Here’s my latest videosong, hopefully to help you usher in the holidays.
And HERE is a free download of the song for you to enjoy 
Archive for the ‘ misc. ’ Category
I on a plane right now.
(Note, I wrote this several months ago, and didn’t finish it on that plane. )
I could be sleeping, but I’m not.. And I think I know why.
I’ve been in California all week on business, and that has meant a few things. It’s time for me to really focus on my job during the days, enjoy the time with my other remote co-workers (one of which is my brother, so that’s cool) but it also means after work hours that aren’t filled with parental duties.. FREE TIME.
So, back to the reason I’m not asleep. I’m pretty sure that I don’t know, and have never known, how to have free time. Even when I’m not out of town, and I don’t have a slot of time scheduled with something, I still have a list of things in my head, ready to fill that time. For instance, this plane right from San Francisco to Atlanta is almost 4 hours long, and I’ve spent all but 10 minutes on a computer. I’ve accomplished a lot so far on this flight.. I wrote a short song, recorded several parts on my iPad, spent a couple of hours programming and learning some development stuff that I’d been putting off, and now.. I’m writing a blog post.
I remember when I was a kid, probably 6 or 7, asking my mom, over and over, “what can we do? I’m bored” She gently replied.. “Sometimes you need to do nothing.” She’s completely right, of course.. but I have a pretty hard time with that.
I’ve tried to figure out why that is. I think it’s that I’ve been given a thirst for learning and making. That thirst is stronger than my thirst for rest (after a cup of coffee of course), and I’m ok with that.
Even though I have moments where I think “I really wish I could just sit down and do nothing”, the majority of the time, I’m completely excited by the next item on my backlog of “stuff I want to get to..”. As with all things, I think there’s just a balance that has to be found, and I constantly have to find that within myself.
In one of my favorite movies, a character says “It’s amazing how productive ‘doing nothing’ can be.”
It’s true. There’s a balance to be found, between sprinting and resting, between building and standing back to look at progress.
I’ve been fairly quiet lately, both online and off.. and I’ve realized that when I get quiet, it’s because there’s a lot going on inside me. Sometimes that’s hard stuff, sometimes it’s good stuff, but it’s always A LOT.
The thing that’s been going on lately is a struggle to “make”.. music, specifically. I started, on May 1, writing/recording/filming a song and it’s been a strange couple of weeks since then. First off, time is hard to find. Working around real life and nap times makes it hard to dedicate the time to thoughtfully write and effectively record music in a house with 3 small children. Added events and engagements have also eaten away at the little free time available. Regardless of the difficulty I’ve found in starting this project, I’ve found (or been reminded of) some really amazing things.
- My wife is awesome, and patient, and awesome.
- I prefer the way a snare (played with brushes) sounds when miked from underneath.
- My kids deserve more than I could ever do for them, but every moment I give them is an investment in their joy.
- It turns out that I CAN write music on my own.
- My organ has an amazing bass sound.
- a little encouragement and interest goes a long way.
- Half of the struggle of creation is dedicating focus to it’s process.
There’s a ton more… but it can wait for future posts. The song isn’t finished, and I won’t release it until I get the video edited, so expect it to be a while. (I’ll probably be launching a site for my music when the song is ready)
(FYI, I’m trying to make my first Videosong, read this if you don’t know what that is.)
I’ve finally had some time to work on the desk lately, and now it’s a functional piece of my office/studio.
I’ve still got some cable management to put in place, as well as adding a door to the cabinet, and shelves to the… shelves. But overall, I’m loving it.. it’s very big
test fit, primed
So, I’ve been writing more lately, and posting less about what I was actually DOING (although writing is DOing something, I suppose)
Well,here’s one of the things I did this weekend. We had a chandelier from the 70′s hanging above our dining room table, and a while back I took it down, spray painted it red and rehung it. It worked for a while, because it was unique, but it was still lame, and we’ve been wanting more/better light.
We decided to build a fixture since it’d fit our space correctly, and well, we’re picky about how things look.
After figuring out the design, I set into building it, and already had most of the components around the shop. The wood was leftover 1″x from another project and a sliver of luan. The rods were old pieces of white tent poles that I’ve kept in a corner for 5 years waiting for a use. We just bought the shades for $12 each at Homegoods and some simple lamp parts from Home Depot.
