Worst Evar
It was the worst weekend of card playing ever. I was thinking of trying to use the quote from Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” but dude, it wasn’t the best of times at all; I lost at cards to everyone! Not that I was always last, but I never won.
I lost to K at Scotch Bridge or Up and Down the River or Oh Heaven, Oh Hell (whatever that game is called), then to Mike at Napoleon, then to Yuli at Napoleon. All the young’uns are growing up and I’m growing old. I probably only didn’t lose to Jimyo cos he was playing Block Party and Plants vs. Zombies and other video games for part of the time. Gaaaaah.
Speaking of Plants vs. Zombies, I think it’s been a hit with the whole family. We’ve played a LOT of Plants vs. Zombies. :) Worthy buy at ~$20.
More Yogurt!
There are two new tart frozen yogurt places in Berkeley — that I know of — for a total of five tart frozen yogurt places and at least seven frozen yogurt places total (tart and sweet alike). It’s madness! I’m not complaining, mind, but I’m just shocked that there is this much market for frozen yogurt in one place. Even accounting for the different parts of town they are in, it’s still amazing.
The two new places are the self-serve types, meaning you grab a bowl and put however much yogurt, however many flavors, and whatever toppings you like, then pay by weight. Yes, you can see the problem already, can’t you? It’s hard to get just a little bit, it never looks like much and it’s yogurt, healthy yummy yogurt. It’s also hard(er) to not go. Like… after dinner, when you’re so full, but well, you can just get a little bit of yogurt, so why not. (And by “you” I mean “me.”)
In case there was any doubt, I’ve tried all of the places. Creations on Shattuck between Channing and Durant and charges 36¢ per ounce and Yogurtland on Bancroft near Telegraph (although the website says they are also opening one on Shattuck) charges 30¢ per ounce. They’re both good, but Creations has more of the fruity flavors that I like. The one time I went to Yogurtland, there were green tea, coconut, chocolate, tiramisu, and cherry vanilla flavors amongst others, but Creations had blueberry, mango, lychee, passion fruit, strawberry, chocolate, and green tea flavors (amongst others, I don’t go enough to have both menus memorized I swear!!!). On the other hand, Yogurtland has biodegradable spoons, and regular Cap’n Crunch which is a plus. Creations so far only has Crunch Berries so if I only want the regular Cap’n I have to pick them out of the Crunch Berries. But overall, I think I like Creations a little better than Yogurtland.
Compared to my old favorite, Yogurt Harmony (where they serve you, have compostable everything, regular Cap’n Crunch, and free wireless), it’s tough. Because even with all of those advantages for Yogurt Harmony, it’s nice to be able to decide to mix three flavors and a little bit of three toppings and control (or not control) how much to get. I think Creations is especially a good value if you like flavored (instead of plain) tart and if you want a little bit of multiple toppings. So I go to both, depending on what I feel like — Yogurt Harmony for plain yogurt with two or no toppings, and Creations for lychee, mango, passion fruit yogurt with mochi, and/or Cap’n Crunch. I’ve mentioned the compostable spoons and Cap’n Crunch problems to the Creations folks, so hopefully they will fix that. It’s getting to be nicer weather, so I am back to a minimum of once per week, so I dunno, maybe they won’t fix it because no one cares; I’m just weird!
Haha, just had the following chat with Yut:
yut: they will just kill each other’s business after a year when the craze starts to fade
mim: It worries me cos I mean… I want the ones I like to make it
mim: This talking about yogurt makes me want some
yut: you can’t support their livelihood all by yourself
:p
So Sleepy
I like sleeping. I mean, I know, we all need it, but let’s be honest, some of us like it a whole lot more than others. I love sleep and I’m a pretty bad night owl. (But consider the cultural prejudices that make me say, “bad” night owl! I didn’t even realize until after I typed it.)
