Clara Julia Dunne

The new baby and me.

Martha took the (LINK) photos while we were still at the hospital.

New baby!

Clara Julia Dunne was born yesterday at 3:50pm. She weighs 8lbs. She is 20 inches long. She was 11 days late! Labor lasted four hours while the actual pushing lasted less than four minutes. We got a pretty sweet little baby out of the deal and we can't wait to get her home.

During the very early stages of labor I decided to run over to Starbucks to get some tea and a chocolate chip cookie the size of a manhole cover. Abusing the free condiments (ketchup packets, soy sauce packets, sugar cubes, mayo packets) is an all too frequent practice of mine. A petty shoplifter never looses his touch.

The loot this time was about 30 packets of raw brown sugar. The stuff makes all the difference between a good cup of tea and a great cup of tea. At some coffee shops you have to ask specially for it, it's that coveted.

Crud

Master (LINK) for my first and probably my last print using Martha's new Gocco print maker. I think I'll call it "Six Chairs Getting Fucked Across A Room". I intend to print it onto the back of a plain dark grey t-shirt that I have. Martha already got me the correct ink that I'll need to print onto cotton.

Warranty (LINK) for Martha's 1958 Remington Travel-Riter typewriter. I guess it no longer counts for much but it does look cool. We got it at a rummage sale this summer. If only I had time to list all the amazing finds I've picked up for nearly nothin' at rummage sales. Set of 60 taps and dies for $8, unused block plane for $3, Ennio Morricone LP for $1...

No baby yet

New baby is two days late and seems quite happy to continue her stay in Martha's belly. Elise was more than a week late so past history (n=1) indicates that we could be in for the long haul. All this waiting has not been in vain. I have learned two very important new skills related to woodworking.

1. Cutting hardwood end grain, specifically maple, without burning the wood with the saw blade is best accomplished by pushing the wood over the table saw as fast as possible. Of course, the sharpness of the blade is also a major factor but I am very happy to know that I can now cut end grain without having to sand off the burn marks later. This is probably elementary stuff to you more learned woodworkers but I am mostly self taught and learn by trial and error. Every victory is a welcome one that opens up new avenues.

2. The maple I spoke of above was used to make a cutting board (LINK) as a Christmas gift for someone. Since food will be prepared on its surface it is very important that the finish be organic or inert so that it will not taint the food. I took a risk on using extra virgin olive oil as a finish. Best move of my life. The wood looks like solid gold and the finish is very flat/satin so there is no evidence of brush strokes.

It's not (LINK) just spice racks that get knocked up around here.

Lake Street, Minneapolis

Martha took these photos on a recent walk down Lake Street in Minneapolis. The neighborhood we explored is mostly made up of Mexican businesses and restaurants. The smell of great food was heavy in the air and made me want to smash my fist through the window of a chicken place and grab one of the chickens that was roasting on a spit. Next time. I walked past a Chinese take-away and observed that the staff were all Hispanic. I'm still trying to work that one out. Was there Chinese people cooking in the back and Hispanic people taking orders up front? Was English the common tongue? It must have been.

I'd love to know another language (aside from my limited prowess in Deutsch and Gaeilge). I think Icelandic would be cool to learn. I often fantasize about living there. Two hours in Reykjavik airport a few years ago is my entire Icelandic experience. Beautiful airport though. Maybe I'll pursue this pipe dream further when the energy crisis hits in about 20 years. The Icelanders are no gobshite's. Geothermal energy will support their economy for many a millennium.

It was a busy weekend here, the best kind of weekend. On Saturday I raked enough leaves to fill 11 large black bags. Might not sound like much but it was nearly three hours pseudo-solid work (stopped twice for a beer, once for tea, once to go and get some free windows that I will build into kitchen cabinets next year) and I still have to do the front garden. Screw it, I'll just go over the leaves with the lawn mower. Martha will never notice. She's thick like that. Each bag is really compressed. I didn't want to try and drag 40 bags to the city compost site. St. Paul recycles its leaves into mulch that is then spread around the city. There is a lot of leaves in this city and they all come off the trees at the same time so serious effort is put into getting them off the street to prevent them from clogging the drains.

Our new baby is due next Friday. I had a dream/vision about her the other night and was able to see what she looks like. I wonder if it will be true.

Part time connoisseur

I don't go to pubs much anymore, maybe five times per year and I am quite happy with that. Family, work (love me new job (LINK) by the way), shed, sleep is where it's at for this man, in those respective orders of priority. Our new baby is due two weeks from today. I can't wait to hold her and see what she looks like. We think she'll have dark hair but we don't know why we think that.

I do enjoy a six pack every weekend though, or sextet of ale as Homer once said. For whatever reason, I rarely pick the same beer two or more weeks in a row. One week it'll be Becks and next week it'll be Heineken, then Pilsner Urquell, then Stella Artois, then Point Special, then Amstel Light, then Linenkugels Honeyweiss... Yes, all those beers fall into the same category of lager and are best served very cold but I think there is a connection between mood and choice of beer. I can't put my finger on it but there is a reason I choose one over the other even though the argument could be made that “they all taste the same.” Philistines.