life is poker?

I've been watching poker and also playing this online facebook poker for a few weeks now and I'm just going to say a few things I'm learning about this game.
    
#1 - it's a game.  On the television set I keep hearing poker "pro's" talk about their "sport" and poker is a sport like Elvis was a blackbelt.  Just saying it doesn't necessarily mean it is so.
   
#2 - Apparently there is a lot of luck involved.
   
#3 - Apparently the people who know what they're doing will win more than the people who don't (don't discount #2 though)
   
#4 - Two fours is sailboats (who knew?)
 
#5 -  People will fold to you if you can do cool things with your chips.
  
Stuff I'm still confused by:
 
#1 - How do you become a poker pro?  In baseball that just means you're getting paid to do it.  If you win a big pot...or small pot for that matter, does that make you a pro?  Is it just the guys with the bad shirts and hats with iron on dot com patches that are pros?
    
#2 - Why is a pair of 3's called  "crabs"?
  
#3 - Why doesn't anyone let me back in a hand after I've folded and some good cards turn up?

In poker the people who seem to do well
-know what they are doing
-take risks
-lose a lot, but keep playing
 
Life is a lot like poker.  Way more than a box of chocolates.  It's not even close...

I'm just throwing this out there

A few friends were talking and somehow the topic of Farrah Fawcet came up (Heaven just stole one of Charlie's Angels).   It was pointed out that for about 20 minutes her passing was the top news story everywhere...and then things quickly shifted towards the king of popular music.

 

So here's the question - Who would have to pass next that would bump Michael from the headlines?

 

If you and Farrah went to H.S., I assure you I'm not trying to belittle her battle with cancer.  I'm just pointing out that it went from a big story to almost no story at all once we heard about the youngest member of the Jackson 5.
 
So who would create more of a stir thank M.J. in the event of their untimely passing? 
 
I thought I came up with the most logical answer when I came up with Oprah.  There was some talk of the international popularity of Oprah vs. Michael.  To those who doubt Oprah's popularity, well...a pox on you dear sir...a pox...

Ahhh 2006, remember 2006?

One of the great storyteller/comedians of this fine planet is in the Queen city this evening.  Mike Birbiglia is performing at Go Bananas tonight and what better entertainment could you hope to get at an establishment with fruit in it's name?

 

Some friends are surprising me tonight with tickets to the big show (shhhh, don't tell me).  I saw Bahooski with young Steven J a while ago...but sadly I don't think he's one of the surprisers this evening.
 
I'm hoping Mike has some new material, but either way I figure I win.

 

I tried an "interview" with young Birbigs in 2006, and this is sort of how it went...

It was only awkward in that all the questions were given to him at once...so it wasn't so much back and forth.  Here is yet another way I can learn from Oprah.

So wise...

Strikethrough #1

Annie's mom is in town.  In fact, we have one relative and two friends who will be staying with us for the next four days.  This is not to say that Annie's mom isn't our friend, it's just that she is our relative and our friend.  Typically you'd describe your mom as your mom before you'd call her your friend, right?
 
If you said, "This is my friend Hillary" to someone...and they later found out that Hillary was your mom - well they'd think that was a weird introduction.
 
Bottom line - we have three people we love staying at the Murphy chateau through the weekend.
 
Side note:  Blood is thicker than water...but what does that have to do with anything?  Does anyone out there  really rates their relationships on liquids?

So I get to work with some friends all day and into the evening...and then come home to friends...and then have breakfast with friends...and then yell at some friends for not closing the fridge all the way. (did I mention our oven caught on fire and it'll be hard to feed the previously mentioned friends?)
 
All this will be topped off by more friends coming over for our celebratory post FPU dinner on Sunday evening.  Should be a full fun weekend..
(side note - this marks the first use of my doing that line through the word thingy)

+ or -

I'm the humble owner of an Apple itouch.  It was given to me by my lovely bride and I'm just starting to play with it.

I've put together a short list of positives and negatives for you.  I'm not promising that I'll review an overpriced electronic item every Wednesday, but I've gotta turn this day into something bigger than hump day somehow.



