In which I have a bit of a sportsgasm

So it sucks being away from my husband. He amuses me and generally makes for good company. But he couldn't make this trip, which was fair and reasonable, so I'm alone in the Tacoma La Quinta, watching the Ducks decimate Arizona. I actually feel bad for Rich Rodriguez and the Wildcats; Oregon is just destroying their defense and has stopped them dead every time they get in the red zone. So far that's been six times.

Today I have also watched bits of the Clemson-HalfAssU game (which did not go well for me in my betting pool), a bit of the Michigan-Notre Dame game (which did), part of the LSU-Auburn game (not in the pool this week), and about half an inning of the Mariners-Texas game. I also keep having urges to watch Monday night football, since the Packers play the Seachickens in Seattle. Since I don't normally have any interest in the NFL, I'm definitely having a sportsgasm.

Sadly, I missed--and incorrectly picked--the UCLA-Oregon State game. Oregon State has now beaten two ranked teams, is 2-0, and will probably be in the top 25 this week (they got votes last week). I'm fairly certain Mike Riley has secured his job for another year, and beating both Wisconsin and the Bruins makes OSU look good. 

Sportsgasm complete, it was really good to see people today. I got to spend a few hours with Carter, Lisanna, their little one, and Kellie. We also saw Kristan for a bit, and I'll see her again tomorrow, along with a great many other people. So it's good. A bit lonely this evening, but good.

And I have my Oregon Ducks, who just won 49-0.

Once again

Sigh. Once again, I'm off on a plane. Sigh. I'm excited to see people--and the puppy girl--but it's a long flight, and I'm going it alone. Dammit, that's why I got married--I didn't want to travel alone anymore.

Off to bed, as I need to be up at 3:30am. Yeah, I got boned on the flight times. Totally boned.

Bloody Mincemeat

That's what my arm looks like. Amazingly, it's worse than fencing. Larger, at least. I've actually taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts so as to hide the bruising (not that I really go out) because I doubt anyone would believe that I haven't been beaten. Archery is not a believable explanation, unless you've experienced it.

Funny enough, I think if someone really had tried to beat the crap out of me, that level of bruising would have resulted in broken bones. But thankfully, bowstring slaps, while incredibly painful at the time, don't break bones. They can, however, raise very large welts. Tony had welts. I didn't, but that's probably because I had two shirts between me and the string, and Tony got hit on bare skin. The bracers are a bit puny. Next week, in addition to two shirts, I'm going the epée route: ace bandage up the arm.

A discovery made by one of the archers doing the coaching is that my elbow naturally hyper-extends. Yay. That might also explain my shocking lack of point control in fencing, but I think that's largely explained my by sucking. In archery, however, it is problematic. Proper stance removes much of it (which finally seemed to improve at the end), and with the tension of the bow and string, I'm able to rotate my elbow without rotating my wrist or shoulder--but I have to have the tension to do that, so I can't practice. Adam can do it without the tension but he also has a wonky elbow--he might have broken it (just a chip) a few years ago, but since he never went to the doctor for it, no one knows for sure.

We had a blast, though. Lots of fun, really nice guys (even if one of them is from Boston and a fan of the Red Sox...sigh), and easy to pick up but hard to master. Tony was really good and clustering arrows in the red and sometimes gold (center) parts of the target, Mark did quite well until he got a bow that wasn't broken (the glue holding the sight on was knackered), and Adam wasn't bad, though he was frustrated. I spend a lot of time pulling arrows out of the ground behind the target, but that was in part because I kept whacking myself with the bowstring, which--fairly obviously--sends the arrow off-target. I was getting conflicting coaching (the guys came around and corrected rather willy-nilly), which was frustrating, but in the end I started to figure some stuff out, which was good since I don't want to destroy my arm again next week or the week after.

Not a good look. The photo doesn't do them justice, either.

