just out of a marathon session of “The Muppets” dvd watching:)

(that’s my way of saying “Happy release of ‘The Muppets’ week” – otherwise known to you as “Happy Hunger Games Week”)

lots of reading – and I’m late anyway – so here goes…

“bill veeck” by paul dickinson – great autobio on a baseball owner – i actually read one on the guy when I was ya’lls age – which was years ago and why a new one needed to be done – veeck was prominent when robinson integrated baseball – which was important in the country – so veeck’s interest in the phillies particularly made the book good

“stan musial” – the author makes the point that stan has been overlooked as a great baseball player – one of the rare guys that has been dimished through the years just b/c he was the “swell” guy in the 1950s and 60s – really good -defended thesis – and sad that musial now suffers from dementia

“creating comics from start to finish” – book about breaking into comics as a job – good recap of all the roles – and then about the creative process – i’m out of my league with the artistry of those guys – but entertaining reading while you wait for (more) car repairs to your volvo:)

“bullpen gospels” by hayhurst – former big league player describes a year in double-a – and describes it more realistically than anything i’ve read – excellent book – although, you’d want to put it down many times b/c of the things young boys do in their 20s to each other – makes me glad i’m out of baseball

finally, reread “the scarlett letter” – third time through – oh, what a wonderful book – redemption – grace – forgiveness – bitterness – magic – love – there are just too many issues addressed – but i love them all – and love the book – probably my favorite of all time right now

enjoy the break

maf

wow, it’s all coming to a close for the third time this year…

i guess since i didn’t have to study like ya’ll (sarcasm insert here), i had plenty of time to read – i mean, what else was i going to do – create a wonderful final??? so here’s the list…

“the paladin prophecy” by mark frost – comes out in september – and will be a WONDERFUL series – if for no other reason than because it’s about xc – or rather, that cross country is included:) anyway, enjoyable

“our time” by scott illiano – high school coach – encouraging read about how to coach, how to teach (i guess just b/c that guy’s experience has been so bad with parents:)

“running” – genre-breaking book about emil zapatek – famous czech runner – originally in french – amazing story – emil was an amazing runner

“a cold, clear day” – bio on a US 1960s marathoner – buddy elphon – the guy went to london and taught and ran 130-mile weeks to become an elite athlete – held the marathon record in 1963 – at a time when the US had no distance runners – sort of a good read on going against the trend

happy studying

maf

ah, the pleasures of rainouts – or the misery…

(misery in my opinion – although, connect 4 is pretty fun – except when you’re getting drubbed by the evil mastermind cameron j)

i haven’t mentioned it, but i am rereading the Bible – try to do that once a year – started in mid-january – i’ve made it to 1 kings – so progress – just takes a while – my thought on that so far is that david did a bunch of things wrong to be a guy after God’s own heart – of course, israel had the same issue…

“talk of the game” – baseball announcers history book – great read – made me feel warmer just reading it (i do so love baseball) – plenty of stories i’d already heard – but plenty i hadn’t – particularly, the interviews with the announcers who do the spanish stations’ cast

“destiny of the republic” – story of james garfield’s assassignation – and the madman who did it – and alex bell who almost invented a device to save the president – had not the doctors been so dumb – great history read – didn’t know much about garfield – the writer kept trying to tie garfield into lincoln – but lincoln’s death was way different – and lincoln had eight years with the country – garfield got two months

“cc pyles amazing race” – reread of the 1928 race across the country – 70 mile days near the end – amazing…

“star wars” by george lucas – i’m guessing he wrote this to accompany the movie – he later got people to take care of such for him – this one wasn’t that good – like reading chris paolini (long on words and adjectives – little on substance)

got a few preview copies coming in next week that i’m pumped about – enjoy the last week before finals (which is the last week before break!!!)

maf