Gainfully employed and moving to Vermont in a week. Teaching music at a K-8 school in the woods, pretty much the dream job. On the music front: I'm within spitting distance of finishing the score for my friend's movie. Here are some tracks that somewhat make sense on their own.
Thanks! It's been fun working mostly with synths and electronic sounds, lots of room to experiment and make some soundscapes. I've done one or two songs here and there for movies before, but this is my first time making a whole score. It's only about 20 minutes long, but there's still around 10 minutes of music (14 tracks), so I've been keeping busy, to say the least.
An Arturia Microbrute and the included synth software (Analog Lab). Highly recommend it, it was around $200 when I got it (and it was bought for me as payment for the score, which is even better). It's the first decent synth I've ever had, and it's proven incredibly versatile so far.
My life continues to be full of weird and wonderful. On a whim yesterday, my high school girlfriend and I met yesterday afternoon for the first time in 32 years. I also wound up with the Major League Rugby trophy in the trunk of my car, when I discovered it had been misplaced/forgotten. I'm working with a group to design a half time show for an upcoming NFL game. I'm interviewing for new jobs, while my current company works diligently to make a role/career path/payscale that will keep me here. My kitchen remodel is done. And it both looks and works great. And I've started writing again. This time, an adaptation of Earth Abides. Sheesh... won't I ever learn?!? Sooooo... how U doin'?
I made a neat animated pixel Tascam Portastudio. I've been re-recording a song I wrote with it, sans mistakes, to post later on. My gf got a SNES classic. I never had Super Nintendo growing up, but I had an N64. I spent all weekend on that thing. Particularly Zelda and Starfox. I had the games for those franchises that were on the N64, and it's like reliving the childhood wonderment I found in those games. I had no idea A Link to the Past was so baller and inspires so much of Ocarina of Time.
Big fan of all the above - a semi-broken $20 Portastudio was what I first started recording on. Earthbound is, of course, amazing, but I think the game I've put in the most time on is Kirby's Dream Course. Once you get the hang of the mechanics, it's insanely fun. My fiance and I spent many nights in drinking beers and playing a few rounds of kirby golf.
I'm tired pretty much everyday. Getting through and complaining about communication. My climbing has gotten better lately, so that's good. Though it's starting to feel like I'm either growing into a stereotype, or growing into myself. Lots of people have been commenting on how I "just look like a climber" by nature of being tall, lanky, and long arms. I'm feeling good about that, and more confident in my abilities at least indoors. Haven't been outdoors much lately but the last I did go it went well. Scrambling on mountains with exposure to long falls still freaks me out a bit, but that will come with time. I am still, perpetually, forever trying to learn how to balance a relationship with the outdoor and running things I partake in.
I think this is one of those things that you should always be at least a little freaked out by, even if it dulls with time. It's that feeling that keeps you wary and on your toes.Scrambling on mountains with exposure to long falls still freaks me out a bit
I haven't been running due to an injury. More humbling than the injury is the exercises my PT has me doing. I thought of myself as having pretty strong legs. I could, and did, run a half marathon every week. I hiked up a mountain in 0° F through two feet of unpacked snow, and while slow, I still crushed it. But put a rubber band around my ankles, have me squat, and then take small side steps and I'm a puddle of goo in fifteen feet. And that's basically the issue that caused my injury: the muscles that weren't really strong were really weak. I can still feel the strain in my hamstring, so I'm not going to try running until my follow-up appointment next week. No sense in pushing it and exacerbating an issue. I'm in this for the long haul. To that end, I'll have my first DNS on Saturday. My October full marathon is probably also out. It's disappointing but necessary. I'm able to walk and hike, and I've been doing more Ice Age Trail segments. I'm up to 361 miles complete of the 1140 mile trail.
It's very true! And I'm learning about better maintaining the ones I knew I had. My flexibility is too low, too. The strong muscles are also too tight.
It sucks for now, but as you continue to rehab you will be stronger and better than ever. The next races and training regiment will be that much better.
I agree. In a way I'm optimistic that I can come out of this with more satisfying results. It'll take some rebuilding and adoption of new workouts, but if I want to run 120 miles every month, that's what it'll take. Remember the conversation we had a couple months back about how everyone posts amazing summit views but nobody posts the super sketchy ledge or swampy trail, and viewers can be lulled into thinking it's safe and easy? I think I fell into that trap with running. I did a few different workouts but didn't do everything I should. Running 15 miles makes for a nice social media post (or even just a private data point). The same isn't true of groaning over a rubber band or stretching with a strap. It's boring, so people don't really talk about it and in the same way, I never sought it out. I'm doing four rubber band things, three stretches with a strap, calf stretches, and foam rolling. My legs are way too tight. I'll write it out as a separate post if you or anyone else would find it useful.
