The Jones Zone

1.31.2005

Gateway to the Best Weekend Ever

On Friday, I drove down to St. Louis with Jacksy to visit our friend, Jonathan. After four hours of driving and repeated uncomfortable silences with Jacksy, we met up with Jonathan and...it was on. Among all the hotspots, one place we hit up was a 20 something bar called the Cheshire. Needless to say, I instantly became the life of the party as soon as I walked through that door. I didn't have enough hands to cover all the high fives I was getting from random white dudes and enough cell phone memory to store all the ladies' digits. I'll have to say all of the attention got boring. So I told the crew, "It's time to make money."

After grabbing some eats, we rolled up to the President Casino around 3:30am and were on a mission to turn our dollar bills into benjamins. They had a poker room and I could have easily smoked all them country bumpkins, but I decided instead to introduce Jacksy to the wonderful world of Craps. It was Jacksy's first time playing and he was visibly nervous. However, I assured him, "Just follow my lead. The dice will do the rest." As soon as I said that, the cash just started pouring down upon us. It's like the chips were falling from the sky and all we had to do was hold out our hands and catch as much money as we could. At the end of the night, Jonathan made 2 hundos, Jacksy made 175, and I took down a mere 425, not much. We got back to Jonathan's to sleep around 8am. We woke up at 12pm and I was seriously hurting. But the pile of cash I slept on helped ease the pain. We passed by Wendy's for lunch and my mom called my cell. Our conversation went as follows:

Mom: Did you eat yet?
Jonar: We're about to.
Mom: Where are you going to eat?
Jonar: Wendy's.
Mom: What?
Jonar: Wendy's, Mom.
Mom: Huh?!!
Jonar: WENDYS!!
Mom: WHAT?!!!!
Jonar: WEEEEEEEEEEEENDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYS!!!!!!

After an exhausting 10 minutes of shouting, I was in desperate need of a beer. So we made our way to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Highlights were Jonathan and I slamming down free cold ones while Jacksy stood by the horse stable in awe of "the Clydesdales' enormous dongs," as Jacksy eloquently put.

At night, Jonathan took us to the infamous Fast Eddies in Al-Town, Illinois. Now unlike my immediate success the night before, I felt like an outsider being the only non-white in the bar. Upon entering, the cold stares of curious white folk came from every direction. Whether it was my stunning good looks or the shock of seeing an oriental somewhere outside of Chinatown remains to be seen. Nevertheless, I heard things like, "Whos the Chinaman and why is he so dark?" and "What the hell is that North Korean doing in Alton?" I even had one lady come up and ask me, "I just have to ask you: are you 'Philippines'?" I had to break it to her that I was in fact not the country but "Filipino." Her response was, "Sure, whatever. I heard you natives eat other humans." I started fearing for my safety until I spotted a table of black people. And let me tell you, I have NEVER been more happy to see black people in my life.

So, I began to let loose and enjoy the cheap beer and even cheaper food. But this food was nothing short of spectacular...marinated tender steak kabobs and cheeseburgers all for under 3 dollars, by far the best bang for your buck. With such inexpensive libations, everybody started gettin tipsy. We then went back to the Cheshire for Jonathan's friend's Bday. I hammered down a couple of gigantic beer flasks and drunk dialed a couple of friends. The night gets a little blurry from this point on. I vaguely remember going to some casino in the middle of nowhere, then going to a diner and eating eggs, hashbrowns and meat ALL drenched in chili. The next thing I know I wake up with an excruciating headache and 2 more hundos in my pocket. We all were hungry as hell so we hit up this place called Hodaks. If you ever go to St. Louis, its worth the trip to this restaurant. Hands down the best fried chicken I've ever had. After lunch, Jacksy and I went back home to Chicago so Jonathan could start writing a paper due the next day.

Considering we ate great food, drank loads of liquor and partied hard both nights til the AM, all of which was funded by the Casino, our weekend was aite.

1.28.2005

Turning Pro or Losing Dough?

A total of 8 people played in the tourney and I finished 1st! And by 1st, I mean 5th. Congrats to Jeff Twistin' for taking it all.

To my 2 beloved friends for their kind comments: total bastards.

I would love to enlighten you with my words of wisdom but I have a big drive ahead of me tomorrow. (Mardi Gras + St. Louis + Jonar + Jacksy + Jonathan) x Alcohol^80 = Recipe for Disaster. So I need my shut eye.

Perhaps this haiku of mine will hold you over til next time:

Darkened clouded sky,
Lightning turns night into day,
Twilight fades to black.

Anyone care to dissect the poem? Would love to hear you try...

1.27.2005

27: My Lucky Number

Why is this my lucky number? Because I was born on the 27th and coincidently, my parents were both born on the 27th (Nov. 27 & April 27th, respectively). I see 27 show up all the time throughout my life, like... my bank statement says I have exactly $27 dollars in my account right now or like I scored a 27 on my ACT (I am so smart...S M R T!) That's not true. I actually scored suprisingly well on my ACTs. Let's just say I have an IQ of 270. But seriously, I do see "27" pop up all the time in my life and what's ironic is I just felt like starting up my own blog today and it just so happens that today is the 27th. Coincidence? hmmm... What's even more ironic, or hypocritical, possibly even moronic, is that I was just expressing to some of my friends that I hate blogs because, in a way, they go against the very principle of having a personal diary. Diaries are for people to express their own thoughts on paper, kind of like an imaginary penpal/shrink. So the question that remains is: is a blog truly a diary anymore when you have other people read it? And then you get into things like: are people really expressing what they truly feel in their blogs or are they "blogging" to show off ie writing with the mindset that people are reading my blog and I have to make my blog as witty, funny, smart etc. as possible? Or are people just blogging because they simply have no one to talk to? So that got me thinking, "I have no one to talk to..." I guess that's what led me here. That and the fact that I have really important things to say so I thought I would do humanity a favor by dropping daily knowledge on all your punk asses...for free!

But back to the lecture at hand, my lucky number 27. OK, so I love poker. Some people, mainly all my family and friends, would say I have a "gambling problem." But that topic is for another time and place. If you don't know poker, I'm not going to explain it to you right now so don't waste my time. Go here to learn more, then come back and continue reading. Now, you will know that the worst starting hand in Texas Hold'em is Seven Deuce offsuit, which is often represented as 72 in poker literature. But I ask you, what number is that backwards? That's right, people. My lucky number, 27. I don't know if this is a sign of luck from the Poker Gods that I need to eventually go pro or if it's divine intervention from God warning me to not play this game, especially with no job. Either way, there is this tourney tonight and its the 27th so I like my odds. So stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion...