No Pitchforks and Torches Yet

I survived giving my first official Forest Mensuration lecture. It was a lot of fun giving a nice little statistics review -- nothing too fancy, just measures of central tendency and dispersion. I tried to balance between chalkboard work and Powerpoint presentations to keep everyone as alert and interested as possible early in the morning. I certainly had to keep an elixir of courage with me -- a bit of iced coffee -- to keep me going, although I think my movements may've made a few of my students feel a bit dizzy. I still have a few more lectures to give on confidence intervals, calculating required sample sizes, and basic linear regressions. It's definitely a whole lot of work doing this but it's a refreshing blast of air for me, especially with that rated LB class sitting on me like a moldy sack of potatoes.

One of the most rewarding moments was an e-mail from a student of mine. She thanked me for actually going through how to calculate standard deviation by hand and explaining the different parts of the equation. I guess some of the students do have pulses at 0830 hrs!

Cinco y media en la tarde...

Ok, so the title might not be the clearest of references but I'm listening to the Moenia cover (on their StereoHits CD... which by the way is a great CD, it's basically a cover CD!) of "Tren al Sur" by Los Prisioneros and for some reason that song made me think of the little trip we took out in Bushnell :)

Here's a few of the photographic highlights over the weekend but all of the pictures I took are in one of two places: 3D Circuit and Bushnell


A fine Robin Hood shot by one of our traditional archers. I think he would've been a lot happier if he had more arrows on hand!


Weird little compound bow that really caught everyone's eye(s)


Something about archers in trees...



I'm shooting a nice little Morrison Cheyenne recurve. It's just too pretty of a bow to not pose with!


Nothing like a nice ride on an airboat!


Even better -- some good, clean fun with my fellow archers!


And down the trail we go. Will we find any hogs, turkeys or squirrels for the pot?

X Marks the Spot

A rather eXciting shot after a day of shooting unusually badly (ie, averaging less than 16 points per target). Got this one at about one chain (22 yards). I definitely need to shrink my confidence intervals and get my shots calibrated before the 3D Circuit shoot and TBoF Spring Championships!

I Swear, I'll Get A Haircut...

If I can ever find somewhere I can step into without feeling my lungs wanting to collapse from toxic cosmetic stenches and not have to wait half a century amidst lethal fumes and utter idiocy. For today though, I had a blast practicing up on my rifle skills in hopes of taking out hogs and squirrels sometime this spring. I still prefer the bow, but never hurts to have a bit of firearm training!

Results of Too Much All-Bran Extra Fiber

I think the pictures (courtesy of another shooter at Gator Bowmen who had the misfortune of being on the range with me) explain it all. Maybe having that bowl of All-Bran Extra Fiber with sugar-free, minimal fat cappuccino flavored soymilk for lunch wasn't such a smart idea. Suffice to say I felt sorry for anyone who had to stand behind me because of all the stilled, heightened (to 9th level from 2nd level), maximized, enlarged Stinking Cloud (or possibly Cloudkill raised to 9th level judging from the lack of bugs around me) spells I was casting automatically.

Odds and Ends

Not too shabby for shooting at 45 yards... think I'm still shooting a bit stiff though, may need 145 grain points or get longer shafts. I don't feel too inclined to go back to 1816 -- it's a whole lot more economical to try and stay with one size (1916) as much as I can.


Chocolate With a Kick (aka Quasi-Aztec Style Hot Cocoa)
So recently I haven't been able to enjoy real chocolate very much. On the up-shot, my gut is finally starting to look less like a puffer-fish (darn, if only I can get my butt to also fit comfortably on my bike seat... still in danger of accidentally engulfing it if I'm not careful), but I'm still a long way from my goal of seeing my toes. Anyway, I've acquired a taste for a slightly exotic chocolate drink that one of my colleagues got me hooked on. Here's my recipe for it to make sure it doesn't make me grow like an exponential function. This'll make one eight ounce serving.

-- 1 tbsp unsweetened, un-dutched cocoa powder (more flavor and character... and it even adds a bit of much-needed fiber to my system)
-- 1 tsp (sugar-free) vanilla extract
-- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-- 1/4 tsp chili powder (pure chili pepper)
-- 4-5 packets of Splenda (possibly more, depending on how sweet you like the chocolate)
-- 8 oz mug of H2O

Mix dry ingredients together in mug. Pour hot water slowly into mug, stirring to avoid clumping and add vanilla extract.

The chili powder adds a very pleasant touch to the hot chocolate -- the heat complements the sweetness very well. Milk adds some richness to this recipe and actually tastes a bit better, but the water makes it a whole lot more compatible with my nutritional needs. I've yet to try it with soy milk, but I don't think I have the courage or the digestive fortitude to attempt that yet... if ever.

The Dunheasa Epic Crawls Ever So Slightly

I've still hardly made any progress on any of my non-academic writing, but I thought I'd share a small tidbit of the current story I'm working on, tentatively titled Imladrien and Tinuvion. I'm still sitting in the woods with our fearless little post-doc, wondering what on earth is going to happen next ;) Just a little reminder, this is the third "big" story in the Dunheasa series, the first two being Journey to Dunheasa and Telcontar Restored. There's a second untitled story on the burner as well, which I won't reveal much beyond the return of some of the Knight-Errants from Journey to Dunheasa. I'm not sure which one I'll finish first but I suspect that this untitled story will be a lot easier to complete.

Anyway, enjoy the tidbit of Imladrien and Tinuvion. The piece I put up for amusement (and ideas) is basically bits and pieces of compound bow training in the woods with an expert compound bow shooter and bow mechanic. For some reason, I keep thinking that the song "Lado Animal" by Moenia would be the perfect soundtrack for that segment -- the lyrics certainly have a bit of appropriateness but there's something else about that song that just seems to fit it in my mind.

Wish me luck surviving the process of writing a (mock) grant proposal, keeping in an LB rated class, and generally staying in one piece! And maybe someday Imladrien and Tinuvion and the further (mis)adventures of some of the Knight-Errants will finally surface from the depths of my imagination...

Did Someone Breed my Bows?

Or did my friend just put 4 of his bows on my bow rack?

All I can say is... those Black Widows are kinda growing on me a bit, especially the little greybark PSR on the bottom with the longbow riser on it. Apparently my longbow shooting of late has been throwing off my recurve shooting pretty badly by introducing some strange torquing that's caused my arrows to kick up and fly nock-low. Odd and very distressing. I need to spend more time practicing and less time sitting in or preparing for classes rated LB.