Positives                                                       Negatives

It's pretty cool looking                                    The Price

I can download an application that                  I constantly worry 
let's me shoot fake paper balls at                    about it breaking
a fake trashcan

it will hold more songs that have ever              It's one more thing to
been performed, recorded or written               carry in my pocket

one more way to stick it to Bill Gates              I really have no idea
                                                                     how to make it work

It's very cool                                                 I'm still not
                                                                   
Overall, for my review,  I'd give it a - The Aristocrats, on the Sags scale.

you're welcome...

2 for tuesday

Today is two for Tuesdays - which means that you get two blog posts for the price of one!
  
That was my first one.
 
Here is my second.
What's the deal with cafeteria food anyway?  I mean come one, do they really expect us to eat this mass produced culinary Baldwin brother of a lunch?  Canned corn...I mean...canned corn!!  Come on...

I should mention that it's SOS week...so really to get two of these gems in one day is quite a treat.

you're welcome

What'd you get?

I recently celebrated a birthday and have been asked by several, "what did you get?"
 
I got to hang out with some great friends.  I got to see family and eat meatball subs.  I got to play hide n' seek with the boys and got to see Parker get so excited every time she made it to the bathroom.  I got to enjoy my house, even in the midst of watching my oven catch on fire.
 
I got to sleep in and I got to stay up late.
 
I got to watch Griffin strike out 4 or 5 batters.  I got to hang out with my beautiful wife.  I got to enjoy an awesome chunk of an incredible life.

I also got one of those i-touch deals...

Hold 'em

Lately, I've beem playing online (free) poker on a site that has players from all over the world (even Canada).  It's 7:57 A.M. and there are 185,935 players in a hand right now.  On this site they give you $3,000 in chips and you  play just like you'd normally play Texas Hold 'Em.

 

Here's the thing.  I'm up to $118,113.  I'm not saying I'm a great poker player.  I'm implying it.

 

If this was real money, I'd be making roughly $118,113 a month playing poker.  That's nearly double what I'm currently making per month.  It seems like this is really something I should pursue.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

 

It's easy to go for broke and to throw all in when it's fake money.  It's like wearing a cause t-shirt for something you really believe in...on paper.  I have no skin in the game.  I haven't really invested anything.  I'm an outside spectator at best.

 

And that's often how my faith feels.  I have strong opinions, ideas or arguments...but unless I'm throwing all in with something that really counts...I might as well be playing fake online poker.

 

It is pretty fun though...

50 state

I know the kids at the Music Television don't want us to be patriotic, but I've decided to do my part.  I'd like to serve my country.

Dear Congressman Boehner,
   Can I call you John?  I'd like to throw something out there that I think 83% of Americans would agree with me on.  I think we ought to give up on Hawaii.  It's beautiful, but so is Australia and neither of them are attached to us.  Before you get all, "But what about our fifty states!?!  We'll have to change our flag!!"  I've got that fixed as well.

We make Michigan two states.  Who are we kidding anyways?  It's two states already.  We can come up with a corporate sponsor to pay for that goofy looking upper Peninsula.  You take the new land "Lego Land" or "istate" and you've just paid for all the school computers...or legos...it just depends on who you've got.

Bottom line - you still have fifty states and everybody is happy.  You'll need a passport to go to Hawaii, but doesn't that just make it more mysterious and exotic?  Sure, we'll lose out on all those awesome things that we can claim as American that are from Hawaii...like the um...Spam?  Is Spam from there?  I know they love it there (put that down as unAmerican from now on).

LOTS

I'd like to create something today.  I'm thinking that today would be a solid day to get an acronym going.  I'm finding that I rarely use them whilst text messaging or sending my electronic mail out onto the ethernet.

I tend to do the opposite.  Well, not today. Today I will strive to cut down on the verbal and written clutter.

O.K, that's not true at all.  Today I will strive to invent, or at least point out, an acronym that will one day be uttered by one of those punk kids on the Hills.  I like L..O.T.I. (laughing on the inside, but I'm guessing that's been around?)  Oh to dream...

