JMU86er

Novels I have read

2011-10-31T19:54:00.001-04:00

Finished reading "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck.

Books I have read

2011-06-11T13:51:00.003-04:00

Reading "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by E.B. Sledge. The book is regarded as one of the best accounts of World War II fighting in the Pacific written by an infantryman. Just finished watching "Pacific," a 10-part miniseries on the war in the pacific. Much of the series is based on Sledge's book.

Novels I Have Read

2011-05-31T08:33:00.003-04:00

Finished Ford County Stories by John Grisham last night. He needs to publish another novel. I'm all caught up.

Work on my second novel is going pretty good. It should be an improvement on the first.

Novels I Have Read

2011-04-20T08:09:00.000-04:00

Now reading Ford County: Stories by John Grisham.

When I finish this, I will have read all of the novels he has published.

Novels I have read

2011-02-16T08:07:00.002-05:00

Finished reading Grisham's "The Confession." Another well-done story, but I think the end was drawn out a bit. Great character development.

Novels I Have Read

2010-11-21T08:05:00.001-05:00

Finished reading Grisham's "The Associate." Still need to read "Ford County" and "The Confession." I have read all the others.

Novels I have read

2010-11-08T08:17:00.001-05:00

Reading The Associate by John Grisham. Very similar to some of his other novels, but still fun.

Novels I have read

2010-06-22T20:48:00.002-04:00

Finished Clive Cussler's "The Chase." Not sure what I will read next. I should re-read Jimmy Buffett's "A Salty Piece of Land," which I read most of a couple years ago, but put it down without finishing it. It would be nice if I could get motivated to try and write another one.

Two More Grisham Novels Read

2010-06-02T08:13:00.002-04:00

Just finished "Bleachers" last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I read "The Appeal" last week and enjoyed it too. I have read all of Grisham's novels except one, "The Associate." I will read that one sometime this summer. I also need to read "Ford County: Stories."

Before getting back to Grisham, I am going to read "The Chase" by Clive Cussler. I have read one Clive Cussler book, "Deep Six," and liked it.

A good weekend for the Dukes

2009-11-23T08:17:00.002-05:00

JMU Football team beat Towson to end the season on a four-game win streak and with a 6-5 record after starting 2-5; the women's basketball team beat Va. Tech and the men's basketball team beat Florida International.

Dukes Win 17-14 at UMass

2009-11-14T15:18:00.003-05:00

Way to go Dukes. Now we have wins at Delaware and at UMass. A win at home over Towson next week will be a nice way to wrap up the season. I'll take 6-5 after being 2-5 after seven games.

Dukes Could Become Bowl Eligible (If They Were I-A)

2009-11-10T22:43:00.004-05:00

If the Dukes can win at UMass this weekend and then finish the season with a win over Towson at home a week from Saturday, they will finish the season 6-5. That would make them bowl-eligible in the FBS, a.k.a 1-A. No such compensation in the FCS, but I hope they pull it off for the seniors.

I should have added an update following the Delaware game two weeks ago, a remarkable 20-8 Dukes victory. After a first half resembling the previous 21/2 games, with three first downs and no points, the offense came alive in the second half and scored three touchdowns. A touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter ended a 12-quarter touchdown drought going back to the Richmond game. The defense was stellar, recording eight sacks and holing Delaware to two field goals. JMU gave up a safety late in the game while running out the clock. It was JMU's first victory at Delaware since 1994, and I was there!

The Dukes followed the Delaware game with a win at home against Maine. Maine committed six turnovers to help us out, but the JMU defense and special teams should get a lot of credit.

Go Dukes.

W&M 24 - JMU 3

2009-10-24T15:56:00.004-04:00

No offense once again. JMU has now failed to score a touchdown in the past 10 quarters. Going to the Delaware game will be awful. Delaware is off this week, meaning they have had an extra week to prepare for ... not much, at least concerning the JMU offense.

	JMU	WILLIAM & MARY
First downs	15	22
Rushed-yards	50-150	45-258
Passing yards	66	127
Total yards	216	385

Hoping JMU Football Finishes Strong in '09

2009-10-24T09:20:00.004-04:00

Just looked over my posts from last year about JMU's miracle wins at Richmond and Villanova and the great comeback against Appalachian State. Seems like more than a year ago.