So refutation, from 3 Smart Things About Sleeping Late (more details in the article):
1. You may need more sleep than you think.
2. Night owls are more creative.
3. Rising early is stressful.
“Until the invention of the lightbulb (damn you, Edison!), the average person slumbered 10 hours a night.” Didn’t know that, didya? (I totally didn’t, myself.) Take that, early-bird, six-or-seven-hours-a-night people! Haha, Benjamin Franklin quoting, Leonardo da Vinci factoid spewing folks! :) [via Caterina.net]
At Least Decriminalize It
Thoughts on Pot vs Alcohol from a former Police Chief
If one of these two drugs is implicated in dire health effects, high mortality rates, and physical violence–and the other is not–what are we to make of our nation’s marijuana laws? Or alcohol laws, for that matter.
Anybody out there want to launch a campaign for the re-prohibition of alcohol? Didn’t think so. The answer, of course, is responsible drinking. Marijuana smokers, for their part, have already shown (apart from that little matter known as the law) greater responsibility in their choice of drugs than those of us who choose alcohol.
The crazy thing (to me) is that Prohibition in the US lasted only for thirteen years, while marijuana which has few negative effects and proven medical uses has been illegal … well I dunno, but if you count from the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, then 39 years?! [via Daring Fireball]
I just had two posts about drugs in a row, ha, oh well — today’s April 20 and coincidentally I’m feeling a lot better, better enough to think about blogging, I guess; the inhaler, cough syrup, and antibiotics really worked whatever I had. Still coughing a little bit — the doctor says sometimes it takes a while for the mucus membranes to calm back down. Or something like that.
Pharmacy
I went to see the doctor yesterday to beg for relief from my cough which has been keeping me (and Yut) up at night; the over the counter Robitussin, honey and tea, Ricola, etcetc weren’t working. I was starting to feel like a zombie from the lack of sleep. Also Yut’s requests for me to go see the doctor were getting more insistent, since he was suffering with me. It’s not that I have anything against going to see the doctor, but I kept thinking it was a cold, maybe the flu, and if it’s viral, there’s really not that much a doctor can do except tell you to rest and drink plenty of fluids. And I’d already taken four days off from work over this (although granted, no more than two consecutive days at a time), and I’ve been guzzling tea and water and soup. Well I guess three weeks worth of coughing with three days of fever and a coughing fit in the doctor’s office (and pathetic begging for sleep) means a small pharmacy’s worth of drugs.
There’s an antibiotic, an inhaler, and Cheratussin AC which is a cough syrup with codeine. Btw, the cough syrup doesn’t help as much as you’d think because the dose is 1-2 teaspoons every 4-6 hours, but I’ve been taking it every three hours at night because I wake up with a coughing fit about three hours after I take it. It’s still better than never quite falling asleep all the way because of coughing all night, but it’s not quite the awesomeness I was hoping for. And all of these medications are expensive, $55 even with insurance! This doesn’t include the co-pays for doctor’s visits. Health care is crazy — it’s scary to think what I would do without insurance. I mean, if I worked at a job with no insurance, I think I would have to seriously think about hoping it all goes away on its own — how do you afford to see the doctor (I think the visits are listed at $70 before insurance on my receipts) and medicine and days off? Frightening.
Anyways, this is probably more than you wanted to know about my medications, but I stayed home from work again today (slept ’til 2pm) so it’s basically all that’s “happened” to me today. :p
Well, wait, that’s not true! Yut’s selling turnips cos they went up to 551 bells this week!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! Our lil Animal Crossing folks are RICH! Yut’s promised me a town fountain. :D
UNC: Didn’t Embarrass the President
When President Barack Obama made his picks, he said, “Now, for the Tar Heels who are watching, I picked you all last year — you let me down. This year, don’t embarrass me in front of the nation, all right? I’m counting on you. I still got those sneakers you guys gave me.”
