neurological dryer lint

back in july, on the way back from north carolina after we took artie kayaking, i heard a band on XM Cafe 45 called Carbon Leaf. they were a strange blend of folksy, cheery acoustic rock with some light distortion, sort of an eve-6 mixed with vertical horizon and caedmon's call. i heard their track Life Less Ordinary and i was really impressed. i kept milling over whether to get the CD or not. it was on my list of stuff to investigate. then i heard Grey Sky Eyes and was even more taken. for some reason i never picked it up, though, probably cause i was keeping my album buying to essentials like Futures, Hide Nothing, etc...

well mom was awesome enough to get me the disc for christmas - not even knowing i liked the band, simply because she heard them on a tv show... it's a fantastic album, very clever, intriguing. intelligent lyrics make a band for me (the reason why craig's brother is probably my all time favorite group) and these guys have no shortage. it's a very poetic, melodic disc.

and renee's sister stephanie landed me the excellent movie trivia game scene it? which i subsequently housed everyone in. hey, i can win at something, go figure. hamrick, you and i teamed up in this game, we'd be invincible.

want to hear something really shocking, though? i got new poker chips, and we held a tournament with renee's family... it started out with two tables - me, her dad, two of her uncles, and two of her cousins, the guy table; and the girl table - renee, her mom, her sister, her aunt and two of her cousins.

i was the first one out at the guy table. naturally. 90% worthless cards, and the 10% of the time i got good cards i couldn't do crap with them - i went out with K-A in the pocket, and A-4-6-4-9 on the table. i got beat by A-6. i'm not going to blame the cards, though. i just suck.

the tournament ended up winding down to renee, her mom, her dad, and her sister. steph, who knew how to bet and push people, also had crap cards all night and was the first one at the 'final table' out. her mom had never played before, had great cards and very good timing, but winded her stack down to nothing. her dad, who is literally impossible to read, and plays masterfully, and renee, were the last two left.

yes. renee split the pot - and had more chips than her dad. go figure.

after banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what alternate universe i'd fallen into, it dawned on me - she REALLY IS the most patient human being on the planet. she will happily wait for five hours behind her stack and never make a bet on questionable cards. she is the only person i've ever seen truly bleed everyone else dry and win a tournament, simply with patience and a cool head. she's doyle brunson, only 50 years younger, and hot.

listening to: carbon leaf - what about everything?