Double commenting this week because I got a job offer for my first real job post-college. Holy crap these benefits are great...I think. I'm feeling so many different things right now.
Yep! That was my second and final round of interviews, which ended up being six interviews and a plant tour for the entire process.
Congratulations, regardless of what you decide, they'd be lucky to have you!
The ally of depression is inactivity. The enemy is routine and exercise. It may not seem like much, but if you have the choice between sitting in bed and watching all the Harry Potters, or sitting in bed and reading all the Harry Potters, or putting on your headphones, going for a walk and listening to all the Harry Potters, go with Door #3. The activity gives you endorphins, lets your body process toxins and the change of pace will stimulate brain activity. I'n'I know depression. I was in a deep, deep well of it for about eight years. The only way to beat it is to fight. The only way to fight is to do something. It doesn't even have to be an important thing. My father decided he was going to beat depression by beating every game of Freecell there is. About 2200 games in he felt good enough to do something else with his time. We're all pulling for you. You could do worse than take over #photochallenge.
Listen closely because I say a lot of unimportant shit but this is important: YOU FIGHT FOREVER. Forever. You will get tired and you will get worn down and you will be defeated and you will just want to stop. And you can. But know that when you stop, you die. Depression can go bad places. My family is really pretty good at suicide; I've got two on my mom's side. Depression, allowed to run its course, is death. Which, when you're wrapped up in the Camille Claudel macabre beauty of it, seems like a release. The thing of it is you don't get to the happy ending if you punch out early. And the people who care about you will sorely miss you. I ain't saying "hold your head up high." I ain't even saying "put on a happy face." Know down to your very bones that if it ain't one damn thing it's two damn things, that the bastards will win in the end, that entropy will win out no matter what, and that in the grand scheme of things you don't fucking matter. But in the near term, you do. You're important to everyone that knows your name. Nearly everyone you've ever met would be saddened by your passing. We don't all get to be George Bailey so we gotta improvise; at a fundamental level most people are good and kind and if you've been good and kind to them they remember you fondly. Keep 'em guessing. Let them wonder what you're up to. Don't be an epitaph, don't be a cautionary tale. Eventually the dark spots will brighten, the bright spots will spread, and you'll discover that you've been pretty happy for long enough that you only vaguely remember just how black and horrible things were. And you'll laugh, and you'll smile, and you'll thank your lucky stars that you pulled through. But it won't come if you're looking for it. Happiness is like love. It alights on those who are ready but not seeking. Hang in there. It's worth it. I promise.
That made me cry. In a good and hopeful way. I know this wasn't meant for me, but thank you.
There could not have been a better comment to have received the first #100 badge badge. That's awesome!
As the designer of the Hubski badge, I might have to whip something up to mark your achievement. Like a super badge. For reals.
Try and pick something productive to learn while your between schools. I dropped out this past summer and finding myself hobbies has done a great job at keeping me motivated while I wait to start new things and keeping my life from turning into that of the second shift alcoholic. Edit: not that you asked for advice, winter depression just always hits me like a train so I've been trying to work on a way to get rid of that.
Thank you. There are several things that I've wanted to start on but I just find it hard to find the motivation to get on it. I've wanted to get started on code academy for fun or getting more into Khan Academy but recently whenever I start on it I see it as a pointless task. In between schools I'll hopefully be able to find a job where I can fund a hobby as I had several but had to drop them. Thanks again.
I think pursuing shit like code and khan academy is super awesome, it keeps your brain active when you don't have something like school to fill the gap. For me artistic expression helps me more on the emotional side even though right now that's just colored pencil sketches as working on getting a nice handstyle and lettering down for graffiti, it's just a nice way to fill time productively that isn't as mentally involved as learning to code or learning more about a scientific field. On contributing slmething about my life to pubski, I start a bead making class at the local community art organization in December, it's nothing complicated, I've watched videos in it and t seems to be mostly about smooth hand movement but it's going to be a great introduction into the kind glass work I want to do and will give me a bit of experience so I'm not completely green when I approach the few glass workers I know by association about some sort of apprenticeship. What I'm saying is I'm ma stoked on it.hopefully it'll be the first step in pursuing what I'm trying to do with myself. Edit: to add the disclaimer that I've been drinking whiskey with some friends which leaves me prone to rambling.
I've also written like 5 other comment replies to this, making fun of or otherwise suggesting that you still have options, but they're not funny and frankly, you're a helluva smart guy and you know what you're doing. In all sincerity, I hope to know the two of you as a couple for many years moving forward. I think our wives would get along well and... You know that you and I are great drinking buddies. Benny Boy!..... he's all growns up.
