Cashing Out

So my sister gave me guff and reminded me that a functioning blog needs continuous entries. I guess I got lazy and kind of half forgot / half neglected writing an entry. Here’s a Matt update (a Mupdate?).

One thing that I am currently thinking to do is to stop playing poker. I think I’m going to go on a temporary hiatus for a month or three and then evaluate what I want to do. So far in the 136 days of 2005, I’ve played poker for 216 hours. That averages to one hour and thirty-six minutes per day. I’m not sure I’m the same person who 22 months ago liked to figure out the strategy and be the cool guy that plays poker. I still like aspects about it, and I did F-ing own Johning F-ing Chan at the WSOP. I just feel there are other things I want to do that the time might service better. The activities include:

Writing and Reading- I someday hope to write a movie. I have purchased some novels and collections of modern short stories. I need to read them. I also hope to start writing some short stories, creating some characters, and see how things go. Two friends from high school who I had BITD (back in the day) talked about making movies with are graduating now and I need to be proactive if we’re ever going to do anything.

Music- For a period of three or four months my junior year of college, I started playing my roommate Brenda’s piano. I played for many years as a kid and felt I was forced. Now, I actually want to play. Those few months were fun, and then in late October my roommate broke my leg. I had a hard time getting up and down the stairs and couldn’t get to the piano, and then I got sidetracked and lost my desire to play. But the desire is back, and today I went and looked at buying a guy’s used piano.

Sports and Exercise- Sitting on my ass for an hour and a half every day for the past 22 months playing poker seems to have taken up time that I played sports (which did include semi-professional neighborhood croquet for two years. When Brian moves back to Oregon, he, Kirk, and I need to have a rematch battle royale). Anyways, the year before Brian broke my leg, I had trained all summer for the Hood to Coast distance relay race and had taken multiple tennis, basketball, and running PE classes. I just remember feeling so healthy. And I never got sick, not even sniffles.

So that’s about it. To wrap up: No poker for a bit. More reading. More writing. Maybe a piano (note to new roommates JJ and Terry: a digital piano, the kind where I can plug in headphones). And more sports and running. And more blog postings. Oh yeah, and in two weeks I’m moving in with two buddies, JJ and Terry, who live up in the Sylvan Hills, like halfway between Beaverton and downtown Portland.