Latest Spring arrivals at Renee's!


FDJ French Dressing soft stretch twill capris in butter yellow (left) or black and long pants in red are now in!

A new style of contemporary jeans by PRVCY has arrived.




Zazou scarves in new styles and spring colors.

The ever popular, playful, and inexpensive summer slip on shoes by Page in a zebra motif have also arrived.

Stop in soon to see the new arrivals. Come to the Superbowl Sale on Sunday, Feb. 7 between noon and 4 pm to get 20% off these new arrivals and everything else in the store, even already reduced items!

Well, another Aussie Open has come and gone and there were some exciting finishes, if not surprising results. Nothing could really top the awesomeness of last year where Rafa beat Federer in 5 sets and Federer cried in disappointment, but it was still two weeks of great tennis.


We had a great women's final with Serena Williams defeating Justine Henin in 3 sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. This was especially satisfying for me since I've had an irrational distaste for Henin since my college days. She physically resembles someone who I used to know that annoyed me and I've rooted against her at every turn. Not that she hasn't given me reason over the years to find her unpleasant. There was that whole incident a couple years ago where Henin held up her hand as Serena Williams was serving, the chair umpire didn't see it, Serena got called for a fault and Justine refused to admit that she had indicated that she was unready to start play. Boo, Henin! Poor sportsmanship! Even if I don't like her, I do love the drama she brings to the women's tour (and she does have the skills to back it up.) Serena started this tournament very strong but was struggling in the later rounds. Henin, in her first tourney back after about two seasons of retirement, was only getting stronger, totally steamrolling through her semifinal match. It was hard to say what was going to happen in the final. The tennis was strong, the tension was high and in the end, the player I wanted to win actually won and that's what matters most. Bravo, Serena!
The Bryan brothers also claimed another Grand Slam title, beating Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia, winning the men's title on Saturday for a second straight year with a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory. The Bryans had been on a five-match losing streak against Nestor and Zimonjic, so the victory was that much sweeter. It's nice that even if the United States is having a hard time coming up with Grand Slam contenders in the men's singles tennis tour, the Bryan brothers are still going strong in doubles.

And of course Federer dismantled Murray again in the men's final 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. The third set tie-breaker was a doozy though. I watched most of the match live, but fell asleep halfway through the third. When I woke up, I saw that Fed won in three sets, but watched the DVR'ed conclusion. It's kinda funny to watch a tiebreak like the one Fed won in the third set. I knew he would win it, it had already happened, there was nothing Murray could do as I watched to alter the course of reality. Still, as I was watching I was SURE Murray would win. He seemed to be in control for much of the tie break. I bet it would seem that way if I rewatched the end of last years Roddick-Federer finale again. Sometimes even if you know the outcome, tennis has a way of making you feel as you watch it, like something else could happen. It's like anything is possible on any given shot, even if you can know it will reach only one outcome.

So Federer takes home Grand Slam title Sweet 16 and Murray is denied once again. Murray is still only 22. If he can stay healthy, he'll have his chance to hold the big trophy. Rafa has a new knee injury which is disappointing but it should heal in a month. His ranking will drop from 2 to 4 next week, his lowest ranking since 2005, but what else can happen when he's not playing due to injury? I wish him a speedy recovery and again contend that if he's healthy he's the only guy out there that can consistently challenge Fed in tournament finals.

Fed's win is incredibly impressive. He's made every Grand Slam final for over two years. The Grand Slam finals are quite literally Federer vs. Somebody Else. It's crazy! I know everybody on the planet was ready to hail Tiger Woods for Athlete of the Decade (and he basically WAS Pro Golf for the past 10 years, I grant you that), but take a minute to consider the man Rodger Federer and the titles and records he's accumulated over his career. It's really astounding.

So that's it from Down Under! Hopefully Rafa will be able to rest and be healthy for his favored upcoming clay court season and take back his French Open title. I'll be here on the blog to follow him on his journey. Vamos!

****Taki appears to be out of business as of 1/1/11**************


I don’t think I have ever mentioned this, but my kids’ favorite place to go to dinner, if it is totally up to them, is Benihana. They love the whole dinner and a show thing. And the nice thing about it, they love pretty much everything they serve and have something to occupy themselves. Recently a new Japanese steakhouse opened just up the street from our house, and it is not a chain, which got me kind of excited, so we thought we would give it a try. Apparently, they used to be in Des Moines, but have moved the whole place here.

