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Saturday Shennanigans

First off, sorry for not posting this Friday. This is the first time I haven’t posted on a weekday in about four weeks.

This morning, I went for a nice, long ride with some friends at the local university. The team coach (also an English professor) invited me to come ride with the college students, to help teach them about group riding, and just general cycling form and etiquette.

It was really fun, though a bunch of people showed up, and I ended up pushing myself pretty hard. My Surly Long Haul Trucker weighs somewhere around 32 pounds, maybe more. All the other riders were rocking sub-twenty-pound bikes. I had to turn up the power to just keep up with them, much less do anything else. I pulled for a while, but as I expected, I ended up dropping off the back (that’s cycle-ese for “I couldn’t keep up and got left behind”). Even so, I made a personal best record for a ten-mile stretch. At one point, I was averaging 22 MPH, which for me, is huge. I normally can only maintain a 15MPH average, maybe 18 for short bursts.

It was both discouraging, and encouraging. I knew I was going to get dropped, because my bike is just so heavy and bulky. But on the other hand, I didn’t expect to last as long as I did. It was kind of cool, and I ended up going back to the group, riding hard for a while, and getting dropped again- a few times, in fact. But once I rested my legs, I was able to crank it up to 20MPH again for a mile or two at a time.

This ride has basically got me thinking about 2 things:

  1. I really need to practice pulling harder efforts, and
  2. I could really use a faster bike when I ride with groups!

Screenshot - 09052015 - 08:28:52 PM

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Ulnar Nerve Pain and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

Over the last year or so, I’ve been fighting a particular problem with my elbows. Mostly my right one.

There are two main nerves that go through your arm: the Radial nerve, and the Ulnar nerve. Your Ulnar nerve is the one that passes across the outside of your elbow and down the outside of your forearm, ending in the hand next to the two smallest fingers. This nerve controls your sense of touch in your pinky and half of your ring finger. It also controls part of the wrist function, and so on.

I first started noticing it when I’d wake up in the middle of the night, and my two smaller fingers were numb. I figured it was just asleep, like when you sleep on your hand and your whole arm goes numb from lack of circulation. But that wasn’t it.

I finally connected the dots while attending a Hand Safety class at work, and the presenter mentioned Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, and then said the first symptoms were when your two smallest fingers go numb. I talked with him after the class, and he recommended using elbow braces, put on backwards, to keep me from flexing my elbows in my sleep and putting stress on that nerve. Continue reading “Ulnar Nerve Pain and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome”

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I’m A Lousy Supervillain

I’m a really lousy supervillain.

No really, I am. I haven’t taken over a single country. Not even a city. I haven’t robbed any banks, and I haven’t defeated any self-righteous heroes with orphan complexes. My minions are more interested in Korean soap operas and Barbies than doing my dark bidding. I still don’t have any orbiting laser satellites or nuclear bombs.

So what’s a supervillain to do? My grandiose plans for World Domination just aren’t coming to fruition. Every day that I don’t achieve some new feat, I feel like a failure.

But I’ve come to realize, these are lies I tell myself.

The truth is, I’ve accomplished quite a bit, according to anybody’s standards. Nothing that would make the ten-o’clock news, but still, I’d like to think I’m more than just a regular guy with no ambition. I’ve actually got some things to show for my work. But the danger comes when I tie my self-worth into what I’ve done, and not who I am.

What makes me valuable as a person? Continue reading “I’m A Lousy Supervillain”

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Creativity, and NaNoWriMo

Fall is coming. That means November, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month is also rapidly approaching.

For the last few years, I’ve been trying to work on drafting another novel- a couple of them, in fact- and I haven’t been able to put enough time into it to really make a dent in it. I’ve discussed it before, in fact.

My friend(s) who are single are writing up a storm, and then asking me “when are you going to have time to edit my book?” to which I have to laugh. (I love you, man, I really do.) I don’t even have time to work on mine, much less edit other people’s. I don’t have time to work on my bikes, fix my car, work on my music projects. I certainly don’t have time to work on other people’s. But they still ask, and I still want to help, because I’m just that kind of guy.

In fact, I’ve gotten so busy, I’ve had to slow down my creative freight train (thank you, ADD brain) just in order to get simple things done. Like cooking dinner, showering, sleeping, and other semi-important stuff.

I’ve been working on outlining my novel plots, which is new territory for me. I generally enjoy writing off the cuff without an outline, but this poses problems for me when I’m trying to bring the story to a close.

I have to be satisfied to just keep thinking about it, taking notes, and when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll pull the 100+ hours it takes to actually write the book (not to mention editing it).

