mattress

i'm in the market for a new mattress. i found one i liked, but am hesitant to take the first one i try even though i'm not sure where to go besides sleepy's. the funny part is that i've never thought my mattress was super terrible, but for awhile i've had some serious neck and shoulder problems. i sleep on my side, but haven't been able to sleep on my left side for longer than a few minutes for well over a year now. it wasn't until i went to a'dam (and slept on what was clearly an even shittier mattress) that i started having pain sleeping on my right side. falling asleep has become fairly painful, and i'm starting to fall asleep on my back.

so then i'm complaining about my neck and shoulders, and a friend (who has experienced my mattress, as early as two years ago) says, oh, well your mattress sucks. you definitely need a new one. oh, thanks. woulda been sweet if you'd mentioned this TWO YEARS AGO!!! i just honestly didn't realize how bad it was, but it definitely would have been nice if even one of the people who spent a significant amount of time on it saw fit to mention how uncomfortable it was!

at least i can change it now, and hopefully get a better night of sleep starting very soon.

poker

i played in two tournaments today. the first cost me sixty bucks, and i went out in the worst way possible. i had aces against KQ, and the flop comes J 10 9. i didn't improve and he picks it up. so after i rebuy (and the rebuy period ends), i pick up AK, and reraise a co-worker who raised all in. he has AQ, and hits a straight on the turn. unbelievable. so i'm out, with dominating hands both times.

luckily i did better in my second tournament. it was free, and without getting particularly great cards, but getting very lucky in a few hands, i made it to third place. but i shoulda been first or second, and am not quite over it. i pick up aces on the button, and raise to double the bb. the small blind re-raises me all in, and the bb folds. so we're all in, i've got the rockets, and he's got sevens. and then a seven fucking comes on the flop!! unbelievable! so i'm out in third, i picked up 200 bucks, which isn't bad, but woulda been so much nicer to take 800 or 400!

this is b/c i bombed it in a cash game. it was my first time playing in awhile, and i lost it all on one, terrible hand. let's just say i'm still down for the day, although i'd be up if i'd taken second or third in the tournament. i have sixes in first position, lots of callers, one person raises to 15 (we're playing 1/2 blinds) and there are four or five players. flop comes 9 6 5, with two clubs. i have two red sixes. guy in bb bets 12, i call, someone else calls, and then this guy raises to 100. whoa. i'm pretty psyched about my set, but i realize i don't have the nuts. 8 7 has me beat, and a flush draw is in decent shape, prob about 50/50, although i might have the edge cause of the boat possibility. i don't know what to do, and seriously thought about folding. if i'd been smarter i woulda called, b/c the A of clubs came on the turn, and i think we woulda checked it down. so i woulda saved osme money, but i don't believe he has the nuts and put him all in. he instacalls, the board doesn't pair, and i'm done for the day. : (

i'm not super bummed, cause i can afford it, and i'm not down so much, but still bummed to do so poorly my first time back playing cash. but, no doubt, i'll be playing more poker in the coming months, and hopefully can see some winning results given how well i think i've been playing generally.

west coast

tonight i learned that i prefer west coast oysters to east coast. and also, i know i dissed blue ribbon bakery a few posts ago (not the food, just the prices) but i am a huge fan of blue ribbon on sullivan. i've been there twice in the past week, and it hit the spot perfectly. both times i had a dozen oysters, although the first time we also got hooked up w/ some shrimp and a few extra, which was sweet. the matzoh ball soup is outstanding, and definitely filling enough for dinner, although i supplemented it with some corn on the cob. my friend ordered the burger, and it was obscenely delicious. plus they replaced her fries w/ sauteed spinach and there was no hassle at all. considering how busy they are, that's cool service. overall a fantastic meal, plus the bartender's nice and cute and serves a mean drink. yay for blue ribbon and yay for west coast oysters!

work

work has unfortunately put a damper in my posting. i'm still getting acclimated to nyc, though in some ways i feel like i haven't been gone. my biggest difficulty has been catching up with all my busy friends.

my main goal right now is to try and fix my body in between intense document review sessions, and i started yesterday w/ gyrotonics. i'd always been fascinated by pilates, but never took the plunge, and decided to give gyrotonics a try. it's more circular, and supposedly better for people w/ shoulder and neck problems. i felt a lot better after one session, so i'm gonna do a few more and see how it goes. today i'm going to try a new kind of yoga that's also been recommended, iyengar, and i'm hoping that will help too.

on a sad note, between work and socializing, not only has it been hard to find time to blog, but it's been hard to find time to watch tv. i know! i'm 3-5 weeks behind on 24, lost, fnl, bsg, and the l word. booooooooo.

quote of the day

via wsj law blog:

“Being sort of the most humorous of the Supreme Court justices is like being one of the shortest tall people.”

