About twice a year, I attempt to quit caffeine forever. This is not one of those times.
I had significantly reduced my caffeine intake -- maybe a black or green tea in the morning and a Sodastream when I got home from work. More than none, but not two cups of coffee, either.
Then, at some point I had to get up earlier than normal. Or maybe I got engrossed in something in the evening and didn't go to bed on time.
Either way, it starts with making a hot chocolate with a shot of coffee. Just one shot! Just... a little something to take the edge off.
Headaches follow shortly after.
Today, I'll say, just today I will have a half cup of coffee. Not much. Just to numb this headache, then I'm done.
The next day, maybe the headache comes later, so the coffee comes later.
Maybe I make it until the evening and drink too much Sodastream.
However it goes, it's the 8pm caffeine injection that cuts me loose from reason, and I find myself staring at the wall at 1am, wondering why it's so hard to fall asleep.
Unwilling to mess up my schedule, I still set my alarm to go off early. Then I'm tired in the morning, so I start my day with coffee. I'm tired when I get home, so I take a nap and then drink some pop. If it's Friday, maybe I'll get Starbucks and stay up super late! Excellent idea, sir!
This time around, I think I'll try to scale back before the next phase, which could be titled, Zombie Matt Sleepwalks Through Work, Naps All Afternoon, and Is Rude to Everyone.
After this cup...
A weblarg.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
So, here we are again
I technically started blogging on Diaryland before moving to LiveJournal, but that was before I'd heard the term "blogging", so I tend to think of Blogger as the place where I started walking the Path of the Blogger.
And now, I have returned!
It's a bit different from the last time I was here, though I couldn't tell you how because I don't remember the old version. It just looks... like pretty much everything else Google does, minimalism for its own sake.
Anyway, I was on self-hosted WordPress for a long time. I like the level of control I had over everything -- I could customize the hell out of things. Edit the phps and what have you. Very nice. There were really only two reasons I decided to switch back:
And now, I have returned!
It's a bit different from the last time I was here, though I couldn't tell you how because I don't remember the old version. It just looks... like pretty much everything else Google does, minimalism for its own sake.
Anyway, I was on self-hosted WordPress for a long time. I like the level of control I had over everything -- I could customize the hell out of things. Edit the phps and what have you. Very nice. There were really only two reasons I decided to switch back:
- I barely scratched the surface of the near-endless options at my fingertips
- (more importantly) I was tired of the daily automated emails telling me that my files had been compromised, so please scan them and remove the threat.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
American Laws
I created a MailChimp account so I can have a mailing list for my musical project.
Some gun control legislation just failed. It would have required background checks on gun show sales and internet sales, and apparently that's a threat to freedom.
To comply with anti-spam laws, everything sent out through my electronic mailing list needs to have my snail mail address on it.
Once more:
To protect consumers from unwanted email, I need to distribute personal information that I'm not really comfortable releasing into the internet badlands. But, it's unthinkable that we implement any form of gun control to protect citizens from guns.
Yep.
Some gun control legislation just failed. It would have required background checks on gun show sales and internet sales, and apparently that's a threat to freedom.
To comply with anti-spam laws, everything sent out through my electronic mailing list needs to have my snail mail address on it.
Once more:
To protect consumers from unwanted email, I need to distribute personal information that I'm not really comfortable releasing into the internet badlands. But, it's unthinkable that we implement any form of gun control to protect citizens from guns.
Yep.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Satellite Reboot
I finally came up with a "band" name for my music project. There's a new site and everything! music.satellitereboot.com. It's pretty bare-bones right now, and the main domain actually redirects here at the moment (apparently magic settings don't propagate instantly), but it's a thing that exists. Huzzah!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Remix: The Evolution of Ezekiel Wallace
Update: Since you can't host audio on blogger, this post now lacks comparisons. Booooooo.
This is what is currently on my Bandcamp page:
And this is what happens when I watch some videos about proper mixing and mastering in FL Studio:
I didn't re-record anything, just removed all of the crap I attached to each track and gave each instrument its own EQ (most of them just got simple low pass filters, a couple were more intricate), then mastered the whole thing. I could probably get it even better if I let it sit for a few weeks and went back to it.
The worst part was hearing each guitar track in isolation -- my playing is sloppy, but I didn't notice three years ago because the mix is so muddy. If this wasn't ancient history, I'd be inclined to scrap everything and start over, but the point of this was just to practice mixing and mastering. I'll be remastering the entire album in the coming weeks. When it's done, I'm replacing the files on my Bandcamp page. The idea is that I want to make these skills second-nature so I can focus on new material (I've started a few things, but I keep letting myself get distracted by trying to EQ things before they are done, which is like editing your sentences while you're writing. Bad Stan!)
And this is what happens when I watch some videos about proper mixing and mastering in FL Studio:
I didn't re-record anything, just removed all of the crap I attached to each track and gave each instrument its own EQ (most of them just got simple low pass filters, a couple were more intricate), then mastered the whole thing. I could probably get it even better if I let it sit for a few weeks and went back to it.
The worst part was hearing each guitar track in isolation -- my playing is sloppy, but I didn't notice three years ago because the mix is so muddy. If this wasn't ancient history, I'd be inclined to scrap everything and start over, but the point of this was just to practice mixing and mastering. I'll be remastering the entire album in the coming weeks. When it's done, I'm replacing the files on my Bandcamp page. The idea is that I want to make these skills second-nature so I can focus on new material (I've started a few things, but I keep letting myself get distracted by trying to EQ things before they are done, which is like editing your sentences while you're writing. Bad Stan!)
