Day 22 of the Quarantine : The Waiting Game

A steady lonnnnnggg lull in between now and then... A black hole within which the present moment is being engulfed... Waiting... For L to get a yay or a nay on returning to office duties or not ... For my house in the Yukon to be available or not... For Quebec's quarantine to show more positive results... The waiting game

I am pretty happy with my routine, with meditation spiking to 3h daily on average, studying 30 minutes of poker, 5h of grind ; the only area that is lacking a little, is exercising - as always -, yet I still manage to do push-ups and chin-ups everyday, with a little cardio every second day. Which is fine. Am also eating fairly healthy, so will most likely drop 2-5kgs when this is all said and done yo

My mental state has been fairly solid. I do wake up drowsy, but it is nothing that my morning's meditation can't deal with Unfortunately, a lot of it depends on poker lately as living solo and focussing as much on the grind, does influence to an unhealthy degree my happiness EV But I mean, we are experiencing unique times, so it is not as if I can clack my hands and suddenly have an active social life outside of poker But eventually moving in with L and her son (and her lovely labrador ), will balance things out a little

This said, it is nice to be on an upswing, especially now that I am more affected by short-term variance and all. And even if I am up about 11k since the start of La Cuarentena, it should be up much more then this. The games have been that good. My confidence is sky HIGH. And am once again challenging a ton of regs, noticing many of their leaks, even if variance is still holding me back somewhat




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Day 23 of the Quarantine : Human, too F**king Human

Faeces (twice) delivered on a napkin in front of a foreigner's door... A ton of neighbours angrily herd up in trying to prevent a Venezuelan fellow from moving apartments (with shouts of "GO BACK HOME!!!")... Cops being called on a Gringa chick when she simply spoke English during a video-call on her balcony... Many inquiries of "why are you still here?" when foreigners go buy their groceries... Back in Canada, a ton of shaming happening as the generalized paranoia reaches even the most remote communities of the Yukon... And a Japanese-Canadian friend of mine (born in Canada) that comes back to her vehicle to be horrified by the "STUPID F**KING BIITCH" written on her van... What have we come to

I would like to believe that an overriding solidarity inspires us in the evening when we cheer in unison at our windows, humbly thanking our fellow essential workers... Or that this crisis has brought the best out of us, a community febrility... But alas and a fracking 1000 times alas!!!, I think that we have been weak thus far... And f**king hideous, tbh I really thought we were going to rise up collectively to the challenge, to be ONE in the face of adversity and disregard race, status, backgrounds, gender etc. (much like we did during the Ice Storm in Montreal, for example) ; but nope, we have simply become even more divisive, countries (understandably) shutting down their borders, individuals going back to basic survival instincts, repulsive impulsions naturally expressing themselves from many folks... Most of us are just not used to being forced inward, before even factoring in the financial individual cost of this on most...




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Day 24 of the Quarantine : Separations

Plan A of L renewing with her office work this Monday (which appeared to be in the books...) hit the drain As did plan B of me moving to her place, as apparently authoritarian measures have tightened even moreso and it is no longer possible to change housing, outside of domestic abuse cases or the likes L has been surprisingly resilient thus far and outside of moments here and there, has been holding it together quite amazingly Except yesterday... When she got the bad news, she lost complete composure

For my part, of course I have been disappointed with my expectations being met with outside deceptions lately, but as meditation has taught me 2h a day over the past 2 decades, when the outside world becomes too challenging, I simply move my focus to the present moment. Breathe by breathe. This body. This mind. My surroundings. And only then can I permit myself to think of the imminent future in total tranquility. Besides, the online games have been amazing and this window might close within a month or two... So not a bad idea to focus on the grind, make some money and relax for the rest of the year while eventually focussing on other areas of my life (my novel, meditation, losing weight) and be fully with L

Speaking of which, if only I could run better I mean, it is sickening at this point, with peeps trying to dump me money left and right, but me still failing to realize my full equity, especially in big pots It is good to be an upswing, but darn, I just hope to run average for the next while and finally get a 35k+ month...




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Day 25 of the Quarantine : Hard Times

Fernandez originally proclaimed that the food prices would not go up during La Cuarentena, as if his words would have some kind of authority on the food industry across the country that suddenly holds power like never before... Of course, prices have skyrocketed. And unlike the Canada government who handed out 6k for 3 months for anyone that lost their jobs/applied for it, Argentines got 10k ARS, a mere 175CAD$ And yet, everyone is still locked up inside, many (most) being exposed to the promiscuity of sharing small quarters with multiple families... Now this sucks. Like fracking ROYALLY sucks balls And would affect me less if I was back in Canada, where sure, peeps take a financial hit/are stressed for bills left unattended and piling up, but are nonetheless capable to eat within the security of a usually cozy home. But it sure hit me yesterday when L, who had maintained resiliency to this point, came crashing in several crying deluges It is never easy being a single mom... And even more challenging when times get tougher and that sense of responsibility becomes overwhelming af

