DAY 2

Okay, so it is now 5:28 AM (Eastern time) and we just got back from Atlantic CIty. And no, I did not win. In fact I lost enough money to be angry with myself and want to punch my own self in the groin. Actually it is mostly the way I lost it. My friends Stefan, Shaun and Will like to play roullette, so we each threw in a hundred bucks and chose a number. Then one person played 5 bucks a spin on each of the numbers. On the very first spin Shaun hit his number 15 and made $175. Now if you do your math that leaves 19 more spins for each of us. By spin 7 Will hit his number 18 (which hurt more cause he only played 40 bucks). By spin 15 Stefan hit his #32. My number 12? Nope. So not only am I the only shmo that didnt make a profit the first time out, but the number 2 came out FIVE times out of twenty spins. Why is that relevant? Because I was born on the 2nd and when it first hit we started talking about how I should have played my birthday instead of Paris'. But the theory was to stick to one number instead of chasing numbers.

I played another hundred with the same system and 12 didn't come out. Shaun hit one more time and Stef hit two more times. The worst part about it is that I don't even play Roullette. My game is Texas Hold Em, which is the only casino game that you don't have a disadvantage in. In poker you are not playing against house odds or against the casino bank. You're putting your money against a bunch of other players. Yet there I was blowing money on roullette and having a brief bout with stupidity called Caribean Stud Poker (which is played against the house). All that losing occured in the first three hours. The next three hours was spent with me breaking even at a No Limit 1-2 Hold Em table. I should never ever ever ever ever ever play anything but Hold Em. So if anyone ever sees me in a casino, please remind me to stay away from all those other games. PLEASE.

So that was the latter part of my day 2. The first part was spent trying to recover from sleeping 5 hours in 2 days. Then in the afternoon I experienced something for the very first time in my life... I fired a gun at a gun range. Shaun has a GLOCH .40 handgun (he's a police officer) and so he introduced me to shooting. I was incredibly apprehensive and nervous because of my complete unfamiliarity with guns. I've pretty much spent my whole life avoiding guns because, honestly, I don't like the idea of a handheld piece of machinery that can end someone's life with a finger squeeze. I've never liked the thought of holding someone's life in my hand in that way, so I stayed away from guns. Now after firing 60 rounds, I don't feel nervous about guns, but I am still apprehensive toward being around them.

So how did I do? I shot 60 or so rounds at these body shaped targets with the letter Q in the center mass at 21 feet away (which is the closet of the three settings). Of the 60 rounds, I'd say 6-8 were off the page completely, and only 5-6 were within 3 inches of the Q. I can totally see now how its possible for people to miss each other completely, even when at close range. Its actually more difficult than it looks. I kept shooting 6-12 inches too low, so I adjusted by aiming at the head, so the shots would hit the center part of the target. When I get back to LA, I'm gonna post a jpeg the last target I shot. There was a definite improvement over the course of the session, so at least I didn't feel like a complete worthless jackass.

And shooting a gun FOR REAL made me really think about how movies skewed my perception of shooting. People shoot with such ease and accuracy in Hollywood. They shoot with one hand... they shoot on the run... they shoot whil falling out wndows The fact that Little kids, Grandmas and kittens shoot head shots with relative easy is a bunch of malarkey.

Anyway, all in all it was a very interesting experience. I don't know if I enjoyed it, but I am glad I did it.

Okay, now I'm pretty effin' tired. Goodnight (or good morning)... see you later!

b