Things I Know I Know, v. 2.0

Yes, this is my first post in who knows how long and I am going to talk about pie.

I decided this year that I was going to finally learn to make pie, by which I mean pie crust.  Mostly because it seems like a good thing to learn.  Also because the payoff is, well...pie.

So awhile back I made a pumpkin pie because I like pumpkin pie and I wouldn't have to worry about a top crust.  The filling was pretty good because...pumpkin pie filling, how hard is that?  The crust was better than store crust but that's about it. 

Then, I made an apple pie with a lattice top, which was really not that good, though edible.

Then, I didn't make any pie for awhile because I was busy or lazy or didn't want pie.

Then, I was in the store the other day and blueberries were actually available in pints for a reasonable price because it's blueberry season or something.  So I thought, hey, blueberry pie!

It took two and a half pints of blueberries to get two pints of good blueberries.  And the pie crust was the crumbliest pie crust ever.  And it is not a pretty pie.

But it tastes pretty darn good.  Even the crust.

--The dogs and I went tracking on Sunday for the first time since before Blue got his TDX.  They both started a bit badly then did great after that. I'm going to spend the summer rebuilding Billie's confidence, I think.  I'll use scent circles and serpentines, which were not how I originally started her, but which have worked a pip with Blue and which I think she'll respond well too. Someone stole Blue's end article, which was too bad as it was one of the articles from his passing TDX track.  But, oh well.  He did great across the parking lot and around the buildings so is now begun on the path to VST (variable surface tracking).  

Variable surface tests are 600 to 800 yards long, 33 to 66% non-vegetative (concrete, asphalt, dirt, etc), 3 to 5 hours old, 4 to 8 turns, with four articles (cloth, leather, plastic, and metal), and with one 'moment of truth' turn (at least 30 yards from any fringeable surface in all directions).  Any number of people, dogs, cars, etc can cross the track.  The track has to involve buildings (loading docks, stairs, entryways, etc).  The pass rate is about 5%.  Good times.

--As of this evening I am officially on vacation until a week from Monday.  Tomorrow I will go out to breakfast, walk dogs (if it isn't raining), do a bit of front yard weeding, do laundry and pack.  Saturday morning bright and early I fly out to Flagstaff, AZ.

--Next week I wll be at Starry Heaven, a spin-off of Blue Heaven, workshopping my new (and still unfinished) novel.  I had a great time at Blue Heaven last year and expect to have an equally great time at SH this year.  And it will be vacation!!  In Flagstaff!!

--Apparently this is all I have to say.

Blue: [Slides his bone under the ottoman.  Barks at it to come out]

Me: That is not going to work

Blue: [Stares at me]

Me: If you sit, I'll get it for you.

Blue: [Stares at me some more.  Tries to get it out himself.  Goes back to barking at it.]

Me: Hey, no barking!

Blue: [Stares at me]

Me: Sit and I will get it for you.

Blue: [After much consideration, sits]

Me: [Gets his bone]

Blue: Thank God!

Me: You're welcome.

(In the time it took me to write this he has abandoned the bone for a tatty piece of fleece.)

Egads!  It's been a while since I updated.  So, here, some miscellany for you:

1. AKC confirms that Blue is the first German Pinscher to earn a TDX.  So YAY again!!

2. Was at Wiscon last weekend and had a v. nice time mostly seeing people I don't get to see all that often, meeting a few new people, going to readings, hanging out, and doing (a v. little) bit of writing and critting.

3. I am working this weekend and next weekend and all the week days in between.  Two weeks (?) after that, though, I'll be going to Starry Heaven in Flagstaff for a week.  Hurray!!

4. I have handed in (uploaded) my not-at-all-completed novel for SH people to rip apart.  I'm sad I didn't get farther on it, but happy I have another half a novel written.

5. Blue is randomly afraid of the hardwood floors (by which I mean that he forgets that he fears them 95% of the time.  Then he remembers and gets trapped on the rug in the living room).

