Pool

I took Sunday off to go see Kelsey all day. This will have to be a normal occurrence for the summer. I was busy all day in Searcy and was exhausted and went straight to bed when I got home. That will be that.

On to something with more substance, hopefully. My parents have a pool table upstairs, which I really enjoy playing on. Sometimes I will put on my iPod and listen to podcasts will just shooting a round or two with myself. It really helps my mind and body relax, and it makes for good practice when friends come over. I've found pool to be an interesting game. It is one of the last survivors of an old form of entertainment called parlor games. Before the dawn of the electronic age, the radios and televisions and computers, people needed simpler games to entertain company and relieve boredom, and pool was one of the best.

Pool is such a uniquely fun game because it is quick and simple to learn, and playing provides a wide set of variations: Straight pool for marathon hangouts, nine ball for exposes of expertise, eight ball for the classic two-player version, and cut-throat for a killer three person game. It is extremely accessible and social, which makes a good pool table a very useful implement at a social gathering. It is also a universal games which makes it a great ice-breaker when at parties or social gatherings where you don't know many of the other guests.

And don't get me started on watching professionals play. Their precision makes the game seem more of a kinetic art form than a competition. Their pure manipulation of the laws of physics and the axioms of geometry transcend mere mathematics and become something truly extraordinary in form and function. I just lost twenty minutes watching breath-taking pool shots on youtube.

In short, I like pool. In long, you should probably like pool as well. It is not only fun, but it is also useful.