Tea House and Happiness

Friday, I found myself in Burlington, Vermont, playing at a wonderful tea house (Dobra). Very quiet and relaxed atmosphere. Wonderful tea. Low tables, with pillows to sit on. Good food.

 

We played. Time stood still. A very weird, annoying, surreal, interesting, and fun game. My soul was nourished just as much as my body from spending time on a slow game in a calming environment.

Never mind the snow storm on the way back. Never mind the crazy traffic. My day was good.

Now I just need to study the taisha again, darn!

Large Avalanche

Well, finally got some one on KGS to play large avalanche against me.

 

Till he escaped at move 50. Oh well. At least I got to learn a new variant ^^

The Joys of Meditating

After talking to a random bee farmer, I decided that I should try to find the time to meditate before my daily game. It would do my game a lot of good, and I am sure it would do my mind a lot of good too. I was full of wonderful intentions.

Last night, I did meditate before my game. I decided to keep it short, just counted 50 breaths. I made it to 42 when my 4yo came down the stairs, crying that her siblings were mean to her. It didn't sound too serious, so I continued and she did NOT see me sitting on the floor. She ran off to complain to an older sibling instead ^^ One meditation crisis averted.

 

I had a nice game. I gave 3H to a guest, and was able to catch up territory wise. Felt good about the game till the three littles started fighting, during the endgame and I totally lost my focus. I mean, TOTALLY. As in losing 25 stones in an endgame stupid atari. Oh well, I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere AND I was feeling good about the first 3/4 of the game. But it was very amusing for sure.

Too much life, not enough chocolate, but at least I am playing Every Single Day. Against all odds, but I am doing it.

Playing!

As usual, I have been having too much life, and not enough go.

But!

Goddess and my favorite bee farmer convinced me that I should stop making excuses and play already.

 

My new goal is at least one game a day (heck, usually one game a day is the total maximum I can manage in between my insanity anyway). Preferably I would meditate a short time before each game, but that hasn't quite happened ^^

Wednesday, I gave four stones handicap to someone at the Vermont Go Club in Burlington (Finally made it over again!). I lost.
Thursday, I taught go to a 5yo (I can count 9x9 games, no?) and played a partial game at our own go club.
Friday, I played an Indonesian friend on KGS. I won.
Saturday, I played Meepy! I lost miserably.
Sunday, I played a squirrel. I forgot how to read, and lost.
Monday, I played a random guest, who ground me into dogmeat.
Today, I haven't played yet, but will try to get a game in tonight to get myself to 7 out of 7 for the week.

Feels good to be playing again, even if I was half asleep by the time I played last night, and I spent the night dealing with puky kids. I did play!

Blast From The Past

Today, my daughter was organizing my filing cabinet (stop laughing!), and she found this old newspaper proving that I indeed did play go in 1993. In the Netherlands. And made it into the newspaper.

 

The baby is my now 15yo, he was so cute back then ^^

KGS Icon for Macs

I don't have a Mac, but am posting this for a friend. He has made a file to replace the KGS icon which looks absolutely horrible on a Mac. All you have to do to install it is right click on the application (in finder, not on the dock) find the existing icon.ics file, and replace it with this one. If you have KGS in the dock, you'll need to take it out of the dock and put it back so that the icon refreshes there.



Screenshot of the new icon. Enjoy!

Too Much Aji and Not Enough Reading, or How I Got My Car Impounded

First, happy New Year to all of you! Finally getting around to posting more about the Jennie Shen work shop and how we ended up at the impound lot. Yes, that included teacher Jennie. Nothing like showing her the top attractions of Philadelphia.



Did I mention the barbed wire? I thought not. Well, grab a cup of tea and get ready for the story of bad forcing moves. It was Saturday night, it was time for dinner. Since we had a Chinese teacher, it seemed an easy decision to go to Chinatown. We got into our cars and drove to Chinatown. I had Matt, Terri, and Jennie in my car. My rental car, because the Ogg Mobile was out of service for the week.



Everyone had told us how hard it is to park in Chinatown. So when we were almost there, and saw a few parking places open on the side of the road, we marked that in our minds as a possible parking location. We smugly talked about how we would get free parking, AND free exercise, while all the people parking in Chinatown were not as lucky and smart as we were. Always nice to feel superior.

We drove through Chinatown, didn't find parking, but we had our brilliant plan B and parked on one of the last few open spots alongside that road. Life was good, and we walked to the restaurant, happy about being with good friends and the prospect of excellent food. And free parking!