This restaurant is very large and offers both the teppanyaki (cooking at the table in front of you) and a large regular sushi area with a sushi bar and regular bar. It was not too crowded yet, as it has really just opened in the last few weeks, which was sort of nice for us because we had our whole table to ourselves and our kids are a little crazy. The menu is very similar to Benihana, except they offer more reasonable prices for their kid’s meals.

So the kids and I both ordered shrimp dinners and hubby ordered a combination dinner with steak and scallops. All the meals come with soup and a salad as well as fried rice. For the soup you can have the classic Japanese steakhouse soup of broth with fried onions and sliced mushrooms or the traditional sushi restaurant miso soup with tofu. The kids got the broth, which tasted like it might be beef broth and was pretty good. I had the miso which was very good miso soup—lots of tofu which I always like.

You can get the salad with a soy vinaigrette or a ginger dressing. I am not usually a fan of soy vinaigrette but I did enjoy the ginger dressing. However, Japanese salads with the iceberg don’t usually get me that excited. These did have a bit of other field greens mixed in with the iceberg, but they weren’t super exciting.

The chef came out and cooked next and I have to say, he was super friendly and put on quite a show for the kids. If you had asked the kids which place they preferred, before even eating their food, they would have chosen this place based on the chef alone. First off, he started with making a giant flame on the table, which I have read Benihana will no longer do for liability reasons. So they were into that. Then, as he cooked the fried rice with egg, and some diced veggies, he offered to let my kids cook with him. My daughter, who has always been quite appalled by the lack of female teppanyaki chefs, of course jumped at the chance. My son, being my slightly shyer child, passed. Anyhow, he let her flip the egg around and she was thrilled. And the fact that he promised to let her do it anytime she came certainly endeared her to the place. At this point, I was just praying the food was edible since I already know where she will be requesting on her nights out.

Everyone seemed to like the fried rice (I had steamed). There is no shrimp appetizer included in the dinner however (like at Benihana), so at this point he started cooking everyone’s dinner. They have two sauces to serve with the meat, a sort of creamy slightly mustardy sauce and a thick ginger sauce. Interestingly, they recommend the ginger with the red meat and the creamy sauce with the seafood (which is the opposite of Benihana). Personally, I love the tangy-ness of the ginger sauce (as does my daughter) and have always used it for everything. But here, I had to ask to get it since I was having shrimp; initially he only gave me the other. But it was really good, thicker and even more gingery then at Benihana. The one thing I did not like though, was that they actually cook the shrimp on the grill with some of the creamy sauce, which I would not get the next time. But if you like that sauce with your shrimp, cooking it with some extra would certainly not hurt. The kids seemed to like it anyway. They also served the shrimp whole, instead of chopping it up, which bummed me out a little since I then had to cut it up for the kids. (Normally that is one of the beauties of the Japanese steakhouse. Everything comes sized to order for the kids.)

They also did veggies—onions, broccoli, carrots, and zucchini and made a very exciting volcano out of the onions which of course the kids also loved. Hubby really liked his scallops—and they looked like nice ones and were cooked well. I had quite a bit of his steak (he upgraded to a filet) which was really good, possibly my favorite thing. But the kids ate really well, and really enjoyed themselves, which is most of the battle when dining out with them. And hey, it wasn’t chicken nuggets or grilled cheese.

We also got a piece of chocolate cake, and our server was very careful to check the ingredients and let us know that is was made somewhere that processes peanuts, because my son is allergic. The cake was clearly one of the pre-made refrigerated jobbies (I hate cold cake) but my daughter loved it and mentions it, along with the fact that they have chocolate milk, and that she got to cook, whenever she tells someone about it. Oh and did I mention all the fish tanks? Also a big draw. But for adults, it has a nice modern feel with some interesting water/light features and soothing color scheme.

So we will certainly be back (it is almost a guarantee with as much as the kids loved it) and with a few tweaks for me (no sauce on the shrimp when it is cooking, or maybe one of the steak and seafood combos), I am glad to have a place to go that is local and where the people are really into their jobs. And while our server (who brought the drinks, soups and salad) was clearly still learning, she was really friendly and helpful. They were extremely accommodating to the kids, even down to the cheater chopsticks and free refills on the chocolate milk.

********************************************************************
Hubby and I also decided to give Taki a quick try for lunch before I posted this review. We ordered a couple of rolls and some tempura shrimp. The tempura was nice, a little different from most I have had, almost has a consistency of panko crumbs on the outside, but it was nice and crunchy and I liked that the tempura sauce was served warm, which helped keep the whole thing warm til the end.