A win today at William & Mary would sure be nice. At 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the CAA, we're probably out of the playoffs, but a strong finish would lead to good feelings going into next year. Plus, I will be going to the game at Delaware next Saturday and a win today would give me some hope going into that one.

Go Dukes!

My next novel?

2009-10-24T00:13:00.004-04:00

I have a couple ideas for my next novel and have actually started writing one of them. I didn't get far before cooling on the idea though. The thought of writing about a neurotic killer just isn't appealing. There's too many of them in real life. I think I like my second idea better. I think it would take place in the 60s and involve a character recalling his childhood in the early 1900s in a company town that no longer exists. A secret that has haunted him for years leads him back to the site of the former town. That's about as far as I've gotten on that one.

I'm not sure either idea is publishable, but what the heck. It's a nice hobby.

I've neglected my blog

2009-07-16T15:04:00.004-04:00

I am really not into blogging. I started this blog to find out what a blog was and have since learned that blogs can be just about anything. The couple that I follow are written by journalists and cover particular themes or interests. I have used my blog mostly as a notepad. There's certainly not much rhyme or reason for the entries. I am writing this post just because I happened to click on my link to the blog and noticed how long it has been since my last post.

A few things have happened since then, such as my graduation, David's graduation, Brian's engagement . . . I'm sure there's been a few other things.

Well, that's enough blogging for one day . . . and probably many more to come.

Announcing my retirement

2009-03-24T00:08:00.002-04:00

If Curt Schilling can announce his retirement on his blog, so can I.

So, it is with zero regret that I announce my retirement.

Practicum work on a Saturday

2009-01-10T09:33:00.004-05:00

Another weekend of schoolwork in the office. If I can finish drafts of the project proposal and the memo to the committee members this weekend, I will feel a lot better about the start of the semester on Monday.

CAA Football Champions

2008-11-16T08:56:00.004-05:00

I love the quote from Coach Micky Matthews at the end of the game story in the Daily Press: James Madison, which hasn't lost since its Aug. 30 opener at Duke, tied a school regular-season record with nine wins and kept alive its hopes to play host to a playoff game for the first time since 1994. If JMU beats Towson next week to finish unbeaten in the CAA, I think our fans would burn the NCAA headquarters down if we're not the No. 1 seed," Dukes coach Mickey Matthews said.

The Miracle at Villanova

2008-10-26T03:04:00.000-04:00

Oct. 25, 2008

Another Stunning JMU Football Victory

2008-10-25T19:42:00.003-04:00

What a great time to be at Buffalo Wild Wings to see a game. It looked like JMU's winning streak was history, but on the final play of the game Boscoe Williams grabbed a tipped hail-Mary pass from Rodney Landers in the end zone to steal a victory. The crowd at B-dubs went wild. It was awesome, especially when a bunch of people started singing the JMU fight song.

#1 JMU 23- #7 Villanova 19

This is the third wild comeback of the season. I forgot to post something a couple weeks ago when Scotty McGee returned a punt to win a game at Richmond, 38-31.

Next up: Homecoming next Saturday vs. Delaware.

JMU 35-App State 32

2008-09-21T08:57:00.002-04:00

What a game. App. State was up 21-0 at halftime. Scotty McGee returned the second half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and Bridgeforth Stadium was rocking the rest of the night. Second half score: JMU 35, App. State 11. Way to go DUKES!

Oh yeah. I'm in the office on a Sunday morning doing more school work, but in a good mood for it.

Doing Homework and aniticpating JMU-App State

2008-09-20T11:51:00.003-04:00

Spending another Saturday morning/early afternoon at the office doing grad school homework. Probably will be here tomorrow too. Really looking forward to tonight's football game between JMU and App. State. Go Dukes. Can't wait to get to the stadium.

JMU 52 - UMass 38

2008-09-13T20:22:00.001-04:00

Way to go Dukes. Next up: App State. The defense needs to improve.

Sacrificing exercise for school work (and PRC stuff)

2008-09-13T09:46:00.003-04:00

Spending another Saturday morning in the office. Have spent 45 mins on PRC stuff. Should be doing school work. Will get to that shortly. Have to leave at noon to make the Admissions tailgate on Godwin Field by 1 p.m. Game vs. UMass starts at 3:30. Go Dukes.

The conditions outside are perfect for running, at least the way I like them. Warm, humid, no wind. Oh well.

