For those of you scratching your head wondering what on earth basil has to do with poker you can wipe the confused look off your face — the two parts to this entry have nothing to do with each other.

I’ll start with the pot plants and then move onto the poker. A recent bout of obsession with Jamie at Home has seen me wanting to start my own garden full of herbs, fruits, vegetables and everything else imaginable. Alas we live in a townhouse with a paved courtyard so any big ideas I had met a swift end before they had a chance to begin. Not one to give up too easily (actually I am, I just didn’t in this situation and am gonna milk it for all its worth) I thought I’d grow as much as I could get away with in pots. Turns out you can do a lot with pots.

Left to Right - Back Row: Dill, Oregano, Coriander (cilantro) | Middle Row: Black Russian Heirloom Tomato, Perpetual Lettuce, Mint, Flat-Leaf Parsley | Front Row: Thyme, Chives

A couple of years ago I went through a similar phase where I bought some herbs, potted them, and then neglected them and they mostly all died. To help avoid another thoughtless bout of herbicidal genocide and give myself another level of accountability I decided to name my tiny friends. So without further ado, I introduce to you:

Dylan the Dill. Owen the Oregano. Corey the Coriander. Cleatus the Lettuce. Clint the Mint. Tim the Thyme and Clive the Chive.

I’m struggling with parsley and the black Russian heirloom tomato plant, though I feel like that one has a lot of potential – suggestions are encouraged!

Moving on to poker — I’ve still got grind on the mind and have racked up 36,452 VPPs so far this month. My goal is 150k so i’m a solid 24.3% of the way there. Running hot helps. A lot.

I’ll leave this entry short and sweet. One last thing: Puneet and I have recently started watching Parks & Recreation and I highly highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new comedy. Ron Swanson is my new hero.