Untitled


Met up early with a couple of friends to ride down to [Marymoor Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marymoor_Park), a quick 20-mile round-trip ride, out and back. No flats this time! Second outing with the new [Saris rack](https://www.saris.com/product/freedom-4), too, which I now love.


Twenty-eight days after getting our first vaccines, we drove up at this same location and got our seconds, Rebecca in her left arm, mine (once again as passenger) in my right. We were in and out in 15 minutes, and I was back in time for a ten o’clock meeting.

That we did this — that we humans were able to create and distribute a vaccine as complex as this one to outsmart a virus as complex as COVID-19 within the span of a single year — continues to amaze me, and probably always will. Eventually I’ll figure out how to write about it. What a year this has been. I’m ready for it to end, but at the same time, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to leave it behind.


Vaccine #2


The finished product of Project #2 from [*Rubber Band Engineer*](https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Band-Engineer-Slingshot-Unconventional) — a PVC slingshot. After the first cut didn’t quite work out, I decided to add a few enhancements of my own, aimed (no pun intended, but I’ll take it) at making the design a bit more modular, using [paracord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord) for the attachments to the frame and the pocket. Metallic blue spray-paint (left over from the bike we built for Sam last year) finished things off nicely.

It’s totally inaccurate, of course; you couldn’t hit anything with this. But we had fun making it.


Project #2


The moon, [for chrissake](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIkHLO93lCA).


The Moon


This past weekend, I started homebrewing a Belgian [dubbel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubbel) — my first ever — and I was surprised at how quickly the fermentation got going, compared to the lazy sputtering I’m used to getting from typical IPAs. This is what it sounded like yesterday afternoon, after one of my trusty plastic stock bubblers got clogged with foam and I had to emergency-rig the fermenter with a makeshift [blowoff tube](https://beerandbrewing.com/when-to-use-a-blow-off-tube/) with a stopper I managed to find just in time. The bubbling ran steadily like this late into the night before calming down again this morning.

Fun times. I’m actually pretty excited about this one. 🍺


What it sounds like when the fermentation really gets going


Episode II: The Bubbling


This is what it sounded like in my backyard outside this morning.


Spring Is Coming


It was coming down pretty hard this morning, so I figured I’d switch on the recorder and let it run for a while, as I sat with a coffee and a book and 3/4 of my fellow Nunciatos — one of whom noted (rather brilliantly, IMHO), “It seems like when the rain starts, time stops.”


Twenty minutes of Northwest downpour, straight from my backyard.


Morning Rain


Snipperclips

Doodle-oodle-oo


With sincerest apologies to Mr. Williams.


The jagged, uncomfortable sound of learning a new tune.


Practice


Overheard this little guy out back this morning, doing his morning thing.


Woodpecker!


Toward the end of our first on day Kauai, we managed to find [The Fresh Shave](https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-fresh-shave-kalaheo-8), a little trailer parked in a patch of gravel alongside Highway 530 in [Kalaheo](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kalaheo,+HI+96741/@22.0426634,-159.5858023,12.05z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x7c070456fd3d5f5d:0xdb44269b0af6136!8m2!3d21.9286111!4d-159.5302778) that we’d read about in [*Lonely Planet Kauai*](https://shop.lonelyplanet.com/products/kauai-travel-guide-3). It’s run by a family [from California](http://www.thegardenisland.com/2017/01/04/business/local-business-expanding-to-california/), so depending on what you’re looking for, it might not quite bring the island-native vibe (tending a little to the Northwest-hipstery side, with the vintage trailer and sticker-mustaches), but hey — it’s amazing stuff nonetheless: made with all local and organic fruits and ingredients, an excellent treat after a day at the beach.



![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cnunciato-website-media/images/2018-05-29-16-07-09.jpg)

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cnunciato-website-media/images/2018-05-29-16-06-08.jpg)

At six bucks a pop, though, Rebecca and I chose to forgo ordering for ourselves, so as you listen to this, and gaze at these photos (or worse, scroll through [Fresh Shave on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thefreshshave/)), just imagine what it felt like for us, watching them dive into these with such glee, and feel our pain. Parenthood, man — it’s all about the sacrifices.

And if you do make it to Kauai and go looking for shave ice, I should mention [Loco Coco](https://www.yelp.com/biz/loco-coco-shave-ice-koloa-2), too: it’s also a little trailer in a parking lot, this one just outside [Kukuila Market](https://www.yelp.com/biz/kukuiula-market-koloa-2) (a lovely little family-run grocer in [Koloa](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Koloa,+HI+96756/@21.9022894,-159.483178,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x7c071b22d045fdc9:0x3452c3c675d8981c!8m2!3d21.9066667!4d-159.4691667) that kept us all well fed — and [well-beered](https://konabrewingco.com/our-beers/) — for the majority of our trip), and was easily as good, if not [*mo bettah*](http://bigislandvacation.com/Da_Kine_Pidgin.html).

