Haiku

My friend T-Bird spent all winter living up at Sunday River, so PreDawn and I drove up to hang out with her. PreDawn hasn't skied in a long time, and I'm just getting into snowboarding, so it was a great opportunity for the end of the season. The day was warm, and the snow was like mashed potatoes, but at least that meant that when I fell it didn't hurt at all! I'm definitely getting more comfortable with going faster - I won't win any races yet, but there were a couple of areas where you needed to bomb down a hill so you could ride through a long flat traverse, so I had to just do it. We rode and skied all day, and it was tons of fun.

I went snowboarding for the second time ever today. After warming up a little bit I was starting to get the hang of it. I'm getting much better at toe side turns, and I still need to work on heel side turns, but I was making smaller turns, and not coming to a stop before each turn. Even better is that I didn't hurt myself this time - the last time I think I fractured my tailbone after falling hard on it twice. I definitely fell this time, but I was more graceful...maybe. Anyway, I fell better, and a lot of my falls were because I was pushing myself, not because I was just doing things wrong. One fun fall had me sliding down the mountain head first on my back. A few more times out riding and I might even get good at this thing!

The beer is bubbling away merrily. A little too merrily. The kruesen is workings its way into the airlock, and I've had to clean it twice. I hope I don't come home from work today with a mess all over the place.

A few years ago I brewed a Scottish 70/- (70 shilling) ale with malt extract. Today I decided to brew it again with all-grain, and while I was at it I changed the recipe a little bit, toning down the hops and making it a little less alcoholic (now it's a 60/- ale). It still has heather in it to give it that little je ne sais quoi.

5 lbs. pale 2-row
0.5 lbs. biscuit
0.5 lbs. roasted barley
0.25 lbs. peated barley
0.5 oz. Willamette (a Fuggles clone) hops (bittering)
2 oz. heather tips (aroma)
Target O.G. 1.035 / actual O.G. 1.030

Late last night, an hour before close, a kid sat at a table in my section. I'm not exactly sure how old he was, but I'd guess 18 at the most. Now this is a time when the restaurant was slammed with drunk idiots after the Patriots game, so I was getting a little frustrated at everyone. Then I saw this kid. He was sitting at a two-top with his back to the room, examining the menu. I approached and asked if I could get anything for him. He ordered a water, and asked timidly if we had baby back ribs.

"Oh yeah," I replied.

He broke into a smile. I asked what he'd like on the side, starting to list mashed potatoes, onion rings, fries. He interrupted, asking if he could just have vegetables. No problem. He'd been cautious before; now he'd discovered heaven.

When the food came he dove right in, and it wouldn't have mattered if the room caught on fire because he wouldn't have noticed. He was loving those ribs, and taking his time with them, savouring every bite. Finally he finished, and I dropped the check.

"Can I pay with my debit card?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course," I replied, and went to swipe it.

When I brought it back he motioned me closer. "I wanted to leave you a tip, and didn't know if I could do it that way."

I explained how to write in the tip on the slip. He thanked me, and I went about checking on the rest of my section.

I just loved that guy. He totally made my night. He also left me a great tip.

I got a new kilt last week in the St. David/Welsh National tartan. I didn't wear it over Christmas because it's red and green, and I didn't want anyone thinking I'd gotten it as a "Christmas kilt."

I finished the arms and legs today, and put the whole thing together, using cotton as material for the bendy parts. Now I have to dress and wig them.

So now I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do about a dollhouse/roombox. I really like the work of Rik Pierce, so I may do something in that style. Time to start sketching.

A few years ago I built a wedding present for my sister. It was a dollhouse of the house we grew up in. It was a huge project, and I "finished" just before I left to hike the Appalachian Trail. Okay, I didn't entirely finish decorating it. All the structure was there, but some of the rooms weren't quite wallpapered, and the roof wasn't quite shingled.

Well, that was a huge project. I called it my albatross, because it was always hanging around, making its presence known. Recently I started browsing through some dollhouse stuff again, and decided to make some dollhouse scale dolls. Here are the beginnings of two sculpts. They're coming out a little elfin in features, I think, so we'll see what direction they take when I decide how to costume them. I'll probably make a room box - a much more attainable goal than a central chimney colonial house!

I've been wanting to colour-correct this photo for a while now, and I finally got around to scanning the original and fixing it. It's a photo of the town of Breil-sur-Roya in the Alpes-Maratimes in France, where I lived for a while. Now it's a little bit greener and a little bit sharper.