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| My thoughts this morning are centered on the latest cycling news. If you don't follow cycling, don't bother reading this entry.
Looks like Ivan Basso may be the only cyclist to escape the Operacion Puerto affair relatively unscathed (except his abrupt dismissal from the '06 Tour, which will sting until the day he dies, I'm sure.) Bjarne Riis has openly said Basso is welcome to rejoin the team as soon as he's cleared, which puts him light years ahead of the other big names involved in the fiasco. At this point, "debacle" is probably a more apt word. Ullrich is a cycling hot potato, and I'll be surprised if a pro team picks him up. How did he get so much more fucked in this than Basso? That's my question of the day... Neither has agreed to a DNA test, and both were equally implicated, both with equally dubious "evidence" to support the implication. Both were summarily booted from the TdF, and both have proclaimed complete innocence. Both are still in their prime years, both came to the Tour in good enough form to win (potentially.) Yet Ullrich - the only cyclist still on the circuit who as WON THE TOUR - has been sacked, and Riis can barely keep his dick in his pants about Basso's possible return to the team. Unbelievable.
After a perusal of the CSC roster, I'm reminded of the fact that next year's Tour should be interesting, at least if the team rosters remain about where they are now. CSC's line-up is strong: Julich, Sastre, O'Grady, Zabriskie, Schleck and Voigt anchor a team that most other sponsors would kill for. But T-Mobile's remaining riders aren't slackers, either. Honchar's ride in this year's Tour can only be described as brilliant, plus they still have Rogers, Kessler and Kloden.
With Levi at the helm of DIscovery, I'm excited and nervous about his potential. While I'm as thrilled as the next guy (or gal) about the chances of another American wielding the Discovery sword, I'm also worried we might be following a dark path to mediocrity. After Lance's complete annihilation of the field for so many years, is it really a good thing to set up a bunch of Americans to follow, who can only be placeholders until the next Armstrong (or Merckx or Indurain) come along? Good-but-not-spectacular is not how we want Americans viewed in the Tour, is it? Is Levi the best GC guy for the team? Maybe he is, I'm not trying to say he's not. But is he? Hey, as long as Bruneel doesn't make the same egregious tactical mistake(s) that he made this year, I think Levi has the chops to do a good ride.
- Mood:contemplative
 - Have you read:HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, Douglas Adams
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| We went to see Dave Attell (sp?) on Friday night. Honestly, I wasn't much looking forward to it. I've seen snippets of Dave's show - Insomnia something-or-other - on Comedy Central, and I was underwhelmed, to say the least. But I agreed to go to the stand-up show at a little casino nearby, and Dave was much better than I expected. His stand-up is quite a bit funnier than the show (which isn't hard to do), and I'm glad we went.
The casino, on the other hand, sucked to high heaven. Not only was it miniscule in size (approximately the size of a Vegas casino's restroom), but the cigarette smell could have knocked a buzzard off a shit wagon. I know the non-Vegas casinos aren't quite as committed to the odor-free idea, but this one was extra bad. It would have all been tolerable if we'd been able to get something to eat. The dipshit bartender spent every spare second spinning the glasses around like that putz Tom Cruise in Cocktail, rather than fixing drinks and taking food orders. After 20 minutes in line, I had only observed 5 people (1 couple and a group of 3 college dorks from Canada) that had actually received their drinks. No food was ever delivered to the bar for pick-up, so I don't even know if that's where the food was actually ordered or not. A completely rinky-dink outfit - the other tribal casinos should kick its ass just so folks know they aren't all like that. - Mood:chipper
 - Have you read:BIG TROUBLE, by Dave Barry (!!!!)
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| I'm subbing an article to a magazine today (or possibly tomorrow, depending on how quickly my first reader sees my e-mail) and I'm nervous as hell. I haven't really done all that much subbing, and this could turn into a regular gig, cranking it up a notch on my anxiety scale. I keep telling myself that I don't really care if they accept it or not, yet that's clearly psycho-babble crap, because I do care.
There.
I said it.