Another Grisham Novel Read

2008-08-25T23:08:00.002-04:00

Just finished reading Playing for Pizza and loved it. The football descriptions are very good and I enjoyed Grisham's description of Italy, especially the food since I could eat pasta at least once a day. Don't read this book on an empty stomach.

A great birthday present from Linda.

Love this quote

2008-08-14T22:29:00.002-04:00

Terry Francona had one of the best baseball quotes I've ever come across when talking about Boston's 19-17 win over Texas earlier this week: "At some point," the Red Sox manager said, "you're thinking about going for a field goal."

The Red Sox took a 10-0 lead in the first inning, then fell behind 15-14 in the sixth before rallying for the win. At the time of this post, the game story was here.

First blog with the MacBook Pro

2008-08-12T13:01:00.002-04:00

It's been about a week since I got a MacBook pro at work and the transition from the PC has been pretty smooth. The main difficulty was getting the Apache server to run SSI, but I finally figured that out. I had the server side figured out at least a day sooner than I realized. The final hangup was the text file I created to be included in an .shtml file. I created it with the text editor that comes with Mac and that didn't work. When I created it with another text editor, it worked fine.

Overall, I am glad I am getting the opportunity to work with a Mac. It will be nice to be proficient with both Macs and PCs.

Another Saturday in the Office

2008-08-09T15:56:00.003-04:00

Working on comps again on a nice Saturday afternoon. I need to be mostly finished by tomorrow so I don't have to think about it on vacation.

Saturday morning in the office

2008-07-26T09:30:00.003-04:00

More work on comps, but at least I'm not sacrificing great weather. It's a bit cool and cloudy this morning. It's supposed to warm up, but also get windy later, so all in all, not a bad day to be working on this stuff.

For the record, I've already put in an hour or so at home this morning. It's 9:30 a.m. now and I've been awake since 4 a.m. Not sure how long I'll last. Fortunately, I have plenty of time to nap later.

Working on Comps on a Saturday morning

2008-07-19T06:36:00.003-04:00

Got up at 5:30 a.m. to continue working on comps. Have to get this done before Kitty Hawk. At least I'm doing this at home. The rest of the day will be spent being lazy, enjoying a sunny, 90 + degree day with little wind and no chance of rain. Just about perfect. Plan to do a lot of sitting on the deck and will probably take a nap too.

Beginning work on comps

2008-07-16T20:25:00.001-04:00

It's a beautiful night: about 80 degrees, light breeze, low humidity, no clouds and I am here in the office beginning to put comps together. But if I get it done before the end of August, it's worth it.

Novels I've Written!

2008-07-14T13:39:00.001-04:00

Finally, five years and two months after starting, I have one. Time to start working on another. Maybe the second won't take as long.

Another novel read

2008-05-27T09:59:00.002-04:00

It's about time for another post. The Memorial Day weekend gave me time to read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Enjoyed it. Great characters and interesting reflection on the south of the 1930s.

A 70-degree day

2008-02-05T12:14:00.000-05:00

And more of the same expected tomorrow, with a chance of thunderstorms. Then it's back to the 50s for the rest of the week.

Snow - 4 1/2 inches

2008-01-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

The first real snow of this season and 2008. It was great. Nice big flakes for a while that piled up fast and no wind. Linda measured 4 1/2 inches on the back porch.

Snow squall

2008-01-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

We didn't get much; just enough to whiten the ground, but it came down hard and fast for a bit.

Click here for more photos.

First snow

2007-12-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it's not much. Maybe half an inch before it started melting. Not even worth photographing, but it whitened the roads a bit early this morning and covered the grass for a while.

Redskins vs. Cardinals ...Zzzzzzz

2007-10-21T18:00:00.001-04:00

Too bad AP sports writer Joseph White had to sit through this one. But he came up with the perfect lead :

By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer
October 21, 2007

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -- This wasn't a football game. It was a series of unfortunate events.

Not that it really matters, but the Redskins won 21-19 -- My comment, not the reporter's.

At the time of this posting, the full story was here.

About time for a new post

2007-09-23T14:33:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm over the post-vacation blues (mostly) and well-adjusted to the fall routine - school work, work, band booster volunteer work, school work, work, band booster volunteer work, etc. The novel is back on the shelf, although it's much closer to being finished than the last time I mentioned it. School is going well, and although I am here in the office on a Sunday, I will be able to go home soon and watch the Redskins, the undefeated Redskins. Yes, it's only two games into the season, but what the heck. I might as well feel good about them while I can.

