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Weekly update: Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
I got to have a wonderfully social (and delicious) Thanksgiving with old friends, old acquaintances, and a new(ish?) person, all of whom I quite like. I got to try out a new pumpkin bread recipe, which I liked, so I posted it.
Archery
A friend also celebrated his birthday by organizing a private session at an archery range, with all the equipment we need and a professional to help us all out.
I've shot archery one or two times since summer camp, but the only thing in my brain is summer camp where I earned my Yeoman, Junior Bowman, and Bowman certifications from the Camp Archery Association:
* Yeoman: shooting 30 arrows at 15 yards for a score of 100 points
* Junior Bowman: shooting 30 arrows at 20 yards for 60 points
* Bowman: shooting 30 arrows at 20 yards for 100 points.
I also have evidence that I shot 30 arrows at 30 yards but for only 58 points. I'm also not sure what I mean by "points" but apparently you can get 9 points for a bullseye and lower odd points as your arrow is further from the center. Apparently I was working toward Archer. Also, at each distance, beyond "Junior" and regular are "First Rank" (130 points) and "Sharpshooter" (160 points).
Anyway, at Archery Country where we went, the targets didn't have point values and they put us super close (ten yards?) because there was one person who'd never shot an arrow before. No one was having trouble splitting one arrow with the next one, so it wasn't too close. And everyone was able to mostly hit the targets--there was no shooting too high to retrieve or sliding along the floor or hitting the wall or anything. Though one of my favorite quotes was when I told my neighbor something like, "see that arrow that went a bit wide [in your target]? That's actually my arrow." Most of my arrows did hit the target and none of them went further than the edge of my neighbor's target.
Although I knew better, I still managed to twang my forearm with the bowstring several times, but it was still fun, and there was new technology/more luxury compared to the affordable bows they had at my summer camp three decades ago. First, when you slide the bowstring into the notch at the back of the arrow, it stays there on its own rather than being able to slide up and down the string. So you don't have to hold it there yourself which means all your fingers can be below the arrow while you're shooting. Also, the bow strings now have nocking points, basically a crimp bead at the perfect place for you to attach your arrow in preparation for shooting. Like I said, this did not make me an amazing shooter, but it was fun.
I asked our instructor if there is a traditional exclamation for hitting a bullseye. (I had just said, "Bay-BAY," which, ugh, surely I can do better!) Unfortunately he did not know of one, though he did say that he knows one person who says, "BOOM town!" Much better. (Per https://badaxethrowing.com/axe-throwing-terms-culture/, the exclamations "boom!" and "nailed it!" are traditional.)
When someone got one arrow right next to another arrow, though neither were all that close to the bullseye, I enjoyed shouting, "BOOM pueblo!"
Other Possible Adventures
Archery is one of the activities in the Adventure badge in the Rebel Badge Book. I haven't wanted to do this badge because you are supposed to try five different things in only three months. I guess I'm not that adventurous. I've tried five of the things over my lifetime:
* archery
* bouldering/rock climbing
* high ropes/tree climbing
* horse riding
* skiing
Just for fun, I looked to see how many things I hadn't done that looked like they might be fun:
* axe-throwing
* go-karting
* parkour
* zip lining (though I've already bypassed several opportunities to try this)
I also realized there were several activities listed that I've never heard of:
* abseiling - Turns out that's rappelling. I've sort of done that on the way down from rock climbing.
* canyoning (aka canyoneering in Utah) - Apparently this is a combination of things you can do hanging out in canyons such as rock climbing, hiking, swimming, jumping, and rappelling.
* coasteering - Apparently this is like canyoning but on a rocky coastline, involving such things as walking, swimming, and body surfing. (It started in Wales.) I think I did this informally at beaches, plus the swimming pool equivalent, throughout my childhood.
* quad biking - all-terain vehicle
* zorbing - 'rolling downhill inside an orb, typically made of transparent plastic.' Okay.
Then I realized I've done a few other things that seem similarly adventurous:
* bumper car basketball
* canoeing down a river
* dune sledding (okay, I tried this but it didn't actually work)
* kick sledding
* helicopter riding
* laser tag
* paddleboarding
* pub crawling (by which I mean the 12-person bicycle we used for this activity)
* roller skating/roller blading
* sledding, tray sledding (using cafeteria trays at college)
* tubing
Climate Change Nonfiction and Fiction
I finally finished the climate change book I was reading (see previous post for review). And at the end of it I was simultaneously reading Neil Stephenson's new book, Termination Shock (2021), set in a near future where we have done business as usual and one man has decided to inject sulfur into the stratosphere (as described in the other book I'm reading).