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Intentions
The road to my own personal hell is made of dirt and loose gravel, so I'm going to fix that. It's time to declare some intentions!
I intend to upload more music-in-progress. I recently met some wonderful musician-folk and thought it might be a good idea to have an easily-navigable repository for stuff I'm working on so I can solicit feedback (not that one needs to be a musician to tell me when I totally nail sweet riffs!). To that end, I've created a Soundcloud account and attached the widget to my sidebar. Check it out! I started messing around with a blues riff that I stole from a YouTube video.
I intend to update this blog with more random stuff! I originally joined Tumblr so I'd have a place to be random, spew forth ill-conceived thoughts, and hash out stuff I wasn't ready to post on my "grown up" blog. I ended up reblogging a lot of animated gifs instead. Not sure where I got the idea that I had to be serious and adult on here, though. That's like saying I'm required to wear dress slacks and a polo shirt around my own home. Screw that, it's pajama time.
I intend to write another novel. Well, co-write. I don't know if this is under an NDA, so I'll just say that the worldbuilding is going great and I can't wait to start telling stories in it.
I intend to finish that video game I started with my co-worker. We need to hash out some more technical stuff first, though.
I intend to read more books. Especially ones by Brandon Sanderson.
I intend to upload more music-in-progress. I recently met some wonderful musician-folk and thought it might be a good idea to have an easily-navigable repository for stuff I'm working on so I can solicit feedback (not that one needs to be a musician to tell me when I totally nail sweet riffs!). To that end, I've created a Soundcloud account and attached the widget to my sidebar. Check it out! I started messing around with a blues riff that I stole from a YouTube video.
I intend to update this blog with more random stuff! I originally joined Tumblr so I'd have a place to be random, spew forth ill-conceived thoughts, and hash out stuff I wasn't ready to post on my "grown up" blog. I ended up reblogging a lot of animated gifs instead. Not sure where I got the idea that I had to be serious and adult on here, though. That's like saying I'm required to wear dress slacks and a polo shirt around my own home. Screw that, it's pajama time.
I intend to write another novel. Well, co-write. I don't know if this is under an NDA, so I'll just say that the worldbuilding is going great and I can't wait to start telling stories in it.
I intend to finish that video game I started with my co-worker. We need to hash out some more technical stuff first, though.
I intend to read more books. Especially ones by Brandon Sanderson.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Finding Time
Time is a funny thing.
I've spent the better part of the last two years whining about not having enough time to do everything I want to do. Novels have collected digital dust on my hard drive, sketchbooks buried in desktop clutter, unread novels stacked in a tower to heaven... "I'm too busy!" I said. Between the day job, my semi-regular D&D group, and voice lessons, there was just no time.
Then, all of the programmers were conscripted to work Saturdays for February and March.
Since then, I've done some things:
(I think you get the idea)
So what's going on? If I didn't have time to do anything before, how am I doing even more stuff now? Sure, everything I've started is moving pretty slow, but I don't consider anything stalled at this point. What's going on with that?
I recently learned about a concept called structured procrastination. I have accidentally given myself so many things to do -- things that are important to me -- that on a given night, there is one thing that I really want to do that is kind of intimidating, and roughly seven thousand "lesser" things available to take my attention. I procrastinate on one project for a bit and make progress on several others.
When I'm trying to focus my energy on a single project, it gets scary and I stall by watching Power Rangers on Netflix. But, multiple projects just bounce me around like a pinball, leaving me to watch Power Rangers on Netflix at my leisure. And! I'm currently reading Getting Things Done, so in a few weeks I expect to have a better system for managing all of this stuff, which means I'll be able to make even more progress -- plus, I'll be back to regular work weeks.
I've spent the better part of the last two years whining about not having enough time to do everything I want to do. Novels have collected digital dust on my hard drive, sketchbooks buried in desktop clutter, unread novels stacked in a tower to heaven... "I'm too busy!" I said. Between the day job, my semi-regular D&D group, and voice lessons, there was just no time.
Then, all of the programmers were conscripted to work Saturdays for February and March.
Since then, I've done some things:
- Learned the basics of mixing and mastering music and started applying it to some old recordings
- Started working on a video game with a coworker. I've done some coding, rough plotting, and mediocre sketches
- Read 1.5 novels and most of the Hyrule Historia
- Recorded a couple of (exceedingly) rough musical ideas
- Spent several hours brainstorming a novel with Sarah
- Started Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Double Dragon Neon
- Started doing regular writing exercises
- Started exercising semi-regularly (started C25k today!)
(I think you get the idea)
So what's going on? If I didn't have time to do anything before, how am I doing even more stuff now? Sure, everything I've started is moving pretty slow, but I don't consider anything stalled at this point. What's going on with that?
I recently learned about a concept called structured procrastination. I have accidentally given myself so many things to do -- things that are important to me -- that on a given night, there is one thing that I really want to do that is kind of intimidating, and roughly seven thousand "lesser" things available to take my attention. I procrastinate on one project for a bit and make progress on several others.
When I'm trying to focus my energy on a single project, it gets scary and I stall by watching Power Rangers on Netflix. But, multiple projects just bounce me around like a pinball, leaving me to watch Power Rangers on Netflix at my leisure. And! I'm currently reading Getting Things Done, so in a few weeks I expect to have a better system for managing all of this stuff, which means I'll be able to make even more progress -- plus, I'll be back to regular work weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)