Vacation

2007-07-09T08:11:00.001-04:00

If you remember all your passwords when you get back from vacation, then vacation wasn't long enough!

Kittyhawk is great.

Now that school's out ...

2007-05-20T01:20:00.000-04:00

Now that school's out, I have some time to devote to other interests, like jogging, messing around with Microsoft Flight Simulator and even working on my novel. I haven't forgotten about the novel. As a matter of fact, I don't think a day has gone by in the past four years (It's been that long since I started it) that I haven't thought about it. Too bad thinking about it doesn't get it finished. Anyway, I am working on it now, kind of. Fixing up a few things and hoping to actually add something new to it. As for flight simulator, I have used it to give me some basis for the flights my main character does. He's a better pilot than I am. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have gotten out of Chapter 1.

Soccer, school work, weekend notes

2007-04-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

Played soccer for the second weekend in a row and I'm still walking. I'm still real tentative about my knee. I wish I could get over that.

David drove about an hour today and is doing pretty good. He needs to work on turns quite a bit and parking, but overall he's doing real well.

David bowled a 247 yesterday and finished his season with a 154 average. He will be averaging more than me pretty soon. It will be interesting to see how I do against him in summer league.

Back in the office on a Sunday night, but this should be the last one for school work until the fall semester begins. Maybe I could start a routine of coming in here to finish the novel. That would be something.

Another Saturday In The Office

2007-04-14T18:19:00.000-04:00

School work again. Probably will be in here tomorrow too, but only three more weeks of this semester and then a break.

Easter Weekend Recap

2007-04-10T17:57:00.000-04:00

Drove to New Bern Thursday afternoon, following class.

David, who got his learners permit on Wednesday, drove about an hour -- his first nighttime driving. He drove on Route 264 and Route 70 and did a good job.

Thursday was the warmest day of the trip; I think it was in the 60s when we arrived.

On Friday, David and I went to the Golfin' Dolphin. Didn't hit too well, but it was still fun. David drove the whole way back. The temp was about 60 and it was pretty breezy out. We also got to see the boat in the shop. It looks a lot different being stripped down.

On Saturday, David and I went to see the Will Ferrell movie, "Blades of Glory." It was good for a few laughs. About what I expected from a Will Ferrell movie. It was a bit on the short side. I'm guessing about 80 mins. The theater isn't too good, but we still had a good time. David drove back and we cruised around the neighborhood so he could practice turns. Then we went over to New Bern HS and tossed a baseball around for a while. David also drove around the parking lot there to practice parking and turning, then drove back to the house.

We watched Cast Away one night, I think Friday Night. I thought it was pretty good. On Saturday morning we watched Airplane. It's still as funny as ever.

Sunday, we went to church and headed home about 2 p.m. David drove the first hour, which included his first attempt at merging onto a highway from a ramp. We need to work on this, but he has time.

New Bern either set a record low or came close on Saturday night as the temp dropped into the 20s. The western part of the state got snow, including 1.5 inches in Ashville. Linda took pictures of the 1/2 inch we got in Harrisonburg.

Homework in the office on a Saturday

2007-03-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

At least it's warm in here now, mid-70s. I frequently wonder if I really want a master's degree. I'm not sure a degree in TSC is going to do much for me.

Surprise snow on March 16

2007-03-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

We ended up with three inches, perhaps a bit more, on Friday. The high temps Wednesday and Thursday were in the 70s. I enjoyed the surprise. We were under a flood warning and had heavy rain Thursday night into Friday morning. The forecast called for the rain to change to a wintry mix before ending early Friday evening, but it changed to snow about 9 a.m. Usually things happen the other way: the forecast is for snow and we get rain or nothing at all. This is much better, even in mid-March. For more photos, click here.

Spring break in the office

2007-03-07T19:47:00.000-05:00

One night of it, anyway. But hey, I've been lazy for three or four straight days. If I do what I should over the next couple days, I will have a free weekend.

Almost spring break

2007-02-28T20:58:00.000-05:00

In the office on a Wednesday night doing homework, but spring break is next week, so maybe I can spend a few nights at home ... doing taxes. At least there won't be any new school work added to what I already have.

