But then I point to the dealer’s hand as he turns his hole card being a 10 and draws another 10 to bust! I tell third base “See? I brought you luck! He would’ve had 19. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.”

From then on everytime someone was delt a soft hand against a dealer’s 3, 4, 5, 6 (or ever 2) they would ask he if I would like to “build a partnership” and “bring them luck”. This one time I doubled someone’s 11 against a dealer’s face card, took a 4. The dealer had 12, draws a 4 and an eight to bust.

I must say the idea of card counting appeals to the nerd in me too. Any book recommendations for a newbie?

All the typical paths in life felt boring and uninspiring — getting typical job, getting a house in the burbs, retiring at 65 and sitting around till death. I still don’t know that I’m inspired or if I ever will be in the way many people describe the emotion, but I do enjoy forging new paths and (trying to)build something new.

Also I think you have to come to terms with the fact that you may not get what you want. You can fail. But you have to realize that unless you’re talking death or amputation, it’s probably not that big a deal. People fear failure and that’s what makes mediocrity appealing.

So, 18’s not that good a hand….

@Nathan: I do play poker too (more often than blackjack today), but while I feel I’ve mastered the game of blackjack, I’m nowhere near that same level in poker. Blackjack is far easier to master because all decision possibilities are memorized in advance. Nevertheless, I’ve certainly learned some interesting life lessons from poker too, so maybe I’ll do a future post on that.

@Kent: I’m not suggesting anyone wait passively for opportunities to come to them. What I’m saying is that sometimes the conditions of life make it easier to pull ahead, and that’s the time to really press on. For example, if someone comes into your life who could very well become your future mate, don’t wait — take action to seize the opportunity. Or if you run a business and release a hit product, try to push that product even harder and make it even better. Too often people hold themselves back when things are going well — they don’t turn little wins into big wins. They don’t turn good into outstanding. They’re so happy just to have the little win that they don’t even think about making it into something even better.

@Jim: You’ll see different ads if you click the article title, which will load up a page with just that one article instead of the several that appear on the main blog page. The disaster ads were a result of an older post that mentioned earthquakes which still appears on the blog home page.

@neon: A good friend of mine is a successful stock trader in NYC. Perhaps this is a personal financial weakness, but I have an aversion to doing that kind of work as my primary way of making a living. While I know stock trading can create value (via investing), the value creation aspect is too indirect for me. It leaves me feeling hollow at the end of the day because I feel all I’m doing is making money but not contributing my best. My friend who picks stocks for a living, however, sees part of his job as helping to create successful companies, which he regards as the primary role of Wall Street. While I have certain qualities that would help me become a successful stock trader or blackjack player or poker pro, I just don’t feel that’s what I want to invest my life doing.

The ads I got were “Tsunami Relief” and “Awareness Bracelets”. I, too, would expect a lot of gambling sites’ ads.