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Autograpghed Books – Critical Space

criticalspaceIt’s week 13, and our final look back at the novels I’ve gotten autographed over the years.  Once again, we return to Greg Rucka, who was responsible for over half of the signed books in my collection.  Today’s entry is Critical Space, the fifth entry in the Atticus Kodiak series that was both published and read in 2001.

I’m going to guess that the autograph was acquired at Wizard World Chicago, as I would not return to the San Diego Comic Con until 2003.  And with that, we draw this series to a close.  I certainly hope to add new books to the collection as time goes on, so we may revisit the topic at some point in the future.

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Book 31 (of 52) – A Raging Storm

A Raging Storm – Richard Castle

A Raging Storm, part 2 of Richard Castle’s 3-part novella detailing the return of his original hero Derrick Storm, picks up where the last one left off, with a dead US senator and Storm and FBI agent April Showers on the case.  The leads take them to London, where an exiled Russian oligarch has taken residence after speaking out against the President of Russia, his former friend.  A few twists and turns later, and we end with Showers shot and Storm having crashed into a country wall.

This eBook works much less effectively as a standalone story.  While Castle tries to bring readers up to speed with what happened previously, I can’t imagine going in to this blind and following the story.  The ending also seemed more like a chapter break than the end of a self-contained story.  But, I guess if you’ve made it this far, they assume you will be sticking around for the final chapter.

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Book 30 (of 52) – Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

11 months ago, I started on this journey into the world of Harry Potter rather reluctantly.   Now, having finished the seventh and final book in the series, I’m going to say it was a worthwhile ordeal.  In this last entry, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine have left Hogwarts and are tracking down the remaining Horcruxes in an effort to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

Rowling definitely ups the action this time out, and characters we’ve come to know and love do not survive the final battle.  The stakes are real, as they should be after 7 trips to the same universe.  All in all, it was well worth the effort to cram all 7 books in to one year.

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FB2: Week 47

A slight uptick from last week, as another week of vacation saw me spend a lot of time at home.  Things got off to a slow, and chilly, start on Sunday, where the majority of my 4700 steps came by clearing the driveway using the snow blower.  Monday hit a milestone, 2500 total miles while using the Fitbit, while coming close to 6500 steps.  Tuesday surpassed 7000 steps thanks to a trip to (I thought) finish off my Christmas shopping.  Wednesday was another down day, barely surpassing 4500 steps, spent at home wrapping presents.  Thursday was a nice bounce back day and the week’s highlight, with over 7500 steps.  Friday came close to 7500 steps, thanks to 3 grocery stores and an unplanned trip to Wrigleyville to fix some on-line gift purchase screw-ups.  Saturday just managed to eke by the 6000 step plateau thanks to Christmas celebrations.

Total steps: 43,834

Daily average: 6262

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2017 Calendar

2017coverNow that Christmas has come and gone, we can unveil the cover to this year’s calendar gift, given annually to my mom and sister, made up of pictures I have taken throughout the year. Once again. this year’s calendar was produced by the good folks at Shutterfly. As in year’s past, we will unveil each month’s photo on the first day of the month throughout 2017.

This year’s cover features the entire family and the Scooby gang (the actual Scooby gang, not the Buffy Scooby gang) from our trip to Universal Studios last June to celebrate Danny’s graduation.

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Autographed Books – Scrappy Little Nobody

scrappylittlenobodyMove over Bald Bryan!  Our penultimate look at the hardcover books I’ve gotten autographed over the years, Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick, replaces his Shrinkage as the most recent addition to my collection.  Kendrick’s memoir tells the tale of her rise from a Maine schoolgirl to a Broadway star to an Oscar-nominated actress.

The autograph was acquired last month when I bought the book and saw her do a Q&A about the book.  Sadly, the books were pre-signed and I didn’t get the chance to meet Ms. Kendrick, but it was autographed none-the-less.

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#47 – Jon Garland

Name: Jon Garland

Rank: 47

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2000-2007

Jon Garland was acquired by the White Sox at the trade deadline in 1998 from the Cubs in exchange for Matt Karchner.  He made his major league debut on July 4, 2000 against the Royals, becoming the youngest player in the American League and earning the loss by giving up 7 runs in 3 innings pitched at Kauffman Stadium.  He appeared in 15 games in the big leagues, 13 of them starts, and finished the year 4-8 with a 6.46 ERA as the White Sox won the AL Central.

