True confessions of a riverboat gambler

Another one for Curious....my fellow Houstonian?? Houstonite?? Hous....ahhhh...Texan

2006-02-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

Regardless of the fact that you don't live there anymore.....and I never have. (though lately I spend more time there than I do at my home) It's the kinda place that get's into your system. Great place to watch the general population doing whatever it is they do. Take one particular afternoon a few months back.......struck me so funny I had to come back to my room and write about it. I posted it on the other site but I thought you might enjoy it, so I'll repost here:

Christopher Street West., Houston, Texas

Oct 24, 2005 4:42 pm118 views

Workingman Hotel, East Houston.

Walked into the hotel bar for cocktail hour.....nodded at the uniformed security guard, couple a leather clad bikers shooting pool in the corner, construction workers everywhere, 2 guys in Stetsons sittin at the bar, an Indian (I'm not making this shit up) in the middle of them, Bowie on the jukebox.....where the fuck am I?

For Curious.....First post

2006-02-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

I jumped in right in the middle of the 100 thing craze, thought it was kinda cool and joined in...... It was viewed by just over 100 readers. *grin*

1] Life is good
2] I'm a gypsy....with a forwarding address
3] I love my kids....despite the fact they're teen agars
4] I'm a car person
5] I am, always have been, and always will be, a gambler
6] I like jackets
7] Tom Delay should be in jail
8] Karl Rove should be his cell mate
9] W should take his befuddled look back to the private sector; someone will give him another business
10] I don't feel this administration is any worse than the last one
11] I'm apolitical
12] I don't like power hungry assholes
13] I like expensive rum and cheap cigars
14] don't tell anyone but my guilty pleasure is a double whopper with cheese
15] I read a lot
16] I love baseball
17] I find women in their 40s very sexy
18] when I was in my 20s I found women in their 20s very sexy
19] I look forward to getting my mail
20] my job puts me in contact with the wealthy and the struggling
21] I've met some truly amazing people in both categories
22] I've met some truly despicable people in both categories
23] 18 is a tough age
24] when I'm alone I tend to sleep in my recliner
25] regardless of the price of gas, I'd never give up my road trips
26] I like jeans and boots
27] I wish I had an inkling of musical ability
28] I gave up underwear at 15
29] as soon as the new Jack Higgins is released I set aside a few hours, that's all it takes
30] the celebrity driven culture in the US is a sign of the apocalypse
31] I gawk when I see a celebrity also
32] afterwards I feel like shit
33] I'm fiscally irresponsible
34] my fiscal irresponsibility and my gambling never intersect. No matter how good the bet looks, if I can't afford it I don't bet it; there are NO sure things
35] I was the first white man I know to shave my head
36] I had few options in the matter
37] if I could I'd grow my hair long again.....for a little while anyhow.
38] I have little problem with the torture of prisoners to get vital information; this is war, regardless of who's to blame
39] I have little tolerance for the degradation of prisoners to "soften them up"
40] it's amazing how small a cigar stub I can light without catching my facial hair on fire
41] if given the chance I'd go back to Brazil just for the coffee
42] I've been to a dozen foreign countries and enjoyed them all
43] I don't wish to live anywhere but the US
44] I've been to 2 predominantly Muslim countries and have been made to feel very welcome 45] the only country I've been to where I won't drive is India
46] the Indians are a warm and friendly people....but terrible drivers
47] I feel the same about Texas
48] I'll drive in Texas
49] I've lived in the suburbs 45 of my 49 years
50] I don't much like the suburbs
51] moving around a lot helps
52] moving around a lot is Hell on relationships
53] it no longer surprises me that I relate better to working class black men than I do to my white, suburban neighbors
54] this is my favorite time of year
55] I like rough sex
56] I'm not a violent man
57] I don't like fads
58] I like the Texas hold em craze, though I've been playing for years
59] I've lost touch with all my old friends
60] I live a thousand miles from where I grew up
61] I intend to find a select few
62] I'm a chronic procrastinator
63] not in my professional life
64] this is fun
65] Revealing though, which is a bit uncomfortable
66] I am an excellent cook, taught by TV chefs
67] I rarely cook
68] I don't own a gun and have never needed one
69] driving through Montana I realized why some people are so passionate about the right to bear arms
70] for a lot, it's the wrong reasons
71] I love to watch women masturbate
72] unless it's only for my pleasure
73] forced emotions are fake emotions
74] although force with the right woman is too hot....you know who you are
75] I should live in an apartment
76] I do like my space, but I'm not a good homeowner
77] although I don't relate well to my neighbors, I appreciate their understanding
78] if I didn't have kids, I would be living in a motor home
79] I'd rather have kids
80] I had more sex when I was younger
81] don't miss the quantity
82] I have better sex now
83] there's nothing more boring than bad pornography
84] 98% of pornography is bad
85] perhaps the other 2% is art
86] I've lost and gained 1000 lbs over the course of my lifetime.....in 30 lbs increments
87] perhaps mom should have named me Duncan
88] If I had another son I'd name him Harrison
89] I doubt I'll have another son
90] I exercise regularly.....not an easy feat considering my lifestyle
91] I've recently discovered online poker, not sure if it's a good thing
92] I'd be very surprised if I remarry
93] a desirable woman does not have to be a size 6 or under
94] she could be though
95] I pick up accents quickly
96] I despise air travel and airports
97] I'm a frequent flier
98] I'm tired of meat
99] I eat meat daily
100] Life is paradoxical, why fight it

EXCUSE ME

2006-02-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

Perhaps I'm being closed minded here, but I feel I have to say something…….

