I attempted to give an adequate description of the house that I spent the last few hours of  waiting for the yearly countdown – out with the old, in with the new – goodbye 2009.  The people, of course, (how can you have a party if no one shows up?) were the key ingredients.  There were many people there that I have worked with, two that were my supervisors – Donna Harris and Suzie Lederer – and, of course, people I dealt to over the years…not to mention my family, the truck driving duo.

When Carole, Monte, Vickie, and I first arrived, Jennifer and Marco were on the scene and I snagged a picture of them with Howard.  A good showing for Full Tilt Poker.

Funny, but Marco reminded me that I still had the same camera.  Damn!  Why do people pay attention to those things?  He also asked about the opening of Aria and I had no news but he had some, he appeared to be unimpressed.

Let’s do some pictures of the people in attendance.  You know the drill, you may use them for personal use but for no other reason, they belong to me and my old camera, Dude!

Some of these people I know, some I don’t.  I do know these three:

I believe I escaped without a picture of MOI!  Oh well, there’s always next year.

I managed to corner Donna Harris outside in the alcove between Suzie’s orchid room and the living room – it was the smoker’s retreat with propane heaters blasting warmth to all who dared brave the cold and pull up a chair – and we visited for a bit about the lunacy of No Limit Holdem and tournaments and their effect on ring game play.  If you think all of that is good, you are wrong, it actually destroys the structure of poker.  Poker is a long term game, right?  You figure it out.  Donna is at a crossroads in life.  Here’s to a new year Donna!

Karaoke started.  Howard did “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” – with Pam Jones and Carmen Bates directing him from his blind side.  Everyone had a lot of fun with it.

The plan was to meet on the upper balcony for the light show that would develop on the top of the hotel/casinos in the valley at midnight.  We did.  Damn, it was cold.  I made my way to an outside seat where I could prop the camera on a rail.  The shots still came out badly due to distance and the shooter’s freezing ass hands. And let’s not forget to mention the ‘same old camera.’

The New Year came in but this kid still had visions of the old year leaping in her head…there’s a lot to digest in a year of your life if you wander aimlessly through the minutes and pick out the ones you want to keep.

Finally it was time to go.  Home was about an hour and a half away and Carole had to be returned to her car down on Charleston and Fort Apache, the opposite direction of home.  I looked for Suzie to say goodnight and she was nowhere to be found. Someone said she was probably upstairs on the balcony.  I couldn’t make one more trip up the stairs – my feet didn’t forgive me for wearing those shoes until two days after the event.  I grabbed my fares and away we went.

Suzie and Howard, thank you so much for a great time, great food, company, and for opening your home to us.  Happy New Year!