The Re-Read Challenge

We Be Reading is hosting the re-read challenge. And since I've been thinking about rereading a couple of books, I thought I should join this one. Right now, here are the books I think I will re-read between now and when the challenge ends November 30th.

Revenge of the Gypsy Queen by Kris Neri
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I will update this post with links to my Epinions reviews (and add any books I decide to re-read, although that is unlikely.)

Women's Murder Club Challenge

I've found a blog that summarizes various reading challenges around the blogosphere recently, and I intend to join some of them. I'm even thinking about starting one of my own for 2010.

But the first reading challenge I want to join is a no brainer.

Socrates' Book Reviews is hosting a Women's Murder Club Challenge. All you have to do is finish reading the series by August 15, 2010.

Since I have two of the books at home borrowed from a friend, and he's promised to loan me the final one, it should be pretty easy to finish. Heck, I planned to finish by the end of the year as it was.

So, here's the list of the three books I need to read to finish the series.

6th Target
7th Heaven
8th Confession
9th Judgment

Those are the same ones our hostess needs to read, too.

Word Association for August 27

Yep, this for this week's word association.

1. Disguised :: Costume
2. Big wheel :: Kid's toy
3. Irritating :: Annoying
4. Care :: Feed
5. Grandpa :: Grpop
6. Shooting :: Accident
7. Sunglasses :: Summer
8. Stampede :: Cows
9. Painstakingly :: Detailed
10. Terrible position :: Bad luck

My Night Stand - Very Late Edition

I can't believe I almost missed What's on My Nightstand this month. It doesn't seem like the last Tuesday of the month to me.

Anyway, here we go.

Sunday, I finished Set Sail for Murder by Carolyn Hart. It's the newest in her Henrie O series, and I think it is my favorite. Even thought I guessed the killer early, this one sucked me in and wouldn't let me go at all.

As of lunch time today, I am about half way through Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen. I'm really enjoying it, although the plot seems light, even for this series.

Summer League Tournament

So, Sunday was the summer league tournament. I had to be in San Pedro by 9 AM, which was actually pretty easy with hardly any traffic on the road that morning.

We started off our first game with an early lead. In fact, we took half at 7-4. But then we fell apart, letting them tie it up before the soft cap went on. Game wound up being to 9 instead of 13, and we lost. Even worse, the one time it got thrown to me in the game, I fumbled it big time.

We had a bye the next round, then started our second game. If we lost, we'd be done of the day. If we won, we'd get to play for 10th.

This game was actually pretty close for the first half. We pulled away and won in the second half.

And I really enjoyed this game. It helped that we were playing JV's team, and JV and I are pretty evenly matched on the field. Plus he's just a cool guy to play against. Fortunately, I got open and caught the disc multiple times. Unfortunately, I threw it away every time I had it. And the one time it was thrown nicely to me in the end zone, it bounced off my hand and out of reach. I was so close to chasing it down, too. Actually, they sent me long a couple of times, and I was close to having it, but that one was the worst because it was so close.

So we got to play for 9th against another team with some good friends on it. The captains decided to only play to 7 so we'd be sure get good seats for the finals. Again, we started strong, but then fell apart in the second half. So we wound up in 10th overall, up one spot from our 11th seed going into the tournament.

In that last game, I only really got open and got the disc once. Again, I threw it away. I was the only person to sprint down and try to help out a team mate who was almost but not quite in the end zone. He threw it to me, but the wind caught it and blew it out of my reach.

Surprisingly, I had people telling me I'd done a good job on defense, something I never get. That made me feel good.

Now, if only I can build on this momentum and keep playing pick up (that's my plan) and Winter League, maybe I won't feel like I'm starting over come next summer.

Word Association for August 20th

I've got just enough time for Word Association if I hurry.

1. Delayed :: Late
2. Irresponsible :: Playing around
3. Stupendous :: Man (thanks to Calvin and Hobbes)
4. Barcelona :: Spain
5. Solution :: Problem
6. Simplify :: Life
7. Crumble :: Volcano (Mario Kart this time)
8. Podcast :: iPod
9. Conversation :: Talking
10. Homepage :: Blog

Summer League Game 11

And so we come to my last summer league game of 2009. :(

It was Monday night. That's right, after a day at Hurricane Harbor, I had an ultimate game. But that didn't seem to bother me like I thought it would. I had plenty of energy when I was on the field. I never touched the disc, and truthfully, I never could get open to touch the disc. I got schooled at one point and beat hard to the end zone. However, when we were playing zone defense at one point, I did a fairly decent job of keeping my area closed down so they couldn't pass it there.

