[Shrek] Finished!!!

I have finally finished the (as of now) complete run of Sue Grafton books. It took longer than I expected, mostly because life kept getting in the way of play time.

I hate when that happens.

For folks wondering if they were any good, well, most of them were. The early ones sucked. But as I had the whole run I figured I'd give them a try for at least three or four books before deciding to stop. Luckily C Is for Corpse was one of the good ones, and from that point on they were pretty good.

Now I'm on to The Sundering by Jacqueline Carey, which is a combination of her two novels Banewreaker and Godslayer. Carey writes long books, and The Sundering was so long her publisher broke them into two books. I waited for the Science Fiction Book Club edition, which put them back together.

I don't know what Fiona is reading...perhaps she'll mention it next time.

[Shrek] Just catching up...

The fall bowling season officially ended Friday night with the banquet for my Monday night bowling league. For the first time ever my team won the league championship. We're named "The Wigglers" because our first bowler, Mikey, likes to wildly wiggle his hips like a hula dancer on speed when the pins are rocking back and forth. It's very funny when he does this, and brings a lot of laughs.

In the last week of play we needed to beat the other team 5-3 to win the championship, and after splitting the first two strings we needed just to tie or win the final string to capture the crown. It came down to the last two boxes, where I converted the 5-7-8-9 for a spare and then filled it with an eight. I was bowling against the best bowler in the league, who had one final chance to mark for the win. But when he left the soft 5 in his last box the title was ours.

In my Thursday night league, where my team is called "Valhalla" after a bar that was closed a very long time ago, we fared about as well as we usually do, which was in the middle of the pack. We finished 7th of 12 teams, but had lots of chances to finish in the top five. We just sucked at the wrong times.

The summer league has started, and like last year when we won it's myself, Fiona, Josie (whom I have dubbed TFG for "The Fashion Goddess" on the score sheet), and Rich (Speed). The goal in the summer league is to have fun, and so far, so good.

Fiona and I have been going to the New England Surge games on the weekends. They're the local indoor football team, and they aren't a bad way to kill the weeks between the Sharks and Tornadoes. They're the second best team in their conference, so every home game is usually a win--except against Rochester, which is the best team in the entire league.

We've recently found out that Rochester violates the spirit of the salary cap by having their players work for one of the sponsors of the team, so they're able to pay their players more than is generally allowed. That sponsor has just recently become a part owner after a very public fight, so it will be interesting to see what the CIFL does about the situation.

One of the Worcester Tornadoes free exhibition games is this afternoon, but Fiona and I won't be going as she's currently fighting a cold. On top of that the pollen count super high so she's fighting allergies too. Looks like a good day to watch some stuff we have saved on our DVR.

[Fiona] I Want To Break Free

I am sitting in my livingroom listening to Queen and trying to get over being pissed. I love this song by Queen...I Want To Break Free. It is totally unbelievable to me how crappy a day can go. This morning I went to three different Dunkin' Donuts and left each one sans coffee. Never mind that I got up a little early because Shrek had yet another day off from work but it was also raining and I thought that I would give myself a treat and get a steamin cup of Joe. As things often go I should not have been surprised that my morning didn't go well.

Sometimes I feel like I never get to win, that the Gods whoever they are get a preverse joy out of pissin on my shoes.Just once I wish my life ran like a Disney cartoon. Those always end on an up note. I Want To Break Free.

[Fiona] Overwhelmed

Occassionally I make posts that tie into my other blog. This will be one of those times. I had melt down yesterday. It was over a combination of things. I don't know how Shrek keeps his sense of "come what may" married to me. I get antsy when I feel overwhelmed. Things at work, things at home, my dad, chores, my ongoing weight loss and its separate but equal overwhelming qualities all conspired to push me over the top.

I pace and mutter to myself when I feel stressed. Every single thing I had left to wear in my dresser felt uncomfortable and baggy. Work has been slow and we have had several days of layoff. Gas prices are out of control. Grocery prices are going way up and to be honest I don't know how people with kids do it. I felt like I didn't have the right to go out and buy anything to wear that fit. The more I turned that notion over in my mind the angrier and more frustrated I became. I felt trapped. Irrational I know but hey I never said I made perfect sense, silly.

Shrek asked me what was going on and in true Fiona fashion I danced around the real issue. Shrek is very wise after a few minutes he got up out of his chair and put his strong arms around me and calmed my fears. I went out to our local Target and I am now the proud owner of two pairs of brand new "cheap jeans". All of the clothes that no longer fit me have been bagged up and Shrek and I will be bringing them to a Salvation Army nearby. Sometime in the near future I hope to be at my weight loss goal and spend some time in maintenance land if for no other reason than to just breathe.