6. I am also a scorekeeper at our local agility trial this weekend. Here is how people are--Do you have the scores done?  Are there scores yet?  Where are the scores for this class?  Do you have my scores?  Can you just look up my scores--just mine? What are the course times?  Why don't you have the course times memorized? Why aren't the scores up yet?  Hmmm...I don't know, perhaps because you keep ASKING QUESTIONS!  (PS, it's actually mostly fun, but good lord are people clueless about anything outside their own personal sphere of need)

7. Also, do not be a chatty runner.  Just don't.

Blue passed his TDX test today at Rock Cut Park in Rockford, Illinois.

A TDX test is 800 to 1000 yards long, 3 to 5 hours old, has 4 artlcles (1 at the beginning, 1 at the end, 2 somewhere on the track), two crosstracks, and at least two changes of cover or obstacles.

Blue's track was 832 yards long.  We had the second track.  The day was cool and sunny.  We were to go to the end of the parking lot and wait in the shade with our tracklayer until the judges called us, then walk back to meet them.  The first dog passed, which was lovely, though it meant we were waiting a bit longer than we might otherwise.  We got the signal and walked back to meet the judges, then walked another good bit to get to the start of the track.  The judges pointed out the start (really they pointed out the marker to the entrance to where the start would be once we got in there).  The cover was knee-high grass with brambles, bushes and vines.  I put Blue's harness on and took him up to the start.  He took off while I was picking up the start article then stopped, said what the heck am I doing, sniffed around a bit and finally settled in to track.  I could see the track pretty clearly, though this is often tricky as there are also deer trails and other things that look like tracks out there, but it is nice when you're on the track to get the feel that you're right.  

The first leg was quite short and he made his first turn nicely.  He had a crosstrack on the second leg, someone later said that he gave an indication, but I didn't notice it and he went on.  Made his second turn beautifully.  His third turn was up near the woods and between some tallish brambly bushes.  He checked out both sides of a bush, started up one way, came back, then he started down the track, but his line was hung up on a tree and it pulled him back while I untangled it.  Some dogs would see this as a correction and take a long time to work back to the track, he found the leg again and took it very nicely.  This was a long leg (abt 220 yards, I think--I don't have the map in front of me) with a cross track and his second article (counting the start article as his first).  We were almost half way through the track by now and I was getting v. worried about missing an article--if you do miss they blow the whistle immediately so I knew we hadn't missed one, it's that I didn't want to blow it when he was doing so well.  But when we got to the article his indication was great.  I picked it up, waved it so the judges could see it and went on.  

The end of this long leg went into the woods.  He entered beautifully, wound around some scrub trees and started down what was clearly a deer trail.  I said, whoa are you sure and he said yeah, come on, jeez.  And I did see shoeprints on the track so I went on down the trail with him and he was right.  The map says that there was a turn in the woods, but in my head we came out of the woods a bit, made the turn and then went back in.  This turn came almost to a trail of mown grass but turned just before.  We came out of the woods again, went across a mown track--he was starting to get hot and had a little trouble with this.  I think he wanted the track to be on the short grass and so he spent some time going up and down the mown grass before finally digging in and going across.  Finally, found the third article (just 150 yards from the end), made the last turn and then it was just 50 yards to the glove. 

He gave a tiny tiny indication for the glove at the end and I thought, the judges will never believe that was the indication and I tried to get him to come back and nose it again.  He came back and stood on it.  I decided that was a good enough indication.  And it was.

It looks like he did the whole track in about fifteen minutes.  A very respectable time.  For once, partly because he took his corners so quicly and smoothly I had no idea where we were in the field or what the track looked like.  Usually on a passing track I could go back out and rewalk the track a year later.  I don't even think I could find this track again.

Five out of six dogs passed, which is unusual for TDX, but it was a great day, a really great club (they probably have more Champion Trackers than any other club) and very nice tracks.

