The OTher Thread (OT) 8.10

Mornin' folks. . .I realize I neglected to give you a proper OT post on Wednesday, although you currently
have The Deuce Club open. I'd prefer you to keep the Comments there more or less targeted to the contents of that entry, or Tribe social matters. This will be your off-off-topic post, where anything goes (and probably will).

My main news is that I will be heading out later today for a family vacation with my wife, Lisa, and Cowboy Luke. That means no serious blogging until I return on August 20th. We're going to Cape Cod first, to spend the weekend with friends, and then we have a small house rented for a few days on a little-known but beautiful stretch of beach near the Rhode Island border.

After that, we'll be at the farm in game-rich Andes for the final three days, until I'm back on the job on the 20th. I'm all fired up about Andes, where I'm hoping to finalize some details having to do with the new pond I'm having dug. I'm a pond freak. I love those eco-systems, and I love swimming in freshwater ponds. This one will be a little larger than our present pond, perhaps half-an-acre.

Anyone else going away for the week, and into digging a pond? Gardening?

Of course, this being my life, I'll spend half of my time holed up, writing (got to pay for that pond somehow, right?). I'm making pretty good progress with Pete Sampras on the official autobiography. It's been a real pleasure working with him - many, many laughs along the way.

You know what's funny? As big a deal as it was breaking the Grand Slam record, it wasn't that big a deal for Pete when it happened. Think about it. Winning Wimbledon is awesome. Winning Wimbledon and the US Open as well is off-the-charts. But at some point, winning your sixth or ninth or eleventh Grand Slam is, well, not that different from the fourt or seventh or 10th - at least not in terms of the basic emotions you feel, and the meaning it has. In a way, breaking a record is anti-climactic; the exciting stuff is what comes before. Funny to think if it that way, isn't it?

I'm going to miss you all, although I'll try to drop by now and then. While I'm gone, Rosangel is going to be providing Crisis Center posts on a daily basis, and Heidi will also be in touch on Tribe matters. I have quite a bit of housekeeping to run through here, so please read carefully:

1 - IF you were a winner in the TAT Suicide Pool or Andrew's Picks Game contest, please remind me. We are sending out the modest prizes now and want to make sure we don't miss anyone.

2 - Todd and in Charge is in Tennis magazine this month, with a nice piece of writing about his encounter with Chris Evert at a tournament in Florida. I think I mentioned the other day how Chris reamed out my buddy here at Tennis, Jon Levey, for not having read Todd's piece! BTW, I love Todd's blog (just click on the link above) and feel really guilty about not having steered y'all toward it before. Seriously, check it out. Also, Todd links to another blog on his short list, Three Quarks Daily. One of the frequent content contributors to 3 Quarks is also a personage here at TW, but as he goes by a different name I won't blow his cover.

3 - I had two really nice lunch dates with TW chicas recently - our social director, Heidi, and Dwiz. Heidi's dad is a western movie aficionado, and I've asked him to compile for me a list of his Top 10 westerns. I'll share the list with any of you who are interested. Heidi said his top choice was The Searchers. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never seen it. To me, the top spot is still held by Unforgiven. Dwiz was all over the Legg Mason tournament, with her goddaughter Caroline and niece Adeline. Marat Safin broke Dwiz's  heart again, but did she care? Not that much. That's our Dwiz, she knows how to have fun and she doesn't let a lot of the white noise get to her.

4 -  Stay tuned for news about US Open gatherings, which Heidi will be handling. We definitely will have a regular TW meeting place at the BJKNTC, as well as a gathering or two in town. And we will  try to figure out some way for you all the be able to get in touch with each other, exchange cell phone numbers, etc. etc.

5 - Tribe Profiles: We will be creating a database for them soon; perhaps something as simple as a Category (see right side of page) into which we'll just post alphabetical blog items that can be updated with new information. To that end, please submit the things you'd like to know about your TW comrades The original suggestions, via Tangerine Popsicle (Tangi) and Jenn were fairly straightforward: nation/city of residence, favorite/least favorite player, player or watcher?, all-time favorite match, all-time favorite player, frequency with which you play, languages spoken, tournaments you.ve attended .. .

My ideal list would also include: gender and marital status, beverage (GE) of choice, pets and/or hobbies, favorite book(s), preferred footwear, condiments you put on a cheeseburger, prettiest place you know, favorite gun or rifle (caliber/make). . .

You get the idea, right? Take it away! I'll see you all in on the 20th, have a great time in the interim.