Name: Zach

Location: High-desert SW USA

Age: 9496ish days, 1771 of which spent with Hubski

Preoccupations: Dog trainer, piano player, mountain biker....the list of amateur pursuits is endless. The Zach of all trades, master of none.

I'm more of lurker than I'd like to be. I've come to attach personalities to these usernames as most of us do, but I've always chimed in here and there and not fully "joined the conversation" :p

That said, I want to thank all of you who give me a weekly dose of thoughtful reading material and for the conversational topics that make me question my own stance more often than not. Still sitting on a few hubski stickers that need a local home.

I like the dated aesthetic of those vids! Ha. Really excited to dive into the mixing video especially.

That microbrute does look really nice for learning what's what on a synth. Unfortunately, I'm saving up for a gig-worthy set of keys so I don't really have the budget for it.

I mostly have been using a cheap vst I bought from pluginboutique, as I liked the electronic options on there more than the Ableton Lite core sounds. (I suspect I'm using them wrong, as I'm not finding too many on there I like at all.)

With my original stuff, I've always gravitated towards danceable, light-hearted pop and rock as well as instrumental piano music, but I do plan to get more familiar with the workings of synths in the future. For now, I'm having fun with the hybridx64 vst and directly playing keys into ableton with the Focusrite Scarlett. I'm trying to ease my way in to the whole process, and I have my eyes set on learning mixing techniques and philosophies right now.

For example, I'm mostly happy with this arrangement now, but I still feel pretty lost on how to get the sound to a higher level of quality. (EQ this, compression that.....)

Some tracks seem to be uploading to soundcloud much quieter than what I'm hearing through ableton.

I'm really digging your score music, especially Clown Magic! Love those strings.

Great stuff (:

Are you moving down chromatically around 0:15? the voice leading sounded so good, but my ear is inexperienced.

Hope you don't mind me asking - what program do you use? I've been learning ableton for the past month as a way to flesh out all the songs I never finish.

It's so overwhelming (but exciting) to think of how much I need to learn when it comes to producing/mixing.

What a handsome dog! As others have said, he's not an indoor dog. I don't know how much time or money you can afford to give to Cooper, but here are some (tired) thoughts I would tell a new dog owner. Physical exercise is bare minimum, but just a walk through the barking dog gauntlet is probably going to create more issues than it will help. Giving Cooper some kind of outlet for mental stimulation is gonna tire him out and satisfy him much more than playing ball in the yard or going for a walk/jog.

Obedience training is really fun for a dog if you employ reward-based methods. It also will satisfy his desire to learn and accomplish something. (I'm going off typical Terrier mindset, but your dog will have his own ticks of course). As you get to know Cooper and learn his favorite treats, toys, etc., you can use that to your benefit by exchanging his favorite things with the behavior you want from him. I like to think of basic manners like Sit, Down, Stay, or walking nicely at your side as all tricks you have taught him. First in the home, then at a park with a little more distractions, and eventually through the gauntlet.

Can't recommend enough getting in contact with some kind of trainer or behaviorist that: a) uses reward-based/marker/clicker training, and b) you can establish a good rapport with. I'm not a zealot for NO prongs, NO aversives, but in my experience setting up the training in a way the dog thinks he's playing you and getting everything he wants makes the behaviors so much stronger. They want to stare at you walking by your side in the crazy human world.

Also, he looks like he would be fantastic at some dog sports like Barn Hunt, Rally, Agility, etc. Maybe look around your area for some cheap classes, or a daycare you trust!

edit*

Fun obedience training will also jumpstart Cooper bonding with you, and trusting you. That will go a longgg way with his reactivity at your neighbor, other dogs, or anything.

Thanks for your input. I will likely stop by their office and get more info next week, after my summer semester ends. I'm sure there is a lot I haven't considered.

Totally agree -- I find myself repeating that sentiment to family, coworkers, etc. often.

If that question was given to me, I'd say more people should take a risk and not reinforce these stereotypes in reality (in my case, go out and volunteer for BB). If enough people did that, those who read these hysteria-inducing stories would have a real life counterexample to call upon. "That's weird, all the men I know working in childcare are great people".

Thanks for sharing.

In the past I've thought about looking into the Big Brother organization in my town. A coworker was telling me about how her daughter has benefited greatly from her mentor, but her son is perpetually on a wait list due to a shortage of males. I think my lifestyle and mentality would make me a good role-model, and perhaps this is the wrong kind of motivation, but I think it would be fulfilling to be of service to a young person like that.

What makes me reconsider is articles like these, coupled with the reality of me living in a smaller town where reputation means quite a bit. It's sad to say, but the rape-allegations-stories make me immediately think, "Nah, not worth it right now". Even if they are rare. I don't know.

My personal favorite novel of his is Jitterbug Perfume. It came into my life around the time I started learning about eastern thought in healthcare, which ties in with that book's themes nicely.

I would recommend either that one, Skinny Legs and All, or Still Life with Woodpecker. They all showcase that wacky Robbins wordplay at its best, and poke fun at some aspects of our culture many people accept without much questioning.

Let me know if you decide to read any of his stuff! I'm currently making my way through his autobiography, among others. I'm a three-topics-at-once kind of reader.

When I first joined Hubski, I had my suspicions you were Tom Robbins. The voice I heard while reading that last bit about the climate scientists reaffirms them.

Just returned home last night from visiting Columbia, Missouri. As a native southern Californian and now central-highlands AZ dweller, I was blown away by the density of plants and insects! I was also flattered by the hospitality of everyone I met there. The midwest seems to shout to me, "We've been here a while." I'm aware that Columbia may be an outlier when it comes to openness to foreigners, though, due to being a college town.

The reason I went was to reconnect with a girlfriend I was living with here in Prescott. While the trip sadly concluded our relationship, it also gave me a lot of inspiration to be less of a homebody and put my feelers out to the community.

Unrelated: does anyone here know of a method/site to research cities to live in? I've mostly been reading anecdotal reddit comments about specific towns I'm interested, but I imagine there are better ways to go about this.

1) You ever try sprinkling some cayenne pepper on your coffee? The added spiciness clears out my mucky morning throat and sinuses like no other. And my personal opinion is that the tastes complement each other well.

I'm not exactly a purist though -- with my current batch I threw in ground cardamom and cinnamon.