Learning new things

I'm going to Italy in September. And as such, I went on Amazon yesterday and ordered myself a book/CD set for learning Italian. I figure if I can get a basic grasp of the language, it would be helpful. Hopefully, since it's another 8 months or so until I leave, I'll be dedicated enough to stick with it and actually pick something up.

Today, I'm reading Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich. It's a true story about a ring of MIT students that developed an all but full-proof system for counting cards in blackjack and taking that system to Vegas and cleaning up in the mid-90s. In one of the early chapters they detailed the basic counting method they based their ring around. Doesn't sound too difficult. Maybe when I get home I'll bust out a deck of cards and give it a try.

All this new learnin'.