We all married up. That's the key, having a spouse that you never stop courting.
I'm replying to you but this comment really isn't for you at all because I don't think you need an ego boost. It consistently impresses me how highly thenewgreen speaks of his wife and how he always seem to go a little bit further. Like he will be talking about her and something and then simply add, with a tad of amazement, "......and she's sexy!" I don't know. Those little things I've noticed make sense seeing this comment. But it's really nice and lovely and more guys should do that and stuff.
Thanks for that, I ought to have her read this, just so she knows it occurs :) We are going to a formal party this evening. Just 8 people attending, a swing band and we are in black tie/gown. It should be a blast! It's in a wine cellar in Asheville NC. I can't wait to dance all night, in my tux.
A wedding in Hawaii? You're doing it right. Have a great time and ceremony (or what have you) while you're there!
LA is only like a really long swim away if you decide to chicken out on the wedding bells...
I played my first proper open mic night tonight. It went really well. I've performed plenty of times before but only once before with my voice and that was very drunken, impromptu and without a mic/PA. I was initially most worried about hearing myself through the setup and whether something might somehow make me sing out of tune, but it all went well. As soon as I started I settled in straight away and played 3 songs. Alice in Chains - Nutshell, Davey Matthews - Anji, and Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun. I had some coursemates and a guy I'd met a few nights back (who did some spoken word) there and they enjoyed it. The guy who runs the night seemed genuinely enthused over my set and I got invited back to do a separate half hour slot one night, once I have enough material of course. The icing on the cake was when an older gentlemen, who was apparently initially mildly annoyed I was nipping in before his planned 20 minute set, came over and shook my hand. He said I'd "got him interested" and was pleased with my choice of Nick Drake.
I'm actually listening to Nick Drake as I am reading this, his song Bryter Later. I just found out about him through the latest 99% Invisible podcast. thenewgreen, I think you'll like his music, he's an amazing guitarist.
Thank you, I've been a Nick Drake fan for many years. Glad to know that you've discovered him. His music is a treasure and his story is a sad one.
Yeah, Nick Drake really is incredible. His lyrics touch that sense of melancholy with such eloquence. When combined with the fantastic guitar playing and composition, not much compares. I'd say my favourite songs are the album version of Three Hours, Day is Done, and the one I played at the night.
Congratulations, I know how hard it is to put yourself out there, especially the first time. Keep putting yourself out there and good things will happen. I'll catch you on your North American tour!
Please do, you're a really good musician. I look forward to hearing more from you. I've really liked the stuff you've added to the #originalmusicproject, especially Someone to Hurt. That is still a favorite of mine.
[RESEARCHING INTENSIFIES] I've been pretty productive this week - at least by my expectations: But I have a lot of work still to do. Need to write a 4000-word well-researched paper on ecology, collaborate on a paper on transit-oriented design, write a lengthy Python ArcGIS script to handle open data and create an essay on philosophy - in the next two / three weeks. And I'm gonna squeeze things in that I really want to do. I'm gonna attempt to write at least half of my paper this weekend. I've read a boatload of literature already, but it is quite difficult to start writing when you continuously feel like you're one article short of figuring it all out. But at least I finally got Android Lollipop! It looks so sweet. Love it so far, especially the animations are splendid. 
Best I can do at the moment. It has since come to my attention that the birth rate for Palestinians far outstrips the birth rate for Israeli jews, which throws my overall conclusion in the crapper... That's what I get for reading "one more book."
This report suggests a decline in the birthrates of Arabs in Israel and around it and a rise in the Jewish birthrates. And it is not only due to the Jewish orthodox population (I thought this was the cause).It is unsurprising, at least in terms of falling Arab fertility rates, because it reflects well-documented trends elsewhere. In the period between the early 1960s and 2005-2010, the UN reports that the average woman in Egypt went from having more than 6.5 children to having fewer than three. In Lebanon, over the same period, the fall was from more than 5.5 to around 1.5, well below replacement level. In Jordan and Syria, too, declines in fertility were dramatic, from eight and 7.5 children per woman respectively in the early 1960s to around three and 3.5 in the 2005-2010 period.
My god man, tell me about it. I'm about 5000 words deep in my thesis on the future of the economy and I know if I read it in three years I'll want to rewrite the whole thing to assimilate new ideas. There's too much literature to read and it's making me go slower because I want to try and read it all.but it is quite difficult to start writing when you continuously feel like you're one article short of figuring it all out.
