I just opened a virtual pub on my phone. Submitting my big manuscript today. How u doin?
Got home at 1am last night, got the kid to gymnastics 20 minutes after we woke up, wife's off delivering babies, and Google Play Music decided I needed to hear this song for the first time in 20 years: I'm very much not enjoying Los Angeles this year but I was given the keys to a 2006 E55 AMG last night because my friends are desperately trying to talk me out of a fried-egg-headlight Porsche 911 (they're cheap at the moment). So, it turns out, are 2006 E55 AMGs. Tonight I have a flight. Tomorrow I get up at 5am. The last 48 hours in Los Angeles included the following on the bike path: (1) attempted arson (1) homeless woman peeing on the sidewalk who, upon seeing me noticing her, shimmied her boobs at me (1) dude in a folding office chair under a streetlamp shooting up heroin on a Sunday night (2) open-air drug deals (1) night heron (1) incongruous Brandt's Cormorant "The Future's already here, it's just not very evenly distributed" - William Gibson That river is fuckin' virtual light.
Last night we had a massive infestation of mosquitoes. The frogs were so loud they were audible over the gun shots and home-made fireworks. It is boring out here; reading your adventures on the bike make me like living in the boring just a bit more.
I bought that cassette for my Walkman. Nine-year-old me was very intrigued by one of the songs on the album. I would listen to it under the stairs while I waited for the neighbors to place clues for our games of Carmen Sandiego. Look what you've made me say.
Giant Generic Tower Wood Block Game is pretty fun. Edit: Finally got around verifying all the bits on my 'spensive bike are still in working order after the wreck. Only took a few months to get around to. Now I need to buy a new rear rack for it. Thinking about aluminium this time around. It's cheaper. It's lighter. The weight ratings (can be) similar.
I'm more of a forager than a hunter. I don't go to these things looking for anything and if I do I get frustrated. I bought a vintage stapler Tuesday. Why? I don't need a stapler. But it was fucking awesome and it was like a dollar. There's one on eBay for $40. My girlfriend doesn't understand the thrill of the bargain hunt. I told her we're going to have to meet in the middle on price shopping.
Man, I'm right there with you, I'm all about foraging and bargain hunting for so many reasons. You'll never second guess yourself about worrying whether or not you've been swindled, you can easily give away the stuff you get as gifts without much worry because you know you can always get more and not spend an arm and a leg, and you don't have to worry too much about something getting lost, broken, stolen, etc. (though you should still do your best to take the utmost care of it, obviously). You should tell your girl there's so much to be said about bargain hunting. Check out that link at the top. All of that was gotten for less than $40. Literally the most expensive thing was the ceramic insulator. In the comments, Dala posted some cool stuff we saw but didn't want and I don't think a single one of those items broke $60. One time, when we were garage hunting, we came home with two whole boxes worth of hubcaps for like $10. It was a steal. I haven't seen those things in years though, I wonder if we still have them . . . I've been drawing a lot. Nothing special. I've pretty much started sticking to Sharpie Markers on 5.5x8.5 or 4.25x5.5 cardstock and my best probably doesn't even stand a chance against your worse, but I'm having a lot of fun. Have you made anything recently yourself? I'd love to see it.
Ugh. I had forgotten how uncomfortable writing can be. The editor did a great job of pointing out everything I did wrong, but seeing dozens of comments on my piece feels like being pummeled and I haven't been able to shake that feeling entirely. If I keep at it it'll eventually be good, but between now and then is a chasm of self-doubt and frustration. The book I'm reading, The Lonely City, is lukewarm at best. It's a third autobiography, a third art analysis and a third George Packer-esque biographies about artists. Sorry, but I don't really care much about what the color green represents in Hopper's Nighthawks. It doesn't help that I haven't been feeling very social myself either. I can't relate to any of the colleagues at my thesis-internship-place much and I haven't been able to see my peers much because I am now working on my thesis full-time. One of my friends can't come along the road trip, so now we're splitting the costs over 4 instead of 5, which means that we might have to change plans to keep costs down. Another friend really wants to come along but can't pay for it. I'm considering chipping in, but money and his independence is a bit of a sensitive issue. There's a bunch of other stuff frustrating me that I won't bore you all with, but I wanted to get this off my chest.
I don't think it's boring. But I also understand your self-consciousness about sharing it all. I've been going through so much but I don't want to use up Hubski's goodwill and patience. I'm really proud and impressed with your Headspace streak. And the fact that you wrote a thesis. To be honest, getting back a written piece without comments or constructive feedback can be dangerous. This might be a little too abstract to be helpful, but encouraging the mindset of "my writing is great and needs little to no improvement" is only good for padding your mood. That said, a padded mood can be a good thing.
Thanks, man. I appreciate it. :) I think it's pretty difficult to wear out Hubski's patience. But I also think that you should only share what you feel comfortable sharing. Quite a large part of my frustrations stem from being confronted with parts of myself that I've struggled with for a long time. A while ago I realized that the slow and incremental approach to things and to life in general might be a better path for me. Small changes that stick are much better than large changes that don't get realized. Maybe that's something you can find a use for as well.
