AimlesslyChasingAmy

I was sitting here this morning thinking about all that I am thankful for and wondering if I could conjure a deep meaningful post about Thanksgiving and deliver it in some awe inspiring Otis-esque fashion.  But in the end I realized I am thankful for the little things.  And maybe I’ll find deeper meaning from Otis this week.

The first thing I’m thankful for are bras.  Not any bra; a particular bra.  There was an episode of Married with Children when Peggy’s bra was discontinued; it was called “Her Cups Runneth Over“.  The episode raised a big stink when some group wanted to block the series because they thought this particular episode had unsuitable content.  Their strategy, however, backfired and the publicity actually increased the show’s ratings dramatically.  Apparently they didn’t realize how the tragedy of a discontinued bra resonated with the female public.  Once you find a good bra, you know you’re on borrowed time.  If it gets discontinued it will take many hours of hunting on ebay for a closeout lot or going through the humiliating process of finding a new model.

I had the perfect poker bra (top picture).  It was like a camisole, so it offered an extra layer of clothing in traditionally cold poker rooms.  It supported from below, so it was easy on the shoulders for long hours at the table.  It had no snaps or hooks to dig into your back. 

I noticed after the WSOP that it had run its course.  Before Tunica in September, I looked everywhere for its replacement.  Nada.  I looked online.  It apparently was only being sold in the UK now, or at least that was the only reference I could find.  In Tunica, the conversation of bras broke out in the Gold Strike elevator.  Every woman understood my plight.  Wildbill, however, looked like he wished our elevator had an escape hatch.

But victory is mine this week.  I took my mother and brother to a new outlet mall that opened ten miles from here.  My bra was there and for a decent price!  I only bought two, but I’ll be going back for more later in the month.  The woman at the store gave me a frequent buyers discount card.  Maybe it was because I broke down and wept at the register.          

When I first started writing a blog over at the mothership, I thought about it in terms of a personal outlet.  And now, over a year and a half later, I realize that’s been just a small part of what my blog has meant to me.  I met a community; many in person and many just in our mutually shared slice of the internet.  And while it’s the poker content that links us, it is the people behind the content that I have connected with.  I liked when Mean Gene was reunited with Ernie.  I enjoyed witnessing the aftermath of the phone call when Otis’ son first said Dada.  I like to share a virtual morning hangover with Al and a real cranberry and malibu with Gracie.  I’m inspired by Maudie’s need and skill to organize.  And I have marveled at change100 and Pauly’s trips through hash bars.  And of course I get my daily Vegas fix from the boyz over at LasVegasVegas; my surrogate blogger family.

And the blog hasn’t just brought me new friends; it’s helped me reconnect with old ones.  In the last month, six of my IBM work buddies (from more than a decade ago) have posted on my blog.  I remember visiting Katie at the hospital when her first daughter was born. In a few more years, Katie’s daughter will be the same age as Katie was when we first met.  Bob is a grandpa now.   In truth, Bob was always grandpa material; it was just a matter of time.  Although it was Bob that came up with the name of my band, Guido and the Scum Puppies, lo those many years ago.  Terri and Rich convinced me that “normal” could be fun.  To this day, they are my archetype of the well-adjusted and sublime couple.  And I had only recently lost touch with Marge.  She was my partner in crime on the Board of Trustees of the Society of Women Engineers; she and I were the only members under the age of sixty.  Marge and I logged in a lot of time together; we had met at Columbia and both worked at IBM together.  And Sue - well I fixed her up with her hubby (my former officemate).  Since they’re still humming along with two kids now, I suspect the match was a keeper.

And this morning I got a Thanksgiving email from Peter.  Peter was one of my best buds at Columbia.  He was also my stock broker once out of school.  My account with him allowed me to buy my first house at age 23.  I had lost touch with Peter; separated by countries and time.  Then in January, I was sitting in the coffee shop in one of the Grand Hotels in Tunica, sucking up their free Wifi when I got my first email from him.  It was a long tangled path that only Encyclopedia Brown would have negotiated, but he finally tracked me and my blog down.

Friends are hard to make and too easily lost.  Who knew a blog could become a conduit for friendship?