Random Update

So I haven't written anything in quite a while, and I am going to blame it all on my brother. (Family members are always the best to blame for everything, obviously.) He was home for a week, so I spent most of my free time hanging out with him. I recently got a couple DVD collections of Hitchcock films, and we watched a bunch of them (including watching "Shadow of a Doubt" on his laptop when there was a huge thunderstorm and the power went out for several hours--perfect atmosphere for a Hitchcock flick!) We never did get a chance to play any Rock Band or Guitar Hero, though (this is one of our favorite activities to do together--play one of these games while drinking fancy imported beers and trash talking each other's lack of skills). The one time we were about to start playing was right when the power went out.

When Matt arrived home last Sunday, one of the first things he said to me was, "I'm gonna use this week off to work on my poker game." He says this literally every time he comes home for a vacation. Did he play any poker? No. Did he watch any poker videos? No. He did watch me play a little bit, but that was it. It's frustrating, 'cause I am sure he would be a great player if he took the time to play. But he just never puts any hands in. Sometimes I think it's my fault--I put too much pressure on him, always telling him and anyone else who will listen what a great player he could be. He is super intelligent (much, much smarter than me) and has the best logic skills of anyone I know. Plus he's got that smugness (OK, arrogance) that comes with being so much smarter than most everyone--definitely a plus in the "confidence in your game" dept. And I know he likes the game, at least from a theoretical perspective; he will talk through hands with me and read the occasional strategy thread on 2p2. But I don't know if he enjoys playing. I don't think he knows, either, since he never freakin plays! I guess it could be a matter of me pressuring him too much, but I think the more likely explanation is just sheer laziness. Matt is the biggest procrastinator of anyone I've ever known. And I'm a pretty bad procrastinator myself, so that's saying something.

In other news, Matt, Virag and I went to the Cubs game on Saturday. I was looking forward to a great pitching duel, Zambrano vs. Zach Duke (young lefty who has pretty good stuff), so of course Zambrano got knocked out of the game in the 5th inning and the Cubs lost 7-5. I swear I haven't seen the Cubs win a game in person in five years (good thing I don't get to many games...). The weather was nice, at least. And I got a new hat.

More later, I suppose. Time for some actual work (gasp!).