Blue: I want to go outside

Me: You were just out

Blue: [pace pace pace] No, really.  I want to go out.

Me: No, I'm busy.  Cut it out.

Blue: [pace pace pace.] 

[Mysterious quiet]

Blue: Tra la la la la!  I have your wallet!

Me: Hey!!

Blue: Wallet!!!!

Me: So, you want to go out?

Blue: Tra la la la-- OMGYAY!!!!!

Because you know you want them.

I was trying to capture Blue running, but a) he didn't really do it anyway and b) I obviously need to work on taking pictures of bodies in motion. However, here are some pictures of both Blue and Billie (who takes crap pictures so I was glad to finally get some decent ones.






The rest are after the cut:

( Even more gratuitous pics... )

So, in TDX, there are four articles on the track. Three of them are supposed to be articles of a personal nature--a scarf or a belt or socks or a sneaker (I've had all those in tests). Your dog has to find them and you have to have them at the end of the test. Therefore, you have to have something to carry said articles in. And it has to be something that you can stuff an article (which could be someone's sneaker!) into without stopping (because if the dog is on the track and wants to go, you would be foolish to say, hey, wait just a minute while I deal with this sneaker).

Most of the tests I've been in have been in cold weather and I have a couple of jackets and a fleece vest with really big pockets. But the test next week could be pretty hot and wearing a jacket or a fleece vest seems like it might be, you know, hot. Also, it'd be good to carry a bottle of water for Blue.

So, I'm thinking that I'm going to have to come up with something by next Saturday to carry articles in. And after pondering my local options (of which there is one, though it is a good option) I think--hey--remember how I went through this same discussion with myself fifteen years ago when I started tracking with my first dog? And remember how I bought a hunting/fishing/something vest? Remember how I never wore it? I wonder if I still have that?

And even though I cleared out 99.9% of my Excess Clothes I Never Wear when I moved, it turns out I still have it:



It has twelve pockets, including a great big one in the back and a pocket that fits a water bottle perfectly. Best of all, it still fits!

Although I'm a little disappointed I have no excuse to buy this.
 

1. When Blue runs in the backyard, there are moments when he leaps and his front legs and his back legs are both stretched completely straight out.  He looks like a tiny gazelle.

2. I finished Blood Engines and The End of Overeating, both of which were pretty good in their own ways.  Maybe I'll write more about each later.  I'm still reading American Prometheus, and probably will be for the foreseeable future as it's a big book.  It would be nice if it had less communism and more physics.

3. I have read all the SH first fifties and now need to actually write my crits up.

4. I have 45K on Perfect Angel and if I can ever link up (what is currently) chapter eighteen with the rest of the story so far, I'll be at a good point to go back and fix whatever's fixable for now.

5. Lately I do not feel like a writer.  Or maybe it's that I don't feel like an author.  It might be a good idea to get some short stories in the mail or, alternately, written.

The news is that David Souter is planning to retire from the Supreme Court when the session ends in June.

I remember (yes, I am *that* old) when Souter was appointed by George Bush the first.  It was clear that Bush expected him to be a conservative justice, but hoped that no one else would recognize this fact and he'd get through without a confirmation fight (which he did).  He has proven to be thoughtful and intelligent and interested in the law and the Constitution and justice.  And he has not been what one might label a 'conservative' justice much to the consternation of the people who put him on the bench.

I told people the minute Bush chose him--as soon as I'd read his bio--that he would not be who they thought he was.  Indeed, he has proven to be pretty much exactly who I thought he would be.  Because living your own life conservatively, as Souter did and does, is not the same as being politically conservative.  David Souter and I have a lot in common (other than the Supreme Court Justice thing) and I recognize him in ways it's clear that Bush and others who pushed for him did not.  Not being married, not living extravagantly, not doing drugs or having secret affairs with other people's husbands or wives has nothing to do with someone's political views. 