[Shrek] I'm Hopelessly Addicted

They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. And not until you have done that can you truly take that first step to recovery. Of course, that presumes the addiction is bad for you and that you need to recover from it.

I am hopelessly addicted to books. Be it mysteries, action/adventure, science fiction, or biographies, it does not matter. I like to read. In fact, I've been known to be reading two or three different books at once. I've even joined an online site where I can download books right to my computer. I simply can't get enough of them.

There, I said it...and boy do I feel better.

All sarcasm aside, the one thing I don't understand is people who DON'T read. I'm not talking about newspapers and magazines, I'm talking about people that haven't picked up a book in years. That makes no sense to me. The world is full of great stories being told that millions of people are totally unaware of because they're too busy watching crap on TV or playing video games to exercise their mind.

A famous question say "Why can't Johnny read?". The answer is pretty clear to me; because Johnny's parents probably never read anything but a newspaper in front of Johnny so the mere concept of books is completely foreign to him.

So do yourself and your children a big favor and go out and get a book or two to read.

Oh, and romance novels don't count.

[Shrek] Excuse Me, But You're In Everyone's Way

Fiona and I went shopping yesterday, making sure to run our errands early before most people's working days have ended and while school is still in session. We prefer to do this because the odds of running into an absolutely clueless person rises exponentially as more people are in the store.

We all know one of the types of clueless person I'm talking about; the one that walks their cart at a snail's pace down the middle of the aisle stopping to study every product even though they have no intention of buying it, making sure to block the progress of everyone behind them as they go from side to side.

You'd think after the 20th person says "excuse me" they'd get the hint they're in the way and maybe should pick a side for their cart, but they won't let anyone ruin that great shopping experience for them.

Or better yet, two friends walking side by side each with their own carts. Add kids or cell phones to the mix and you've got yourself a party.

Another one that gets me is the person going against the flow. Did you not notice that everyone is moving in one direction and you're going in another? Inevitably that person will stop their cart right next to another stopped cart, blocking the aisle in both directions.

And for the folks that don't know this, when the express lane says "10 items or less" or something similar, it doesn't mean your 12 bottles of Pepsi count as one item because it's all the same...IT COUNTS AS 12 ITEMS! The worst offenders of this are the people that buy huge amounts of greeting cards at BJs and go to the express lane because "they're just greeting cards". Yeah, but you got 50 of them. Get your ass in the regular line.

And speaking of BJs, one of the things I like to do when I'm their is browse the table of new books that they have. Why do people feel the need to push their cart right up to the table so no one else can get in to take a look? And why do people do that at the deli too? Are they afraid someone will come by and take stuff out of their cart so they must protect it as if their very lives depended on it?

My time isn't any more valuable than anyone else's. It's also not any less valuable. How about exercising a little courtesy and take up a little less space so folks can go about their business?

There's plenty of room for everyone provided no one takes more than their share.

[Shrek] A hero turns 60

The greatest hockey player ever, Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, turned 60 on Friday. It seems like just yesterday that he was on the ice making opponents look like fools. Unfortunately numerous knee surgeries robbed fans of what was sure to be many more years of fantastic play. For those that didn't get to see his greatness first hand there is luckily lots of video.

There is a debate, lead by folks that don't know any better, about who was better: Wayne Gretzky or Bobby Orr. True hockey fans know that Bobby Orr could stop Gretzky from scoring, but there's no way on his best day that that Gretzky could stop Orr.

No one could.





Happy belated birthday Bobby...and here's to many more.

[Fiona] Jelly Beans, Jelly Beans!!!!

Today is Easter! He is risen and there are jelly beans and chocolate rabbits everywhere. I am one of those people who just doesn't understand how a religious moment becomes a commercial. Don't get me wrong I used to enjoy the candy commercial part of this holiday. I just don't understand how both became entwined. I will not pretend that I am well versed in either tradition because I am a nonpracticing Catholic and I do not actively involve myself in holidays.Shrek and I have no wee ones and we are both too grown up for the childlike excitement about candy and gifts,most of the time anyway!

The reason I bring this up? I was over my galpal's last evening. I helped her and her kiddies color eggs. I had fun but what struck me was when her daughter asked why Jesus needed colored eggs? Did it make his egg salad taste better? With the way my brain works, the wheels began to turn. My galpal Jadi is amazing. After the kiddos were securely in bed she pulled all this magical stuff from boxes and bags and assembled each of her children a unique and personal basket of his/her very own. It made me miss the bunny part of my holiday of days gone passed.

