The Man behind the Man behind the Man

Being the Man behind the Man is probably better than being the actual Man... but if there was ever any question about it before, it's clear that being the Man behind the Man behind the Man is not the place to be.

Man shot by Cheney has heart attack

Spring Break WooHoo.

I booked my flight into Fort Lauderdale yesterday. Flight prices were crappy--- I think because it's college spring break woohoo! time.

PartyPoker gave me $800 to cover travel expenses, and my flight from BsAs cost almost $1100. I guess I can't really complain. Total cost for a cruise for two (my dad will be joining me), including all airfare (my father's airfare also) and hotel expenses (I have to stay in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale one night before flying back to Argentina), and a $10000 entry into a poker tournament will be around $1000.

I just wish that I was better at limit hold'em. It's not too bad though--- I mean, if I lose quickly, then I have a nice vacation.

***Edit 2/17/06
Actually, PartyPoker has ended up giving me $1000 for the trip. WooHoo.

Cold War

My Russian girlfriend and I are no longer seeing each other.

In the few weeks that we dated, a lot of crazy stuff was going on. Exterior forces played a part (like, her getting married), but weren't really a big deal. The real issue ended up being that she is completely insane.

I'm not exaggerating at all. There is truly no scale big enough to include her and the other psychos that I've dated.

Green Roofs

While I was at Berkeley, I felt like I was waiting for something better to come along. Well-- not really waiting-- I was actively searching. I knew that I wasn't happy being an engineer. I just hadn't found anything better yet.

So then poker came along. I don't have any complaints about poker, except that 1) I'm not sure how long poker will last, and 2) I sometimes feel like I could be doing something more productive.

I've been thinking a lot about "green roofs" lately. Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time on balconies, looking down at a sea of city-rooftops. I really think though that if a large percentage of the roofs in cities were "green", we would make a large positive impact on the environment.

I don't know how to get involved in green-roofs though. I think that it's something that I want to do--- I'm not sure in what capacity, though most likely design and construction. I just have to figure out a way for me to get the knowledge and experience necessary to start.

"biblical sense"

I'm not sure if I understand why having sex with someone is considered knowing them "in the biblical sense".

I mean, I'm not really much of a bible-guy. I could point one out on a bookshelf. I know the rough outlines of some of the more interesting stories, but not the morals.

Like-- what's the moral of the Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden story? Was the whole reason solely because they didn't listen to God's instructions? Or, is there something bad about apples? Or is it to show how unreasonable God is (I mean, apples are GOOD for you)? I think if God had gotten around to creating a good attorney, Adam and Eve would have been better off.

And the story about Samson. How many rabid-christians grow their hair down to their asses and commit suicide whilst killing as many heathens as possible? Yes, I like the story-- I just don't understand the moral. The obvious possibilities just can't be the main point. Hair=Strength (this one is obviously true). Don't trust women (debatable). Donkey-jawbones=WMDs (maybe this could help out Bush?).

And the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is completely confusing. For one thing, Abraham is able to logically argue with God using an argument which resembles a classical logical paradox (Zeno's paradox), whereby he diminishes God's initial requirement of finding 50 good people to just 5 in order to save the city. When the people of Sodom surround Lot's house and demand to "know" his guests (two angels), Lot offers his two virgin daughters instead. Okay--- how is that right? Can't angels fend for themselves a lot better than two little girls? Then Lot's wife is turned into salt for looking back over her shoulder at the city God is destroying. AND then, Lot's two daughters get him drunk and have sex with him and bear his children. I know that there's a moral here somewhere.

Obviously I don't have much of a biblical sense.

My girlfriend gets married tomorrow.

Actually, in about 9 hours.

And I'm going to the wedding. It's more than a little weird.

Of course, it would be worse if it wasn't just a sham-marriage in order to get Argentine documents... and if she was going to spend her wedding night with some other dude instead of me... but it's still pretty strange.

She told me that I could come to the ceremony as long as I didn't bring my camera (she read my mind)... I would really like to take some wedding pictures, but it's risky. If she saw me take any pictures, I have no doubt that the ceremony would be halted while she chased me down.

It would be funnier if it wasn't true.

For as lazy as I am, I have a hard time shying away from a challenge (unless the challenge involves eating white condiments or drinking milk or trying to swallow a pill). This whole camera-smuggling idea has turned into a challenge, one which I hope to talk myself out of.

If common-sense doesn't prevail AND I succeed in taking a picture AND my camera remains operable afterwards (mental note: wear running shoes), then I promise to post the casamiento-picture. That's a lot of "ifs".