the bouncey zone

In case you hadn’t noticed, bounceyzone has a new look!

Actually, it’s much more involved than that. Over the past month I’ve been moving all of my web sites. First, unclecharliessoap.com went to Weebly as an experiment in free web service. Then I deleted several web apps that were unnecessary.

The rest moved to a hosting company that costs half as much as the previous provider. The old company can expect a cancel-my-account notice in the morning. Just in time, too, because the service period expires at the end of this month.

I’d like to merge my various photo and video galleries eventually. (See side bar for links.) They might end up going to something like Flickr or YouTube, so someone else can have the headache of maintaining them. Notice how I’ve done test posts using both of those services.

Or maybe not. There are some advantages to retaining control. For now I’m just happy to have them on the new server with the photos and their descriptions all still the same. That’s the hard part about merging different galleries: Keeping the titles and descriptions intact. I’ll figure it out.

Other news since the previous post: We went to the circus for Scott’s fifth birthday. Sold soap and scarves at Norman’s Medieval Fair and at Wiesenfeuer Baronial. Also caught up with some business bookkeeping and filed our income taxes. Somehow I managed this without teaching the boys to cuss – though they did hear a few things that would have made Samuel Adams smile.

Conestoga 14 was this weekend. Beltane Games is next weekend. An exciting 10th anniversary vacation in Hawaii is next month.

Busy times. Now you’re more or less up to date. Hope you like the new look!

Blake turned 2 years old today! Here’s a brief video:

He got a balance bike (like a normal bicycle but without pedals, training wheels, or kick stand) for his birthday. More video of that later.

Tonight we’re going out for a modest birthday dinner. The real party will be another time. Scott’s birthday is one month from today, so they might share a formal party.

At the moment I’m between road trips. The weekend before last we went to AnimeFest in Dallas. It was a good little vacation. The boys stayed home with their grandmother, we met up with some friends at the convention, and we stayed in a nice (though a bit overpriced) hotel. The dealers room and video rooms alone were worth the trip.

Along the way we had supper at El Fenix and lunch at Whole Paycheck – uh, I mean, Whole Foods Market. We shopped at REI twice, once to buy a travel clothesline, and a second time because their big Labor Day sale was nearing its end. I like to visit those places when in DFW. We don’t have them in OKC.

We tested the “wear 1 pack 2″ clothes packing system. Thus the clothesline. It worked pretty well, with amazingly light backpacks, but we learned two useful lessons.

First, bring clothes that can be wrung out and hung to dry without staying stretched out. Second, keep up with the nightly hand-washing if you don’t have a washing machine nearby. We still had clean clothes, but one particular shirt turned out to be dirty when it was needed.

Last weekend was Grand Assembly of Archers. It was a rainy weekend, so we didn’t bother to camp. Shooting arrows in the rain is more fun than it sounds. Next time I want to bring the crossbow.

Later this week we’re driving to Gatlinburg to visit some of Dana’s family. It’ll be a great trip. I already have two audio books lined up for the drive, beyond the usual podcasts, music, and hour upon hour of Dave Ramsey. One is “It’s Called Work for a Reason” by Larry Winget. The other is “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall.

I picked the running book because it comes universally recommended by barefoot runners. I’m not quite one of those yet, but I’ve been interested in the concept since reading Tim Ferriss’s article about his Vibram Five Fingers shoes. (I really want some of those monkey-toe shoes, but I’m still watching for the KSO model to go on sale.)

At least 3/4 of the average day I’m barefoot. I can get away with it because I’m at home with the boys. When we go outside, I just put on my trusty Chaco sandals, or my “real” shoes if we’re going somewhere fancy. They come off again when we get home. I learned this from the Japanese. No shoes tracking mud inside means a cleaner floor.

But after looking into how feet work, I noticed something interesting. I’ve always been clumsy. I trip over carpet, stumble on stairs, and generally clomp around – when wearing shoes. But when I take off the shoes, suddenly I’m much more graceful. I can change speeds in an instant and turn on a dime. “Clomp clomp clomp” turns into an everyday sort of ballet.

How this happens mechanically is simple. With shoes, my feet land heel-toe and lift off again like I’m wearing concrete. Barefoot, my feet usually land towards the middle or the front, and my step pushes off with the ball and toes. Turning, pivoting, or stretching also generally happen closer to the toes. Skin grips ground pretty well, and its sensory feedback lets me adjust posture for balance when the surface changes.

I don’t have think about it very often, it just happens. I go from gorilla to gazelle. Well, relatively speaking. I’m sure compared to any barefoot athlete I’m still clumsy. But it’s an improvement.

