Today

Today was a great day, not going to lie.

The Football Game
Texas A&M played at Ole Miss today.  It was great.  The third play of the game, Ben Malena scored a 59-yard touchdown.  Ole Miss scored 10 points in he first quarter.  A&M kicked a field goal and Ole Miss scored a touchdown to make it 10-17, when Steven Jenkins scored on an interception.  Sometimes defense really is the best offense.

The game was tied at the half, and Ole Miss scored the only points of the third quarter on a field goal, and the first points of the fourth quarter with a touchdown.  The Aggies only had the ball for 2 minutes 59 seconds in the third quarter, on a drive that ended in a fumble.  Oh yeah, A&M had 6 turnovers in the game.

Down 17-27 in the fourth quarter, the Aggies rallied with a 29 yard run from quarterback Johnny Manziel.  He's a freshman.  Then kicker Taylor Bertolet missed the point after, making the score 23-27.  Texas A&M had to score a touchdown now, because a field goal would still leave them short.

Ole Miss got to their own 39 on their possession, then went for it on 4th and 1, losing the ball and leaving A&M with only 29 yards from the game winning touchdown with 3 minutes still left in the game.  Manziel passed 20 yards to Senior Wide Receiver Ryan Swope for the game winning touchdown, with 1 minute 16 seconds still left!  Ole Miss marched 40 yards down the field before throwing the ball away with an interception.  A&M just kneeled the ball until time ran out.

The Aggies won, despite being down by 10 in the 4th quarter.  Despite 6 turnovers.  Comeback wins are exciting, but I hope the Aggies do better in the game against LSU.  Who lost to Florida today, I might add. By a larger margin than the Aggies in their first game of the season.

But if the Aggies play LSU like they played Ole Miss in this game, they'll will lose handily.  But that game will be in College Station, which gives A&M a much better shot than if they were playing in Death Valley.

Reading
I didn't read as much today as I have been.  That being said, I still read 74 pages, putting me on page 204 of The Casual Vacancy.  It's getting really good.

Part 1 of the book was mostly character development.  It ended after Barry Fairbrother's funeral.  (That he dies is no secret or spoiler, really.  He dies in the first chapter.)

The book (as has been touted) is definitely not intended for children, but is great food for thought for adults.  The segments focusing on the high schoolers are much more akin to what my high school experience was than Hogwarts (sadly).  Jo really has a great talent for writing people.  Not just convincing characters, but people.  As far into Part 2 as I am, it seems like the plot itself is going to start moving along more quickly, now that the stage is set.


Finished Reading
The Star Wars Trilogy by George Lucas (720 pages)

Currently Reading
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (on page 204 of 503, 41% complete)

To-Read
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (272 pages)
The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan (509 pages)
Texas A&M: Traditions and Spirit by Carolyn Bible (80 pages)
Brave New World Aldous Huxley (259 pages)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (261 pages)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (528 pages)
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1037 pages)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (190 pages)
Orientalism by Edward W. Said (395 pages)
Notes from the Underground, The Double and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (464 pages)
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (845 pages)
On Writing Well by William Knowlton Zinsser (336 pages)