A Review of Room for Two

A review of my book, Room for Two, recently appeared in Meridian Magazine. My only comment on the review is that the reviewer seems to think the book somewhat fictionalized (the review appears in a column that reviews four other works of fiction). I'd like to state that the book is non-fiction and is based on my memory and journals of the time. The only things that were changed, as stated before the first chapter, were the names of some of the characters.  Here's the review in its entirety:

Room for Two is a look back by Abel Keogh to a tragic time in his life. Therefore it isn't entirely fictional, but is a somewhat autobiographical account written in a fictionalized form.

This is the story of a young man coming to terms with grief, guilt, anger, and profound loss. He steps into his apartment one day, calls out to his pregnant wife, and hears a gun shot. He's left to wonder why she killed herself and ultimately their unborn child. He also has to deal with the knowledge that he'd been prompted three times that day to do something other than what he'd done and in each case, following that prompting might have saved his wife's life.

The blood and horror of the situation leave him too shocked to apply the CPR that might have given their child a better chance of survival, and he has to live with that failure too. With Abel, the reader feels the anger and betrayal of a senseless death, the loneliness of the loss of a beloved companion, and the emptiness of a dream given no chance to live.

Through the year following the tragic death, Abel mourns, but he also reaches out for someone to understand and love. His search isn't always wise -- it's even selfish at times -- but he relentlessly pursues a course centered on getting on with his life that leads him to several kinds of relationships, the ability to forgive, and greater sensitivity toward others.

There's a strong thread dealing with running that weaves through the book. This thread is the means of providing insights, but is interesting in its own right as Abel moves from running as the means of losing weight to keeping pace with a dedicated marathon runner. Some of Abel's treatment of the women he dates is rather cavalier, and he's a little too casual about physical contact with them, but overall the book is interesting and well-written. It also has a good grasp of the various stages of grieving. The theme sounds dreary, but I think most readers will find the story, with its relentless drive to move forward, uplifting and a source of hope.

Small Town Politics II

Right before the primary election, I complained about how nasty our local elections were. To put everything in perspective, I probably should have disclosed a little bit more about the political history of our fair city. The town I live is only 11 years old. During that time the town has had 10 mayors. Some have resigned for personal reasons. Others have resigned because of legal troubles. Marathon Girl and I have seen three mayors run the town in the three years we've lived here. The guy who was mayor when we bought our house stepped down after being convicted of a misdemeanor for falsely reporting his own kidnapping. The second mayor resigned after being charged with felonies for misappropriating public funds. The mayor who was appointed to replace him as so far managed to avoid any trouble. However, he only wanted to fill in until someone could be elected this November and declined run for office.

But trouble doesn't stop at the mayor's office. Not in our little town, anyway. A week after the election a member city council, who received enough votes in the primary to make it to the general election, was charged with accepting $10,000 from the town's main developer to finish her basement in 2005. Accepting the money wasn't illegal. However, Utah law requires public officials to receive gifts to disclose the gift. This council member never disclosed the "gift."

Ironically, according to news reports, the council member who reported her "mistake" doesn't have a squeaky clean reputation either. He has admitted to "double-dipping into city funds in 2005 by using a city credit card to buy a hard drive for his laptop, then asking for city reimbursement. He paid back the money and charges were never filed."

And then to top it off last week in another high profile incident, a former city councilman killed himself with a handgun as he was flying his powered parachute. According to police the event was in someway related to a domestic disturbance incident.

It's Chicago-style politics without the big city atmosphere. (No offense, ChicagoJo.) Personally I'd rather have boring, small-town politics instead of this mess.

And people wonder why I have not interest in running for public office. Who'd want to be part of this mess?

The Definition of Stupidity

I've always thought it would be cool to have a dictionary with a photograph or drawing by every definition. That way if, for example, you looked up the word deodar, and wanted to know what one looked like, you'd have an image right next to the definition. (This would work great with online dictionaries. Are you listening Merriam-Webster?) Since I don't know of one, I'm going to have to start my own.

