Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The Vegas

Why hasn't Ben written anything? Because he has been in Vegas! (end third person). I won't bore you with all the details, but on Friday morning, Courtney, Richard and I headed out to Vegas, and we caught the red-eye back on Sunday night. Courtney met up with four friends, so I didn't see her all weekend, and Kin, Michael, Michael and Richard and I had a grand time. The best was in the MGM Grand, where we were waiting for Ka to start, and we sat down to a $10 blackjack table. I am usually more of a $3 Sahara table kind of person. We sat down because the table was empty, so all five of us could play. We all were up and down a bit, and I ended up with $75 left of $100 I brought to the table. I decided that I would play just one $25 chip to see if I could get even. I got two sixes against the dealer's four. So, I split the sixes and got another six on the first, so I split those, so I had to put down $75 on the table, a huge hand for me. The dealer gave me a three on the first six, so I doubled down, and got 15 total with a six card, and I stayed. The second hand I got a 10, for 16 total, and I stayed. The third hand she gave me a four, so I doubled down again and got an eight, for 18. So, in the end I had $125 riding on one hand, whereas I usually do $3, and my hands are weak enough that if the dealer gets anything I am screwed. Well, thank goodness the numbers were in my favor, because she busted, and I walked away with $250 from my $125, making me well ahead in Vegas.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Ryan touring

Ryan Young, my brother in law, is touring through some of the midwest. He will be playing in Little Rock on Tuesday night at the Afterthought at 8 pm, Bryant on Wednesday night at Woodside Coffee at 7 pm, and Fayetteville on Thursday night at The Gypsy at 9 pm. Take a look at some of his music and go out and support him if you are around.

Living the dream

Star Trek Fans all over the world are making their own episodes and movies, in order to broadcast them on the internet, according to an excellent article in the New York Times. Take a look at the video connected to the article in order to delve a little deeper into the phenomenon. I only have one question: what am I doing with my life?


I consider myself a bigger Star Trek fan than most, but it is all about shades of gray. I have never filmed a Star Trek episode (StarWars, maybe...). However, I did notice that one of the groups is in Northern Virginia/DC, Starship Farragut. Maybe they need some help. Maybe I will wait until after Courtney signs the marriage certificate.

Good for us

The Episcopal church has elected a woman presiding bishop. That is to say that the Episcopal church of the United States now is represented by a woman, Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada. One of the criticisms that conservative churches (ones who do not accept women being ordained even as priests) levy is that the election of a woman emphasizes that the church of the US is out of touch with the rest of the Anglican community in the world. In this instance, I am glad that we are out of touch. How, actually, do you "get in touch" with bigotry and bias?

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Next month this time…

I will be married! Or nearly. I suppose it will be a few hours from now. Courtney and I have been working hard on everything, and she is slowly becoming a little crazy about it. I think I can handle one month of crazy. I think I have been really luck thus far, because I think some guys get about 6 months to a year of crazy. Things I need to do:
1. Work on the program
2. Work on the slideshow
3. Go to Vegas
OK. I think that is it for me. I will go learn how to play blackjack.

Friday, June 09, 2006

New blog!

My best friend Michael Trieu has just started a new blog. He is one of the funniest people I know, so it is definitely worth reading, if you have a chance. And by all means, if you like it, let him know.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

I love Arkansas

Just a couple of days ago I spoke to a friend of mine from Arkansas. He is down in AR for the summer, but is doing a graduate program at Harvard right now. We spoke about the future of Arkansas and I got really excited about it. We talked a little about the book I am reading now, Arkansas Politics and Government, by Diane Blair and Jay Barth. It is a fantastic account of politics in Arkansas. This second edition is rather topical, with a lot of references to 2002-2005 material, so read it now while it is fresh.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Delinquent Blogger

Much excitement we have had in the past couple of weeks. So, because of that, I haven't ben as frequent a blogger as I would like. So, for you two readers (I count myself in that), I blog today.
Courtney and I headed down to Arkansas Memorial Day weekend for three wedding showers. A good time was had by all. We started off with a great party thrown by my family (it included boys). Then Courtney attended a ladies shower on Saturday at 2 pm, then we headed over to a church shower on Saturday night at 6 pm. Sunday we played with the kids and headed over to Hot Springs and then to Billy's Library. Monday Courtney had to fly out, of course to make some money for us on Tuesday. I stayed until Tuesday afternoon and spent that morning getting my driver's license renewed. We got some fantastic stuff at the showers, including a new juicer. I am super excited about it, but since fresh fruit is so expensive, I am going to start out by juicing stuff around our apartment, like Courtney's shoes. We also got a really posh wine cabinet from Crate and Barrel from all my siblings, which I put together yesterday. Twice.

I hope everyone's weekend was just as fun as mine.