I'm doing this because I want to.

More homework

2007-02-27T18:56:00.001-05:00

In the office on a Tuesday night. I need a nap.

Winter's last hurrah?

2007-02-26T08:58:00.000-05:00

I'm doing the heavy lifting behind the camera. We got three or four inches out of this one; we were supposed to just get ice. I'll take the snow anytime.

Logging my homework

2007-02-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

Another four hours on a Saturday night.

Another Saturday In The Office

2007-02-17T16:54:00.000-05:00

Doing homework. What else? It was a nice 63 degrees when I got here. In 90 minutes, it's gone all the way up to 67.

Ice for Valentines Day

2007-02-15T02:33:00.000-05:00

An ice storm closed city schools Tuesday and Wednesday. JMU closed at 4 p.m. Tuesday and won't reopen until 9 a.m. this morning (Thursday). I used a good bit of my day off to sleep, so here I am adding to my blog at 2:36 a.m. I put a few more photos (better than this one) on webshots.

More snow

2007-02-07T07:06:00.000-05:00

A whopping two, or maybe three, inches this time, but enough to delay the university's opening until noon. Now I can do the studying I didn't do last night.

UPDATE: enough to close the university. But I still came in at 3 p.m. to do some things and to study.

Baby, it's cold outside

2007-02-03T21:49:00.000-05:00

Saturday night in the office .... again

2007-01-27T20:46:00.000-05:00

This is the first weekend in the office for school this semester, but I'm in pretty decent shape at the moment. I may not have to spend as many weekends in here as I did last semester, I hope. Tomorrow, I will be covering a story for work. So much for this weekend.

First Snow

2007-01-22T08:02:00.000-05:00

It wasn't much, just over an inch, but I didn' think we would get any this winter. (1/21/2007)

Up late doing homework

2007-01-11T00:22:00.000-05:00

School's back in and my sleep schedule is already messed up. Actually, I can't blame that all on school. I tend to keep crazy hours anyway. I guess I'll pay for this tomorrow (later today, actually) but I've gotten through it before.

Server's Down ... Rats!

2007-01-04T00:09:00.000-05:00

The pictures on my blog (below this post) aren't showing at the moment because the server I use for storing them is down. I can't complain though. It's free space and the service is generally good. Besides, how many people are looking at this blog anyway? Is there anybody out there?

I guess this is a good time to try adding a photo directly to the blog rather than linking to the aforementioned server. So, here's Emily:

December Sunrise

2006-12-31T21:50:00.000-05:00

The view from my front yard, 7:26 a.m., Dec. 28, 2006

Click on photo to see full size.

Things to do today

2006-12-17T09:47:00.000-05:00

Clean the kitchen and make pancakes.
Put Christmas decoration boxes away
Vacuum
Write out Christmas cards
Clean the fish tank
Cook out (Nothing like 70 degrees in mid-December)
Print the Christmas letter/stuff envelopes
No school work!

Out My Window

2006-12-10T11:05:00.000-05:00

The blog needs another photo, so here it is. Click on the photo to see more:

It's Cold In Here

2006-12-09T22:43:00.000-05:00

Up to 66 degrees. One hour to go on this thing and it's done, no matter how I feel about it. It's OK, though.

Another Weekend In The Office, II

2006-12-09T20:05:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday and 64 degrees in here. I wear jackets when it's drops below 70 outside. I've been here 10 minutes and my hands are already like ice. Finishing up my research paper. How ever it looks at midnight is how it will stay. At least this will be the last weekend here for the next month or so.

Another Weekend In The Office

2006-12-03T10:11:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder to myself that I am putting some effort into my schoolwork, sacrificing lots of TV watching. It's a balmy 62 degrees in here today. I would have come in yesterday too if it were not for taking David bowling; cleaning out the HHS concession stand; going to get a Christmas tree; and spending six hours at the Sangerville Ruritan Club for a youth bowling league fund-raiser. This must be the third or fourth weekend in a row I will be spending at least eight hours at the office. Just a reminder in case I one day think grad school was a breeze. At least the Redskins are making it easy with another lousy season.

No more political ads :)

2006-11-08T22:27:00.000-05:00

For another nine months or so.