Received a couple books in the mail recently, which always kicks ass. The first was an ARC of THESE GUNS FOR HIRE, the anthology edited by JA Konrath. (Konrath's writing rocks, go buy all of his books right now.) The second was a signed copy of John Everson's COVENANT, which I got off eBay. Honestly, I'm not really into HAVING books. I like to read books, and then I'm generally happy if they leave my house. I keep very, very few of the books I read. (The TBR pile is enough to deal with...) The Everson will go back on eBay when I'm finished with it - a couple days, I reckon. I'm still waiting for 4 other books from an eBay auction, those were sent via media mail, so they probably won't arrive until late this week. I didn't actually mean to buy them, which makes me sound extremely blonde. I didn't place a very high bid, and I assumed I might win only 1 of the 4. And then I forgot about them. And then I bid on the Everson. I won all of them. Oops. :) The remaining 4 are mmpbs, and will go into the "trade" pile when I'm finished with them. Or they might go back on eBay. Hey, I bought them, maybe someone else will, too.
Unrelated to writing... (I like to give you the option to not waste your time on my "just life" stuff. I'm nice like that. Right.)
To the people who run the little Italian place in town: When I call and ask how late you're open, and you tell me 8:30, then don't be closed when I arrive at 8:10. It's simple, really. If you tell me you're open 'til 8:30, I'll expect you will be... you know... OPEN at 8:30. Jackasses. Believe or not, you are not the ONLY Italian place in this bumfuck town.
Well, I actually do feel better now.
A little. - Mood:busy
 - Have you read:THEY SHOOT CANOES, DON'T THEY? by Patrick McManus
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| All manner of creatures are gracing the skies above our house these days.
First, the feathered variety… There are 4 birds that appear to be have a regular playtime over our neighborhood. They’re clearly some species of raptor, but I know very, very little about birds - I can’t tell if they’re hawks, falcons or eagles. They always show up in the same group of 4, then they pair off, with the 2 teams staying fairly close to each other. They circle and dive-bomb each other, the “prey” bird closing its wings towards its body and diving like a stone. The other will follow, then both will begin to flap again. At various times throughout the show the teams will switch, different birds grouping together, and each will take turns being the hunter and the hunted. The 4 never stray far from each other. The height at which they play – and the fact that they don’t spend much time soaring as opposed to other maneuvers – makes me think they’re immature bald eagles. However, today it appears (for the first time) that they may have the fingertip feathers indicative of hawks. There are hawks (both red-tailed and Coopers) as well as at least 2 pairs of nesting bald eagles in the hills above our house, so the location doesn’t narrow it down any. If anyone has pics available of immature eagles or hawks (from the bottom of course, as that’s my only view of them), that would be great. I gave my Audubon book to my mom, and I haven’t had the chance to surf the net for any good comparison photos lately. Playtime appears to last for about an hour each time, then – as if Mom has rung the dinner bell – they zoom off as a group, sometimes flying so close to each other that they appear to be only 1 or 2 birds. Fascinating to watch!
And then there are the humans, who may never know as much about aerodynamics as those young raptors … This week is our little town's annual airshow. Rumors are rampant that several WWII-era birds, including a recently restored Messerschmitt, may be flying. Even if my pictures suck pond water, I plan to post photos of said craft. There will also be stunt flying galore, which is fun to watch on a lazy summer day. - Mood:refreshed
 - Have you read:THE MEANING OF EVERYTHING by Simon Winchester
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| Goodnight, Mischief.
I love you.
April 5, 1991 - May 13, 2006
... Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you...
I loved you so -
'twas Heaven here with you.
- Isla Paschal Richardson
Someday those words will make me feel better. Right now they just make me cry.
I miss you, sweetie. - Mood:sad
 - Have you read:Don't feel much like reading.
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| Hey, check out the 4/13 edition of Hellnotes! My interview with John Saul will be in there, along with my review of his latest novel, Perfect Nightmare. Sweeeeet!
I'm on the prowl for books by debut authors. Any suggestions? I love readin' new stuff.
Every year around this time, I start to ask myself why we don't live somewhere with reliably good weather. And then we take our annual trip to Vegas, and I start to ask myself if a career as an alcholic gambler would really be so bad. But this year we're not going to Vegas until late October, so I'll need to get my dry-heat-and-screwdriver fix somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, it'll be fuckin' hot for our trip (and I'll be tatered for most of it), but I can't wait until October. Maybe I can ask the folks at Olive Garden to let me enjoy my cocktails in the pastry oven. You know, just this once...
