My Writings. My Thoughts.

Excitement has changed.

January 18th, 2010 | 1 Comment | Personal

Today (January 18, 2010) my wife Kristi and I heard something no one else has ever heard before: The heartbeat of our child! It was one of those profound moments I’m sure I’ll never forget. Today we’re starting to tell people the news. Below are some thoughts from before we wanted to break the news.

January 12th: My kid is making facial expressions and possibly sucking his or her thumb. He, she or they are the size of a lemon.

December 29th: Today Kristi found out that her cravings “haven’t even started yet”. If that’s true we’re in big trouble.

November 27th: I’ve always been a bit of a nerd; and nothing was more exciting than finding something new. A new idea, a new toy, or a new piece of the work-flow process. It’s all over. This week I ordered a new Mac Book Pro and new Google Android phone. Sure, I’m happy about it; but it’s not that big of a deal. I’m going to be a Daddy. No gadget / computer / website / music / anything will ever excite me like it used to. Family is colour, all else is sepia tone.

Top5 Tracks for the week of 01/13/2010

January 13th, 2010 | Comment | Top5

  1. Spoon – Written in Reverse
  2. The xx – Islands
  3. Dead Weather – I cut like a buffalo (version II)
  4. David Bowie – Man Who Sold The World
  5. Social Studies – Casanova Part I & II

2009 Releases

January 7th, 2010 | Comment | Music

I feel that last year I was slightly less in touch with music than normal.

This may be largely in part to not living in my own place for the last quarter (and thus going really gently on the Internet bandwidth). My last.fm account shows me listening to comforting and familiar songs over the last 12 months, and so I don’t really have ten albums listed in my top ten; even when I went easy on myself and allowed older albums in.

I love getting retrospective and making lists; and I especially benefit from other lists. Pitchfork does an annual wrap up where I generally discover something awesome that I missed. The best find so far is a band from the UK called The xx. If you feel like I’m missing something else comment me up, and drop a link for streaming.

Favourite band of 2009: Dr. Dog

Top Ten (discovered) 2009 Albums:

7. Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts
6. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raising Sand
5. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
4. Lackthereof – Your Anchor
3. Menomena – I am the fun blame monster
2. Los Campesinos! – Hold on
1. Dr. Dog –  Easy Beat

Top Ten 2009 Songs:

I gotta think about this…

Top5 Tracks for the week of 01/07/2010

January 7th, 2010 | Comment | Top5

  1. Feist + Beck – Weighted Down
  2. Bear Country – Liars and Deceivers
  3. The xx – Crystalised
  4. White Rabbits – Percussion Gun
  5. Them Crooked Vultures – New Fang

New Years Resolutions

January 4th, 2010 | Comment | Personal

Well, Twenty Ten is here. Last year was the shortest perceived year of my life. Twelve months ago my resolution was simply to “Be Better”. This is ridiculously subjective, so at the risk of sounding shady I will call it a success.

This year my resolution is to “Be More”. So far so good.

Included in my mental list is more writing (namely for sixrevisions.com, and other maybe eventually journals in my field) as well as more time away from the computer.

The Fool Proof Guide to Shopping for your Lady

December 15th, 2009 | Comment | Personal

Every year it was the same panic; “what do I get Kristi for _____(insert name of gift-giving worthy event)” . I think this is a fairly familiar story for most guys I know; that dull pain as the memories of every lame gift you’ve ever given comes flooding back. It doesn’t have to be this hard.

I am happy to say that for nearly a year and a half now I have refined a system that makes shopping for the wife a lot easier. You still have to find a fantastic big-gift as the cornerstone; but with a few complimentary gifts to scratch certain itches you’ll have a well rounded thing going on.

I try to get my wife something for each of the following categories:

- Something to entertain her
- Something to feed her spiritually
- Something to challenge her brain
- Something to make her feel pretty or special

Every gal will be different, but when you break it down to a few simple areas shopping becomes a cinch!

Good luck men.

The Onion – (content is king)

December 8th, 2009 | Comment | Personal

It has been said that while all other newspapers are failing and losing readers, The Onion continues to grow. I think the reason is obvious; the content is golden. Some of it is crass, but when they’re good they’re really good. No need for me to wax eloquent about it; here are some favourites from The Onion.

Articles

Radio

There’s no way to permalink to specific radio posts, so I guess you’ll have to do a search.

  • New 2010 Rake Hits Store Shelves Today Mon, Sep 07 2009
  • China Recalls Everything Tue, Dec 16 2008
  • Sci-Fi Channel Launches Battlestar Galactica: Miami Fri, Oct 17 2008

Video

Domino’s Tests Limits Of What Humans Will Eat

Ninja Parade Slips By Town Unnoticed Once Again

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Presidency

Spam Crackdown Threatens Koy4Goff’s Penis Enlarger Industry

Volatile India-Pakistan Standoff In 11,680th Day

Experts Agree Giant, Bioengineered Crabs Pose No Threat

Congress Debates Merits Of New Catchphrase

Don’t Get with the Times

November 30th, 2009 | Comment | Personal

It was an XKCD comic that got me thinking about living 5 years behind everyone technologically.

Think about it! At this point, people will practically give you their old technology. What was the coolest phone in 2004? The Motorola Razr was very popular, but today smartphones dominate the market. I would give you my old Razr if you wanted an app-less phone that only does calls and text. What about computer hardware? 2GB of RAM would be a monster in ’04 on your XP machine! All technology from 4 years ago would be dirt cheap, or just given to you.

It doesn’t end there. Five years from now the next-big-thing will be here and people will give you their useless old iPhones or first generation Androids. Technology always grows, and you could be there to swoop in and save a fortune. As if that weren’t enough, you’d also be free of the misery of discovering incompatible drivers and other pitfalls that come with being on the bleeding edge.

Being the nerd I am, I’m not sure that I can make this 5 year lapse commitment; but I really want to know someone who does. I want to see someone take it to the level where they have a Calendar setup listing what media / tech is really big at the moment so they can jump on it in a half decade.

Let me know if it’s you. I’ll give you my old junk.

Big News 5 Years ago in 2004…

  1. Half Life 2
  2. FireFox
  3. MySpace
  4. Gmail
  5. Spiderman 2
  6. Modest Mouse’s Good News
  7. LOST

Top5 Tracks for the week of 11/30/2009

November 30th, 2009 | 2 Comments | Top5

  1. Peter Bjorn and John – Up Against the Wall
  2. The Winstons – Amen, Brother
  3. Robert Plant + Alison Kraus – Gone Gone Gone
  4. Neil Young – Mr. Soul
  5. Keith Hampshire – Big Time Operator

The Meaning of Life

November 24th, 2009 | Comment | Personal

I like trying to break my brain on some big thoughts sometimes. One I used to wrestle with was the ‘Meaning of Life’. It’s like the cliché hard-question. It’s one everyone likely has to deal with themselves, but I have answered it to my satisfaction.

I think whatever it is, the answer has to be as relevant thousands of years ago as it does today. It has to be universal for everyone, regardless of culture or situation.

I have boiled it down simply to three things: Happiness, Love and Knowing God.

Maybe it’s over-simplified, maybe it comes off as preachy; but it’s how I want to live.

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