Once in a full moon

2006-09-06T16:25:00.000-04:00

Baltimore Orioles' pitcher Kris Benson gives us the bonehead quote of the week.

Benson was asked Tuesday (9/5/2006) for his thoughts about the seven shutouts in Major League Baseball, the most shutouts in one day in the past 30 years. Kris got off to an OK start, but ... Here's what he said:

"It's a freakish day, that's all - especially with all the home runs that are being hit and all the offense in the American League. It's tough to understand why something like that happens. It's just one of those things, like a full moon."

For the sake of planet Earth, I'm sure it's a good thing we have a full moon more than once every 30 years.

I'm doing this BECAUSE I WANT TO!

2006-08-29T23:26:00.000-04:00

After Day 1 of grad school, I really don't need this reminder, but .... it looks like a lot of work on top of my full-time job and a couple of volunteer gigs. On the bright side, I wasn't the only one without a laptop. In fact, I didn't see any. Plus, the classroom is a lab full of computers, so I guess I won't have to go out and start spending my future raise (I expect one, you know, after earning this degree.) to get a laptop or notebook or whatever they are called these days.

Going Back To School — 20 Years Later

2006-08-05T04:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been accepted to grad school, 20 years after earning my undergrad degree. I guess I sort of expected to be accepted, but getting the letter was nice.

The toughest part so far, aside from finally getting myself to talk to the department head and then applying several months later than I should have, was studying for and taking the GRE. Lots of studying after work and on weekends for a month or so. I should have started sooner. I sure spent a lot of time talking and thinking about it before finally acting. Maybe I would have done better on the GRE had I given myself another month to study. It would have been nice to score higher on the verbal section, but who knows. Another month of studying vocabulary that I'll never use, that nobody uses. Besides, what's the chance any additional words I might have learned in that time would have shown up on the test anyway? Not very good. As for the math, give me three hours and I would do fine, but 45 minutes... Good thing I have some writing ability.

So now I have to do all those things a freshman has to do, like completing health forms, registering for classes and buying text books. I wonder if I will be the only student without a laptop in class? This is going to make me feel old, but I'll get over it.

Complaining

2006-04-30T19:25:00.000-04:00

I wish people would pick up after themselves.

One Year on Blogger

2006-03-28T23:49:00.000-05:00

That's all I have to say about that.

I'm Still Here, II

2006-03-24T13:07:00.000-05:00

What good is a blog unmaintained??? Oh well.

Dreaming of a white Christmas

2005-12-10T02:10:00.000-05:00

Click photo to see larger image.

It would be nice to get a few inches of snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That's never happened since I moved to Virginia in 1974. We've had a trace of snow on the ground from storms earlier in the month and have had flurries on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but never what I would consider a White Christmas. The photo above is from Dec. 5. We got about three inches overnight and most of it was gone two days later.

Skyline Drive - Nov. 5, 2005

2005-11-17T14:02:00.000-05:00

I figured the blog could use some art, so here's a photo from a recent trip to Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park. Click on the photo to see more.

I'm Still Here

2005-11-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

I spend almost as much time writing for this blog as I do on my novel. I really am working on a novel. It's up to 137 pages, or something like that. Want a peek: The Novelist

Novels I have written

2005-08-26T15:55:00.000-04:00

Sigh.

Novels I have read

2005-08-21T00:44:00.000-04:00

Linda and I got on the topic yesterday of novels we have read. She seems to read about one a week. I have a long way to go to catch up. I guess my excuse is I spend more time trying to write my own than read others.

Anyway, here's the list. I hope I'm forgetting some. This in no particular order after number one. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is the only children's book I will list, even though I do remember several others. I do not remember how old I was when I read The Phantom Tollbooth the first time, but any wordsmith, regardless of age, should read it. And wordsmith or not, you should read it. It's still one of the most enjoyable, comical books I've ever read. A true classic.