I posted a description of what I do here: Let me know what isn't clear! I had the advantage of a professional demonstrating, so I'm sure my descriptions could be improved.
One week out from out flight to Reno for Burning Man. Me and my boyfriend are leading our own micro camp, bringing along 3 virgin friends this year. We basically planned all the big stuff for them. I mean, once we researched the best flight tickets/hotel rooms/bus tickets whatever, it's only fair to share it with them. It's been a lot, but we're basically all set to go now! The one negative part is, that I've discovered I don't quite like my friend's boyfriend that will be going with us. He seemed like a good guy at first, open minded, been to many festivals before too so I didn't think it would be much trouble. He's also done a lot for my friend. She used to be really shy and since dating him has really come out of her shell as an awesome person. But man is he GREEDY and STUBBORN... Getting him to agree on some essential things (that he has no experience with but kept arguing about) has been an uphill battle. All while not contributing at all with any of the planning efforts. And how he used the 2 week Ukrainian camp we run as basically free food and shelter while renting his apartment on airBNB. Without ever contributing anything to camp. I mean... people bring beer. Food. Or organize something for the kids. Or at least wash the dishes? Time to just let it go. We got all the common stuff planned already, so he won't die or thirst or anything. But I'm done putting any effort into making things easier for anyone. Self reliance and all. And I'm supper happy my other friend is coming with us. He's had a rough couple of years, and I don't think he's been on a cool adventure in a while. I'm sure he'll love it.
Maybe your friends boyfriend needs a good shakeup and the burn can have that effect, sometimes. Just let him get lost for a day or two, maybe it does the trick :) Apart from that, I wish you a beautiful burn! Enjoy it, and as I told BLOB, give every Israeli you meet a hug from me :D
Thanks! I've had great falafel from an Israeli camp last year, I'd love to see them there again :) As for my friend's boyfriend, you're exactly right. I just needed someplace to vent once, but now it's time to let it go and enjoy my burn. If he gets a wake up call in the desert or not, that's on him.
here i am in the great state of phallicornia, more specifically in santa barbara there are mountains and an ocean and lovely weather and also there are my two best friends that i've finally met in person for the first time and it's been complicated and wonderful and i'm feeling and experiencing complicated and wonderful things i had starbucks coffee (2 shots of espresso and two packets of brown sugar) for the first time and it tasted burnt but also not too bad - maybe i like coffee now. espresso fixes the problem i have with coffee where i have a third-to-half of a cup and then can't finish the rest of it no matter the size of the cup because there's less bullshit in it, maybe, except for the bullshit i want in it i don't know what espresso is it seems like the general opinion is that everybody hates online dating, but what about online sex-finding? i have low standards - would it be worth making a tinder account or a grindr account? i've been seriously considering it for the last little while and shockingly i'm leaning towards yes - now that i don't hate myself as much i seem to have discovered that i'm quite comfortable with sex-type-stuff, which was a bit of a mindfuck to connect the dots on i'm assuming y'all don't really want to hear about it but i would genuinely appreciate the advice although i can guess the general tenor of what it would be
I don't know how Tinder in the US is. But in Germany it is not so easy to find a "fuck date". At least not for me. Had better luck finding a date through OkCupid. It seems like the place where the weird one hang out (in europe/germany). I know from some gay friends in Tel Aviv that Grindr is amazing. If you want a hookup, it is just 15 minutes away, any time of the day. Maybe that helps, good luck :)
Damn. August is shaping up to be a weird-ass birthday month. Work Happy to have this as a subtitle. Don't think I've really used it. There is a high turnover rate as a tutor near a college. Simply, most the hires are college students... who graduate. A lot of them are nerds like myself and are fun to work with. Sadly, after about half a year there, I'm suddenly a 'veteran.' As a result, I'm picking up way more hours, which is great given my light load for my last semester. School Starting my last semester next week. Woot! Life August is the birthday month, yay! Got rear-ended on the way home today. Not aware of damage to myself. Minor damage to the car... annoying since its (the same ca that got the window smashed) is my grandmother's. Nothing sad, just a pain. (See first sentence) On the bright side of things, a cosmetic for my main champion in LoL is getting released tomorrow. Oddly, that's been holding me afloat for something nice at the end of the past 2 weeks. Relationships Weird how after setting a boundary and working to not be in a weird space with ol' lady friend from the past posts, she isn't willing to see me. Runs against what she had been saying for the past month or two since setting she crossed that. Buddy of mine told me about how it's common for boundaries to serve as ammo for those who crossed a boundary to villain-ize (?) the person who had set it. Sucks, (if true) but nothing to do there. Assuming I won't be seeing her indefinitely is my best bet. On the other hand, I actually was PM'd on an online dating site for once - by someone who isn't a bot. More to come next Pubski post, I'm sure.
