I guess I should mention... I did buy a tennis racquet a couple of weeks ago. I haven't used it yet, which means I bought it too early. I started taking guitar lessons. After two lessons, I've finally started believing that I really WILL be able to play the guitar. I WILL be able to play clear chords. And I WILL be able to rock out someday. I met the guy who's giving me lessons through someone I met through my blog. Fancy that. I never thought my blogging would have tangible benefits.

I'm still taking hula. We just started doing hand movements along with our feet and hip movements. I don't practice during the week when I'm not at class, but I should. I need to get better at the hip swaying. A shocker... I care less about becoming thinner now. Also shocking is the fact that my face has been nearly zit-free for months. My face hasn't been this clear since around 7th grade or so. I'd like to thank my dermatologist and Tretinoin cream. What's happened here could not have done without you two...

My Burberry sunglasses finally arrived a week ago. I returned the expensive Charles David shoes I bought on Zappos.com, and bought a similar pair for only $40 at BCBG. Me and my TT partner lost the finals. (Not that you care to know, but I feel the need to close the loop regarding these things since I mentioned them in a previous post.)

I've come to terms with living with poker. It's not going to go away any time soon, but it's not cancer. And in the grand scheme of things, hanging out with my poker friends is worth more than the amount of money I lose to my them in poker. Earlier this month, I even tried to get my poker friends interested in going on a poker cruise in December, but not enough people can/want to do it this time.

The cruise I went on with my family to Baja California in July was pleasant. It was better than last year's cruise to Alaska, mainly because we are all in a better space this year. I'll leave it at that, without further explanation. There were many more young people on this year's cruise... many teenage bodies to ogle. I felt like a dirty ol' man. Speaking of which... in an open air market in Ensenada, I got pressured by an ol' Mexican dude into buying what is likely a fake-silver ring that is about five sizes too big for Babe's finger. I knew I was getting gypped, but I was so anxious to get out of that shop without further pressure and bargaining that I accepted his final offer, threw him my money and escaped. But not before he planted his rough ol' lips on my cheek. A kiss as a thank you gesture, I hope, but doubt, is commonly practiced in those parts. Instead of considering what happened there as an 'I got bamboozled' experience, I am considering it as a good deed done for that day. I donated to the less fortunate. And that's already more than I feel like saying about the cruise.

I've gone over a quota for blogging for today. TTYL