Flashback Friday: A Paris In July Edition

I certainly wish I'd started Paris in July earlier - I've had a lot of fun looking back at the books I read that were set in Paris or France and I wish I had time to highlight more of them! This week I'm highlighting a book set in Paris that surprised me.

Ernest Hemingway has been an author who I can appreciate but whose books I haven't very much liked. Until I read A Moveable Feast.

Who'da thunk it - the only Hemingway book I've ever read and actually enjoyed would be a memoir? If you're a Hemingway fan or even a person who feels like you "should" read Hemingway, I'd definitely recommend A Moveable Feast. As a look into life in Paris in the 1920's. As a window into the lives of several literary greats. And, as a honest look into a few years of one young author's life. 

I put this book on my nightstand and read a chapter at a time, each an individual story about an event, person, or part of Hemingway's life in Paris. Reading it this way is probably one of the reasons I appreciated this book as much as I did; I'm not sure I would have had I tried to just read straight through. Then I might not have appreciated gems like this: 

"The blue-backed notebooks, the two pencils and the pencil sharpener (a pocket knife was too wasteful), the marble-topped tables, the smell of early morning, sweeping out and mopping, and luck were all you needed. For luck you carried a horse chestnut and a rabbit's foot in your right pocket. The fur had been worn off the rabbit's foot long ago and the ones and the sinews were polished by wear. The claws scratched in the lining of your pocket and you knew your luck was still there." 

The title, as the publisher's summary says, refers to a literary feast but I could easily have read it as part of Fall Feasting. Hemingway writes extensively about eating and drinking in the bistros and restaurants of Paris and other European cities he visited. I kept having the urge to go sit at a little table in a quiet cafe and while away the afternoon drinking wine and writing. 

While Hemingway and his wife, Hadley, were poor and he talks about going hungry and cold because of it, it's plainly clear that he knew it was the price to pay for living the life he wanted and never seemed to feel sorry for himself. It pained him more to be without books until he discovered the "library" in the legendary Paris bookstore "Shakespeare's." Hemingway was not just a writer, he was a voracious reader and I finally found at least one thing I could really like about him. That and his willingness to admit his flaws, including the infidelity that cost him his marriage to a woman whom he clearly adored.

Flashback Friday: The College World Series

I thought it might be fun to look back at some of my older posts. Or it might be painful. Either way, here's one from June 2009, when I first talked about the College World Series:

It's good to be in Omaha this week if you're a fan of college baseball as Rosenblatt Stadium is playing host to the College World Series. We love playing host to the thousands of fans that travel here from all over the country in support of their favorite team and usually buy up the rest of the tickets to ensure a full stadium for most games, adopting a new favorite team each year.

Last night's game between Virginia and Arkansas was a big fan favorite--Dave Van Horn, coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, used to coach at the University of Nebraska and Brian O'Connor, coach of the Virginia Cavaliers, used to play ball at Creighton University which is located in Omaha. The game was what the series is all about. Arkansas was down to their last out and behind by two runs and it looked like they were headed home. Then they managed to tie up the game with a two-run home run and hold the Cavs to take the game to extra innings--three extra innings to be exact. Twice Virginia had the bases loaded but could not score and in the top of the 12th inning the Razorbacks were able to score the game winning run. You couldn't help but cheer for the Razorbacks even as your heart broke for the Cavaliers. On to the next game--play ball!

UPDATE:
The College World Series has since moved to a new stadium, just north of downtown Omaha. Instead of parking in the yards of all of the small homes near Rosenblatt Stadium, there are now parking lots nearby. Otherwise, much of what made the event such a fan favorite has been transplanted to the new digs - food vendors, dozens of baseball clothing vendors, and concerts. They've even kept a few pieces of Rosenblatt Stadium around, including that statue.

That's a different picture than the one I originally posted, which was at the old stadium. It's already hard to remember what it was like to be at the old stadium. The other night when we were at a game, The Big Guy and I both remarked on how much better than new facility is, how much more they are able to set up for fans to do around the stadium, how many more eating and drinking establishments are within walking distance, and how much easier it is to explore Omaha from this location.

There's not really an underdog here this year, no team that I think the locals are really embracing. Except, maybe, for Dave Van Horn's Razorbacks, who are back again this year. They are also known as the Omahogs, so you know we have to love that!

No matter where in Omaha the Series is played, it's still the Greatest Game On Dirt and Omaha still loves playing hosts to the thousands of fans that come to town to watch some great baseball and some of the players we'll be watching in the major leagues in the future.