Been Super Busy

I haven't made as many entries lately. Basically, the twins have needed a lot of attention. Then there's the matter of that other kid, who needs attention, stimulation, and an occasional feeding. Last few days we've accomplished one of my wife's dreams: to replace all the windows in our 1875 house with modern, heat-efficient windows. Someday my life will calm down, I hope. Not soon. Summer vacation ends on the 2nd of September. Darn.

I promised my younger brother (who's several inches taller than me and much larger, the creep) to take him sailing on Sunday, so we'll be out as long as the weather cooperates somewhat. He's so big the only board that will fit him is my Kona, so I'll sail the F2 Strato, which I've officially named “Full Fathom Five”. Are there any windsurfers out there who can identify the source of this without making a Google search? (Hint: it's not the Jackson Pollack painting.)

There was a round Manhattan standup paddle event on August 18th. This is a seriously cool event. It's a 28 mile paddle around Manhattan island. I'd love to do this one day. What's even cooler is that Jerry Lopez was part of the event. Jerry Lopez is a hero of mine from the old Conan the Barbarian movie. Arnold played the big beefcake himself but Jerry Lopez played his cooler, less tortured, more sophisticated, archer buddy. Then I found out that Jerry Lopez was a serious surfer. That made him way cooler than Arnold, who I hear dabbles in politics from time to time. Here's the website for the event. There's a cool video to watch.

http://www.seapaddlenyc.org/

I have some very big windsurfing related news coming up, but I'm going to keep mum about it until it hapens. That'll be a post by itself.

I've got a couple of other writing projects on the fire. The only one that might interest a windsurfer is one called The Rising Sea. This is a Young Adult novel in a post global warming period. Orphans who are fascinated by the ocean are enlisted by a wealthy man to help save some of the last species left in the oceans. I'm integrating X-Men style teamwork with ecological speculation and some high-tech, high-seas adventure. If there's interest, I'll post the first few chapters.

SUP Adventure and Planing across the Hudson

I'm actually two entries behind here.

First, my wife and i finally had our stand-up paddling adventure on Saturday, the 16th. I got the staples out of my head removed the day before, and that didn't hurt too much. We then drove to Annsville Creek and parked at the kayak park. She paddled her Amundson 11'3" board and i stood on my kona. I was so proud of Kirsten. She's still recovering from her pregnancy, but she went out on the river. We paddled for about one and a half hours from the kayak center to just beyond the Peekskill Yacht Club.

Both of us fell several times, which ended up being funny. The Kona is clearly higher than the Amundson, which makes it a little less stable. It also paddles a little slower. I suspected this because Kirsten was keeping up with me or even passing with clearly less-powerful strokes. (I'm not saying I'm an awesome paddler; I'm just saying I was pushing more water.) After we finished I took Kirsten's board for a spin, and yup, it was a lot smoother. The Kona is definitely a better windsurfer than paddler.

I sailed at Rider Park with the Hudson River Rats. My family was staying at my in-laws place near Albany (Delmar to be exact) for a few days. The River is about 1 1/2 miles wide there and the wind was pretty good for about 1 hour. I rigged a 7.0 (that beat-up specimen) and planed on and off across the river. A nice sail.

Got My Head Stapled

Was going to go out today with Kirsten. She was going to test her new Amundson 11.3 Standup Paddleboard (a present for bearing twins) with a Mistral Paddle, and I was going to use my Kona and cheap Amundson paddle. We had a babysitter all set up and everything.

Here's the official Amundsen picture of the board. I'll take some more pictures soon of Kirsten and the actual board.

Then yesterday, as I was reaching for some Tupperware on a lower cabinet, I stood up quickly and raked my head against a key my wife and I keep in the deadbolt. Oh God, that hurt!

Here's the crime scene. Note the innocent-looking key hovering on the right side.

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I went upstairs and checked myself out. I honestly thought I had just banged my head, but there was a little blood. I asked Kirsten to check out the cut. She dug in my hair and said, “Eww. You're going to the hospital.“

A neighbor brought me to Hudson Valley Hospital. Fortunately there was nobody in the waiting room so I got quick service. A nurse cleaned it out then told me I was going to need some staples. “Staples? What about stitches?“ I asked.

“Oh no, we don't do those much anymore. Staples are much better.“

Great. Staples didn't sound better at all. They sounded painful. Wouldn't they stick in my skull or something?  Before the stapling I got about six (it felt somewhere between four and twenty, tending more towards twenty) small injections of anesthesia in my scalp around the cut. Man, did those hurt! I'm usually pretty good in those situations. I know to relax and the pain will go away soon. But MY GOD! Why does anesthesia hurt so much? (Okay, I know the answer, but the question is funny.)

Then came the staples: four, I think. The evil device sounded exactly like one of my classroom staplers. When I mentioned this to the nurse, she said, “Ours are sterile.” Nice to know.

I walked out of the hospital not more than an hour after I entered. Not bad, except that the nurse said, “Keep it dry.” Oooooooh! No standup paddling with my wife, who desperately needs to get out and not feed babies. Oh well, I guess I'm grounded for a week, until the staples come out.

