ck's weblog: everything, eroticized

My dad took this photo of me at the Metamora Tennis Open last weekend:

The photo happened to be timed to capture my forearm muscles going all out to try and slow the racquet after a big forehand. Looking at the difference between my two arms and the way my tan stops just above my elbow, it struck me that this genuine photo looks an awful lot like a Photoshop fake. And not a particularly skillful one at that.

But that's apparently just how it is. A little further into the collection, I learned that my arm apparently does this when I'm serving:

At our last bacon party, Chelsea noticed my stringing machine and asked how racquets are strung. I put my camera on a tripod for the next one and made a stop-motion video, taking a picture after each string pull:

This format leaves out some information, such as exactly how tedious it can be to weave the cross strings over and under, and how I get to stab the racquet with an awl to tie good knots.

This particular racquet has natural gut in the mains, which does not take kindly to pinching. That's why I used the wider blue and black clamps for that string rather than the modified vice grips that I prefer for all other types of string.

Seen while driving this morning:

Central Car Wash
Donations Excepted

Adidas has a long line of "Barricade" shoes going back ten years. I started with the second-generation model, the Barricade II. When those wore out, I tried the Barricade IV, and after that, five pairs of the Barricade V. For this summer's USTA league season, I decided to try out the Barricade 6 (now with 100% fewer Roman numerals).

The Barricade 6 is yet another iterative improvement on an excellent line of shoes. This round, they've made them lighter, added more arch support, and slightly tightened the fit in the mid-foot (which means I don't have to pull the laces as tight to get the same fit).

My only complaint is that it feels like they don't breathe as well as previous generations. However, they've been comfortable in 90+ degree heat, and now my shoes are showing salt crystals where sweat has wicked through the mesh, so I'm not sure how that perception lines up with their performance. Empirically, they seem to be doing a pretty good job, even if the Barricade V felt cooler.

It looks like the outsole is wearing at about the same rate as all of my previous Barricade shoes (with the same AdiWear™ rubber compound). If I keep playing 4-5 times a week, I should wear through them in plenty of time to make use of the 6-month outsole warranty.

I've noticed over the past few months that I don't see things as sharply with my right eye as I do with my left, and this afternoon, I had my very first eye appointment to get things checked out. As it turns out, I have a slight astigmatism which reduces visual acuity in my bad eye to just barely 20/10.

In other words, I should probably shut up.