Ponder: The Underdog

I thoroughly enjoyed and chuckled my way through The Underdog ©2005 by Joshua Davis. Yes, this book is almost 20 years old, but I was surprised and pleased to learn, after I completed it, that its author is now quite accomplished per a Wikipedia entry that cites Joshua Davis as "an American writer, film producer and co-founder of Epic Magazine".

In order to spark interest in reading this book, rather than giving away any spoilers, I reveal that competitions were in arm wrestling, bullfighting, sumo wrestling, retro-running, and sauna. These sports are all challenging choices for a tall, thin, wiry, vegetarian young man in his thirties seeking fame in life.

An excerpt from Chapter One reads

"Grip up!" the ref shouts at me. I am about to face Rabadanov Rebadan – a.k.a the Russian Ripper – at the World Armwrestling Federation World Championship in Gdynia, Poland. ... Rumor on the floor of this cavernous, Soviet style gym has it that the Ripper has broken more arms than any other wrestler. ... Rebadan snaps his head to the side. I hear his neck crack despite the roar from the thirteen hundred people in the crowd and the jostling of a half dozen photographers. My plan is working. I can tell Rebadan is worried. Or at least confused. 

His eyes crisscross my body looking for weak points. All he sees are weak points. I've got bony arms, glasses, and strange spiky red hair that I point menacingly in his direction. It doesn't make sense to him. He's never heard of me. Nobody has. I'm a five-foot-nine-inch 129-pound data entry clerk from San Francisco named Joshua Davis.

In the book I learn about Joshua's family growing up, his relationship with his ever patient wife, Tara, who lives with him in a 90-square-foot San Francisco apartment, aspiring only that they can soon afford to move to somewhere with natural light, a bathtub, and room for a dining room table. The Underdog is an amusing and fun romp with a plucky young man determined to be famous in something. In the process I also gain knowledge about the rudimentary elements as well as the intricacies of several off-the-beaten-path sports. Retro-running? Really? Joshua enters the Golden Shrimp retro-race in Italy so named because the shrimp is the only animal that consistently moves backward. From the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 

Unlike fish, shrimp do not have fins that enable them to swim, but they can certainly move around in the water. A shrimp "swims" by quickly pulling its abdomen in toward its carapace (body). This motion shoots them through the water. However, because of body configuration, it also means that shrimp swim backward.

From Joshua's participation in bullfighting and sumo wrestling I learned some of the maneuvers, as well as costuming, of both. This book was an eclectic and comedic view into another side of the wide, wide, world of sports. The book rated well on Amazon with reviewers (all 34 of them) commenting on the quality of the humor. 

To quote a sample Amazon review:

The writing is, in my opinion, very good, perhaps excellent. First and foremost: I laughed, for the humor is constant and clever (and, generally, doesn't come at others' expense, as to contrast much of modern popular comedy -- how refreshing).

For more background of Joshua Davis check his website www.joshuadavis.net. I guess he did eventually become famous. I recommend The Underdog as an entertaining light read. It may not appeal to everyone and for this reason only I gave it four stars instead of five.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: End of Story

End of Story ©2023 is a romance novel by Kylie Scott who is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling, Audie Award winning author. She has sold over 2,000,000 books and was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013, 2014, 2018, & 2019, by the Australian Romance Reader’s Association. Despite all these accolades, I thought the book was terrible. I rate it one star.

I did finish the novel and the conclusion was predictable. I do not hold the ending against "End of Story"; most romances do have a predictable finish and it is the path getting there that is engaging. The premise is that, due to past circumstances, a house renovation causes awkwardness between the main handyman Lars and the homeowner Susie. He is best friends with her ex-boyfriend.

The hero Lars, stereotyped as the strong silent type, was silent enough to be boring and annoying. The heroine Susie was so self-deprecating I wanted to slap her on the side of the head and tell her to wake up. The pacing was slow. There were so many red herrings that were confusing such as a car accident, the inheritance from a favorite aunt, a dysfunctional family, and a mysterious document; these diversions may have provided a seed for the plot, but were not resolved or detailed enough to contribute to its advancement. Sexual relations were very, very explicit and the frequency and amount of alcohol consumed as a coping mechanism was distastefully overused. 

