Kendric Neal's Blog, page 2

What Are You Writing?

“Gambling
wasn’t even about money, was it? Not the action, not the bells,
not the adrenaline, those were just add-ons. It was about luck .
. . the jouissance of gambling, pure, goddamned luck. The high
holiest of holies.“

From “Ride the Lucky”

Neely
Thomas was used to losing. Compulsive gamblers learn how to handle
it—his kids’ college funds depleted, an ultimatum from his wife,
his life near bottom—he was ready to unravel. But then a moment’s
inattention—checking the football scores instead of keeping his
eyes on the road—and a traffic accident leaves an innocent boy
dead. Now suddenly Neely can’t stop
winning.
The punishment for his crime? How bad could this be? A winning streak
so relentless it won’t end until his lies are exposed and he’s lost
everything he loves.

What Are You Watching?

Stranger Things 2 (great fun), Expo (movie about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, really interesting history. I so wish I could have gone! I wonder what the Victorian version of deep fried Twinkies would have been?), Murderland (British series with Robbie Coltrane)(just started it, but good so far), Thursday Night Football (games start too late, I always fall asleep and miss the comeback).

What Are You Listening To?

“The Great Bridge”, the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, by David McCullough. Loving it! He’s a good writer, does lots of research and lets you get to know the people. I listened to his book about the Wright Brothers last year and loved it as well. This is one of my favorite kinds of books.

What Are You Writing?

“It
was a great job and I was a great coach, but that was the past and
dinner with the Dyars was the present—and sussing out the current
crowd was no worse than taming a team on the bus home so amped on
testosterone they often tried to kill their best friends.”

From “To the Metal”

A
former junior high coach looks into the death of a local youth in a
high-speed crash and finds it was engineered by someone with a
shocking motive.

What Are You Writing?

“Neely
Thomas was used to losing. Compulsive gamblers learn how to handle
it—his kids’ college funds depleted, an ultimatum from his wife,
his life near bottom—he was ready to unravel. But then a moment’s
inattention—checking the football scores instead of keeping his
eyes on the road—and a traffic accident leaves an innocent boy
dead. Now suddenly Neely can’t stop
winning.
The punishment for his crime? How bad could this be? A winning streak
so relentless it won’t end until his lies are exposed and he’s lost
everything he loves.”

From “Ride the Lucky”

What Are You Reading?

“Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton. Just started, but a lot of fun so far. 

Today’s Rant

9 mile hike today. 9 miles, didn’t pass a soul. Stop to take a whiz and a runner suddenly appears out of nowhere at just the wrong moment. WHY? The same thing happens to me at Trader Joe’s, which gets crazy busy at 5:30, so I get out of the way of the aisle, stand in an unused corner while I consult my list, but don’t you know it, some dude desperately needs to get the Latvian beet powder or whatever the hell is exactly behind where I’m standing. I have pulled over onto dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, to consult my map. Some unused pull-off, some trail that goes absolutely NOWHERE, and I guarantee every time I will hear a car horn honk as some guy for some inexplicable reason comes along two minutes later needing to go that way.

Me and Tigris. Gone, not forgotten. RIP.

Me and Tigris. Gone, not forgotten. RIP.

What Are You Writing?

“Learning
to interpret the constant string of lies and excuses fed to you from
kids terrified of failure but careening towards it anyway is boot
camp for behavioral interpretation. My guys didn’t know who the hell
they were but they were angry, addled and belligerent, so half the
time I was screaming at them and the rest of the time I was holding
their trembling little hands.”

From “To the Metal”, a Coach Mack mystery. Yes! A Junior High football coach turned detective! The time has come!

What Are You Reading?

“Even if I had had magnanimity, I should only have had more suffering from the sense of its uselessness.”

“Notes from Underground” - Fyodor Dostoevsky. What can I say, he makes me laugh.