In other news and WAYYYY back up north-west in Vancouver, as all of yous probably know, Phil Galfond has managed the impossible and came back from 900k Euros and won his HU challenge So fracking amazing and definitely a Hollywood scenario Now Phil has always been my favourite known poker player, back then with Blue Fire Poker training site, to his blog, to RIO, but mainly because of the combination of intelligence, wisdom and humility he demonstrates, all personality traits that I usually appreciate more then others yo Anyhow, as a premise of how it was like living in Van while raising a baby grinding this challenge for both Phil and Fara, I recommend the highly interesting The Rake podcast episode with Fara that speaks of how she is (barely) holding up indoors in a foreign country : https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcas...e/id1488539768

And then her candid and awe-breathtaking reaction the moment Phil binks the challenge (video at bottom of page) : https://www.highstakesdb.com/10266-p...nge-match.aspx

Folks, since I have been alone for the last month and whatnot and am trying to provide some interesting content for y'all, I ask this of you if you have enjoyed my blog over the past few months/years : please chime in with some thoughts, stories, descriptions, ideas or whatever else that you are doing/experiencing during this pandemic. It would be a way for me to travel some, to live vicariously through others's experiences that are not remain confined within my 4 walls




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35yo lawyer living in Antwerp (Belgium). Haven't played a hand of (online) poker in at least 2 years, but still following and enjoying your updates immensely.

So I'll answer your call as best as possible.

Belgium went into a sort of "lockdown light" mid March. Which basically means that only essential shops remain open (supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies etc.), which we are free to visit as much as we want, keeping social distancing rules in mind. Schools, restaurants etc. obviously closed. People are technically only supposed to make "essential" movements (mostly reffering to work, but visiting your significant other is also allowed ), but of course, people being people, this leads to BBQ parties in the garden on a sunny afternoon with 30+ ppl in attendence, which the police then has to break up etc.

Consequently, given the small percentage of idiots roaming this planet, the government is contemplating an actual lockdown (similar to what you seem to be going through), but no final decision has been made yet.

As a (maritime) lawyer, I'm fortunate enough that this mess affects me very minimally. I can work from home or the office (easy to respect social distancing there) and my paycheck remains unaffected.

No kids around I have to worry about. I can only begin to imagine the stress it can put on you to feel such a responsability for another in these trying times as L. does.

And my (relatively new) Romanian girlfriend (keeping the accidental streak of only being in LTR with foreign ladies alive, hooray ) of 5 months moved in with me just before all this madness went down (end of February). Timing is everything in life I guess.

She is out of work for the time being, but that opens up some time for her to focus on her Dutch and transform our terraces into outdoor vegetable gardens. Whether or not these contraptions will actually produce edible food, will remain a mystery for the next 2 - 3 months. But it keeps her happy. So. Happy wife, happy life, I guess.

All in all. With work relatively unaffected. Living together with a new love and no kids driving everyone crazy from being confined to a closed of space, I'm kinda loving life.

All the while never failing to realize how *****' fortunate I am. Not only did I win the geographical lottery of being born in a Western developed nation, allowing me to climb the social ladder (parents both being nurses, going to university was not exactly a lock from the get go), I also stumbled into a career that allows me to sail through this immense crisis relatively unaffected (so far at least) and I can spend my time with a girl I'm madly in love with in my own appartment.

Dating a Romanian lady (and several others from less fortunate nations as Belgium) also makes it pretty crystal ****in clear what a paradise Belgium is. If you don't realize it after the stories they share, then one certainly does after visiting their families and friends.

Running hotter than the sun in life? Check. Although learning Romanian sucks. If only she was German. Or Spanish.

Of course this social down time also gave way to catch up on some reading. COVID-19 stole climate change's thunder like a thief in the night, but its still wildly interesting to read about. I don't know where you are on the whole CC spectacle, but I can highly recommend Bill McKibben - Falter.

Any recommendations on what you read recently, apart from that link you posted a while ago?

In any case, I sincerely hope you may be reunited with L. as soon as possible.

I guess people are hesitant to share their stories because, well, there aren't exactly any stories, everyone is locked down and only the degree varies across the world. I realised this while talking to a good friend of mine on skype recently, when the most exciting stories we had to share about standing in lines in supermarkets

In my country (Poland) not much has changed since my last post, the restrictions are slowly increasing, but there are already plans of lifting some of them. One sinister thing that is happening is our right-wing populist government realises now that they have very little chance of winning the next election (after the imminent financial crisis hits), so they are trying to do as much bad as they can.

