Lowe's Senior Class Award

UMass softball recently broke the 500 mark and we're on a roll. We won a double header against Dartmouth yesterday during the season's first double header and we're off to practice a couple days before our next home double header this weekend. Yes, there's still some snow in the forecast and my lips are wind burned and crackly, but finally we're outside and playing ball.

As some of you may or may not know, I was nominated for the Lowe's Senior Class award. My father, in his high wit, recommended I look into getting a job at Lowe's as a result. Voting for the top candidates begins today and this is where you can continue to make a difference in my life. Your undying support and kind words have inspired me in the past, now you can help make a difference by actively voting for me online. I almost feel like an American Idol...maybe I'll have to devise a way for you all to text in your votes.

Anyway, there are two ways to support me, and you can vote for me daily from as many computers as possible (wink, wink).

You can vote for me by clicking here and then following the "Vote Now" link in the upper right hand corner (as well as typing in the self-explanatory anti-spammer code they give you).

A friend has also created a Facebook group, which you can join by clicking here. This group has a link that will take you automatically to the same voting page as above. Alright, enough unabashed self-promotion. Let's get to the tunes.

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Today's music recommendation fuses soul and downright catchy choruses. Check out Kirsten Price, whose new album Guts and Garbage will release in the U.S. on June 17th. Her music can be gritty and avant garde, but some of her melodies are downright addictive. I recommend "All Right" for a prime example of her work.

Five States In Six Days, and My Unrepentant Commitment to Books

It's been quite awhile since I've written anything and I appreciate everyone's offline inquiries about the ole' blog. I've been aggressively pursuing my last season of UMass Softball and have felt like a touring musician as of late. We've played softball in five different states in the last six days (Florida, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) and I feel like a stained and battered rag. Nothing has been particularly easy as of late but I can't help but think that years from now I'll look back on recent events and consider myself lucky to have learned the lessons I did when I did. It's been awhile since life felt normal and I'm relieved to think everything may soon resume to its natural rhythms. If those rhythms quicken or change, let it be, because in the end it must be for the better. All I ask is that the storm makes me better in the end.

Enough of that kind of talk, right? I promise I'm not normally that dreary. How about we discuss something interesting? I have formally turned one of my casual hobbies into a joyfully relentless pursuit. Typical me, eh? Here's how I did it.

A friend and I have just committed ourselves to reading the entire Booker Prize winners and shortlist. The prize was initially founded in 1969 and each year six authors are awarded the Booker Prize (although I noticed that in 1975 there is only one winner and one shortlisted author and the reasoning there escapes me). In addition to reading the 190 or so fiction works from the Booker list with my friend I have finally committed myself to reading two 100 Best Novel lists. The first is the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels and the second list is Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels. Many of the titles on those last two lists overlap and I've read a good portion of the Top 100 lists. But to me there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to thoughtfully converse about and analyze any of those highly regarded titles.

My lists are meticulously organized and I'm ready to move forward. I figure I already read a couple novels a week in addition to the New Yorker, Time, Rolling Stone, Blender, Out, WIRED, Inc., and other periodicals. With some focus and persistence adding another 260 or so novels shouldn't be too difficult. I'll keep you roughly aware of my progress and expect to complete my lists in approximately three years. If you're crazy enough to share the same goal, please let me know. I expect we'd be kindred souls of a rare goal-oriented-even-during-leisure-activities variety.

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Today's music recommendation is slow, melancholy, but also somehow hopeful. My mom actually turned me onto this artist. His name is Kevin Ayers and his song "Walk On Water" from the album Unfairground is beautiful, transforming a typical "reap what you sew" cliche into sagacious sing-song wisdom.