We’ll see how it goes. I have nine weeks to decide whether or not I want to try to “win” NaNoWriMo again this year.

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Music Monday: Software Amps

Here’s Dweezil Zappa endorsing Native Instrument’s Guitar Rig 5. I’ve used this software, it’s actually pretty good, very flexible, awesome sounding, and costs about $200.

There are now several kinds of software amplifier emulators, some of which are 100% free and are just as good. The biggest advantage to using a software guitar setup is that you can not only configure it in ways that a physical setup can’t be, you can pack dozens of amps and effects into a laptop and bring them with you. You can also share those sounds with other players!

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gqCtPcN5NE”]

Zappa hits on a lot of these points, which are true for software setups as a whole. Obviously, some will sound better or have more features than others, but for the most part, they all work the same.

Some things to keep in mind when using a software amp (or any modeler, for that matter):

  • It can be as simple or complex as you want
  • It can do things physical setups can’t
  • Just like an amp, it’s going to have a unique sound
  • It may not “feel” the same, but that’s not bad

Once you get past the idea of it not sounding like you “think” it should sound, you can start playing with the unlimited possibilities, and make something useful with it. Make your own sounds, your own set lists, play with effects and see what you can do. You are free to create!

Is a software amp/effect setup right for you? They’re more flexible and cheaper than vintage/boutique hardware. If nothing else, it’s a good tool to have in your arsenal. I, for one, have no qualms about using a laptop guitar amp simulator live. And if you try a free one, what have you got to lose?

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Caustic 3.1 In Linux

As I previously wrote about Caustic 2 running in Linux with wine emulation, version 3.1 of Caustic has come out with loads of great new features. Simply put, it’s now practically a full-blown electronic music production program. The Android version is $10 (well worth it) and the Windows desktop version remains free.

The list of improvements is substantial:

  • More instruments per project
  • New instruments
  • New features in old instruments
  • more effects
  • more MIDI functions (yay!)
  • Export features
  • UI improvements

I can’t say enough good things about this app. The fact that it runs under Linux is even more exciting, as that wasn’t done intentionally, but it works anyway. I highly recommend it. Continue reading “Caustic 3.1 In Linux”

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Trust In the Lord

This post is probably one of the hardest I’ve ever had to write. I’ve been thinking about it, off and on, for 9 months.

I’ve got plenty of family and friends who care about me, but wholeheartedly reject my religion. I’m going on record saying that I can care about somebody and disagree with their lifestyle, opinions and choices. I think there’s much more to a person than who they want to sleep with, what substances they use, or what religion they follow. But people are selfish and narcissistic, and sometimes it’s easier for them to just shout “Prejudice! Bigotry!” than actually dealing with the issue. If you really believe in accepting the person as a whole, then you need to read this entire post. I just pray that if you disagree, you can disagree without hate, because I wrote this without any malice or hate. It’s just a simple observation, nothing more. Continue reading “Trust In the Lord”

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My Thoughts On the 2015 Hugo Awards

As a (admittedly lacking) science fiction reader/author, I’ve been following the rumpus surrounding the 2015 Hugo Awards for Science Fiction. Simply put, they’re fan-based awards, given to works of science fiction* that exemplify the best talent in the industry.

* Or at least, that’s what it used to be. In the last 2 years, we’ve discovered it was a thinly disguised club who used it to promote works that were neither science fiction, nor the best that the industry had to offer.

Naturally, people were upset about this and pressed back, and so the Hugo Awards ended up burning themselves to the ground instead of letting “unapproved” authors and editors get their coveted awards.

Honestly, Larry Corriea explains it perfectly here.

I’ve noticed over the last year or so, with GamerGate and now the Hugo Awards, that being a moderate in these areas is ineffective and counterproductive. Not wanting to hurt people’s feelings ends up backfiring 99% of the time, because the people you’re trying not to offend don’t care if they offend you.

So as believers, do we simply smile and back away? Do we take our toys and go play in another sandbox? Or do we put our foot down, insist on playing by the same rules, and beat them at their own game? Continue reading “My Thoughts On the 2015 Hugo Awards”

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Monday Motivation

As of yesterday, I weighed 165 pounds, which means I’ve lost approximately 10 pounds in the last 6 weeks. I think I’m going to focus on nutrition and building muscle mass at this point. Even though I could probably lose a bit more weight, I think I would be better served by increasing my strength and endurance, now that I’m within a few pounds of my ideal weight.

Here’s some music to get you moving on this Monday morning.

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVZJEeq2Ms”]