I know you work hard at your “sport”

BUT.....

....... unless you're cleaning the venue after an event, brooms don’t belong in the Olympics.

I’m sorry…..shuffleboard, on ice, with janitors, just isn’t an athletic competition worthy of the Olympic Games..

It would appear in an effort to make a few extra dollars the International Olympic Committee got a bit carried away. Some of the newer sports in the Olympics are slightly ridiculous…..and highly amusing. There is a difference between a sport , a game, and an activity. Activities can be both sports and games….or just an amusing way to pass the time. A game as basic as bowling can also be a sport; you can drink beer and have a great time bowling a game with friends, but the top competitors are athletes, using physical skills most of us haven't developed, or just don't have. Not the case with sledders.....Not everyone can finish a 200 fly or ski a slalom course......but almost anyone can slide down a hill.....Let’s take the Gold Medalist in the luge, clad in his racing suit, atop his $20,000 high tech sled, sitting at the top of the course, tensely awaiting the go signal. Then let’s take ME, in my winter Carharts (spandex isn’t a good look for me) a lunch tray strapped to my ass….and he’ll beat me by what… A few seconds??? Put me in the bobsled rocking chair, and it would be difficult to differentiate mine from most American sleds, but can I do a triple Lutz? ahhhhhhh No…..and now you not only have sleigh riding on your back (luge) you have it on your belly (skeleton) and all these may pale in comparison to Racewalking.

Still…..Brooms???

What’s next IOC? The Olympic Texas hold em championship?

I know the Olympics bring in a lot of money for athletes, TV, equipment manufacturers, advertisers, host cities etc.....but it does no good to cheapen the games. When I was a kid, I remember Olympians as being ATHLETES……. for the rest of us there’s the trivia contest next Friday at the local elementary school, let's not confuse the two.

PS: I have to give the IOC a bit of credit though; adding the snowboarding competitions have livened up the proceedings considerably.

Nothing but the best

2006-02-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

Checked into a hotel today in suburban Baltimore. Recently the mid range hotels have bit on an amenity offered by their more exclusive bretheren and are handing out a goody bag (usually to their club members) on check in. It's a nice touch; some nuts, candy, cheese and crackers, maybe an apple; little things to make the guest feel welcome. It had been a hard day, and a little snack sounded nice, so when I got to my room I opened my bag and found a snack size bag of lays potato chips and a bottle of Holiday Inn water.....I can only assume they ran out of bread.

Are YOU prepared to meet God

2006-01-23T00:39:00.000-08:00

Been spending a lot of time in the Bible Belt recently. Every now and then I come across a billboard that reads:

ARE YOU Prepared to meet God

Although I take an Agnostics view towards the great beyond, I gotta tell ya, these signs always spook me. I get a kinda LA Story flashback. Can anyone else see that sign .....Or is it just meant for *gulp* ME??? Ahhhh PREPARED??? Well no, not really Ummm WHEN??? and should I dress for the occasion???

If you asked the posters of said billboard, my relationship with the Almighty would have to be construed as spotty at best. I think I live my life the right way. I try to be a productive citizen. I take care of my family. I'm kind to children and animals. I don't feel any great urge to screw my neighbor......or his wife for that matter. Oh, there might be a few commandments I bend slightly, but my real sin is that I just don't have the same beliefs as they do. To many, apparently, that is VERY bad thing. I know, I've met the enemy, and he was me.

I believe in something because I want to believe in something. I'm just not sure what it is. It's a beautiful world out there and I want to think there's a reason for it. Fate? An order to the universe? Nature? Sun Worship? might even be some of the basic tenets preached in one of the multitudes of religions floating around out there. The point is I honestly don't know, and I have a very hard time coming to terms with someone who tells me they do.......And if I don't believe them I'm going to suffer eternal damnation.

Religion plays no role in my life. I was raised catholic...... sort of. Mom was a hedger, we didn't go to church (even on Holidays) but she insisted we do all the sacrament stuff. We never really talked about it, but I assume her logic was "just in case". Even as a kid I had a baaaaaad feeling about organized religion. It just didn't add up to me. There was always that little voice in the back of my head that said "how do THEY know". Then I learned a bit; The Crusades, The Spanish Inquisition, The Conquistadors; if God was all about love, why did they kill anybody who didn't accept their words? I wondered, if they're so sure about their beliefs why was there more than one religion? I decided they were all hypocrites before I actually knew what hypocrites were. When I matured and came to the realization that hypocrisy was merely a glove required to warm the cold hand of power......I got smug. Idiots, I thought, how can you peddle that shit. My disdain for the flock was just as biting, Idiots, I thought, how can any thinking person believe that shit.

And then one fine day I had a revelation of my own........I had become them.

Sitting on my moral high ground, looking down on those who didn't agree with ME, I was practicing my own form of zealotry...... and I damn sure knew I was right. It was a humbling experience.

When I drive through the Belt these days I read the billboards quoting biblical passages to the infidels, decrying abortion, preaching their views and signing them, GOD. I may disagree, but the anger I felt is gone. To each their own. You want to post messages, be my guest, I'll write mine here. If it has no effect on anybody that's OK. If the debates remain philosophical and nobody has to die we're doing just fine.

Am I prepared to meet God? Not really, but I'm getting there.