First of all, we are supposed to have a presidential election in May, which is obviously a very bad idea - but since this might be the government's last moment of relatively high support, they are pushing very hard for the election to happen. Additionally, they are trying to quietly introduce some terrible bills - for example even more restrictive ban on abortion than what we already have (our abortion law is already top3 most regressive in EU). Last time they tried it there were massive protests in the streets, which is not gonna happen now.

On a personal level, I actually find that my social life is doing great, I have quite a few friends all around the world that I normally see 1-2 times a year. Thanks to skype, I'm meeting them as well as many other friends 1-2 times a week for drinks, which is really nice. I am kinda getting used to being locked up, I felt pretty frustruted after first 2 weeks or so, but now I kinda accepted this as a new reality (though hopefully not for long)

Day 26 of the Quarantine : Reflections

Wearing a mask when being outdoors has now become mandatory. Food prices are steadily rising. Flights are no longer being offered and if so, quite sparsely (none until May and only on LATAM).

By all appearances, Buenos Aires will be my home for the feasible future, as my presence here with L seems more required then it would ever be useful in Canada (where my parents are taken care of in Quebec and friends are doing amazing in the Yukon, as most work in the bush yo ). And this prognostic seems fine. I got my AirBnB extended until April 26 (when the new Cuarentena decreto will be released) and potentially longer. Moreover, there is a strong possibility that I will not be playing any poker post June-July (depending on the quality of the games...) and focus on working on my novel instead. Which I have been wanting to do for a while now, but was (rationally) choosing to accumulate savings as opposed to engage right away in the post-poker part of my journey. But life has alas chosen for me Which is great, tbh, and I do plan on grinding the live poker scene once the dust settles down over here (and in Montreal). Nonetheless, it would be very nice to have 2 good months just to cover the rest of this year's (very low) expenses

And yet you came up with an interesting post with a lot to share

Sad to hear about the draconian attitude of your right-wing government I guess we do have plenty of time to think about the political world (and some too much, as it is Christmas all over again for conspiracy theorists ) Good to hear that things are going well for you bro though


What a wonderful post, thx bro, that did lighten up my day Also great that you ended up making such an exhaustive and long-winded as only your 7th post

Yeah man, I feel even more gratitude of winning the first World geographical lottery, especially in times like these when the difficulties of belonging to a poorer social class/country is magnified af The simple thought of how I have it good, usually manages to brush away instantly the bad variance that I was just subjected to on the virtual tables when I need to put stuff into perspective

Darn, from Romanian (and English, I assume...) to Dutch will be tough af for her So if I understand correctly, you are putting in an effort to pick up Romanian as well ; sweeeettt I love Romania, the soft and romantic women, the food... I do understand some words given that it is a Latin based, yet there is enuff Slavic influence in there to throw an outsider off

I am not reading a ton of books lately, as I already use my brain throughout the day for poker, studying 30 minutes daily and learning Spanish (listening to movies in Spanish has yet to become a relaxing activity, but talking with L is ). As far as reading, I spend a ton of time reading stuff online (news, basketball, poker, 2 + 2, social-media etc.), so when it comes to actually reading an ebook, I have very little motivation left. This said, I have been reading (just a few pages every night) Antifragile lately by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the same fellow that brought us the excellent Black Swan and have also been (forever) finishing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, even if the story is idem as the movie. My previous book was The Music of Chance by Paul Auster, a poker sorta Noir novel suggested by bob_124 in his thread

Anyhow, thx for chiming in friend, really happy that you are doing so well and thx for sharing a little glimpse of your happiness into these dark and interesting times




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Day 27 of the Quarantine : Motionless Film

I always wanted to seize Montreal... Cognitively, I wanted to confine its cultural/physical/imaginary limits within the grasp of my intelligible comprehension... It was this impossible romantic quest of clenching the fleeting nature of the city and make it mine, at least for a single perfect moment... Which is probably why I spent countless hours wandering solo across Montreal's axes in my 20s-30s... The boulevards, the streets, the parks, the alleyways... Deliberately contemplating the passersby, trying to get a glimpse of their soul, of their elusive stories... Which is perhaps why I insisted on dwelling in the streets of Buenos Aires during the hours preceding the start of La Cuarentena on Day 0, and f**king let the intense sadness and the tragic beauty sink in...

The following is a video of the desolation in Montreal, which definitely fits the narrative of this post : https://www.facebook.com/matthew.smi...DI1ODQ1MDc1MQ/

Beauty is the allure of an unattainable picture where all movements would cease, time completely frozen, and where life and its dynamic could suddenly be captured. And it is perhaps for this precise reason that deserts have always held this peculiar magnetism, where every sound can be experienced fully... The wind, embraced... Every ripple of life, sensorially dissected... A form of contemplation that is not normally easily accessible, but that has suddenly become the norm durring this Zombie Apocalypse.

A video of Lima seen from bird's eye, AKA a striking look at the desolation of a vacant world in all its anguish appeal : https://www.facebook.com/EhUniverso/...TE0MDc4NTc1MQ/




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Really tough to imagine Lima without all the people, the cars, the honking and the chaos lol. Completely different universe this corona one we´re living right now.

