Tonight's Finals Match

Tonight is my finals match with Tyrone. I have a strategy in place and we’ll see if it works. I’m been playing well lately, and Tyrone has been leaving the ball up on lob serves. If I can put the ball away and play my game I should take this tonight. I just hope we both come through it unscathed. Tyrone blew out his calf muscle last time. My strategy will be to lob serve his backhand and also mix things up with other serves. If my drive serve is feeling good, I’ll throw in a few of those, but it’s important that I keep that first serve from hitting the back wall for an easy setup. That’s what I was doing in Pleasanton. I couldn’t get my drive serves down. I’m practicing my serves for an hour at lunch and relaxing the rest of the afternoon. This match will be good practice going into the state singles tournament in March.

A Room with a View

I visited Sausalito for the first time with Alice on Saturday. The skies were overcast and mild as we walked through town along the street facing the water. We ordered mocha and a pastry at a cute café and salt water taffy at a place called “Munchies.” It’s a charming place to hang out for a morning. We then went to a mall in Corda Madera and looked around. It started raining around noon, so we headed back to San Francisco and had a wonderful Thai lunch on 9th and Irving. We took a nap in the afternoon, then made a simple noodle and shrimp dinner. In the evening we watched “A Room with a View” on Alice’s computer via Netflix. The film still holds up. I must have seen it many times in the 80s and 90s because so many lines were familiar to me. Alice howled at the pool scene. It certainly is funny. The details are spot on in this film, and the pacing is wonderful. Maggie Smith and Daniel Day Lewis are terrific foils. The music is perfect. Helena Bonham-Carter was star material even then. Alice loved the film. I’ll have to look for more that this one that we can see together.

Patty!

I received a wonderful email on Facebook from Patty Slater, a childhood friend whom I adored when I was in fourth and fifth grade. She lives in Switzerland with her husband and son in a small town outside Luzern. This is the power of Facebook, connecting with friends from long ago. I can see our entire 3rd and 4th split connecting on Facebook one day.

I’m still thinking about my match with Tyrone. I’m feeling good, feeling confident, feeling as though the title is mine again if I play my game and don’t make errors. My body feels pretty good. Tonight, I plan to play a few games with Rob. We played three games Tuesday and he took one of them. I’d like a clean sweep tonight.

Finals with Tyrone

This week I'm in total training mode as I get ready for my finals match next week. Losing is not an option! I'll practice every lunch break, ride my bicycle to work when I can, and stretch, stretch, stretch!

My strategy is simple: set the tempo of the game, let him make mistakes, and put the ball away when he gives me setups. Simple as that.

Weekend with Alice

Alice came over Friday night and we watched Pirate Radio. It was just so-so. There was a scene where a song by the Rolling Stones was playing and I asked Alice what the name of the band was. She said, "The Monkees?" She's so great!

We left Saturday morning after Starbuck's and Noah's bagels. We are so wonderfully compatible. She's happy and I'm happy and life is so damn good!

Sunday, we went for a walk atop Twin Peaks and then met Alice's friend Mark and his ex-partner Roberto for dim sum at a new Chinese restaurant in Diamond Heights. I also the Alice condo rents out which is in a very nice location.

After lunch we went to Irving Street and had a coffee, then went home and watched the Steelers/Jets game. I downloaded music onto Alice's iphone and she made a wonderful spaghetti dinner.

San Ramon Tournament

I was matched up with a great left-handed player in the doubles tourney in San Ramon Saturday, Russell the former pro tennis player. We won all our matches and took first place, winning a $25 Cheese Cake Factory gift certificate. Really nice.

We played seven games total and ended stronger than we started. Barry remembered giving me the same partner twice in-a-row, therefore compensated with Russ. I played well and because he was left handed there were very few holes.

Semi-Final Match

I practiced for an hour after work last night and I think that made the difference in my match with Steve this morning. I practiced a serve Shawn used on me in Antioch in which the server stands in the middle of the court and z-serves to the left back corner. The ball passes by the front of the server as it crosses the court. Steve had never seen this serve form me before and it threw him off. I was in the lead the entire match and won decisively 15-5, 15-4. I felt good all morning and put my shots away when I needed to.

Now the stage is set for the Club One Championship Monday night, 1/31, at 6:00 between me and my young gun nemesis, Tyrone. T and I were in the finals last summer, but he pulled his calf muscle and had to stop in the second game. I’m sure he’ll go the distance in this game. It should be a great match. T’s been playing tough opponents in tournaments and will undoubtedly bring everything he has to the match. He wants to win as badly as I. My edge will be in minimizing the number of mistakes I make. That will be the key for me.

I'll lob serve him a lot and keep a leisurely pace to the game. That sort of strategy seems to work best with Tyrone. I'm not going to tire him out. The shorter the rallies, the better my chances of winning.

Nothing Topics

I’m the kind of person who’s all over the place. Screenwriting, poker, racquetball, tea, novels, computer stuff, that’s me. That’s how I’ve always been. I’m not a natural blogger and can’t help but sound a little boring and nerdy when posting. Every now and then I tap into a rant that gets my juices flowing, but usually I’m reflective, pedestrian, and quiet.

