FRIDAY NIGHT

After school, I brought half a dozen kids over to the house to swim in the pool. I drank beer after beer, first with Felicia, then with John. John is a fine fellow who is presently going through divorce proceedings, which is taxing even to the best of us. He is a fellow Pirates fan. In fact, his great-grandfather was Hall of Famer, Fred Clarke, who was player-manager for the Bucs about 100 years ago. Clarke's road roomie and best pal was the legendary Honus Wagner. Handed down to John, and still in his possession, is the ball which represents the final out of the 1909 World Series, gloved by first-baseman, Fred Clarke, the Mientkiewicz of his day. This was the first truly classic Series and the first to go all seven games. Look it up.

Kids were coming and going for hours. John and I made tacos and mac-and-cheese for the kids that remained, then, when the new Fairly Oddparents came on at 8P, I fired up the $69 event at Full Tilt. Despite the elevated blood-alcohol level, I made it all the way to the final table and made $800.

In today's mail, I got something very interesting. Last week, my PokerRoom pal, Thomas Falkerstrom, emailed me to let me know he was coming to LA. PokerRoom is a sponsor of a celebrity poker tournament held in conjunction with the upcoming MTV Movie Awards. Thomas invited me and a few other LA-area PokerRoom stalwarts to play in the event, representing Team PokerRoom. So, today I got the official invite from Kari Feinstein, who is hosting the event. While the kids were swimming, I was googling Kari Feinstein and her Style Lounge to get the lowdown. The event is on Thursday, June 1st in the Hollywood area. It will be held at a private residence, but I won't know whose until I RSVP tomorrow. Details to come.

Also of note, my older brother Steve has taken a job in Woodland Hills, so we are suddenly neighbors. He lived many years in Scottsdale, working in real estate sales. Over the past year or so, he took a job in Houston, then moved to the San Diego area. I didn't visit him in either place, but received two Astros and a Padres cap via the post. As an aside, I wore an Astros cap to mini-golf last month and a lady approached me to let me know she was Lance Berkman's cousin. That's the end of that story. So, Steve now works in Woodland Hills. Once he gets settled, he will begin house-hunting, and maybe we'll wind up neighbors. He can babysit and buy me new hats forever after.