My friend, Eric, came over today to work on homemade CrossFit tools. The original plan was to build a few medicine balls, which we would build out of rubber basketballs, playground balls, sand, and duct tape. We also decided to build a pair of parallettes each, per Greg Glassman’s instructions. After a visit to Orchard [...]
I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m kind of a terrible blogger. The only blog I keep that I maintain religiously is Digeum, where I post DJ mixes relatively soon after I finish mixing them. This site used to be the flagship of the blogs I maintain, but that torch has passed on to Digeum, perhaps [...]
At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to write 52 tracks in 2008 and post them all on a new blog I started in March. There were some weeks that I had no output at all, but for most of the year, I carried my Korg padKontrol in my backpack, so [...]
So, this afternoon, I decided to wander into the T-Mobile store to square away my bill. I bought a new iPhone about six weeks ago, after I read that T-Mobile was reducing their early termination fee from $200 to $100 for customers whose contracts expire within 180 days. Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I [...]
I noticed that a few of my tracks sound kind of low resolution when I’m listening to music on my wonderful Koss headphones at work or my new Sony DJ headphones. Erica, a bit of an audiophile, listened to my Digeum mixes and asked me why I insisted on ripping everything at a low resolution [...]
One year ago today, I got on the scale and saw that ugly 196 pound reading. By New Year’s Eve, I had lost 46 of those pounds. The scale read 150. This morning, the scale reads 150. Through focused, almost obsessive, attention to my diet and working out (doing CrossFit since September), I have been [...]
I talked to the dealership today. Tonight, I’m riding the train only part of the way home. I now have a car. What I Like About It: The price: I got this car for about $4000 less than it would have cost me new. The color: It’s not white or some weird color. It’s kind [...]
After haggling with some local dealers about the 2009 Pontiac Vibe, the ultimate finalist for “Apollo’s Next Car”, I found that it was nearly impossible to find one with the Preferred Package (Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Cruise Control) and the AC in a car with a manual transmission. After I located one in the [...]
This weekend, I test drove four more cars. I had a blast. I’ve decided that my next automobile will definitely have a manual transmission. They get better gas mileage and you get much better performance, acceleration, and handling with a stick shift. With that in mind, I headed around to the dealerships on this three [...]
I’m shopping for a car. In order to narrow my list to three that I really want, I have to test drive a whole bunch of different kinds of cars in various configurations. Some car lots really don’t want you to test drive their cars. Here are some tips I’ve come up with to help [...]
This weekend, I test drove four cars. My front runner, the 2008 Pontiac Vibe, is now a distant fourth. Who knew that the Chevrolet Cobalt, which I’ve rented before, would be so much fun with a manual transmission? Yesterday, I went with Oz to Dublin to check out a 2008 Pontiac Vibe I found on [...]
Apparently, some web filtering software has this website blocked. BrightKite user PhoneTrips sent me a message this afternoon to alert me to the fact that the filter at Panera Bread, who operates the largest free wireless network in the United States, blocks this site. Apparently, it’s categorized as OCCULT (<gasp />). In 8½ years as [...]
Today, I went around to a few dealerships, some of which I’ve been to already. Since I was not feeling that motivated to drive all over the place in a car that lacks working turn signals after my trip to Palo Alto, I visited a few places in Sunnyvale, where I live. After test driving [...]
A while back, I noticed a crapload of followers that were obvious spammers following my tweets on Twitter. So, in a weird moment of decision, I locked my profile down and started the slow process (back when it was still broken) of trying to block everyone I don’t know from following me. I’m sure twitter [...]
08:04 — Look at watch. Oh, shit. I have 9 minutes to get to the train station. Get in the car and go! 08:06 — Toyota Sienna Minivan pulls out in front of me. Speed now: 12 mph. Okay, please turn right at Washington. Please, get out of my way, please, I beg you. 08:09 [...]
April was an incredibly unproductive month in my projects. I wrote just one track all month–one ambient track that took me almost half an hour. All the reasons I come up with for not writing music on the train are all lame. I’m just lazy. Of the 30 days in April, I completed my CrossFit [...]
My workout today was supposed to involve rope climbs, but I didn’t have a rope. I also didn’t have a 15 foot high ceiling to attach a climbing rope to. But, I figured I could tie a rope to my kettlebells and toss one end over a pullup bar. That’d do the trick, right? Sure. [...]
On this day in 2000, I started blogging on this site, the first post of which was about Planet New Year, which was the New Year’s Party that said goodbye to 1999. There have been a couple of month-long or multi-month hiatuses here since then (and the archives here are incomplete, since I haven’t moved [...]
After bumping my appointment twice, I headed down to the blood donation center in Cupertino. They have a long questionnaire that prospective donors have to fill out every time. I filled it out, got tested for anemia, had my blood pressure tested (109 / 64). The procedure took very little time. The big poke in [...]
Oooh, did you feel that? It shook my entire house. I had just finished making my ravioli, carrying it to my coffee table, and starting a movie when the rumble started. It looks like the USGS has the earthquake information. 5.6 on the Richter Scale. That’ll get the blood pumping. No damage at my house. [...]
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