I always knew that I was from the coolest place on earth (New Orleans, Louisiana), that is until Katrina hit. Nothing is more uncool than poor people left out on the street and all of the stories have basically killed tourism in New Orleans. I now live in Minnesota, I have for 20 years, people often ask why and I give them this funny stare like “please, there has to be a woman involved, right?” Otherwise why would you leave the coolest place on earth? Last night I went to a tribute to Duke Ellington performed by an octet including Branford and Delfeayo Marsalis. Music is such an important part of my life because it allows me to stay present, to feel some of the joy that New Orleans has inspired moved me a bit and took me out of my day to day.

This weekend I am headed about 30 minutes north of Duluth, MN to get some R&R before the main event. I am extremely confident in my game at this moment. I have been playing a lot of sit and go’s lately on Full Tilt and even though my results haven’t been stellar I feel like my heads up game is quite good. For some reason every time I play a $500 Heads up sit and go I get fancy play syndrome and lose my patience. That is a credit to my opponents. If I were to stick with $200’s I would probably be up 6k for the last 3 days. I have really found no one that just blows me away at those levels. I am likely going to write a strategy article on how I play those so keep a look out for that.

I also have a new Vespa, well I have had it for about a month, but the weather is just getting real nice to drive it more. It also allows me to stay in the “now” because loss of focus could be real bad. I am also motivated to get out of the house and quit doing “work for works sake”, which is good for my attitude and demeanor.