So I’ve almost decided that the barefoot or near-barefoot believers might be onto the right idea. If not for running outside, then at least for ordinary walking indoors.

Today I’m going to bake cookies for Scott’s pre-K class. We’re on the schedule to bring snacks tomorrow. Most likely I’ll make oatmeal cranberry cookies. Just start with any oatmeal raisin recipe, use cranberry “raisins” instead, and add some extra. The effect is subtle but tasty.

Today was Scott’s first day in the local public school system. Of course I captured the day on video. As an experiment, this time I put it on YouTube after editing in iMovie.

Can you tell I don’t like it when schools assign homework..?

This morning Scott stood up in front of the church and sang several songs with a group of other kids. It was the culmination of the past week’s Vacation Bible School. The songs had dance and gesture (loosely based on sign language) components. Scott had a great time with the dancing. He loves to dance, the sillier the better.

I figured out something as he waved his arms and spun around with the others. I’ve always wondered, how is it that parents can still be so proud of their children, even after watching them mess up in painfully obvious ways?

Part of it, the part that occurred to me, is that we knew our children back when all they could do was cry and explode diapers. Then one day Junior Thunderpants feeds himself, plants his own bottom on the toilet, and dances around to a song I’ve never heard before.

I’m not just proud – I’m delighted. Of course I expect more, but it’s a great start. Now if we could just get him to wipe himself and put his toys away…

Scott and I have been learning how to make bread. Really it’s not my first try at bread-making. Once, during a summer break in the middle of college, I tried to make bread the old-fashioned way. The end result was inedible pretzel-colored cannon balls that were mailed to a camp in Alabama. Dana still talks about them.

Around the same time, I made a stack of serviceable pizza crusts. It was a lot of work for not much gain.

This time we’re trying a different method. Rather than kneading and rising and kneading and rising ad nauseam, we’re doing it the lazy way.

First mix up some very wet dough. (Scott can help with this.) Let it sit for a couple hours, then put it in the fridge. Next day, carve off a piece, shape it into a ball, let it rest for an hour or so, and bake for half an hour. Cool on a wire rack before serving. Easy.

Results? Chewy crust, good flavor, dense texture. I’ve had worse from actual bakeries. The yeast packets had expired two years ago, so today I’m trying again with fresher yeast. Maybe it’ll rise better next time.

Where to find more information:

Article on Mother Earth News
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Video instructions
Authors web site

Earlier in the week I had my first accident with the antique double-edge razor. I was doing a late night shave and shower, and was a little tired and distracted. I didn’t notice that the razor’s twisty knob was a tiny bit loose, causing the blade to be a little wobbly. Thus I got a few cuts, one of them bad enough to still be noticeable several days later.

For a few days I allowed my face to recover, using my electric razor to ward off the homeless look and applying neosporin as an after-shave lotion. Then I bravely got back onto the metaphorical horse – this time making sure the dang knob was tight enough. No problems since. Really, I’ve had cuts from modern disposable razors that were almost as bad.

Double-edge and electric razors make a good team. The blade does a great job, if used correctly, but it works best in the middle of a hot shower. The electric is better for a quick touch-up when I’m in a hurry. Both are useful.

In a little while we’re going out to dinner. Father’s Day ya know. I hope the restaurants aren’t too crowded.

Vacation Bible School started today. Scott is going this year, and Dana is helping the teachers. The theme is life in ancient Rome from the perspective of early Christians.

For a few hours it’s just me and the baby. Blake loves to play by himself, with no big brother to interfere. Especially if he gets to watch Baby Signing Time too.

So far I’ve shaved with my 1960 Gillette five times. I’ve already learned a few lessons:

1. Always use shaving cream for every pass, including touch-ups. This might also help with more recent blade designs.

2. Put as little pressure as possible on the razor. Let it do the job under its own weight.

3. Lock the door in case a certain 4 year old barges in and starts talking. Distractions cause blood loss.

I think the first blade might be dull enough to be replaced. No problem, there are nine more in the dispenser.

Last Friday I picked up another double-edge razor from a garage sale. Here’s a picture:

It’s a Schick Krona, which seems to be a close copy of the Gillette Super Speed from the 1960s or 70s. I haven’t completely figured out its history yet. The black handle resembles a Pentel mechanical pencil from the early 80s. It came with a plastic storage box, one new blade in a dispenser, one used blade (ew), and a very brief instruction manual.

The sellers were happy to get rid of Grandpa’s old razor for one dollar. I’ll have to visit garage sales more often!

