The Curse of Kenny Rogers

Ok, to begin, let me set a scene. Yes the date says August 19th, but this is a blog for the dates of August 17th and 18th. This is information in case you cared, or just so I can have a clear head while writing this. Either way, it's truth, and that's what I yearn for: the Truth :)

So let me begin with Wednesday, the 17th - A GREAT DAY!!! It definitely climbs to a high tier on my ladder of days. Comprenden? Thus, the day began with my sister (13) and I heading down to Long Beach, California to visit my lovely girlfriend Heather. She recently moved down there to begin school at CAL STATE LONG BEACH on the 29th. This was especially tough on the two of us. We have been together for almost 19 months, and have spent very few days apart. Now, the most we'll see each other is every weekend. That's tough!!! I'm not worried about us (for the record, we're gettin' married, fo shizzle) but I am worried about how much we'll miss each other (cue your vomiting all over your computer screen).

What a tangent - so anyway, we get down to her apartment (it's a studio apt.) and lug in our duffel bags and boardgames (don't knock 'em - they rock!). We eat some lunch and watch "SINGIN IN THE RAIN". Heather loves the movie and my sister, who dances all the time at Desert Stars Dance Studio, had never seen it. It's entertaining enough, and so that went by really fast. My parents arrived with my 4-year-old bro (Caleb's the man!) shortly after the movie finished. After the brief tour (her apt. isn't that big!), we headed to the QUEEN MARY. This was our ultimate destination for the evening.

My grandfather is 67 years old and is a tour bus driver for TAUCK TOURS based out of Arizona, where he lives. His most recent tour brought him to Long Beach. We were meeting him for dinner on the QUEEN MARY, where he was also staying. So, we ate, and toured - it was my first time on the ship. You can check out some pictures on myspace.com/husteen - we had a lot of fun! So after all that funness, Heather, my sister, and I headed back to her apartment. We played some games, (EGYPTIAN WAR is always fun!) and chatted some before hittin the hay. We fell asleep in the middle of "CHICAGO", another movie my sister hadn't seen. Sweet dreams - - -

So we woke up a little after nine, and ate some breakfast. For the record, HONEY NUT CHEERIOS rock my socks! We were kinda bored, cuz we really don't know LONG BEACH yet, and so we aren't sure where anything is to pass the time. Another movie went in ("ANCHORS AWEIGH" with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra) and then it was time for Lunner (Lunch/Dinner Combo). Heather made chicken and vegetables and Rice-a-Roni ("The San Francisco Treat" - Ding, Ding). I can't wait til she cooks for me every night! She's awesome at it! After Lunner and a couple more games of Connect Four, it was (unfortunately) time to leave. After another tough good-bye (Holy Crap I miss just holding her hand!), my sister and I were off to Lancaster. We made it in a little over 2 hours (oodles of traffic today) and were welcomed home with dinner a couple hours after arriving.

After dinner, it was PING PONG time, as my dad and I battled for the evening's crown. I won 4 out of 5 (a good night), but it was certainly healthy, as we both laughed hard many-a-time. Then I got a call from a friend. He said that he was having a POKER game at his house tonight. I don't think he finished before I said YES! Any chance I get to play POKER, I do. Plus, it works as a distraction from my ever-present pity parties, which is always nice. So I, along with my buddy CY, (read his blog at www.insidecy.blogspot.com) went to take down the table. We're both frequent TEXAS HOLD 'EM players, and we knew that inexperience could possibly run rampant at this table. Turns out, we were right. There was a total of 8 players and I would vote that half of us would consider ourselves "regulars". After a couple of hours, it was down to me, Cy, and our friend's dad, who we will call, well, MR. CALL, or, how about THE GAMBLER, (hence the Kenny Rogers title; cue the light bulb). Now, mind you, it was only a $5 buy-in, so we weren't playing for much. However, Cy and I are both extremely competitive and losing would not be an option. We agreed that (mostly due to the length of the game and the luck of the dad) the top 2 could decide the outcome of the game, whether it be splitting the money or whatever. Cy and I wanted to split the $40 and call it a night, but we had to boot the dad first.

This, of course, did not happen. After he got lucky against me, he took out Cy with a mere "Eh" and a loose call. $5 well spent (cue Screaming and occasional bleeping). Cy and I said our group goodbyes, walked gloomily to our cars, pleaded our respective cases, and parted ways. We got to hang out with some cool people, though, and it was good to Cy again. I vote it a positive evening. I guess :)

So now that I can- Wait, do you hear that? I think it's my bed calling me! Hark!

Ergo. Visa Vie. Furthermore. I'm heading to bed. I have errands and such tomorrow to prepare for the big AVC, which starts (for me) on Tuesday. More on that in the days to come. . . Another chapter is done. This is a longer one. Tomorrow's will undoubtedly not be as such.

Sleep well when you sleep fellow people

---Property of Dwight Shrute

That is all -

J to tha G-O