Birdie!

It was around 8PM Wednesday night at Stone Creek golf course. It was getting dark and Tony and I decided to make the 14th hole our last one for the night. The 14th at Stone Creek is a short par 3 with a huge ravine separating the tee from the green.

I selected a 7 iron from my bag and let one fly. I used a yellow range ball I found earlier thinking I would be able to see it better but it disappeared from view the moment it left the tee. I heard a promising thump from across the chasm and peered across to find my ball about 20 feet right of the pin. Not bad.

While hawks cried in the background searching for the night's first meal Tony took his turn with a familiar thud of the ball on the green at the end. Although the sky continued to darken, I could still find his ball to the left of the pin and near the front of the green. Not bad as well.

We hiked down the cart path, across a small foot bridge, and up the hill on the other side to the green. The cries of the certainly enormous birds of prey struck fear in our hearts. Even as we steeled our minds against the threat of death we wondered how close our shots were and what we would face once on the green.

As we approached the green an ominous scene was laid out before us. Tony's putt would be an uphill 15 footer with a slight break. Mine would be a daunting 20 footer with a huge right-to-left break. I took a cleansing breath and sized up the task before me.

Recently aerated greens had been causing problems all day. I had come about an inch from birdying a hole earlier in the afternoon and I still can't help but think that it the ball would have gone in if it had not been slowed down by the bumpy surface. The birdie potential was threatening to overcome my nerves as I observed the distance and the uphill break.

I gave a doubt-filled smile to Tony from across the green and straightened up for a couple practice swings. One swing (don't hit the grass), two swings (that might be right), and I think I am ready. I take one last look across the darkened green and address the ball. The night air feels good. I take a deep breath and bury the doubt and pressure of the birdie. Painful memories of mis-hits and stuttering putts ruining par attempts echo in my mind. Striking the ball firmly and with confidence is the important thing. Just take a swing and see what happens, changing your mind halfway through will only make things worse, I think.

The vibration of the ball transmits through the shaft of the club and I watch the little yellow range ball roll across the dark-green towards the pin. God speed little ball, God speed. I wait for the break, holding my breath. It would have been hard to misread this break but I could have miscalculated the severity. It rolls toward the cup, if I got the speed right, I might have a shot. It slows near the hole but keeps rolling. Right on line. Two feet, one foot, inches, and (please!) in. That joyous sound of the ball rattling in. Yes! Birdie!

Overjoyed, I half-skip, half-run across the green with a flying high-five for Tony. This is the shot that brings you back. This may be the shot that brings me back for life.

Fun with Old Photos

We've been doing some rearranging in preparation for junior-junior's impending arrival the last month or so. The great thing, and possibly the most annoying thing, about movin' crap around is that you inevitably uncover more crap. With a pack-rat like me I end up with a whole bunch o stuff that, "I just can't get rid of!"

I decided to actually DO something with some of the stuff I found so I scanned a bunch of old photos and had a little fun with them. Enjoy:

Betty's First Drag!

On Wednesday night I cruised down to the Beaches cruise-in and got a taste of the scene at PIR. Live music, food, drag racing, and about 200 classic cars. For a car guy like me, it was a dream. I didn't drag race because they were bracket racing and I had never raced Betty. You kind of need to know how fast your car can go because bracket racing is all about consistently setting down the same time.

So, Amy, Jessie, and I (Kelsey was with a friend at the beach) took Betty down to the Friday night drags at Portland International Raceway (PIR) yesterday evening. It was awesome. It was my first time drag racing so I did some research online and got some tips from The Staging Light. My research paid off. Other than leaving my window rolled down I didn't look like a complete novice. Staging the car correctly and knowing how to get a good reaction time made things a lot of fun.

I set down a best time of 16.912 at 82.25 MPH for the 1/4-mile. It isn't a very competitive time but it isn't bad for a pretty much stock small-block Buick. I ran consistently in the low 17's and high 16's in 8 passes. My 60-foot times were lousy (Betty's 2.78 gears just aren't made for the low-end) but she really came alive in the 1000-foot. I'm most proud of my reaction times. My best reaction time was a 0.021 and most of my RTs were consistently sub-0.300.

All in all, I we had a great time. I plan on heading out to the Wednesday night cruise-in at least once before it ends at the end of the month and I definitely need to get my Dad and his 1964 Olds F-85 out there for a little Father-Son, Buick-Olds showdown. :-)

Check out some photos here:

http://gallery.mac.com/dstewart64#100004&bgcolor=black

And a short video here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FAlMaReWuIQ

Another Threadless Failure :-(

I'm beginning to think that Threadless just doesn't like me. My submission has been pulled after only 24 hours of voting. It had about 500+ votes and some positive comments. They say they will email me with an explanation.

Anywhoo, look for the design on my Threadless Failures store on Cafe Press! If at first you don't succeed...

Future Threadless Fasilure? YOU Be the Judge!

VOTE TODAY!

Her 15 Minutes

At the Harry Potter launch party Kelsey got her 15 minutes, or 30 seconds actually. Here is some footage of the news coverage:

Quick update...

Jessie lost! But she did so gracefully. She smiled for the judges but there were just SO MANY kids. Anywhoo, we're having a great time. The winner was a dead ringer for Colin Creevy (the kid who is always following Harry and the gang around with a camera).

Harry Potter Launch Party!

Coming to you live from the Barnes & Noble at Clackamas Town Center. Jessie has already won the games drawing and has hooked up with her Weasley kin (see pic). We're now beginning the costume contest. I think Jessie is a shoe in for the Ginny Weasley category although competition is intense. There are over 50 kids in just the 7-11 group!

Threadless Failures

You can now by all my threadless failures on Cafe Press. You can also buy all the latest Official Organic Chimpz gear! The McAfee Design Studio is fielding a 3-on-3 basketball team for this year's Amberglenn Sportsfest. Our team is the Organic Chimpz.

Betty's First Show

Took Betty to her first show this weekend. The Sherwood Cruise-in is one of the coolest shows of the year. Even though it rained all day there was a respectable turnout and a lot of spectators.

Although I didn't win anything (I entered the Under Construction class) the show was a lot of fun. If there had been a class or best sign, I think mine would have won. In the end, just hearing all the cool comments by people passing by was enough to feed my ego.

There were a lot of sweet rides there and one cool perk of being in the show is that you get to vote for the winners. Check out the pics on Flickr.