I'm thinking that all I really have to do is take a common expression and shorten it.  So here are a few of the common things I think most of us hear on a daily basis:

Have a nice day!
Don't go there!
Well kiss my grits!
I'd buy that for a dollar
Did Fuller really say that?

I just need to come up with one for the ages...and that's what I'll be thinking about at my 9:30 meeting...

The Hall of Blog

On the food network (what?!  A network revolving around food?  What's next? A network revolving around music videos?)  I heard this exact quote, "Hall of Fame Sugar Artist..."

There is a Hall of Fame for people who make art out of sugar?

First of all, if Toucan Sam isn't in the Hall...I call for a recount.
  
I'm wondering if the place is lousy with ants?

Anyhow, if they have a Hall for Sugar Van Gogh's, I'm putting together the Blog Hall of Fame.

My first nominee?  I'm leaning towards Seth Godin's Blog.

It's the only blog I read every day that's written by someone I've never met.

It's the only blog I read that revolves around a topic I'm not all that interested in (marketing)

It's always well written.  It's never crazy long.  It's brilliant.  It's funny.  It's Saget-like.

Most Hall of Fames open with five new inductees.  I'm still debating my other four...
(those weblogs over on the right are definitely worth checking out)

Lord Stanley

The City of Champions has crowned #2 of 3.  We're just waiting for the Pirates to bring home the Commissioner's trophy to complete the sweep...

So we might be waiting a while.

I'm a hockey fan sort of like I'm a free speech fan.  I like it when I think about it, I just don't think about it a whole lot.  I went to a Penguins game with my brother and they won in overtime.  Jagr had a hat trick and Lemieux scored the game winner.  I thought it was ok.  If you have great seats and see a hat trick and game winner by your two favorite players and still think it's ok...you're probably not buying season tickets.

Having said that - congratulations to the greatest team of all time with a captain named Sidney.  I defy you to name a greater athlete named with a nerdier name.

Red is the new spring

50 is the new 40.  Huh?  Isn't 50 years still 50 years?  Pink is the new black.  Check the paint stick, they really don't look alike.
  
I hear every once in a while that some city is 10 or 15 years ahead of Cincinnati.  I always want to call those cities and find out the ending to Lost. 
   

I'm just not sure that in this age of instant news and pop culture, that any city is really that far "ahead" of any other city.  You could argue that their buildings are newer...but does that mean they're ahead?

     

Five minutes after TMZ catches Paris wearing the latest plaid fedora, you can find young Bradley wearing the exact same Fedora here in the 'burbs of Cincinnati.  In Seattle they find out the winner of the Super Bowl at the exact same time that we do....we're just not as wet when we see it. 
  

Is it just a cultural thing? 
  
If our collective math I.Q. was higher than theirs, would that mean we're decades ahead of them?  If we were creating more medicine, curing more disease or feeding more hungry...does that mean we're 15 years ahead of them?

  
Or...is it just about what phone you carry?  what shirt you wear?  or what curled up shoes you walk in?

$12

I ran out to the store this morning...very early.  Silly early. 

 

Anyhow, I bought $122 worth of stuff for a little more than $12.

 

This was all stuff that we will use.  It was just a triple coupon day at the local Biggs...so I bought a bunch of stuff we needed.  I have a friend that always wants to see my receipt when I tell him about saving a crazy amount of cash...so here it is for all to see.

This was all I could fit onto the scanner.  The great thing about this deal at Biggs (besides saving 91%) was that they're now going to give me $.49 per gallon off my next fill up.  That's ten more dollars we'll save when we gas up the miniature van...

Ink

If I were to get a tattoo, I'm thinking it'd be something simple.

Maybe just a Valvoline logo, as though I were sponsored.
or
I could write in Times New Roman - Annie
or
This End Up
or
Maybe something more elaborate.  I could put on Bragg's favorite Family Circle cartoon.
or
maybe just a D?

So many possibilities...

Attack

I've noticed a new trend in political discussion lately.  It's an oldie, but a goody.  Once you've run out of points or realize that you're losing the argument...you attack someone else that happens to agree with your opponent.
 