Here in my city the quarantine rules are still coming in baby steps (next one will be mandatory usage of face masks to go outside), but we´re still free to go (alone) to the streets and mind our own business without any problem. I don´t think this will change, or if locking us would be allowed by the judiciary anyway.

Disease still pretty much controlled here (at least that´s the impression), which is nice considering 2.5m people living in the city.

Btw, answering one of your last posts, yes, really enjoy reading your blog, keep the posts coming

Cheers

Day 28 of the Quarantine : Static

It is incredible how fast the past 4 weeks have flown by ; I guess such is the inner-clock of most folks that engage in a repetitive routine : each day is a reprise of the previous one while seamlessly flowing into tomorrow's monotone expectations, and thus barely creating new memories outside of reinforcing the existing ones... Despite being an extremely disciplined fellow and settling mostly into set grinding schedules during my normal nomadic ways, my life outside of poker is usually pretty f**king intense and full of memorable moments

Anyhow, the Yukon is a "nay" for this summer, as the usual little 2 bedroom house that I rent will not be made available for me in the midst of this pandemic fear ; of course, there would still be the option of finding something else to rent, but most likely, I would end up having to settle for a trailer home/trailer park, which would of kind defy the purpose of having access to magnificent outdoors if my indoors and surroundings are less inspiring... Quebec remains an option and I would like to go back for 2-3 months if they manage to flatten the curve and travelling in between Argentina-Canada becomes a thing again...

If not... well... not a f**king lot It is unsettling to see how short term variance has an emotional grip upon me, but then again, it is quite understandable given the lack other activities at my disposal and, lest not forget, being exposed to a once in a lifetime 7 months downswing The good part though, is that I have lowered exponentially my expectations for this year and would be happy to just make 25-35k in the couple of months and simply call it a year/switch to live whenever casinos open up again Along with the latter, my expenses are ridiculously low right now and while I will of course indulge in my normal activities once a semblance of normality returns, I will nonetheless not go back to European trips, 150$ nightly hotels and whatever other excesses I indulged in during my 3 year sunrun I can also use my Airmile points henceforth for BA-Montreal flights and simply travel cheaply in the vicinity of these parts yo Purchasing a modest cottage/house in Les Laurentides might be something to look into, as well as getting the SUV I bought last year from Dawson-Montreal All interesting projects and definitely a lifestyle I can comfortably settle into yo


Yeah, that video of Lima is so fracking eery when you have spent a substantial amount of time in that loud af and dynamic city Disclaimer : that video did bring a tear rolling down my cheeks as there is such beauty and sadness in what our world has come to

Happy to hear that things seem under control in your part of the world friend ; take advantage of your freedom of roaming around and make sure to fully enjoy the moment




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Day 29 of Quarantine : Flashback/Flashforward

I never wanted to grow up. Not like a ToysRus kid mind you , but as a rebellious teenager that wanted that extra beer... That extra puff, that hit of acid. It remains pretty cool to do so when you are 16-17 and you simply proclaim "I don't want to be an adult", gangsta style yo, as you are getting fracking HIGHER then the skies, right, the adults forever remaining lame as seen through the subversive prism of an anti-conformist adolescent, especially in the 90s during the Grudge movement... But you get older, the years pile up... 20, 25, 30... And then suddenly your forever rebellious nature starts passing less as Avant-gardist and moreso as missadaptated

It might be time to perhaps fully take advantage of this massive drop in the markets to purchase a house in Quebec : they will never be a better time (barring another housing recession). By doing so, I could set it up as an AirBnB (find someone for renovations, cleaning, take care of it in my absence), use it as passive income (along with poker, sports betting, cryptos and investments) and have a foot down (financially) in Quebec while maintaining my life in Argentina Like I mentioned, I would also go get my vehicle in Dawson and do the 6700kms drive across the country, like I have been wanting to for several years now (I did it approximately 20 times by land hitchhiking/Greyhound). Yup, this sounds like a good plan yo There are several variables to look into before doing so (and talking to my accountant/weighing in the legal implications of purchasing a house and changing my address). Anyhow, stuff to think about and a good way to fully take advantage of my $$$ right now ; it is not as if we do not have time to ponder about things, you know

Anybody else




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Day 30 of the Quarantine : Da Pokerz

This worldwide confinement has forced most of us to go more inwards than we are used to. Well... perhaps some of us introverts are accustomed with our inner-realities, right 2 + 2 peeps , given that what brings us together as a community is an introverted game - albeit social in the live arena. Anyhow, like most of us, my focus has been on the online games where the action has been A+ since the overall Lockdown And despite the impression of running significantly under EV (Huds are forbidden on Unibet), I am nonetheless a decent-but-disappointing +14k post-Cuarentena Nonetheless, yesterday after taking a 1k hit in 30 (totally a standard 1/2h swing), I found myself emotionally shook up and having to crash for a 30 minutes snooze on the couch, followed by meditation ; I mean WTF More concerning then the actual feeling of heaviness, was my over the top reaction to variance Quite disturbing... Like quite f**king consternating But I mean, what can you do... It is out of my control right now to step outside for fresh air or to find some sort of balance elsewhere...