1. The Phantom Tollbooth (several times) _ Norton Juster
2. Shoeless Joe (after seeing the movie "Field of Dreams") _ W.P. Kinsella
3. Catcher In The Rye _ J.D. Salinger
4. A Tale Of Two Cities _ Charles Dickens
5. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court _ Mark Twain
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn _ Mark Twain
7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer _ Mark Twain
8. Deep Six _ Clive Cussler
9. The Great Gatsby _ F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. McTeague _ Frank Norris
11. The Scapegoat _ Daphne DuMaurier (twice)
12. The Fly On The Wall _ Tony Hillerman
13. A Painted House _ John Grisham
14. Skipping Christmas _ John Grisham
15. A Time To Kill _ John Grisham
16. The Firm _ John Grisham
17. The Pelican Briefs _ John Grisham
18. The Client _ John Grisham
19. The Chamber _ John Grisham
20. The Rainmaker _ John Grisham
21. The Runaway Jury _ John Grisham
22. The Partner _ John Grisham
23. The Street Lawyer _ John Grisham
24. The Testament _ John Grisham
25. The Brethren _ John Grisham
26. The Roses Don't Ask (unpublished) (twice) _ Joseph Gus Fitzgerald
27. The Eiger Sanction _ Trevanian
28. The Scarlet Letter _ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Some other books I have read include:

All The President's Men _ Bod Woodward and Carl Bernstien
The Boys on The Bus _ Timothy Crouse, forward by Hunter S. Thompson
Small Sacrifices (actually, I need to read it again. I never finished it) _ Ann Rule
Hey, Wait I Minute, I Wrote A Book _ John Madden with Dave Anderson

Loving the weather now

2005-07-17T22:41:00.000-04:00

This week has been great. Highs in the upper 80s to low 90s, heat index just over 100, little to no wind, except during thunder storms. And best of all, the novel is back on track and vacation is next week.

No more spring!

2005-05-22T00:15:00.000-04:00

The two-year anniversary of the start of my latest attempt to write a novel has come and gone and I really haven't made any progress. I've thought about it some, but that doesn't really count. I can't remember the last time I added something substantial to it. So I'm going to complain about something else, something I have no control over, but that won't stop me from complaining about it: The weather.

On average this spring, and I think every spring, temperatures run at least 10 degrees below normal. And it's windy. There's the occasional tease of a sunny, 80-degree day, and then it's right back to a stretch of 50s, cloudy and windy. I'm tired of spring. In fact, I was tired of spring on March 21. If I had any control of the seasons, there would only be three of them: summer, fall and winter.

Summer would last five months: five months of 90-degree days and 70-degree nights, a good dose of humidity and an occasional light breeze, no wind, except for during thunderstorms. But no tornados or hurricanes.

Fall would last four months and would feature daytime highs in the 70s, nights in the 50s and less humidity. The perfect conditions for keeping the windows open.

Then three months of real winter, or nine weeks to be more exact. Nine weeks of knee-deep snow, logs on the fireplace and lots of hot chocolate. The last three weeks of winter would make up for March, April and May. Three weeks should be long enough for the body to adjust from winter to summer, and for the plants and animals as well. Three weeks of misery; 49 weeks of the stuff I like.

Will I ever get started again?

2005-05-03T22:59:00.000-04:00

May 10 will be the two-year anniversary of when I started my latest attempt to write a novel. If all had gone according to fantasy, I would be getting ready for a promotional tour right about now _ to promote my second best seller. Then it would be off to some paradise for a well-deserved month-long vacation, maybe even two months, to rest up and collect my thoughts for best-seller number three. Long gone would be the days of the 9-5 job (really 8-5 with that all-important lunch hour). The only schedule I would keep would be my own, or perhaps that of an editor or two. Dream on. I was hoping the blog would get me motivated to start working on it again. I think the end is in sight, if I could just get going. There's no good reason not to work on it. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, it just needs to be done. I keep telling myself that and then get right into bemoaning how awful it is. Well, that's all I can stomach for now. I'll probably be writing something very similar next week, unless I actually make some progress before then. How's that for motivation?

JMU86er

Jumpstarting my novel?

2005-04-23T20:19:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've added anything to my novel, but maybe I have something here to get me started again, I hope. There's certainly opportunity to develop this:

Maybe John attends some function, a fund-raiser. Maybe a charity thing. Maybe he meets a friend or acquaintance who's married but still trying to find the next Mrs. Doe. Does Mrs. Doe know? Most of these people are folks John would have never associated with or who would have never associated with him before he became a best-selling novelist. Showing up with Rebecca surly would put a jolt into some of them. Maybe she's had a run-in with a few of them; maybe reported on a shady deal or two. Of course, the new dress would temper the angst. She would definitely turn some heads. None of them had seen her like this before. Oh geez. What about the friend. He won't be able to keep his eyes off her. He doesn't even know they've been dating. Has it really been that long since they talked. John chuckles at the thought. What if Doe had seen Kate on TV. Would he have made up some excuse to go to KC for the weekend?

