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More Memories of No. Cal
Monday Jul 26, 2004 - Link to Entry
As 2002 came to a close I found I had developed a small but strong group of friends. Ari, who eventually became my roommate, was picked up as a free agent at a gathering entitled, "Jewish Newcomers." Though I thought he was in his mid thirties when we started talking on the elevator ride to the event I soon found out we were the exact same age and ripe for friendship...man that sounds ridiculous. Also at this event I was first introduced to Tamra who I was supposed to meet as we shared a mutual friend (shared a mutual friend sounds redundant).
Having no plans for the holiday myself, Gabe and the Drucker clan invited me to join them in Seattle for the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus, aka Christmas. After amazing meal after amazing meal, thousands of gifts, tons of movies, an amazing flight in a tiny prop plane flown by Mr. Elliot Drucker, a spiritual Christmas show (note: much much better than the Hannukah show I would see a year later in Phoenix), and a Seattle Supersonics game, I flew back to SF. A few days later Michelle joined Ari and I for the celebration of 2003's birth, and then Gabe arrived to join us in the viewing of the game of the century, Miami v. Ohio State Fiesta Bowl. Assuming that Ohio State would be crushed by the thought to be superior Hurricanes, we created a game that entailed consuming alcohol if the Buckeyes did things right. For example, every first down, every turnover, etc. The best rule though was anytime they showed a highlight featuring a Northwestern athlete being schooled by a Buckeye one would have to drink for the duration of the highlight. If you are familiar with this national championship game then you can probably guess how things turned out in my family room.
A few weeks later a friend of my brother Adam who I had been in touch with via phone became a permanant fixture in our lives. Eric, aka Young Rico, Rico, Richard, and Scoobaleedoo, and I clicked right away. After countless outings and a superbowl party he cemented his presence in our SF lives and the crew it was a growing!
Still to come...Dating or rather trying to, music, Love, and more....
24 Down!
Sunday Jul 25, 2004 - Link to Entry
I made it. Another milestone, another marker, turn the page. I have now been on this planet for 24 years...
Unfortunately the day itself fell on a Sunday and I was DJing a wedding Saturday night. Thus I was left with only Friday if I wanted to have a group outing for my celebration. The plan: Book a hotel room at the Embassy Suites and treat the party like a goodbye/birthday combo. The theme: Children's party. So there would be really sugary cake, games, swimming, bad movies, balloons, pizza, and alcohol? Well we're not 8 so we entertained ourselves accordingly. Or rather the hotel did.
When the roomies and I arrived at around 5pm to check in the clerk let us know that happy hour began at 5:30. Thoroughly unimpressed with the room and feeling famished we decided to go down stairs to hunt out food and perhaps enjoy a drink special. Now this was a special thats hard to pass by:
Complimentary Cocktails 5:30-7:30pm.
Meghan, Nichole, and I waited in line. We thought this might mean one free cocktail for everyone with a room key, or something along those lines. As we reached the front of the line we saw that our expectation was way off mark. Albeit not top shelf liquor, the drinks were free for as long as you wanted to drink them. We immediately took 3 tequilla sunrises back to the table near the waterfall and I got on the phone calling EVERYONE who was coming to the party to get over ASAP for the "Happy Hour" or "Estatic Two Hours" as I prefer to call it.
By 7:30 almost all the guests had arrived and had enjoyed an average of 5 drinks a piece. Though an exact number was not calculated we as a group probably consumed somewhere between 40-50 cocktails. Needless to say this changed the party plan a little bit. We retreated to the room for pizza and played trivial pursuit instead of various drinking games. Eventually after eating we went downstairs to check out the pool/sauna/hot tubs. After becoming infected by their foul scent we returned to the room for a children's birthday cake featuring Harry Potter. Nichole got me a pair of Potter glasses to wear as I blew out the candles. Oh and I got all 24 of them with one breath and only spit on the cake a little bit.
Anyway, shortly there after I passed out and people dispersed, but I think the whole affair was a nice escape from the city and a fun celebration for all!
Topic change: Officially I will be leaving San Francisco first thing Saturday morning the 31st. The past two weeks I've been saying tough goodbyes over dinner and have been sad about the whole transition. Its hard to keep my eye on all the amazing things I have ahead of me when I see myself having to end all of these great connections within a matter of days. So sadly and a bit unproductively I have been gathering my belongings in boxes of varying shapes and sizes. I hope to finish this lovely process this evening. Wish me luck or just wish me a happy birthday!