A most stubborn fact.Small changes that stick are much better than large changes that don't get realized.
I got some rather critical comments back on a draft that I'd sent to my coauthors, only a few hours after I emailed it out. For about 2 days, my thoughts were along the lines of "These people are just jealous they didn't write this! Probably trying to sabotage me", etc. (it's a hyper-competitive project). That gradually gave way to "Holy shit, I hate what I've done! What an embarrassing structure I tried to use. I really am rambling here, and they were only trying to help", etc. etc. There aren't many (any?) grad students laying golden eggs inside the papers of scientific journals. If you can just make your reviewers happy and forgive yourself for not being perfect, that's the worst part of the whole thing, I think. Yeah, this is difficult, especially the first few attempts, but we both know you've already shown massive improvement.
Good Things I'm moving at the end of the month. I'm going to Jasper and Banff in 10 days. I signed up for a crazy trail relay race next month. I went to Bellingham for the first time and liked it a lot. Bad Things This foot injury is progressing slower than I would like, though it is progressing. Has me a bit nervous for all the hiking coming up and I'm not running nearly as much as I would like.
Friday the 21st or Saturday the 22nd, take your pick.
I'll book off both and see what I get. Saturday could always be for resting legs and day drinking outside. If it's nice we could go to the lake ( only none glacier fed lake here so only place that's swimmable for extended periods of time) and float around. It's normally not too busy.
I'm so down for day drinking and not strenuous things, as I will probably be a bit out of it by that point.
I spent three weeks in Canada in 2014. We were around the Jasper and Banff are for around half of that. Rather than Banff directly, we stayed in nearby Canmore. There's loads of awesome hikes to do in the surrounding area. And if you go up to the Nordic Centre in the summer, you can hire bikes and go around all the cross-country skiing trails. I definitely recommend a hike up to the ink pots in the Banff National Park. It's such a beautiful area and it's my favourite holiday I've had in my life so far. I would not hesitate at the opportunity to go back. You can read my trip report for a bit more information and pictures :).
Funny, I ended up on skis for the first time at the Canmore Nordic Centre back when I was in Calgary. So many great hikes there. Should've done more! ButterflyEffect, Kananaskis County has a few gorgeous hikes: 
Now that's a good looking peak. There's an amazing amount of hikes out there, any plans to revisit in the future?
Exactly. As far as I can remember there's a various levels of day passes. The most basic let's you follow the main trail which is fully tarmac. The next ones up allow you to go off road and down smaller and more wild tracks. It's basically a number of different circuits with various offshoots: Though I didn't get to check them out too much as my brother went over the handlebars before we had a chance. They looked awesome from what I saw. There's also a small dirt park next to the main center building. Re: the beer. There's a number of great places to drink and eat in town, which is only about a 20 minute walk from the trails. I can remember a pretty rad brewery pub we went to.so you can mountain bike on the ski trails when there's no snow?
Yes. It's ~10.5 hours to Jasper from here, then another couple down to Banff from there. No, though I suppose you could fly into Calgary and drive from there. Jasper National Park, Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park. Lake Louise, the town of Banff, uhm maybe other things that I'm 100% unaware of (likely lots of this). Option 1: Go daycamping or backpacking through yonder woods. Option 2: Find a hostel, room, or couch in the Lake Louise area and go exploring! I'll likely have more valuable input at the end of this month.are you driving?
flying?
what's around there?
how do i vacation there?
Apparently there's a bunch of hostels scattered about the area. Who knew.
mk is fired. I'm fired too. I need to drink more water. I'm going to drink a ton of water today. I'm going to be positive all day. I'm going to win, dammit. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and dawg gonnit, people like me.
I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and dawg gonnit, people like me.
Hello from Charlotte! Driving to Virginia Beach today :) The new photographer job has been fun! Driving still stresses me out a little and I miss people but it's all manageable. I like the flexibility, slept until 9:30 today and my bosses will never know :) I also feel I might get into audiobooks - I'm often either driving or editing photos and having something to listen to helps. I ill run out of podcasts soon. Kind of disappointed with American food. Got in the trap of looking for a nice Mexican place ending up at a disgusting TexMex twice already. I have to remember to never order blue cheese sauce. Has nothing in common with blue cheese and almost made me throw away my whole lunch. Ordered a chicken sandwich the other day and got a mayo covered chicken breast with one leaf of lettuce in between cheap burger buns... It takes a little research to find something decent that's for sure. And I can't cook very much on the road but finding the cheese crackers salami and berries and the supermarket kind of saved my sanity.
As for good Mexican food, kb's 1000 mile rule is a good one unless you know where the small taqueria's and haunts that are actually in Mexican neighborhoods are. Most major cities have legit hispanic communities where you can get legit Mexican food. Also, if you're in a city check out where their food-truck scene is. Some of the most inventive and best food these days are coming from food trucks. Safe travels!I have to remember to never order blue cheese sauce
- I have no idea what blue cheese sauce is. Stay away from it :)
I was aiming towards edible, not spectacular. It was either that or heavy southern BBQ that i already had enough of. Or Popeyes... If we can make okay Mexican in Canada, don't see why they can't in southern US. Call me a pretentious millennial but I'd kill for a place with avocado toast and quinoa salads right about now.
