Flippy - I Rant, You Read
Sunday, September 24, 2006
early afternoon
You Are Here - book, book, book
You Are Here by Wesley Gibson
To be fair, I read it quite a while ago and had to read the back cover to refresh my memory about the story itself. Then again, because I didn’t really remember all that much of it, perhaps that in and of itself means something. I have tons of books awaiting quickie reviews, so beware, I just may get to them.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
late evening
Get Your Pre-Order Fingers Ready
Paula Poundstone has a new book coming out on November 7th - There is Nothing in this Book That I Meant to Say. From the reviews, it sounds entertaining. We saw her perform at Sunset Station right after she got her kids back (after the, um, drinking stuff) - if she can make that funny, she can make anything funny. Also, on the same day, er, night, she’ll have a BRAVO special debuting at 10pm. So, watch it.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
late evening
Are You Ready For Some (Fantasy) Football?
It’s Year 3 of my fantasy football life. Every year I learn more and more, and I finally recognize most of the players’ names (heh, Craphonso Thorpe), except for your average defensive lineman. Even though SL was obsessed with defense, I mostly don’t care about what’s going on on the line after the snap. I want to follow the ball. Even though I only have one player (Ronnie Brown) in Thursday’s game, I’m pretty excited about football season starting. I have a doctor’s appointment across town, which means picking up Popeye’s on the way home. Unfortunately, since Popeye’s is so far away, it’s only a special occasion meal. Sure, sure, you might think that eating at a five star restaurant is something for a special occasion, but that’s probably why you’re not me. Ugh, I’d have to get dressed up for that.
I suppose I should finally get to my book review - Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie by Mark St. Amant. It was an entertaining and an educational (well, for me) story of one guy’s dream to win his fantasy football league. Luckily for him, he’s a writer, so even though he quit his advertising job to work on his fantasy football game full-time, he was still able to cash in on it with a book. And a good book it was. Read it to find out the answer to the all-important question - does devoting your life to winning your league help you actually win that league? Whether or not he wins, it was an interesting journey. One of the surprises of a super competitive league he observed was that one of the members is Cenk Uygur from The Huffington Post. This was written before HuffPo existed and Cenk was a radio talk show host. His website is http://www.theyoungturks.com - and in some weird synchronicity thing, I was just reading his profile on The Young Turks site, which I’ve never been to before and he mentions “Favorite Product: Popeye’s Chicken”. Weird, no?
Saturday, August 26, 2006
late evening
More, Now, Again - Book Crack
More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction by Elizabeth Wurtzel of Prozac Nation fame is a fascinating book. It starts out as story about her addiction to Ritalin. She snorted up an ungodly amount, more than you or I could even fathom having in our possession, much less putting up our nose. It spiraled into a terrible cocaine addiction. In the beginning, reading it was like being on speed yourself, which is a feeling I hate. I drink decaf partially for that reason. The story is your average addiction story and because the book was published, you know it should end well. There are some surprises sprinkled throughout to keep you hooked, but for the most part it’s fairly predictable. However, what I love is her writing, her arcane knowledge, her amazing vocabulary (keep a dictionary nearby), and her ability to know when she’s being annoying. It was like book crack, and I couldn’t put it down for long. I know this doesn’t sound like a glowing review, but it is. She just writes so damned well and I was never bored. I was envious of her talent and annoyed that she was wasting it by doing drugs, but you want to put your arms around her and save her from herself. She’s lucky she’s so likeable - I think it ended up saving her life. Her friends by all rights should’ve given up on someone who treated them so poorly. I was wondering what she was up to nowadays and Wikipedia says she started Yale law school in 2005. Oh goodie, a new book. I wonder if she really wants to be a lawyer or was bored and looking for new material for a book.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
late evening
A Hearty Recommendation for a Book I Haven’t Read…Yet
A book from yet another talented member of the Felber family (again, I curse the genetics that gave our family excellent athletic skills, but skimped a bit on the ability to write novels, or short stories even) - Schrödinger’s Ball by Adam Felber. I will be ordering the book as soon as I finish writing this blog entry. Eerily, almost as if she knew there would be a book I’d need to buy this week (as if a week ever goes by that I don’t want new books, but anyway...), Leigh-Ann’s sister sent me an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday. I’m going shopping right now and I’ll have the book on Friday (oh, Amazon Prime, I love you so) and a review next week. If you don’t want to wait for my review, and really I can’t blame you because I have about twenty-five books piled next to my desk awaiting their thirty seconds of glory, you should read the NY Times review. I have to say though, my book review will be easier to understand because I’m no high-falutin’ NY Times reviewer person. Wait, how about we all buy it and then compete to write the best review?
Flippy is sad :(— Estimated ship date for this item: August 19, 2006
Schrödinger’s Ball: A Novel - Adam Felber
$10.74 - Quantity: 1 - In Stock - Amazon Prime: Two-Day Shipping is free
Condition: new
Sold by: Amazon.com