All Apologies
Tuesday Jul 20, 2004 - Link to Entry
Frankly I'd really like to keep the countdown coming with recaps of my time spent in SF. But with the lack of consistant internet service in my home, the packing to do, and the goodbyes to say, I'm busy....
So I'd like to say I'm sorry if I don't keep the site fresh for the next two weeks. I appreciate everyone who spends time here at the JRo.com and I promise that after the move I will go back to regular posting...Just give me a couple weeks here.
Much love,
Jeremy
A Fortnight in No. Cal
Thursday Jul 15, 2004 - Link to Entry
A tick tick tick tick tick tick tick...
Consider this entry the two minute warning in the football game of San Francisco life. Even though mathematically I really only have about a minute remaining in this game (2 weeks out of 100 = 1/50. There are 60 minutes in a Pro Game. Therefore I have 60/50ths or 1 minute 12 seconds). Anyway...I thought it appropriate to use this time to reflect on my two years spent in the land of the left instead of focusing on what's left of it (horrible pun).
I arrived in San Francisco August 17, 2002 without a home, a job, and at that point a car. I had joined Teach For America and had just completed 6 weeks of hellacious training lovely Bronx, NY. With just three days to skip all the way across the nation I stopped back in Chicago, filled my car with boxes, and put it on a shipping truck whilst I got myself on an aeroplane...I like the word aeroplane.
Me and San Fran didn't start off the best of friends. Good ol' TFA couldn't find us jobs which meant we were going to have to commit to an apartment and have to just take it on faith that we would eventually be employed. Meanwhile it was freezing everyday and I was wondering where the hell California had gone. My car wasn't exactly making tracks across the nation. It barely got here before September...Bastards!
Eventually though I got my final assignment as a 7th grade math/sci teacher, Evan, Nichole, Meghan and I settled on a 4 Bdrm place in lovely Cole Valley, and "I'm not gonna lie to you" Joe finally got my car out in one piece. Life in San Francisco had begun and with time for little else we all began growing up faster than we ever had before. With over 100 kids my sole responsibility in the fields of mathematics and life science I experienced new thoughts, concerns, and levels of maturity that I was unaccustomed to. Instead of chatting football over the phone, Gabe and I will talk teaching strategy and would congratulate each other on accomplishments.
As time passed, exhausted I still longed to do more with music. I began focusing on playing as much as possible after work and started writing the music that would become the Goodbye Project. After a few open mics at Rockin' Java and Nickie's and getting bit hard by the performance bug when seeing the "Pop Rocks" at The Red Devil Lounge, I began to recruit for a music project.
Stay tuned for....OSU wins the Fiesta Bowl I, Eric Y, Jon B, Jerry B, and romance at school....
No Limit Baby!
Tuesday Jul 13, 2004 - Link to Entry
WARNING: The Following is a long entry. If you are not interested in all of the details of my poker tournament please feel free to skim down to the bottom. Thanks for reading.
Lucky Chances casino, just 8 miles south of my home in San Francisco, is where I planned to stake my claim. $3,000 Guaranteed - $45 tournament with a $40 re-buy option. The game began at 10:30 am which is exactly when I arrived. A bit nervous and a bit fatigued I bought my placard and found my seat at table 4 seat 5 where $1,000 in chips and a table hungry and eager awaited those magic words, “Deal ‘em up.”
Monitors hung around the room. They displayed information on the blinds, what round it was, how many active players were in the tournament, what the pay outs would be, and how much time remained in the round. The clock began with 120 players active in the day’s game.
Round 1: $25 - $25 Blinds, 10 minutes on the clock. I laid low for awhile sizing up the others. The table was almost silent. I was the youngest player by at least 5 years. Wearing my Magglio Ordonez 2003 All Star Jersey at a LA Dodgers cap I wanted everyone at the table to see me as ‘Dead Money’, which basically means unthreatening and inexperienced. While I myself was out to prove that I was not in fact ‘Dead Money’ I still didn’t want to attract much attention. Chips kept exchanging hands while my stack slowly depleted.