I haven’t decided if I want to keep it as a spare, offer it as a gift to a worthy relative, or resell it for a profit. It mostly depends on what else turns up.

I mentioned last time that shaving goes back to Roman times. Or earlier, if you look at Egyptian writings and ancient cave paintings. Yet when I wanted to try a shave from an earlier era, I chose a method that dates back only about a hundred years. Why?

Until the safety razor came along – it was invented in the 1800s and made practical shortly before WW1 – people used straight razors. The exact design changed over the millennia, but in essence it was a very sharp knife. Could you hold a dagger to your own throat and hope to remove only hair?

Some men can do it. Me, not so much. It’s on my to-do list. Maybe next year.

Throughout the straight razor era it was common in cities to visit the barber for a shave. The barber was a trained professional. He did thousands of shaves every year, and knew how to do it right. All of the customer’s friends were there for a shave, too. It was practically a social forum.

Wives sometimes shaved their husbands. Rural aristocrats had their servants do the shaving. Country boys and mountain men just grew beards. All of that changed with the safety razor and do-it-yourself shaving.

I’ve been thinking about trying an authentic barber shop. Not for a shave, but for a haircut. Last time I went to a real barber, about 10 years ago, he talked at length about the importance of forming long term relationships with customers. We were only on our first haircut together, so it was a little creepy. Never went back.

Those who know me might be thinking: “Charlie has a beard. Now he’s talking about shaving. Oh no!”

Don’t worry about it. Since last summer I’ve been wearing a goatee in summer and a full beard in winter. Even with a “full” beard, my neck still needs a shave.

I like the goatee though. It makes me look several years younger.

This past weekend was SoonerCon. Rather than go home Friday night and stay in the convention hotel (the Biltmore on Meridian in OKC) on Saturday, as we’ve done in the past, we decided to stay both nights next door at the Econo Lodge. It costs about half as much, so in effect we got two nights for the price of one.

We quickly learned that we would have been happier elsewhere. Our motel made the Biltmore look good, which I hadn’t thought possible. The furniture was battered, the beds were hard, the pillows were flat, the housekeeper was very rude in a right-now-or-never kind of way…

But let’s dwell on the positive. This is what I liked about that Econo Lodge:

1. Shower head produced a delightfully luxurious spray of water. Really, no sarcasm.
2. Missing alarm clock was one less thing for the baby to chew on.
3. Toast at the free continental breakfast was okay.
4. The hair dryer worked. I used it to dry out some damp clothes.
5. The window had a nice coating that kept out most of the afternoon solar heat.
6. Couldn’t hear swimming pool noises from inside the room, even though we were right next to it.
7. No need to leave a tip for the housekeeper since she didn’t actually do anything.
8. Dorm fridge!

But other than that… Next time we might stay somewhere else.

One interesting discussion panel at the convention was about how history could have gone differently in Europe. At least that was what the program guide said. Really the main focus was on the 1632 series – which I haven’t read yet – and Victorian steampunk to a lesser extent.

The authors on the panel pointed out something that had long been percolating in my own mind. People way back in history weren’t stupid. They just lacked today’s level of scientific advancement.

People have always faced many of the same basic problems. Often their solutions didn’t work very well. But sometimes they did a pretty good job. We just forget too easily when a new way comes along. We lose ideas that could prove useful later.

One concern over the ages has been how to shave. The ancient Greeks and Romans went around beardless. America’s founding fathers did it too, as did countless men between then and now. But how could they shave safely without electricity or plastic?

None of the modern shaving methods have done a fantastic job for me. My current electric razor is okay, I suppose, when I have time to use it. It takes a while.

My Mach 3 removes hair very well. After a hot shower and four passes of the razor from different directions. And a lot of nicks and painful razor burn. Also, cartridges cost about $2 each at Sam’s and last for maybe 3 shaves if I’m lucky.

So I looked into the alternatives. I read general articles that covered the basics. I asked a few older people what they knew. I spent a lot of time with Badger & Blade reading specific reviews and instructions. Last week I got on eBay…

My shiny new razor arrived in the mail Monday morning. It’s not really new. According to its date code, it was made in the first quarter of 1960. This razor was 14 years old when I was born.

It’s a twist-to-open Gillette Super Speed, part of a product line that for decades dominated the shaving market. It’s not in perfect condition, but it’s reasonably good considering its age. Here’s a picture that I took after cleaning it up a little:

(I’m using this to test how well iPhoto, Flickr, and WordPress work together. Still undecided about whether to move all of my pictures to a photo hosting service like Flickr or to continue with ZenPhoto. At least ZenPhoto needs an update, and some old stuff from Coppermine still needs to be moved over. But anyway.)