I talked about most of what's going on in my post from Friday. The weekend was of course better, although there have been people at our house every day since Friday night. That is exhausting, and I'm hoping that it stops soon. I may skip class tonight just so I can not talk to anyone (especially since I have to go into the office tomorrow, and people work there). That's about it. I'm largely avoiding the National Dumpster Fire, and trying to get caught up on my reading. Have a bunch of sci-fi thanks to a trip to the bookstore and the Humble Book Bundle awhile back, and am re-reading the original Dune Chronicles. The main one I'm really into right now is also by Frank Herbert: Destination: Void. It's about the creation of AI by early-spacefaring humanity, and is amazing.
Lots of things percolating. Bought a Real Book a few weeks ago, and have been working my way through trying to memorize some of my favorite songs. The goal is to have 20 songs memorized by the end of the summer, gonna try and get some bar gigs. Also nearly done recording a secret summer music project, should be out soonish. In more interesting (to me) news, I'm preparing a D&D campaign right now, and have been finding some really cool resources worldbuilding through RNG. Notably, In Corpathium, which is a crazy setting that is built entirely by throwing a bunch of dice one time.
Deep in vacation mode. Bought myself a used acoustic with a pickup, so had to get an amp and a microphone. The salesman talked me into a Fishman Loudbox Mini. I should buy that guy a beer. This amp sounds great, looks great and is a lot of fun. Started a new art project - haven't done art in about a year and it feels great. Goal is to make 20-25 cm models of the 5 Platonic solids, each made from 6 human figure shapes. They'll be 3d printed in metal. Making 3d art is 10x harder than 2d, my 2d pictures I can cheat and hide things, but a 3d model that people can handle has to be perfect from every angle. This will take me all summer and maybe beyond. Going to Greece on Sunday to sit on an island and do nothing for a week except eat well and drink adequately.
I'm up to 169.1 miles of the Ice Age Trail complete. Just 970 or so miles left. I started self shuttling myself with my bike. I drive to a trailhead, bike as far down as I want, and then run, walk or hike back to my car. Yesterday was my first attempt at doing this with hiking boots and a small day pack. Totally worked. The next step will be to figure out how to self shuttle for an overnight. No way in hell am I biking with an overnight pack. I figure I'll have to dump the bag, drive, and then bike back to my bag. Biking and then running is weird. It makes my legs feel rubbery for a few minutes. Maybe I should pick up triathlon.
i have this "problem" with biking then walking. if i do ~20 miles on my bike, my legs get used to the rotation. if i stop to read, they seize up pretty hard. walking after that is really weird. stretching helps, but it's annoying to have to stretch at every interval.
Huh. Apparently the key to Pubski is hidden under the door mat. Who knew? Dog I specifically took the day off work today because there are people here to work on the roof and the chimney of the house. It wouldn't be a lie to say my dog is territorial, which is fine. 99% of the time, it's not a problem. I still wanted to be here with her, to keep her calm, just in case. She's done good so far. A few growls, one round of barking, other than that, she's laying on her bed like a good girl. Honestly, I've had her for years, yet she still surprises me with how wonderful she is. Houses Speaking of houses, Dala and I haven't gone to any recently, not since we went to see the one in with the wacky funhouse floors and the neighborhood with the Waverunners. That said, two of the houses we saw recently are back on the market. One of them was for sale for about $70k. It now has a new coat of paint and some new floors and is now available for about $90k. The other was for sale for about $90k, was obviously bought and fixed up by a flipper, because it had new paint, new floors, new cabinets, and all sorts of bells and whistles. It also had pipes leading to nowhere, wall outlets and cabinets that weren't level, and the concrete patio in the back sloped towards the house which would cause water to pool at the foundation. It's now on the market again, for over $120k, and with the exception of a wood patio covering up the concrete patio (which I'm damn near positive wasn't fixed), I can't tell if there's a damn thing changed about this house. Not that I'd schedule a viewing to find out, because it's now out of our price range. In case you can't tell, I'm bitter about this. Metal Detectoring One of my friends wants Dala and I to buy ourselves metal detectors and join him on metal detecting adventures. Normally I'd be all game for this. Detectorists was a fun TV show and there's a scene where the club is getting together to discuss their finds and all they have to show for it is some buttons and a matchbox car and I turned to my wife and said "I'd love to do that! I LOVE BUTTONS!" I love antiques, Dala loves antiques, it'd be good exercise and a good reason to get out of the house, etc. etc. BUT, said friend is more interested in finding lost rings and valuables and shit and pawning them off which I personally think is sketchy and predatory as hell. At the same time, there's laws around metal detecting, mostly to protect the integrity of archeological sites and such, and I don't know how much of a hassle that is. That said, Dala is friends with a guy who does this kind of stuff as a hobby, so I asked her to get in touch with him. At the very least, we get to take him out to dinner and have a good conversation.