Blog du Wren

Serious Ultimate

I like playing Ultimate [frisbee]*. In fact, I list it among my top pastimes (whenever I am asked to list pastimes, which isn't very often). But this weekend, I realized that I am not nearly as serious about ultimate as some people. Oy!

On an invitation from a friend, I cruised over to join in the fun at the Sundodger Ultimate tournament. Though I should have known better, I was not expecting what I saw. Ultimate players as far as the eye could see. There were 24 fields packed with players. (Quick math: ((24 fields x 2 teams per field)+4 or so bye teams) x 11-17 players per team = about 700 ultimate players in one place!) The place was so vast, in fact, that after roaming around and not finding my original adopted team, I was recruited by another team to get a couple games in. Then, during their bye, I went and found the original team, and played a round with them. Three all out competitive, high quality games is enough to point out that I'm not hardcore like so many of the folks there.

But worth noting: the fact that I could just show up at a tournament and find not 1 but 2 teams (on which, I only knew 1 player on each team) to join up with goes to show you the prevailing attitude of the sport: acceptance, camaraderie, and easy-goingness(?). It is why I ditched the high stress world of Div III track back in college and took up with those hippies throwing a frisbee around. Yep, good times.

Sunday November 9 2008

File under: misc

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FC 50 - Options

This is the last election comic, I promise (at least for this election cycle). Friday Comics are supposed to be fun, to cause a giggle, not to gripe or make a statement. I know I've thrown in an "editorial" comic here and there over the past 50(!) comics, and I will probably throw a couple more in during the 50 to come, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

I was going to claim that this was a guest comic artist who did his own thing so as to deflect some of the democracy fervor that might manifest itself in the form of nasty comments. But after looking at the finished comic, it was plainly evident that this is done in my style. Then I got kind of excited that I have a style*. It ain't no Rose Is Rose, but I might go as far as to say that, artistically, it puts some of those stick figure comics to shame. Syndication, here I come!

Thursday November 6 2008

File under: comic

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If She Could Vote...

If Punksto (front row left, dressed as a pegasus) could vote, I'm sure she would vote to re-elect Governor Christine Gregoire (back row right, dressed as Dora the Explorer).

Tuesday November 4 2008

File under: misc

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Rate My Mullet

I'm usually not one to dress up for Halloween, although recently, I've been getting more into it. When I commented recently how I was due for a hair cut, someone suggested that I do a mullet for Halloween. A good idea is a good idea, so I put the plan into action. Since a mullet by itself isn't really a costume, I tried to branch out a little. is what I came up with. 72 hours later and the mullet and mustache are still here. The question is how long should I keep it?

Halloween is slowly growing on me. While it used to be one of my least favorite holidays, I'm realizing how neat it can be when you surround yourself with creative, cool people and lots of candy. I hope you all had a great Halloween too. (If you have any leftover candy, I know someone who could give it a good home.)

(P.S. Occasionally, over the weekend, I joked about rateMyMullet.com not knowing that it is a real site. Weird.)

Monday November 3 2008

File under: holidays, beard

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My New Favorite Memorial

My main activity while traveling, at least when I'm traveling alone, is walking, in most cases with no particular destination in mind. This was the case the other day when I had some time to kill in New York City. The weather was blustery but I wasn't to be deterred. I took the subway into Manhattan and headed south. (I've pretty much explored midtown and the Central Park area in previous visits.)

I walked and walked, seeing things that I had heard so much about: NYU, "SoHo", "Artists' Lofts", etc. I was shooting* to get to the shore of the island to see what I could see. My feet took me to Hudson River Park(?) where I got a view of the Statue of Liberty* and New Jersey*. When it was time to start heading back, I stumbled upon what is now my favorite memorial ever: the Irish Hunger Memorial. It is like a little bit of the country right in downtown New York, with some of the greatest stone walls ever. The serendipitous find reaffirmed in my believe in semi-unguided travel.

Saturday November 1 2008

File under: travel

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FC 49 - Halloween Quickie

Just a quickie this Friday because I spent the week working and travelling rather than poking at my computer's drawing program. I'm actually kind of proud at how quickly I whipped this one out (although the pride quickly subsides when the comic is actually read).