Round 2: $50 - $25 Blinds, 10 minutes on the clock. Time to make my move. With A – 9 unsuited I bet $200. The gentleman to my left, either sensing weakness, or just loving his cards promptly went all in. The next 8 players folded and it was back to me. I more than covered his chips but with only $700 or so left at this point I wasn’t that in love with what I had. I too mucked my cards and lost $200 for nothing. For the remainder of the round I felt a pressure to get involved. I was in second to last at the table and needed to start taking risks. 2-7 unsuited, generally viewed as the absolute worst starting hand in poker. “I’m all in.” A woman sporting a 49’ers hat called. Q – 3 of hearts. People were shocked by my move. The flop: 7, 3, 5 – no hearts. I now had to worry only about 3’s and Queens. The turn…a 2. With two pair I still had to worry about Q’s and 3’s. And the river…A Queen.
Left only with my orange buy back button (which I had though was worth a thousand dollars earlier in the day), I bought back in for $40 and received $1500 in chips. I figured I had a good read on a couple players and I came to have fun not to be a tight wad.
Round 3: $100 - $50 Blinds. 15 minutes on the clock. I started really looking around. The man two seats to my right went all in and the card shark Tim called him. The man flipped pocket Jacks, Tim flipped Aces. The flop, A, A, 5. Seat open, and I’m not in last!! Truth be told I was scared to be the first person to leave the room so this was a big moment. I began making goals for myself: just last until 100 players remain, just make it until round 4, etc. A few hands later the gentleman directly to my right went all in and Tim the Ace man called again. The Gentleman flipped King’s, Tim flipped Ace Queen suited. The flop of course had an Ace for Tim, the turn helped no one and the river carried a Queen to add insult to injury. Two seats now open, and I was surviving.
Round 4: Ante $25 a person, Blinds $100 - $200. With a bit of money now in his stack I started to want to play against Tim. I figured he was eyeing me since he had single handedly cleared out my side of the table and I was next in the pattern. After some foolish mistakes trying to up blinds and having people call all in against me forcing me to fold I finally caught something worth playing….sort of. 3 – 3. A gentleman two seats to my left called all in and once again I figured I might as well make a move, though to tell you the truth I was a bit embarrassed playing with those cards. He flipped his King Queen suited and it was on. The flop, Queen, Ace, Ten. He now had a higher pair and a straight draw. Six on the turn. And on the river….A 3! I doubled up and now had a bit of power.
A few minutes left in the round and I had done a bit of bullying myself stealing some blinds and padding my stack. But still it was Tim I needed to take down and soon I’d have an opportunity to do just that. Sadly I must report that these details are sketchy. My heart was running a mile a minute and so the cards have been lost to me. Here is a rough sketch of what occurred. Tim and I ended up playing two consecutive hands heads up both times of which he called All in. The first time he had me covered so if I had lost I would have been out of the tournament. I won the first hand mostly by luck, but the second hand was actually viewed as a move of skill. Tim, a bit on tilt by losing a majority of his chips to dead money in the corner wanted to win them back and challenged me once again with an all in. This time I had Queens in the pocket and wasn’t going to let him off the hook. Plus I knew he was bluffing and trying to buy the investments already on the table. I called and low and behold I read him perfectly. I won the two hands and as round 3 came to a close I was the chip leader in the tournament with over $20,000 in chips and 45 or so players remaining.
During the break between rounds a few players came up to talk with me to offer congratulations. One strong player from our table took me aside to coach me about the situation. He said that if I stuck to my game and didn’t act recklessly that I would have a seat at the final table. But that I needed to stay focused, not worry about the leader board or the money, but just to play my game. I was flattered, I was overwhelmed, and I was proud of myself.
Round 5 – Ante $50 a person, Blinds $200 - $400. While I was away they had converted all of my chips into bigger denominations. What once was well over 200 chips was now about 35. I didn’t love this but I figured it made me less likely to play. And play I did not. I laid low for as long as I could even folding away Ace’s if they didn’t have a suited friend or a face card for company.
Round 6 – Ante $75, Blinds $300 - $600. Players kept coming and going. The tournament kept shrinking and shrinking. People arriving at the table had more chips than I. I needed to start playing a bit more before the antes and blinds ate away all of my lead. Whenever a player with just a few thousand to their name would go all in and I had a face card I’d call. On three or four consecutive calls by me I would lose even though my pocket hand was superior. Luck was no longer running along with me.
