Monday, April 02, 2007

Monday morning ramblings

I took the photo to the right back in the late 80's from the Larkspur/San Francisco ferry. It's a copy from a slide.

I watched the Lady Heels lose to Tennessee last night. After Carolina's loss, I’d given up on the Men’s NCAA basketball tournament and had gone over to the women’s. The first half was dismal, with neither team playing their potential. Carolina was down by one at the half. The second half looked a lot more like championship basketball and for the first fifteen minutes, Carolina dominated and played like champions. Then due to fouls and injuries, Carolina lost their lead and slipped behind, unable to catch up. I’m done with basketball for the season. I’ll let Karen keep me up to date on what the Pistons are doing (in addition to taking shots at the Bushies, she's a rabid Detroit fan). As a general rule, I don’t watch pro-basketball.

Baseball begins today. In honor of the game, check out the poem Pat posted on Friday. his poetry is wonderful, but back to baseball. Will the Tiger’s go to the World Series again? If so, will they win it all? Will the Pirates finally break 500? Will this be the year I’ll finally get to see a game at Wrigley’s Field? We’ll see. On Wednesday, the Whitecaps (a nearby single-A team) have a preseason home “expedition game.” It’s free and they’re only playing seven innings, which is probably good since the weather gurus are now calling for snow.

If anyone is looking to significantly increase their library, check out Kevin’s blog. He’s creating a jackpot of books that he’ll give away later this year to the winner of his contest. It's a great way to increase his blog traffic. (I wonder if he'll pay for shipping if one of my readers from somewhere like India or Turkey or Iraq wins?) Each week he adds to the stash. Some of the books are from his collection (the thought of giving away my books brings chills, probably identifying one of my idolatries). Kevin also plans to lean on his connections in the publishing business for other books to sweeten his pot. So far, most of the books are theological in nature, but there are others too as well as some classical recordings. Besides, for most people, there’s probably no better sleep aide than reading a thesis written by a 17th Century Puritan. It should be noted that Kevin has given away books before. Murf was one of his winners—I’m not sure it helped but Tim and I did what we could to stuff the ballot box for her.

19 comments:

  1. I'm not sure it did either, Sage, so I'm sitting out on this contest. Regarding you and your books...isn't it wrong to feel this strongly about material things? :-)

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  2. I have too many books now, Sage. I think I should give some away too!

    The photo is so BLUE! It's lovely.

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  3. Are books material goods or something else? Something that belongs to the heart and soul

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  4. Murf, I was confessing to my book idolatry, however, I agree with Pia that books are not just material possessions. They do become a part of you.

    Kenju, I don't need anymore books (or if I do, I need to have a third library). I have a collection at work and a collection at home.

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  5. I'm not much for basketball, baseball or books on theology so I may be out of this discussion. I guess that I could add that I'm a book whore and am hard pressed to give up any of my books without first writing my name on the inside cover in permanent marker in hopes of getting it back someday.

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  6. That is so old school, Ed. I have cute book plates that say 'This book belongs to _____'. I was thinking about getting L.A. some with the books I got her but didn't find any cute ones in time. Good thing I didn't. Sounds like her father may have 'borrowed' all of them before she's old enough to write her name on the line.

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  7. Gorgeous, gorgeous photo! There are a few books I treasure (like my autographed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird), but I generally think books should be read and then shared with another

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  8. I tend to write my name and the date I finished the book in the front, in the back I make notes on quotes as well as jotting down thoughts of the book.

    Diane, I often share books, but if I've read it, because I have notes in it, I generally want it back (I don't always get them back, however).

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  9. I never have been much of a basketball fan. Probably won't watch the game tonight. I do like to watch the Braves from time to time. Thanks for including me in your blog.

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  10. Sage: Great photography for a Monday...or any day!

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  11. Excellent photo! I'm not much into sports so I don't have a lot to say there. I do value books but have learned for the most part to borrow them from libraries when I find the opportunity to read. I do however have a small collection of Mennonite and local history books that I hope to keep as long as I live.

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  12. Pat, I should state that I included you in my blog BEFORE I knew you were a Braves fan (I still carry a grudge from '92, when I had World Series tickets in Pittsburgh and we lost to Atlanta in the seventh game of the playoffs)

    Thanks Michael

    Tim, I know I should use the library more, but they seldom have what I want! Mennonite history, that might be an interesting collection.

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  13. I took the photo to the right back in the late 80's from the Larkspur/San Francisco ferry.

    You know, replacing "from the Larkspur/San Francisco ferry" with "as I escaped in my crude homemade kayak" makes this much more exciting.

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  14. Hush up, Bone, I'm still in hiding!

    For those of you who don't recongize it, that's the infamous Alcatraz prison in the background.

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  15. Alcatraz? What's that? Shame the Golden Gate Bridge wasn't in the shot. I would've blown it up to 400% to see if I could see any jumpers. ;-)

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  16. bea-u-ti-ful photo!

    summer's on its way. :+)

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  17. Books somehow become a part of us i think. I made a mistake and loaned a good friend a few of my favs, and never saw them again. I miss those few books.

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  18. Thanks for the mention, and welcome to the contest!

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  19. I was SO bummed about the Tarheels losing and not going to the Final Four.

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