The admonition worked; the Tar Heels won, 89-72! They didn’t even ever have any close games (or am I forgetting something?), and the final game was certainly not close. I never saw Michigan State do better than within 15 points (I think at one point they were within 13 but I didn’t see it, I think I was sleeping zzzzzz). You know what that means! Yan and Lew TIED! Strangely, the actual championship game wasn’t close at all, but our pool was as close as it could be. The tiebreaker, that Total Points Scored in Championship Game field that seems useless and is an afterthought for everyone, actually came into play! The total points scored in the championship game was 161, and YB guessed 166, which is closer than 143 which is what Lew said so… YB is the winner! Congratulations!!! My goodness, all those years battling for last, but this year, triumph! She wins a congratulatory text message. :D
Final Standings:
YB: 87
Lew: 87
Ant: 81
(POTUS: 80)
CT: 77
misa, YuHK: 74
Steve: 72 (what a comeback!)
Al: 68
Yut: 67
mim: 66
Lingo: 65
Jimyo: 64
Special K: 54
Final Four’s Only Half Done, But…
Michigan State won!!! NOBODY in this pool called Michigan State. In fact, a lot of people, including me, thought they were ranked too high or something and picked them to make a rather early (or at least earlier than their rank would indicate) exit. But nooooo, they made it, they upset Louisville and they upset UConn and now they are going to the finals on Monday. The next Final Four game, Villanova vs. UNC will start in a few moments. It is sooo sooo important. Y’see, there’s only ONE person who picked Villanova to go this far and to get into the final, and that person is CT, our current leader. (Complete non sequitur: I suddenly had visions of Kim Jong-il when I typed the words “our leader.” I blame Team America.) On the other hand, if UNC wins, Ant will once again overtake CT for the lead, closely followed by Lew (honestly, UVa making the NCAA Championship Tournament has been nothing but helpful for him) and YB (who in previous years has spent time near the bottom, so this is a complete turnaround). If UNC wins it all, then Lew and YB will TIE!!! A first (although there’s that tiebreaker of course)! If Michigan State wins then Ant will win it all. And it goes without saying that if Villanova wins it all, CT will be the winner. CT, the one who called me not an hour ago to ask if Villanova was any good, and did they have a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Geezus. I’ll post again after the UNC-Villanova game. Sorry for the lack of updates, I’ve been sick, and worse (in terms of time suckage) I’ve been watching the Korean version of Boys Before Flowers; I’m finished with that one now, but I’ve started Meteor Garden, which is the Taiwanese version of the same story. It’s a sickness all in itself. Julie and Al (who can’t earn any more points, although that describes a lot of us) are the ones who told me about Boys Before Flowers. Erm, thanks! :p
Current standings:
CT: 77
Ant: 75
Lew, YB: 73
Al: 68
yut: 67
mim: 66
Lingo: 65
Jimyo: 64
misa, YuHK: 60
Steve: 58 He managed to call one more game correctly, so…
SpeK: 54 we can safely call SpeK for last. Congrats! :)
UPDATE:
Villanova lost! CT’s hopes are dashed!
Standings:
Ant: 81 (but he can’t earn any more points)
Lew*, YB*: 79 (but if UNC wins they will earn more points)
CT: 77
Al: 68
Yut: 67
mim, misa*, YuHK*: 66
Lingo: 65
Jimyo, Steve*: 64
SpeK: 54
* denotes the possibility of 8 more points if UNC wins it all.
Yup, it all comes down to if UNC wins or not. If UNC wins, then it’s Lew or YB, whoever guessed closer to the total points scored in the championship game (Lew: 143; YB: 166). If UNC loses, then no one will earn any more points and Ant will win! It all comes down to Monday.
Dude, basically 4 people completely kicked ass. Only Ant, Lew, YB, and CT got more than 70 points! And YB! In the hunt for first place! She hasn’t made it out of the middle of the pack and has challenged for last before! (Let this be an encouragement for you, K!) Lew’s actually been in first place for a couple of days in the past, just hasn’t won it all, so it’s a little bit less amazing, I suppose. Well, in any case, I can promise one thing: your prize may be nothing or anything, but it will definitely not be a kiss and a handshake. Or a trip to Chicago!!! Hmmmmmph! I hate being totally outta the running! I can’t even earn any more points! Gaaaaaah!
