Here is a minor milestone in my go career. I was playing a game this morning, and felt comfortably ahead, when my opponent tossed in one of those desperate placements - the marked stone at move 151.
$$Bc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . X O O . O O O O O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X X X . X O X X O O |
$$ | . . O . O O O . . . . . . X X . X X O |
$$ | . . O X O X X . X . . . . . . . X . X |
$$ | . O O O X X . X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O X O . X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X O X . O . X X X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O X . . , X O O O X , . . . |
$$ | . X . . . . X O O O . O . X X . X X . |
$$ | . X O . O O X . X O . O X . O O O . . |
$$ | 4 O . . . . X . X O . . X . . X . . . |
$$ | . 3 . O . . . . X . O . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . O X . X . X O . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . Y 2 . X O . O , . . O O X X O O . |
$$ | . . a O . X O . O . O O X X . X O O . |
$$ | . . 5 b O X X O . . O X X . X . X O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . X O O . O O O O O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X X X . X O X X O O |
$$ | . . O . O O O . . . . . . X X . X X O |
$$ | . . O X O X X . X . . . . . . . X . X |
$$ | . O O O X X . X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O X O . X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X O X . O . X X X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O X . . , X O O O X , . . . |
$$ | . X . . . . X O O O . O . X X . X X . |
$$ | . X O . O O X . X O . O X . O O O . . |
$$ | 4 O . . . . X . X O . . X . . X . . . |
$$ | . 3 . O . . . . X . O . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . O X . X . X O . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . Y 2 . X O . O , . . O O X X O O . |
$$ | . . a O . X O . O . O O X X . X O O . |
$$ | . . 5 b O X X O . . O X X . X . X O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I connected, and he tried to live, and faced with

, my eyes focused on a and b. Instead of caving in and playing a (my "basic instinct" is: panic), I suddenly and shockingly recognized that if I blocked at b, my opponent would get stuck with a dead L group. While many of you wouldn't consider this something to write home about, for me it was a thrilling event. A rare concrete indication that I've learned something, and can actually apply it. I played b, he played a and got stuck with the L group, which went on to die as it should, and I won handily.
Here's the SGF, if you're interested.
Patience, grasshopper.