The rolls were good. Not amazing or anything, but not bad. Ok, I think I have told you all that I am generally not a fan of rolls because I don’t like the seaweed. Lately I have been noticing a lot of rolls made with soy paper, so I thought, hey, this might just be the perfect scenario for me. So the roll I wanted to try was called the “Dynamite Lola,” which was soft shell crab (and you know how I love soft shell crab), spicy tuna, avocado and spicy sauce, and was described as being wrapped in soy paper. So, it was wrapped in soy paper, but there was still an interior part of the roll that was wrapped in seaweed, so it didn’t really help this aversion for me. The ingredients themselves were all well done and tasty, but I guess I am learning I am not a roll person. Hubby, who loves the seaweed has learned he is not a soy paper person, having never had it before. He did not care for the consistency of it.

The other roll we go was the “Taki” roll, which he liked better. It was salmon and crab tempura. It was pretty tasty (other then that pesky seaweed). They do have a ton of different rolls and sushi options, pretty much some of everything. And the fish itself seemed to be very good quality, and that is the most important thing right? They have just started serving lunch, and there weren’t a lot of people in there when we were there, but our server told us their dinners are getting more and more crowded. I do think it is a good alternative to have in this area, which is so heavily dominated by mediocre chains. I am going to go back and try a Bento box next time for lunch and see how that goes.

It is a pretty place, and a very friendly staff. If you have gone, or do go, please let me know what you think, as I am interested to see how this place does.


Taki Japanese Restaurant
4040 East 82nd Street
Indy 46240
317-849-8254

I've never written (or reported) about a book I haven't finished reading yet, but then, as blogs are very much about life in progress, I figure it's perfectly okay to blog about one.

The partially-read book I want to blog about is Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. I started reading it because a friend lent it to me and I am looking for a book that might serve as a companion to a writing course I'm to teach in the spring for JMU's Lifelong Learning Institute.

Brenda Ueland was a journalist and writer who died in 1965 at the age of 93. She was a free spirit, even when measured against my own rather free-spirited sensibilities. Ms. Ueland married three times, had many lovers, walked miles daily, did a mean hand-stand, and wrote.

For me, reading If You Want to Write . . . is like what? A psychological shot of B-12? Permission to shake off the last of my self-imposed creative rules (i.e. shackles)? Giving myself permission to just go ahead and write whatever I want to write? Or maybe, even more importantly, giving myself permission to just go ahead and live?

Brenda Ueland is a wonderfully engaging essayist, her thoughts heavily influenced by William Blake and Vincent Van Gogh, though she certainly seems to be having a better time than either of those gentleman.

At the end of If You Want . . . is her famous (in a very limited way) list of twelve things to remember while you are writing (or painting, or living). I found them because of my habit of always reading the last few pages of a book before I legitimately get to them.

I thought it might energize both your spirit and your day if I passed them along.

• Know that you have talent, are original and have something important to say.
• Know that it is good to work. Work with love and think of liking it when you do it. It is easy and interesting. It is a privilege. There is nothing hard about it but your anxious vanity and fear of failure.
• Write freely, recklessly, in first drafts.
• Tackle anything you want to -- novels, plays, anything. Only remember Blake's admonition: "Better to strangle an infant in its cradle than nurse un-acted desires."
• Don't be afraid of writing bad stories. To discover what is wrong with a story write two new ones and then go back to it.
• Don't fret or be ashamed of what you have written in the past.. . . We are too ready (women especially) not to stand by what we have said or done. Often, it is a way of forestalling criticism, saying hurriedly: "I know it is awful!" before anyone else does. Very bad and cowardly. It is so conceited and timid to be ashamed of one's mistakes. Of course they are mistakes. Go on to the next.
• Try to discover your true, honest, un-theoretical self.
• Don't think of yourself as an intestinal tract and tangle of nerves in the skull, that will not work unless you drink coffee. Think of yourself as incandescent power, illuminated perhaps and forever talked to by God, and his messengers. Remember how wonderful you are, what a miracle! . . .
• If you are never satisfied with what you write, that is a good sign. It means your vision can see so far that it is hard to come up to it. Again I say, the only unfortunate people are the glib ones, immediately satisfied with their work. To them the ocean is only knee deep.
• When discouraged, remember what Van Gogh said: "If you hear a voice within you saying: You are no painter, then paint by all means, lad, and that voice will be silenced, but only by working.
• Don't be afraid of yourself when you write. Don't check-rein yourself. If you are afraid of being sentimental, say, for heaven's sake be as sentimental as you can or feel like being! Then you will probably pass through to the other side and slough off sentimentality because you understand it at last and really don't care about it.
• Don't always be appraising yourself, wondering if you are better or worse than other writers. "I will not Reason & Compare," said Blake: "my business is to Create." Besides, since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of Time, you are incomparable.

