Birchbox Book Club Review: Gone Girl

I joined Birchbox back in September, just before my second son was born.  My sister was a subscriber and I like beauty samples, so I thought I would give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they encouraged community building through twitter, facebook, instagram and *squee*, a book club. Turns out they give out free books to bloggers who join their BirchBlogger program. Free books? Yes, please. So I have revived my Phillies sports blog, and have turned it into a general purpose blog. So, I tried  and won the Gillian Flynn books. As I wait for the package of books to arrive, I will attempt to review Gone Girl. I haven’t reviewed a book since grad school, so bear with me.

I very much enjoyed reading Gone Girl. It is the first book in ages that gripped me and had me saying, “…just one more chapter.” Honestly, it made nursing my son at 3 am enjoyable. How many moms can say that? I have to applaud Ms, Flynn for her interesting narrative style. It started out conventional enough, with a first person account (the husband) and a flashback diary (wife). The first person account is unique because the author stops just shy of having his thoughts dwell on what happened the morning his wife disappeared. Instead we read his thoughts about the back of her head, worries about being seen and general thoughts about his wife’s personality flaws. Did he do it? Why won’t he think about it? What is he afraid of people seeing? It lingers…he could have killed her. My certainty of this grows stronger with each diary entry by Amy, the wife. The chapters go back and forth, Nick, the husband, in the present and Amy, the wife, in the past until the accounts meet in the present. Amy recounts how she and Nick met, the perfection of their marriage in New York City, and then the spiral down hill once both are laid off and they are called back to Nick’s hometown in the middle of the country. Her writing reveals her as the perfect wife, kind and sweet, funny and smart, the “cool” wife, the one every spouse wants. As the chapters progress, you become more certain. Until…, the truth smacks you in the head. Amazing Amy really is amazing and not in a good way. Nick is the cheating husband, but might not be “that” bad.  The Scott Peterson case meets those silly Cosmopolitan personality quizzes, (no really, trust me).

I can’t wait to read Flynn’s other novels. Hurry up Mr.Postman, I need another page-turner.

This Time I Mean It

Well, my track record is not so great. I have started and neglected this blog about three times. Since then, I have gone through a lot of changes. I started and resigned from a job in paper preservation. My brother moved back to Vermont. I have had another son. That is two for those who are counting. We moved into a larger home, which we are planning to share with my mother-in-law. Oh, and my sister is moving back to Vermont in January and will live with us until she gets on her feet.

All of that would have made for great blog fodder, but I was too busy to even think about it. Now, Birchbox has gotten me interested in trying this again.

A few rules, I am going to refer to everyone by alternative names. I may post pics of some of them, but names I will keep to myself in a futile attempt to protect their privacy.

Readers, if there are any, can look forward to blogs about anything my pretty head ponders. I find I am interested in a little bit of everything. So, look out for my musings on family life, sports, museums, history, books, sewing, movies & health and beauty. Does that cover just about all topics? Most likely.

For now, put a pin in it and stay tuned for more rambling.

….and a year later

I swear I did not fall off the face of the planet. I just…well, got busy? Lazy? Forgetful? Let’s just say that life got in the way. In fact, I just remembered I had this blog thingy and I really don’t have time to do a proper post. Just take care, I remembered you. I will post later about the results of this years Fantasy Baseball draft and my hope for the upcoming Phils season. Let’s just say they are tempered.

Until later.

Fantasy Baseball Draft Tonight

Soo…I have my Fantasy Baseball Draft tonight. If you have read my previous post on Papelbon, you know that my first attempt did not go well. But, I am older, wiser and just might understand the rules this time! I have done two mock drafts and am pretty happy with the results. Take a look!

1. Matt Kemp (LAD – OF)
2. Evan Longoria (TB – 3B)
3. Roy Halladay (Phi – SP)
4. Cole Hamels (Phi – SP)
5. Starlin Castro (ChC – SS)
6. Paul Konerko (CWS – 1B)
7. Dan Uggla (Atl – 2B)
8. Alex Gordon (KC – OF)
9. B.J. Upton (TB – OF)
10. Drew Storen (Was – RP)
11. Matt Wieters (Bal – C)
12. Aramis Ramirez (Mil – 3B)
13. Adam Wainwright (StL – SP)
14. Miguel Montero (Ari – C)
15. Andrew Bailey (Bos – RP)
16. Jayson Werth (Was – OF)
17. Brandon Morrow (Tor – SP)
18. Huston Street (SD – RP)
19. David Ortiz (Bos – Util)
20. Hiroki Kuroda (NYY – SP)
21. Logan Morrison (Mia – OF)
22. Neil Walker (Pit – 2B)
23. Yunel Escobar (Tor – SS)

This is the result of my second draft.

1. Joey Votto (Cin – 1B)
2. Roy Halladay (Phi – SP)
3. Hanley Ramirez (Mia – SS)
4. Cole Hamels (Phi – SP)
5. Zack Greinke (Mil – SP)
6. Hunter Pence (Phi – OF)
7. Kevin Youkilis (Bos – 1B,3B)
8. Michael Bourn (Atl – OF)
9. Shane Victorino (Phi – OF)
10. Buster Posey (SF – C)
11. Drew Storen (Was – RP)
12. Matt Moore (TB – RP)
13. Adam Wainwright (StL – SP)
14. Jayson Werth (Was – OF)
15. Rickie Weeks (Mil – 2B)
16. Emilio Bonifacio (Mia – 3B,SS,OF)
17. J.J. Hardy (Bal – SS)
18. Brandon McCarthy (Oak – SP)
19. Danny Espinosa (Was – 2B)
20. Johan Santana (NYM – SP)
21. Melky Cabrera (SF – OF)
22. Brett Myers (Hou – SP)
23. Dexter Fowler (Col – OF)

I have been listening to a lot of the Fantasy 411 Podcast and the Fantasy Focus Podcast. For some reason I put a lot of stock in the words of Matthew Barry. I know I drafted heavy on the Phillies/ past Phillies, but I can’t help it. If I think they are good I will draft or not draft what I know. Sadly, there is no way I would draft Ryan Howard, Chase Utley or Placido Polanco.