It's amazing how many times I've heard people say, "Did Rush/Sean Hannity/Talk radio/Fox News tell you to say that?".  I've heard it dozens, if not hundreds, of times.  I've never personally said, or even heard anyone else say, "Did Oprah/Keith Olberman/Al Franken/NPR/Jerry Springer tell you to say that?"  I'm sure it happens on both sides...I'm just telling you what I've seen/heard.  Two guys were talking about a fairly non-political issue yesterday and one of them said, "why don't you go back to listening to Glen Beck" and he sort of walked away.  It's just an odd way of furthering a discussion...right?
  
It's the new go-to end of discussion - I'd rather win than really grow -  these days.  I know it's a bit of a throw back.  There was a time when you could throw "commie" into the discussion and quickly put someone on the defensive.  People do it with Christians by calling them "Holy Rollers/Bible Thumpers/fill in the name of a Christian leader you don't like".
 
It's name calling.  It's a way to divert the discussion into an area where you can feel superior. 
 
It's cheap, lazy and sad.  It's also effective.  McCarthy was great at it...and it's alive and kicking these days too.  And if you disagree with me, well you're just too busy listening to Dave Coulier to get it...

Last Will

 

learning French

I'm in a new department.
new department = new systems
new systems = new language
new language = me confused
me confused = Brad telling me it's gonna be all right.

I love my new role.  I'm a fan of small groups.  I was taught much of what I'm immersed in now in different contexts with different terminology...but it's all kind of the same.  What's really throwing me are our systems.  I can't find the stuff I need.  I can't even find the people that I'm looking for.  I keep hearing about, and even bought, the elevator pass...but it's nowhere in sight.

It feels a bit like I'm learning a new language.  I already know what a fetzer valve is, I just don't know how to ask for it in French.  And let's be honest, those French guys would never give me a fetzer valve anyways.  Not in this economy.

So I'm off to go find some forms, meet with some people and eventually I'm hoping to get hooked on phonics.

Going Pro

Today seems like as good of a day as any to start proactively living out a few things.
 
I was with our not so small group last night and it occurred to me that often I'll think through some solid ways to step up my faith/life/love/actions and most of the time I'll actually write something out.  I've got notebooks full of these little ideas.  Most of them are fairly solid.

It's been a while now, and I'm thinking about actually pulling out one of those notebooks and trying one of the ideas.
 
My Thursday = Proactive.  We'll see what happens...

Three-peat

It was three years ago today that young Parker Elisabeth Murphy was born.

She is our only daughter.  She's our youngest.  She is our only child with three names.  She is our best wrestler.

She is also our only child born via the C-Section (or Caesarean...quick, name two things that are named after Julius Caesar.  If you named surgical procedure to birth a child and delicious salad - you get two points)

Yesterday we had this perfect math family of a 2, a 4 and an 8 year old.  This totally screws that up. I guess that's cool, but what's next on the math horizon for the Murphy's?

Bottom line:  I get to live with the two cutest girls on this planet...

Questions

You often hear the question - What would you do today if you knew it was the last day of your life?
 
I think it's a solid question, and that's probably why people have kept the tradition of asking it alive.  It fits in the same category of - What would you do if money was no object? (invent money obviously...it's a gold mine out there) 
  
These questions are designed to get people thinking about what truly matters...what's your passion?
 
I was wondering - What would you say to the world if you were given a 1 minute commercial that was going to be broadcast across the planet?

The BIG day

Today, as you know, is June the 1st.  What you may not know is that today is a very, very special day for the Murphy family.

Today is National Chipotle Day in the good 'ol U.S. of A.  Oh sure, it's a shame that Canada won't get on board...or Chetnia, but we'll get there.

I should mention that I received a Qdoba five dollar gift card in the mail last week and I slapped my mailman for littering our mailbox with it. (side note:  He came back three hours later with four guys from his "posse" and pepper sprayed Cooper)  Bottom line:  Qdoba is to Chipotle as Ryan Seacrest is to Mr. Bog Saget.  Don't try to compare the two or I'll lance your tires.

So enjoy this great day of all days.  It's one of our top four holidays, so live it like you mean it.

Oh sure, it's this beautiful girl's birthday too.