Into the Breach

To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.
--Confucious

And here I go planning to do both.

I'd welcome you to my humble blog if I had any notion you were actually here to read it. I don't expect that to happen, but that doesn't mean I am not writing for YOU! my dear, imagined readers.

I spend enough time anonymously writing in enough anonymous places so another one won't hurt. At least here, all my thoughts will be contained in a singular spot, even as those thoughts range far and wide. So that's the goal. My primary interests, in no particular order, include current events (politics and finance, specifically), baseball, literature, poker, the English Premier League, bands nobody's heard of, topics relating to my home state of California, my family and, uh, poker.

Let's start off with a quick stab at all of them as a way of you imagined readers getting to know me better:

Politics: I'm okay with Bush on a very short leash. He'd better head left (or, to be more precise, away from the fringe right). If Dr. James Dobson has control over policy, well, I hear Sweden is nice some parts of the year.
Economics: Fix the falling dollar? Sure. Just trim the deficit and rein in spending. What? We're not doing either of those? I guess the Swedish krona would be pretty valuable right now.
Baseball: I'm an Oakland A's fan. Jeremy Giambi cursed the franchise by not sliding. In 86 years, his name will be mentioned in the same breath as the Bambino.
Literature: Currently reading "1984." Again. I bought it for someone who hasn't read it. She still hasn't. With a gun to my head, I'd choose "The Great Gatsby" as my favorite all-time book, edging "Catch-.22" and "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Poker: Nobody likes bad beat stories. That's right, plural. I have a lot of them from the last 72 hours.
EPL: Liverpool supporter. Things get any worse for the Reds on the injury front and I might be able to start up front.
Bands: Trumans Water. Ever heard of 'em?
Kah-lee-fone-ya: I now live east of Los Angeles in what the demographers are now calling the "exurbs." I grew up in the eastern Bay Area (back when they just called them the "suburbs") and went to college in San Diego. So I am uniquely qualified to comment on all things Golden State, with the possible exception of Fresno.
My family: Married, father of one. My 3-year-old son is, as my mother constantly reminds me, "much smarter" than I am.
Poker: Ah screw it. I get AA UTG with 6 remaining in a $20 single-table SnG on party poker. I minimum raise to 100. UTG+1 calls and button raises to 200. Blinds fold, I push. UTG +1 calls (one of two players who cover me) and Button folds. UTG +1 turns over KJ0. He pairs both on the flop and I'm out in 6th.

I hope enough inspiring events/people/hands assault my daily life so that I may give this keyboard a regular thrashing. If not, I'll just have to make stuff up (kinda like believing there's someone reading this). Which can be fun. And dizzying.

Post #1. In the bag.

It's a start.