Garland returned to the minor leagues to start the 2001 season, but was recalled in early May.  On May 12, he gave up the 200th home run of Alex Rodriguez’s career.  He split time between the rotation and the bullpen, ending the year with a 6-7 record and 3.69 ERA in 35 games.  He also notched his only career save.

In 2002, Garland joined the White Sox starting rotation full time.  He started 33 games and went a pedestrian 12-12 with a 4.58 ERA.  2003 was more of the same, as he went 12-13 with a 4.51 ERA.  He evened things out in 2004, going 12-11 with a 4.89 ERA, giving him a 3 year record of 36-36.

Things turned around in 2005, for both Garland and the White Sox.  He earned his first, and only, All Star nod, throwing a scoreless inning in relief.  He finished the year with an 18-10 record and a career low 3.50 ERA, helping the White Sox claim their first Central Division title since 2000.  Garland made his first post-season appearance in game 3 of the ALCS against the Angels, throwing a complete game in the 5-2 victory.  Garland appeared again in game 3 of the World Series, giving up 2 earned runs in 7 innings against the Astros.  He came in 6th place in Cy Young Award voting, right behind teammate Mark Buehrle.

Garland continued his winning ways in 2006, again winning 18 games while losing only 7, though his ERA rose to 4.51.  He also found success at the plate, hitting his first (and only) career home run on June 18 against the Reds.

2007 was another average year for Garland, as the White Sox cratered.  He finished the year 10-13 with a 4.23 ERA and completed his fourth straight year over 200 innings.  On November 19, he was traded to the Angels for shortstop Orlando Cabrera, ending his White Sox career.

Garland’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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#48 – Joey Cora

Name: Joey Cora

Rank: 48

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 1991-1994

Joey Cora was acquired by the White Sox from the Padres, along with Warren Newson, for Adam Peterson and Steve Rosenberg on March 31, 1991.  Cora appeared in 100 games for the White Sox, splitting time at second base with Scott Fletcher.  He hit .241 with only 18 RBIs.

With the acquisition of Steve Sax prior to the 1992 season, Cora was pushed to the bench, starting only 21 games at second base.  Again, his production was meager, hitting .246 with no home runs and only 9 RBIs.

Cora became the everyday second baseman in 1993, taking over for Sax.  He set a career high with 153 games played, he hit .268 with a career high 20 stolen bases as the White Sox won their final AL West crown.  Cora struggled in the ALCS, hitting an anemic .136 as the White Sox fell in 6 games to the Blue Jays.

In 1994, Cora continued to improve.  He raised his average again to .276 and had 2 home runs and 30 RBIs when the season came to a premature end due to the player’s strike.

When baseball resumed in 1995, Cora became a free agent and his White Sox playing career came to an end.  He rejoined the organization as third base coach for the 2004 season, when Ozzie Guillen was hired as manager.  Following the 2006 season, he became the bench coach.  Cora was initially named interim manager after Guillen was relieved with 2 games left in the 2011 season, but was fired by text message by GM Kenny Williams before he could assume the role.

Cora’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Book 29 (of 52) – A Brewing Storm

A Brewing Storm – Richard Castle

Before Nikki Heat, there was Derrick Storm, Richard Castle’s suave spy who starred in a series of novels but was killed off prior to the first season of Castle.  In this novella, part 1 of a 3 part story, Storm is brought back to the CIA, having faked his own death 4 years prior.  The step-son of a powerful senator has been kidnapped, and the CIA needs someone they can trust to bring him back alive.

This eBook, clocking in at 83 pages, tells the first part of what looks to be an intriguing longer story.  There have been subsequent full length Derrick Storm novels released, and he looks to be tying in to the Nikki Heat series based on the ending to High Heat, so this isn’t my first exposure to the character.  But it is nice to see how the ghost writer posing as Richard Castle decided to bring back the long-dead star.  I had originally purchased just this first entry so I could see if it was worth it.  After finishing it today, I bought the final two installments.