The Jack puppies have a new sport. It's whack-a-mole in the backyard. There are also several new holes in my back yard.

So far... Jax 2 Moles 0




"Who? Us? We would never dig in the yard..."

I am not a huge baseball fan. I love to go to games, but I don't follow a team regularly, and the myriad of stats just go in one ear and out the other. But John Grisham's Calico Joe is a story about redemption and righting wrongs that just happens to have characters who are professional ballplayers.

The story is told by Paul Tracey, the son of Warren, a mediocre pitcher for the Mets and a terrible father. In 1973, a young Paul idolized ballplayers and lived and breathed baseball. He spends hours watching and listening to games and maintaining meticulous scrapbooks.

Grisham juxtaposes Warren with Joe Castle, a phenom from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Castle, or "Calico Joe," is on fire in 1973, and young Paul is over the moon to see his father's Mets play against Castle's Cubs. Then the unthinkable happens, and it changes all their lives forever. I don't want to give away the secret because Grisham does a great job of revealing it through Paul Tracey's narrative.

I enjoy Grisham's novels about sports, as much or more than I do his legal works. The novel is a fun, summer read that is perfect for baseball season.

Our pair of Jacks love spring in the back yard, but they've been caught digging a lot lately...Here is some of their latest adventures...

Riley can't wait to get outside and chase the big, red ball, squirrels, birds, airplanes...

Add Jennifer van der Kwast's Pounding the Payment to your summer reading beach or pool bag. Her character, Sarah Pelletier, is a twenty-something, who loses her job unexpectedly, and the novel follows her unconventional job search. It traces her ups and downs with interviews and networking events. We have all been there at one time or another, and van der Kwast a way of making the dreaded job hunt humorous.

Throughout the book, van der Kwast includes a copy of Sarah's resume. It's very funny to watch the tweaks that the character makes to "fit" possible jobs. The same job descriptions take on new lives as the job search progresses.

It's a fun, quick read!

We went to the RVA Street Art Festival in downtown Richmond yesterday, and it was incredible fun. More than a dozen artists created a street gallery along the floodwall in what is left of an old power plant. We watched as artists painted on the second day and talked about their work. They also have booths and food vendors. We enjoyed a nice spring stroll down the Canal Walk.

If you're in Central Virginia, go and see it. I hope they continue this. We need more ways to showcase the creativity and talent in RVA.

I am slowly getting through the backlog of books that I want to read. Tina Fey's Bossypants is funny and witty and well worth the read. Her anecdotes give us insight into her life as writer, comedian, and actress. The chapter on her portrayal of Sarah Palin is hysterical.

It's more than a biography with a lot of funny stories. We see Fey as a young writer and her battles with career challenges. Her comments, equal parts smart and snarky, are the things we've all wanted to say. She's the girl next door who we all want to be our best friend.

Bossypants is a fun read that I had trouble putting down. And her middle school 70s pictures are a scream And most of us of the same age have ones of our own just like them.