Which productivity tracker is that? I'm using Harvest to manage my time per client / project and it handles invoicing them as well. As fun as it is to invoice myself for wasted hungover time at the end of the month, I feel like yours and your pretty graphs would be infinitely more useful.
It's RescueTime. You can try it out for free (like I do) but there's also a pretty nifty premium package. I do have to note though that it hasn't been perfect so far: if you switch apps a lot, it doesn't register as accurate as it should. For example, I am now braindead because I've spent all the goddamn day working on my bigass paper. I've not really taken a break, but none of the bars add up to a full hour. Some get close (58 minutes) though. But hey, I'm over a dozen used academic sources and these counters were at zero this morning: I know you didn't really ask for this info but I gotta tell someone of my most productive day ever, y'know. Edit PS: God I love Garamond. Best font ever.
Yeah, I'm not updating until I'm told I've been given the update. I'm not gonna sideload it or root it or anything, not worth the trouble. Android is like that. Just like its easy to break a PC and hard to break a Mac, the same comparison can be drawn between Android and iOS. Also: DID YOU KNOW SMASH COMES OUT IN TWO DAYS!? BECAUSE THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO PLAYS VIDJAGAMS OR NOT.
Smash is like Smash Bros or something? Never got into that game. Spent a couple hours drunk trying to play WipeoutHD recently. Think my controller is dying. It's this bluetooth thing. DUnno. I'm on the cusp of spending money I don't wanna spend.
Yes! On the one hand, it is a bit creepy. On the other hand, it's a really good motivator to spend my time more efficiently. I used to feel productive when I'd spend an hour reading something, so then I'd spend an hour browsing the web before continuing. Now I just wanna keep that productivity number high.I see you're still using that productivity tracker.
Joined a band last week. Played a show with them this weekend. All went pretty well. It's also been the first time I've played in a group since about three years ago. I'm definitely super excited to be back in live music. Related, my recording endeavors have been totally side-tracked. I'll get around to the lizards sooner or later though. As a side note I've also been stricken by some especially bad Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I expect to be poor soon.
Like every other -omics area, it seems to be still maturing and -omics primarily in name. Sadly these things do not give in situ, single-cell, temporally sliced measurements, and the benchmark most methods developers use is "how many different proteins do we see?"... which is a number that is always increasing. Then you add isoforms and combinations of covalent modifications into the mix and it's anyone's game with plenty of room to grow. But I'm happy with it being a maturing field, means there's lots of sub-optimal areas to do work. Hoping to take b_b's advice and not apply it to cancer if I can help it. Plenty of other diseases that are also interesting and not quite as saturated.
Life is more or less the same as ever. I stocked up on pumpkin spice liqueur from the local cellar because it's seasonal and I'm addicted to it. If that's all I can think of to say, uh oh. I like to read free things, I don't eat much, I don't care where I sleep at night. Which means I oughta be able to live life just about anywhere. So I got that going for me. I started a journal a few months ago, and I'm realizing something about myself: I don't like to write in journals. I can write three thousand words a day on hubski/elsewhere, but I need the subject to be presented. I need prompting. My (few) journal entries are therefore bizarre. I think this is also why I have trouble writing long fiction.
I never seem to be able to write journals. Every year I get a short burst where I write a few pages and then I stop. What I noticed? Even looking back into the things I wrote during one of those "bursts" is amazing. Mostly cringe-worthy. But it shows me how I used to think, act and write just a year ago and how much I have changed. I could say something like "I have to write a journal NOW". But I know that I won't do it anyway
A little early for the pub, but I had an exam yesterday, get at me.
In the process of doing all of my end-of-semester scheduling, I came to realize that, assignment-wise, I have 3 papers and 3 exams standing between me and the end of my second to last semester as an undergrad. I've re-made my resume. I know that I'm 22. I know that it would be unreasonable for anyone, including myself, to expect me to have a big beefy resume. I know that part of the reason it looks so skimpy is the fact that I've had the same job for 3 years, which is actually a point in my favor, because it shows consistency. Add that to the fact that I own my own business, at 22, and I should be fairly confident in my resume, and it's (my) value. But it's still really concise. And maybe part of the reason I'm so concerned about it is because I'm a little self-conscious about how quickly and easily my professional value can be summed up. And I've been battling a viral upper respiratory infection for the better part of a week now, and it's making all of the other stuff that I have to do more difficult. 
Been a tough couple weeks, but I think I'm coming out of it. Time to start participating again.