Here’s a better picture of the same basic model, as found on Badger & Blade:

I chose this type partly because it has a good reputation. More importantly, it was cheaper than buying a new one. Oh yes, they still make double edge safety razors, in places like China and India and Germany. But not here in the USA. Gillette and its competitors have moved on.

Blades can still be found. Sample packs are available, so people can try several brands to find what works best for a particular combination of razor and face. Once the ideal blade is found, it can be ordered at astonishingly low prices in hundred-blade packs. 100 blades looks a lot like a year’s supply.

I got a pack of Personna blades from Walmart to start out. By my math, it costs about a tenth as much as Mach 3 cartridges. I also got a can of Barbasol shaving cream, which I tested over the weekend in a disastrous experiment involving a free disposable razor and a motel sink.

Thus a new experiment began: Combine razor and blade, take a shower, apply the cream… Most instructions tell a beginner to start with only one pass, going with the grain. After some practice add a cross-grain pass, and then eventually try a third pass against the grain. Lather up between passes.

I skipped to three pass mode on the first session. My technique was horrible. The angle wasn’t quite right. I pressed too hard on the razor. I didn’t let the cream soak in long enough. I have 20 years of habits to unlearn.

Best shave ever.

Compared to my usual Mach 3, the ancient razor caused fewer nicks and less razor burn. My cheeks felt like the proverbial baby’s butt. I even had fun with it.

To be fair, the razor wasn’t the only variable in the experiment. It’s possible that the Mach 3 could be made less gruesome by re-lathering between passes. I’ll have to try it with some of my remaining cartridges.

But let’s guess that equalizing shaving cream usage makes the two comparable. Which is better, a great shave with a $2 blade, or a shave just like it for 20 cents? Think about this.

That brings up a question. If the double edge safety razor worked well enough for so many decades, why did the market move away from it back in the 1970s?

For starters, plastic is cheaper than metal. At the time even the double edge razors were moving towards more plastic parts. A lift-and-cut system might have worked better in theory, given such a lightweight razor.

Maybe people just didn’t want to handle those sharp double edged blades anymore. But my guess is that the big players wanted to regain a proprietary advantage.

The relevant patents had long expired. Anyone could make a razor, anyone could make a blade, and there was an excellent chance that they’d work with each other. By shifting to the modern cartridge format, they reset the clock on new patents.

Ever notice how a new wave of razor models hits the market every few years? Not all technological change is for the benefit of its users. Sometimes it’s all about profit. Never let the monopoly end.

The experiment continues. I’ll try another shave on Wednesday.

Several months ago I accidentally did a half-upgrade to Wordpress.  This happened because I used my web hosting provider’s upgrade tool, which assumed a different directory name for the WP installation.  Along the way it broke my blog’s category system. Since then I haven’t had time to go in and fix it.

This morning, while Scott was in summer preschool and Blake was eating breakfast, I finished the upgrade manually.  Suddenly the categories came back!  Hooray!

Time to go back to the Institute and pick Scott up again.  He really likes going to school.

(With apologies to Shel Silverstein… This came to me while bathing the boys a little while ago. The original limerick is better of course.)

There are too many ducks in this tub
There are too many quackers to scrub
I just washed a beak
That I’m sure didn’t squeak
There are too many ducks in this tub

Things that go into this blog tend to end up being fairly long and not very frequent. I get a fun thought, decide that the rest of the world might like to know, and then let it stew in my subconscious mind… For months. Eventually might get around to combining it with several other thoughts and spin it into an essay. I write and edit it very carefully to make sure it says exactly what I intended.

Usually, though, I never get around to sharing whatever it was. Most good posts need at least an hour. Things are busy around here, so any attempt at writing is interrupted repeatedly. (As I wrote this, I had to get snacks for the boys, break up 3 sippy cup fights, turn on the air conditioner, accompany Scott to the bathroom, and then search the house for Scott’s Leapster. One of its games is a bit unstable, so any minute now he’ll need me for tech support. Yep, here he comes…)

People who know me in person quickly figure out that I’m the master of random thoughts. It’s not really random, of course. You just weren’t privy to the details of how I got there.

That sort of thing is lost in this format with this writing schedule. As an experiment, I’m going to try supplementing with Twitter. Twitter posts have a 140 character limit, so no long-winded manuscripts. It also has potential for mobile posting through various methods.

http://twitter.com/okbouncey

Have a look — and watch this space for another essay.