Anyway, I wanted an excuse to say Happy Halloween to everyone and encourage everyone who chooses to dress up to be sure and get a picture of themselves doing so. Seeing other people's costumes, esp. homemade and clever ones*, are what make this holiday fun now that the man says we pseudo-adults can't go around getting all sorts of free candy and what-not.

Friday October 31 2008

File under: comic

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Broadway Baby Broadway

Last time I was through NYC, everything fell into place–weather, meeting with friends (, meeting with strangers), etc.–everything that is except one thing: seeing a Broadway show. This time, while the weather has been against me and tracking people down for getting together has panned out less smoothly* (not to mention no fun strangers -> friends), I did make it to a Broadway show.

Avenue Q is hilarious romp, once described as Sesame Street meets South Park. A combination human/puppet cast lends the musical a playful feel. And although the set, costumes, production wasn't as spectacular as I had imagined*, the experience was extremely fun. While I wouldn't consider myself a great fan of musicals, the songs in this one were funny enough, tongue-in-cheek enough to make it really fun. (In fact, do yourself a favor: go search google for "Avenue Q The Internet is Really Really Great" and watch a video that ensues.)

Yep, a Broadway show: another thing checked off my life list.

Wednesday October 29 2008

File under: travel, misc

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Boardwalking

Boardwalks are awesome. This is my conclusion after visiting two of them this weekend. The first was in Ocean City, MD which was all but deserted when we tromped its 1.7 miles past block after block of shuttered up t-shirt shops and ice cream parlors*. We had to use our imaginations to picture it in all its glory filled to the brim with sun-burnt tourists, but I could imagine it is quite a scene during the summer. The second boardwalk is possibly the most famous boardwalk of all times: Atlantic City (as seen in the pictures*.) Similar to Ocean City in it being a pedestrian only thoroughfare with the beach on one side and shops, etc. on the other, but different. People were everywhere on this boardwalk, even so late in the season. Lots of old folks out walking and sitting on the benches. Casino to entertain the eye. Beautiful dunes between the walk and the beach. Both are great places to people watch, walk off an ice cream or two, and be part of the goings-on of a town.

The concept of designating a place for people to walk around semi-aimlessly, interact, shop, eat, and pass time is the reason I am so enthralled with boardwalks. The pedestrian advocate in me (both as a means of exercise and of transportation) loves to see people out walking. The lazy bum in me loves to see benches for just lazing about in the sun and watching the world pass by. If it weren't for all the shops selling totally useless crap*, I would be *all* about boardwalks. As it is, I still think they are neat.

Tuesday October 28 2008

File under: travel

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Embassy Row

If you ever have some time to kill in D.C. after having done all the much touted stuff* (or even before that), I would highly recommend looking into taking a nice walk [up/down] Embassy Row, essentially Massachusetts Avenue between Dupont Circle and Sheriden Circle. In the few days that I've been in D.C., I've gone out of my way multiple times to pass that way and am so glad that I've done so each time.

Seeing the beautiful and their accompanying plaques announcing which country's embassy it is sets my mind going. I find it so interesting to compare the personality of the place (size, ornamentation, security, *, etc.) with what I know about the country. I wonder about what kind of business goes on in the building*. I wonder about the finances. Those buildings can't be cheap and a lot of those countries aren't known for their overflowing national coffers. I wonder if the people insider are from that country and what they think of the US. I wonder what would happen if I went trick-or-treating there on Halloween. I wonder if I will ever visit the particular country represented by this embassy. I wonder about all the unoccupied (sometimes obviously recently or hastily) buildings and what the story behind that is. I wonder a lot.

Even if you don't wonder or care about any of these things, it is still worth the walk. The rich architecture combined with the international is something that is miles away from most people's everyday experience. And that's what travel is all about, right?

Saturday October 25 2008

File under: travel

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FC 48 - My Opponent Says...

I don't seem to be able to go a day without hearing of the impending elections, try as I might. The majority of the coverage I hear isn't about how these 2 fellas are going to make things better, but more about how the other one is going to make things worse. Last week, I guess it was, something good came of all the bashing: this comic!

I tried a hand drawn copy of this first but it was bad–we're talking really bad. I guess this computer stuff is my medium and I just need to accept that. The inability to draw really kind of hinders the comic making process. The brute force method via a drawing program works, but by golly it takes a while. That's okay. You know what they say: time wasted having fun is not time wasted at all.

Friday October 24 2008

File under: comic

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