Learning Celtic Knotwork

I decided this past weekend that I wanted to learn about doing Celtic knotwork, those interesting convoluted patterns that one so often finds in the artwork of that tradition. As with all new things I want to learn, I searched the Internet, and happened upon this excellent tutorial. Though it’s not exhaustive, and the translation from French is a bit rough at times, it was good enough to get me started. I’m still getting the hang of it, and having a lot of fun, but still have a ways to go before I’ll have something presentable.

We're Back!

Hi Everyone! We’ve been out of pocket for a few weeks. We’ve spent some of the time up in Virginia, some up at Canyon Lake, some getting the kids’ started in school, and the rest just trying to catch up on our neglected chores around the house.

Our Virginia trip was great, aside from the expected ambivalence of any 50 hours spent in a car with kids. I’ve got a writeup with photos in the works, and should have it posted soon.

Emily has returned to Crockett Elementary, and has brought Abigail with her this year. Abby’s starting first grade, and Emily fourth. Both are adjusting to the scholastic routine well, aside from Abigail’s dislike of having to get up at 7:00am — a distaste I share.

I played with The Grant Mazak Band again this weekend, and had a great time. Lots of family showed up, the kids were at their cutest, and we were joined by another fiddler/songwriter friend of Grant’s for a set. (I only knew about half the songs he had us play, but managed to stumble along with the key and time signature in most cases.)

Anyway, all signs point to things slowing down here again for a while. I, for one, will welcome the rest!

The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is, of course, one of the best movies ever made. It turns out, however, that it’s also a fantastic book. The film adheres very tightly to the written version, so if you liked the one, you’ll probably like the other. However, the book also includes a number of little gems the movie missed, including a moderately long forward that had me laughing out loud. A relatively light and easy read, it’s fun for movie fans and non-fans alike. I’m interested to look up more of William Goldman’s writing to see if the rest compares. (Interestingly, Goldman published The Silent Gondaliers last year. It’s another “abridgement” of an S. Morgenstern tale, as was The Princess Bride. Looks like that might be a good one for the reading list.)

Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith

When we were in Vegas last year, Chris told me about a book that he was reading called “Amazing Grace.” He was finding it immensely meaningful, to the point where he bestowed a copy on me at Christmas. I’ve been gradually chewing it up since, and have found it quite a read.

Kathleen Norris was brought up in church, but decided upon reaching maturity that she didn’t buy into what was taught there. Twenty years later, as much to her own surprise as anyone else’s, she found herself returning to Christianity. She had a difficult struggle with that return, largely due to “scary words” — the vocabulary of the church which, as a poet, she took very seriously.

The book consists of a series of meditations on various words associated with Christianity. They mingle reflections on scriptural texts, stories, poetry, and her own experiences and thoughts into some excellent, thought-provoking reading. Since she has spent a lot of time both in and out of the church, her matter-of-fact, straightforward writing is very accessible both to those who watch TBN and those who cringe at churchspeak. Though I wasn’t always comfortable with everything she had to say, I found the book a consistently challenging and enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

Weight Loss Through BBQ

I’ve been continuing to adhere (more or less) to the Testosterone Advantage Plan, and have now dropped to 199 pounds — 19 pounds lower than my starting weight. I’ve been less and less rigorous about the diet plan, sticking less to the prescribed meals and just generally trying to eat a lot of protein and healthier fats, but am still making steady progress.

Though the book promises higher energy levels and better health in general, one of the effects that has very much surprised me since being on the program is that my chronic reflux has all but vanished — I haven’t reached for an antacid in weeks, even though I often drink most of a gallon of tea a day. I continue to be suprised and delighted with how well things are going, especially after the poor luck I had with the low-fat diet/aerobic exercise approach I’d been using before.

I’m planning to visit the doctor soon to check and see whether all this meat has done unsavory things to my cholesterol levels. It should be interesting to find out if there are any negative side effects to this otherwise positive program.

Got Grapes?

A few months back, I read an article in Texas Monthly entitled “Willie Nelson’s Favorite Clean Jokes.” My favorite of them was this:

A duck walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “Hey bartender! Have you got any grapes?” The bemused bartender replies “No, we don’t have any grapes.” The duck, unfazed, walks out.

The next day the duck returns and says “Hey bartender, have you got any grapes?” The bartender, recognizing the duck from the day before, says “Nope. We don’t have any grapes.” Not having any luck, the duck leaves.

The third day, the duck returns. “Hey bartender! Have you got any grapes?” The bartender is, by this point, fed up with the duck’s constant requests for grapes. “NO! We didn’t have grapes the day before yesterday, we didn’t have them yesterday, we don’t have them today, we won’t have them tomorrow! This is a BAR! If you come in asking for grapes once more, I’m going to nail your big duck feet to this bar!” The duck, a bit taken aback, leaves the bar.

The next day, sure enough, the duck appears again. “Hey bartender! Have you got any nails?” The bartender, surprised by the change in routine, says “No, I don’t have any nails.” “Well, in that case,” replies the duck, “Have you got any grapes?”

Emily quickly decided that this was one of her favorite jokes too, and started telling it to anyone who would listen. She does a good job with the joke, and I always find her joke-telling charming. I didn’t have any idea what effect it was having until this week, after she’s been off in New York for a week and a half, Liam started trying to tell the joke. He mangled it horribly, which made it funny enough, but the capper is that he has started to suddenly, apropos of nothing, blurt out loudly at random moments:

“HEY BARTENDER! HAVE YOU GOT ANY GRAPES?”

Emily Wings Her Way North

Monday morning, Emily and I both got up at 6:00am to head for the Austin airport, where she would be catching a flight to Buffalo to spend several weeks with Kathy’s folks and Martha. Emily was far too excited to eat, and I far too tired, so we hopped directly in the car and drove to Austin.

As we approached the security checkpoint after getting Emily’s bag checked and shelling out the $75 extortion they make unaccompanied minors pay, I realized that I still had my Leatherman with me — an accessory that would surely not go over well with airport security. I candidly told the security workers of my predicament, and asked if they could hold my knife for me for a few minutes while I escorted Emily to her gate. “You either have to take it back to your car or check it into your bag,” they instructed me, hardly useful advice since I wasn’t going anywhere and didn’t have a bag.

Not wanting to make the trek all the way back to the car, I ducked into a nearby restroom and stashed the offending knife in the toilet seat cover dispenser, where I thought it unlikely to be found. (One doesn’t ever realize what a paucity of places there are to hide things in aiports until one goes looking.)
Relieved of the offending metal, I took Emily to her gate where we sat and watched barn swallows swoop around outside the big windows and talked about the trip. Eventually boarding began, and I somewhat mistily (due both to emotion and lingering fatigue) got her on the plane.

I made my way back to the bathroom where my knife was stashed, and was horrified to find that it was closed for cleaning! Argh! I loitered for a bit, trying to decide what to do. The Leatherman was a gift — I couldn’t very well leave it. But I was pretty sure that the airport staff wouldn’t be very amused if I tried to explain what had gone on.

Eventually, in what felt like a pretty daring covert operation to a white-collar rule-following city boy like me, I snuck into the side of the bathroom where my knife was while the custodian cleaned the other side and retrieved it. Though I was sure the wild pounding of my heart would give me away, I made it out without incident, and walked quickly away without looking back.

Back on the Air, More or Less

Sorry we’ve been out of touch lately, folks. Our web hosting provider has been dealing with some catastrophic failures, and all of our Internet communications have suffered as a result. As you can see, this site is now working again, and our email should be up as well shortly.

To celebrate, I’m testing out a new feature for the site, thanks to Stephen’s Web. Now, if you link to this site from yours, and a couple people follow that link, a link back to your site will automatically be added to the bottom of every page on mcmains.net. Neato, eh?

The Bourne Identity

I stayed up late the last two nights reading Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity (which has recently been turned into a movie). Before switching to this book, I had been reading Terry Goodkind’s Wizard’s First Rule, and was beginning to suspect that having four kids had eroded my attention span to the point where I couldn’t concentrate long enough to read thick novels. Fortunately, it turned out that the Goodkind book was just a stinker; I devoured The Bourne Identity quickly and in long stretches.

The plot centers around an amnesiac who who wakes without any idea of his own identity. As he recovers from the wounds that caused the memory loss, he starts to get clues to his past from his subconscious — unexplained phrases, impressions, and abilities that hint at his life before. The gradual unfurling of his history creates a nice overall story arc, with enough unexpected twists and well-written action to keep one flipping pages well into the night. Well worth a read.