Anyhow, Unibet will be holding an online series from May1-24 comprised of 2 higher BIs daily fluctuating from 50-1100Euros. There will be a leaderboard along with a cumulating tournament of Champions, thus increasing the equity in already soft af fields We will see how the grind goes the first few days (and I also have already won the entry to the 1.1k ME ), but 6 cash games (am still involved in RRs) along with 2 side MTTs seem like a smooth enuff sessions yo Anyhow, I can fathom us having a really good upcoming stretch folks

In other poker news, Pascal Lefrancois just binked a Poker Masters MTT for 254k, which came as a surprised, as I thought he had quit poker since the CRA (Canadian IRS) is actively chasing him. He is also one of the few Quebecer MTT HS known reg that I have yet to play with (his last HM score dates back to WPT Montreal 2018, which I had also played).

That's it for now folks and share a few lines/thoughts, right Be well.




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Day 31 of the Quarantine : Relief

How a week can make a difference. On and off the felt The polar opposites of having L send me pics of her laying down sunbathing with her puppy in the sun on her terraza, of her son happily helping out in the kitchen with the cooking on this Sunday afternoon (and the miracle of him being awake before 6 pm ) positively outweighs >>> and exponentially more >>>>>>>>> then her crashing down into tears multiple times on a video-call last week Like always in life, you create this bubble/safe little haven in which the closest people in your life and other (somewhat) controllable variables (like work, friends, family, hobbies etc.) dwell within a safe zone. Such is the happiness that we create for ourselves. Even if outside of this asylum, this pandemic has the world in shambles, our little way of contributing is through a little offering of good vibrations

News from across the pond in Europe of countries opening up their doors are surely going to influence the hand of Fernandez over here... At least I sure as hell hope so Especially with Madrid Espana opening up its workforce for a whopping 300k peeps to return to their jobs despite COVID-19 still have a strong hold upon Spain. And I suspect that the latter has more political influence on Argentina, then say what the UK is doing... I would never pretend to know more then the specialists in their fields do (there are enuff fracking know-it-alls on social medias already attempting to govern the world from home ), but being a proponent of the middle-path like I am, the combination of gradually opening up the economy while maintaining social-distancing measures, seems like the appropriate path

On a more personal note, I was always going to lower my expenses moving forward after my extensive travelling of the past few years and European stints that were costing me above 6-8k+ monthly. Of course, I did not think that a pandemic was going to force my hand, but seeing my expenses drop to 1k monthly (and eventually lower when I move in with L), has been a blessing. And a snapshot of things to come for the next few years. And I do believe that we, as a humanity, will also be forced into respecting the resources of our fragile planet and perhaps even adopt it as a way of life Wow, ok, perhaps a bit too much optimism for one day




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If you get a place on Montreal island then I would like to rent it for 3 months when it becomes available please.

Glad to hear luck is back on your side and you’re crushing at the tables.

How do every day living expenses for a tourist (eating / drinking out, airbnbs, etc.) in B.A. compare to Mexico City or Lima?

yea, so true...unfortunately I can relate. I think a big part of it (for me anyway) is that since I never married or had kids, I didn't have to "grow up" / "become an adult". I've never had anyone relying on me for support, never had to alter my behavior or be a "role model" to others, so on a certain level there never was a compelling reason to stop doing the things I was doing in my 20's and 30's and to "act my age". I still love going to see live music (well, pre-pandemic anyway...), but especially in the smaller clubs I'm starting to notice that I'm the "old guy on the dance floor". Oh well, hopefully not making too much of a fool of myself!

Day 32 of the Quarantine : Transgressions (or lack of)

Some restriction were lifted today. Barely worth mentioning, tbh, but regular appointments at the doctor are now permitted, hence granting L the leeway to go for a check-up today. The plan was for her to sneak into my apartment building just shortly after, around 11am... Problem is, despite having a small af sample size of leaving my place lately, more then the majority of the time I have encountered someone along the way to the exit, despite living on the first floor Now with the amount of xenophobia floating around over here (and everywhere in the world), frankly, I certainly don't want to draw attention upon myself as a foreigner. So I threw on my backpack, slip into my grocery-shopping shoes and go downstairs to scrutinize the battleground ; not only do I encounter 3 people, but the maintenance guy is cleaning the lobby... fml Alas, what can you do right... So I go back upstairs to my freshly cleaned up apartment, slip out of my mission aborted shoes, sigh , fall to my bed and hit the snooze button.