Today we'll define the word stupid.

Stupid Pronunciation: \?stü-p?d, ?styü-\ Function: adjective Etymology: Middle French stupide, from Latin stupidus, from stupEre to be numb, be astonished -- more at TYPE 1 a : slow of mind : OBTUSE b : given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner c : lacking intelligence or reason : BRUTISH 2 : marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting : SENSELESS stupid decision>

It Ain't Cheating If You Don't Get Caught

Back in high school I read a funny book about cheating in baseball titled It Ain't Cheating If You Don't Get Caught. The book contained hilarious stories about players and managers who would steal other team'signals and how they were caught. (And if Mr. Sensitive has a good memory, he might remember that I was asked to quiet down upon discovering this book at the library because I was laughing so hard.) Baseball only bans the use of electronic devices to steal signals (a rule implemented in 1961). However, the practice of stealing signs and signals is something that still goes on today in the major leagues. That's why you see coaches or managers going through 50 different hand and arm signals between pitches. They're changing up the signals and doing their best to convey the sign to their player but hoping to confuse the other team. The unwritten rule is baseball is this: Steal signals all you want. Just don't use electronic means to do it. And if you do steal signals, don't get caught doing it.

The NFL has similar rules. You can't videotape an opposing team's signals. The unwritten rule is this: Use some binoculars and a pen. Just don't get caught doing it.

So when the New England Patriots were caught stealing signals against the New York Jets last Sunday, I expected some kind of punishment to be meted out by the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell but was more than a little surprised that the NFL came down hard on coach Bill Belichick by fining him $500,000 and penalizing the Patriots $250,000 and a first day draft pick in 2008.

Personally I find the antics of Goodell and hysterical whining of other coaches and players rather amusing

They're all are acting like the lily white reputation of the NFL is on the line with this incident.

Give me a break.

It's not like the Patriots were throwing games or finding some way to pay off the other team. The Patriots were simply trying to get a competitive edge and got caught with their pants down.

Does Goodell really think people are going to stop watching games on Sunday afternoon because one team was a little too blatant and cocky in their signal stealing scam? The NFL has endured plenty of scandalous actions much worse than Belichick's little stunt.

Anyone remember what Michael Vick plead guilty too? What about all the stunts Al Davis and his Raiders supposedly pulled? Do we really want to get into all the incidents surrounding Pacman Jones?

The NFL has survived these other incidents because the game is bigger than a coach or a player. And it's certainly bigger than some guy with a camera pointed at a defensive coach.

I also find it hard to believe that the owners, teams, and coaches who are so indignant about the signal stealing incident have never tried to stealing signals from an opposing team before. Maybe they've never used a camera but to think they don't even try? Yeah, right.

Now teams are claiming the Patriots have been stealing signals for years. If so, why didn't teams make a big deal out of it years ago? Sports writers and columnists are always looking for a breaking story that could make a career. This would have fallen in that category.

Funny how now one thought to raise a stink until the Patriots got caught.

It's not a disgrace that the Patriots have been stealing signals for years. What is a disgrace is that their opponents let this signal stealing allegedly go on for so long without finding a way to steal the Patriots' signals or, at the very least, find a better way to mask their own calls.

Now that the stunt was uncovered, they're running to the teacher complaining that someone knocked out of the lunch line.

Here's my advice to those who are acting like a whiney six year old: Get up and push back. Find some ingenious way to steal the Patriots' signals when you play them next and/or just give them a whooping on the gridiron.

The NFL is supposed to be a game played and coached by the "toughest" men in the world.

Itâ's time to start acting like it.

Gym Update

I'm sure most of you have been up at late into the night wondering if my and fellow weightlifter complaints about the new gym were heeded. The good news is that you can all start sleeping again. The gym responded by putting in new benches and more disinfect stations so that lifting three times a week is fun again.

And then to show it was nothing personal, they got someone to create a giant balloon replica of me to help attract people to the gym.

I think they did a great job.