Rounds 7 through 10 are a blur. I kept thinking stick to your game. Don’t worry about the other players, don’t worry about the clocks, the blinds, the antes. Just keep playing smart. Then my nemesis arrived. Probably the best player I saw the entire day. Either he read me like a book or he just liked his hand but in any case the hand we played together was the momentum swing of my day.
My nemesis went ahead and called my big blind and was the only one to do so at the table. I, giving no indication of my hand, went ahead and checked the option to raise with my Q-7 suited. The flop came and with it brought the Ace of Clubs, the Queen of diamonds, and the 4 of Clubs. I checked fearing he had an ace or clubs and he followed suit checking as well. At this point I had to assume that I had the best pair since he didn’t bet on the Ace. Along came the two of diamonds. Now two flush draws on the table so I checked again hoping that he would bet and that I could call and get some momentum my way. He of course went all in which I quickly called assuming at worst I was playing a flush draw with my top pair and I was willing to take my 3 to 1 odds on that battle. He flipped and had the Ace! His slow play of the card and read of my situation baffled me. I still don’t know how he did it and really admire the way he handled the hand. It ended up bringing me down to about $5000.
Eventually I got moved to another table. There were now only 24 players left in the tournament. With the antes at $300 and the blinds at $600 - $1200 at this point I needed to win a hand quick if I wanted to make it to the final 10. After a bit of time I finally got something I liked, a pair of queens. A gentleman ahead of me in betting order called all in for about $2000 in chips. With all those antes and blinds there was well over $6800 at stake which would definitely be enough to get me back in the thick of the competition. I called. He flipped over Jacks. And wouldn’t you know it, I was winning all the way until the river when he caught another Jack. Oh lady luck how you despise me.
Still despite the antes and the blinds I was sticking around with my few chips. According to the board there were now only 18 players left. A minute later we were consolidated. I was at one of the final two tables. I was on the blind for $2400 which coincidentally was all I had left….I was automatically all in. Before our hand was dealt two men were knocked off the other table. 16 remained. The bets went around our table, two men called which brought another all in. We flipped, man to my left Ace 8, man to my right Ace 5, and I had Ace 6. The fourth ace popped up on the flop but my six never saw the light of day and ace 8 ended my run. According to the dealer since my hand was superior to the Ace 5 I officially took 15th place on the day.
15th out of 120 - Not bad for dead money.
In conclusion, no matter how good you get at poker a lot of the game is still luck. Even when I got outsmarted by nemesis and even when I had the intuition to call Tim’s bluff, anyone can catch cards if you are betting big before all the cards have been shown. If and when I play in another tournament I will hopefully get the opportunity to bet on the turns and rivers a bit more. I’m sure that that would be the case at the final table. But perhaps with the ticking clock and ante blind situation everyone feels the pressure to be aggressive. At any rate, I’m not bad at this stuff.
Weekend Update
Sunday Jul 11, 2004 - Link to Entry
Today marked the fourth anniversary of my Mother's passing. Like previous years I attempted to do things that she would do if she had anoter day such as eating her favorite foods, shopping, listening to music, etc. Per usual my friends and family were awesome about it checking up on me and being around to partake in the 'Festivities'. Included in said festivities today was the watching of the 2003 Fiesta Bowl featuring her favorite team in the world The Ohio State University Buckeye Football squad. Of course they win in double overtime and dramatic fashion. To tell you the truth I still enjoy watching it.
Since I last wrote there are a few relevant updates. I got a verbal commitment from a job with no start date as of yet. I will continue to push for one and will wait to make an official announcement of the position here until I have all the details ironed out. But it looks like I'm doing well in the employment sector. Nichole, Meghan, and I did a movie marathon on Friday buying a ticket to Anchorman (*** 1/2 - Suprisingly good, amazing cameos, and Will Farrell continues to dazzle) and then sneaking into The Stepford Wives (1/2 - The worst movie I've seen since Death Becomes Her. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SUBJECT YOURSELF TO THIS HORRIBLE PIECE OF RUBBISH*). Honestly I wanted my money back after the whole ordeal. Even though we got two for the price of one I think the second film may have cost me a year of my life. I was entirely dumber for having seen it.