I tend not to write too much about myself. I like thinking of myself as this super open, generous autobiographer who loves the naval-gaze as much as any other narcissist, and yet whenever I write anything that goes beyond the surface, I either delete it or redirect the thought to something less personal. When I’m talking with someone one-on-one I can go deep, but not so much when I’m writing. I used to write letters all the time in the 80s. I was crazy back then without knowing it. I know I’m crazy now and that has made for a wonderfully calming effect.

Actually, I’m not technically crazy, just the poster boy for adult children of alcoholics. I’m that guy, the overly controlling, terribly insecure, don’t-tell-me-what-to-do extremist who acts normal most of the time, but can become unraveled in a heartbeat. There’s something truly liberating about acknowledging the state of my internal brokenness. There are things I’ll never get over, ever, and yet when I acknowledge this, I’m in a way sort of done with it.

Nothing Topics

I’m the kind of person who’s all over the place. Screenwriting, poker, racquetball, tea, novels, computer stuff, that’s me. That’s how I’ve always been. I’m not a natural blogger and can’t help but sound a little boring and nerdy when posting. Every now and then I tap into a rant that gets my juices flowing, but usually I’m reflective, pedestrian, and quiet.
I tend not to write too much about myself. I like thinking of myself as this super open, generous autobiographer who loves the naval-gaze as much as any other narcissist, and yet whenever I write anything that goes beyond the surface, I either delete it or redirect the thought to something less personal. When I’m talking with someone one-on-one I can go deep and bare my soul, but not so much when I’m writing. I used to write letters all the time in the 80s. I was crazy back then without knowing it. I know I’m crazy now and that has made for a wonderfully calming effect.
Actually, I’m not technically crazy, just the poster boy for adult children of alcoholics. I’m that guy, the overly controlling, terribly insecure, don’t-tell-me-what-to-do extremist who acts normal most of the time, but can become unraveled in a heartbeat. There’s something truly liberating about acknowledging the state of my internal brokenness. There are things I’ll never get over, ever, and yet when I acknowledge this, I’m in a way sort of done with it.

Rewrites

I finished my rewrites to Julia Milan last Wednesday and sent them off last Friday. I'll hear back from the agency with the next few weeks. Their turnaround time is pretty quick. I liked what I sent them. They wanted more Audrey and a clearer sense of Ben's role in Julia's world. I hope they like my ideas. I'm ready to get the call and prepare the book for publishers.

Semi-Final Match Tomorrow

I have my semi-final match tomorrow morning against Steve. I’m still sore from the Pleasanton Singles Tournament I played last Saturday, so I’m not feeling especially confident. When Steve’s on he’s deadly. We played two weeks ago and I beat him 15-9, 15-12, but I was on and not sore. I may have to bring several different strategies to the court tomorrow and see what works. I played a very slow game against Steve two weeks ago and that helped me. In the second game I was behind 7-12 and increased my intensity. The key will be to control the game, control the tempo and let Steve make the mistakes. Brian gave me good advice when playing Steve. Pass, pass, pass, no pinch shots or splats unless they’re putaways. I’ll think about the various serves I’ll bring. I’ll need to change things up with him. The important thing is to conserve energy and not get burned out too quickly. Keep the rallies short. Put the shots away. We’ll see what happens.

Rewrites

I'm still revising the last chapter of Julia Milan. I came up with a revised ending that might be fine for the time being. It's no masterpiece, but I can certainly see why I needed a stronger concluding chapter. This draft has a lot more emotional substance and doesn't feel so mechanical, at least I hope that's the case.

Woke up at 4:30 this morning and made it to the gym by 5:10. Dorian and I played four games together, winning three. I was off though, and worry that I may not be at top performance this Friday morning when I play my final match with Steve. It's for the number one seed and I really want to beat him. I'm not in great shape though and my eating patterns have totally deteriorated. I have two weeks to get back in the swing of things. I have three weekend matches coming up and having hit the weights in months. Not good.

First things first...the rewrite.

Happy New Year

January 2 already. Unreal. I feel as though time is spinning out of control. Then again, I always feel that way. Life is so busy these days, too busy actually. I never have enough time to get anything done. My new year's resolution is to not complain about how little time I have. I'm under the impression that I'm constantly being shortchanged on the number of hours I'm given each day. Wrong. I'm given 24, just like everyone else.

I can't believe Christmas is over. It flew by. I'm revising the last two chapters of my Julia Milan book and they're taking more time than I'd like. But I think my ending is much stronger. Funny how rewriting makes things better.

I spent the past several days with Alice and we had so much fun together. I adore her. She's so easy to be with and wonderful and kind. She loves beating me in Wii tennis. I'll allow her that thrill for a little while longer...than it will be time to practice and beat her.

On Wednesday we saw "Becoming Julia Morgan" at the Berkeley City Club, on Friday we saw "The Wizard of Oz" at the Paramount Theater, on Saturday we saw "The King's Speech" in the AMC in San Francisco, and last night we saw "Black Swan" at the Balboa Theater.

I spent all day yesterday and today working on chapter 14. Why haven't I accomplished more? Ugh!