Local Politics

Marathon Girl and I live in a small community of about 15,000 people. We like it here. It's quiet, we have nice neighbors, and there are plenty of kids for our kids to play with. You'd think that living in such a small, peaceful community that the local politics would be something that would barely be worth noting. Yet in the three or so years we've lived here, the local political scene has been fairly nasty.

Last week a local political group held a "meet the candidates" night. Half the candidates felt the group sponsoring the event was biased and decided to hold their own event. The result? Two separate events and a lot of nasty remarks about the candidates that went to the other event.

There have been ads in the small, local paper and left on our door advertising websites by candidates and other political groups targeting other candidates and encouraging you to find out the "truth" before the primary elections on Tuesday.

You'd think with such a nasty campaign that there'd be some big, local issue that would cause such bitterness. Sadly you read all the campaign literature or talk with the candidates and there's really not that much difference between the candidates. They all basically say the same things on the same issues. The only difference, as far as I can tell, is how much say some developers will have regarding the future growth of the community. While it's an important issue and one that I do have feelings about, I'm not sure it warrants all name calling and feuds that the candidates have become involved in.

I've lived in much larger towns where local elections were never this nasty. Sure, there were issues or the occasional spat between two people running for office but for the most part people has some sense of decency as they campaigned. I'm always more impressed with candidates that can differentiate themselves from the pack and use persuasion instead of name calling to attract votes.

Not here.

It's enough to make Marathon Girl and I wish when you voted in the primaries on Tuesday that you could vote for "None of the Above."

An Acutally Funny Movie

There are two kinds of movies I don't watch often because they're rarely done well.

The first is scary movies. No, I'm not talking about the horror genre where someone chases you through a corn field with the chainsaw but movies that are actually supposed to be tense throughout and keep you guessing what's going on. The only recent movie I've seen that really scared me from beginning to end was The Ring. (See how far back I have to go!) Now that was a movie that not only had me tense but a truly creepy bad guy, and a great ending. (I know lots of people didn't like the ending but I thought it was a perfect ending for that movie. Too bad the sequel was horrible.)

The second is romantic comedies. Comedies of any type are difficult to write and I applaud those who try because humor writing is not my strong suit. Not only are these extremely difficult to make, when they do succeed the filmmakers usually are successful in the romantic part but fall far short on the comedy level. The last good romantic comedy I reviewed, The Lake House, fell into that category. That movie succeeded it the romantic department (and was a good film overall) but I don't recall laughing much when I watched.

But this last weekend Marathon Girl and I actually saw a romantic comedy that succeeded in the comedy end and mostly in the romantic end too. That movie? Music & Lyrics.

(Yes, I know that movie came out in February but with three young, active kids we rarely are able to see movies as soon as they come out.)

Okay the movie wasn't perfect. It was a little too cheesy in some areas and I'm not a huge fan of Drew Barrymore or her acting, but this movie had me rolling on the floor with laughter. So much so that I stopped caring about all the other faults the film had.

Here's the type of humor you can expect in the film:

Alex Fletcher: The best time I've had in the last fifteen years was sitting at that piano with you. Sophie Fisher: That's wonderfully sensitive... especially from a man who wears such tight pants. Alex Fletcher: It forces all the blood to my heart.

And this:

Alex Fletcher: Theoretically, I could pick you up because I will be taking a cab. Sophie Fisher: I could be standing outside at 9:40 in bright orange clothes, so you wouldn't miss me... Alex Fletcher: Oh, good, you'll get some road work done while you wait, then.

Or even this:

Alex Fletcher: [singing] Sleeping with a clown above my bed... [spoken] "Clown" is not right Sophie Fisher: That's "cloud." Why would you put a clown in your bed? Alex Fletcher: It would not be the first time.

For those who have always wondered how to make me laugh, that's exactly how to do it.

Music & Lyrics is the first romantic comedy in recent memory that I've not only enjoyed more than Marathon Girl but laughed more than a couple of time. I enjoyed it so much that when Marathon Girl's sister came over the next night I watched it again and laughed even harder the second time I saw it.

