CHANGES

I have moved the BLOG over to JournalScape.

Not for any particular reason.

It's (Nearly) Over

You can't load the bases on two walks and an error and then give up a homer. The result is you go down 9-6 to San Diego, and reduce the "magic number" to 2. Now, with one more victory today or tomorrow, the Padres take it.

And even if you win those two games, the Padres are not going to lose out. And you are not going to win out.

I love you, Giants, and I still hope you pull it out. It's a long time till next year.

SSWEEEEEEEEETT!!!!!

Last night:
Dodgers 4
GIANTS 5

Nationals 5
Padres 1

Today:
Dodgers 1
GIANTS 2

Standings:
San Diego 72 - 74
San Francisco 68 - 80 (4)
Los Angeles 67 - 81 (5)

Barry Is Back ... And The Race Is ON!

Tonight's Score:

PADRES 4
GIANTS 5

Standings:

San Diego 71 - 73
San Francisco 66 - 78
Los Angeles 66 - 78

The Giants beat the Padres two in a row, which is a sign of good things to come.

Does it bother anyone else that the first-place (in the West) Padres are tied with the last-place (in the East) Mets? What a crappy division...

Friday

It's Friday afternoon, and I am just about to sign off of work. It's been a fairly normal day.

Still coming down from Bouchercon.

Trying to decide which book to read next of all that I brought home. The choices (not all of them, but a few) are:

• TO THE POWER OF THREE - Laura Lippman
• STILL RIVER - Harry Hunsicker
• BURN - Sean Doolittle
• WHISKEY SOUR - J.A. Konrath
• GUN MONKEYS - Victor Gischler
• REMEMBERING SARAH - Chris Mooney

Got my hair cut this afternoon. It's really short and not behaving well.

My son is waiting for me to finish work and take him to Round Table for pizza. Our Friday ritual. Which I missed last week, because I was eating pizza in Chicago at DUE's.

Lows, Highs, Observations, and Learnings from Bouchercon

First day back to work. Feeling exhausted and very despondent. Not happy to be here. Post-Bouchercon reintegration gets harder every year. I want to be among writers and readers again.
I wrote a lot about my adventures in Chicago, but they amount to the same thing everyone else is saying -- who I met and talked to, famous or not, and how late I stayed up drinking. So, for the blog, I broke mine into lows, highs, observations, and learnings.

HIGH: Not having anyone sitting next to me on either flight East (Oakland to Dallas, Dallas to Chicago).
HIGHER: Having someone sit next to me on the flight home (Dallas to Oakland).

HIGH: Successfully navigating the Red Line to Wrigley Field. Thanks, Annie!
HIGHER: Seeing my first baseball game from Wrigley Field.
LOW: The Cubs losing 7-0. To the Dodgers!

HIGH: Meeting folks from the blogsphere: Dave White, Duane, Ray Banks (and his lovely wife), John Rickards, Bryon Quertermous.
LEARNING: It's pronounced "quer-TER-mus" (rhymes with thermos).
LOW: No Sarah Weinman.

LEARNING: The timing of dinner is important. If you eat an early dinner (or late lunch) you will be hungry at 2am when you go back to your room, and food options are limited.
OBSERVATION: A $20 two-egg breakfast via room service is no more tasty than your typical coffee shop breakfast.

HIGH: Walking down Ohio Avenue. Eating dinner at Pizzeria DUE.
OBSERVATION: There are lot of tall endowed women in Chicago.

HIGH: Finally, after nine years of corresponding and buying his books by mail, meeting my writing guru and favorite author, William G. Tapply, and his lovely wife, mystery author Vicki Stiefel.

LOW: Jennifer Jordan calling me a freak because I don't like meatloaf. The food, not the singer.
HIGH: Hanging with my new buddy, Butch Snyder, and making him smile and laugh, while his Daddy, Keith, used the restroom.

HIGH: Many more new books on my TBR shelf.
LOW: Many more books on my TBR shelf.

HIGH: Taking a walk on Sunday with S.J. Rozan, Keith and Butch Snyder, Sean Chercover, Judy B (the one that runs everyone's life) to see the Pritzker Pavillion and the "Bean" sculpture that reflects the skyline.

HIGH: Riding the shuttle to Midway with Jill and Jeremy Lynch, and Sean Doolittle, and telling cat stories. We all have cats that display various neurotic and psychotic tendencies.
LOW: Security checkpoints, waiting for the plane.
LOW: Being in Boarding Group 6, the last to board, and not knowing why. No, it's not by row number.

HIGH: Having Monday off to catch up on sleep, read, and relax with family.
HIGH: The memories of a wonderful time.