A Little Bit of History (and don't forget the shopping)...

Spent some time yesterday in St. Augustine, FL, the oldest city in the nation. As I walked around Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, I glimpsed at where the larger crowds were—the hundreds of shops lining the side streets of St. Augustine, which dominated the historical buildings.

Now these weren't the "traditional" type shops you might find in Colonial Williamsburg or other historic sites. These shops sold chocolate, crafts, clothes (including that historic brand, Harley-Davidson), chili pepper products and outdoor banners featuring your favorite sports teams. And yet the crowds poured in and out of these stores like they sold rarities they had never seen.

I'm not a snob. I understand that retail sales is often one of the only ways to keep sites like these alive and accessible to the public. But when I think about St. Augustine, and places like Gettysburg, where the approach to the battlefield is loaded with fast food restaurants, tchotchke shops and convenience stores, I wonder if this is really the only way we can get people to spend some time exploring our nation's history. Is a visit to Gettysburg only palatable with the spoonful of sugar of a lunch at McDonald's or Hardee's?

Again, I know I should be happy that families are still traveling to these sites instead of heading straight to the beach or the outlet malls. But at the same time, I can't help but imagine that all of those who died during the Battle of Gettysburg did so for freedoms far beyond three t-shirts for $12.

Or maybe that is precisely what they fought for...

Maybe It's Just Me...

...but can someone tell me why Southwest decided its new ad campaign featuring a bunch of shirtless, middle-aged, overweight guys with the letters spelling out "BAGS FLY FREE" on their chests would make you want to fly Southwest??

Book Review: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

It is the future, and the nation of Panem has arisen out of what was once North America. Panem is represented by a glorious Capitol, and the world Panem rules is divided into 12 Districts, each focused on a particular industry, like agriculture or coal mining. Those in power remind the citizens of Panem just how insignificant they are once a year, by forcing each District to choose one boy and one girl to represent it in the Hunger Games, a battle of survival televised to all citizens. The contestant who wins the Hunger Games spends the rest of their life as a celebrity to their District and all of Panem, while the other contestants meet their fate at the hands of one another.

Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old resident of District 12. She steps forward to take her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games, and although she expects it to be a quick death sentence, she realizes she actually wants to survive, and win. But what she faces in the Games—both physically and emotionally—is far beyond anything she could imagine, because much like our own reality shows, the Capitol manipulates the circumstances of the Games.

This book hooked me from the very start. While the creation of a new world out of the one we know isn't new, Collins' depiction of Katniss' life and the description of the circumstances around the Hunger Games is tremendously compelling. Having watched more than my share of reality shows and knowing how "real" they are, I still was captivated by the Games themselves. And while I had suspicions of how the story would unfold, I still was excited to finish the book, and plan to read the next two books in the series. If I had any criticism of the book, it's that its main character was a 16-year-old girl, so some of the rationale behind Katniss' actions, and her reactions to situations, were a little childish, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. But I am drawing the line at this YA series...

My Favorite Kind of Madness...

It's March Madness time again, one of the most wonderful times of the year—a time when productivity in the American workplace reduces by as much as 15 percent, a time when in order to succeed in your office pool, people resort to everything from internet research to blind guesses to choosing by mascot.

It's funny—I never was a gigantic sports fan growing up, but if there was one sporting event that completely captured me, it was March Madness. I love college basketball, much like other college sports, because the athletes give their heart and soul. They haven't yet become jaded by big salaries and thoughts of trading up to a better city as the players do in professional sports. And of course, the potential of the Cinderella team is one of the biggest draws every year.

There's something to be said for getting completely engrossed in game after game, watching as the network switches back and forth as scores get closer and fall further apart. And this year, we went to Jacksonville to catch some first- and second-round games live, which has helped my excitement grow even stronger, although watching four games live within 10 hours is more exhausting than you'd think. But we saw two really exciting games today, with Cornell a surprise victor over Temple, and Wofford, in its first tournament appearance ever, nearly beating Wisconsin.

Do I have a favorite? Honestly, as long as Duke doesn't win, I'm fine. (You may recall a previous blog post when I mentioned I don't like athletic dynasties; I'd much rather see a new team win than the same one time after time.) Of course, W would want me to say I want Maryland to win it all, so, go Terps!!

All I know is, this is the best kind of madness there is.