They say that Bush v Gore was incredibly painful for Souter because he felt very strongly that it was a partisan decision and not about the law or justice.  They say that he's really never felt the same about the Supreme Court since.  That makes me sad and angry.  Because if you remember at the time we were told to suck it up and get over Bush v Gore because it was fine.  We were just angry because we lost.  And it makes me sad because David Souter is the justice we should all aspire to be.

So, if he does retire I hope he gets to spend many, many more years in New Hampshire hiking in the mountains and doing whatever else it is that he loves to do.  And I want to thank him for the nineteen years he's spent on the Supreme Court.  We needed him--desperately.  Thanks, George the I for appointing him.  That was awesome.

When I was out for a walk earlier, there was a girl (early high school age, I'd guess) walking up and down the sidewalk, talking rather loudly on her phone--as one does.  She said that this older mean boy punched this (much younger) kid's imaginary friend and the kid said, 'You're going to pay for that.  You're going to pay!' And later the imaginary friend got his revenge.

But, sadly, I couldn't hear the details of what the imaginary friend actually did to pay back the kid who punched him.

1. Blue was the first draw for the Pecatonic TDX test in Rock Cut State Park in some place called Loves Park, IL (near Rockford) on May 17th, which is...good, yeah, good.

2. I am at 41K on the new novel and at that stage (one of many similar stages) where I'm not sure it's actually ever going to make sense as a novel.  Scene by scene, maybe, but a cohesive whole?  Hmmm....

3. I'm currently reading the following books, about which more later (I hope): American Prometheus--a bio of Robert Oppenheimer--Blood Engines, The End of Overeating, and Women in the Line of Fire.

4. You all know this already, but ccfinlay 's book The Patriot Witch is out.  I've read it and it's good.  Someday along with all the other books I'm going to write about, I will write about this one.  The short version--it's got witches and the American Revolution and interesting characters and action and adventure and difficult decisions and it's a fun read.  Can't wait to read the next one.

5. Someday remind me to tell you the story of how friends of mine think that sarah_prineas is Stephenie Meyers, who (in their version of reality) is a Morman, lives in Iowa City, and is a friend of mine. 

Okay, actually that pretty much is the story.  Except for how funny it was when said friends and I were actually having this conversation.

When I was really young our pancake syrup was the kind you made from boiling brown sugar and water. (We also put bacon fat on popcorn instead of butter for awhile. Don't ever do this. Seriously). I never liked it. It was too sweet for me so I'd just have butter on pancakes and waffles, which was okay. Then, finally I had maple syrup. Good maple syrup is light and not too sweet and awesome.



(original photo from bgblogging under a CC license)

There used to be a restaurant when I was growing up that was only open in the spring during maple syrup season. All they served were pancakes and maple syrup. Or maple syrup and pancakes.  Maybe coffee.  Also, you could take a tour of the maple syrup making facilities which, as far as I remember consisted of a large vat with syrup in it and a lot of steam. The restaurant was way (way, way!) out in the middle of nowhere, reached only by driving for many miles on muddy rutted dirt roads. It was run by a family who also had a large-ish dairy farm and every spring all the relatives would go out to the restaurant to wait tables and run the cash register all day Saturday and Sunday (I'm not sure it was even open during the week). One of the sons was a state heavyweight wrestling champion two years in a row and they lived as far on the west side of the school district as we lived on the west, which was probably a distance of twenty-five miles or so. The late late bus from school would take them home first and then us which was a really very long bus ride, but they had to be home to milk cows (and we weren't milking at the time).

My parents made maple syrup for several years after I went to college. The process for which consists of tapping a lot of sugar maples and then cooking and cooking and cooking the sap into syrup. They had an ancient stove in the backroom just for maple syrup making. Good maple syrup weather is when it's warm (50s) during the day and below freezing at night. Iowa does not have good maple syrup weather.

These are my new socks:




Also, a hat:




Yes, this hat was kind of expensive.

Yes, I look like a dork in it (tho that is not the hat's fault)

However, it is a really good hat and I bought it because I need a good sun/rain hat (and have for a long time), especially for tracking.

