Monday, April 25, 2005

I completed my paper that was due today without incident. I think I did well, which is unsettling. I've thought I've done poorly on most of the assignments I've turned in yesterday, only to receive good grades, so I am hoping that the pattern will not be mirrored, so that I get bad grades when I think I did well. Time will tell.

I went to "Comedy Night" at Valley View Casino last night. For some reason, I get selective amnesia every time I see a comedy show, and forget the opening acts are always abysmal. And this show was no exception, the first fourty minutes or so were painful. The headliners were pretty okay, though. It was a comedy duo, a blind mexican and a fellow of the Irish persuation. They had a knack for sound effects, and a few great routines, and a lot of servicable jokes. It takes talent to entertain myself pretty well, while keeping the crowd as a whole, made up (like most casino promotional events) largely of people about three times my age, in hysterics. The casino also gave me $20 in free slot play for showing up, which I proceded to lose, along with quite a bit of my own cash. But I've had decent luck lately, so I just gave them back their money.

I then proceeded to Harrah's, and again I essential stiffed them this visit, playing the $30 in free slot play they sent me, and gambling a bit on what was left of that money, but playing for less than five minutes before cashing out $20, without risking any of my own money. I also had a $20 food coupon, so we ate at their newish surfer-themed eatery by the pool area. At first glance it looked a bit pricy, but it wasn't unreasonable at all given the quality of the food, and the sandwiches were only in the $7-$9 range. Not out of line in comparison to the coffee shop there. Service was poor; the waitress was nice, but there was only one, while there were about six hostesses and assorted hangers-on apparently on the clock. Poor management, it seems. The parmesean fries with the sandwich were good, and the chips and salsa and beans they serve are pretty good, the chips fresh and greasy, in a good way. I'd eat there again, on a comp. Paying for food in a casino makes me feel dirty. I just drank water, but noticed the bar drinks were overpriced (and they don't comp liquor in California casinos)--though I was glad to see the drink menu listed prices; I hate the way they never tell you what those pretty fufu girlie drinks cost in most restaurants. Anyway, I had the smoked salmon on flat bread, which I envisioned as a sandwich, but was closer to a pizza. It was real good, but it was late, and I wasn't very hungry, so I ended up taking almost the whole thing home and eating it around two in the morning. I inhaled a bit of parmesan, I think, and started choking, but managed to compose myself in the rest room. In the mirror, I noticed I was sporting an odd look, with both a pronounced five o'clock shadow, and a gash from where I cut myself shaving. I think it worked for me.

So I had an okay time. Knowing I had a paper to write when I got home put a bit of a damper on things, especially when I sat through awful comedians, thinking about more productive uses of my time. But I got home right at midnight, and had made good progress on my paper that afternoon, so I was done around 1:30. Then I couldn't sleep, because I was hungry, and later I couldn't sleep because I'd just downed a bunch of fish. So I tried to sleep in, but then got woke up twice, once by a phone call telling me the mayor of San Diego resigned, and once by my mother, who apparently felt I would want to be woken for such news. But I'm feeling pretty frisky this morning, rested and ready to face another day.

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