Three stars (out of four) for the funniest movie I've seen in years. A must see for those who find the above examples funny.

I Wish I Could Have Seen This Game

When it comes to sports, I always enjoy seeing an underdog beat a much "better" and more heralded team in a big game. Needless to say I don't watch much college football anymore because the BCS bowl games instead of a true playoff system never allows any schools from smaller conferences ever have a shot at the national title.

That being said, I really wish I would have watched I-AA Appellation State beat Michigan on Saturday. When it comes to sports, I live for moments like that

At Least They Eliminated the Stank

 

Last month the gym I’d been working out at since February closed temporarily for remodeling. This wasn’t a big inconvenience since there was another gym about an equal distance away that I could visit. Besides the gym I had been going to had a lot of old equipment and I was looking forward to using some newer stuff.

This week the gym reopened. And while there were a lot of needed improvements, there were a few things I thought the gym overlooked.

First the good.

Most of the new equipment is a huge improvement over the old stuff. For example, they have this news machine the works my triceps better than anything I’ve used before. I love it.

The gym seems more open feel to it. It doesn’t feel like there’s tons of equipment smashed against each other and the equipment is laid out in a more orderly fashion.

They put television screens throughout the gym instead of just the cardio section. This serves as a nice distraction between weight reps.

They improved that heating/air conditioning system so now there aren't hot and cold spots in the gym.

Finally, they somehow managed to eliminate that ever-present stank that seems to be part of locker rooms. I have no idea how they did or if the smell went away simply because the locker room went unused for six weeks

Now the bad.

Since the gym I frequent tends to be near a high school and a major university, there's a lot of want-to-be or ex-football players that visit the gym on a regular basis. By far the most popular piece of equipment in that gym is a standard weightlifting bench. Before they remolded everything there were five benches that could be used at anytime. Now there are only two. Yep, that's right, two weight benches. This has created some problems as instead of people using their own bench, they now have to share it with others. I prefer not to share, if possible.

Then the old benches that were used for more dumbbell-type exercises were adjustable so you could sit, if you wanted, at different angles to work your muscles differently. The new benches just lay flat. No option to raise parts of them at all.

Finally the old gym had plenty of those places where you could get a paper towel and wipe down the equipment after you're finished. Now, there's one location that located on the far end of the gym. This means that most people won't bother walking that distance just to wipe down the equipment. That new equipment is going to look nice very long at this rate. Yuck!

Overall, I'm glad the for the improvements but would have thought they'd put a little more effort into making it a little more friendly for those who spend a lot of time using free weights. The other lifters on see on a regular basis feel the same way. Complaints from me and other weightlifters have been taken at the front desk.

And, yes, I did thank them for getting rid of the stank!

Feels Like 2002 All Over Again

For the least six years I've subscribed to an email alert that sends me the latest Detroit Tigers games summary as soon as their game is over. For most of that time these email alerts were just kind of a way for me to keep in touch with the Tigers without reading about just how awful they were actually playing. Then last year everything changed. The Tigers, much to the surprise of everyone, became a contender in the American League and made it to the World Series. Instead of drudgery, these emails became my way to read about their latest success and savor the possibility of playoff run -- something I really hadn't experienced in over 15 years.

This year the Tigers entered the All-Star break as arguably the best team in baseball. They were hot and it looked like only the Red Sox might stand between them and a shot at another World Series.

Then something happened. The Tigers began to sputter. Their roar turned into a quiet meow. Since break they've gone an awful 18-27 and have only won one series against the lowly Twins. (They thankfully split a series with the hated Yankees this weekend.) They're now 2.5 games behind the Indians for the lead in the Central and 4 games behind the wildcard race.

Now those emails alerts have become drudgery. I open them waiting to read how the Tigers blew their latest game. It's like 2002 all over again.

Yet I still subscribe to those email blasts and probably always will. I'm still a Tiger fan no matter how awful they play.

I just wish those Tigers hadn't gotten my hopes up by playing so well the first half of this year.

I was just getting used to enjoying those emails.