Olivia has her own page, but I couldn't resist putting a photo of her in here today. Honestly, can anything be cuter than this?
It's worth pointing out that my mother doesn't read my LJ page. But she does read Olivia's. I swear, if we could just send the dog to Mom's in a taxi, they'd both be delighted.
Working on some stuff, nothing much to mention about it at this point, though. I'm going back to using the voice recorder in the car. I got a lot done when I was doing that, and I was able to spend less time in front of the computer. I hope Bill Gates didn't hear that.
- Mood:working
- Have you read:KRAKATOA, by Simon Winchester (A+ on audio!)
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| A couple of posts ago, I mentioned some anticipated good news on the writing front. Well, here it is -- I was able to get a brief interview with John Saul, and it, along with my review of his most recent novel, Perfect Nightmare, will appear in an upcoming issue of Hellnotes. Yippee! Picking the brain of an author with such a highly successful career, and one that spans 3 decades at that, was exciting and a lot of fun. Be sure to check out Hellnotes in the coming weeks, and let me know what you think of the interview and review. - Mood:chipper
- Have you read:HIMALAYA, by Michael Palin (funny, great on audio!)
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Somehow, I always knew word about this would get out...
- Mood:cheerful
- Have you read:MADAME SECRETARY by Madeleine Albright (fascinating)
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| Yep, the hankerin' for some new ink has me in its grips. And the only way out is to pick a tat and a location, and give my buddy Bandana Mike a call. Brian laughs when I tell him that someday I'll be covered. I think he's secretly hoping I'm kidding. Nope!
I swear, I'm trying not to watch American Idol. Normally I resist TV as much as possible, and really only watch the History Channel with any regularity. But damn if this season of Idol hasn't been a good one. The woman that was voted off last night - Melissa? - what a joke. She couldn't remember the words to the fucking song?! Unacceptable. I was surprised to see Ace and Lisa in the bottom 3, though.
My reading has slacked off so much this past week that I need to get caught up, big time. I'm off several days next week, and I plan to spend a good chunk of time reading. Hmm, anyone see a connection between my American Idol-to-reading ratio? Yeah, yeah, I see it, too...
It's been ages since we've seen a new movie. We watched Wallace & Grommit's Curse of the Were-Rabbit a couple weeks ago. I didn't like it as much as Close Shave, which is my favorite. Their stuff kind of grows on you, though, so we'll probably watch it a few more times here and there. We're going to see the new Ice Age when it comes out at the end of March. One of our rare theater visits.
And to anyone wondering when Olivia's LJ will be updated, your wait is almost over. I have some pics to upload tonight, so you'll get your Livvy fix soon enough. Now stop bugging me!
- Mood:cheerful
- Have you read:THE SLEDGE PATROL, by David Howarth (awesome!)
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| I hope to report some good news on the writing front in a few days! I can't say anything yet, details being finalized and all that crap. But sooooon... It's not a book deal or anything super spectacular like that, but it's good nonetheless. I'm excited about it.
*Brief pause as I rub my hands together with fiendish glee.*
So today I got into a detailed and highly amusing message board discussion about menstruation, which only further serves to prove that I have no life. And that my expectations for birthday cake filling are apparently quite different than most folks. Make your own connection between the two, it won't be any weirder than what was posted during the discussion. It was rollicking good fun, though, and brightened up an otherwise dreary day with some unexpected laughs.
I think someone should begin work on an ark. Oh, sure, we're used to rain around these parts, but today the heavens have really opened, and it was a solid downpour pretty much all day. That's unusual - normally it drizzles all day, or sometimes even rains all day (Seattleites are well-versed in the nuances of precipitation phraseology.) But a long downpour like this? Very uncommon. It was snowing on the way home, making for an extra fun commute.
Brian is desperately hoping the weather clears and the sun comes out by Saturday morning. His new motorcycle is licensed and insured and ready to go, and... it's pouring rain. He's bummed. He's despondent. He's downright pissed. And then he goes back to being bummed. Poor guy. - Mood:excited
 - Have you read:UNDAUNTED COURAGE, by Stephen Ambrose (outstanding!)
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