In my opinion, for most children waking up on Easter it is not about Jesus rising from the dead. It is about candy and egg hunts and new clothes. It is about going to the grandparents and other relatives for family time and food.

The world is such a commercial place anyway. Hello advertisers? Hello religious leaders? Why can't there be an Easter and an easter? Two separated days, one for Jesus and religious tradition and the other one for the jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. We could do the same thing for Christmas. Win win for everyone invloved. That way children and perhaps parents could finally learn that one has very little to do with the other and more might learn what the real holidays are about. The upside? More time off people!

Happy Easter!

[Fiona] The Opener

The world is made up of all kinds of people. Tall people, fat people, butt ugly...you get my drift. Some women shop, some women gossip, some women bitch and so on. In my lifetime I have been those other types of gal...oh the shopping sprees I have been on and though I hate to say it I gossip (doesn't everyone on some level?) and yes I can bitch with the best of them, just ask Shrek. What I am here to tell you is that I am an opener. That's right I like to open stuff. It matters not to me if it needs to be opened or not. I want to be the one who unwraps the box, or tears open the envelope, cuts the plastic wrap...sets it free. I have no idea why but it makes me so happy!

I feel like Charlie inside that chocolate factory unraveling the mysteries if only I can get to the nougat center. Shrek hates my opening obsession. If I can't open something I become like a little kid. I fidget, I whine, I get anxious. Shrek will tell me to relax that he'll get to it sooner or later. Oh no he won't. I swear he procrastinates over opening his packages, gifts,mail on purpose because he knows how antsy I become. I actually can feel my anger beginning to brim over the top as I sit and wait and wait and wait.

I have to admit that I will not wait for long. I just get to a point and then I open what I need to open. Shrek be damned!! He will get over being mad...Funny thing is that most times as soon as I get said item open I don't really care what is inside, or it doesn't belong to me, or I don't know how to use the item and Shrek needs to take over the lead position. My job afterall is finished I opened it didn't I?

[Shrek] The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated

Between writing for Sharkspage, getting ready for TotalCon, getting sick (not once, but twice), and just generally being busy, I finally have a few minutes to make a new post. Of course, it literally is just a few minutes, so this won't be very thought provoking and in all probability won't be very long.

On Monday something amusing happened just before bowling. I was looking at the schedule to see who and where I was bowling when another bowler nicknamed "Fitzie" came over to see who he was bowling. He asked me the date. All I could do was look at him in awe. After a few moments I managed to get out "Hey Fitzie, what date do you think it is?" He started at me blankly for a moment or two, smacked himself in the head and laughed, and walked away.

You'd have thought a guy named Fitzgerald would have the date of St. Patrick's Day committed to memory.

Another story...a few Saturdays ago Fiona and I, along with a busload of Worcester Sharks boosters, went to Albany to see the Sharks play. We've been there before, and have a favorite pub we like to go to right across from the arena. Well, in the month between visits there the pub had changed hands and was now a "fine dining" restaurant.

I think the next time we go to Albany it will have changed hands again as the menu was pretty pathetic for a place directly across from an arena. Plus the fact that the waitress screwed up my and Josie's beer order isn't a good sign either. We both ordered a Bass draught, and the waitress brought over Sam's Winter. Not even close to the same thing.

So we bailed out of there and to a place attached to the Times Union Center whose name I don't remember. The place is pretty full of River Rats fans, so we get the "evil eye" as we walked in. We found a table and one of the friendlies waitresses I have ever seen came over and welcomed us and gave us the "lay of the land" as it was.

As were were enjoying our drinks a guy walked up to us because we were wearing Sharks gear and talked to us for a good ten minutes or more about the the trip from Worcester and how it was his first AHL game in many years. The conversation went from sports to our respective cites and everything in between. It was like the old days when people could sit at a bar and have a drink or two and folks would find something in common to talk about for the few moments their lives interacted with each other.

It's stuff like that helps restore your faith in humanity.

I'm currently reading Sue Grafton's series (A is for Alibi; B is for Burglar, etc...). The first couple are pretty bad, but they get better quickly. My goal was to get caught up to her latest book by the end of February. I failed, mostly due to a lack of time. I just started L is for Lawless. Maybe I'll get to them all by summer.

For those with HBO, check out the John Adams miniseries. It airs on Sunday nights, and the first two have already aired so look for them "on demand". It's the best thing on TV in a long time, and now I wished I had DVR'd them all before watching the first two. The wait for number three is killing me.

Patience has never been something I was good at.