Tagged: The Muse Madams
The Jeter Interview
After I saw Harold Reynolds’ sit down with The Captain via LoHud, there was no question what tonight’s post would be. If you haven’t seen the MLB interview, it’s worth a look. Does Jeter seem relaxed or what? During the season he answers questions with his standard cliches, but – except for repeating the “Bottom line, we just have to win” mantra – he had some interesting things to say. His remarks about Matsui were very heartfelt and made me wish the Yankees hadn’t let Hideki go. Waaah. And it was gratifying to hear him talk about the need to “stay hungry” after winning a championship. Of course, my favorite part was when Reynolds said Jeter was in good shape for his age and Derek’s retort was, “You’re in good shape for your age too.” (I’m paraphrasing.) All in all, a very pleasurable way to spend a few minutes.
I’m keeping this short because I’m teaching my Muse Madams writing workshop tonight. I’ll try to go easy while critiquing the aspiring writers in our group. I am not Simon Cowell after all!
Talking Writing at Borders
No baseball blogging tonight as I was busy in my other capacity as a writer and writing teacher. As some of you know, I co-lead a workshop with my friend Melodie Johnson Howe called The Muse Madams (check out our web site), and tonight was a free session we gave at the Borders store in Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara. With all the rain we’ve been having in California, I didn’t know if we’d get a single person to show up. But we had a nice crowd of aspiring writers who braved the wet weather and brought their work and their enthusiasm. It’s always so rewarding to listen to writers read from their latest projects and then offer our critiques (hopefully constructive ones). And there’s nothing like getting a bunch of writers together in a room. We all share the same concerns and support each other for better or worse. What I’m saying is that my night off from blogging was a good one.
More about baseball tomorrow.
(Oh, about the picture. I’m the one on the right, in the middle of making a point. Melodie is on the left, waiting for me to shut up so she can speak. Everybody there had a story to tell. I hope they all get published some day.)
A Woman’s Work Is Never Done
Due to Thursday night’s long rain delay, I missed the game. I had to leave for the first session of the evening writing workshops I’m teaching with a writer buddy. (We’re “The Muse Madams” and you can read about us here.) So while I was sitting in a room with 12 aspiring writers and critiquing their work, I was dying to find out what was going on in the Bronx. Talk about having my head in two places.
When I got home, I ran inside and asked my husband who won. He was watching highlights of Mark Buerhle’s perfect game, which had been so exciting earlier in the day.
“The Yankees,” he said with a big smile. “Their seventh straight.”
“Tell me!” I said.
Michael, who keeps score just like I do, went through an inning-by-inning recap of the Yanks’ 6-3 victory over the A’s. No, it wasn’t the same as actually seeing the game, but his storytelling was pretty damn good. If he’d been in my writer’s workshop, I would have given him an “A.”
The main plot points, as he explained them, were:
* CC overcame a shaky first few innings and gave up three runs over seven.
* Hinske, playing right tonight, hit an RBI single to put the Yanks up 4-3.
* Tex had a homer and three RBIs.
* Posada knocked in two runs.
* And Hughes pitched both the eighth and ninth, so Mo could have the night off, and was perfect, earning his first major league save.
Of course this team will stumble over the next few months. They’ve already stumbled. But they are so much better than last year’s model in every way. Yes, it’s upsetting that Wang seems lost for the season; I don’t know how the Yankees will replace him in the rotation over the long haul or what they’ll end up doing about Joba’s innings limit. And yes, it would be nice to get a healthy Marte back in the pen, plus an effective Bruney. But these Yankees aren’t going away. They just aren’t.
It’s late here on the west coast, so I’m packing it in for the night. Tomorrow afternoon is my trip down to Dodger Stadium. I’m looking forward to it, but I’ll be glued to my iPhone until the Yankees game is over. Once again, I’ll have my head in two places.
Confessions of a She-Fan 