State Singles

I played in my first state singles tournament last weekend and almost took the Men’s A Singles title. I lost in the tiebreaker and took 2nd. Next year, the title is mine! I lost to Butch Fish, a very strong A-level player who made few mistakes and didn’t get tired, even though he’s four years older than I am.

This weekend Alice and I will be in Seattle to visit Steve, Amanda and Lindsay. Ron & Jeni are hosting and Neal & Karin, Kathryn & Tom and Susan & Jay will be there. Should be fun!

I’ve gotten lots of sleep this week. Need it.

I’m hoping to play some poker in April. I’d love to take a shot at playing in the WSOP this summer.

Another Friday Comes and Goes

It's been two weeks since submitting a revised ending to the agent who requested changes to the last chapter of Julia Milan (more Audrey, more explanation of Ben as shooter, and more resolution). In the meantime, I have four full manuscripts and five partial manuscripts still outstanding. I've sent 130 queries total, but haven't sent any new ones since mid-November. I have about 80 agents left to query and may start doing that next week as a way of keeping myself busy.

I've noticed on querytracker.net that once a writer receives an offer and gives word to other agents with partials and fulls, the manuscript is immediately read and counter offers are often made. It's really something. With no offer, nothing happens, but when an offer is made all hell breaks loose.

I bought a Kindle over the holidays and love it. What a sweet little device. I'm reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" right now. I've downloaded six Dickens novels, some Jack London, Chekov, and Mark Twain. I can see why ereaders are the future. The screens are clear and the device is small and light. I love carrying an entire library of classics in my coat pocket.

I've been reading a great biography of Richard Yates that came out in 2003 and it's fascinating. I wasn't aware just how autobiographical his stories were. It's amazing he was able to write anything considering how much he drank. Wow. He rivals Fitzgerald for crazy drunken debauchery.

I saw "The King's Speech" and loved it, saw "Black Swan" and loved it, saw "True Grit" and really loved it. I hope to see "Blue Valentine" this weekend.

Club One Fall Finals

I took the Club One Racquetball title again, beating Tyrone 15-9, 15-8 in a match that wasn’t as close as it could have been. T was off a bit and lacked some of the hunger that he usually brings to big games. He left his shots up and skipped several balls. He didn’t put shots away and let me off the hook throughout the match. I lob served about 80% of the time and T set me up many times. He made a nice run toward the end of the first game and the beginning of the second game, but aside from those two instances he was pretty much contained. There was a good size crowd and Alice, Richard, Lisa, Trey, Gerrad, Miles, Sophie, and Neil were there to cheer me on. That was the most satisfying part of the evening I think, seeing everyone there. Aaron K showed up and all the morning racquetballers were there. I worked hard for this repeat title and it feels good having that second plaque hanging inside my office cubicle.

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.