Justice Breyer discussing his reputation as a more humorous SC justice.

booo little owl

i never made it to little owl. my friend called the night before we wanted to go, and they told her that they were fully booked, but if we came by before seven we would have a decent chance of getting one of two walk-in tables. so the next night we showed up around 6:30 only to see signs up that they were closed for a private party. how could the person on the phone be looking at reservations and telling us they were fully booked, when they were actually closed?! they seriously didn't know THE NIGHT BEFORE that they were closing for a private party? i find that hard to believe.

so we went to mas, and i had my worst experience there ever. it's probably my favorite restaurant in manhattan, and i definitely thought about their delicious tuna dish on several occasions while in amsterdam, so i was excited to get back and have it again. however, i got a couple really nasty pieces of tuna in my dish, and it was cooked way, way more than anytime i had it previously. i also ordered the ravioli for my entree, and it had about six pieces and looked way more like an appetizer than an entree. i'll probably give mas one more chance, but i am definitely soured on it.

however, i actually went to a restaurant that overtakes blue ribbon bakery in the overpriced category. i'd always read about sant ambroeus, this restaurant in the west village, mostly b/c the gyllenhaals seem to enjoy dining there. i had read in tony that they opened a branch on the upper east side, and it happens to be around the corner from where i get my haircut. the breakfast was extremely overpriced -- for sixteen bucks i got a three egg omelette, four tiny pieces of potatoes, and some tomatoes. my latte was six bucks. but that wasn't the worst part, the worst was when i looked at their lunch menu. a plate of linguini, for lunch, is over twenty dollars. the house mixed green salad? twenty bucks. pure insanity. plus, it wasn't even close to the best omelette i've had in the city.

needless to say i will not be returning there.

wsop ladies' bracelet

GRRRRRRRRRRR. i played in my first bracelet race today, and i came in third. i'm pissed at myself, cause i got distracted by all the observers speculating about my gender (i have a masculine sounding name on full tilt), and while i'm not sure that it was the reason for my downfall, it probably didn't help. 46 people entered, and it lasted almost exactly three hours. i lost a huge chunk of my stack when the eventual winner hit a flush on the river. a few hands earlier i had almost the same hand w/ a flush draw and didn't hit it. would have killed her if i had.

i started off well. my first hand i got tens, although the flop came KQrag and i quickly threw them away. in the early rounds i had nines twice, sevens three times, and then i got super lucky to double up. i had KQ suited and the flop came AJrag. i bet, she raised, i called. called her pot sized bet on river (which was not a great call) and then caught a ten on the river for a straight. she had trip jacks and i cleaned up. a few hands later i was bb w/ 108 off, caught top pair, and took all the chips of a woman on a flush draw (i'm so used to saying guy, but since i know everyone in the tournament was a woman, it seems weird to say that). i also caught a flush on flop, and might have gotten even more chips out of the other player in the pot, but i didn't check the turn and bet out again. stupid. after that i was the chip leader until very late in the tournament.

i got really card dead through the middle, until i picked up AQ in big blind. i called an all in for about a fourth of my stack, not a great call, and she had nines. i flopped an ace and added to my stack. then i called a raise in small blind, flopped top pair and back door flush draw, she bet, i re-raised, she went all in, and she had aces. yikes! so i lost a huge chunk of my stack, and dropped to middle of the pack after that hand. i then lost another pot w/ four to a flush, i had the four, the other girl had the five. i could have re-raised, she was showing weakness, and i think i would have picked it up. grrrr.

so i went into the final table pretty short stacked, but went all in w/ a bunch of decent hands (suited connectors, K10s, etc.) and picked up some chips. then i went all in w/ AK, got called by QQ, and hit an ace on the flop.

a few hands later i raised w/ 97s, got re-raised, and folded. next hand i picked up AJ and made same raise, and same girl went all in. she had KQ suited, flop came AJ and i doubled up. this was a player who i saw twice river to win, once to make a better full house, and once to catch a set w/ her bottom pair. so i was kind of glad to take her out.

we played the final three for a long time. i was the chip leader for a lot of it, but probably raised too much w/ my premium hands, rarely slow played, and then i lost that huge hand to the winner's flush. i finally went all in w/ A10 suited and she had AQ and then i was done.

