stevesbets

I would first like to apologize to everyone out there for a lack of updates lately, the holidays have been hectic and I plan on updating much more now that things are clearing up a little bit. I appreciate the kind words I have received about my blog during this downtime and I promise more to come.

I would like to wish all my readers a happy new year and hope they accomplish everything they desire in 2008 (unless it involves taking my money). I’m slightly bothered by the idea of new years resolutions. I’m as guilty of making the best laid plans that end in the most obvious ways as the next guy, but it seems odd to me that people use the end of the year so often to do so.  The spike in the traffic at the gym since Jan 1 speaks to this nicely. I expect it to wane by Jan 15 or so.  I believe one should always be striding towards self improvement as much on Jan 1 as any other day of the year. With this in mind, I’m going to present some Feb 1 resolutions when the day comes…at least that way the gym will be emptier :)

A side effect of playing online poker is keeping odd hours. As such, my buddy and I have few dining choices around Philadelphia when we’re often hungry for a post midnight dinner. We have become regulars at the 24 hour Philly diner on Penn’s campus.  We have gotten to know one waiter there pretty well and I have to say he is one of the more mysterious people I have come across. First of all, he always seems to be there. On Jan 1, some friends and I went to the diner for brunch around 1pm and he was there, then that night around 3 am I went back and  he was still there, he told me he was on the tail end of a 31 hour shift. What dedication! This is made more bizarre by the fact that I have seen he carries an iphone and sports pricey “rock n republic” apparel. I suppose he can afford such things as a result of working such long hours…but either way there is something strange going on over there.

Another consequence of being up late is the late night commercials. One such ad was for a drug for restless leg syndrome. I forget the name of the drug, but one of the side effects cited was “increased gambling urges”. I thought it was crazy that taking a drug could actually effect ones impulse to gamble. Does that really mean that you can’t blame addicts for their lack of self control since it is out of their hands??

The NFL playoffs start tomorrow and I”m excited to root for the Colts (though they have a bye this week). I’m an Eagles fan at heart, but when I was in Vegas in September I bet the Colts to win the superbowl at the price of 7 to 1, I now wish I had bet the Patriots at 6 to 1, but so it is. I love rooting for Peyton Manning because I think he’s so much fun to watch, especially compared to the current Eagles alternative. Lets go Colts!

On the hometown note, many people that I talk to who come to Philadelphia from other cities do not like it here.  They complain that it’s ugly, small, polluted, uncultured  and boring. Some college classmates even used to call it “Filthadelphia”.  I think there is something that you feel when you have grown up around this city that outsiders just can’t understand, a sense of underdog pride, “Rocky” style. Maybe it is because our sports teams are always terrible but we love them anyway, maybe it’s the working class vibe, but there’s just something you have to love about Philly.

The writer’s strike really pisses me off, mainly because we won’t get a new 24 season this year and the Lost season will possibly be incomplete.

I would like to announce a new feature of my blog. If you would like my opinion on a topic, send me an email with the subject line “Ask Steve” I will try to use them for interesting blog topics. Note that any question asking for money will just be deleted so don’t waste your time. I do this as an alternative to the mail bag from earlier so that I can more directly respond to the questions from my readers.  This is a pretty long entry so I’m going to go to bed without proofing it. Send your complaints to my editor.