We ate, we chatted, we had a great time, but eventually it was time to get back to the car. This time Peter joined us. We walked back, me looking at my GPS, to make sure I could find my car. (Someone said 'You are the only person I know who marks her parking location with her GPS.' He clearly wasn't a geocacher.) We walked, I half looked at my GPS, we walked more and I stood still. Hmmmm. 'Did we just pass my car? What colour was it again? Why do all those rental cars look alike anyway?' Well, it shouldn't be hard to find, since it had a Maine license plate, and there weren't that many of those in Philly.



We walked back, getting a bit confused and worried. A car won't just disappear into thin air, would it? Peter helpfully spoke up 'You guys didn't park here, did you???!!! This is a no parking zone!' Oh...

Those signs weren't there when we parked, I swear. I mean, how could FOUR intelligent and smart people have missed a sign like that if it actually had been there? (Oh shush!)

Now what?

We flagged down a police car, explained to them that they had stolen our car, and how the heck could we get it back? They laughed at us, but did tell us that they did tow a bunch of cars from there about half an hour ago, and we could find our car at XXX Impound Lot. Maybe. If we were lucky.

Could we walk? Did we even want to walk in the cold? And the dark? And while feeling stupid? Getting a taxi seemed easier.

Right then, a taxi showed up and drove us all around the most seedy parts of town, to drop us off at the impound lot. Matt used the travel time to tell us stories about how he got his car impounded in Baltimore. When he arrived at the impound lot over there, they were closed, and he couldn't even get his car out that night.



We arrived at the impound lot, and phew, it was still open. We went in, and we started the lengthy process of getting my car back. The car of which I did not know the license plate, and of which the rental agreement was not on my person. Only thing I know is that it's a grey impala with a Maine license plate. Matt remarked that this is so much better than Baltimore already. To actually have someone there to talk to. Even if it takes quite a while before she figured out my car. But she did!

While we waited, I made fun of the ATM in the building. Matt continued his Baltimore story which involved a huge towing fee, only payable in cash. And no ATM nearby of course. AND his car windows smashed in when he finally got his car back. Which made the barbed wire here a bit more understandable, but I still thought it looked very unfriendly. Barbed wire, watch towers, people with guns. Well, maybe not the last two, but that was what the atmosphere felt like to me.

Turned out it is really really really hard to get a rental car released if you don't bring your own insurance information. Which was in my van in New Hampshire. Eventually he grudgingly released the van, saying 'My supervisor tells me I have to do it.' He clearly did not agree with his supervisor. We paid $125 towing fee, and then got handed a $31 ticket. Geez, thank you. What kind of number is that anyway? Feels like it should have been a more logical $30 or $35, but I decided not to point that out to them.

Welcome to Philadelphia! Home of the Philadelphia Parking Authority!

Anyway, we got to see the airport too, when it was not raining. And let's just say I am grateful my rental had unlimited miles, because I saw way too much of Philadelphia. Did I mention Philly signage sucks?



Moral of the story: always read before you make a move. And try not to have to carpool with me. Since you might have to spend your Saturday night at the impound lot.

There and Back Again!

I did it! I drove all the way to Philadelphia and attended Jennie's work shop!



I had a wonderful time. I got valuable new insights, played fun games, realized I still know nothing about go, ate good food, and got my car impounded.



Last night I spent driving, so I am slightly short on sleep. Will write more once I get some rest in, which is not going to be easy today, since my life didn't quite stop to give me time to catch up.



I hate the signage around Philadelphia and New York. Or maybe I am just really good at getting lost!

Haha!

Remember that Jennie Shen workshop? The one starting tomorrow? I had it all set up. I would leave early in morning, after getting my kids on the school bus. Drive my 6.5 hours during the day, and arrive in time for 6pm start.


Life is what happens when you make other plans.
- my van broke down
- there were unexpected school complications
- and the weather is sucky

"... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 1 PM EST Friday...

Expect 3 to 5 inches of snow and sleet followed by freezing rain. One-half to one inch of ice accretion is expected.

Significant amounts of freezing rain sleet and snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel... keep an extra flashlight... food... and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency."



Life here is never boring ^^



I will still make it to the workshop, but very possibly will not make it to the Friday night part. Oh well, at least I'll be there Saturday and Sunday. I can't wait! Maybe I should finish packing instead of writing blog posts.

Jennie Shen Workshop!

Thanks to goddess, I found out about the Jennie Shen, 2p Go Workshop. Hmmmmm, that sounded good, but the question was whether I could get logistics figured out?