Amazon readers rated the novel 4.2 out of 5. In reading these reviews, though I noticed most of the comments were from those already fond of Kylie Scott as an author and were depending on her past successes for their opinion. 

I will admit I, too, can be guilty of prejudice for authors I really enjoy; e.g., Louise Penny, Brenda Novak. Using that strategy in reverse, I will put Kylie Scott on my list of "do not read" authors. My advice is to not waste your time on this book.

★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read most or maybe even all of it

Two Grandkids' March Visit

Our daughter Robin brought her 10-yr-old daughter and her 7-yr-old son to visit us during their Oklahoma City school spring break March 13-18. They arrived Monday, March 13. My husband got an idea online to meet them at the airport dressed as Darth Vader. Their entire family is Star Wars fans. I was able to buy a relatively inexpensive mask and cape on Amazon to help him carry out his plan. Frank printed up a sign stating ROBIN ... I AM YOUR FATHER.

We parked and upon entering the terminal we asked a Southwest staff member if wearing a mask like Darth Vader constituted a security threat but they OK'd the outfit. We waited at a location where the passengers would be exiting from Robin's flight. A Southwest employee asked permission to take Frank's photo. After she did she said, referring to her fellow workers, "The Southwest family is going to love this!" Several other people noticed, laughed, and took cell phone pictures. Flight passengers exiting before Robin glanced over and smiled. 

Finally came Robin, scanning the crowd for Frank and me. Her eyes lit briefly on the sign and she thought, "Wow, there is another passenger on our flight named Robin." Then she read further and it clicked. "What are the odds that there was also an Autumn and an Isaiah?" She broke into a wide grin and nudged Autumn and Isaiah to look at Darth Vader. Then a brief photo session ensued before retrieving their luggage to drive home. Obviously Frank took off the mask to drive but Isaiah had fun with it en route.

They had left Oklahoma City on a butt-crack-of-dawn flight and so were pretty tired. Of course naps were out of the question. Nothing that a trip to a local park could not rejuvenate. There is Autumn, hanging upside down on the climbing structure with a new friend she just made. Isaiah spent time playing in the sand with some new friends he just met. He also devoted time and effort to putting on his shoes with laces, no longer velcro, practicing his newly acquired skill of tying a bow.

Once back at the house I pulled from storage a Vintage 1980 Little Tikes Build 'n Play Farm to assemble. Although designed with large components for toddlers, the barn building does seem to fascinate older kids as well. More details on the barn/grandkid combination are toward the end of my WanderOrPonder post for 3/21/23  where grandkids from my son's family loved it during their January visit.

By far the most popular items in Grandma's toy arsenal is a pair nerf guns that fire missiles. They pump up with air pressure and then propel the foam projectiles quite a distance. After the visit, Frank and I found most of the missiles lodged in a embossed metal basket on top of one of our hutches. The rounded noses of these missiles as well as their triple tail fins had been superglued back on many times in their lifetime.

On Wednesday, Robin, Autumn, and I went north to Danville to visit a quilt show at the Museum of San Ramon Valley where I had two quilts displayed . The exhibit at the time was titled Stir Crazy Quilts Quilting During the Pandemic and was running February 1 - May 31, 2023. The criterion for entry was quilts made during the time period of the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My quilts were Christmas Cars whose completion is detailed in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post dated 12/18/20 and Fifty Shades of Taupe, whose completion is detailed in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post dated  6/29/20. Robin, Autumn, and I posed for photos in front of each.

Autumn is proudly wearing a cardigan I crocheted for her. Details about it are in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post dated 12/31/22. She was quite eager to talk to the other show goers about what her grandma had made for her and that she had selected the color palette herself. I had made two others of these cardigans which she had outgrown and still wanted yet another. She also had definite opinions, which she readily shared, about the quilts displayed.

Autumn slept in Alex's former bedroom which has a Micky Mouse theme. I also have a mannequin in there whose outfit I change periodically for a holiday or the season, just for fun. When Autumn's cousins were here in late January they dressed here in a purple sequins top and a pink necklace for Valentine's Day. I thought Autumn might take a similar interest. I was comically wrong. Autumn asked that the mannequin be moved out. She claimed that when she awoke during the night, she startled, thinking someone was in the room with her. We both agreed it was sort of silly, but we moved out the "person" none-the-less.