As a team, we didn't play quite so well. I got there very late, and we were tied 2-2. (Ironically, I got there about the same time I did last week, and we were still warming up.) We scored the first point I was there, then one or two more before they caught up and passed us again. We never did recover from that, finishing 10-15.

Sunday is the tournament down in San Pedro again. Starts at 9AM. Hopefully, it will be a good time. And I can't forget how my team did last year, making the finals after having won one game all season. Never give up until the final score is in.

Amusement Parks R Us

So I've been spending lots of time at amusement parks recently. And getting paid for it, too.

Last Thursday, I spent the day at Disneyland with Angelique. We had to go to take advantage of the 3 days for $99. Had to use the first day before this coming Sunday.

It wasn't as crowded as it could have been, but was still plenty crowded. We did wait 30 minutes for Space Mountain, but we waited instead of using Fast Pass. Lines in California Adventure were considerably longer, so we used Fast Pass more over there.

Even so, we got in all the big rides. Didn't spend much time in Fantasyland, but we're going all weekend over Labor Day, so we can do that then.

The day started out overcast and cool. I thought we might be cold, but then the sun came out and we actually got quite warm.

But a day at Disneyland is always well worth it.

I haven't been trying to keep up with new pin releases, so I wasn't sure if there would be any I was interested in. And I bought at least six, possibly more. Yikes! Could have bought more, too, but I didn't.

Then yesterday, I went to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor with my roommate. I had a free pass, and he got in discounted. That was definitely more crowded than I expected it to be since local schools started yesterday. And the crowds weren't going away as the time came for the park to close, so we left about 40 minutes before close. But we hit all the towers at least once.

We had a blast going down the slides where they allow double tubes together. We got going so fast. And we found some people to go with down the funnel group tube so we'd go high up that cone. Daniel went on some of the speed slides, and I did go on one of the enclosed ones. Just not the ones where you drop straight down. Too much for this guy who hates heights.

It's been below 90 here (cold by my standards for summer). But it was warmer yesterday. Probably at least mid-90's. The water was cold at times, but there was only a slight breeze and you quickly warmed up in the sun.

Summer League Game 10

I almost skipped my game Wednesday night so I could go to my HOA meeting. And I did go to the start of the meeting. When I realized it would be the normal ramblings, disorganized mess, I decided to leave and go to my game.

And I'm glad I did.

No, it's not because we won. We started out ahead 2-0. Then they tied it. We traded points quite a bit in the first half before falling behind and ultimately finishing 11-15.

And it's not because I ran into a friend from last summer's team and hopefully got myself on a team for winter league (which I've only even tried to play once).

It was because I had the greatest point of my ultimate career.

Nearing the end of the first half, I was in on one of the long points. We'd turned the disc over, and the guy I was supposed to be guarding was running full tilt down the field. I took off after him. Fortunately, no one threw it to him and he slowed down, allowing me time to almost catch up. The disc, meanwhile, had made it about half way down the field. At that point, they threw it to him, and my team started screaming at me. I raised my hand and started looking around for it while still running, hoping that if it was in the air, I'd see it in time to stop it. And that's when it hit me in the lower back. I got the D!

But the point wasn't over yet. On that offensive drive, we worked it easily to the half way point. At that point, my guy took off after someone breaking toward the end zone. The teammate he was covering for saw the switch and aknowledged it. But instead of picking me up, he decided to stand in the lane and clog. My best option is to run to the end zone and make him cover me. Only, he didn't cover me. Instead, he continued to stand not too far from the disc. But my teammate saw me and threw me a perfect disc. It floated long enough for me to move into the end zone. No one even tried to stop it. I caught it for the score.

Granted, my D was completely accidental. And the score was because the other team was lazy. But I am completely taking credit for them.

On the other hand, I usually say I'm good for one score and maybe one D per season. I think I wasted both on that one point.

That and This

So, let's see. What has been happening in my life?

Friday night I went to Mountasia with my Bible Study. I won in my group, although I didn't win overall. Three of the four of us in my group got holes in one, which is very amazing, especially on that course.

Saturday I spent the day with friends. Some friends were hosting a BBQ. I got there at 12:30 and didn't leave until 8 that night. Enjoyable time, obviously. We talked. A few of us swam. Played some Mario Kart. Hung out talking some more.

