It's over. The Dallas Mavericks are the 2006 NBA Western Conference champions. I am the winner of the wager between me and Laurie. And victory, my friends, is so, so sweet. A few things on my mind on the morning after the biggest feat in the history of the franchise:

• I went downtown last night to check out a friend-band's show (a "friend-band" is a band whose members are friends with the members of our band. Kinda like a "friend-girl", which is not the same as a "girlfriend". Trust me, in the cut-throat music scene, there aren't too many friend-bands. Wow. Tangent!). I happened to be wearing my not-quite-authentic-but-real-enough-to-be-jonx Dirk Nowitzski away jersey (blue on blue with letters trimmed in silver. Recognize.), and as I walked around downtown, there was pandemonium in the streets. People everywhere were hugging, honking horns, stealing wallets (it IS downtown, after all) and generally celebrating like the people at the end of "Independence Day". I've never been in a town that won something that I care about (I hate the Cowboys), so seeing this was very cool.
• Laurie wrote the best tribute EVER. I swear, I laughed my ass off reading it. It's wonderful! What's funny is, I had planned on writing mine the EXACT SAME WAY if she had won the wager, all full of sarcasm and jabs. Loved it. See, L hates to lose. She hates to lose like I hate the absence of bacon and fine bacon products. She was very gracious in defeat, though, and even in the two games Phoenix Suns won, she didn't talk TOO much shit. In fact, she handled it all with class. Laurie, I tip my 2006 Dallas Mavericks NBA Western Conference Champion hat to you.
• My family is in South Carolina until Thursday, and I miss them terribly.
• I start my new job in the morning! My last day at Chinaland was relatively uneventful, except that my BOSS basically asked me if he could give me his resume. How fucked up is that? He's getting blamed for me and My American Compatriot leaving the company, which isn't right, 'cause it's not his fault. The company's just screwed up, and they don't even understand why. Here's why: You cannot run a company in America from China. Period. I had my exit interview near the end of the day (the bastards), and after it was over, I just rolled out. I had packed up my desk and moved it all to my jeep at lunch. And when I left, I said goodbye to...no one. I had no friends there. I didn't even look back. I'll miss that place like I miss mononucleosis.