Still plodding along, nothing too interesting to report. Gaming and kung fu, plus occasionally doing some work at my day job. Prioritizing is hard for me, as I find it hard to make value judgments in terms of how I spend my time. I am excited because the horrorsynth band I've linked here, Dance With the Dead has just released a new album and is playing a show in Richmond in mid-October. Should be fun!
I have a question. Can someone explain this epidemic of adderall/vyvanse (and other amphetamine mixes) etc.? Since when does everyone and their mother have to take amphetamines to function, study for exams, or do anything... I feel like I am missing the point here. Can someone enlighten me? A friend, whose father is a neurologist, sends his daughters that are at uni monthly packs of Ritalin so they can finish their degrees. Another friend on facebook, just yesterday, asks if anyone has some Ritalin left at home, she has an exam she needs to study for and is out of it. This post on reddit I just read about a guy smart-assing his doctor into giving him the prescription of a dextroamphetamine that he wanted, as a booster, because his 40mg Vyvanse was not enough and only lasted 3 hours after he gained tolerance. He also admits that he barely has any ADD but performs better. Did we reach a point where we need to be performance machines all the time?
Speed use in humans goes back to coffee. Cocaine was big in Europe for the same purposes as adderal; after cocaine, methamphetamine became common (just look up "pervitin"). I dated a girl whose grandfather prescribed her father amphetamines to make it through finals... and then thorazine to come down. After pervitin there was dexedrine. Great for diet, great for mood! In short, amphetamines have a hundred year history. The only thing meth has that everything else doesn't is social acceptability.
I had to think of Requiem for a Dream and the story of the mother that wants to fit into her dress. She goes to the doctor, he gives her speed (I think?). She realizes that she is more efficient. Cleans the house quicker, does chores etc. and is even enjoying it. All the while she is losing weight! Perfect! The day comes where she finally fits in her old dress... But she also notices she lost her mind. My memory is hazy but did she get paranoid/psychotic at some point?
She gets a vaguely defined upper. But really doctors give out speed for reasons including being a child. So theres just a huge amount of kiddie cocaine available. Some kids want money more than drugs they find ineffective. The ease is more complicated than I made it sound but the problem boils down to there just being a shitload of available speed prescribed for a dubiously diagnosed problem
Basically, yes. We really only judge worth by grades and then by job. As someone who takes this stuff due to legit ADHD it kind of bothers me.Did we reach a point where we need to be performance machines all the time?
A little late to the party but.. It's my second ~60 hour week in a row and I haven't been home in a month. Finally getting a job done on time due to a change in management. The change in management has been confidence boosting because it's been me and another guy running the job. Thought this new series of jobs was stressful turns out the previous manager was just incompetent. Since we are on schedule I get to hopefully work a half day tonight and drive the 7 hours home overnight to spend a Saturday with friends. This will be better than another weekend by myself in a city I'm a stranger too. It's been nice exploring different places recently but it's made me realize that traveling alone for long periods is kind of morose. You start to crave a friendly face and someone to just share an experience with minus a momentary connection at a bar or show. So yeah excited to go home. The most annoying part recently is trying to buy a damn used motorcycle. Keep seeing bike's i'd love to have and talking with the those selling but they always end up selling after a few days. I don't blame them for not waiting but damn is it frustrating. I'm really trying to find a CB750 to chop up and I can't bring myself to pay for a finished cafe racer that i'm just going to take down to the engine but I think i'll have to. Considering just buying a dirtbike to do wheelies on in the meantime. Here's an inspiration picture I have Anyways, hope everyone has had a good week and has a better weekend.
Got a Cadillac a few months back. Got a nail in the tire yesterday. Slow leak, not a blowout, so no big deal. Went to put the spare on this morning only to find there is no spare. In the trunk, where the spare should be, there is only an electric pump and a can of sealant. I consulted the owner's manual and it basically says, if the sealant doesn't work, call someone. For real.