My home owner's association is finally letting us know what I feared. They are going to start selling outside parking spots and forcing us to park indoors. Of course, they can't do that on all the streets since the street in front of my unit is a public street. It's going to make things more of a nightmare. And they didn't let us know about a meeting about it tonight until yesterday. Gee, do you think maybe they are afraid of the reaction? I think I am going to skip the meeting to go to my ultimate game tonight, but we'll see. I guess this is the major life stresser for this summer. I really wish I could just enjoy an entire summer without life throwing something truly complicated at me.

I was reminded a couple weeks ago, I never did mention if I won that Matthew West CD. As a matter of fact, I did. And if you want to read my review, follow that link.

I almost forgot, Saturday, I ran 5K. Did it again Tuesday. Since my race isn't until the 5th of September, I have hope. If I can keep it up, I will be able to finish and still spend the day at Disneyland.

Speaking of which, I am heading there tomorrow to use the Summer Fun Pass for the first time. The count down has begun! Can't wait.

Word Association for August 10th

Time for word association again.

1. Death :: and Taxes
2. Identified :: and Tagged
3. Saturday :: Relaxing
4. Dumped :: Garbage
5. Division :: of Labor
6. Stilted :: Awkward
7. Crimes :: of Passion
8. Stumped :: Confused
9. Future :: is Bright
10. Team :: Dynamics

Summer League Game 9

Well, I said I'd be back with a recap of last night's game. So here I am.

But it wasn't a pretty picture.

We got started very late because most of both teams got caught up in bad traffic. I wasn't one of them. I was just late because I was being lazy and watching the summer finale of Burn Notice (which was awesome!)

By the time we finally did get started, we had almost our entire team and they had one sub.

And they crushed us.

The final score was 7-15, which makes it sound much closer than it actually was. We scored two or three of those points when they were at 14 already.

I'm not quite sure why we fell apart so much. But we got behind and stressed and it wasn't a pretty picture at all.

I got the disc twice, once successfully passing it on and once throwing it away stupidly. But what really frustrated me was that both times I was fouled by the guy guarding me. If I lean over, you can start leaning on my in order to guard the disc. I mean, one time, I couldn't have stood up if I had wanted to. Either you circle around to guard the disc or you let me throw it to the open side.

Okay, so that made me mad, could you tell?

Wrapped Up in Reviewing

I wish I could say I had some exciting reason for not updating my blog much, but I really don't. I've gotten caught up in reviewing the last couple of weeks. The last two Tuesday of July saw 5 TV on DVD releases from last season of shows I watched, so naturally, I had to review them.

Then, this weekend, Epinions started two new promotions. First, they are having a sweepstakes for first reviews. It's been a couple years since they did one of those, so I am trying to get as many first reviews posted as possible.

To top that off, there is a second sweepstakes for those who tweet about their reviews. The prize? An 8gig iPod touch. Since I've been tweeting about my reviews anyway, you'd better believe I am entering everything in this contest. I really want to win.

As a result, I've been trying to get as many reviews written as possible. Heck, I am at 7 posted (and 10 written) since the beginning of the month.

So, enough about reviews. What else is going on in my life.

No leads on a new roommate.

It's been getting cool at night. Like in the 60's, which is unusually cool for us in the summer. Maybe it will make the AC bill much less this month.

I shaved my head this weekend. First time I've done it in three years. I'd forgotten how much fun it is. And how much work it is, especially the first shave.

My boss has been gone this week. Haven't gotten quite the work done I needed to get done. On the plus side, I've been able to use his gate pass to shave 10 minutes off my commute. Well, except for this morning when I forgot until I has already passed by. Figured it was just as fast to go the long way around at that point. I hate it when I get into automatic pilot.

I'm up to running 2.5 miles toward the 5K (3.1 miles) I am running in 4 weeks. I hope to be trained to the point that running it and then spending the day at Disneyland won't be out of the question.

I think that's about it. I've got an ultimate game tonight, so I will be back with a recap tomorrow.

Word Association for August 3rd

Time to get a little word association going.

1. Memo :: Written
2. Copy :: Paste
3. Office :: Work
4. Stapler :: Paper
5. Paycheck :: Spent
6. Watercooler :: Thirsty
7. Desk :: Chair
8. Human :: Person
9. Resort :: Vacation
10. Boss :: Nice