Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Stanley Cup Finals Game One
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only three more wins needed for the Red Wings to win the Cup!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Lament of a Life Long Tigers fan
The Tigers are so bad this year they make me want to puke. 
If the starting pitching is good (a rare event!) the hitters cannot hit their way out of a wet paper bag. If the hitters are pounding the ball, the starting pitching sucks. On the extremely rare occasions when they can get hits and the starting pitching is good, the bull pen sucks. And very few of them can field worth a cup full of poop. We have lost games (such as last night's opener in Arizona) due to truly awful fielding and errors. And none of them seem to be either willing or able to play small ball - make sacrifices, try to beat out a grounder to first, steal bases, bunt, etc. Cap it off by a lot of questionable decisions by Leyland and this team just plain sucks.
A lot of Tigers teams have sucked over the years. Take the 2003 team - please! But I do not know when any Tigers team has infuriated me as much as this one. Now I wish I had not bought tickets and I have seen the Tigers most years going back to Tiger Stadium (I skipped some years around 2003, and who could blame me?). So not wanting to see them is a really big statement coming from me.
Holy crap they stink.
Thank God for the Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Though they have lost their last two games...
If the starting pitching is good (a rare event!) the hitters cannot hit their way out of a wet paper bag. If the hitters are pounding the ball, the starting pitching sucks. On the extremely rare occasions when they can get hits and the starting pitching is good, the bull pen sucks. And very few of them can field worth a cup full of poop. We have lost games (such as last night's opener in Arizona) due to truly awful fielding and errors. And none of them seem to be either willing or able to play small ball - make sacrifices, try to beat out a grounder to first, steal bases, bunt, etc. Cap it off by a lot of questionable decisions by Leyland and this team just plain sucks.
A lot of Tigers teams have sucked over the years. Take the 2003 team - please! But I do not know when any Tigers team has infuriated me as much as this one. Now I wish I had not bought tickets and I have seen the Tigers most years going back to Tiger Stadium (I skipped some years around 2003, and who could blame me?). So not wanting to see them is a really big statement coming from me.
Holy crap they stink.
Thank God for the Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Though they have lost their last two games...
Mahler's Ninth
Dan and I drove to Detroit last night to hear the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Mark Wigglesworth performing Mahler's Ninth Symphony.
WOW, was it ever wonderful to hear that music live!
It was glorious, simply glorious! 
The DSO is just awe inspiring whenever they play Mahler. They just pound their talent, hearts, and souls into it.
I peaked at their schedule for next year, and they will be performing Mahler's First under the baton of their new maestro.
Raucous swaggering badass brass. 
I'm already all over it.
WOW, was it ever wonderful to hear that music live!
It was glorious, simply glorious! The DSO is just awe inspiring whenever they play Mahler. They just pound their talent, hearts, and souls into it.
I peaked at their schedule for next year, and they will be performing Mahler's First under the baton of their new maestro.
Raucous swaggering badass brass. I'm already all over it. Sunday, May 11, 2008
Tigger passes away
Our elderly cat passed away peacefully in his sleep. Since it is Mother's Day, and cold and rainy besides, my husband took pity on me and buried him this morning, on the edge of the woods, in the middle of a huge patch of purple wild violets. And then put a huge rock on top of his grave so coyotes and other scavengers cannot dig his body back up. 
I love pets, but their life spans are so short. Tigger and our dog and our youngest son were all babies together. The cat is gone, the dog is so old and feeble that every time he sneezes he falls down. My son is not yet a man grown.
I love pets, but their life spans are so short.
Tigger and our dog and our youngest son were all babies together. The cat is gone, the dog is so old and feeble that every time he sneezes he falls down. My son is not yet a man grown. Friday, May 9, 2008
Tigger
I think my elderly cat is about to die. He's not really eating or drinking today, and he is sleeping nearly constantly. In the last week his face has suddenly aged...as if he has gone from 80 to 90 in the course of a few days.
He has had a long and good life.
But I am upset for myself and Dan and especially the kids.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
2008 Hugo Quest
I finally finished Brasyl last night. It was something of a relief. That said, I did enjoy the third of the book dedicated to the Jesuit warrior priest traveling through the Amazonian rain forests in the mid-1700's, and if it had been a novella with only that part of the story, I probably would have loved it. It was the other two storylines that I just couldn't seem to get into - especially the former gang guy in the future. I found the characters in that third of the book to be very bland and it was the part that kept making me fall asleep. The story involving the reality television producer at least kept me awake, even if it was through sheer dislike of the character. 
The way the book was set up that there would be a third of a chapter with the annoying current day reality tv producer, then a third of a chapter with the boring guy in the future, and then a third of a chapter with the 1700's warrior priest. At least that way you got rewarded for making it through the first 2/3 of each chapter.
So this year's Hugo quest has been completed.
I hope next year's books will be more enjoyable.
The Chabon book was a lovely read, the Scalzi a ton of fun, one third of Brasyl was good, and the other 2/3 of that book, the Stross, and the Sawyer really did not do a whole lot for me.
I suppose my rankings would go:
1. Chabon's Yiddish Policeman's Union
2. Scalzi's The Last Colony
3. McDonald's Brasyl (and it got this high simply because of Father Quinn)
4. Stross's Halting State
5. Sawyer's Rollback
Those are obviously personal views, however, and I certainly do not claim to be any sort of great critic.
For finishing Brasyl I am now rewarding myself with the latest book in my favorite mystery series - Miracle at Speedy Motors, from theLady's No. 1 Detective Agency series. Great characters and a wonderful setting in Botswana.