Hi all-

As you know, Devour Downtown is going on through February 6th, where you can enjoy three course meals at many of our downtown restaurants for just $30.00. It is often a nice way to try restaurants that you might otherwise think are too pricey. At the request of a reader, I am making this post, asking you guys to post a comment about your devour downtown meals so that others might see some good options (and maybe some not so good ones too) for these weeks. If you have already been to a few, let us know if they were good or bad...and maybe we can all help each other out!

Cheers!

Erin

If anything can stimulate a spirited reader discussion on the WMRA blog, it seems to me has to be  last night's speeches.

President Obama began his State of the Union address last night with these two paragraphs:

Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the president shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They've done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they've done so in the midst of war and depression, at moments of great strife and great struggle.

It's tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable -- that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run, and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday, and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. These were the times that tested the courage of our convictions and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements, our hesitations and our fears, America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, as one people.

 Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell began the Republican response with these two paragraphs:

I'm standing in the historic House Chamber of Virginia's Capitol, a building designed by Virginia's second governor, Thomas Jefferson.

It's not easy to follow the President of the United States. And my twin 18-year old boys have added to the pressure, by giving me exactly ten minutes to finish before they leave to go watch SportsCenter.

So, what did you think of last nights speeches? To join the discussion, please click on this link, or below on "comments" (it will have a number in front of it, which is confusing I think) and let us know, or e-mail me and I'll post whatever you have to say.

Oh, Rafa. This was the worst of all outcomes. Not the loss. You win some, you lose some. I didn't have the best feeling going into this match against Murray anyway. But to end in injury? Ugh, that's the worst. I feel so bad for him, and of course wish him a speedy recovery.

Rafa played really well in the first two sets, even though he lost both of them 6-3 and then 7-6. It was worth getting up at 4am to watch the match live. The 6-3 set was a lot closer than it looks, with Rafa having many chances to break on Murray's serve. Murray just played the big points better and was able to end up ahead. The second set was closer, but Rafa still had break chances on which he couldn't capitalize. He hurt his knee in the second set tie-break and after going down 3-0 in the third, Rafa could go no further.

Afterwards, Rafa was upset, but remained optimistic. "I didn’t have lot of problems for the last six months,” Nadal said in a news conference. “And today is the first time. I felt something which I think is a bad movement. But is not because the knee is tired or has been a bad movement or gesture. No, I think it’s going to be OK.”

Rafa is an amazing athlete with the heart of a true champion. He has my full support for success in the rest of the season and I hope he recovers soon. As for the rest of the tournament, I'm hoping for a Federer-Murray final, and it would be nice to see Murray win his first Major. He's Rafa's pick to win too. We'll see what happens.

Yesterday in WMRA's weekly news meeting, our conversation centered around tonight's State of the Union address by President Obama. The consensus was that this year's address was, as these addresses go, as important as they get.

After the meeting I did some more thinking about why that is; why it seems extra important that we citizens not only listen to tonight's State of the Union address, but listen civilly. Why it seems so necessary that we discipline our minds to stay open as we listen to what both President Obama and our newly elected Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, the Republican responder, have to say.

It occurred to me that it was so important because an awful lot of Americans have gotten into the habit of reacting to what our elected lawmakers say rather than thinking about it. Shouting "eek!", is after all, much easier than carefully weighing conflicting opinions and arguments.

To test this hypothesis, I opened this morning's New York Times, which is widely read on-line across the country, and checked out the comments on the front page article, "President Plans Own Panel on the Debt."

All (at the time) 850 of them.

And I was hard-pressed to find a comment that I would call truly constructive. Instead there were 850 snide, cynical, indignant swipes at the President, or the administration, or Congress, or other people making comments. Clearly people found it more satisfying to express their personal outrage, rather than contribute anything constructive to the conversation.