2012 Reading List: August

AUGUST

37. The Age of Ra, by James Lovegrove (Book 1 of the Pantheon Trilogy)
36. Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, by Max Brallier (an adult "choose-your-own-adventure")
35.  The Alchemyst: The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series #1)
34.  The Walking Dead Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)
33.  The Walking Dead Volume 5: The Best Defense, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

32.  The Pull of the Moon, by Diane Janes (for reading group)

JULY

31.  The Antelope Wife, by Louise Erdrich

30.  The Unseen, by Katherine Webb

29.  Mr. Monk on the Road, by Lee Goldberg (Mr. Monk Series #11) (these are original storylines, not novelizations of TV episodes)

28.  Snuff, by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #39)

JUNE

27.  Thanksgiving, by Janet Evanovich

26.  Hero at Large, by Janet Evanovich

25.  The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale, by Christine Bell (Stormy Gale #1)

24.  Spying in High Heels, by Gemma Halliday (High Heels Mysteries #1)

MAY

23.  *Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank

22.  Divorced, Desperate and Delicious, by Christie Craig (Divorced and Desperate Series?)

21.  The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart's Desire, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

20.  The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

19.  Assassin's Quest, by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy Book #3)

18.  The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

17.  Futurama Adventures, by Matt Groening et. al. (compliation of five Futurama comic books)

APRIL

16.  The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye, by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore (graphic novel)

15.  Serenity: Better Days 1-3, by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad and Adam Hughes (comic book "mini series")

14.  The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, by Alexander McCall Smith (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series #12)

13.  Royal Assassin, by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy Book #2)

12.  The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe

MARCH

11.  Moon Over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant Series #2)

10.  Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy Book #1)

9.  Obsidian Butterfly, by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #9)

FEBRUARY

8.  Blue Moon, by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #8)

7.  *Night Train to Memphis, by Elizabeth Peters (Vicky Bliss #5)

6.  *Trojan Gold, by Elizabeth Peters (Vicky Bliss #4)

5.  Burnt Offerings, by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #7)

JANUARY

4.  The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber

3.  Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, by A. E. Moorat (pen name of Andrew Holmes, it appears)

2.  *A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

1.  Heat Rises, by "Richard Castle" (Nikki Heat Series #3) (Best guess at ghostwriter: Tom Straw)

Fire the gal because she's at fault, never the guy

Now, I don't really like Kristen Stewart. I don't find her to be all that talented of an actress, and I can't deny that her starring in Twilight also colors my opinion of her (though I haven't liked her in anything else she's been in either; it's always the same flat portrayal, as if she's bored of being there.). That said, she was cast as the lead in Snow White and the Huntsman. Should a sequel be made, however, she won't be returning.

Why not, you might ask? I assume you might ask because about half the readers of this blog follow pop culture/celeb stalking even less than I do. Well, if you didn't hear, the 22 year old Kristen Stewart had an affair with the married (he's also a father) 40 something director of the film. I'm definitely not cool with this; they both were in relationships with others (Robert Pattinson has since dumped Kristen Stewart according to the gossip mill), and it takes two to tango, so to speak.

My problem is simple. She's facing this shitstorm more or less alone. She got dropped from any potential sequels, while the equally cheating bastard director is still slated to direct them. Quoi?

Yes she cheated. No, it's not cool. Yes, she knew he was married. But yes, he cheated, no, it still wasn't cool, and yes, he knew he was married and she was in a relationship. She's young and stupid--as we generally are at the age of 22--and he's old enough to know better (but apparently is still stupid). But so far as anyone can tell, he gets to keep his job because he's male. She, quite possibly, has shot her career in the foot because she's young and fucked up. Fans are irate, largely because many of them don't seem to grasp that she's a real person, not Bella "I'm a whiny loser who has no self-esteem and is completely wrapped up in a creepy guy" Swan, and are incensed that she treated Edward Robert Pattinson this way.

I'm incensed that the director (don't remember his name, don't care) doesn't seem to be sporting any visible bruises from his wife. I don't advocate automatically ending a relationship after an affair. There are so many factors to consider, and I think that determination depends on each couple and individual involved, and those of us not involved should shut up. That said, I think it's absolute bullshit that one of these two got fired for having an affair, but not the other. Both are at fault, but instead of treating them both as such, or better still, not getting involved at all (and if one or the other or both or neither wish to work together again, leave that decision up to them and those close to them), the decision was made to blame the woman. Again.

Because it's always our fault.