I had a couple of light wind sessions last week. They weren't much to report, except that I got out.

My Other Writing Hobby

Sometimes when I go a week or so between posts, it's because I'm working on my fantasy novel series. I've already completed the first one, City of Iron, and I'm trying to get it published. I've just received my umpteenth rejection letter from an agent, so I'm going to hunt down another agent to annoy about representing me. meanwhile, here's the synopsis of my novel, for those who are interested in fantasy literature:

City of Iron: Synopsis

Aranel is a young man, lame in his sword arm, and running from somewhere he refuses to discuss. The book begins when Aranel arrives at Goslar, a free city known for its fruitful mines and wealth. Aranel gets a job as a shop boy with a weaponsmith family, the Bants. Soon after, he saves the Bant’s only son Laird from an attack, an attack designed to be a message to the wealthy guild. In gratitude, Laird brings Aranel into the Iron Guards, a group of guildsmen getting martial training in response to repeated attacks on guild shipments and members. The Iron Guards are called into action soon at the local fair. Bandits, using magic, attempt to sabotage the fair, which is vital to the Goslar economy. Aranel discovers these bandits at a ruined fort, which the Iron Guards siege. After a pyrrhic victory, the Guards capture the bandits’ leader, a wizard who seems to be in the employ of another. Evidence of the sabotage begins to point east to Lord Dortham, a king known for his ruthlessness, wealth and imperial ambitions. (Aranel had worked in Dortham’s kitchens as a youth; as well, the injury on his arm was inflicted by Dortham’s men, a routine wound given to servants to keep them from taking up arms.)

After the fair, Aranel enjoys his life in Goslar until the winter, when he mysteriously is summoned to Lazar, the weaponsmith guild master. Lazar explains to Aranel that his two children have been snatched and brought to the bandit fortress of Felzenspitz, high in the Shattered Mountains. Lazar instructs Aranel to accompany his hirelings, the coarse wizard Dezso and other companions, to Felzenspitz in a rescue attempt. During the trip, Aranel befriends Dezso’s apprentice, Eraric, the fifth son of a wealthy duke. With the aid of Dezso’s magic, the group crosses the Shattered Mountains, freeing some slaves in route to Felzenspitz. After many days of hard travel, they camps in a hidden cave which is connected to network of tunnels which lead into the storerooms underneath Felzenspitz. With the wizard Dezso leading the way, the party frees the children but are caught almost immediately afterwards and imprisoned. Stripped of weapons, Aranel’s dagger, a weapon he acquired on the journey, has been strangely overlooked. The next day Aranel and his companions are thrown into a series of caverns as entertainment for Dolchstoss, the bandit king of Felzenspitz, and his guests. Creatures quickly attack and the men fight with stolen weapons and Aranel’s dagger towards a promised exit. Dezso and another fall to a pack of huge lizards but their fall gives the others a chance to escape.

The survivors, Aranel, Eraric and the warrior Vidor, find their way back to their camp where the slaves, freed earlier, have taken refuge from the weather. Everyone is despondent from their failure, but Aranel, showing skills he’s never revealed, returns to Felzenspitz and frees the children without being seen. Aranel and his companions, the slaves and children flee but are forced southward to the opposite side of the mountains from Goslar. Aranel and his companions make their way to a small castle commanded by Wence, a bastard son of Lord Borian, ruler of the Southernlands and king of the capital city of Reggeelus. Wence is also married to Nunia, Eraric’s cousin. After staying until the spring thaw, reports of Dortham’s armies coming over the thawing mountains force Aranel, Eraric and companions south to Reggeelus along with Nunia and her children.

Reggeelus, the capital of the southern kingdoms, is a huge city with incomplete defenses and a depleted garrison. All the talk is of war. While visiting the king, Eraric is asked by Lord Borian to use his magical arts to assist with the defense of the city, but, if the walls fail, to flee north with one of the king’s heirs, Prince Berren. The city’s outer walls fall quickly to Dortham’s siege engines. During this attack flying splinters wound Eraric. Aranel returns alone to Reggeelus’s inner walls and helplessly watches them destroyed by the powerful magic of Dortham’s war wizards. Aranel survives the magical destruction and, despite the chaos, wounds Dortham with an arrow as the king enters the city.

Aranel flees and meets his companions by Lord Borian’s palace, where they flee by boat with Prince Berren. They cross the mountains and arrive in Goslar one year after Aranel first arrived. Lazar’s children rejoin their family and the Aranel, Eraric and Vidor are well rewarded, but Aranel is no longer welcome in Goslar. Sabotage has continued since Aranel left. Aranel, having left abruptly, has been blamed by the weaponsmith guild in the hope the true saboteurs will become overconfident and make a mistake. Aranel learns this bitter news from Laird, who warns his former servant to leave the city quickly. Aranel then leaves Goslar with his friend Eraric to deliver Prince Berren to the safety of Eraric’s father’s castle.