It would take precious little effort to stumble--in an inebriated poker player's shuffle--out of the Mt. Otis garage game, through a few mountain pathways, and onto the decades-old Appalachian Trail. It would take little more than a gauzy, willful mind and a good pair of walking shoes. Sure, it aint close, but it ain't far. And a good drunk's tunnel vision loves things at that distance.
With that in mind, I've been reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I figure if I can't literally connect with a trail so close, the least I can do is connect with it literarily. Or something.
Bryson tells us there are two kinds of trail hikers on the AT, the NoBo and the SoBo. The NoBo ilk (North Bound) hike from Georgia to Maine. The Sobo kind do the opposite.
While the analogy is a bit weak, I find many of the poker bloggers out there can be divided into three geographic areas. There are the Northern Bloggers (No-Blos), the Southern Bloggers (So-Blos), and the Western Bloggers (The We-Blos). You can decide who falls into what region.
I simply know that I'm a So-Blo and my geographic ties are killing me this weekend. Many of the No-Blos are meeting in Philly for Al Can't Hang's Bash at the Boat. They'll being hitting AC's Borgata, then playing a homegame, then drinking until they can't see.
I wan't to do that.
Instead, we non-No-Blos will have to live vicariously through the writings of Pauly, Al, Boy Genuis and the like.
Sigh.
To ease the pain, I'm going to host a homegame Saturday night. BadBlood will be there, as will Up For Poker founder, CJ (on a So-Blo trek from LA to VA to SC).
So, if you find yourself on a southbound train, hit us up. We're thinking of working Dial-A-Shot into the night so we can party via cell phone with the No-Blos.