They're coming.  Big things.  I promise.

But in the meantime, let me share with you some excuses as to why I've been so distant (I'm really good at making excuses).

You see, I have a job (some might not consider dealing Poker a job, but it is certainly a step up from my previous "job" of playing poker).

Well, I recently switched to day Shift (for those of you who might have forgotten, as I had, day shift is the one that takes place while the sun is up).

This whole business of having a Girlfriend inspired me to change my nocturnal schedule.  This, so that I can actually see her once in awhile, as well as the rest of the inhabitants of the world.

It has been a difficult transition, though, seeing as how long I have been a creature of the night.

When I played poker, both online and at the casinos, I often forced myself to grind through the night, until the drunk degenerates had given all of their money away or sobered up.  I had always been a night owl in college, but this was to the extreme (think: sunrise).

And when Online Poker got shut down and I switched to the other side of the table, I kept the same hours, seeing how those were the busiest, most profitable hours to work.

What's ironic about my change in schedule is that it came during the same week that the first hand of legal online poker was dealt in the United States (yes, it is coming back; no, I am not going back to play (unless, of course, it comes back in full fury throughout all fifty states with advertising and large player pools (in which case, I would be a millionaire in a year or two))).

NyQuil read my diary, apparently.

But yea.  It's been hard to adjust.  I was actually unable to fall asleep the first night of my new schedule, and I almost had a panic attack when I was nearly unable to fall asleep on the second night as well (ZzzQuil helped).

It has gotten progressively better, but I have been quite tired throughout my days -- my body and eyes wanting nothing more than to rest all day until, cruelly, it is time to go to sleep.

My writing has suffered as a result.  Mostly because I haven't been able to find the motivation or mental strength to sit down at the computer (and when I do write, I do some weird things (like add way more parenthetical statements than are necessary (because I am too tired and dazed to figure out proper sentence structure (and thought structure)))).

Can I tell you the most rewarding thing about it, though?  The thing that makes the grueling, tiresome shift worth it?

After I have clocked out and am walking out the door, as my former shift-mates are walking in the door.  The satisfaction is not derived from the fact that I am done my shift, but more from the fact that they are just beginning their shift.

After the first few days, I assumed that this was because I was an asshole, simply delighting in the misery of the people I used to work with, knowing that while I enjoyed a beer and the Phillies game, they were beginning their eight-hour grind.

But then I realized that it was Night Owl Youngman who I was happy to not be -- this former self whose spirit still haunted the casino, while my head rested on the cool pillow.  In some alternate universe, he was still laboring away all night, without a decent reason or motivation to adjust his life to some sort of normalcy, while here in this universe, Day Shift Youngman Brown woke up early and got shit done.

That's the best part.

Oh, and being able to see my girlfriend is pretty nice.

And seeing the sun.

And stores being open when I'm not working or sleeping.

And being able to catch Jeopardy!

And being able to play with Sadie as loudly as I want when I get home from work, since it is not the middle of my night.

And a bunch of other stuff.  But mostly the girlfriend thing.

-Youngman Brown


If you have kids, know kids, or know a pregnant person who is about to have kids, check out my sister's Etsy shop.  Look at the awesome custom birth announcement prints she makes: