Trebuchet

A year or so ago, a friend of ours took us out into his backyard to set off bottle rockets. He had built a launcher and then used 2 liter bottles as projectiles. We pumped up the pressure, pointed the rocket upward, and pulled the firing cord. The moment the first one launched I was in love. I believe I squealed and pleaded to do it again. I might have clapped in happiness too. Since then I've become fascinated with launching things. And my new favorite idea about launching things is a trebuchet. I want to build one.

A trebuchet is a form of catapult, a siege weapon designed to launch heavy objects at a significant distance with much force. What's not to love? The trebuchet uses a counterweight to send objects flying. So not only do you have the thrill of watching things fly but you add heavy weights to make the contraption even more dangerous. I have to imagine that full sized trebuchets injured more people in their operation than just with the projectiles they threw. But it doesn't matter, I'm going to build one. Although ours will probably only launch water balloons.

But in the meantime, Jeff and I decided to start small. We bought a ready-to-assemble trebuchet at Gen Con this weekend. We assembled it tonight and I have done little else but launch the balls that come with it, along with some dice, across the room towards our table. Currently it has a range of only a couple feet (think 6 to 8) but I think with some adjustment to the firing pin, I should be able to get much farther. The box says it could fire up to 25 feet away. It just takes some practice. Now to play with it and hopefully get some slow motion video of it working. I'm still going to build a big one, but in the meantime the little one makes me squeal with happiness. I'm such a geek.

Now to work up the roommate agreement

My mother knows that I like The Big Bang Theory so when she was out shopping recently she bought me a present. My own little Sheldon. Or big Sheldon, if we go by head size. He's adorable.

I love the Funko figurines and this is the first one I've ever owned. He's going to sit up on my bookshelves in my library. For when I need some help with the sciences or maths. I'm sure he'd be willing to explain them to me. Perhaps ad nauseum.

E-books

I love books. That should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. I love the feel and the smell of them. I love collecting them in my ever growing library. There is just something about curling up with a well-loved book or browsing in a bookstore to make me incredibly happy. I was once asked about the perfect gift and without even batting an eyelash I said books. I won't ever turn down books.

So I've been avoiding the whole e-book thing. I've read a couple books electronically but I don't really enjoy the experience. It seems more like research than something done for pleasure. Even though I just finished Wuthering Heights online, I'm not as much of a fan of electronic versions. So when a friend at work brought me in her Kindle to play with, I originally resisted. My complaint has always been that I can't read in the bathtub with a Kindle. Nor does it seem cozy to curl up with a Kindle in bed. But I have to admit once I started playing with the thing that it has its benefits. It's far more user friendly than the older e-book readers I've used. The big screen helps make it less of an eyestrain. But the biggest advantage that it has is easy access to the classics.

I'm a huge classics reader. I've picked up books like Dante's Inferno, Othello, and Anna Karenina as fun reading. I'm constantly scouring public domain literature sites for good books. So when I found out that the Kindle will instantly download public domain works to the Kindle for no cost, I was hooked. With the push of a button I could have a title downloaded on the device in seconds. I could have a huge library of free books on this device and never lack for reading material. If I start a book (like Moby Dick) that I won't finish, I won't be out any money (I've tried it twice now. Just can't read it). My friend even showed me that there are a number of new books that are available for free or at a huge discount.

While this won't take the place of books for me, I can now see the advantage of the Kindle. It's mostly user friendly, offers cheap or free reading material, and can store a ton of books. I could even take notes on quotes I like or sections that are interesting. The Kindle is still a toy for me but I could see purchasing one. In fact, I'll start saving my money. I'll still buy paper books. I like the permanence of them and the feel of them. And picture books will never be replaced by e-books. But I could go for a cheap digital portable library. I could actually be moving into the 21st century.

New Toy

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I just got new toys in the form of two typewriters. And that is true. But this new toy is a bit more high-tech. And I bit more likely to affect the blog.




I've been wanting a scanner for years now. I'm not sure why I held off on buying one since they have become pretty reasonably priced. Rather than taking pictures of images that I wanted to add to the blog I figured with a scanner you wouldn't get as much distortion of image. So Jeff and I had been pricing them. We figured that since our printer was in good shape we wouldn't want one of those all in ones.



That is until we saw the HP Photosmart Plus (pictured below). And then we saw the price. We finally bought it two days after Thanksgiving when the stores were still doing big sales. This beautiful piece of technology (note the touch screen) was 50% off. We simply couldn't pass up a deal like that.

It is a printer, scanner, and copier all rolled into one. I don't think either of us need the copier although that aspect will be nice for photocopying recipes or knitting patterns. I had done a late night copier run just recently to copy a list of books out of a library book before returning it. So it will be nice to no longer have to pay for those. But what really sold us was the wireless printing. Our current printer requires that we bring one of the laptops over to the printer to be plugged in. If I was working on my desktop, which I normally am, that meant transfering the files to the laptop to be able to print. With this new toy I can just hit print and done. From across the room!! It's like magic.

And of course now I can scan things. Which means you guys will get to see things with a lot less distortion. It also means that you might be subjected to more of my artwork. Which could be scary. So not only will you have to deal with images of my amateurish drawing or painting attempts but they will have more clarity than before. Sadly that means you can no longer say things like, "That's a great....elephant? pig? I'm so sorry with the terrible picture quality I can't quite tell." So be prepared.

