The blog's next phase

First, let's get this straight...I am not giving up poker. I will continue to look for options to play live and will continue to follow the business of poker. That said, there just simply isn't any money to re-load my FT account (or my long-ignored Stars account) until my business begins to take off. So as far as poker content, it may be little and far between for the time being. And yet, I have really come to appreciate this as an outlet for my thoughts...poker related or not. So I hope some of you will continue down this road with me while I explore other topics and other parts of my consciousness outside the realm of poker.

Especially those Walter Mathieu fans that have found me. Thank you, Google.

Now a question to any fellow bloggers reading this. How in the world do you find time to blog every day or even every other day? There are so many times during the day (and even more at night) that I think of a topic, but simply cannot find time to write it. Compound that with the fact that when I want to actually tackle an issue, I want to do it justice. Cranking out poker content is easy. But to take on an issue like Barry Bonds, presidential politics, parenting or others, I want to draft a product I am proud of...not one that simply ensures my traffic continues to spike due to a new post. I would love to hear any thoughts.

Until I can tackle some of the larger issues properly, here are a few random thoughts:

-- Is anyone as distressed at Drew Carey taking over the Price is Right as much as I am? Carey is an Ohio boy...I watched his sit-com periodically. I don't begrudge him success. But when the you can't some up with anything better than "Buzz Beer" to name your fictional home-brew or star of your show is a hideously painted creature with a voice capable of breaking every light bulb on the strip after one sentence...are you really in a position to take over for an American icon? How many of us played hooky from school/work, er, were legitimately sick (read: hungover), and thanked the good lord that Price is Right existed so that there was something worth watching on daytime TV...pre-online poker of course. Cliffhanger, Plinko, Rod Roddy, Showcase Showdown, "Have your pets spayed or neutered,"punch-a-bunch...all became parts of the American lexicon thanks to this watershed game show. This is not to mention the hideously wrinkling and shudder-inducing "Barker's Beauties" or the fact that Barker himself died 15 years ago and has been replaced with an animatronic proto-type with a 500-word vocabulary and minimal facial expressions. None of it matters. Bob Barker (or his robot alter-ego) IS Price is Right. And I swear to God, if anyone steps up to play 5 Price Tags or the grocery game and one of the items is Buzz Beer, I'll start the "Kill Drew" campaign.

-- Can anyone with depression adequately relay what it does to your psyche, your moods and your relationships? I indicated in an earlier blog that I am struggling with this condition, am taking medication...and I have noticed my interactions with friends, family and clients are dramatically better. Then there are those "other" times. Times where I feel utterly alone, incapable of anything resembling constructive thought or productive work and my entire outlook on the world and life has a distinctly gray tinge to it. It's those times I seem incapable of describing. My wife is left helpless, wanting to "cure" it, but devastated and angry at the transformation and has inexplicably come over me. I know she can't cure it. But I so desperately want her to be able to understand.

-- What is a more distressing outcome of the internet...blog hacks cranking out material on poker and Bob Barker or podcast morons cranking out pointless banter that is subscribed to by thousands of zombies with the "if it's on the internet, it has to be good" mindset. At least you can't hear my pre-pubescent, tentative monotone vocal output through this blog. You may lament the fact that I don't have a "writer's voice" ... but it's nothing that can make yours ears shrivel. And yet, everyone with a laptop microphone, a stupid hobby and a TON of free-time is rushing to "podcast." There are some DREADFUL ones out there...ones with the validity of being on i-tunes, that can literally make my stomach churn. I liken it to people putting microphones in people's basements or in their cars during 16-hour car trips and just recording the outcome. The production value is similar, the lack of purpose, the inane topics are essentially the same.

-- On a related topic, are Americans too busy podcasting and blogging to do anything productive? Our educational prowess, corporate might and dominance over certain Olympic sports have all diminished dramatically. But even worse is the state of American music. Can you name one non-American Idol creation, non-rapper and non-hillbilly (no offense) musician that is worth ANYTHING that has come out of the US lately? In a nation of this size, there HAS to be someone with some lyrical and vocal talent. I was flipping through my Ipod playlist today and found: Stephen Fretwell, Damien Rice, Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Tragically Hip, James Blunt (I know, I know), Evanescence, Death Cab for Cutie, Kellie Pickler's implants...all are either foreign bands/musicians or American Idol creations. Seriously...name one American musician from the last 5-10 years that's worth a damn. And if ANYONE says Fergie, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Fall Out Boy or Nickelback I swear I will puke.

It'll get better, I swear...keep coming back.

** NOTE: For those of you smart enough to figure this out, yes, you're correct. My goal with this blog was to be SO boring and devoid of anything resembling humor that SOMEONE re-loads my FT account so I can go back to writing about my laughter-inducing and pathetic poker exploits.

Mission accomplished.