Category Archives: Info

Archery

I started archery at 14.

People knew who I was… I was the first collegiate to win 4 State, and 4 Region championships ever. Freshman thru senior year. I was 9th in the Nation twice. I coached the U of Washington team to a National Championship in 1977. I had taught half the team how to shoot from the beginning. First place mixed-team, Second place women’s team, fourth place men’s team. I had won the Men’s state champion in Washington. I qualified for World Championship team trials. I was known for experimenting with new equipment. I was known.

The next year they wanted a new coach… I was already beginning to break down. I pretty much dropped out of archery… always feeling like an outsider. It never came back.

Archery also injured my shoulders. Rotator-cuff in the right and ligaments in the left. I also messed up my left thumb. I injured my left knee in an accident running. By the time I left Seattle, at 30, I could not even shoot anymore. I tried several times over the next few years. And again about 17 years ago… my body can’t take it.

Now, I shoot 10-meter PCP air-rifle. Like they shoot in the Olympics. It requires the same concentration, but is very different physically. And I can do it inside or in the back yard. I can shoot PCP air-pistol in my office. My father was a “marksman” with pistol and carbine in the Army WW2. He shot a 38 Smith & Wesson revolver… with custom parts. It is all about the kind of concentration required.

I lost all but 2-3 archery friends by the early 1980’s. I lost my last friend just a few years ago. Someone I had been friends with since 1975. That one could recover…

My Offensive Misuse of Punctuation

I know, in my writing, I misuse punctuation at times.

, . – : ; / … ‘ “ () [] {} ?!

I write a lot.  In one year… not too long ago… I filled 17 Journals.  The average is about 9.  What can I say, I like to write.  I have wonderful fountain pens that I can write with endlessly, and never get writer’s cramps.  There have been times in my life, when I wrote a lot of letters too.

People have told me my handwriting is very nice.  And I hope easy to read.

BUT, I have developed my own use for some punctuation… to better suit the way I write – especially in my journals.  Here are a couple of examples:

em dash – It’s that long dash like the one right before this sentence.  I prefer it to show a significant connection between to (grammatically correct) sentences.  They could be independent sentences, though one might not make a lot of sense.  My point is to emphasize the connection.

ellipses… I use as an extra long pause.  If you were reading this aloud, this is where you would take a breath.  Though honestly, you are probably going to breath at other places as well.  But that is what I use it for.  Take a mental breath.

Whereas, I know people who would see this misuse as a sign of the coming apocalypse, I will continue to use it, and duck under my desk when I see your car.

And I have some new ideas as well… like… what ever happened to the interobang?!

And don’t get me started on Colons and Semi-Colons.