Back sometime before Christmas JMU professor Sarah O'Connor circulated a speech given by National Endowment for the Humanities Chair, Jim Leach, before the National Press Club. Sarah called it an excellent discussion of the importance of civil discourse, and to my mind it is just that.

The speech's title is "Bridging Cultures," and I thought this passage particularly relevant today, as we all (hopefully) prepare to hear what President Obama and Governor McDonnell have to say:

At issue today is a world struggling with globalist forces on the one hand and localist instincts on the other. Divisions are magnified at home as well as abroad.

It is particularly difficult not to be concerned about American public manners and the discordant rhetoric of our politics. Words reflect emotion as well as meaning. They clarify—or cloud—thought and energize action, sometimes bringing out the better angels in our nature, sometimes lesser instincts.

. . .Citizenship is hard. It takes a willingness to listen, watch, read, and think in ways that allow the imagination to put one person in the shoes of another.

. . .Civilization requires civility. Words matter. Just as polarizing attitudes can jeopardize social cohesion and even public safety, healing approaches such as Lincoln’s call for a new direction “with malice toward none” can uplift and help bring society and the world closer together.

Little is more important for the world’s leading democracy in this change-intensive century than establishing an ethos of thoughtfulness and decency of expression in the public square.

If we don’t try to understand and respect others, how can we expect them to respect us, our values and our way of life?

To me, the kind of civil discourse Jim Leach is talking about begins with civil listening.

And tonight is an excellent time to do just  that, to begin establishing that "ethos of thoughtfulness and decency of expression in the public square," that NEH Chair Jim Leach talks about.

At lunch on Saturday, I met and liked immensely another woman of a certain age who is a nationally recognized artist. Trailing behind her is a body of work that demonstrates both her great talent and her great ability to focus on putting that talent to use.

I'm not sure which I admire more: raw talent or a strong, consistent work ethic. Combine them in one person and you can expect the results to be magical. Which, in my opinion, this woman's results are.

We, as woman of a certain age are wont to do, got to talking about life; or, more specifically, about what's left of ours and what we want to do with it. Both of us agreed that we had specific goals, that accomplishing each of them took time and focus, and that we were acutely aware that our productive years were limited.

"Five years," my talented, lunch-time companion said. "I figure it will take five years to do each undertaking right."

Somehow this all got me thinking about being president of the United States.

It was long ago, in conversation with a friend of mine who studied history at the University of Virginia, that I first heard about a theory that the President of the United States is the only major head of government who is head of state, as well. This means our current president, Barack Obama, not only has to run an administration and any wars we're engaged in, ride herd on Congress, direct our foreign policy, and keep an eye on politics, he must also find time and energy to do such things as honor the NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers at the White House and host the White House Easter Egg roll.

This in contrast to other systems of government where one person is head of government and another is head of state.  In England, for example, Prime Minister Gordon Brown runs the government, while Queen Elizabeth II handles the egg rolling.

This morning I opened up The Washington Post and read that President Obama is about to propose a three-year freeze on government spending in all areas not related to national security. Oh yes, I reminded myself, not only does the President have two wars going on, a struggling economy, not enough jobs to go around, a health care crisis, and a dysfunctionally partisan Congress yapping at his heels, he has a staggering national debt to deal with, as well. Oh yes, and there are still those Lakers to be honored and those eggs to be rolled.

If I could sit down for fifteen minutes with President Obama (whom I think even his worst detractors would admit is among the brightest, most thoughtful, and well-educated chief executives we've ever had) I would ask him this: How do you maintain your focus? How do you decide what you can get done and what you have to let go? How do you make sure that, at the end of your four years, you will have taken your best shot at accomplishing those projects you most wanted and needed to get done

His day, after all, is the same length as my creative and artistic lunch-time companion.  And she figures on   five-years per project.

Carl Kasell called my cell on Friday and left a message saying that  he was safely installed at his hotel, Staunton's Frederick House.

And, he added, a fine hotel it is.

I, of course, saved the message. And not because Carl Kasell's voice is famous. I saved the message because when I listen to that voice, I feel a rush of affection.

For me, the whole tone of the next day's doings seemed an exercise in mutual affection.We WMRA folks thought we were there to enjoy Carl Kasell; Carl Kasell seemed to think he was there to enjoy us.

Photographer Steven Johnson was there as the official WMRA photographer. I could blather on for paragraph after paragraph about the fun we had on Saturday, but I think I'll let Steve's pictures do most of the talking, instead.