I spent a few days planning and plotting and suckering friends into taking care of my Oggettes. Things were looking good. Yesterday I felt things had fallen into place enough that I could actually commit and officially sign up! Wow!

I just need to find myself a place to sleep over there still, but I am confident I will be able to do so.

Very much looking forward to it!

Quote of the Day

You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day. -- Marian Wright Edelman

Tsumego of the Day

Black to play and live. (from Gokyo Shumyo)

Dangerous Move

Followup on the dangerous move. This was the board position, where A was an unexpectedly dangerous move. Well, unexpected by me, I am sure stronger players would have seen it before they played it.



White can probe:



If lower right corner wasn't there, this ladder would be quite disastrous:



To minimize damage, black has this sequence:



This is big profit for white. Ouch!
Just thought it was interesting position, during the game it seemed such an easy thing to hane at A, not really reading all the followups, but assuming white would submissively answer and follow me around. Bad bad bad bad habit.

Iron Man Review: Dangerous Move of the Day

First iron man game: dangerous move A. Turned out ok because of the ladder breaker in the bottom right, but it was way more dangerous than I had imagined. Maybe some day I should try reading during my games.



Challenge for you guys to figure out why it is so dangerous.

To help you, this is the correct move for black:

The Joys of Ladders

Today, played a night time fun game on KGS.

It started very innocently. I was black. I wanted mini Chinese, but he didn't give it to me.



I said 'Sure, I'll go for territory and we'll see about your potential, shall we?'
When he approached at 22, I wasn't sure about best play, but thought pincer would be fun. I chose one space low.



We played one of the 'boring' joseki, until he played 12 and I said 'Yeah, I guess he does have the ladder, doesn't he?' So we followed up.



Here, I stupidly forgot to play A, and played B instead.



He pounced, and tried to kill my stones.



But! He kind of must have forgotten to read this other ladder, starting at move 4, for which I had a really beautiful breaker stuck to his White wall.

He still didn't realize the trouble he was in and stubbornly played out the ladder. He even stopped a few times, presumably to read the ladder again, but kept convincing himself he was fine. Till the last move when he must have used not so choice words. And resigned.

I was a bit surprised that he didn't seem to be able to read this ladder. It is not a particularly hard read, I know it kept giving the same result for me every time I read it. And if opponent insists on playing it out, usually one would double check the results. Oh well, I had fun anyway ^^

First Iron Man Game: Big Mistake!

I ended up playing only those three games, but hey, I did get to play and am having fun reviewing the games in between too much life.

First interesting big mistake in the first game:



I was Black, trying to play mini Chinese, but White did not not agree and played 6 instead of the expected C14, so I punished by playing 7 at C14 myself. White's reply at 8 was labeled 'big mistake' by sendol.

Black can play A or B now, what would be your choice?

I thought it would be best to play A now, but interestingly enough sendol recommended B.



White is quite painful now. This is interesting sequence:



Move 18 is needed to make the hane at 20 sente. If the hane at 20 is omitted, White owns a dead J group. With the hane, the J-group is alive. Quite an important difference.



Expected followup could be like this, and now Black has a severe move to attack the three White stones at the top.



One of the possible scenarios:



More can be found in the sendol review of this game.

Jumping Back In!

Yes, I know, too much life, not enough go.

But this week, I couldn't resist registering for the KGS Iron Man tournament

The timing is all wrong and I have tons of stupid legal matters to attend to this week, but I figured playing some games, even if not perfect circumstances, is better than not playing at all.



Result so far:

1. Last night at 9pm, played a 2k, won when he suicided his cutting stones;
2. Woke up at 3am, played a 1d, panicked, cut when I shouldn't and lost this game;
3. Tried to play 9am game this morning, against a 2k, and resigned in disgust after I made stupid ko threat. Haven't reviewed the last two games yet, but I am sure I can learn much from them.

Anyway, don't think I can play anymore games today during the day, but happy I got those three games in, against all odds. It feels good to be playing again!

So Many Posts, So Little Time

Gah, too much life, not enough go. But this picture needs to be shared.

Hi There!

This summer is moving along too fast. The kids have so many summer activities that I am not studying as much as I should and I want to. Still, I am doing some, and have many posts for this blog in my head. Just need to sit down and actually WRITE them. Sounds simple, eh?

Today go club at Borders. We usually have a few people ask us about the game, which is why we play there. Will be nice to focus on go for the afternoon. I might bring second game of this year's Honinbo final, since I was studying that this morning. Yes, I am a bit behind on recent pro games ^^

Oh Noes!!!

Should I be worried?