 10 beers on a fairly empty stomach. I didn't even sip water that night, and on Sunday I was feeling it. I laid around in a near coma until about 1pm. I remember diving into the tent the night before, but I don't remember doing any of the elbowing or steam-rolling that my two lady-friends in the tent accused me of. I do remember tackling a few other people, but hey, that is just me when I get drunk and challenged to tackle somebody!

But yes, besides the not-remembering things part, and the dry-heaving on Sunday morning--I had an absolute blast. And hopefully some of the pictures will show what a blast other people were having :)

In other news, Julias_Goat is a bitch, and made me force-forfeit my chess game in the chess-tourney we're having. I'm pretty sure I was winning, and we're playing this tourney for money, so way to go, D-bag. We have two days to make a move, which I planned on making at Anne's place--but couldn't hook up with her because the internet was down at work on Friday and I couldn't get Anne's cell number from a friend in Seattle, because he was attending a wedding in Spokane.

Everyone else in the tournament sent me a reminder (which gives me another two days to move). To all of those people--thanks a million, I really appreciate that you didn't take the easy way out and make me forfeit, due to matters out of my control.

Also, Pirates v. Ninjas Part Three is up, over at MHG-RPG. I'm thinking about making Part 4 the finale, so if you have any crazy schemes when the pirates and ninjas meet, the time to comment is upon you--you have one week.

Who needs a Title? Not me!

Only got a trace of snow last night. I figured we'd get a few inches, the way it was dumping yesterday, but I'm not complaining. We're supposed to get an inch or two tonight, so hopefully all the patients cancel their appointments at the clinic on Friday! Weeks just breeze by when you're only working part-time. I'm tempted to get another job, but I sort of feel like flexibility at my current job is important (and I have no clue how long Pam will stick around)--and as long as I break-even in Tahoe money-wise, I should be fine for the move back to Seattle. Yet another reason not to get a motorcycle, bah.

Ended up winning the chess game against Tyler late last night, but he put up a much tougher fight than I envisioned. He's got some skills, and I'm probably feeling a bit like my Dad was a decade ago. Tyler's going to beat me eventually, but I'm going to hold on for as long as I can before I let that happen :)

In other chess news, Jordan hasn't made his first move yet. Lots to ponder on that first move, I know, but you can probably make a mistake on this one move, and still come back to beat me, buddy! OK OK, he's got a lot of work going on, but he deserves a bit of ribbing.

Played in a couple more poker blogger tournies last night, including The Mookie and The Dookie! Guess which one I did better in? Right! Love that Green Day album! The Mookie had 74 runners, and I finished 62nd. I was greedy and got burned, not much else to say there! However, I did outlast Jordan by one slot, which we should probably factor into our chess game by him losing a pawn or something fair like that. In The Dookie, I got a little lucky and ended up finishing 3rd out of about... 14? I cashed, which was nice, but it was probably only for $10 or something--I think that win covered my entry fees for the night. Didn't I mention I'm a break-even poker player somewhere?

Basketball was fun today, got out of work a little late--which made me right on time for bball! I ended up playing from just before noon to about 2:30pm. We had a pretty good squad. We were all in our 20's, could run, could shoot and could play defense. It was a nice change from a few of the teams I've been on lately :) I caught fire to start the afternoon, and was 5 of 6 from 3-point range. This got some attention, and I wasn't able to get the open looks for long. The only games we lost were on the 'winner's' court, so we played pretty much non-stop for 2 1/2 hours. I'm pooped!

Survivor tonight. Such a tool, but so addicted I can't help myself. Alex is supposed to be a ninja this episode, refraining from all contact with the tribe. I can't really see this being entertaining television, but maybe the producers will toss him a katana and a black ninja outfit. I'm not holding my breath.

I'm in a creative writing mood, and for some reason James Bond in Siberia popped into my head in the shower. Dare I try to create a James Bond scene out of my imagination?

Chess on a day off

So, I've got the day off today. It feels so much more natural not waking up to an alarm clock.

I hopped in the shower, wondering what I'd be doing for the day, and my mind somehow jumped to wondering if Tyler would want to play some play-by-email chess. He's got unfettered internet access (for the most part) at his work, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Tyler is the strategy game master. Starcraft, Advance Wars, Connect Four--you name it, and he'll eventually just decimate you at the game. He never really got into chess, but we played a few different play-by-email games in the past. I hopped on gchat after showering and it turns out Tyler is already a member to a play-by-email chess site: Chesshere.com. It doesn't look like he's actually played a game yet, but I was still impressed. We're in the middle of a game now. I've got about a decade of experience on him at chess, and I think that might win me one game before he starts punishing me.

I'm accepting all challengers, so if you want to get a game going, my name on there is meanhappyguy. It can just be for fun, or we can make a bet. If you are a blogger and would like to play a game of chess, might I suggest loser has to draw a Paint picture of the game in the winner's honor, the post it on their blog for the world to see? Also, drink bets are always live (unless you beat me a few times in a row).