I Forgot

I know there was something I wanted to blog about. Something vital to national security. (Okay, since I know nothing about national security, that couldn't be it.) And considering I haven't talk about much in the last couple of weeks, you'd think I'd be able to do that. But now for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. So I'll just talk about what I can remember.

Last weekend, I played some ultimate on Saturday. I spent the rest of the time writing reviews. Or at least feeling guilty for not writing reviews. I eventually got five of them done, so I was happy about that.

Daniel came home from his trip Monday night. And I found out that Brennon is going to move out by the end of August. Yep. The roommate search begins again.

Meanwhile, I also found out that Daniel is a huge fan of The Stockmarket Game, a game from the 60's that I've only found two other people who liked. I see many fierce battles in our future. We've already played two games, and each won one. We also played Monopoly the other night, and I won that.

I am once again missing Trixie camp this year. I don't know how I used to do it and still live on what I made. I am not saving any money right now, which was the whole reason I didn't go. I've got to figure out where all the money goes and plug up the holes.

Actually, I think I know where all the money goes. I need to stop buying books, CDs, and DVDs. I've been especially bad recently. Not looking forward to next month's bills.

It's cooled off some this week. Instead of being in the 100's, it's only been in the 90's. I'm sure it will climb back up again soon. But for now, the air conditioner is enjoying the break.

And no, this didn't jog my memory on what else I wanted to say.

Word Association for July 29th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Taxman :: Cometh
2. Material :: Possesions
3. Format :: Excel
4. File cabinet :: Storing Information
5. Ignore :: Rude
6. Super! :: califragelisticexpalidosous
7. Fireproof :: Movie
8. Blockbuster :: Movie
9. Snooper :: Detective
10. Good will :: Nice deed

I would claim not to have movies on the brain, but....

What is on My Nightstand - July 2009

Time for the monthly What's on Your Nightstand carnaval.

I have about 70 pages left in Still Life by Louise Penny. This is a mystery set in a small Canadian village. I really had a hard time getting into it. There were just too many characters and sub-plots to keep straight. But now that I know who they all are and have gotten into the story, I don't want to put it down. I may go home and finish it tonight.

On deck is Tenth Stone, the latest in the AD Chronicles series from Brock and Bodie Thoene.

I'm an Uncle!

My brother just called to tell me that my niece was born this morning. Mother and daughter are doing well.

I am so much more thrilled than I thought I would be (and I expected to be thrilled). It's all I can do to not hop on a plane right now to go meet her. I'm glad I already bought my tickets for mid-September or I'm not sure what I'd be doing.

Now to wait impatiently for pictures....

Summer League Game 8

Friday night was the 8th summer league game for my team. We were playing the only team left in co-ed that was undefeated.

And we got off to a great start. At the end of the first point, the score was 1-0.

Unfortunately, we had no where to go but down. And we did. We let them score the next few points in a row. We managed to make it a three point game at half 5-8. And we kept playing hard in the second half, but we finally lost 10-15.

Honestly, we play hard. We just keep throwing it away. Of course, shorter passes might help with that some. Long throws are fun, but they don't work as often as short passes.

On a personal note, it was a mixed bag as well. I felt I did okay on defense. I got beat back a couple of times, but never for a score. And I was able to stick on my man when he was trying to be the dump, thereby keeping him from getting the disc.

But on offense, I completely blew it. This was the first game in a couple of weeks where I was able to get open to get the disc thrown to me (mainly because they were poaching off me). The first time I got it, I threw it away. From there, I preceeded to drop it every time they threw it to me. A couple were hard throws, but one or two of them were easy. I thought catching the disc wasn't a problem for me, but obviously I was wrong on that account, too.

We went out for drinks after the game. I got water. Well, okay, and apple pie a la mode. I was going to head home around 11, but it was almost midnight before I left. Guess that means I was having a good time.

So our record right now overall is 4-4, which puts us at 8th out of 14 teams.

But here's the part I find really funny. Our point differential (points we've won by minus points we've lost by) is exactly 0. We truly are the middle of the road team.

