CurlyShavings

This was Patrick O'Brian's 12th book in the Aubrey/Maturin series.

First off, I enjoyed it. There were still contrived details (i.e., Aubrey just happening to have completed the soundings of some distant harbor while he was blockading it in the distant past) yet overall things fit together.

There is one odd bit about Maturin, though. In the preceding books, he is presented as not having a clew about sails, ships or sailing and yet in this edition, O'Brian has him finding his sea legs (or "sea brain"), at last.

On pages 80-81, he discusses schooners and masts with Martin, apparently being able to identify some boat as a schooner based on its mast arrangement. He goes as far as comparing his skill with identifying birds based on "size, eye-stripe and voice", yet in other books Stephen frequently must correct him in this matter. Has he mastered one term and then allows Martin (who appears to know of these matters if not actually know them) to flounder without the actual answer?

On page 109, he goes as far as venturing to give his opinion of he desired approach to St. Michael's. Does all of this come about due to his ownership of the Surprise?

On page 136, Stephen has supper with Sir Joseph and we are told that when Blaine asked to hear how the Surprise captured her prizes, "Stephen fought the battle over again in the usual naval way, with small pieces of bread on the table-cloth". Yes, it is important to note that Stephen was not stuffed down in the hold awaiting broken bodies and splinters to extract (as he normally would have been found). I simply find it hard to believe that he is lubber (and duffer) in one book and highly nautical in the next.

All of these criticisms are minor overall. The book is soundly written, it has an engaging plot, some old wrongs are righted (with satisfying results) and we get a deeper understanding of Maturin and his love (one of the more cardboard aspects of the book). Of course, if you're this far (over halfway) in the series, you've got too much invested to not keep reading!

I do not yet own the next one (yet), so it may be some time before I am able to write about it.

Aubrey/Maturin

I came across references to The Dip, by Seth Godin while reading an entry on GapingVoid, a blog by Hugh Macleod, the book's illustrator. The cartoon in question spoke volumes to me since at the time, I was in the dip phase of my current gig at work.

Since Hugh's licensing terms are "pretty open", I have this cartoon on my wall at work (cube art) and also on a really nice coffee mug from Cafe Press.

The premise of the book is very simple (Even Seth confesses that.): Real winners, those who are the best in the world at something, quit often. And frequently. And early. And without remorse. The idea is that by quitting the wrong things, projects, jobs, etc. early and often, we save ourselves from dead-end tasks and focus on those that we can emerge as the best in the world in. Seth does define the term "the world" in rather limited ways; it can be so small a group as to be nearly meaningless (e.g., this is the best book I read yesterday) or as vast as the cosmos (e.g., of all the books I've ever read . . .).

The "dip" itself is that period of time, of low energy, when/where we want to quit what ever it is we are doing. When the going gets tough. Mile 20 of a marathon. The third week of a new job. The seventh year (I'm told) of a marriage. The trouble is, we've invested a ton of energy/money/time/emotion into whatever-it-is up to this point. So if we're going to quit now, we should have never started. And unless we're willing to put in the energy/money/time/emotion/etc. to be the best-in-the-world, we should never have started. The "dip" is a barrier to entry in that market. It's what keeps the other competitors to your title of best-in-the-world away. So if you really wish to be the best in the world at whatever you're attempting, you should keep going.

Much of the book is conventional wisdom. Or common sense. Jesus tells us to "count the cost". Lucy tells Mr. Tumnus that he's the nicest faun she's ever met, to which he responds that she's had a rather poor sampling (he's the first she's ever met, i.e., small-world problem). The book The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market tells us much the same things. GE and Welch tell us to get out of any market that we can't be #1 in. We're spending too much time on things we can't excel at. Seth asks us (pg 23) if we "have the guts to pick a different, smaller market to conquer?"

The Bard reflects that we must

See first that the design is wise and just: that ascertained, pursue it resolutely; do not for one repulse forego the purpose that you resolved to effect. (emphasis mine)

Maturin observes (on page 85 of The Letter of Marque) that "He who wishes to grow rich in a year, will be hanged in six months." Seth tells us that it is easy to be rich but hard to become rich. The effort involved in getting to our worthwhile and immense goals should, naturally, be immense.

What does this say about my boatbuilding? I'm not sure. I don't want to be the best in the world, or even in my block. I want a boat I can take some of my family in and go sailing on my local bodies of water (Lake Erie, LaDue, etc.). I decided long ago not to build a show boat but a sail boat. Does that make my effort lukewarm, mediocre, a cul-de-sac (Seth's dead-end)? I'm not sure.

A good book and one that I'll likely read again.

I went to my local Woodcraft (for something else) and got to talking to the owner's wife about my problem. She said to take a clothes iron, a wet wash cloth (terry) and steam the ding out. My ding/gouge is a good 3/8" deep at one end, so I was skeptical.

After steaming it for almost half an hour, this is what it looks like.

My friend Greg accuses me of over-analyzing this and he is right.

The pictures are lousy (too close?) but the trick raised the 3/8" almost flush. My screwdriver helped it the rest of the way. Now it is sanded with a little bit of mahogany dust and putty rubbed in. Tomorrow I'll sand off the putty and see what some varnish will do to blend it in.

And please, no condolences on my predicament. I earned and deserved every scratch. The urge to take it out (we're three years behind schedule) for the first time overrules better judgment. My impatience got the better of me.