So Far This Weekend
Sorry guys for the lack of updating. YB came to visit this weekend, and we were out doing other things instead of paying attention to basketball. Actually, we talked about basketball a lot more than we do relatively, but it was a v. low absolute amount of basketball. Still, I heard enough to know this was a crazy weekend! Crazy bad if you’re me (and even worse for some others, but let’s talk about that later), and crazy good if you’re… well, you’ll see.
Standings:
CT: 77 (!!!!!!!!!!!)
Ant: 71
Lew, YB(!): 69
Al: 68
mim: 66
Lingo: 65
Jimyo: 64
yut: 63
POTUS: 62
misa, YuHK: 56
SpeK, Steve: 54
If you’re paying attention to it, the Collective Wisdom bracket is at 71 points, and sadly, if you’d just picked chalk, you’d be at 72. But nevermind all that! CT is back at the top of the standings! Seriously what’s going on?! Is this really the year that her Sims method (where she picks a team to win based on her The Sims characters and family names and then randomly picks whatever else — I think) shows its dominance? Well it’s not set in stone yet, but… scary. You know what I think is set in stone though? I think K is gonna get beat by most of us, and definitely by Lew. And I am pretty sure that Steve is gonna get beat by most of us, and definitely by YB. Yup it’s a fight for last place! K vs. Steve! Special (K) vs. Super (Fly)! Ok, but when you’re last, your score gets reported in color and bold, just like if you’re in first place. So at least there’s that, right?
Sadly, I don’t think there’s going to be a repeat. In fact, I think there’s going to be a brand new winner this year, cos NONE of the previous winners are doing that well. I think a quote from Scarlett O’Hara is is in order here, “after all, tomorrow is another day” of basketball! :p
Entirely Too Much Chalkiness
Even though I didn’t do too well in the first round, it was still pretty awesome to see the 10, 11, and 12 seeds still hanging in. Even if it completely screws up my bracket, the possibility of a double digit seeded team doing well in the tournament balances out my disappointment enough. But this weekend, all of that was over. Almost every higher seeded team beat every lower seeded team; only Purdue (5) beat Washington (4), and in fact, only Purdue and Arizona (12 seed who beat Cleveland State, a 13 seed) aren’t ranked 1-4. Yup, how pathetic is that. All I can say is, I don’t want to see another year where there are 4 number 1s in the Final Four! (Even though last year was quite a triumph for me.)
And in case you are thinking that you should’ve just picked the higher seeded teams every time, given this weekend’s results, well if you had done so, you would not be winning this pool!
Standings:
Ant: 52
CT: 51
Lew, Lingo, Chalk (see? you wouldn’t be first, you’d be tied for third): 50
Al, Jimyo: 49
misa, YB, POTUS: 47
me, SpeK, yut: 45 (this is like my year to be tied with SpeK, hmmph!)
YuHK: 44
Steve: 42
Well, Ant (whom some of you may know from DR) is in first. Yup, he’s overtaken CT’s lead. Still, CT’s only one point behind, and Lew and Lingo are right after her (tied with Chalk), and Al and Jimyo are both in it too.
Last year, I didn’t get Steve’s submission ’til late, so I had to penalize him, and he still wasn’t last. This year… not so good. And I can’t seem to shake off K! We keep ending up with the same score! Gaaaaah! Actually, all of our previous winners are in the bottom half of the standings. I’m tied with Yut (and K) and Misa and YB (and the President) are just 2 points ahead.
You know what though? If I’ve calculated it correctly, the collective wisdom, based on frequency, bracket would be doing the best! Yup, if we could all just get together, we would win! But what’s the fun in that? :p
Shock and Awe
I don’t know how this is happening, but it’s happening, and it’s no one day fluke. At this point, it’s a two day fluke. Yup, that CT, she’s still in the lead, all by herself. At least it wasn’t like she picked one game wrong. But everyone did a little worse on the second day, so twelve was the highest anyone got.
The current standings:
CT: 27 (!!!)
Ant, Lew, Lingo, YuHK: 24
Jimyo, me, misa, Special K, YB: 23
Al, Yut: 21
Steve: 20
Crazy right? The only consolation is that Yut isn’t doing so well. :D
I really don’t want him to win three times in five years. That would be ridic.
