Dave Postal's 2019 Outrunning Depression With Scrabble Tour

Reconciliation February 28, 2019 Phoenix, AZ After almost three weeks in Arizona, I am going home tomorrow, thankfully.  Not that I don't find it pleasant here and the weather has surprisingly turned back to what I expected it to be when I first agreed to this trip, but I guess it is just time to move on. The Newport Beach Scrabble tournament awaits.   It is somewhat ironic (as it was in San Francisco and as it is in LA) that my fall back position is to hang out at coffee houses, go to Scrabble clubs (three this week!), study my Scrabble words in front of political TV and monitor my email for any signs of actionable work activity.  Day after day.  Wash, rinse, repeat, sigh.  While opportunity continues to percolate hither and yon, a more aggressive approach to financial responsibility (and solvency) needs to accompany this sleepwalk toward responsibility.  Checking my emails will not pay the bills! As many of you know, I unplugged from television...

I Want Community aka Postpartum Depression February 21, 2019 Phoenix Good grief, it's raining like nobody's business here in Phoenix for what seems like the seventh straight day.  And when it isn't raining,  it's cold AF.  I thought this would be a weeks-long respite from the "grisly" cold of Los Angeles' winter (low 60s).  This has turned out to be some kind of Noah's Ark/Polar Vortex and has cast my opinion of Phoenix into a whole other light.  Apparently, sometimes winter is pretty much inescapable.  I am sipping on a delicious Blonde Roast at a local Starbucks, enjoying the flavor, but besieged by the physical restlessness light roast nurtures and the emotional restlessness produced by relentless rain.  How does Winter/winter do it? I am on the other side of the Phoenix Scrabble tournament, it was last Saturday-Sunday-Monday.  For several days I was among my peers, my community, the people I care about most.  It feels affirming to ...

Phoenix Scrabble Tournament The Phoenix Scrabble Tournament is in the books.  I definitely punched above my weight but alas was one place short of the money, going 12-8 +658 for 5th place.  Had I won the last game (which included 2 "bone-headed" errors, I would have finished in 3rd place in the "top dog" division, a group of twenty top-flight players.  On top of that, I now have my all time highest rating at 1659 (remember my goal is to hit 1700 - "quasi-expert" level before the end of the year.  Pretty stoked about my overall showing, even if one more win would have made me about $350 richer.  Nevertheless, my opponent who beat me out for the prize, Laurie Cohen was good enough to treat me to an ice cream sundae at the Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale after the event!  Would I rather have had the money?  Just amazed at how far I have come since "hitting the books since starting my Scrabble ascent.  Hard to believe I was an "1100" rated player five...

  Not enough sleep last night has finally got to me.  Came home from today's play, sat down on the couch and three hours later I am awake again!  Ha!  Another decent day at the tiles, surprisingly. Total Tournament Record:  10-6 +570  (5th place - 12th seed) Today 5-3 +409 BINGOS TODAY:   14 (1.75 BPG) - Slightly above  average.... RIGIDEST (81) HAULOUT (78) REGLETS (84) TRUCING (70) OSTEOID (70) DAIKONS (75) ENTREES (68) AIRHEAD (73) ATRESIC (77) TELLERS (68) NAILERS (74) VETERANS (65) RANGIEST (72) HANTLES (74) BINGOS AGAINST:  13 (1.62 BPA) - Above average - but I was playing smart people! STENCIL (78) LEVODOPA (95) BAUDEKIN (73) PIEFORTS (71) IMPORTS (76) FEDEXING (76) LOCATOR (64) LINEATE (75) TOLIDINE (60) FAINTEST (63) CANOPIED (65) DEARIES (78) DISTAIN (75) OTHER GROOVY PLAYS FOR:  GOLFS (42) XED (33) PUGGLE (32) BHAJI (34) WINE (40) JIMPY (38) REX (41) GROOVY PLAYS AGAINST:  ODS (40) HAFIZ (40) AXLE (4...

This will be an Ed Roth style recap of my performance at Day 1 of the Phoenix Scrabble Tournament.  First off, it feels great to be among my people.  There is nothing that feels more warming to me than being among my community.  As ata member or former member of the bowling community,the recovery community, the Billys community, the advertising community, it always feels great to be part of a group.   More on that later, because community is an important part of outrunning the demons.  Today its all about recapping Scrabble! Day 1 5-3 +161 (good enough for 7th place - I am the 12 seed in Division 1) Definitely performed above expectations with my luck above average and my stupid mistakes below average. Bingos For :  (10)  1.25 PER GAME - UNDERAVERAGE RESTATED (69) BOUVIERS (89) (74) DOVENING (68) ATONIES (68) HORNIEST (72) TRAINEE (75) BLAZENS (89) UNDERLIE (74) DETHRONE (65) SEDATER (72) Bingos Against: (10)  1.25 PER GAME - ALSO U...

So Much Winning February 10, 2019 Hot Java Long Beach "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game"  - Grantland Rice, 1908 "Phht"  - Dave Postal, 2019 This post will be more of a Scrabble geek out post then some of my recent rants, so apologies to anyone who doesn't give a rats-ass about whether the proper spelling is ALFAQIS or ALFAQUIS (it's the latter), but I thought I would write about why I am in a better mood today than most days recently (and why it won't last).  So to start off with, I want to say that it feels better to win than lose, which I suppose is pretty obvious.  And the scientific research behind it says that it feels worse to lose than it feels good to win, which is an interesting paradox. As a person who tends to want to shield myself from as much disappointment as humanly possible, it seems like,psychologically, we are always starting off with the score against us if the happiness derived from winning...

February 4, 2019 Long Beach, CA Depression in Perspective There's something nice and comforting about both a blank page waiting for me as well as weather that suitably fits my overtly sour mood.  I may get used to this cloudy, rainy, damp winter (oh poor me it's ONLY 62 degrees). As I was driving to the coffee shop this morning in my late model luxury car with top of the line Bose speakers blasting a clear-as-silk digital version of "Rock Fort Rock" by the Skatalites recently downloaded from Amazon, I happened by a homeless man carrying a filthy takeout container and a hapless chihuahua in one hand and his too-big-by-far pants in the other.  AND I FELT SORRY FOR MYSELF.  Fuck all, Dave, get some perspective on your shit! Depression is insidious, no doubt about it.  Anything can set it off, feed it, warm it, invite it up for a cup of coffee.   Once inside, comfortably ensconced, one must dolefully bite one's lip until DEPRESSION deigns to move on, ...