Plus, it has a secret pocket.

1. Billie had two vet appointments today which cost heaps (heaps!) of money and it was all strictly maintenance oriented.  First, we visited the acupuncture vet for, well, acupuncture.  Also, to refill a herbal prescription and get some chiropractic adjustment.  Then, we went to the Western vet for three or four different blood tests (phenobarb levels, KBr levels, heartworm check, and a general panel), rabies, distemper, and lepto shots, heartworm pills and probably something I'm forgetting.

2. It's been 11 weeks since Billie's last seizure.  And she's only had one seizure in the last ten months.

3. I bought flowers today, though I haven't had time to plant them.  It's supposed to be cold(er) and rainy all weekend so I hope they don't die from me forgetting to water them before I get a chance to plant them.

4. I am just about at 40K on the novel (and am procrastinating on said novel Right Now by writing this entry).  There's about 700 words still in there that are probably going to go, but for now I'll pretend I'm at 40K.

5. I went to the store where I have bought a lot of tops I really like for the past, like, five or six years and everything in there was unbelievably ugly.  Shirring and ruffles and big, huge flowers.  There were a few tops that were not immediately ugly, but they were all in colors that either would look v. bad on me or I neither want nor need.  Oh, fashion!  Why can't you leave the decent clothes alone?

6. Wow, this was a totally boring post.  Tomorrow, excitement will abound.  I'm almost completely certain.  Really.

I get one of Billie's prescriptions from the local drugstore, but the other one is no longer a human prescription (though it was once in, like, the 1800s).  I used to get it at the vet school but since she doesn't have a neurologist out there any more they won't let us get it there unless I do her blood work out there.  As I already have three vets  for two dogs (long story), I'm not adding another one.  So, now I'm getting her prescription via mailorder.

I ordered for the first time on Friday and it came today, addressed to:

CANINE BILLY COATES
[address]
[address]
[city][state][zip]

Included in the box with the medicine was a Milk Bone.

So, I'm working on my second novel (not like I've finished my first novel, but whatever) and I'm thinking a bit about the process--about my process, because there isn't a process for writing a novel.  Right now, I'm starting to get a handle on The Way I Want to Write the Novel and The Way That Might Work a Little Better (someday I hope to add The Way That Might Actually Work, but I think there might be several more Ways That Might Work a Little Better first).

First, know that I'm not an outliner, though I have been known to do a bit of planning and I have a certain structure that I try to follow.  My novels start with some characters that interest me in some sort of situation (my short stories more often than not start with either a title or a first line)

The Way That I Want to Write the Novel

• Put my head down and go
• Ignore when it goes off the rails
• Figure things out on the fly
• Go
• Go
• Go

Pros:

• Stuff gets written
• Some of it is really good stuff

Cons

• Novel goes seriously off the rails at some point
• I mean, seriously
• Some of it really sucks
• There are many moments of woe and despair

The Way That Might Work A Little Better

• Put my head down and go
• Realize that it is starting to go off the rails
• Write another fifty pages
• Say to myself, Self, perhaps I could STOP and re-read what I've written so far so that I can figure out where it has gone off the rails
• Convince myself to do this by promising that I can also fix scenes that end too abruptly and other small stuff
• Re-read
• Shove it back onto the rails via timely and, one hopes, in the end, good revision
• Write until it goes off the rails again (plus fifty pages or so)
• Repeat

Pros:

• Stuff still gets written
• Some of it is still pretty good
• I learn that I wrote that character revelation three times already and cut it down to once sometime before the end of the novel
• I spend less time saying, omg, this is the suckiest plot ever and fix some of the suck instead
• Less woe and despair (?)  Still to be tested.

Cons:
I will let you know when I finish the novel and figure out what I've got.