The thing is, rumour has it that La Cuarentena will prolonging itself for an additional 2 weeks and that restrictions will barely be lifted. Which inadequately represents what is going on in the streets : couples are walking together now, folks are stopping on the sidewalk for conversations, more peeps seem to be wandering etc. But I mean, perhaps you can prevent peeps from hugging and kissing each other, but you can never deny the natural expression of a culture, especially one as warm as the Latino is And this is downtown Buenos Aires : I suspect customs are even more slack in the provinces where there is a much smaller number of COVID-19 cases and less an authoritarian presence. Anyhow, I just hope L will go to her office next week so she can slip by over here in the evenings yo


Definitely would not be in Montreal, as I would seek for something along 200k and also prefer much more the countryside in the vicinity of a lake. But I will try to convince you to rent a vehicle and stay there as opposed to the big city

Thx man, it feels amazing to be coming out of this downswong (even if I am -2.5k in the past 3h...)




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I figured this would be the case.

Still, it would be worth a stay as I'm sure you will find a lovely area.

Day 33 of the Quarantine : Opaque

Greyish were the skies today with clear signs of the approaching winter... In the thick of this obscurity, was floating this discernible heaviness weighing upon us, mere passersby running for our quick essential purchases... Nonetheless, the outside temperature has been surprisingly (for me) lenient thus far, with daily highs still hovering in the 20s - 70-80f for you American peeps hanging on to old customs .

I have grown accustomed (and quite content) with my present routine, but it has become ludicrously comical to see myself repeat daily benign gestures, something that I have not done since my kitchen days where shutting down equipment, cleaning areas etc. had become automatic Speaking of which, I always considered cooking quite the survivalist skill to possess, especially when one knows his fish or animal cuts. Combined with bush skills, one could fracking conquer the Zombie apocalypse world yo with such tools


Most definitely bro Oh la la, I can't wait until travelling becomes a thing again

Pretty nice to still be the youngest lad sitting at a poker table (back pre-COVID-19 days) isn't it

For me, while mentally I remain quite different by embracing activities thoroughly described ITT (poker, meditation, Ayahuasca, travelling etc.), I have nonetheless conformed on numerous fronts since my 30s. Particularly physically - well you have met me -, where long gone are those dreadlocks that were chopped hungover af in the Yukon outdoors after a night drinking until the end of times... I do have my back fully tattooed, but covering the latter is usually a nice shirt, a pair of geekish glasses and sure, I keep a beard o defy somewhat conventions, but nowadays keep it trimmed and clean On the social front, I have a tendency to be very polite, open to differences and even if I embrace democratic-socialism, I can comfortably discuss different POV's or simply avoid conflicts by remaining civil, as, you know, a Canadian lad

Definitely much cheaper over here. But really hard to gage since La Cuarentena. For starters, there are 2 parallel markets for the ARS$ over here ; because of an astronomical inflation of the peso a la Venezuela in these parts, the government desperately tries to prevent peeps from taking money outside of the country/purchasing internationally. So a black market (named the Blue rate) has established itself, with rates normally surpassing by a good 25% the legal ones ; as a foreigner, you have it good in these parts. Moreover, the blue rate has SKY ROCKETED during the past month, increasing by a nonsensical 35% Which is magnificent for the expats that stuck around, but also representsof the inflated price of food and other fluctuating markets.

Anyhow, definitely worth it to buy a more expensive flight to come here, which would also mean that not only would this social distancing thingy be behind us, but we would get to hangout again Peace bro




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Day 34 of the Quarantine : Timelines

So info of a rough guideline for reopening sectors of Argentina's economy has been leaked. Dates stem from May 4 where some shops will see their doors unbolted ; May 11 should see offices greet the white collars once again ; May 18 would bring back the hustle and bustle of bars and restaurants (seems too soon...) and May 25 where barbers, massage parlours and shops with direct physical contact would be revived (again, feels like wishful thinking...). Not sure how reliable this rumour is, but it is fairly well detailed, so perhaps there is some truth to it... Even if it does not seem to fit with the recent narrative of being strict af, it does coincide with Argentina now being equipped sufficiently (with the recent help of China) to handle a bigger outbreak that we presently have

This is the first time that I have let myself get this excited about outside world expectations during (mainly seeing L again) La Cuarentena But there is also another realization that is inexorably settling : the border is only expected to be opened anew in March 2021, thus potentially delaying a return to Canada for a year+. As what would an imminent return to Canada do for me outside of preventing me from coming back to Argentina... Friendships have been made non-essential, families have been confined to their immediate households, thus making a return unwarranted.