JMU86er

The Professor

2005-04-09T09:34:00.000-04:00

I am trying to write a novel, but that’s nothing new. I’ve been trying to write one since my early teens, at least. I will turn 41 later this year, so I’ve been at it a while. Not exactly hard at it, though. I’ve taken a few years off here and there. Anyway, one of my weaknesses is describing people. My characters have hair color, skin color, perhaps even eye color. Some are six-foot-three and athletic, whatever that is. Some are fat and some are skinny. They might have an irritating, nasally voice. Women are “nice looking” or “attractive.” Perhaps they look like “poster girls,” or not. But usually that’s it. You get the picture _ or the lack of one. I look at the way published novelists describe their characters _ the way they move, the way they look at something or someone, the way they pick up a glass of milk, or whatever. The similes and metaphors they use. I have no chance. I just don’t see that stuff. At least not until I met “The Professor” last week.

I mentioned earlier I am new in my job and the person I replaced was gracious enough to introduce me to the faculty and staff I will be covering. Of course I’m responsible for covering the Mathematics department, among others, and let’s just say math is another of my weaknesses. I’ll keep you posted.

The Professor _ I’ve already forgotten his name _ teaches in the biology department, I think. Anyway, he had a crooked face, a description I have seen other writers use but had never actually seen in real life. For what it’s worth, the encounter inspired this:

We shake hands and then Dan starts telling the professor about his new job. I notice the professor’s half-eaten microwave dinner sitting on the desk as another topic surfaces. The professor seems in no hurry to get back to it. Obviously, he has enjoyed getting to know Dan over the years and is truly surprised to hear he is leaving. I try to listen in, but the face is such a distraction. Maybe if the beard and mustache had some length to them, I wouldn’t have noticed. But it’s so glaring. The left side of the mustache is at least twice as long as the right, outlining an equally crooked mouth. The words all come from the left side while the right side barely moves. Am I staring? I look at the shelves overloaded with books and wonder if he has read them all, or how many times. One of the shelves is perpendicular (Wow, a math term) to the others, cutting the office almost in half, bisecting it, you might say, and leaving the narrowist of passages from the front to the back. Even I would have to turn sideways to get through it. The professor, while I wouldn’t call him fat, certainly has more of a belly than I. He would make a good Santa Claus if he grew out the beard and mustache _ no artificial whitening required. The nose, maybe a tad on the large size, also seems to be located on the left side of his face. An illusion? His steel-blue eyes don’t seem out of place and there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about his ears. I wonder what’s behind the perpendicular shelf. More books? Another desk? Maybe I’ll find out someday. Right now, it’s time to move on. Another firm handshake, a cordial goodbye.

Well, maybe this will come in handy someday. I’ll work with it a bit.

Good luck Orioles & Nationals

2005-04-03T23:43:00.000-04:00

Despite Peter Angelos, the Baltimore Orioles are still my favorite American League team. And now that Washington has a team, I also have a favorite National League team. Go Nats. I hope I can stomach your new owners better than Angelos. That shouldn't be too difficult.

OUCH! I'm not real creative, but ...

2005-04-02T00:22:00.000-05:00

I can do better than this. This design needs work, but it's time for bed. Actually, past time for bed. Anyway, this will improve, eventually.

Testing my RSS reader

2005-03-29T09:15:00.000-05:00

I have been in this job about three weeks now and one of my first tasks is to research new media and ways we can distribute our content. I have been looking at RSS the past day or two and just installed an RSS reader on my computer. I added my blog to the list of services it scans, so, if it's working, I should get a flag about new content shortly. I also have my reader scanning a couple sections of The Washington Post and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Not a good night on the lanes

2005-03-29T01:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I was due for a subpar night. I'm not a very good bowler, so I'm happy when I get a 450 set or better. Had 440 tonight. Quite a drop from my 546 a week ago. Unfortunately, 500 sets are few and far between, but it's still fun.

Hey, I'm new to this

2005-03-28T15:46:00.000-05:00

I guess I need to start sometime. By tomorrow, blogs probably will be a thing of the past and there will be something else. I'll catch on sooner or later, probably later.