I’ve added a gallery below of the project, and all of the steps along the way (see simple descriptions in captions)
I’ll post some finished pics once it painted and finally mounted (and the room around it is in a prettier state.)
This photo is unrelated, but I liked it.
Here’s a problem I have, maybe you can relate, maybe not, but I don’t think I’ve ever written it down, and I’m trying to do that more these days, so here goes.
I’ve got too much that I want to do.
Seems like a smaller “problem” when I put it into one sentence, but it boils out to a lot more.
See, I’ve got lots of hobbies.. well, they’re not hobbies as much as interests… and most of those interests take a fair amount of time to explore and get to know before they can even become hobbies. Other than the interests, I’ve got some things that are hardwired in my head, things that I’m passionate about because I was built that way. Off the top of my head, those would be (not a complete list) music, and making stuff. (I’m intentionally leaving out things like family.. they’re my biggest priority, so for discussions sake, this is all concerning the time I’m NOT spending with them)
I’m a little envious of people who can dedicate their lives fully to something. People who live and breathe science, or art, or shoe making, or farming. Those people wake up and dedicate themselves to it until they have to sleep.. that’s amazing and very foreign to me. I also pity them a little.
They may never know what it’s like to wander into an interest that they have no business in.. to try to make write music and fail horribly, or plant vegetables in their backyard, or make a chair that’s barely safe enough to sit in. Ultimately, I’ve very glad that people are different in that way.. that we have torpedos AND frag grenades of productivity.
I’d count myself in the “frag grenade” camp.. someone who is interested (in at least trying) lots and lots of stuff. I realize that this will kind of make me a poser at all of those things.. jack of several trades, master of none. The problem with that is that I can’t fit it all in. I’m not sure the best way to fill what little time I have to fill. I also have a hard time fitting exploration of these things into the small pockets of time I have available.. it feels more realistic to me that I could understand robotics, if I had a week of uninterrupted focus on it, instead of 30 minutes here and there.
I may never get to it all, which is fine, and this isn’t even about the specific interests, it’s about priorities and passion. The things that we’re hardwired to love should come first. And the other stuff can fill in the gaps, or give us a distraction when we need it.
For me, that means postponing writing a book until the idea is fully formed, putting off building Arduino contraptions until I’ve got a good enough idea and focus on making music. Maybe they’ll actually help each other happen. Maybe the music will spark some writing ideas, or give me an idea of a new instrument to build, or maybe I can write a book about 6 months of failed music attempts.. we’ll see.
I’ve said it before, but I feel like I was made primarily to do 2 things, and I’m currently only doing one of those. I need to make music.
If you’re like me, with a list too long to actually accomplish, cut down the list to the things that have been there the longest.. those are the strong ideas, the important passions. Do those first, do those often, do those with all of your heart. And when you need a break, grab something else from the list.
PS. Incidentally, writing this post gave me an idea for an iPhone app, so I actually added something to my list today. Oh well, maybe I’ll write a song about it.
My good friend Josh, asked me to have a conversation with he and another friend of his, and it turned out to be a really cool, inspiring hour on Skype (that amazingly got edited down to 15 min)
Check it out, if you’re interested in a conversation about success/failure, discipline and karate.
I’ve always had this saying.. ”How hard could it possibly be?” I’m pretty sure that I didn’t make it up, but I sure do use it a lot. It’s the saying that leads me into trying all sorts of things, some of which actually ARE pretty hard. But it’s also helped me try things that seem tough from an outside perspective, but are much simpler when you get up close.
I tend to just give stuff a shot, and figure it out as I go along ( then the second time, I’ll plan more, use the knowledge I gained to try to do it better.. but for the sake of this post.. we’re talking about “first times”.. mmm-kk?)
Case in point.. last week, the thermostat housing on my car cracked… dumped all of the coolant, making the car undriveable (unless I wanted to do serious damage to the engine). So I looked around, found a forum and a YouTube video and decided to give it a shot.
Now, I’ve NEVER done any engine work on my cars.. BUT, a few minutes of research, $50 worth of parts on ebay and I was ready to go..
It took me 20 minutes to get the old parts out.. 10 minutes to get the new parts IN, and it completely fixed the problem, first try.
I forgot to mention that in that forum I was reading, someone had just gotten the same problem fixed at a shop for …. (wait for it…) $900 — holy crap. I saved $850 just because I thought I’d give it a shot.