The other day we were on our way to pick up some fresh seafood for dinner at one of the few places you can count on it actually being fresh, and decided hey, why not actually eat lunch here too? We have eaten at Kona Jack’s for dinner, and to be honest, it sort of bores me…so it has been awhile since we have been back. But we thought we should give it a go for lunch. I mean, honestly, they have the freshest seafood at their fresh fish counter of anywhere in the City (well the Goose too but you have to order it), and I buy it for home cooking rather frequently. It is really the only place I buy fish on a regular basis.

Anyhow, when we went for lunch, we literally got what I think was the second to last table in the place. It was jammed! We perused the menu and just when I thought I had decided, the server went over the specials which tempted me. I was torn between a very yummy sounding sushi roll and what I ended up ordering—the beer battered fish (cod) and chips. The fact that they had two kinds of fish and chips, a breaded fish (perch) as well as the beer battered one gave me faith that maybe this would be good. It obviously wasn’t just a “fish” that was frozen and dumped in a fryer and called fish and chips right? And I love a good battered fish and chips.

Anyhow, while the fish itself was pleasantly juicy and the batter had a nice flavor, with just the right amount of beer flavor, they did not quite pull off the requisite crunchy exterior. You need a really crispy outside shell right? And still soft but moist fish inside. There were a few bites that were crunchy, but most of them were a little soggy—i.e. soft on the outside. That does not make for good fish and chips. The chips, or French fries, were the big steak fry type, which are the traditional English-style chip, but they just don’t really do anything for me. I wish I would have ordered that roll. And judging by the amount of sushi rolls coming out of that part of the kitchen, a lot of people were ordering them.

Of course, this only brings me to me next quandary…I can totally appreciate using raw fish in a creative and tasty way, but somehow, if you have the quality to start with (which Kona Jack’s certainly does), how hard is that? You gotta be able to cook it properly too right? Well, they didn’t pull off the fish and chips so well and frankly, it is a little frustrating considering the high quality of their ingredients.

Hubby had an oyster po boy sandwich with breaded oysters and bread with a bit of cole slaw. First of all the oysters looked huge, and I think they were sort of above average in size (which I am sure you regular readers know is not my favorite thing). But as hubby explained to me (I didn’t even want to try them, they just didn’t look that appetizing) actually there was so much breading, you could barely taste the oyster—and that they actually weren’t that big. So, overall, I would venture to say, he would likely not order this again either. Again, frustrating to see a quality ingredient that just wasn’t very good once it was cooked.

So, this wasn’t a great lunch. This is true. But I have to say, watching the stuff coming from the sushi portion of the kitchen inspires me to go back. And I know the fish is good. And regardless of whether I eat in the restaurant, I will be a loyal customer of the fish market for a long long time.

Kona Jack’s
9419 N. Meridian Street
Indy 46260
317/843-1609
hwww.konajacksindy.com

Last night Rafa secured an impressive 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the round of 16. Rafa has made it to week 2 of the Aussie Open! Woohoo!! Dr. Ivo is the tallest man on the tour, and is known for his booming serve. Nadal, said the strategy against Dr. Ivo was just not to blink. "Just be focused all the time, move the legs, because you going to have a lot of points only with one shot," Rafa said after the win. To give you an idea of just how tall Ivo is, take a look at the picture below when he meets Rafa at net after the match. Rafa is over 6 feet tall, and he's still almost a full head shorter than Ivo!

This victory sets up a highly-anticipated quarterfinal round match between Rafa and Andy Murray. Rafa has a solid 7-2 record over Murray, but I'm already nervous about this one. Murray has been playing really well, and Rafa has been having some mental trouble against top 10 players lately. Still, Rafa is healthy and playing big tennis this tourney. I expect him to throw everything he has at Murray in his quest for another win.

Rafa's thoughts? "Being the quarterfinals is a very good news for me ... I'm going to have a very difficult match against Andy It's completely different. He's one of the more talented players on the tour. he can play aggressive, play offensive. I want to play my game. ... If not maybe I will have a good flight home."

Don't book that early flight yet, Rafa! You can do it! Vamos!

This is the day of WMRA's Carl Kasell Caper at Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton. Which means I'm posting this at about 6 a.m.and my brain is not awake yet.

So, I'm going to use as today's post a book review that I just did for NPR.org of a novel that I both enjoyed and found profoundly thought-provoking.

Conflict, Marital And Military, In 'Small Wars'

by Martha Woodroof