I had the pleasure of attending Game 4 of the 2010 World Series featuring the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants Sunday, October 31. Here are the tweets I would’ve sent if I’d remembered to charge my phone and assuming I could’ve gotten reception in a ballpark full of 52,000 people and their cell phones.

5:41 p.m. Sign 1 things aren’t going right: My trusty out of the way parking place was full. WTF?

5:55 p.m. Look at the pretty World Series banners. This is way cool. I need to savor the moment.
Picture
6:20 p.m. Saw guy I used to work with. What’s his name again? Oh, yeah. It’s Jamie. Seriously.

6:47 p.m. Sign 2 things aren’t going right: I dropped my hot dog. Mustard EVERY.WHERE. But I got a new hot dog at least.

7:03 p.m. There are a crapload of people here. Very, very cool. 
Picture
7:15 p.m. Game 3: Kelly Clarkson sings nat’l anthem, Nolan Ryan throws out 1st pitch. Game 4: Lyle Lovett, the Bushes. Game 3 wins.

7:18 p.m. It's Mini Ron Washington. Happy Halloween!

Picture
7:19 p.m. Sign 3 Let’s Go Giants chant. WTF? Sitting in Giants’ contingent sec. Shoot me. Can I shoot them? Please? I’ll never sit in sec 325 again.

8:02 p.m. As good as the Rangers’ offense is, it can go silent in a heartbeat. First 2 rounds, not a problem. Now it’s a HUGE problem.

9:19 p.m. Why can’t/won’t they score? They are sucking the life out of me.

10:56 p.m. Oh, Cowboys Stadium all lit up. Should I take a pic? No, I’m too depressed/lazy/tired.

11:03 p.m. Bright side to the nightmare: I finally got my Michael Young T-shirt I’ve been meaning to buy for years.

Picture
And that was my first World Series experience. Now didn’t that just give you the warm and fuzzies?

I can’t wait to do it again next year! I was at the freaking World Series!

xoxo,
Jamie

Add Comment
 
 
Picture
Hugs: Breakthrough

Bugs: Freaking out and needing a breakthrough

It’s been a week since my last blog post, and that’s never my intention, but crap happens. I didn’t write anything Wednesday because I hadn’t been reading anything for pleasure. My manuscript doesn’t count, unfortunately. L

And then by Friday, I’d had yet another crisis of faith in my writing. And I really didn’t want to write about that. I’d reached the 70% (or thereabouts) mark of the manuscript, and I freaked out about where the book was headed. I was mostly worried that I was cramming too much stuff in the last section of the book. Writing is fun, but, man it can be stressful. L

I didn’t like freaking out, so I came up with a plan to overcome it J, and spent the weekend putting it into place. I reviewed the story from the beginning till the freak out point and then looked at what I’ve written for the end.

Good news – the last part of the book is workable and viable. I still have to make it publishable because it’s still in the rough first draft stage, but it makes sense (in my head, at least). And frankly, that’s all that matters right now.

Of course, that’s not to say that during the editing process, I won't discover that I’ll have to change the ending. I’m okay with that, but, for now, I’m going to go with it as is and see where it leads me.

One other thing I figured out during my review is that I need to add EMOTION. I’ve been so concerned with the external plot and Dee and Jeremiah’s motivations that I haven’t concentrated enough on how they feel about each other in the present beyond the sexual attraction. I need to make sure the emotional attraction is there as well. In my first novel, I was very conscious of this, and each scene served a dual purpose of plot and emotion (in my opinion, they did, anyway). In the third draft, I will be sure to concentrate on this.

P.S. This is the biggest Hugs of them all – the Texas Rangers are going to the World Series!! My exhilaration knows no bounds. And I get to go to a World Series game!

Add Comment
 
 
Picture
The Texas Rangers celebrate winning the 2010 American League Division Series.

Saturday afternoon, I attended Game 2 of the American League Championship Series between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees. The Rangers won, tying the series 1-1, and all was right with the world.

I went to the game by myself for a few reasons. One, I was too lazy to ask anyone to go with me. I get uncomfortable asking people to spend money on things they’re not passionate about, and I didn’t want to deal with it. Two, most people I know don’t like baseball. It’s too long and slow/boring are the usual complaints.

I understand why they think that way, but I disagree. I’m not trying to convince anyone that they should love baseball like I do. We all have our likes and dislikes and I do my best not to ridicule other people’s hobbies because I’ve been on the other end plenty of times for my choices. But I do want to tell you why I love the American pastime.

Too long?

The games usually last around 3 hours, which is the same amount football games last.

Too slow/boring?

I love baseball because each play could be “The Play.” Each pitch has the potential to be fantastic or demoralizing for your team. You just never know, which pitch is going to be THE pitch. The next pitch could be a wild pitch that sends the winning run home or the strikeout that gets you out a bases loaded jam. You just never know.

For instance, in the American League Division Series’ game two, Michael Young (my favorite player by the way) started to swing, but held up. If the umpire thought he’d gone too far, he would have struck out. But the umpire said he stopped in time, so he got another shot. Young hit a three-run homerun. The Rangers won the game and life was good.

How can that edge of your seat anticipation be boring?

I love baseball.

1 Comment
 
 
Picture
Hugs...

Maroon 5 released a new CD, which I’m loving a little more every time I listen to it. The band is coming to town in October. Very excited!

My Texas Rangers clinched their first playoff berth in 11 years. Very, very, very excited about this.

Usher is coming to town. I've been a fan since I was a teenager, but I've never seen him in concert.

There’s a class called French Novels of Erotic Intrigue I want to take. Cool.

Bugs...

Do you see where this is going?

Two concerts, a playoff game, and a class. Yeah, that’s an easy $400 right there. Why does everything cost money? And so much money at that.

Oh, well. I’m definitely going to the concerts. I’d planned to go to a playoff game, but they conflict with my work schedule, and now they’re sold out. I want to take the class, but I’m still on the fence about that.

Why can’t money grow on trees? My life would be so much cooler if it did.

What/who are you hugging this week?
What/who is bugging the mess out of you?

xoxo,
Jamie
Add Comment