Take Me Out To The Ball Game

By the time you are reading this I'll be off on my vacation, enjoying the time I get to spend all by myself.  For someone who works in retail, that is a blessing.  Today's guest post is from Carol of Carol's Notebook.  Carol's is one of the first blogs I started to read on a regular basis not only for her book reviews but for her game reviews and the posts she does of her daughter's artwork.  Please go on over and say hi and happy summer and with that I will turn it over to Carol as she explains her love for America's favorite summer pastime.

I love summer. The heat, the sun always make me feel good, and there’s so much to do in the summer that you just can’t do other times of the year: cook-outs and picnics, trips to the amusement park, fishing and fireworks, reading on the hammock, veggies fresh from the garden, softball and ice cream cones. And Pirates games.

I admit it. I’m a Pirates fan. We’ve been going to the games each summer for as long as I remember. I’m not a big sports person, but there’s nothing like watching a baseball game live. I don’t listen to them on the radio (too confusing) or watch them on TV (too boring), but I love going to the games. Not just when we’re winning either. The Pirates haven’t had a winning season in like 18 years, since I was in high school, but this year they’re doing pretty well, hovering around .500. The games aren’t all about who wins and who loses, it's fun no matter what, but it’s always nice when we win. The last game we went to was downright exciting, the best game I’ve seen for a while.

I love the whole experiences. PNC Park is just gorgeous and a truly enjoyable place to be. We always park in a garage and walk across the bridge, picking up water and peanuts from the stand at the corner to take in with us. There’s some great food in the park too. In addition to the standard hot dogs and fries, there’s my favorite, Primanti’s amazing sandwiches: a sirloin beef patty, coleslaw, tomato and French fries, all piled between two slices of Italian bread. There’s the cheering, the wave, the organ playing, and yes I'll be clapping and yelling along with everyone else. The parrot shoots hot dogs into the crowd at one inning break and t-shirts at another. And I can’t forget the Pierogi race; my favorite is Jalapeno Hannah. On special nights, fireworks follow the game. (Pittsburgh loves its fireworks!) Then it’s a walk back across the bridge, where the saxophone man is always playing so we drop some change into his case.

You just can’t beat a summer night at a ballgame.

“Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks, I don’t care if I never get back.”

Start of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Today marked the begining of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and I couldn't be more excited.  I have been an Olympics junkie since I was a kid and I still feel like  I'm my son's age when I sit down in front of the TV and watch some of the best atheletes in the world compete in some amazing sports.

Sadly with the death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, during a training run today, they are getting off to a depressing start but I know the rest of the athletes will, in part, dedicate their own competitions to the memory of a young man who paid the ultimate price to fullfill his dreams.

I'm getting ready to watch the opening ceremony with my son and hopefully I will get to watch a few games of curling, don't ask.  So for the next 16 days I will be spending all my free time, watching some of the best athletes in the world go for their dreams and hopefully my son will learn that reagardless of where the athletes place, it's the journey and dedication that counts most. 

Besides, the mascots this year are awfully cute.

Sumi: a thunderbird that enjoys alpine skiing in Whistler

Quatchi: a Sasquatch, and a cute one at that

Miga: a cute, huggable, dance-crazy, flying sea bear

The Dreyfus Affair by Peter Lefcourt

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Consider the possibilities: In the middle of a pennant race, a team's star shortstop falls in love with his second baseman. Which is exactly what happens to Randy Dreyfus, the best-hitting, best-fielding, best-looking, and most happily married young shortstop in the major leagues.

Now I'm gong to have to admit that this is a reread, probably for the 10th or 11th time by now and I still love it every time I read it. I'm actually still waiting for the movie to come since Ben Affleck bought the movie rights to it years ago. So Ben if you are reading this, please get to making this movie.

Randy is a lot like a few friends of mine, other than they aren't rich and famous. He is a guy who is living his life and having to deal with an issue he never really took the time to look at before. Not until he started having odd feelings about his second baseman D.J. who also happens to be black. He is a guy who thought he had everything you could want in life, a happy if bland marriage, two kids, a successful career, and admiration from thousands of kids that wanted to grow up and be just like him. How little he knew of himself.

This is a book about discovery, about finding out who you really are and accepting it. It's told with a lot of humor and wit and will have most readers laughing at loud, and not always where you think the laughs would come from. Randy's conversations with the shrink he starts to go to because he can't understand why this is happening to him and the shy, awkward why he handles D.J. at first will have you smiling and remembering what it's like to be in his shoes. Who doesn't remember the first time they really, truly fell in love and how excited and scared it made you feel.

I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a good love story with a happy ending for everyone involved. I read this for the GLBT Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Amanda.