OK. Iowa Hawkeyes are 10-0! For the first time ever!

Please disregard my post from September 14, 2014. Apparently Kirk Ferentz is a genius.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi!

All of you out there who are eagerly awaiting the release of my next book "Bygones"…

Well, you'll have to wait a little longer. The official release date is May 15, 2016!!

In the meantime you can download my book "At Second Sight" for Nook and Kindle!! Get 'em while they last!

Fly the W

Anyone seen any pigs flying?

Has hell frozen over?


A lifelong Cubs fan, I know the drill. There are periodic bursts of brilliance followed by the more frequent theatrics of the absurd. If you looked hard enough you could find a reason to keep watching, to hold out hope. Failing that, it was an opportunity to get a nice tan sitting in the bleachers.

But not this year.

This year, the Cubs are a team of youth: boys who either don't understand or don't care about the history of the curse of the billy goat, the black cat, the attempted capture of the foul ball by the man who shall not be named.

But there is also some experience. A few baseball veterans who can impart some wisdom to these young upstarts who don't know any better. But not too much wisdom to freak them out. To quell their fighting spirit. To put the hex on their natural athletic abilities.

The Chicago Cubs this year are a magical team, led by a savvy manager. Embraced by a hungry fan base.

They're fun to watch- rookie after rookie making play after play, hitting balls out of the park, rubbing their caps in solidarity. You've gotta love these guys.

They think they can do it. So I have to think they can do it. I'm buying in despite 107 years to the contrary.

Go Cubs Go!

Hey Hey, Holy Mackerel!

Fly the W!

I'm ready for a World Series run at Wrigley.

But this year, I really mean it.

Quick FYI

I now have a Facebook page to keep everyone posted on the goings on of my books! Search my name (Lisa Nielsen) or go to https://www.facebook.com/Lisa-Nielsen-478063095686575/info/?tab=page_info and like my page to keep up with any new news, as Bygones will be coming out soon from Coffee Town Press. Thanks!

Wimbledon: A couple things...

Okay. So I'm watching Wimbledon today, the Murray/Pospisil match. I like Andy Murray, I'd like to see him win. But this Pospisil kid seems like a good guy. He's been playing some awesome tennis, making his first quarterfinals in a grand slam. He's got game, big serve, nice touch. 

So, he's battling against a top player, it's a critical point in the match, and Pascal Maria-who's one of the most respected umpires in tennis- gives Pospisil a time warning. That's right. The server has 25 seconds between points to serve the ball. The rule is almost never enforced. When it is, it seems it's only enforced at a critical time in the match. My personal idol, Rafa Nadal, notoriously takes a long time between serves. He could be given a time violation after almost every point. He isn't. It only happens when there could be a turning point in the match.

The same thing happened to Pospisil today. I watched the match and had no sense that he was playing slowly, taking too much time between points. So Pospisil lost the first set, it was 5-5, 30 all in the second set and Maria decides that's the perfect time to call a time violation on Pospisil. Really?

Either enforce it on every point or don't enforce it at all. 

Or get a time clock out there.

The other thing? Well, it's the women's shrieking. I can barely watch Azarenka or Sharapova for that exact reason.

No one will ever ever ever convince me that the grunting, squealing, shrieking of these women, Sharapova specifically, is anything other than gamesmanship. 

Sharapova's screams have become louder and longer than ever. She actually sounds as if she is in physical pain with every strike of the ball. I'm sure she means to make it sound intimidating, but to me it sounds like she's giving every shot every ounce of her energy- which is why it seems so comical to me when she makes an error. Really Maria? That crappy shot deserved a scream on the uber decibel level?

It makes me crazy. And it makes me ready to quit watching women's tennis.

Good to be an American

It's been an interesting week.

After that despicable act of evil in a church in Charleston, at least some people are starting to wake up. I'm a Yankee but I understand that there are still some lingering southern hostilities.

We have to let them go. We are the United States of America and we can have only one flag. I know a few people from the south and they are proud proud proud to be southern. They should be. I have no problem with that. But the Confederate flag has to come down. It's a symbol of something sinister and should have nothing to do with southern pride.

It's starting to happen. Even Nascar is banning the Confederate flag. That can't be anything but good.

Also, the supreme court has made some bold decisions.

Upholding Obamacare? I don't know. I work in health care and I still don't understand all the ramifications. But those with Obamacare seem happy with it. To me, it appears the U.S. is finally catching up with other industrialized countries in regard to medical care.

Last but not least, there's the same sex marriage ruling. Finally. It was something that made sense, was so reasonable. Allowing people to live their lives the way they want in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I follow several folks on twitter who are from foreign lands. Seeing them tweet a photo of the White House in rainbow colors and applauding America, well, it gave me a warm feeling inside.

Now it's a good time to be an American.

What does it say about me that...

The employees at the Starbucks drive-thru know my dog's name?

It's May and I still have my little Christmas tree up?

I spend more money on wine than groceries?

My greatest delight is the afternoon nap?

I have a case of tennis elbow from playing Candy Crush on my new iphone6?

I plan to move north when I retire?

I'll spend a ridiculous amount of money on Blackhawks hockey tickets but I'll drive ten miles across town to save a dollar on a bottle of wine?

My idea of a perfect weekend is pouring rain and a full Netflix queue?

I start to hyperventilate if I don't have a book to read?