Random Thoughts pt. 9

I'm not a betting man, at least when it comes to real money. I've been to a casino once, and after winning several hundred dollars from a slot machine early in the day, I was ready to go home. That being said, I love to place wagers on random things, especially over/under odds. Over/under odds feel like the best and most fun way to predict potential outcomes and add a humorous layer to social engagements. Here are a few I've done recently.

Black People at a Kenny Chesney Concert - over/under set at 6.5
While working the Kenny Chesney concert at AT&T Stadium, my buddy and I decided to pass the time counting black people. The rules were simple: how many black concert goers could we see without leaving our stand? Employees don't count. Must have double verification. You might be wondering about the .5, well, sometimes we see someone who might be black, or some other ethnicity, but we can't tell. Half credit. I picked the under and lost. We ended up seeing 14.5 black people. Go figure.

Reasonably priced parking in downtown Boston on the 4th of July - over/under set at 35%
My father claims that my family has special powers when it comes to finding parking spaces near events we attend. He calls it "Dashiell Luck." He says you have to believe in it for it to work. I'm an agnostic at best, but I may yet be converted. That day, I found parking in front of my buddy's apt on three separate occasions, once during the day, in the early evening, and then later at night. I parked at the Boston Common underground lot while we were downtown for the festivities and I found a spot on J.F.K. Street in Cambridge. Dashiell Luck indeed! I lost this one too. I was pretty convinced we wouldn't find parking. Obviously, I know nothing.

No longer liking our gaming buddies after meeting them in person - over/under set at 40%
Gage and I hung out with our gaming buddies, BostonWins and MissezKittyy on the 4th. Let me say first that it was awesome. Though, at one point, before we met them in the flesh, I remarked to Gage that it would suck if we met them and didn't like them. He laughed and asked me what the over/under would be for that chance. I said 40% and asked if he would take the over or the under. He said would take the line, meaning he agreed that 40% was an accurate percentage. We both laughed again and went back to playing video games.

How many views will this post generate - over/under set at 30
This one is up to you, dear reader. The last "Random Thoughts" post has generated 41 individual hits as of this update. Will this one do better?

Updates, or lack thereof - 4th of July

A friend of mine made fun of me the other day. She called my status as a writer into question, saying that I hardly ever update my blog so how could I call myself a writer, even a freelance writer? I got upset, not so much because of what she said but because of the truth of it. I've been slow to update this blog and my lack of writing here, as well as other places, does raise some doubt as my status as a writer. Let me augment all of that by posting something here and now:

The fourth of July was last week, hooray American Independence! I went out with some friends to watch the fireworks display in and around Boston. They were pretty sweet, Check out the finale of the big show below.


The fourth is a bit of an infamous day in my life. A year ago, that day, I broke up with a girlfriend in the most awkward of manners. I refer to the whole event as my "Epic Fail." A year later the memory of it still makes me flush with embarrassment and brings a chuckle to those of my friends who know the details. Not one of my best moments.

I strive to look at the incident from all angles and take away from it the best parts. It's fair to say that the incident put into the play several events in my romantic life over the next few months which brought me to where I am now, in a happy and committed relationship. It also taught me not to force anything. The idea of the square peg, round hole comes to mind and if I'm honest with myself I was trying to fit one into the other. Never a good idea. Finally, and probably most uncomfortable for me, is the whole thing is hilarious from a third party perspective. I tell people what happened and they laugh. At first that upset me, but now, a year later, I can see how amusing the situation is.

I just wish I had been able to spend this past Independence Day with my current lady-friend. It would have created the perfect epilogue to a very humorous gaffe.