And if you find yourself *there* — or for that matter, even if you don’t — you absolutely *must* pick up a poke bowl from [Makai Sushi](https://www.yelp.com/biz/makai-sushi-koloa), which is probably the best food I’ve ever had in my entire life. But now I’m seriously digressing.

Anyway, on to the soothing sounds of childhood ice-treat consumption.

In case you were wondering what that sounded like.


The Fresh Shave

What Shave Ice Is

LocoCoco

Kukuila Market

What Poke Is

Makai Sushi

Makai on Yelp

Kids Eating Shave Ice


I still brew beer from time to time — although it’s been a while; I should walk over to the homebrew shop and pick up some supplies — and there’s nothing like that moment when you pop your first bottle after that painfully long wait for the second fermentation. This is what it sounds like when it goes well.


The delightful sound of a beer that is ready.


Popping a Homebrew


We spotted this little fella on a walk this weekend.


Pyrrharctia isabella (isabella tiget moth)

Hey There


We took the kids to the [Tubing Park at Snoqualmie](https://summitatsnoqualmie.com/snow-tubing) this weekend and had a blast. I went up six or seven times and on the last run, managed to work up the courage to go downhill in selfie mode. Toward the end of the run, my tube hopped over the dividing line and into the next lane, leading to speed loss and subsequent whining. Still, it was definitely a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. And it only took us 12 years to discover it!


Snoqualmie Summit Tubing Park

Tubing!


A quick ride on the conveyor belt leading to the top of the hill at the Snoqualmie tubing park. Pretty much just an excuse for a time lapse, so there you go.


Conveying, Briskly


This is project #1 from [Rubber Band Engineer](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rubber-band-engineer-lance-akiyama/1122639559), picked up last week from our local [Third Place Books](https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/). Tons of fun stuff in this book. Looking forward to many more slo-mos.


Rubber-Band Launcher!


[Tinker Crates](https://www.kiwico.com/tinker) are cool.


Blastoff


Liftoff


Sam got an electronics book for Christmas, so we built him a kit and started working through the projects one by one, first on a small electromagnet, and here, on a magnetically driven motor. So much fun! Took some effort to get everything weighted and balanced properly, but the struggle was definitely worth it.


We made a thing!


Playfoam Pluffle

Balloon Man


A Successful Launch


Busy Bee


Now there’s something you don’t see every day


Go, Littleman!


A few seconds from our first outing of the season.


Out on Elliott Bay


Kids and I had more than a little fun making this one today. Hooray for weekend boredom.

***

{{< image “s3/previews/2019-02-03-13-10-09.jpg” “The director at work (1/3)” "" "" “inline” >}}
{{< image “s3/previews/2019-02-03-13-10-46.jpg” “The director at work (2/3)” "" "" “inline” >}}
{{< image “s3/previews/2019-02-03-13-10-23.jpg” “The director at work (3/3)” "" "" “inline” >}}


Wherein Malfoy attempts to exact his revenge, in the manner of a certain ‘90s-era Canadian sketch-comedy show


The Kids in the Hall

Fun Thing #1


We had some time to kill before heading to the airport, so we went to the park, and the kids challenged me to a game of tag. Fools.


Can’t Catch Me


When I set out to build this site, I had just a few modest goals: I wanted to be able to share my [photos](/photos/) and [videos](/videos/), post the occasional [sound clip](/sounds/), gather things into [collections](/collections/), keep track of what I’m reading and watching, and share a little [writing](/words/) from time to time. I figured it’d be easy — after all, I’m a software engineer, it’s 2018, there’s open-source software all over the place, and I’ve been building web apps for close to 20 years now. How hard could it be?

Definitely way harder than I imagined, for sure — mainly because of how *huge* these photo and video files can be. Coming up with a workflow that didn’t require a full afternoon just to post a few snapshots or clips wasn’t easy, but I did it, so I thought I’d make a little video about it.

Please enjoy.

Incidentally, I haven’t yet open-sourced all of this stuff, but there’s really no reason not to, so check back here (or [keep an eye on my GitHubs](https://github.com/cnunciato)) for updates on that front.


Hugo

Lightroom

ExifTool

FFmpeg

Stencil.js

Habitat

How I Do This


There’s a fountain outside a nearby coffee shop where the kids like to play. I’m not exactly sure where her imagination had taken her on this particular evening (come to think of it, I never am), but the result was pretty hilarious — and also a little terrifying.


Hello, I'm Christian Nunciato. 👋

Statistics of Interest