Because Trivia night is no laughing matter…

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 31, 2011 . 8:49PM

My friend April is one of the calmest, most level-headed people I know. She rescues animals and has the sweetest nature. She’s quiet and always willing to lend a hand to anyone that needs it. However, there comes a time when April isn’t sweet, kind or particularly compassionate and that’s trivia night.

I struggle with how to describe the change that comes over my dear friend. We all head to the nearby Mexican restaurant for a night of relaxation and laughter. The rules are simple: don’t use your cell phones, don’t yell out answers and submit them within the time limit to the person running the trivia night. We spend the time, as a small group of friends, eating delicious Mexican cuisine, running through our vat of useless knowledge and really, just having a wonderful time. I look forward to trivia night for weeks prior to it happening and I think my friends feel the same way.

When we get there, however, a subtle change begins to take over my friend, April. It starts with the delicious food. April starts to hum and dance a little at she eats what is, inevitably, a mountainous plate of food that she will never finish. When she proclaims herself full it will look as though she took one bite even though she ate just as long as everyone else did. During this time, she will smile and everything will appear to be well on the surface. It’s not. Oh, no, it’s not. Do not be fooled. She’s gearing up the way some people wear their dirty socks to a game. April is in it to win it.

When it comes time to play, she will cheerfully volunteer to go get the game sheets and bounce, nay, skip to the game table and come back with our sheets. Team Android, as we are called (what? We LIKE our phones), is about to show you all how it’s done. During this time, the change begins to show itself as whomever is putting our name on the sheets isn’t writing them quickly enough and April begins to scope out the competition.

As the game is played, April’s eyes shift and she makes sure that all are playing by rules and WOE to them if they are not. This has culminated in her calling people out for using cell phones by glaring at them until they feel her eyes on them, making it known to AJ so he will say “You aren’t supposed to use cell phones” loudly enough that they get up and leave and, during one of our last nights out, had April openly mocking a team who raised their hands to cheer when they did well.

April is not a mean girl. But Trivia night brings out the fighter in her. I have to say that it is hysterical and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Mild mannered American sweetheart by day. Cage fighter by Mexican trivia night.

I might just request that they play Eye of the Tiger just for her, next time.

Book Review: Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 17, 2011 . 6:18PM

When I received Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I received, however, was a compelling novel full of dynamic characters that pulled me right into the middle of a family drama where I happily stayed for a couple of weeks. Generally, when I am forced to focus on multiple characters in books, they are poorly written and my focus is divided to the point where I cannot enjoy the read, but it was not the case in this book and I was able to truly understand the characters.

Leon Owenby, a man late in life, has disappeared. His family comes together to determine what has happened to him, as Leon is a responsible man who isn’t the type to wander away from his life. As his family comes together, the past also comes to greet them and the story of the Owenby family unravels. The focus of the story is Martin, a brother who, even in his 50s, cannot admit his sexuality to his family. His life is one of regret and the paths untaken. The book is written through the minds of several of the family members, as well as friends of the family, and the road to what happened to Leon Owenby comes to a head at the end of the novel when we find that family is what you make of it and that things are not always what they seem.

Personally, I was enthralled with this book from the first page. I usually read in the evenings and couldn’t wait to get to this book every night. The characters were rich with insight and development and new family secrets came to light with every breath. It was, in a word, delightful.

*Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in order to review it. Thanks for allowing me to read this book and share my thoughts on it with others!

A story for the ages…or today at least

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 15, 2011 . 3:55PM

So, AJ has been watching me blog and, in true 10-year-old fashion, immediately became jealous and wanted to write his own blog. He calls them my “stories” and so he wrote his own…enjoy. Kind of. (All proper punctuation and comments in parenthesis are courtesy of me).

Here’s how the story begins: I went to school on early dismissal and we had a party (because this is the mecca of 10-year-old partying) and we made a story that I can’t find the paper (it was on the bannister of the stairs and apparently it’s my fault that it’s now gone) of how it goes so I’ll just make one up. So, this is how it goes.