So, we shall see how I do. Hopefully, I can stay in the game past July this time. I will post my results after the draft is complete.

Papelbon talked about this earlier in the season. How does something so “common sense” get so blown out of proportion?

The Zo Zone

Dropkick Murphys doesn’t need to worry. Jonathan Papelbon isn’t using “Shipping Up to Boston” as his closer’s music in Philadelphia anyway.

Lead singer and bassist Ken Caseytold ESPN Music this week that Papelbon cannot use the song now that he pitches for the Phillies.

“That’s not Pap’s song,” Casey said. “That’s the (Red Sox) closer’s song.”

Casey’s comment blew up on the Internet, but the band said on its Facebook page the comments were a joke and not to be taken literally.

“What’s this we hear about us telling Papelbon he can’t use Shipping Up To Boston as his entry song?” the band wrote. “We would never do that! It was a joke, people!”

Papelbon signed a four-year, $50 million contract with the Phillies in November. He said last month he already had a new song in mind – something he planned to use in Boston before the Red…

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Baseball & Quilting

Yesterday I settled down to quilt while watching the first Spring Training game of the season. I was running the MLB At Bat app on my iPhone. This is the first time I have seen the app in action and color me impressed. My subscription to MLB.TV is wonderful and every year it gets better. Though, I admit, I was straining my eyes. Along comes my husband and he chivalrously offers to download At Bat to his iPad so I can watch the game without going blind. I was even more impressed with the iPad app! All these tools I didn’t have last year. It makes me even more excited for the year to come.

Papelbon Musings

In the Spring of 2006, I foolishly joined a Rotisserie Fantasy Baseball league. I say “foolish” because I was at the University of New Hampshire finishing my Masters degree in Museum Studies and really did not have the time or resources to begin to understand the rules or really grasp the commitment involved. As you can guess, my season was a disaster. No podcast could salvage the ashes of my terrible draft. I drafted one good player, third baseman David Wright, who was having a break-out season. I only made one other good move that year. I picked up Jonathan Papelbon just as he was becoming the Red Sox go-to Closer. It is for this reason that I have nothing but warm feelings for the guy.

Living in Vermont, I am surrounded by very vocal Red Sox and Yankees fans. I follow both teams because I genuinely enjoy the rivalry between the two. But, as a Phillies fan, I usually don’t engage in the rhetoric Sox and Yanks fans throw at each other. Yankees fans hate Papelbon. I think they see him as a Mariano Rivera wannabe and for a time they had trouble cracking his strong 9th inning performances. Last year, I couldn’t help but notice Red Sox fans hating on Papelbon, too. Some of them put the weight of last season’s collapse on his shoulders. Very unfair, in my eyes. The entire organization was responsible for the epic collapse, not just one guy.

So, when the Phils signed Papelbon, I should have been happy. A rational Phils fan should have realized we just got one of the best Closers in the biz. The move from the American League would make him an even stronger Closer because National League players are unfamiliar with his pitching style. But the rumors and the eventual signing left me feeling uneasy. Upon reflection, I think all the Red Sox fan negativity got to me. The collapse and the thought that perhaps, like Lidge, Papelbon had seen his best days. I am also presently uneasy because of Papelbon’s remarks about how the Phillies clubhouse is similar to the Red Sox clubhouse. On one hand, that is a tremendous compliment. The Red Sox, for years, were known to have a cohesive team-player dynamic. A chemistry even the Yanks could envy. On the other hand, this same team of brothers imploded when the pressure built up resulting in one of the worst team collapses in recent memory. I know Papelbon meant it as a compliment, but it has me worried that perhaps the seeds of collapse are also present in the Phil’s clubhouse.

I will try to stay positive and continue to hope Papelbon still has the stuff. But, that ever present fan doubt has me on the edge of my seat and the season hasn’t even begun.

Phillies Tickets Purchased

Today was the long awaited day. I purchased tickets to a Phillies game today. Every year I try to make at least one game. It doesn’t always happen (2008, I am thinking of you), but I relish the opportunity. I guess technically you could say my dad bought the tickets, I just did the work of waiting for them to go on sale online and reserving them.

There was a little drama as usual. I usually purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public through a customer loyalty program. I received the details of that promotion on Monday, but imagine my surprise when the game that we wanted to go to was only available in a 3-Game package.  I was more than a little annoyed. I called the Ticket Office and they said I wouldn’t need to purchase the package if I waited for Thursday and the official start of Individual Ticket sales.  So, a few days to wait, but we have 6 tickets to the Phillies/ Giants game on Saturday, July 21st at 4:05pm. We will be sitting in section 333.

It will be a little different for us this year. This year we (my dad, my mom, my husband and I) introduce Connor, my son, to the wonderful world of baseball. It will be his first regular season game. (He is attending a Spring Training game in March.) Tagging along for fun are my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. They are rabid Yankee fans, but wanted the opportunity to attend a game at Citizens Bank park and to be there when Connor hears the first crack of the bat. I wish my sister, Beth, and my brother, Matt, could be there. But you can’t have everything.

So excited for baseball season. I can’t wait.