it just sucks b/c i came so close to winning my way into the wsop ladies' event, and you don't get jack for 2nd or 3rd place in these tournaments. oh well, better luck next saturday!

veronica mars

what!!! i just read via mike's bloggity blog blob (doesn't that make you think of bob loblaw) that vm isn't returning until may 1st. jesus, cw, way to kill a show. look at jericho's low ratings upon its return.

although, maybe it could also be interpreted as a positive move, if only b/c airing the new eps in may means cw thinks vm could add to its sweeps' ratings. so bad for me, but good overall for vm?

in other news, no heroes till april 23rd? boooooooooooo.

watching colbert's word on gays in the military right now. i fucking love him (and his writers).

jennifer tilly

i was surprised when i read in an article awhile back that jennifer tilly was a millionaire, and would never marry again, because of a lucrative divorce settlement she received from her first husband. she was married to a guy named sam simon, one of the creators of the simpsons. apparently 60 minutes ran a profile on him recently, which i unfortunately missed, and am having trouble watching on yahoo video. he pulls 10 million a year from a show he stopped working for in 1993. that is so sweet. oh, and he does lots of good things for dogs.

no wonder jtil can afford to play so many big poker tournaments. : )

nyc and restaurants

yeah, i'm back, and so far it's all good, except for the weather. first day it's 12 degrees, second day it's snowing. that's just wrong.

i'm mostly shuttling from one doctor's appt to another, but last night i had the pleasure of FINALLY trying the famed momofuku. and it was as good as i'd hoped. the pork buns were tender and delicious, by far my favorite dish. the hamachi was great, and i loved the grapefruit (my favorite fruit) served with it, but it definitely wasn't the best i've ever had. the chicken wings were deliciously spicy, but a bit greasy. oh wait, i take it back. pork buns tied for my favorite dish w/ the brussel sprouts. YUM. mixed with bacon and some kind of delicious sauce, it was heaven.

i also finally tried blue ribbon bakery, and i have to say i was a little disappointed. it wasn't that the matzoh ball soup wasn't good, or that my duck confit wasn't rich and well-portioned, but more that it was insanely overpriced. every item on their menu is about three to five dollars more than it reasonably should cost.

then onto westville, one of my old standbys. we waited for about a half hour, but the mac and cheese and burger were worth the wait. i actually think i preferred my friend's veggie platter to the burger, but that's not to say the burgers aren't tasty. unfortunately they ran out of oreos, so i had to settle for a lil devin (oatmeal/cranberry cookie w/ icing layer). haven't tried it yet, but will update you once i have.

tomorrow night i'm finally (hopefully) going to try the little owl. yay!

long time gone

blogger just informed me i haven't posted since february 20th. mostly cause i've been traveling and haven't had lots of internet access. i'm in london, leaving for ny tomorrow. my first time home in six months.

so poker. i played in my last tuesday night tournament last week in amsterdam. i brought my new good luck charm, nintje, and we came in eighth. unfortunately i can't remember most of the hands that got me there less than a week later, but i did double up toward the end with tens against eights, and that helped. i was a short stack, but got lucky with the dealer button being on me for the first hand of the final table. nobody got called on their all ins, and i would have been so low after my next small blind, that i called a raise with K5 suited on the button, and lost to KQ.

i also played today in london. my friend had a baptism to attend, and my plan was to go shopping all day, but after a few hours at spitalfields market i was done for the day. so i wandered over to the gutshot and played in their 20 pound sunday freezeout. when i arrived there was a sign that they were flooded and the tournament would be delayed at least an hour. seeing as it was pouring rain, i decided to duck into a nearby pub and watch the blackburn/bolton game (go blackburn!). some other poker players followed me over there, and had a nice chat with them. we returned for the tournament, and i ended up in fourth place. i got SUPER lucky when we were down to seven (top six paid). a few hands earlier I had gone all in on the button w/ A6 and got called by the big blind, who picked up KJ. I was ahead until the river, when she picked up a king. argh! so a few hands later i was short stacked and went all in w/ A3. she called and i was a huge dog against AK. flop came 45K, and the turn was a miracle 2!! she was nearly out, and went out in the next hand. toward the end it was kind of a crapshoot. i made a bad call with threes against an all in who had jacks, and then lost with KQ against A3 suited when he caught a flush. i definitely had the respect of the table, though, and it was a fun afternoon.

now i'm catching up on some stressful work issues and thinking about how crazy it is that i'm headed to ny tomorrow. after saying hello to my parents, my first agenda item is getting a cell phone. if i have time i'll be blogging about my trip to iceland in the next couple of days, which was fantastic.