Once upon a time, there was a town that had a boy named Jack. It was Christmas and he got a crappy sweater (because this is the worst thing that can happen to a child on Christmas). There was a monster that loved sweaters and stole his sweater and stomped away. Then there was a robot polar bear and he created a gingerbread man. There was a globe that broke anything that you wanted when you shook it and the gingerbread man shook it. There was a castle that jack was in and it broke and he fell all the way down to the ground and then the monster came an blew up jack. Jack was in heaven and the monster blew up because of the globe and then the robot polar bear and gingerbread man blew up (because men have to have things blow up in order for it to be a worthy story).

THE END

Hairball!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 10, 2011 . 9:13PM

My son is not necessarily a social butterfly, so, when it comes to social conventions, he doesn’t always hit the mark. His aunt “Cookie” is a Junior Varsity cheerleader and she desperately wanted us to come watch her cheer on a recent trip home during the holidays. AJ was really looking forward to this as he loves his Aunt Cookie and he really loves to watch sports games in person. As an added bonus, his cousin Lola was going to the game, as well, and there seemed to be no downside to his day.

We sat there and watched the game as Cookie came out during the time-outs to cheer. AJ was mesmerized by small-town basketball. As we sat together, however, I noticed that something was a little off. AJ was yelling when someone would hit an airball, but he wasn’t yelling “AIRBALL” like everyone else.

Not my son.

No. He was yelling “HAIRBALL! HAIRBALL! HAIRBALL!”

Immediately, my eyes welled up with tears and I couldn’t stop laughing. AJ is very sensitive and couldn’t figure out what was my problem. As I tried to calm down to tell him, eyes started turning my direction and I felt my mother’s steely glare on me as she wondered why I was mocking her grandson. Finally, I was able to calm down enough to tell them both why I was laughing. My mom immediately starting laughing and AJ looked at me with disgust.

“What? What else should I have said?”

As I explained WHY it was an airball and, thus, why we yelled airball at a player, I could see the little lightbulb go on over his head.

Sometimes, being a parent offers a rare treasure. I wasn’t laughing at him. Ok, I was, but you would have, too. The way kids perceive life is funny. The next time I’m at a game I can’t wait to see a hairball!

Remembering Chandra Levy

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 1, 2011 . 11:04PM

It’s been a while since I’ve focused upon an actual news story here, but every now and then my mind wanders back to a true crime story because of the media and I feel that compelling urge to throw my two pennies onto the table. In 2001, Chandra Levy went missing. This became more than a general missing persons case because Chandra Levy was not only an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington D.C., but also she was having an affair with United States Representative, Gary Condit.

At the time, I remember watching the news and feeling sickened and repulsed. I’d watch Gary Condit on television and felt like he knew more than he was telling. He was cleared of all involvement and that should make me feel better about the situation, but recently, the case was tied up in a neat little bow and something still feels too neat. In fact, when Condit was cleared of charges, you could almost predict that an illegal immigrant would be found to have been at fault and Condit wouldn’t have anything to do with it, right?

Strange how that worked out. Levy’s remains were found in 2002 and a cellmate stated that Ingmar Guandique, in prison for something else, admitted to Condit paying him to kill Levy. He was recently convicted…however, the charges against Condit were ruled out.

Because no man has ever paid to have his mistress offed…especially a man in high power who was up for re-election. Condit even refused to admit his affair with Levy though his sperm DNA were found on her undergarments in her apartment.

I don’t know if Condit had anything to do with Levy’s murder, but the bottom line is that he’s kept mum for almost 10 years and I suspect he’ll continue to do so. It’s very Clinton-esque to deny, deny, deny, right? Either he truly had nothing to do with her murder and he’s innocent or he’s paid off the right people. The one thing I know about this is that it’s a stereotypical ending and when things are this open and shut, it’s rarely that easy.

We may never know what happened to Chandra Levy or why. Was it really just a robbery gone wrong? Did she get involved with the wrong man? Both? The only thing I know is that I’m still not buying what Gary Condit is selling and I don’t know why I can’t get over it. The prosecutors in this case “overcame a lack of any scientific evidence.” Why doesn’t that reassure me? This man could face life in prison with no parole. If he’s guilty, he deserves far worse. If he’s innocent? And if he’s guilty and was hired? Does the man who hired him deserve nothing?

This holiday season may her family have some peace that someone is paying for her death. I hope that it is the right person.