New Toys!!!

I picked up two new toys last night and am very excited to get a chance to play with them this evening. The first one is a big beautiful desktop. I've got it sitting on my writing desk upstairs. It's an Olympia.

The second is a laptop and it even came with its own carrying case. It's the perfect size and I already like the feel of the keys under my fingers. I'm looking forward to sitting downstairs on the couch with it on my lap working on it. It's a Royal and used to be my fathers.

Now for those of you who are confused, these aren't computers. They're typewriters. Or more specifically manual typewriters. The big one (about 40 pounds worth of machine) is a desktop model that my mother bought many years ago for about 10 bucks and never used. I spent most of my high school years writing novel attempts on the thing. I went over to my parent's house last night with the specific desire of rescuing it from my parent's basement. I have been missing my old portable from college and wanting a new typewriter. What better one than a machine that I spent most of my high school years using. What I didn't know when I went over is that my father also had an old portable manual typewriter that he wrote his papers on in college. They made it a two for one deal (and even bought dinner) just for me to get them out of their house.

They both work beautifully and I'm really excited to own them. I love the feel and sound of a manual typewriter and have always written better when I had to pound my ideas out on the keys. There is something very satisfactory about the clickety-clack of a typewriter. And these are both beautiful specimens. I'll try to post pictures later this evening but I just had to share my excitement.

Okay, here's the Olympia along with my very cluttered writing desk.

And here is the Royal, or technically Royalite.

Where's Waldo for Adults

I'm sorry I didn't get any posting done over the weekend. While I normally don't post both days I do try to get at least something out. My in-laws were in town this weekend so I didn't really have much time to just sit and compose. Instead I introduced Jeff's parents to the Wii and they became hooked. We spent most of the weekend bowling, playing Wii baseball, or cruising around the track playing MarioKart. It was a ton of fun. I also ate way too much and slept way too little. I'm looking forward to a weekend where I don't have to set an alarm. :-)

Then yesterday was my father's birthday. We ended up at one of my favorite Indian restaurants and I got a very tasty goat curry. Mmmm. Then back to my parent's house to make a fire, drink coffee, and play Trivial Pursuit. All and all a very nice afternoon.

So by now you're wondering about the title. Where's the "Where's Waldo" part of the post? You're wondering why anyone would care about my in-laws visit and father birthday. Well you wouldn't but you may be interested in the game we bought this week. While we were visiting friends in Minneapolis, they introduced us to this toy. And we had to go buy one.

The Find It Games are addictive. This long tube of plastic bits is filled with objects that you are required to find. We bought the sports version. There is a little football, baseball, ice axe, polo club, balance beam, hiking boot, etc....to name a few. In order to win you have to find everything. And that includes the very elusive penny.

Each game includes one penny. You have to find the penny and then you can sign onto their site and register it. You'll have to know what year it is and you'll have to provide your game number. Jeff has already found our penny, but I'm still looking. I was honestly shocked at how hard these games are. Some items emerge from the plastic bits more frequently then others. Jeff and I are still looking (after a week) for the swimsuit. The game comes with a cross of sheet that lists every item included.

They have a couple different kinds and each has unique items to be found. I want the zoo one although it is out of stock. Our friends have the kids version (which is still not easy) and are looking to buy the beach version. I picked mine up from Barnes and Noble which only had the sports one. I'll have to start ordering online. For $20 they are hours of entertainment.

And Knowing is Half the Battle

Okay, I'm going to sound old and crotchety for a moment but....leave my childhood alone!!!! I grumbled a little when Care Bears returned to the stores. I outright laughed when I saw Strawberry Shortcake toys. I even cast aspersions on the Transformer movie with its new merchandise (Hello Bumblebee is a Beetle). But this has now gone too far. They are making a live action film of G.I. Joe. Why can't you leave my childhood in peace????

I've always been a big believer in new stories and new ideas so this premise is pretty repulsive to me on that level. Why can't movie makers come up with their own ideas rather then raid old 80s cartoons? But beyond that, why must every cartoon or toy I ever loved be recycled into some variation of itself and sold to today's kids. I know what will happen. This movie will come out amid a flurry of merchandising. All the kids toys will be huge, hulking, muscle bound figures, completely unlike the more lifelike and honestly more fun figures that I collected as a child. Oh fear not, my parent's basement still holds Snakeyes and Duke figures. With their little attachable guns and backpacks. (Strange that I loved this show, even as a pacifist all the way back then).

To add insult to injury I have found that Brendan Fraser will be in the film. Now I love Brendan. I think he can have amazing depth as an actor (See School Ties or Gods and Monsters) But everything he does lately becomes something of a joke. He is brilliant at campy material. And it looks like G.I. Joe will be a cross between the Mummy and X-Men (both fun movies in their own right). I'm just not sure I'm going to be willing to sit through it with another of my favorite childhood memories.

I'm dreading the fact that eventually I will find out that they are making some odd Smurfs movie or be walking through the toy store to find Thundercats figures (of course this time the Twins will look like they've been doing steroids for years). And again I know I sound old and a little cranky but why can't they leave my favorite shows alone. Transformers was great fun as a cartoon. We had all the original METAL characters. I grew up with those characters. And now a new generation has claimed them as their own. Perhaps the one good thing out of this new movie is that they will release all the old cartoons on DVD. Then I can relive bits of my childhood.