Nonetheless, my priority has been, outside of maintaining an inner quality of life and decent level of happiness, da pokerz, right, as the games have justified making it a financial priority before things dry up (albeit without live poker, games might actually remain substantially profitable for a year+... time will tell). And it is crazy how riding an upswing has made things emotionally much more smoother, where when I unavoidably lose an 80-20%, I simply brush it away and tell myself "well you got to lose it 1/5 of the time buddy", now that variance is evening out yo There is less of that doomsday scenario of "NOOOOOOO, fml, how can this even be statistically possible ffs"

Ok, once again folks, I would love to hear your stories ; please share a little story (or smallish paragraph) from your part of the world, shall you not




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Day 35 of the Quarantine : Narcissism

You remember being a kid, wandering around outside, staring far away in the distance and thinking “what if this whole world is an illusion… What if every single person is conspiring together just to test me, to see how I react… What if it is all planned out…”. Of course, a task of such magnitude would involve so much time, commitment and every single God damn person being on it together while remaining completely hush-hush about their intentions, but the lure of the narcissist thought outweighs any statistical anomaly when you are that young….

So let's get this New World Order ordeal shyt str8... Underlining sinister forces that have always secretly plotted a dystopian world where they would - again secretly - be the NWO leaders... The Rothchilds, Bill Gates, (insert a powerful billionaire name here) of the world... Ok... These Master of Puppets - again, most of them exercising control in the shadows - develop a plethora of ways to slowly but surely gradually pull on the strings of the sheeple... Right... 9/11... Earthquakes... 5G... Famous assassinations... Vaccines to intoxicate the body/enrich the pharmaceutical companies... Global warming to divert the attention/concentrate globalist powers... Elimination of fiat as a currency... Fake forest fires... Widespread authoritarian measures... Negation of personal freedom... WHO, ONU, G8, you name it...

Now some of the elements above should definitely be looked into and investigated accordingly, as we have been lied to too many times to not be fracking suspicious. Granted. I have been as anti-conformist as they come. And my pet peeve has been Christian beliefs/harrmful actions taken in the past (100s of thousand of abused children, Native genocide, the Crusade, persecution of progressive thinking, patriarchal philosophies, sexism, racism, homophobia, you fracking name it ), but to simply mash together any suspicious political event in this paranoid narrative stemming from fracking schizophrenia sources like Lizard Aliens living amongst us just so that it all makes somehow a fragment of sense in this MASSIVE-TITANIC-CLUSTER-MIND-F**K, is egotistical as can be And delusional, of course.

I watched the Joe Rogan interview with Alex Jones yesterday ; this shyt is God damn gold!!!!!! Full of lol moments and entertaining as hell. There is an hour stretch that Alex, probably after fracking 20 coffees and 5 lines of coke, lets his manic energy loose (about the 20:00 to 1:30:00 mark). And then he goes BAT-SHYT-F**KING-BONKERS @ 2:05:00 I mean, this shyt is priceless. Like a bad serie B movie a la Toxic the Avenger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5yh2HcIlkU

But the question remains : why do I care so much? Who gives a flying f**k about what a few nutheads discuss together in the virtual cuckoo nest that has become some frringe parts of facebook, right... Well, if my older cousin (my senior by 15 years) who always had the patience of the world when I was 8-10 years old and who I looked up to back then, had not become one of the Truthers with a few followers, perhaps I would not care. But, to my dismay, I do. The dude has devoted his whole life to the fight versus NWO and dedicates himself 24/7 (especially now, but even before this lockdown as he ran as an independent in the federal Canadian elections) for blogging, the truther cause, making videos and whatnot for those who are allegedly awake.

The thing is, despite being a HUGE Trump supporter, he is not racist. Sexist. Cruel. His heart is good. Yet... something is just not right up there. The guy is (obviously) a fracking walking caricature of modern fallacies, dismissing any rational argument - I know, I tried -, disregarding POV's that contradict him, deleting posts he disagrees with, unfriending any opposition, while embracing all populist stances, spreading (obvious) fake news, rarely backing his opinions with solid sources etcetera and etc. I mean, I don't really need to add anything except... I am disappointed

Not NEARLY as disheartened as the whole X affair left me a few months back though Actually, I have never been as disillusioned with anyone in my life as I have been with X I never spoke of it before ITT, as it was still fresh like an opened ruin left unattended and contaminated with the worst case of COVID fracking 19 in the world, but things went f**king AWOL as soon as some distance (and time) nestled itself in between our little ephemeral Garden of Eden in the Yukon and her crossing the pond back to Europe. She went from being a warm kindred soul to a cold hearted manipulative biitch At first, I preferred blaming depression and the anxiety that accompanies the return to family and work responsabilities, but then I started finding out about all the lies... Of all the other men... On how she used, manipulated and lied to her rich French husband... I was still relentless in giving it a last shot, in having a last romantic WE in Porto... Nonetheless, beyond her cruel words, her constant biitching, this compulsion on trying to hurt me and to portray herself as some sort of Femme Fatale classy woman, it was that look in her eyes that struck me... That empty stare... That raw, sadistic desire to inflict pain... Narcissism, at a black, pictorial level, seen in broad daylight and as fracking obscure and colourless as can be When I stated that "I was not sure if I wanted to spend the day with her" before concluding with "I don't know if you are a good person... I just never know with you", it was not the thought of our disintegrated relationship that brought down those tears... F**k no. It was the piercing effect that my words had upon her damaged ego. Nothing more.

