I’m cleaning the house today, but now it’s lunchtime, and I want to brain dump. But first, check out a couple of Geek things that I think are exciting and cool:

• Just A Geek is available from my favorite retailer of all things geeky, Think Geek dot Com. They’re offering geek. stickers as a free bonus with the book, so you can really get your geek on.
• I’ve heard from a dozen or so WWdN readers and about half as many non-WWdN readers who have finished Just A Geek, and I want to thank everyone who has sent me their thoughts on the book. I’d like to share a little bit from one of them, because it made me do a geeky dance: “I loved it and realized that many of us Gen-Xers are finding out that our lives are hitting crossroads and too many of us are too busy looking at the door closing behind us to see the brighter view ahead. I’m glad you showed us that we can turn around and run forward into that future many of us have. Thanks for the work.”
  Also, at Amazon, a reviewer wrote: “Wheaton’s a natural, unforced writer. He’s got guts and writers’ chops. I don’t care if you’re a Star Trek fan or not, you should read this book. You should read this book if you’ve ever had really tough times. You should read this book if you’ve ever struggled with your own place in the world, your own self-esteem. You should read this book if you’ve ever tried to separate who you are from what you do.”
  I’m still a little terrified that the misconception that it’s either a fluffy celebrity bio or (even worse) just a Star Trek book will turn readers off, but these readers got exactly what I hope people will get from my book: I may be the central character, but Just a Geek is really a story about the struggle to find your place in the Universe, and I’m really happy that they grokked that. For today at least, I can lower my internal terror level from Ernie to Bert.

Okay, before I go back to cleaning the house (it’s the best way to spend Sunday!), here’s the real braindump:
Last night, Anne was going out with her girlfriends, and the kids were both spending the night with friends, so I had big plans to go play poker at Commerce, but Burns left me standing at the altar . . . so I ended up playing iPoker 3, which is a great way to practice low-limit Hold’Em skills, and just all-around fun to play, too. (Todd has programmed in all these crazy “Dealer’s Choice” games that are just nuts. I had way too much fun playing this 2-card hi-low game called ‘Hurricaine,” and I actually made Broadway in Jacks-or-better!)
I was doing REALLY well, playing just the way I would have played in a live game. I bought in for 1000 and played 10-20 limit, and was doing about +300 / hour or something like that, until I got pocket Aces on the button . . . and got rivered by a flush draw, because UTG had 9-6 of spades. I had capped it pre-flop, too! The pot was 1050 or so, too. Stupid computers.
Hey, here’s a not-so-subtle note to the guys at all the online poker rooms: SUPPORT MAC AND LINUX USERS! I really want to play Poker Stars, and Party Poker (sign up with code IGGY!)
Anyway, because I was stuck at home, I watched the Dodgers, and I got to see Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam as the Dodgers made it 2-0 vs. the Padres in this series.
Speaking of the Dodgers, my dad took me and my boys to Chavez Ravine on Thursday for the first day game I’ve been to in YEARS . . . and we got to see Eric Gagne for the first time this season. (I’ve been to 5 games, and the Dodgers have been killed in 4 of them, so no Gagne for me until Thursday.)
I’m talking to the men now: if you get a chance to take your boys to a ballgame with your dad, DO IT. It’s awesome.
Okay, time to finish lunch and get back to cleaning. Exhale on XM 80 is the perfect soundtrack for today.