This is our bye week, and our game next week is on Thursday. I'm ready for another win.

What Are We Owed?

I realize I am a fanboy. Get me started on Babylon 5 or Trixie Belden, and I can go for hours. (Just ask anyone who knows me.)

But I like to think I have some balance or perspective on things.

What brought all this up? This week saw the release of the second season set of Pushing Daisies. I loved that show and am bitterly disappointed that it was canceled. But I do understand that it tanked in the ratings, so I'm not surprised. After all, television is a business.

Yet reading comments from others at Amazon made me shake my head. (And no, they weren't reviews.) One person said that since ABC canceled Pushing Daisies, he had canceled ABC and would never watch them again. Um, so what happens when they have another good show on the air? You'll just skip it?

Then there was the one coming up with the theory that the government should sponsor one show a year that is excellent TV and not doing well in the ratings. That way, it would continue to be made. And the network would have to air the show. Yeah, that's the ticket. Government bailout of struggling TV! But only as long as the show was too good to fail. (As if the government bailouts we've seen this year weren't bad enough.)

Now I am currently working on tracking down a copy of the new comic book for The Middleman, the one with the unfilmed season finale in it so I can find out how that show ends. And I will do the same if they continue Pushing Daisies in comic book form. I would love for both those shows to continue in TV form. But if people aren't watching, it doesn't make any sense.

That's one reason why I review. It's yet another way for me to spread the word about the great shows (and authors) I love in hopes they'll become successful. But if people don't tune in, oh well. I did my best, and I got to enjoy the show while it aired. Hopefully the next show I find I love does better.

Reading Challenge Completed - Seconds

So, I have now finished one of the reading challenges hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog. I've finished the 2nds Challenge. (Yes, I am still working on the 1sts. What does that say about me?)

For this challenge, we had to read a second book by an author we've only read once.

Here are the books I read (Links take you to my reviews at Epinions):
1. Fearless by Robin Parrish
2. 2nd Chance by James Patterson
3. The Seeing Stone by Tony DiTerlizzie and Holly Black
4. The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes by Marlane Kennedy
5. Too Rich and Too Dead by Cynthia Baxter
6. Shark Island by Joan Druett
7. Burn Notice: The End Game by Tod Goldberg
8. Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander
9. Slay it with Flowers by Kate Collins
10. Mayhem in Miniature by Margaret Grace
11. Curse of the Holy Pale by Sue Ann Jaffarian
12. Mind Over Magic by William Rabkin

Word Association for July 21st

Time for a little more word association.

1. Banter :: Thin Man movies
2. Amazing :: Race
3. Towel :: Wet
4. Cinema :: Film
5. Newspaper :: Article
6. Not good :: Bad
7. My type :: Mate
8. Twinkle :: Little Star
9. Actress :: Jennifer Garner
10. Daft :: Crazy

An Ultimate Weekend

So, as you have already seen, I played ultimate Frisbee on Saturday. (And if you haven't seen it yet, go take a look at the post I made on Saturday). Yes, it was hot. And I drank about 3 times the water I would normally drink. But it was absolutely worth it. We had 15 people show up despite the heat, and we all had fun.

And Sunday, I did it all over again. This time, I play on the beach in Santa Monica. One of my roommates came down with me. We got there late, but we still got in plenty of play time. I was beat by the time I was done.

It was much cooler down there, but it was still plenty warm. I was sweating not too long into it. But it wasn't the triple digits we have had here at home the last few days.

But it made the water feel so much better afterward. Yep, we both hit the ocean when we were done. Swam for probably 45 minutes. The water was the perfect tempurature as far as I was concerned.

And yes, I did get some other things done. Watched Harry Potter #6 with a couple friends Friday night. Finished up the DVD set I borrowed from my boss a month ago. Now, I just need to review it. Almost caught up on TV on the DVR. And I went to church Sunday morning, helped out with the library, and watched some Babylon 5 with Joe and Josh Sunday night.

Yes, I am back at work this week to relax, why do you ask?

Making the News

Well, don't know how to imbed this, so you're just going to have to go to this link to see a quick clip of me on the local news.