Unleashing and Unloading

Nowadays money means everything and nothing. You need a lot of it to live, but a lot of people have more than they know what to do with it. This holds especially true in Southern California, where Mercedes and Jags and BMWs swarm the streets like ants and homes open at $1 million on a regular basis. $200 jeans and $1,000 boobs can be seen on every woman, and guys can be seen every day with a new $10,000 toy. I don't have a problem with any of this, of course. Girls can have torn jeans and fake boobs and guys should be able to have power boats and this and that, my only problem is that it all costs so much. What happened to the days when money used to be able to buy stuff?

Cars selling for averages of $30,000, gas breaking $3 a gallon and continually growing? Condos opening for $1 million and homes becoming not even affordable? Give me a break. I'm sure it's different in the mid US and out in the east, but around here it's kinda dumb and it's getting to the point of rediculousness. Without money nowadays, you are nothing. Those who say money can't buy happiness are no longer living in the current times. Without money, and lots of it, you can't buy a house, you can't have a nice car, you can't own nice things, you can't buy your significant other nice things, and without that how can you possibly be happy? The American Dream is becoming harder and harder to live in certain parts of the country. The American Dream used to be that one could come to America, find a job, and be able to buy a house, start a family, and support that family. Those times are quickly becoming hard to come by.

What that means to me is that things that I grew up thinking were almost automatic in the course of life are no longer so. Luckily for me I have a few opportunities in life that might make these things possible for me, but unfortunately it will take much more work and determination than the generations before me to make it happen.

That's just a little snippet of me unleashing my brain fury. I won't write more about it now cuz if it doesn't bore you it might lead you to believe that I'm a blubbering idiot, neither of which I want to happen. :)

Now....onto life. Last weekend I went back out to Simi to visit some friends and enjoy Easter with a family I hold very dear to me. First, after hangin out with Mitch and his brother and his brother's wife for a bit, I headed out to Woodland Hills to see none other than Darsky. I arrived at about 1 AM and about 10 minutes later the chips and cards were broken out and him and I were headed to the felt for our 3rd ever heads up match. I was pretty tired from the day and the week before, but I was definitely ready to play cards against a very worthy opponent. Going into the match I had a 2-0 lead on him in all time HU matches. We each grabbed a drink and we were off.

I started off taking some small pots and kept chopping away. I was catching some draws and trying to extract maximum profit, but that's hard to do against Darsky. I hadn't played against a REAL opponent for a while (both in the fact that it wasn't online and that he actually is a good player), so I felt good throughout the match and played well (I think, we'll see what he has to say about that...). The hour and a half bout ended in a KidCrash victory and a 3-0 record overall. Almost immediately after that match the clock said quarter till 3 AM and my stomach said that I was hungry. A quick mention of that and off we went to Jack in the Box. We went back to his place and watched some Mitch Hedberg while we ate. God that guy is hilarious, but on this particular DVD it seemed like the crowd just wasn't feelin his stuff. Towards the end of his show they started lightening up, but for the most part they weren't laughing. I dunno why, cuz everyone I know thinks that he's hilarious.

We refueled with food and more drink, and decided to showdown one last time for the night. This time we decided on a game of H.O.R.S.E. I slowly gained the lead again, and it looked as though I might be headed for another victory, but no!! About an hour in Darsk started gaining momentum! He started catching and I started calling...and soon after that the match ended in victory for Darsky and my undefeated streak came to end. It was a sad, sad point....actually I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier, as he really is a first class player.

At that point it must've been close to 5 AM or later, and I was dead tired. Dar offered me a pillow, a blanket, and a couch, and I was more than happy to take it. I slept and I slept hard on that couch, and I thought the morning would never come until I received a phone call from Casey. I was supposed to meet him and his family at his parents house for Easter, since they were having a big get together. Casey's my longest-time friend (since we were 3) and hanging with him is always a blast. His family is like second family to me, and they have always been there to help me out. They've given me food, advice, support, and at one point they opened their home to me when I needed it most. I cannot express how much these folks mean to me, and it felt good to see them again. That went well, and since their house is always full to the brim with good food I knew going into the day that on an occasion like this I was sure to gain at least 10 pounds.

I devoured some food, chatted with Casey, his girlfriend, his girlfriend's family, and his family, and it was just good times. We must've eaten for 2 hours straight. For starters there was about 6 different kinds of crackers, 6 different kinds of cheese, 6 different kinds of chips, 6 different kinds of dip, veggies, fruit, more veggies, and some tasty ourderve(sp?) concoctions. Then they brought out the good stuff. Honey baked ham, BBQ ribs, honey ribs, egg/potato salad, regular salad, BBQ beans, beef kabobs, pork, corn, BBQ beef, and I know there was a few more things, but I can't remember. ON TO DESSERT!! Homemade cherry cheesecake, chocolate mousse, chocolate covered strawberries, Dutch apple pie, some kind of Jell-O thing, and a couple pies which didn't even get opened. I'm not sure how they let that happen...... Overall it was a really great time and it was with the best company you could ask for. After all that eating it was time for some excercise.....

Casey and I decided to hit the driving range to hit a few buckets. That felt really good also since I don't think I've hit a ball since last summer!! We were there for about two hours, and of course we had to hit the putting green for 10 shots of betting too (that's mandatory at golf courses nowadays, isn't it??). After that we went with his girlfriend (Summer) to one of her friends house for a little, and from there we hit up Nick's house. Nick is a friend in the same category as Casey, although not nearly as extreme. The three of us grew up and went to school together. His parents are pretty wealthy and through the times we were growing up and even now, they've been pretty generous with their stuff. We hung there for just a little bit, but it was good to see Nick again. After that we took off back to Casey's and I hung out and watched a few episodes of Family Guy before leaving at about 12:30. I realized that I had an hour and a half drive back home, but the good weekend made the drive seem like nothin.

This week I got absolutely nothing done that I wanted to, thanks to.......well thanks to myself. I've been feelin pretty lazy all week, and it bums me out at the end of the week that I've accomplished nothing. But oh well, there's still tonight! I'll be heading back out to Simi this weekend for another session (or 2) at the range, and to see some family and friends once again. I'll be blogging that, but not before I tell you guys about some disc with the guys from 318. I should be writing some this week so come back now, ya hear!

Until next time.

Bankroll: $400