Well, my first venture into poker was successful by my standards.  I managed to make it through the first round, but then in the second round, my money was disappearing faster than several thousand tons of Iraqi explosives.

I had AhJh in the pocket.  Most players bailed, except the Big Blind.  I go all in and we head for showdown.  He turns up a pair of 7's.  Ugh.  The Flop shows 9, K, A rainbow (woohoo!).  The turn brings up a 3.  I'm thinking "Yes, Yes!!".

The river yields a 7.

I'm thinking, "No, No!!"  But I can't hear myself think because everybody else is cheering my opponent.  I shake his hands, push my stack to him, and continue watching while licking my wounds.  Such are the fates of poker.  In any case, I had a great time and learned a LOT in just a few hours.  And in the process, made a nice donation to my local public radio station, KUOW.

In the meantime, some other bloggers had momentous things happen.  Pat Helland, an outstanding .NET architect and all around nice guy, finally took the time to talk about the passing of his wife.  It was absolutely heartbreaking to read, but I still recommend reading it.

But for every door closing, a window opens...Craig Andera blogs about the birth of his new baby.

Truly a day of learning, loss, and life.