I'm Okay! (Trust Me...)

Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you have to say.

I never want to let you down or have you go...it's better off this way.

I'm not okay

YOU WEAR ME OUT!

Here's the simple truth.  

I'm a strong woman.  I've been a single mother for 26 years (and I mean that...no ex who really was involved in my daughter's life except sporadically.  He's not a bad person at all, just lives in a different city and has a distant personality as well.)  My own family is jumbled and distant - your normal dysfunction.  My daughter is my family.  I'm closest to my sister but we talk maybe a couple times a month and usually about my mom.

So why am I rambling about this?  Simple.  My family, or lack thereof, has always been a source of great stress and sorrow to me.  Don't get me wrong...I'm mostly happy with my life but I've always wished that I had a family who was close and who cared.  

Remembering a Lazy Wednesday at Raley Field - Rivercats 5/2/12

I'm sitting here watching the Sacramento Rivercats play on the telly for only something like the SECOND time this season, so I felt inspired to post some pictures from an early season game.  

It's somewhat of a travesty that the Pacific Coast League-leading Rivercats have only been on the local t.v. twice when the stupid Single A San Jose Gnats are shown all the damn time.  I really don't understand it.  Did you know that Forbes magazine listed the Rivercats as most valuable minor league team? Well, they did.  And they don't get as much play in the local media as they should. The newspaper is idiotic here anyway, but cable should be better.

/rant

So...I used to get off work at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesdays and one hot lazy early summer day I decided to head out to the ballpark to lay on the grass and fry myself at the business person's special.  

Here are some photos!

OH SHIT!  The Rivercats pitcher just took a liner right off his wrist and it doesn't look good.  And instead of showing us the action on the field, the cameraman, who is apparently squeamish, cuts away to a prolonged picture of the Tower Bridge.  And now the 'Cats logo.  Weird.  It's not a streaker people!  

Show us the damn field!!!

Whatevs.  As I said, photos:

 I like birds. Especially when they make the foul pole above me a fowl pole.  Get it?  Ha!

Avalanche du Colorado @ Sharks de San Jose en deux parties

And away we go...

I think I forgot to mention yesterday that this game was my birthday present to 

myself since it was two days before my actual birthday. 

Got an awesome ticket via HF Boards - midway up in the upper deck center ice.  Nice.

The Not So Marvelous Return of Jamie McGinn - Avs @ Sharks 3/26/12

Color me shocked that I'm thiiiiiiiis far behind in my postings.  The blame for my lethargy rests squarely on my mother.  And of course it all started on the day I had a trip planned to San Jose to see the return of Jamie McGinn.

The months-long drama that sapped my energy is fodder for another blog posting; I won't bore you with it today.  Fortunately, the lassitude did not fully set in for a few weeks, so I was able to make the trek to the game after work.

Obviously, much time has passed and I don't fully recall the details.  One thing I know is that it was a bittersweet night for me.  I really HATE HATE HATE the trade that sent Jamie McGinn to the Avs (along with a good prospect, Sgarbossa) in return for T.J. Galiardi and Daniel Winnick.  So of course I wanted Ginner to do very well and hopefully continue the great season he was having.  With the Sharks winning of course.  

Didn't happen...

Because I have a dear, wonderful friend whom I adore, I tried to be by the Avs bench area during warmups.  It was interesting....I had to move once and then I ended up sitting with some really nice guys...one of whom spilled a beer on my feet.  

But hey, that's okay.  He didn't get my camera...or did he?  I'll just blame any sad, blurry photos on beer.  And let you determine what I mean by that.  

Warm-ups baby!

Here's Paul Stastny doing a pregame telly interview. 

And Jumbo, my Jumbo giving a fan a smiley photo opp.

I love it when he does that.

BOOK REVIEW - "Behind the Iron Curtain: Tears in the Perfect Hockey GULAG"

I just finished reading my second free book from Dorrance Publishing.  This book is the actual reason I joined their book review team.  I saw a link to this book on Amazon with the information about the book review team.  However, when I searched for the book on the publishing site after signing up, it was nowhere to be found.  That's how I ended up with the interesting version of Anne Boleyn's life.

Turns out there is another website that is also from Dorrance, but is called RoseDog Books and that is where you can find Mr. Starchenko's book.

I first heard about this book when Ivan Pravilov, the coach of Druzhba-78, was arrested back in January 2012 for "alleged" sexual abuse of two boys on his team.  I put "alleged" because Pravilov took the coward's way out and committed suicide in his jail cell before he could be put to trial.  However, I personally have no doubt as to his guilt after reading this book and also seeing the comments on a website ran by one of the parents who billeted players for Pravilov.  Warning: the site has some very annoying music, but don't let that stop you from visiting.

Hellweek - Welcome to the Nightmare

Well hello there.  I've not been here for quite awhile...except for my book review.  Life's been pretty...ummmm...interesting over the last few months.  I'm going to try to catch up with my musings on here because it's somewhat therapeutic.  But I have a lot to catch up on.

First traumatic episode first:

PLEASE PEOPLE! TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS!! 

For fuck's sake, please do me a solid and just fucking make sure you are 100% committed to taking care of a pet before you get one and abandon it.  How about this:

Book Review - Anna Boleyn and The King's Great Secret

I love to read.  I mean I REALLY love to read.  I read constantly...sometimes 2-3 books at a time. So imagine my delight when I learned there was a way I could get FREE books from a publisher as long as I agreed to talk about them. 

I heard about it while reading a book review on Amazon and followed a link to this page . I couldn't sign up fast enough, believe me. 

For my first book I chose "Anna Boleyn and The King's Great Secret" by Julia L.A. Kelly. Mainly because I am a Tudor-phile. I've read many books - both fictional and biographical - regarding Henry VIII and his many wives and mistresses.