The book starts off depressing because it's crazy hot but people are still being morons by using as much gas as possible. But then we get to meet several interesting characters. In this book a spoiler is that three of the four main characters get a new job and one keeps their current one. Well, it's a semi-spoiler because you still get to guess which is which.
Reading this book, you can also learn a little more about Texas geography, the Dutch monarchy, people with multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, drones, mining, Papua New Guinea, welding, gatka (a martial art popular in the Punjab region of India), the border between China and India, falconry (with golden eagles), and Commanches. And this book is set in modern times where everyone has a smartphone and it never has to be broken for the plot to work. Well, okay, once, but it was a weapon that took out all kinds of things.
The pacing was varied. I enjoyed the start--get one person's story, then another person's story, then they intersect. The next third of the book is a bit slow. Then we get another exciting story. And then the dreaded "Eight Months Later." So first I complain about it going too slow, then too fast. Then we get several more stories. And then there is a semi-satisfying ending. I want to know more, but maybe not enough to want a sequel. I like most of the characters. But there are a lot of disturbing things about how people react to things. I liked it but I don't love it.
It was weird to be reading this at the same time as Douglas Adams's Mostly Harmless because this book starts with a jet practically in space and with wild pigs taking over the landscape and the world is depressing after climate change and the other starts with an earth that still exists but is overrun by wild pigs and is depressing. The scene with the Chinese operative was also surreal in that context. Then it was weird to read it at the same time as Adams's Dirk Gently book, which also features golden eagles.
(Why am I reading so many books at the same time? I'm generally in the middle of three books: one I can read on my iPad in bed at night, one I want to take notes on, and one I can just read in the daylight without needing to take notes.)
Trevor Noah
I also learned that Trevor Noah has a new podcast on Spotify called "Now What?" So I need to look into Spotify.
Reading Challenge Complete
I've finished my library's reading challenge for this year, reading at least one book in each of at least ten categores. And I got a pin for it! But my personal goal is to read at least 3 books in each of all 12 categories, after which I'll give you a summary of what I read.
I got to have a wonderfully social (and delicious) Thanksgiving with old friends, old acquaintances, and a new(ish?) person, all of whom I quite like. I got to try out a new pumpkin bread recipe, which I liked, so I posted it.
Archery
A friend also celebrated his birthday by organizing a private session at an archery range, with all the equipment we need and a professional to help us all out.
I've shot archery one or two times since summer camp, but the only thing in my brain is summer camp where I earned my Yeoman, Junior Bowman, and Bowman certifications from the Camp Archery Association:
* Yeoman: shooting 30 arrows at 15 yards for a score of 100 points
* Junior Bowman: shooting 30 arrows at 20 yards for 60 points
* Bowman: shooting 30 arrows at 20 yards for 100 points.
I also have evidence that I shot 30 arrows at 30 yards but for only 58 points. I'm also not sure what I mean by "points" but apparently you can get 9 points for a bullseye and lower odd points as your arrow is further from the center. Apparently I was working toward Archer. Also, at each distance, beyond "Junior" and regular are "First Rank" (130 points) and "Sharpshooter" (160 points).
Anyway, at Archery Country where we went, the targets didn't have point values and they put us super close (ten yards?) because there was one person who'd never shot an arrow before. No one was having trouble splitting one arrow with the next one, so it wasn't too close. And everyone was able to mostly hit the targets--there was no shooting too high to retrieve or sliding along the floor or hitting the wall or anything. Though one of my favorite quotes was when I told my neighbor something like, "see that arrow that went a bit wide [in your target]? That's actually my arrow." Most of my arrows did hit the target and none of them went further than the edge of my neighbor's target.
Although I knew better, I still managed to twang my forearm with the bowstring several times, but it was still fun, and there was new technology/more luxury compared to the affordable bows they had at my summer camp three decades ago. First, when you slide the bowstring into the notch at the back of the arrow, it stays there on its own rather than being able to slide up and down the string. So you don't have to hold it there yourself which means all your fingers can be below the arrow while you're shooting. Also, the bow strings now have nocking points, basically a crimp bead at the perfect place for you to attach your arrow in preparation for shooting. Like I said, this did not make me an amazing shooter, but it was fun.