So, this goes a bit deeper (and seemingly, a bit off track, but stick with me), past the car. I’ve had some really interesting conversations recently with some people close to me about what they’re trying to accomplish. And I’ve seen a lot of frustration and anxiety in those people. Also, these are BIG things.. not making things/fixing things.
In one of the discussions, someone said “I hate the saying ‘Life is a journey’.. I just want to get there.” I completely understand this. It’s tough to think that RIGHT NOW is just a small piece of the final outcome of things. But, when RIGHT NOW isn’t what you want.. it’s actually pretty comforting to know that it’s just a small step in a larger path that you’re following.
Another conversation was with my wife, about our kids. Unless you’re a parent, you may not understand the amount of weight there is in raising a child (or 3). The responsibility can be daunting.. trying to predict the needs of this tiny, future adult.. and lead them accordingly. Well, neither of us really feel very good at it a lot of the time. But I realized today that everyday, we get better at it. The more we try, the more we learn.. both from success and failure.
I mean, if you think about it, no one waits to be a parent until they’re good at parenting. So, it’s completely unrealistic for us to think that we’re unprepared, just because we have no idea what we’re doing. (I had to read that sentence back to my self a couple of time, but it DOES say what I meant.)
The fact of the matter is, that whatever the “thing” is.. programming, sculpting, parenting, drywall finishing.. you weren’t born KNOWing how to do it. You’ve LEARNed everything that you know, one way, or another. So, why do we stifle ourselves by only going after things that we already are good at..things that we already understand? Is it because we’re THAT afraid of failure? Really? Because I’ve failed at TONS of stuff, and it’s really not that bad.. just try not to make a habit of it, and you’re fine.
Just try it, fail if you have to, but eventually you’ll get better at it.. someday, you may even KNOW how to do it.
So, I started my new desk..
In a whirlwind trip to the store and a couple of hours, I made the bones that will be my new workspace.
It’s not finished, it’s not pretty, it’s a little too tall and it’s not square. But it’s a start.
It was really interesting to do in such a short amount of time. (4 hours, including a trip to the store, and dinner) because I was kind of making it up as I went, adjusting and thinking on the fly. I was trying to keep in my mind, “Build quickly, and iterate”. So, this is the first “version” of my desk. It will get more refined, more detailed, and more “finished” over time. But, one of the caveats of “Agile” development, is that nothing is really ever finished, it just gets better. (There’s a life lesson in there, but that’s for another time.)
As I built the bones for the desk, my mind was flooded with more refinements that could be added later, but instead of stopping to think them through, and try to plan for them, I just pushed on. I put those ideas in my brain cabinet for later so that they wouldn’t get in the way of MAKING. And it worked
So now, I’ve got a skeleton, and a box of ideas.. I’ll keep you posted, if you’re interested.
So here’s two things about me.
I love to make stuff, and I love to make stuff well. To make stuff well, I have to (usually) plan them well.
This is where my problem arises. Planning.
Some people have problems planning, they have trouble sitting down, getting the resources/needs together and focusing long enough to get their plan in place. That’s not me. I’ve almost always got the full need in my head, the resources available.. but I plan too long.
For example, I want to build a new desk. I work from home, and my office is also my music studio, and my work shop, and several other things. My desk has been a simple desk that I had in college, but now it’s completely cluttered and cramped with computers, drives, audio equipment (and junk)
So, I want to build a new desk… a nice BIG desk. (Here’s where I spin my wheels)
and it could have an ipad stand routed into the surface, with a charger coming up through the surface..
and it could have a built in light table
and it could have under lighting built in
and it could have a microcontroller that told the desk to light up when I get an email, or IM
and it’s surface could be old motherboards, infused with blinking LEDs, covered in glass
and I could draw on the glass like a whiteboard
it goes on, and on.. (I’ve been planning for about a month now)
but I still don’t have a desk.
So, I’m going to give in to my first desire, to make stuff, and try to integrate the agile approach to furniture. Build quickly, and iterate. I’m going to try to build the desk in a way that I can swap out the surface later (in case I want glass) and build it thick enough to house old motherboards, in case I ever do that, etc.
That’s it.. nothing profound, I just needed to write it down. Thanks to my good friend Josh for inspiring me to do that.