Time to Build Up More Muscles

One thing I've been wanting to do for quite some time now is bow-hunting. Only thing is, to hunt anything of a reasonable size and take it out humanely without too much suffering, I have to be able to pull 40 lbs bare minimum, preferably 45 or 50 lbs. So I decided to try my hand at a 45 lb compound bow, not realizing that unlike a recurve or a longbow, the compound bow is very hard to pull initially and then it's easy to hold up at draw length. I'm used to a recurve, where it's easy to pull and then the real effort is in holding the pull. I can pull 35 lbs reasonably well on a recurve without suffering too much and 40 lbs is doable but my aim suffers and I do have to rest periodically... as for 45... well, let me tell you what happened... Having a bit of an ego, I decide to try my hand on a 45 lb compound bow. I try to pull and my face is turning red and I'm straining pretty hard to get it to move. All the while, the store-keeper (who knows me pretty well since I've gone to hunter safety training and generally get the bulk of my archery supplies form there) is wincing and grinning at the same time.

The recommendations when I asked about different compound bow models and technical specs?

1) Shoot more! A lot more, even if it is on a lighter bow!
2) If I can't go shooting, then go weight-training.
3) Go for one of the more aggressive bows by Bowtech (www.bowtecharchery.com) after I can comfortably pull a recurve about 5-10 lbs heavier than my intended compound weight.

So yeah... I'm kinda sore from attempting to pull that 45 lb compound bow today. Oh, it didn't quite help that my ego drove me to try something else kinda stupid at the archery shop today. I tried shooting a nice 45 lb take-down recurve. I was able to do it with a fair bit of effort just to prove to myself that I'm not a weakling. Let's just say that's as much as I'm able to pull safely without killing myself. As if that weren't enough, I actually do shoot a few arrows with it and sure enough, my aim sucks. Ouch. Here I am now, wishing that I had someone to give me a nice shoulder massage after these acts of ego-driven idiocy!

Side-Project Argonium News

It's been a while since I've done anything with Side-Project Argonium, but I might finally be able to make some progress on it now that I suddenly have a tiny bit of extra time. I've upgraded from my little Sharpsicle harp to a much nicer Ravenna 26 by Dusty Strings (pictured on this entry). The ony thing I do like about the Sharpsicle is that it weighs about 1/3 as much as the Ravenna, but the tradeoff with the much more beautiful sound and full set of sharping levers is worth it.

So basically, most of the songs I'm tinkering with are either various Celtic pieces I have or songs by a band called O-Zone. However, there's also a few other songs that I'd like to play with, including the theme from Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away. If I can ever either make more room or find a nice place to get my stuff hosted, I'll try to post up more samples of what I'm working on. Right now, my website is a bit crammed and I need to remove a lot of stuff from it... more updates when the opportunities come...

Weary of LA

Seems like whenever I have some kind of academic deadline where it's pretty much "do-or-die", I get the urge to write something else... anyway, I'm feeling very much like just spewing out random thoughts now, mostly revolving around this insane restless urge I'm feeling.

Recently, I've acquired an unusually strong dislike for being in the city for whatever reason. However, I've been to a few cities that hasn't triggered my "I hate big cities" instincts: Vancouver, British Columbia (or to people in the USA, Canada) and Victoria, British Columbia. There's just so many things about these places that really attracts me -- the abundant forests and hiking trails just within an easy drive or even walk/bus trip away, the relatively clean air, the proximity to the sea, and the climate. They're still cities but they don't have the same kind of stifling feeling as Los Angeles, CA or even San Francisco. Some may argue it's what I make of the place, but there's just something very deep inside of me that makes me really want to return to Vancouver and Victoria. I didn't get that same tugging inside of me about Montreal for some reason. Must've been something about where I ended up staying for the ESA-INTECOL conference not too long ago and being in the Palais de Congress for that week...

Anyway, all I really want at this point is just to be able to roam about freely outdoors away from crowds, cars, smog, and admittedly, both Caltech and CSULA, which have dominated my life since 1997. Archery at the various places I've been finding has helped me tolerate life in LA a lot better, as well as the occasional sneak-retreat I take into some random wilderness location, but I know deep inside I need to leave LA as soon as I'm done at CSULA. I suspect that it's also this feeling of stagnation as well as my natural wanderlust and strong dislike for the cities that's driving my intense desire to leave LA. On the positive side, this weariness of living in LA is spurring me onwards to work on my PhD applications and I look forward to visiting and interviewing at the various schools. What adventures will I find outside of LA? And what will I find in my remaining time in LA?