*If a future employer was involved in the creation of said film, Gabe wrote this. I am innocent.
Moving on. Sox have been playing crazy up and down baseball. They currently sit atop the AL Central going into the break. Its getting to be a great ball season. As a result of their recent sweep I will be attending several games in Oakland next week as we battle to stay in first. I will of course post updates here.
I think I may play in a poker tournament tomorrow morning. I've been wanting to for awhile and I might as well get it out of my system. Updates to follow as well.
In conclusion, Stepford=bad, Sox=good, me=probably employed and a little sad/reflective this weekend.
Shalom.
Mad Props
Friday Jul 9, 2004 - Link to Entry
I have gots to give mad props to Pat for his new website. Not only has he been updating very regularly, but he uses pictures in almost every entry and has created a very strong and unique voice. He'll curse up a storm or throw down very descriptive lingo. He basically is saying to the internet world, this is who I am and I think you can handle it. Plus he does great throw backs to previous entries if you are a regular reader. So check it out as it is my official pick for the best new website out there. Good job Pat.
Back to my boring site. With all the time in the world I find more ways to not get things done than ever before. My room is a mess, my health is deteriorating (constant headaches, still injured, insomnia), and I seem unable to structure a schedule for myself. Lame duck time is not good for the old Jayro. At least I've been playing the hell out of my bass and getting my music skills back in order. Now if I could just stop watching TV, surfing the net, staying up late, obsessing over the Whites Sox, and playing poker, I'd be in great shape.
No time like the present to try to get back on track. Goodnight.
Spidey as poor, I’m not buying and a little Q & A
Tuesday Jul 6, 2004 - Link to Entry
Thematically speaking, Spider Man 2 was highly inferior to its predecessor. Instead of believable anguish arising from superhuman powers and responsibilities, this sequel explored issues of loyalty and financial struggle. Though still accomplished in technical feats, this highly anticipated summer blockbuster failed to move its audiences, failed to move its narrative line along, and failed to up the stakes until deep into act two. I checked my watch at least three times, groaned at several pieces of lame dialogue (ie. “Here I am standing in your doorway. I’ve always been standing in your doorway.”), and failed to understand how the mechanical arms were a) necessary to the scientist’s demonstration and b) why they immediately turned evil. After awhile I was just waiting to hear the Train song, which of course was only played during the credits. Damn you Spiderman!! Will I see Spider Man 3? Absolutely.
And now the long awaited “What’s new Jro?” Q & A
Q: What’s new Jro?
A: Just packing up and working on my poker and music. I’ve been playing a lot of bass and rediscovering the wonders of The Goodbye Project.
Q: Any news on the job front?
A: I’ve had some very promising meetings as of late and I expect to make an official announcement in the upcoming weeks.
Q: How’s the hammy?
A: Bad enough that I went to the doctor today unhappy with its lack of healing since last Wednesday.
Q: Who do you like in this year’s All Star Game?
A: The AL. Though the fans voted for some of the most overrated players in the game the highly unskilled and un-athletic outfield of the NL will be more of a liability than an offensive threat. With the left and right fielders lacking any sort of speed (Bonds and Sosa) and Griffey fearing for his health any time the ball flies near him, I expect a lot of routine pop ups to turn into extra base hits for the AL. Also expect a RBI from Thomas and 2 innings of scoreless baseball from Loiaza.
Q: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?
A: The world may never know.
The Cost of Victory
Friday Jul 2, 2004 - Link to Entry
Like a strange episode of The Twilight Zone I had a major bout of Deja Vu at the Kickball Playoff Round 1 game last night. Down by a couple of runs with two outs and the bases loaded I wanted nothing more than to reach base safely and push some runs across. I did this successfully allowing my team to take a lead which we never reliquished but not without paying the price. What was the cost of reaching first base? My left hamstring.
Yes, only 6 weeks ago I destroyed my right hammy on the softball diamond in Las Vegas running hard to first. Now I've got a matching set of gimpy ass legs. I cannot decide what the lesson to be learned is. Feel free to send your input. Is it:
a) One should stretch before physical activity
b) One shouldn't try so hard
c) 23-24 year old bodies are at high risk of injury
d) Jews shouldn't play sports
Perhaps its a bit of each. All I know is these are the two worst injuries I've had in all of my years of athletic activity. I think I'll stick to music.