I just booked tickets for my first real travel since Australia. And, kinda surprisingly, the guy I've been dating since about August is going to join. It's going to be a blast. The grand total for all the tickets came to about ~$3500, which gives us one month and a ton of fun. 1. Dec 28 LAX-TAIPEI 2. (10HR layover in TAIPEI) 3. Dec 30 TAIPEI - HONG KONG 4. Jan 3 HONG KONG - BANGKOK 5. JAN 8 (boyfriend returns home) BANGKOK-SEOUL 6. 15HR layover in Seoul 7. JAN 9 SEOUL - LAX 8. Jan 8 (I go to Sri Lanka to join my programmer in his hometown) BANGKOK - COLOMBO, SRI LANKA 9. JAN 16 COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - DUBAI 10. 6HR layover in Dubai 11. Jan 17 DUBAI - LAX Also unexpectedly, my mother decided she wanted to go to Costa Rica for her birthday (Jan 19th). So now I am traveling back to LAX which takes like 24 hours....spending a day or two in LA.... and then taking off to Costa Rica until Jan 28th. If anyone has been to any of these places, LMK. I'd love your advice on what to do!
Hong Kong! Really awesome. Some tips off the top of my head: 1. Walk of the Stars is like a shit version of LA. Not worth it, there are better spots for a good view of the harbor skyline. Maaybe go if you have an immense love for Bruce Lee and need to touch his statue there. But otherwise don't. 2. GET AN OCTOPUS CARD. It's one card for the subway system, which is amazing, runs like every two minutes, and has cross-platform transfers everywhere. So pretty similar to the cards in NYC and London, right? No, because you can also use this card to pay at the station shops. 90% of the time this is the 7/11, which are everywhere. If you're travelling the city all day this is a godsend, because you can grab the 7/11 half liter bottles of iced tea for just ten HK dollar ($1.30). I did this almost every day. I was there in december too, and it was t-shirt weather most of the week, so stay hydrated. You can get an Octopus card at any medium-to-large station, they have customer information, and they know English most of the time. 3. I know friends who were on the same trip as me who went to the Ten Thousand Buddhas monastery, they said it's pretty cool. Every Buddha is unique. 4. Tip for the evening: go to the Mong Kok neighbourhood. It is the densest in the world, and at night all the neon lights are fucking amazing. I mean, look at this: 5. Also in the same area, the Ladies' Market, which isn't for ladies, it's a general souvenir kinda market where you can haggle to death. Seriously, we were there and I wanted a necklace for my mother, which was advertised for HK140 ($20?). Got it for HK40. If you can't get more than 40 percent off, don't buy. That area (and Yau Ma Tei a bit more south) is also great for food. 6. You probably want to get a beautiful view of the city at the Victoria Peak. The train that goes up there is pretty touristy (read: pricey) and often has long lines. It's also not that easy to reach by subway. And what they don't tell you, however, is that at the Peak, you need to pay again to get to the observatorial deck. Protip: the mall next door has a roof terrace with the same view, for free. And you can get a cheap bus from Admiralty that will bring you directly to the Peak mall. The bus does take a bit longer. 7. The Nan Lian Garden is supposedly one of the most beautiful Asian parks in the world. It is pretty neat to wind down, and the Chi Lin monastery is right next door, which is some pretty cool Chinese temple kinda thing. It's also walking distance from Diamond Hill subway station, and it's all free. 8. Do take the Star Ferry! It is only like a dollar, you can enter with your Octopus card (amazing eh) and while it's short, you get some great views of the bay from that boat. 9. Disneyland is not different enough from the American ones to spend a day. 10. If you want to go on a tower, get to the Bank of China Tower (the one with the big triangles on the side). During office hours you can go to the 44th floor for free. Much better than the $30 ride to the top of the ICC tower, which is also harder to reach. 11. Something to combine with that: for less than a dollar you can ride the Hong Kong tram. It goes nice and slow and it's a nice ride in between the giant skyscrapers. Ride it from the BoC tower to Sheung Wan. 12. I found it nice to learn the basics of Chinese with this simple method. If you memorize the basic 9 characters, most of the Chinese signs will not look like complete gibberish to you (Most of HK is bilingual, but it's nice to recognize names faster because you recognize a character or two. It won't hurt!) If you want to know more, lemme know! I'll respond to this post if I think of more cool things to do. PS. dammit now I want to go back
My mother bought the family tickets to see the early release in 35mm at Arclight here in LA. They couldn't get the projector working, which totally fucking sucked. I was severely disappointed. Apparently, the next 35mm showing had the same shit happen. I still haven't seen it, even though I now have 2 full tickets to Arclight as a response to them being unable to fucking make a fucking projector work. I have no desire to ever visit Arclight again.
