Ozymandias

Went in for a checkup.
Doc said I better have the whole routine.
Thumps, prods, needles, scans, MRIs, PBYs, FBIs, and PDQs
Whatever.
So anyway after all that he shows me a pic of what's going on in there.
Kinda pretty.

Nice.

That red one in the middle, with the stripes?

Means I got about two weeks to live.

Finally -

A use for these boring bike statistic blogs.
Got ready for a ride this morning only to find the battery in the computer dead.
Replacing it required re setting the time and wheel circumference.
And I could look up what the previous odometer total was
right here on this very blogsite.


35.07 miles
9.5 average speed (tired and a pint low on blood)
33.5 max speed.
3:41:02 hours on the trail.
2254 on the previously mentioned odometer.

Nice day, sun in the morning and light clouds later -
when the mad dogs and Englishmen came out.

I'm contemplating the irony of a bicycle having a dead battery.
Actually it has two, like an MGA.

Ecce Homo

There are millions of human stories relegated to the thrift store bins,
worth only the price of the frame.

Some violins finished, so to speak

All stained and lacquered and shined up. It turned out to be a worse mess than I thought it would be.

Looks kinda like a ducky decoy for when you are out hunting in your bathtub.

This thing started out to be a tenor ukulele, but it looked so horrible I decided to use it for scientific experiments. I put a heavy X-bracing and tilted the neck like a violin. Didn't have to go to the trouble of trying to get frets straight and spaced right that way.

Bike ride

Took off early today to do a half lake ride.
Ran into a event at Seward Park.
It was a race for dogs!
They called it the Furry 5.
For five miles, I guess.
Anyway it was so cute to see the dogs on their little bicycles.
The had two sets of pedals staggered to match the dogs natural gait.
They steered with their noses!
They had a little muzzle like thing where the handlebars would normally be and the dog stuck his nose in it and steered with it.
Makes sense when you think about it, that's pretty much how the get around anyway.
The little ones were funny, their tiny little legs buzzing away in a blur.
The big dogs managed some truly impressive speeds.
Anyway, I didn't watch the whole race.
Went around the park and up to Madrona Beach and up the trail to the floating bridge and down the trail to Renton and around the airport and up Holyoke through Dead Horse Canyon,
for a total of;
24.71 miles
10.2 Average speed
34.0 max speed
2:24:36 trail time
2219.1 odometer.
Nonstop (except for stop signs)

That little violin I told you about

As expected, putting a finish on the 1/8 violin has, as usual, added even more flaws and exacerbated some of the old ones.
Scratches I thought I had sanded out pop into brilliant relief with the addition of a little stain.
Ah well, Maybe ten or twelve coats of clear lacquer will make everything come out looking sharp, or at least reflect enough light so as to make the scratches, the uneven staining, the wood filler in the holes caused by the sloppy carving, the ets and the ceteras, disappear from the face of the eye.

Maybe, I'll paint the ducky's head green and his bill orange as a distraction, camouflage, if you will.

Or if you won't.

After that, I've got the 1/4 size one to finish up.
Then some mods on the mandora and the ukulele and all the other little projects that litter the benches and floors of a hebephrenic imagination such as mine.

By the way, I've received notice that my one minute piece for clarinet has been rejected. This means I may now post the video of it's performance at SCCC.
Where it was accompanied by piano and lasted longer than a minnit.

Stay tuned.

AH!Believable-Vol. 1-"Ridiculous Speed Sign"

I get some of my best ideas in the bathroom

Sitting on the john, I noticed this personage on the edge of the tub and said to myself, "why not?"

All done "in the white"
Now I fix up a few more mistakes and then make some more mistakes in the finish and it's ready to hang on the wall and forget.
Unless Ruby actually wants to learn how to play.
Kind of thick looking, more like a miniature cello than a 1/8 violin.