I think I lost my cool for the first time while playing Go. I started playing and my opponent was shadowing my every move. This proceeded for 30 or so moves while I became increasingly agitated. I was building a beautiful base, but he was building the exact same thing in reverse! And the problem is, I'm not skilled enough to know the kinks in my own structures; they look sound enough to me. So I freaked. I started building up ko fights, vaguely intending to work up an infinite ko to force him to start playing. Then he started playing. Well, suffice it to say I was thrashed in short order. I'm left feeling dizzy and annoyed.
Of course, to top it all off, when I asked him why he had played the way he did he explained that he often started that way and that his opponents usually responded by playing in the center, which of course cannot be mirrored. Damn it!
On a lighter note, I plan to begin design work in earnest on a large-scale project tomorrow. The actual specification work isn't slated to begin until October but I'd like to come into that process with a clear idea of how the system could work. Depending on how well I see the future this could either be a lot of wasted effort or a real time-saver.
I said goodbye to Times Square today. I'll be working at home for the next couple days and when I return to the office on monday we will have relocated 20 blocks south, in Chelsea. I can't wait. I'll take a light load of college kids and gay guys for a wide load of tourists and traffic any day. I'm looking forward to returning to my favorite lunch spots in the neighborhood - a Belgian cafe and the best cheap Japanese food in the city.
-sam