I had my boss with me all day today. I've had increased scrutiny of late, a lot of eyes watching my performance. What I do for a living is very analogous to being a pro-athlete. The compensation can be great, when you are performing. I have been a strong, to VERY strong performer for the last 5+ years, but this year has been rough. I'm running at the middle of the pack and when you go from Michael Jordan to Michael .... Well, I don't know another Michael that plays basketball with lesser stats... but that guy, in the span of a year, they take notice. I need to focus my time and energy moving forward for the sake of my family. Most of you have jobs where someone is over your shoulder all the time making sure you're getting it done. I don't. It's enough rope to hang yourself with. I'll be on Hubski much less during 9-5 moving forward. Don't do or post anything cool till 6pm, okay?
As some of you saw in other threads, two of my poems got accepted for publication in Bop Dead City and should be out in early January. Coolskies. I think I shall put them up on here when they go live. I'll have to take photos of the mag, but hey, once they're published once all value goes out of copyright so I might as well share 'em with you guys for free and for evers.
This week I didn't feel like doing anything. I mean absolutely nothing. I have been super productive this past couple of weeks – writing, drawing, etc. etc. But this week, I’m going to watch other people’s movies, read other people’s books, and play other people’s videogames. And I’m okay with that. Thanksgiving break is here a week early, bitches. That being said, Hubskina has been put into hibernation, due to that, the fact that I have tests to take, and I also kinda don’t want to be “that guy who does Hubskina.” At least for a little while. Trying to post other content and share other people’s content as a result. On the upside to this sort-of-mellow post, this has basically been my whole week emotionally: Edit: Holy shit you guys. I've been thinking Smash Wii U is coming out on Black Friday for like two months now. Smash is coming out this Friday. THIS FRIDAY. SMASH IS COMING OUT IN TWO DAYS OH MY GOOASDAFOIDAUUEPRASDFAJKALFD
Also, I'm in a cabin in the woods and I just put together the newsletter while watching The Man Who Knew Too LIttle. Fucking fantastic movie. So good. I love Bill Murray and this role is so great for him.
I'm originally from Buffalo, but recently moved farther west in New York State. WAY farther west. So thankfully I'm not in the target zone of the current blizzard there. My hometown is literally right in the middle of the band that is dumping 5 feet of snow on the region. While I'm grateful to not have to deal with any of that, at the same time I find it curious that I'm a bit nostalgic for big Buffalo storms like this. The current storm is on the extreme end of things, but Buffalo gets at least one of these storms almost every year. Something about the shared community suffering and bitching.
Left this morning before the pub opened. Parked my bike. When I left at 4:30 it was almost dark and there was blowing and piling snow. I dug out my bicycle and cruised home, totally loving my wide trail bike tires!! But it's just Canada, not like Buffalo NY or anything. Buffalo: 60" of snow today - about as high as your average 10-year-old. I'll just thaw out for a bit. See y'all later.
Yeah, those tires look good. I think I'd feel safe on that bike! I'd love to try all kinds of bikes in this weather. It's so crazy-dangerous snow-cycling in the city. It was all new-fallen so nothing had been plowed. I was afraid of hitting an ice patch and sliding into traffic. Luckily there's bicycle lanes most of my way home and it was fun. Several bikes passed me. At a light, a man crossing the street near me slipped and almost fell. He brushed away the snow and realized he had slipped on a flattened cardboard box. That's the thing about the snow: You can't see what it's covering and any number of things could cause me to fall. I still need better gloves and a balaclava to wear under my helmet.
In pursuit of a correlation between three specific business segments I mapped two other specific business segments in an attempt to determine the degree of decorrelation. The idea being: all businesses will have a certain amount of demographic correlation simply because of population centers and roads. By demonstrating a counter-model I can establish (somewhat) that the correlation I have found between the three business segments I give a shit about is not a fluke. The businesses I give a shit are all within the yellow globs. This is a win. The businesses I don't give a shit are not. This is also a win. (Audiologists and Five Guys Burgers & Fries, if you care) (Like I said, "a ridiculous amount of information about an extremely specific subject")
Yesterday and today are productive days, got a lot of homework done, one test, one part of senior design, and a lot of songwriting done. Still waiting to hear from the company I interviewed with on Friday. But, for the first time ever, I received an unsolicited email from a recruiter wanting to interview me.
I CANT FEEL MY BRAIN ANYMORE
(not that I could in the first place, but now I really can't)