Speaker to the Dead

I just finished a book called Speaker to the Dead, by Orson Scott Card. It was an amazing book and has become one of my favorites. It is mostly about how the human race would interact with an alien species after they had annihilated the first alien species they encountered. Buried within the plot of this book though is a very unique idea on funerals called a "Speaking." It can be done when the person dies or even years later. The Speaker learns about the person from friends, families, enemys, everyone. Then he speaks the truth about the person. He talks about their faults, their goals, their accomplishments, their unspoken sins, and secrets. He reveals everything no matter the pain it would cause to those left behind.
Anyways thought it was neat..

Adventures of The Little Old Lady

Aboard the Little Old Lady, in the Lower Belt.

Commander Altimas stands on the bridge of the Little Old Lady with his arms crossed behind his back, he seems to be contemplating the workings of the universe as he stares through the view port.

A young female with short blond hair approaches Altimas and stands at attention."Commander Altimas, the status reports you requested have been uploaded to your hand held and are available for access. Is there anything else I can assist you with before you retire for the night?"

"Would you join me for a glass of wine Lieutenant Franks, in celebration of our recent victory?"

"I would love to sir. Menage troi?"

Altimas eyes widen and he leans closer to Franks and whispers, "Who would be the third, Franks?"

Franks cheeks turn blazingly red as she answers, "Commander, that is the brand of wine you had imported from Mars last week."

"Oh... right, right. I think I'll actually have the Cock's table wine tonight my dear."

"But sir, you hate Cock's."

"You bet your blouse I do! Most heterosexual man in the galaxy!"

" The wine sir... "

" Right, right you are...Where were we?"

" Retiring to your quarters, sir, for a glass of wine."

" Ah, yes I remember now. A Glass of wine," replied Altimas as he nudged Lieutenant Franks and winked knowingly.

" And only a glass of wine...sir."

As Altimas held out his arm to escort Lieutenant Franks, the Little Old Lady shook and the lights on the deck grew dim. Altimas pulled his hand held from his pants pocket and broad casted across the entire ship."All hands report to assigned positions this is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill."

Altimas quickly turned to Lieutenant Franks, " I need a status report Franks, pronto."

Looking down on her own hand held Franks stated, "Sir, we have a Mark Two Zerkerdrone attacking us, we seem to have a breach in our aft."

With a very puzzled look Altimas replied, "Well of course we do Franks, those come standard on all humans, you see when we take in food it goes through a digestive tract... "

" AFT sir, the aft of the Ship!" Franks replied seeming quite flustered.

"Oh, right you are. Well get engineering on it pronto. Have Lieutenant Roswell bring the ship around and lets show this antique what modern technology is really made of."

....To be Continued.

Good Times...

I have been playing a lot of Online Poker tournaments lately. I have read a few books and gained a greater understanding of the game itseld. My wife and I had the discussion on if it was Gambling or not. I think in some ways yes it is but in a lot of ways it is not. I consider gambling when you lay down money to try to win more on certain odds, like betting on horses or slot machines or craps. Poker is different. In poker you have to really play the other pesons hand more than your own. A lot of people think poker is about bluffing and that the pros really know how to bluff. That is not the case. To be good in poker you have to look at peoples betting patterns and judge how they react to your bets or lack of betting.

I had been winning a lot of small tournaments where the buy in was 1.00, last night I decided to step it up a notch since my bankroll, from my accumulated past winnings, on my online account could easily take a 3.00 hit. I entered the first 9 person tournament and won first place pretty easily, which earned me 13.00. Since the previous tournament was kinda short I decided to do another one. It gets down to me and two other guys. One guy is total turd and keeps going All-In every hand that is dealt just trying to gamble and win the blinds. So I wait patiently and get Ace-Ace in my hand. I play like I have a weak hand just checking the flop. He goes all in with Ace - King- King on the board. I have a full house and call him. He loses out of the tournament and sent me some dirty messages.

Then its me and another guy left. I have a substantial chip lead on him. I have 10,000 in chips and he has roughly 3,000. So we talk back and forth, he is from memphis. He wins a good hand on me and I have 8,000 to his 5,000. I get dealt A-10, Flop is A-8-10, I have a good two pair. I make a small bet and he calls. Next card is a 2, I make another small bet and he calls. So I pin him on having a pair, probably the 10. Well last card on the River is a 10. This gives me a full house, I can't be beat with whats on the board. I figure he has an Ace or a 10 for him to continue betting. I hope it's the 10 and bet enough to put him all in. He calls and had the 10 and I won another 13.00. If I have time tonight I may step it up another notch.

Couple Things..

First off my short Story, The Clock King has been published on www.southernfriedwierdness.com , Check it and the other stories out.

Last night I experienced one of the best things a father could experience. Thatcher would come around the corner and I would roar really loud and scare him. He would turn around and run to Devin in the living room as fast as he could and just giggling like a maniac. Its one of the best things in the world to see a child so full of laughter he has to hold his tummy. I had a great time with my family last night, I am a lucky man.

My wife caught me sleeping with this Hoe...

I am so ashamed...

Mostly... I am an idiot..

I have allowed a lot of things to interfere with my walk with God lately. I have spurned God's will for my life in lieu of doing things that I wanted to and ignorning God altogether. Kendall's blog post, for many a reason, was able to slip past the cracks in my hardened heart and allowed me to open up to God and release a lot of Anger, Hurt, and Frustration I had with him. I have been lucky to know God's will for my life and have not actively pursued it. I hope to change that now...

Dad was always able to just look at me and know if I was struggling in my walk no matter what mask I tried to hide behind. We had such similar souls that it was easy to see that in eachother. I think I have done both my Father and Heavenly Father a disservice in distancing myself from the church when it may have needed me most. Hopefully God will lead me to to the place he needs me and I will now be more willing to go that direction. Thanks for putting up with me the last year I know I have been different and standoff-ish.

Poke Me? Poke Him? Poker?

I've been on a Poker kick lately and have been playing a lot online. I donno what it is about the game but I really enjoy it. A lot of people look down on it as gambling but I have come to learn it is not just a game of chance like a slot machine, it really is a game of skill. Betting to High or Betting to Low can make you look to strong or to weak. Sometimes you want to look weak when you have a better hand to lure people into a false sense of victory. It really is a game that requires you to know how to anticipate actions and reactions. The way to win poker games is to set traps.

My only problem is I don't enjoy anything but No Limit Texas Holdem. I have a really good understanding of what is a good hand and what the odds are of winning in Texas Holdem. These other games are confusing to me. Like Omaha, Horse, Razz, etc. Anyways I am thinking about doing a poker night every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month if anyone is interested. Maximum of 8 People and do like 5$ buy ins. Just be a Table game, no Tournaments as of right now. That way if you get put out early and want to buy back in you can. Let me know if your interested, be a good way to spend some guy time together.