I asked our instructor if there is a traditional exclamation for hitting a bullseye. (I had just said, "Bay-BAY," which, ugh, surely I can do better!) Unfortunately he did not know of one, though he did say that he knows one person who says, "BOOM town!" Much better. (Per https://badaxethrowing.com/axe-throwing-terms-culture/, the exclamations "boom!" and "nailed it!" are traditional.)
When someone got one arrow right next to another arrow, though neither were all that close to the bullseye, I enjoyed shouting, "BOOM pueblo!"
Other Possible Adventures
Archery is one of the activities in the Adventure badge in the Rebel Badge Book. I haven't wanted to do this badge because you are supposed to try five different things in only three months. I guess I'm not that adventurous. I've tried five of the things over my lifetime:
* archery
* bouldering/rock climbing
* high ropes/tree climbing
* horse riding
* skiing
Just for fun, I looked to see how many things I hadn't done that looked like they might be fun:
* axe-throwing
* go-karting
* parkour
* zip lining (though I've already bypassed several opportunities to try this)
I also realized there were several activities listed that I've never heard of:
* abseiling - Turns out that's rappelling. I've sort of done that on the way down from rock climbing.
* canyoning (aka canyoneering in Utah) - Apparently this is a combination of things you can do hanging out in canyons such as rock climbing, hiking, swimming, jumping, and rappelling.
* coasteering - Apparently this is like canyoning but on a rocky coastline, involving such things as walking, swimming, and body surfing. (It started in Wales.) I think I did this informally at beaches, plus the swimming pool equivalent, throughout my childhood.
* quad biking - all-terain vehicle
* zorbing - 'rolling downhill inside an orb, typically made of transparent plastic.' Okay.
Then I realized I've done a few other things that seem similarly adventurous:
* bumper car basketball
* canoeing down a river
* dune sledding (okay, I tried this but it didn't actually work)
* kick sledding
* helicopter riding
* laser tag
* paddleboarding
* pub crawling (by which I mean the 12-person bicycle we used for this activity)
* roller skating/roller blading
* sledding, tray sledding (using cafeteria trays at college)
* tubing
Climate Change Nonfiction and Fiction
I finally finished the climate change book I was reading (see previous post for review). And at the end of it I was simultaneously reading Neil Stephenson's new book, Termination Shock (2021), set in a near future where we have done business as usual and one man has decided to inject sulfur into the stratosphere (as described in the other book I'm reading).
The book starts off depressing because it's crazy hot but people are still being morons by using as much gas as possible. But then we get to meet several interesting characters. In this book a spoiler is that three of the four main characters get a new job and one keeps their current one. Well, it's a semi-spoiler because you still get to guess which is which.
Reading this book, you can also learn a little more about Texas geography, the Dutch monarchy, people with multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, drones, mining, Papua New Guinea, welding, gatka (a martial art popular in the Punjab region of India), the border between China and India, falconry (with golden eagles), and Commanches. And this book is set in modern times where everyone has a smartphone and it never has to be broken for the plot to work. Well, okay, once, but it was a weapon that took out all kinds of things.
The pacing was varied. I enjoyed the start--get one person's story, then another person's story, then they intersect. The next third of the book is a bit slow. Then we get another exciting story. And then the dreaded "Eight Months Later." So first I complain about it going too slow, then too fast. Then we get several more stories. And then there is a semi-satisfying ending. I want to know more, but maybe not enough to want a sequel. I like most of the characters. But there are a lot of disturbing things about how people react to things. I liked it but I don't love it.
It was weird to be reading this at the same time as Douglas Adams's Mostly Harmless because this book starts with a jet practically in space and with wild pigs taking over the landscape and the world is depressing after climate change and the other starts with an earth that still exists but is overrun by wild pigs and is depressing. The scene with the Chinese operative was also surreal in that context. Then it was weird to read it at the same time as Adams's Dirk Gently book, which also features golden eagles.
(Why am I reading so many books at the same time? I'm generally in the middle of three books: one I can read on my iPad in bed at night, one I want to take notes on, and one I can just read in the daylight without needing to take notes.)
Trevor Noah
I also learned that Trevor Noah has a new podcast on Spotify called "Now What?" So I need to look into Spotify.
Reading Challenge Complete
I've finished my library's reading challenge for this year, reading at least one book in each of at least ten categores. And I got a pin for it! But my personal goal is to read at least 3 books in each of all 12 categories, after which I'll give you a summary of what I read.