The tracking test--the first for our local kennel club--went off without a hitch. We had two dogs pass--the first dog and the last dog. The first dog was a Briard and my understanding from the owner is that it's the first Briard in 15 years to get a tracking title. So, woo!! It did a brilliant job, took the turns like it was on rails, had a little bit of trouble on turn three, but worked it out, found the glove at the end and even picked it up and retrieved it to the handler. Lots of fun to watch and it was on a track that was easy to see.

I took unusually bad pictures today, but here's a decent picture of the start of track one. Sadly, there are no judges, trackers, or dogs in this picture:



No one passed on tracks 2, 3, and 4, which was too bad as they were nice tracks. One dog got all the way to the last turn and then went left instead of right which is always heartbreaking.

The other passing dog was a smooth-coated collie, who was a slow and methodical tracker, but got the job done and found the glove (this wa the track with the deer graveyard, which had apparently been cleaned up overnight by a coyote or two)

The judges used the alternate track as a certification track and that dog did well enough to certify. This is a map of the alternate track, which I laid, one of the corners on this is actually wrong (I didn't draw the map) but, if it shows up, I thought it'd show people who are interested what a TD-level track can look like:



If you click through, there's a larger version.

1. Our local Kennel Club tracking test is this weekend.  Today was plotting day.  The judges came in last night, checked out the fields briefly yesterday and then did the actual plotting today.  On plotting day, they walk the track, set the flags, the judges and the tracklayers make their maps and the tracklayers usually walk their tracks again to make sure they know what they're doing.  Things moved around once the judges arrived and actually saw the fields.  One field had been burned (as you know if you've been following along at home).  The judges decided to put three tracks in the back fields, which involved moving tracklayers around.  And they weren't going to plot an alternate track and then they were, so I will end up laying the alternate because the person who'd volunteered was busy doing something else (important and also test-related).

2. While we were at the park for the plotting, a woman (in her fifties) told me that she got so addicted to the Twilight series that she had to go out and buy books 3 and 4 because the person loaning them to her didn't get them to her fast enough and she Could Not Wait.  Someday I want to write books that people want to read that badly.

3. In one of the fields that we're using for the tracking test there are a bunch of deer carcasses--like, five.  It's like an elephant graveyard except with deer.  The track is plotted so as to avoid the deer graveyard, but this was actually part of the something else the original alternate track layer was doing when the judges were ready to plot the alternate track.

4. When I make banana bread, I always feel like I should be making two loaves, even though I don't want two loaves of banana bread.  It just feels wrong to put that single pan in the oven by itself. (You might note from this that I am currently baking banana bread.)

5. It was supposed to be terrible, horrible really bad weather today, but it hasn't been.  There may be a few thunderstorms tonight but then it's supposed to be a decent tracking day tomorrow (which means, it might rain but there will not be lightning).

6. The alternate track is laid at Ketelsen Marsh.  Presumably, this is sometimes marshy.  Since I have to lay this track I hope it doesn't rain a lot tonight because I don't actually want to know how marshy it can get.

I hope the people who were so, so outraged about Amazon on Sunday (mostly not ppl on my flist who were generally more cautious) will take a moment now to say thanks to the IT people who gave up their Sunday to fix the problem. 

As someone who is on call 24/7 for this kind of OMG!! stuff that can't possibly wait another minute, i just want to say that facts are better than outrage and the idea that getting facts couldn't wait one FREAKING day because OMG something better be done even though it's Sunday and a holiday weekend for a lot of people is perhaps one that people might possibly spend some time rethinking.  It hurts nothing to say--hmmm, something seems to be happening, let me see what the company will say about it in the next two or three actual business working days.  And the outrage will be out there a lot longer and a lot more widespread than any explanations of what actually happened.

And for those people who still don't believe that it was a mistake--yeah, work in IT for awhile.

Later, I will address the outrage over the Obamas' not properly adopting their new (rehomed) puppy (would that everyone would take such care in educating themselves, finding a breed that fits their requirements and lifestyle, finding a responsible breeder and rehoming a puppy whose first home didn't work out).