SwampLog 3.0

Havin' A Party

A note for Texas Rangers fans: the release party for the 2006 Bound Edition of the Newberg Report is this Monday night (December 5) at the Dallas Quadrangle (Uptown) Tin Star restaurant.  If you want to pick up the perfect gift for the Rangers fan who thinks he has everything, and have that copy of the book signed by top Rangers pitching prospect Thomas Diamond, and third base farmhand Johnny Whittleman, this is the place to do it.  You can also hob-nob with Will Carroll, top gun for Baseball Prospectus.

The event starts at 6:00 pm, with Tin Star's full menu available all night.  (I highly recommend the Chicken Club gourmet tacos -- scrumptious!)  Also, with the Winter Meetings going on just a few miles away, you may be the first to know of an earth-shattering deal with the Rangers -- Carroll will keep his phone attached to the side of his head, trust me.

For a complete breakdown of this year's Bound Edition contents, head to the NewbergReport.com book page.

Save The iPod-Less Children

I'd like you meet my good friend Mike G.

There are many ways you might have already run into Mike.  He runs the renowned weblog Churn!, appeared numerous times on the Wild Ass Circus as "America's favorite 28-year-old virgin," and fought his way to a draw against Dallas Derby Devils bruiser Raisin' Cain. 

But Mike isn't sad in this picture because he's about to get beat down by a chick, nor is he a big ol' pout box because Trish Stratus won't return his phone calls.  No, Mike G. frets because he's only one referral away from getting a free iPod.  ONE REFERRAL, you cheap bastards!

For the low, low cost of a sponsor-driven click or four, Mike G. will finally be lifted out of the dark soup of iPod-less misery, and into the sweet nirvana that all iPod owners know as salvation.  Won't you help?  Can't you help?  [tear falls]

Chapter and Verse

For the 500th post for SwampLog 3.0, here are the chapter titles for my first book, When the Blinking Stops:

First Things First
37 Things I've Learned in 36 Years
What Do I Want?
Growing Up Devin
Transformation
Musique Nonstop
Never Say Goodbye (HIGHLY tentative)
Hold The Line
Superheroes
They Teach Classes, Don't They?
Interlude with Inner Bastard
I Am What I Play
The Three Amigos
Somebody Scream!
The Lesbian Who Loved Me
Finding Your Inner Madonna
Three Hundred Sixty Feet
Radiation Vibe
Interlude with Inner Bastard
Buzz In Now!
Confidence Man
Tug-Of-War
The Period of Abject Stupidity
Thump
Songs To Roast Your Eternal Soul By
Last Call
When The Blinking Stops

The first draft will be done and to editors by 15 December, and I look to have the book available through Amazon.com and direct Web sales by the end of January, unless a publisher picks it up.

500 posts later, I'm still amazed anyone's even reading SwampLog. Both Marty and I thank you for looking in on our charmed little existence, and hope you stick around. The coming months are bringing a lot of changes, both in our lives and with DAM.com.

Mazel tov!

Quicksilver

The first time I was in New York, it was the middle of January, and there were patches of ice everywhere. A bike messenger was trying to make a turn onto 34th Street, and slid into an SUV. He immediately got up, shook it off, and kept hauling ass to his destination.

I'm reminded of that sight when I watch this QuickTime movie, which is just as thrilling as any race footage I've ever seen.

The Last Mile

I'm not done with the first draft quite yet, but I thought I would crow for a few seconds:

This morning, I cracked the 50,000 word mark, and rolled into the "winner's circle" on the National Novel Writing Month challenge.

There's still a helluva lot of work left to be done on my book, but I'll be done with it by the middle of December.  At that point, it goes into edit and polish phase.  Past that, I hope to have it available for purchase by the middle of January.

Wow.  I did it.  There's a real sense of accomplishment here.

That Thursday in November

After so many years of having a fractured family (my parents divorced when I was ten years old), going to multiple Thanksgiving gatherings had become second nature to me. The scheduling was a true nightmare, but I made do because that's what was required of me.

So, Amanda told me that her family's Thanksgiving was a singular event on Thursday, and I was more than happy to let my families know that I was booked for the holiday.

It was the first time I had met anyone in Amanda's extended family, and the grilling wasn't nearly as bad as they make it sound in the movies. We did have to tell the story of how we met, and it was sufficiently disgusting. Apparently, I passed muster, since everyone was saying "welcome to the family" as we were leaving.

Four fried turkeys. My favorite was bacon and jalapeno, with creole butter coming in at a close second.

The college kids started throwing the football around after dinner, and Amanda and I jumped in to make it a three-on-three touch football game. Amanda's 30, and I'm 36. We were gassed by the second possession, and my knees still hurt. I could care less.

This was the best Thanksgiving I've had in any recent memory. No pressure, no awkward silences, and no shouting matches ending in clenched fists. Phenomenal.

Home Stretch

I just cracked 40,000 words on my book.  10,000 more to write before next Thursday, to beat the NaNoWriMo challenge.

I actually think the book will be a bit longer -- around 60,000 words or so, to make the story complete.

The hard part is writing about things in my life that I'm not terribly proud of, or still affect me thinking about them.  I've got a good device for dealing with 'em, and I think readers will get a clearer picture of why things turned out the way they did.

I'm a bit behind on where I thought I would be, due to my yearly work on the Newberg Report Bound Edition.  This year's book is now available for pre-sale, and as always, I highly encourage any Rangers fan to pick up a copy.  They also make wonderful gifts for the "hard-to-buy-for" baseball fan on your gift list.

Somebody Up There REALLY Likes Me

I listen to a LOT of jazz when I'm writing. It gets out of my way and allows me to concentrate on the task at hand. When I'm upstairs, I'll use my jazz library in iTunes. When downstairs, I would turn on the TV and listen to Music Choice's jazz station.

At least, I used to until tonight. While I wasn't paying attention, DirecTV switched out Music Choice with... XM Radio. I now get over seventy channels from the Clear Channel boys, including the "Fred," "Ethyl," and "Loft" stations that I dug so heavily when riding around with Chance this year.

With Stern heading to Sirius in January, satellite has been on my mind a lot. Problem is, I want programming from both services. Sirius seems to have the better music programming, but XM has the MLB broadcasts. And yes, I still have my iPod.

Too many damned choices.

I Watched Benny Hill, Too

I'm trying very hard to get back in the groove of writing the book. It's been three days, and while I'm still ahead of the pace to get to 50,000 words by the 30th, my cushion is dwindling rapidly.

So, I'll do little tidbits to try and prime the pump.

* The Dallas PBS affiliate, KERA, ran episodes of British science fiction a lot when I was growing up. There was the requisite 'Doctor Who' and 'Blake's 7' -- and there was also 'The Prisoner.' I loved the show, loved how it didn't talk down to you as a viewer, and didn't try to explain everything. Today, word comes down that the Brits are thinking of "re-inventing" 'The Prisoner.' I'm fine with it as long as they at least try to bring Rover back.

* 'The Prisoner' ran only 17 episodes. 'I Dream of Jeannie' ran for five years. I think all of the water's out of that well... and yet there's a movie being done. Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson and Lindsey Lohan are in line to play Barbara Eden, and Major Healey will be played by... FUCKING JIMMY FALLON. I surrender.

I'd write more, but I have to go rescue Thomas, whose Mustang just died. It's an Amigo thang.

Word To My Homies

Todd Wills of the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Texas Rangers have all but finalized a trade with the Florida Marlins, getting Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell for John Danks and Hank Blalock.

Grrr. Not happy.