![]() ![]() For the past 18 or so months, this amazing mansion with beautifully manicured landscaping overlooking the Salish Sea has been our home. We've been housesitting here for amazing clients in a situation that can only be described as, well, amazing. We counted our blessing every day and even tried to catch a sunset from the amazing view every now and then. But all good things must come to an end. Alas. So it's out of the good life and back to gypsy transience for Della and me, bopping from here to there which does great things for spicing up the Sleeping Around project, but makes owning a toaster somewhat difficult. But that's okay. And I'm actually excited for the opportunities it brings. Since the ousting, we've already slept in a casino parking lot, spent the weekend at Oregon Country Fair, and have plans for much more! And this has also served as a great excuse to give the trusty faithful Outback a bit of a facelift, by adding a new window and lofting the bed. And with Della overseeing as interior designer, it's going to look great! Such a big transition out of top tier living to back alley living felt like it warranted commemoration so that when I'm an old man looking back on my life, I can remember when there was that brief period when I was living like a king (albeit in a eerily empty house). So I offer up this blog post (and commemorative photo) as the slightest token of the magic, luck, and wonder of this amazing experience. I truly felt like a gypsy in the palace. |
Thursday July 13 2017 | File under: work |
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Thursday May 11 2017 | File under: work |
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![]() In the end, while the clubs turned out pretty good, it was all for naught. The gig wasn't dark enough for the glow to show. I would have been better off just juggling my long-suffering renegades or really pushing for fire*. But whatevs. The party goers didn't notice the lack of glow and were duely impressed by the juggling in general, so it was all good. They were also treated to some super-dope poi-ing by Nick with way better glow props than myself. So glow was incorporated after all. And although the glow clubs weren't a hit for their intended purpose, glow juggling props are perfect for long exposure photography. With Rod as the organizer and Thaddeus as photographer, we did an after-juggling club photo sesh that turned out some super fun shots. Now, after all the eye candy, I bet you want to see my clubs in action! Well, never let it be said that I disappoint. Behold!* For a base, I used Dubé airflite glow in the dark clubs*. I cut about 2cm off the top to allow access to the inner cavity to store the battery pack (2 AAs). Then I wrapped a 3m piece of white EL wire (starting at the center so as to have it lay out evenly), hot gluing the wire in place every 1/2 wrap or so. After the wire was glued in place, I took a 1-inch wide roll of saran wrap and wrapped it tightly to help secure the wire. I used a narrower piece so it could go on more wrinkly free.
Once the wire was secured to the club, I put the battery pack in the cavity sandwiched between 2 pieces of foam. ![]() All this weight made the clubs quite end heavy. To combat that, I wrapped some lead wire at the knob end of the club and secured it with black athletic tape. I continued the black tape wrap all the way up the handle for looks. In retrospect, having black handles on juggling clubs you plan to juggle in the dark was a bit of an oversight, but it does make the clubs look cool. In the end, the weight and counterweighting made for some dang heavy clubs. And the 1 of the 2 brands of battery packs I used flickers off if dropped (or caught abruptly). But all that said, they look pretty freaking awesome. It was a great experiment. Oh, and here's the requisite self-portrait. Good times. |
Thursday October 15 2015 | File under: juggling, work |
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![]() Above is a picture of the bottom terrace wall that I built this summer at the Quarry. Someday we hope to have the whole hillside terraced, but it turns out that building big rock walls is hard work, so the most I could get done this year was 1 wall. I'm shooting for one per year and soon enough, we'll have ourselves a nice little amphitheater! But since the picture above doesn't really do the wall justice, here's a few more. (It's a really nice wall) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yep, I like playing with rock—I mean, working with rock. Totally working. |
Thursday October 8 2015 | File under: work, misc |
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Tuesday September 8 2015 | File under: juggling, work |
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Tuesday September 8 2015 | File under: juggling, work |
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![]() Working in the 95°+ heat, Andrew and I turned a pile of lumber, gravel, and used doors and windows into something that looked pretty darn neat and will serve as a great place for storing garden tools and to do some spring time potting. The clear roofing material* and sun-exposed windows may even make the space usable as a little greenhouse. Little miscalculations and inexact cuts, while hardly noticeable in the finished structure, left us joking that if I ever started a construction company, it wouldn't be called "Quality Building" or "Grade A Construction". Instead, we came up with "Wren's Better Than What Was There Before Construction Company - The results might not be perfect, but if you wanted perfection, you would have paid somebody". Hopefully Andrew and Fam find this garden shed better than what was there before. Luckily for me, it's not hard to outshine an uneven plot of gravelly sand! |
Saturday July 4 2015 | File under: Portland, work |
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![]() The theme for this one is one of my more ambitious, and I was stoked when Patti accepted it. Constructing any [American standard]* crossword is a lot of work, but putting together a 21x21 is a real time investment. And as with any investment, it is nice to see it pay off [metaphorically, mostly. There's a pride in seeing a puzzle of one's own in print. And while there is a financial pay-off, and for UPC it is better than most, it rarely pays you enough for your time.] I currently have a couple of puzzles into editors with the hopes of keeping on keeping on, but this is my last one scheduled for publication as of now. And with turn around times of sometimes 6 months or more (I remember working on edits of this puzzle while I was in DR bac in Dec.), it might be a while before my next ones hits the presses. Luckily this one should be enough to keep you busy for a while. If you want a copy and aren't a subscriber, let me know and I'll see what I can do. |
Sunday May 31 2015 | File under: crosswords, work |
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![]() Though not exclusively (Della was there for a few days last year), it is mostly dudes that make the trek to work the long hours in often inclement conditions*. As such, there is a very dude-y feel. Free time activities include playing poker, watching action movies, snoring, throwing horseshoes, and eating a lot. The dude food is a topic unto itself: steaks, beer, hamburgers, tequila, bacon, bourbon, brats, and more snacks than you could shake a Slim Jim® Meat Stick at. And I don't mean to imply that it's not awesome, because it is. Aside from the fact that I gain 7+ lbs in the 10 or so days, I'm in hog heaven. This year's work projects included replacing an aging water feature with a very nice oriental inspired one. It was quite a bit less work than installing last year's basalt pentagon fountain. My project was extending the trail system that I worked on 3 years ago. The new sections complete a loop around the property that I mapped using GPS on my not-a-phone. I'll clean up the readings into a fancy trail map that we'll give to them. Good times. Yes, I'd say Dude Camp was a success: jobs completed, fun had, and some money earned. If only all jobs included a once-a-day horseshoes break... |
Wednesday May 6 2015 | File under: work |
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Saturday March 21 2015 | File under: work, misc |
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