"The Heights" by Peter Hedges

It's amazing how quickly things can change, and how one random occurrence can have a ripple effect that touches many things in your life. For Tim and Kate Welch, a married couple living in Brooklyn Heights with their two young children, things seem fairly typical—Tim has a successful teaching career at a private school while he dreams of someday finishing his doctoral dissertation, and Kate is raising the children, immersing herself in their lives. And then into their lives comes Anna Brody, the mysterious and beautiful new neighbor whose arrival throws the entire neighborhood—as well as Tim and Kate—into a tailspin.

The Heights is Peter Hedges' first novel in 12 years, and it comes 19 years after he wrote What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Although the book treads on familiar territory—struggling within the confines of marriage and child-rearing, temptation, fear of becoming one's parents, life under the social microscope—Hedges unfolds the story so it seems almost unique. While I read this book very quickly, I found myself getting heavily invested in the characters (although I didn't always like them) and I worried about what trouble they might find themselves in. This story didn't seem too outlandish; it seemed as if it could happen to any couple you might know.

The emotions Hedges imbues his characters with feel authentic. I definitely could see this book adapted into a film slightly less dysfunctional than Little Children, but I didn't feel anything was too pat, or too predictable. This is a well-written book that may not break new ground, but the story it tells is a compelling one. Well done!

Gone to the Dogs...

As many of you may know, just before Christmas I had to put my dog, Zeke, to sleep. Since I had Zeke for more than 15 years, this was a tremendously difficult decision, but the right one given how he was suffering at the end of his life.

It has been a difficult three months without Zeke. It's taken a tremendous amount of time to get used to coming home in the evenings or after a trip and not be greeted by his wagging tail and his barking. It's even still a little bizarre to eat a meal in the house and not have him begging, or to have to pick food up off the floor when we drop it instead of waiting for Zeke to eat it.

After Zeke died, I didn't think I'd want another dog, because I couldn't bear the thought of having to go through again what we did with him. And of course, no one can replace him. But as time went on, I realized how much love we have to give, and while there never will be another Zeke, it would be wonderful to care for another dog and give it the kind of love and affection we gave him.

Yesterday we went to an adoption fair sponsored by A Forever-Home Rescue Foundation, a non-profit animal rescue group that operates in the Northern Virginia/Washington area which strives to make quality dogs available for adoption. We looked around a bit and came upon a litter of puppies. We picked one up and petted her for a bit. Then we picked up another. She immediately started licking my face and nestling in my arms, while other puppies were struggling. I felt a certain connection I hadn't felt since October 1994 at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.

So...we put in an adoption application for a 10-week-old golden/lab retriever mix puppy. She's absolutely beautiful, although she'll be a lot bigger than Zeke was, and a bigger dog than we had anticipated getting. We have a home visit scheduled for Wednesday night, and after that, hopefully we can bring her home the following week. We're nervous and excited, and although we know training a puppy will be a lot of work, we're so looking forward to watching her grow and thrive.

Details and pictures to follow...don't want to jinx it. But I know Zeke will be looking down and protecting his "sister," and that makes me happier than I could imagine...

Book Review: "Big City, Bad Blood" by Sean Chercover

Here's a tip from me to you: if you love books with private investigators, a good amount of action, some twists and turns and great character development, go out and get yourself a copy of Big City, Bad Blood by Sean Chercover. This is a great book in one of the genres I love, and I'm excited to have found a relatively new author with some great storytelling skills.

Ray Dudgeon is a former journalist who left the newspaper world after realizing he couldn't really solve the problems of the world, and now he works as a private investigator. He is hired by a movie executive to protect a locations manager, who has run afoul of the Mafia (or in Chicago, "the Outfit") and faces a death threat because of his plan to testify in court. And as Dudgeon gets more involved, the killers set their sights on him as well. As he finds himself getting deeper and deeper into what seemed like a simple protection case, Dudgeon is also struggling with the pull of a romantic relationship and his own personal demons.

Chercover did a terrific job creating the characters in this book. Even those in "the Outfit" don't fall under your typical Mafioso stereotypes. And Dudgeon is more than just a thinking man's private investigator— he's principled (although not too much so), stubborn and a little too idealistic for his own good. You may be able to see some of the twists coming, but that didn't impact my enjoyment of the book. I raced through the entire thing in about a day, and I'll definitely be picking up Chercover's second book very soon.