It's September, 2008 here in the midwestern US and it's an exciting day. Tonight is the dart season's Captain's Meeting for the Windy City Dart League of Chicago. Specifically, this means dart season starts tomorrow night, on Thursday night, for the mixed-league format. I am so excited I can barely contain myself! I haven't seen my team members since the last season ended and I can't wait to hang out with them and catch up and hopefully throw some great darts.

We'll be playing tomorrow night against the Irish Mill team at their home bar. Our teams have been in the same division for quite some time so we know the players and know their bar. The Irish Mill team is a great group of darters, just as nice as can be, an quite capable of throwing some very skillful darts. As a team we want to win and are confident but at the same time we never underestimate our opponents and know that at any time this team might kick into gear, get into the zone (so to speak) and throw those awesome, incredible and winning darts. Truthfully, there are moments against this team when we are a bit nervous so we really have to concentrate on what we're doing and be smart about how we throw.

As for new and exciting things it doesn't get much better than the Postman (yes my guy is an actual manly kinda Postman) hand delivered my book orders for the week. Shhhhh, don't tell my husband. He gets nervous when he sees the www.amazon.com boxes piling up in the garage, and the stack of books in the family room growing towards the ceiling. I make no apologies, I have to have books and a library card. And there are some new dart things out there on the market. The first thing I opened was the book titled "Golden Girl, The Autobiography of the Greatest Ever Ladies' Darts Player" by Trina Gulliver and ghost written by Patrick Chaplin. Finally, finally, finally this book arrived! I ordered it from www.borders.com online and I guess that someone had to import it from across the pond because it took almost a month to get here. Now that it's here I'll be cracking that book open as soon as I turn my computer monitor off...I cannot wait to read all about Trina Gulliver, and her take on the world of professional darts.

When I ordered the book I had the brainstorm that I would like to interview Trina Gulliver myself for this website. So, I found her website and dropped her an E-mail. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a response back from her and she seemed enthusiastic about the interview. Wow! I thought, what a great thing this "Passionate Darter" website and the whole interview concept has turned out to be! After much careful consideration and thought, I put together a list of questions...I did my homework online and if I am doing what I set out to do in an interview, then I will ask the right questions to elicit the kind of answer that really reveals the person that I am interviewing. Sometimes I am more successful than other times. Most of all, I want to capture the personality, the essence of the darter, the ideals that the darter believes and strives to live by, and the human-ness and real-ness of the darter, whether a professional or an amateur. I simply want to capture the passion that the darter has for the game. That, indeed, is my goal.

Fast forward a few weeks and I haven't heard back from Trina Gulliver. Maybe she didn't like my questions...maybe she is pretty busy. Maybe she doesn't type very well. Ut-oh, maybe she broke her hand and is unable to even throw a dart OR to type an E-mail to me. Maybe her sponsor Winmau put the kibosh on the interview. Maybe, maybe, maybe, just maybe this little old interview isn't as important to her as it is to me. E-mails are nice but it's action that counts and I want to like Trina Gulliver. I really do. I want to watch her, and meet her, and cheer for her, and to be invested in her career as a professional darter, and I want to throw like her and for me, it all starts with an interview, right here and right now! Will she follow-through? Who knows. I'll read her book, maybe thoughtfully reconsider the questions that I sent her, follow-up by E-mail and anxiously and hopefully wait for her reply. I'll keep everyone here in the loop so stay tuned.

And if you KNOW Trina Gulliver personally and want to put a good word in for me, well, please do so. I would be most appreciative. Really!

I also found on www.amazon.com a '2009 Magnetic Dart Calendar which of course, I had to have. It's nothing fancy - just your basic plain old calendar with a single bit of dart trivia on every monthly page, and a new description of a different dart game, that may be played with the accompanying magnetic darts, on each monthly page. Again, it's nothing fancy but I HAD to have this little calendar to add to my book collection. Maybe I'll rename my little collection to the Dart Media Collection to include books, magazines, newsletters, calendars, videos, DVDs and whatever it is - but ALL DART related media. I look at it this way - this is just one more item about darts that is being mass-marketed here in the states and this must be because the number of darters interested in this kind of stuff is growing and somebody is listening. Everyone has to make a living and I do not fault anyone for making an honest buck. So, if some investor out there wants to have a dart calendar made, well, by golly, I'll buy one if only to keep the market of dart items growing. Yes, indeed, I am now the proud owner of my very own dart calendar. If only I were some sort of uber-dart-marketing genius, I would have MY own "Passionate Darter Calendar." Hmmmmm, now THAT is a grand idea!

Finally, there are two more new books that I received today and these were ordered in my effort to understand the psychology of winning, and the psychology of being involved in sports. I do believe in my heart that darts are a sport! As much as the game is mechanics, it is also mental and one has to be able to get in the zone in order to win. So, I've decided to read up on sports psychology and have purchased two books: "What Makes Winners Win, Over 100 Athletes, Coaches and Managers Tell You The Secrets of Success" by Charlie Jones, Broadway Publishing and "Psychology of Champions, How to Win at Sports and Life with the Focus Edge of Super-Athletes" by James J. Barrell, PH.D. and David Ryback, PH.D.

I cannot wait to dig in and do some heavy duty reading. Stay tuned for my book reviews...As always, shoot well and I'll see you at the line.