Rowing family; 1x

This week, members of my rowing family are in town for a visit from Taiwan, and already it has been so great to see them. This morning, K and I went out for a row with T, which made for a break from our usual routine of getting up and hopping in the double. Instead, K rowed in the double with T, and I got to take out K's single.

I haven't been in the single for quite a while, I'm realizing. The double is easier to manage when there are just two of us, and K and I don't feel a strong compulsion to mix things up too much. But the single is a reality check--everything that happens in the boat happens because of my direct action, so there's no room for excuses if things don't go well.

It's also different socially, because there's no reason to talk to anybody or reason to worry about staying on the same page as someone else. It's much more like going on a long bike ride by myself. There are some benefits to it, but altogether it's just a different experience.

On my first lap around the lake, I hadn't yet adjusted my footstretchers to just the right spot, so I just spent the time getting warmed up and getting a feel for the boat. For the second lap, though, I was able to reset my footstretchers at the right point to enable me to really pick up and MOVE the boat. I wasn't going all that fast, mind you, but it was nice to remember that when rowing is done properly, it feels nice and the boat moves almost of its own volition.

It has taken me a long time to reach the point in the single where I get that sense of power and speed, but it's good to know that I can reattain that state with relative ease when I haven't been in the single for a while.

On the other hand, I have a nice open blister now on the inside of my right thumb, and what looks like a blood blister on my middle finger (proximal phalange III, for those who know the terminology).

PS--blister update

I've got a damned Oozing, Bleeding Cracker! On my thumb!

It hurts.

The jellyfish project

Well, I'm a bit afraid that one of the potential recipients of this project will end up seeing these and the surprise will be ruined, but I can't help myself (annikusrex might be the closest to knowing who, but it isn't sytharin--sorry, sis). I have to show them to you.

These are a long-term project that is finally nearing completion. I made the bodies in ceramics, with some help from my ceramics instructor. I had to buy fake sea-glass because I couldn't get enough of the real stuff. I strung the glass with copper wire that should develop a patina over time, and then figured out how to add in the lights. The lights were a pain--I got everything put together, and then at the very end I apparently wired them backwards so they wouldn't light. Last night, I figured out how to wire them properly.

I probably love them more than you do, in the way that mad scientists love hideous monster-children. They were probably too expensive to justify the effort. But they look awesome at night.