On Thursday we all went to watch Alex bowl during his Alley Cats league. He was quite pleased to have an audience that was enthusiastic and cheered him on. He also liked that we stayed and had pizza afterwards.

Throughout the week, Robin intermittently and doggedly worked on quilting her blue stars quilt on my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen longarm machine. Here is Robin sandwiching it with the bamboo batting, smoothing out all the wrinkles before spray basting. It is huge, measuring over ~84" x ~96", big enough to fit over Autumn's bed with overhang on the edges. More in-progress photos are shown in my DianeLoves2Quilt post dated 4/15/23.

On Friday, the last full day of their visit, Frank, Robin, Autumn, Isaiah, and I went to the Discovery Museum in San Jose. Frank and I had taken Alex there last August as told in my WanderOrPonder post dated 8/29/22. Especially popular with Autumn and Isaiah was the drop tower where a falling bowling ball provided the kinetic energy to rotate a fan. The ball got its potential energy before the drop from the muscle power of Autumn/Isaiah/Robin lifting it via a pulley system.

Another activity that drew a lot of interest was building with huge foam blocks.

Before leaving I made sure both Autumn and Isaiah let me take their picture by the display of rubber duckies. Autumn tried making a duck face; Isaiah was content with smiling his natural handsome self.

Frank and I dutifully got up the next morning at 3:30am to take Robin, Autumn, and Isaiah to their 6:00am flight. We had thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Frank and I returned home and went back to bed. I hope Robin, Autumn, and Isaiah got to sleep on the plane.

Ponder: Someone Else's Shoes

In Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes ©2023, two women accidentally exchange their gym bags in a locker room after their workout sessions. One is wealthy and being abruptly divorced; the other is a struggling working class woman. Both women learn how important what you wear impacts how you are treated. Without her fancy clothes, Nisha is treated like dirt by staff and store personnel. Sam experiences respect and wins business contracts when she dresses up in fancy shoes and jacket. Female character development is strong in this novel.

Sam Kemp, the working class woman, struggles to make ends meet and competently deals with issues totally on her own since her husband is unemployed and undergoing depression after the death of his father.  Sam's boss at work is a misogynistic S.O.B. and a firmly ensconced member of the "good ol' boys' club". Sam's male peers are encouraging and like her but are ineffective in having any influence on her battles with, and accusations from, the boss. Sam's gym bag contains scuffed up practical low-heel black pumps, shoes Nisha is loathe to wear but has no other choice.

Nisha Cantor, the very wealthy woman, is accustomed to getting her way, but molds her life to accommodate her strong, powerful, domineering husband. Her husband has been scheming to divorce Nisha and cut her off entirely financially so he can hook up with a younger woman. Nisha's gym bag contained very, very expensive, six-inch high, Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes and a haute couture Chanel jacket. Per Wikipedia, Christian Louboutin is a French fashion designer. His stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. These are the only clothes to which Nisha had access since her husband shut her out and cut off all accounts and now they are out of reach, unintentionally in Sam's possession. These clothes are foreign to Sam Kemp.

Nisha finds and makes friend across all social classes. Nisha, Sam, hotel maid Jasmine, and Sam's friend Andrea forge an unlikely coalition. Nisha's husband emphatically insists that the shoes be returned before he considers an equitable divorce settlement. The remainder of the novel is a romp in which the women band together to help Nisha gain what is rightfully hers: her clothes and a fair divorce settlement. To do so they must locate the shoes, devise a scheme to get the shoes back, and sneak into the husband's suite from which Nisha is locked out.

This novel has passages that display the bravery and resourcefulness of women. Some scenes are scary, some scenes are hilariously funny, and some situations make the reader ache for the struggles of women. The men in this book are minor characters in supporting  – note, I did not say supportive roles – for the plot. This novel will not appeal to male readers – at all! The book was entertaining and had a few devious twists that kept it interesting. I rate it three stars. It is not one of the best of Jojo Moye's novels but it was enjoyable enough for the time I invested in it. I did not want to set it down until the issues within were resolved to my satisfaction... and they were.

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time