Curmudgeon of the Week

This can be chalked up as another one of my hobbies: misanthropy. I follow a hilarious blog called "The Sassy Curmudgeon" and Una, the blogger extraordinaire, has a series called "Curmudgeon of the Week."
After making a list of annoyances that plagued me over the course of one day ( a Forensic Speech exercise- thanks coach) I submitted it to Una for consideration. Remarkably, I was accepted for this somewhat peculiar honor. You can see my entry here.
There are several things I'd like to add to the list after this latest Forensic Speech Tournament:
Getting up before it's light
Wearing stockings with trousers
$7 salads
Faux-hawks
Pointy witch shoes
Riding in a van full of club music
Being out of fake mustaches
Jerks that make fun of me for liking Jane Austen (she's a brilliant satirist!)
Conflicting suggestions
Dirty Gas Stations
Running out of matches
Itchy sweaters

I'm going to watch PBS for a while and then get to sleep. I might do my Ages 3+ Raccoon puzzle as well. Good times.

Archery Excursion

In America this Monday was the Labor Day holiday. It is the unofficial end of summer and a day where the American people celebrate how hard they work all year by not working that day and usually barbecuing something. Though I had the day off from classes, I had to go work on putting the paper together Monday evening. However, my morning was free.
What better way to spend my last day of summer than by shooting arrows into a heavily padded target? Exactly, there is no better way. Last time I went to the range I received a bit of bow-burn on my left arm from the string snapping forward to release the arrow, this time I wore long sleeves along with my leather bracer and finger sleeves and I was relatively unscathed.
Another archer was leaving when I arrived, he was using a compound bow with lots of fancy features. He seemed moderately impressed that my starter bow was such a serious one- that made me nervous. Whenever people say their impressed or proud in regards to something I'm doing, I'm afraid I'll screw it up like an idiot and disappoint them or invoke their scorn. (It's a bad habit, I didn't even know this person which makes it all the more ridiculous.)
When I was preparing to take my first shot, I was anxious that he would be watching (sometime I over-shoot and find it buried in the ground behind the target later). So, full of self-conscious anxiety and all too aware of the wind ruffling my hair and the trees, I drew back and shot. Somehow, in spite of myself, I hit almost a dead bulls eye.
Of course, I'm lacking in consistency. I still over shot a couple times, but nearly all my arrows ended up in the target and several were bulls eyes or near enough for me. I'm getting better, so next time I'll try some more distant targets. I'm an over-thinker and in archery you can't think too much, you just have to feel it and trust yourself. This is good for me to force myself to stop thinking once in a while.
Arrows are so strange to watch in flight. When I saw an interview with Russell Crowe during the filming of Robin Hood he kept saying that arrows are alive, that they swim, which seems strange, but I understand now. They move through the air like they are searching for the target, skimming on a current and moving with a strange fluidity. It's crazy to think of yourself setting that in motion.

Call Me Robin Hood

Sorry I've been away, but I've finally picked up an amazing new hobby I've been longing for: archery. My father collects antique weaponry, so he went to a show looking for pieces for a 19th century restoration he's working. While he was there he met a vendor selling off several bows and a few quivers full of arrows for a ridiculously low price.
It's proof that he actually listens to my nonsensical chatterings and I am now the proud owner of a 28 inch, 50 pound recurve hunting bow. The poundage is how much force the bow provides when you pull it back the correct amount of inches, in this case 28. I went to the archery range yesterday and actually hit the target a few times, but also discovered that I have weak, girly wrists. I ended up wearing leather arm bracers from my Renaissance Faire days to support my wrists and protect me from the bowstring as it snapped forward. I had some leather scraps from other historical pursuits, so I made myself little finger covers to keep me from cutting up my right hand when I pull the string back.
When I consider the fact that the yeomen of the middle ages used bows with 100 pounds of force it amazes me. The more force the tighter the bow string and the harder it is to string. My 50 pounder took three people to string all variously holding the end, curving the top and pulling up the string. My brother, enlisted to the task, told me I have to be careful not to break the string because he is never doing that again. Ever.
With my ridiculous schedule I'm not sure if I can get a regular practice schedule but my dad said, "Sometimes you'll need to get away." Proof of how well that man knows me, I can think of no better way to unwind.

Alter Egos and Doctor Who

I have one. I also apparently have a doppleganger that lives in New Jersey, but I digress.
If you are curious about my other hobbies and what I do when I'm not being a Book Eater, check out this blog.

A quick mention about DW, the two-part season finale starts this Saturday (unless you're watching it on the US schedule, then you have 2 more weeks to wait), it looks really good. Leaked photos show that young Amelia Pond and Rory will both appear in the episode and the trailer indicates that we will see a hoard of the Doctor's old enemies return including the Daleks, Silurians, Cybermen, etc. I'm excited.
Speaking of Doctor Who villains, I was driving around the outskirts of town last night and as I turned onto a back road, I saw a weeping angel statue in someone's yard. What a nerd I am, I slowed down and creeped myself out watching it. Possibly creeped out the people that live there too.