Why hubris? Well, it was this boat's maiden voyage, the wind was blowing directly into the launch ramps, it was cold and rainy, I chose not to have my trusted Able-Body son on board but instead, two passengers and I was distracted enough not to lower the centerboard. So I couldn't make any way into the wind and was blown into the neighboring launch ramp's dock. Hubris and stupidity. I was blessed that the lake let me go with just a bruised gunwale and damaged pride.

Ed, Joan and the Giffords were the hardy who turned out at LaDue Reservoir.

The weather was delightful: mid 50's, sunny with fast-moving clouds and near 15 MPH wind (forecasted).

We launched KrazyKat on her first sailing experience and that was marvelous.

Ed had his sailing dingy and Joan was there having a good time. KrazyKat spent nearly three hours on the water over three different trips and logged one spot at just over 7 MPH. Five MPH was more usual but there were times when we had trouble making any headway (lee of the islands there). Ed and his dingy zipped in and out around the islands. When the telephoto pictures are developed we'll post some more.

Many thanks to Ed (and the rest of the Gifford crew) who were very helpful in getting KrazyKat launched.

The Children of Húrin (pronounced HOO-rin) is one of J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously published books (edited by his son and literary heir, Christopher Tolkien). I won't go into great detail about where, when and how it fits into The Lord of the Rings, mostly because I'll get it all wrong but also because it does and doesn't fit.

If you're a Rings fan, it's hard to say if you'll like it. I would recommend it just because it's Tolkien but it certainly adds to the richness of the world that he created. The characters (Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Gimli, etc.) are not present, the story is much too early/old for that. If you're not a Rings fan, I'd still recommend it. It's a neat story. At times you might think you're waiting for Beowulf to show up. In some ways, it is written in much the same way (excluding the lyrical poetry).

There are several pages of family trees that are quite helpful (in the back). They're not advertised and so if those things matter to you, go read them first. Only a couple of names will be familiar to you so if that sort of thing matters to you, go find and read them. They help in placing the story in its proper context.

I found the first few chapters someway pedantic since we get an overview of how we got to where Tolkien wants us to be. After the plot gets going, though, it was quite difficult to set down. Something of a cross between a history and a tragedy, I felt sorrow with and for the character and his family on a number of occasions.

There are a number of drawings by Alan Lee and they add to the book rather than detract. They're not Tolkien's line art, but they are pleasing.

I don't think it sold very well; Border's frequently has it on sale for 30% off and here's a coupon (that always seems to be refreshed/current).

In The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party, Dave Horowitz and Richard Poe construct a well-documented and chilling description of a real-life Bond Villain, toppling governments, rigging markets and inflicting his will, not through democratic means but rather funding revolution by buying his results. (See Cosmo in the film "Sneakers" .) Many sources are documented and the few I checked on stood up to scrutiny.

My first response to the book was one of despair. While trying to understand that, I was reminded of the sovereignty of God and the importance of remembering that, believing that and most importantly, resting in that fact. I was also struck by how we don't always get the elected official that we want quite so much as we seem to get the one that we deserve.

I don't appreciate the meddling, posturing and influences that appears to be going on today in our politics. Two or three people (or more) should be able to declare that they are running for such-and-such office, take turns standing on some stump somewhere, let us hear what they have to say about the issues, interact with them by asking meaningful, relevant questions and hearing the responses. It used to be called civil discourse, even debate.

What seems to be lacking in today's politics is the ability to be a good loser or even a good winner.

The message I'm hearing today is that if "we" don't win it will mean the end of society as we know it (regardless of who "we" is). When "we" do win (and why wouldn't "we" since "we" are the only ones who are right), we beat our chests, talk about moral supremacy and "mandates" and destroy the losers by humiliating them with our hatred. When "we" do lose, we cry "Foul!", discredit the winners by any possible means (real or false) and destroy them with our hatred. Not a very enlightened way to run a system.

It's the need to win at any and all costs. To the point of destroying the opponents in any way possible. I am so not looking forward to our current election cycle.

Last night we christened the KrazyKat with some Spanish Cava and about thirty friends. The mosquitos didn't end up being too bad, the light went early but it didn't rain and the wind stayed calm enough to allow us to hoist sail and show off Chloe's excellent job.

Then we sang "Happy Birthday" to Katie who turned one yesterday and had cake and ice cream. Some of the neighbors came over and I was able to show them the fruits of all the noise they'd been hearing for the past few months.

Some background on the name. Bill Watterson, the author of my favorite comic strip Calvin & Hobbes (comics), was heavily influenced by George Herriman, the author of another favorite, Krazy Kat (comics).

Well, my boat is a catboat, which means that its beam (width) is half as wide (6') as it is long (12') and has its mast way up in the eyes of the boat (really far forward). There are a couple of other characteristics of the cat, but this will suffice. I'm crazy. Crazy for building her, crazy for wanting to take her out onto Lake Erie, just crazy. So, Watterson to Herriman plus catboat plus insanity yields KrazyKat.

Exploring Twitter today. It's kinda like a blog but you can do it from your mobile, IM, the web, maybe other locations. Each entry is called a "tweet" and is typically very short. Just another way to clutter the web and ruin your privacy!

This entry is set to auto update whenever I send an update to Twitter.