I'm off to Camp NaNoWriMo

I keep trying different things to develop a regular writing habit. Maybe I just need to accept that that is just not meant to be...

With that realization in mind, I've set a goal to write 50,000 words this month, but not on a single project. I'm going to add up all my various writing projects and see how much I write all together.

In November, I won National Novel Writing Month, which challenges writers to write 50,000 words in a month. I wrote the majority of in the five days from Thanksgiving Day to the end of the month. So, Camp NaNoWriMo is a companion program that allows writers to set their own word count goal and gives a bit more leniency in the type of writing. As fast as I wrote in November, I think coming up with the same amount of words is doable, even if some (like these right here) are edited.

So, here I go! Somehow, between reviving this blogging effort, editing that project from November, and posting on BlogMutt, I plan to write 50,000 words. If anybody actually checks this thing, wish me luck! If you want to join my cabin, let me know in the comments.

27!

Twenty-seven. Amazing!

I just wanted to say congratulations to the New York Yankees for winning their 27th World Series, with special congrats to my favorite Hideki Matsui. Godzilla wrecked havoc on the Phillies!

So beautiful. And while I could go on and on about the Yankees, I actually have a point to make with this late night post.

Matsui, who is from Japan, set all types of firsts and records in what could be his last game in pinstripes. I think it's a start on remembering the World part of this series.

(And George, if you read this, keep Godzilla!)

Coaches deserve respect

angry asian man posted this info about a dumb Tweet from a UCLA football player about offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Even if the slur is not specifically directed at Chow's Chinese heritage, it is still disrespectful. I can't imagine talking about my coach in such a way for all the world to see. I've had coaches I couldn't stand and have criticized a coach's actions, but I never went into the realm of slurs in front of a recruit. There is a difference between critique and blatant disrespect and it was well crossed by Carroll's Tweet.

Make It or Break It

A show about female athletes and their sport.

I'm watching the rerun of the premiere on ABC Family. However, I'm a little tired, so here are some quick initial thoughts.

Quite the look at economic hierarchy. I like that they do not ignore the fact that competition in gymnastics, as it currently set up, is expensive. There is even a middle class family that keeps discussion from being a flat dichotomy.

Why can't female athletes have relationships? No boys, no dating. Why do female athletes have such rules put on them? Male locker room culture is full of talk about girls, so why do we not see the opposite? I'm not an expert on gymnastics, but how common are such rules, especially since movies about gymnasts (and cheerleaders) are all the female athletes movies are being made about.

Oh, the show's over. Part of me wants to say this ending is melodramatic, but I have seen similar performances from second-rate spoiled girls that resulted in a coach being fired.

While I'm too tired to form a definite opinion on the show, I know I will be posting more on this show and will tune in next week.

"Pinstripes are slimming"

So last night, it was late and I was flipping through channels and watched "Summer Catch" with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jessica Biel. I was never in a hurry to see it, as I don't watch a lot of romantic-comedies, but now that I have sat through it, I have to share the joy.

It was so cliched and predictable that I barely noticed the familiar faces in the supporting cast: Marc Blucas (Buffy), Christian Kane (Angel, Leverage), Brittany Murphy (Clueless) and Jason Geddrick (Iron Eagle). Then again, it's not as if any of these characters were developed during the movie. I also think that I either blanked out during the (sexist) post-practice bar scenes and/or MTV may have cut some of them because some are in the trailer that I don't remember seeing in the film.

Anyone, there was something I couldn't block out: Jessica Biel as love interest Tenley Parrish.

I remember her as the athletic oldest daughter on Seventh Heaven who's leaving left the show in shambles. So, I definitely expected her to pull off a sports movie.

Oh how wrong I was. Or at least, how wrong the writers were to write such an awful character for Biel.

At the beginning of the movie, it is made clear that Tenley does not know anything about baseball. She's daddy's little princess, so somehow she has missed the fact that baseball is the center of the summers in Chatham. She even has a scene where she rambles about the uniforms, saying things like "pinstripes are slimming."

OK, some women don't know about sports. But she spends the movie falling in love with a baseball player who's only dream is to pitch in the Majors.

At the end of the movie, she stops by the ballpark and is told that her man is pitching a no hitter. Her response: "What's a no-hitter?"

What? It's a pretty basic, self-explanatory term, and she is in love with a pitcher! How could she not know? Can women not know anything about sports unless they are the tomboyish-ten-year-old team mascots?

So, as many of you probably already know about this Hollywood-old movie, it failed.

Michael Chang

It seems to be the day of interesting links and looking back at past sports victories.

Here is a post from Angry Asian Man about Michael Chang, the youngest male Grand Slam champion. Be sure and also read the article that is linked on there.

Belmont Stakes

In case you missed it like I did, here is a video of yesterday's Belmont Stakes. It was pretty good, because I love underdogs.

During my musings, I also found this little article about African Americans in the Belmont Stakes. And in case you are curious like I was, here's a little more on Ed Brown, the first African American Belmont-winning jockey who became a winning trainer.