The way the book was set up that there would be a third of a chapter with the annoying current day reality tv producer, then a third of a chapter with the boring guy in the future, and then a third of a chapter with the 1700's warrior priest. At least that way you got rewarded for making it through the first 2/3 of each chapter.
So this year's Hugo quest has been completed.
I hope next year's books will be more enjoyable.
The Chabon book was a lovely read, the Scalzi a ton of fun, one third of Brasyl was good, and the other 2/3 of that book, the Stross, and the Sawyer really did not do a whole lot for me.
I suppose my rankings would go:
1. Chabon's Yiddish Policeman's Union
2. Scalzi's The Last Colony
3. McDonald's Brasyl (and it got this high simply because of Father Quinn)
4. Stross's Halting State
5. Sawyer's Rollback
Those are obviously personal views, however, and I certainly do not claim to be any sort of great critic.
For finishing Brasyl I am now rewarding myself with the latest book in my favorite mystery series - Miracle at Speedy Motors, from theLady's No. 1 Detective Agency series. Great characters and a wonderful setting in Botswana.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
sigh
Well, my weekly Monday stress diarrhea (which has been going on for at least three straight weeks now) has decided to stick around on through Tuesday this week. So I feel crappy and tired and grouchy today. I think I might have to go back to crackers and apple sauce for a couple of days. I hate having bad guts. I hate having a health professions job that stresses me out so much. Tonight I hate being a life long Detroit Tigers fan. God, they suck right now. Yet another shut out and yet another poor starting pitching performance. So much for the team all the talking heads predicted could score at will this season. They SUCK.
Bill has registered for a couple of classes at the local community college. The university he is transferring to requires a couple of 100 level classes that Ball State did not. So he will take them at the community college over the summer and save himself a boat load of greenies.
My goals this week:
Finish reading Brasyl - that book is my bane right now. I have been reading it for what feels like weeks, and I keep nodding off whenever I try to read it. I am down to the last 2/3 of the last chapter. I need to finish that puppy so I can go on to something I enjoy more.
Finish typing up my little reviews of books I have finished reading - there's only a couple, as I have been focusing on trying to finish Brasyl.
Plant the vegetable and herb garden after the dentist appointment on Friday, weather permitting. Just a few herbs and a couple of tomato and pepper plants, not a ton of stuff this year.
Mop down the basement with Lysol.
If I can get those things done, maybe I will actually have time to work on my little story I have been trying to type in over at Ahira's Hangar. I really want to be able to work on my story!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
a quick lesson in how to NEVER get published
check it out:
how to enrage a literary agent
And yes, these people do have blogs, and do talk to each other.
And yes, you usually need one in order to get a publishing contract with a major publishing house.
how to enrage a literary agent
And yes, these people do have blogs, and do talk to each other.
And yes, you usually need one in order to get a publishing contract with a major publishing house. one last trip to Muncie and Ball State University
On Friday we drove down to Indiana through a series of strong thunderstorms with heavy rain. It was no fun at all.
Our object: moving Bill out of his dorm room at Ball State University and bringing him home. Because he will be transferring to a school closer to home, this will probably be the last time any of will ever visit Muncie or Ball State.
In a night and day contrast to last year, Bill was fully packed and well organized. All we had to do was carry his stuff down to the Jeep, sweep his room floor, and turn in his key.
If I had known that, I would not have reserved a room for the night at a local motel. And we had checked into the room before he went to the dorm. So, since we were stuck paying for the room no matter what, we decided to go ahead and spend the night in Muncie anyway.
We ate dinner at a popular local pizza place called Greek's. The pizza was good. bill sold back his textbooks.
In the morning we ate a quick breakfast in the motel lobby, then all drove home.
Dan and I (in the Jeep) decided to cut cross country on US 12 from Coldwater to Saline, rather than stay on the freeway. It was actually a pleasant drive, through the heart of the Irish hills, and passing many garden centers and antique stores. We had a pleasant drive! in fact, I want to head back out there someday to visit the cactus greenhouse that we saw.
We solved the dilemma of the dog by chaining him to the front of our little barb. We left one of the doors propped open, so he could enter and exit the barn at will. His warm dog bed was in the barn in a dry corner where no rain could penetrate. his water and food dishes were also in the barn.
I did not like that solution, but he is much too elderly and frail to board, we could not leave him in the house, we have no fence for your yard, and he is far too incontinent to take anywhere in a car, or keep in a motel room!
at least the Red Wings are playing well
The Detroit Red Wings played very well in the second round of the NHL play offs.
They swept our arch rivals of the last couple of decades, the Colorado Avalanche.
Man, that was sweet! I felt like someone handed me an entire Atlanta Cheesecake Co. Italian Cream Cake, and it was just for me, and that I wouldn't gain an ounce if I ate it.
I'm sure they will not do as well in the next round, so I am fully enjoying this!
the Tigers are driving me nuts this year
The Detroit Tigers are driving me nuts this year.
They have been so inconsistent.
This week they swept the Yankees in New York for the first time since 1966 and then they go to Minneapolis and get swept by the Twinkies. Obviously, it was a lot more important to beat up the Twinkies, as they are in our division. To make it worse, in this afternoon's game, they scored six runs in the first freaking inning, then phoned in for the rest of the game, and let the Twinkies come back and win the game 7-6.
I was a baby the last time they swept the Yankees in New York.
Objects of daily life that did not exist (or barely existed) in 1966:
pocket calculators
cell phones
cd's
VHS
DVD's
debit cards
home computers
Internet
cable TV
satellite TV
microwave ovens
And then they turn around and let themselves be swept by the Twinkies?????
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