Now the question remains : why did I fall so hard and let myself become so vulnerable for such a terrible person... And why so much anger… Well, that is my own ego. My journey. My demons to face.




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Hey Dubn, not too many stories from my neck of the woods in New Orleans. My day-to-day is pretty quiet, and it seems like things have stabilized a bit after the initial craziness. The state is likely to lift the lockdown at the beginning of May, with the city not far behind.

I assume you're watching The Last Dance? Thoughts so far?

Day 36 of the Quarantine : (Inside) Storms

Woke up to storming skies today, manifested by its hammering rain upon the rooftop of my building. Not that I am spending much time in the outside world, obviously, but there is a lot to be said about the atmospheric vibes and its direct influence on our humour... I feel solid emotionally but I did notice clear signs of fatigue when I caught glimpse of my image while video-chatting with L this afternoon ; my body definitely needs that elusive vitamin D But alas, while we will be entering the fourth phase of La Cuarentena this Monday, I doubt we will be able to go outside for physical activities/sun just yet... On the other hand, L did get a permission as a voluntary helper to roam around, so she will be popping by tomorrow evening yo

Quite interesting how authority has this sort on intangible grip on peeps right, with its control capable of going beyond the physical presence of cops and into the psych AKA consciousness of folks... For me, it has been the vicinity of the neighbours - which remarkably is vecina in Spanish, as vicinity obviously has Latin roots (viscinite in French) -, that has weighed upon me, as I have found myself with paranoia about them founding out about L sneaking into my place. This fear stems from stories that I have read on FB where several xenophobic incidents have been shared by expats, but it also originates from human nature emotionally sheltering itself in times of crisis... Or the fact that when you cross a police vehicle in the streets, it always has its red lights flashing, thus warning folks with omniscience a la Big Brother "I am always watching you" sorta way. We oftentimes tend to forget that we are all in this together. That the cops are not our ennemies.


Quite a few countries are opening up shop which I assume is also sign of things to come in Argentina, especially now that we got ventilators and millions of COVID-19 tests from China

Yup, have caught the 2 first episodes last WE. And have downloaded all 8 of them yesterday I am enjoying it. I also like the soundtrack, which for me factors in a lot into my appreciation of tv shows/movies. But anyhow, I use to watch basketball as a kid during the WE on NBC (or ABC?) on cable in the early 90s, but then stopped from about 95-04, so a lot of this Jordan-Pippen info is new to me. And quite interesting. Looking forward to watching it tonight actually, as the Spanish in Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) hurts dearly my brain




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Day 37 of the Quarantine : Presence

I made a promise to self to post every single day during La Cuarentena. And I do not take challenges lightly. So here I am. Login in. Done. L is sleeping so took a few minutes to do so. That's all. Talk tomorrow.




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Day 38 of the Quarantine : Alter Ego

The first time that I spent a week+ by myself, the first realization that hit me without the presence of anyone acting as a proper reflection, is that lost of sense of reality... Of self. My moral and psyche have been fairly steady (and good) since the start of La Cuarentena, but L had recently commented on how fatigued I looked, which gradually instilled some awareness that "yeah, I had become more sensitive to stuff". But the actual presence of L popping over, made me realize that indeed, the lack of sunshine/others had drained me somewhat, despite feeling solid inside.

It was great to see L Despite the paranoia of doing something illegal, of slipping into my hood shoes, sneaking downstairs, unlocking the door and coming back in complete silence back to my apartment. And then tip-toeing inside, whispering to each other, avoid making the sofa/bed squeak But then again, it did contribute to that alluring adolescent flair of transgressing parental authority (sorta speak)... Her presence also brought back a sense of calm, of settling into the moment, of being content of doing nothing outside of caressing and catching up yo

Speaking of being more sensitive : when news of being able to roam around an hour daily in the vicinity of our home (500m) was proclaimed for the next leg of the quarantiine, I felt a joy suddenly invade me Imagine : being able to be (somewhat) free again, like a kid that finally gets that elusive permission to go a bit further on his bicycle then the previous set limits by his parents A joy that would be, alas, almost as intense as the ensuing sadness that ensued when Fernandez confirmed that this would be only applied to smaller cities of 500k peeps, hence not BA FML Nevertheless, L will be popping over on Wednesday and probably twice a week henceforth, thus cutting the monotony of this fracking Lockdown, you know




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