February 2012
10 posts
“Coming back to open tabs on my browser from earlier in the day is like coming...”
Something smooth for Sunday.
"How Actively Watching Movies Helped Me Learn... →
My article, “How Actively Watching Movies Helped Me Learn Spanish” was published on one of my favorite blogs, Lifehacker.com. Swing through, read it again with a shiny new page and a bunch of comments. Thanks to Adam Pash and the rest of Lifehacker for using my piece.
10 tags
Batchelor Gourmet: The New Mission is Colada de...
I’m pretty into oatmeal. It would have been nice to be able to start the post out with “It’s no secret that I’m an oatmeal fanatic,” but I wouldn’t go that far…it’s just super easy to make and easy to add tasty things that are easy to keep around, perfect for a good breakfast. Imagine my excitement when I found out about Colada de Avena. From...
10 tags
Batchelor Gourmet: The Beauty of Tarka
I like to cook. It’s a great feeling to know exactly what you’re eating, and having that home-made quality in your food. Since I live alone, I tend to gravitate toward ingredients that can either sit in my cupboard for a year, or that I can pick up from the grocery store in small portions and use that night. For example, I have a bunch of different grains and pastas in mason jars that keep...
January 2012
1 post
December 2011
6 posts
7 tags
Reflections on Waikiki During the Holidays
This trip had been interesting. Simultaneously moving at a blistering pace but with a languid posture. This night I decided to go out shopping for gifts to bring home to the lady. I’d visited my local friend down the street again, went for another beach walk, and for a while there my eyes were pretty dry and red (forgot the drops from the other night). It’s always interesting hiding...
10 tags
Kava and Loathing in Waikiki
I needed eye drops, a pen, and a writing pad. This ABC store was tripping me out— I expected it to be hectic and insane but this new-age, liquidy acid jazz was playing and the alien, detached feeling made me think I was in Japan again. I was swimming through this place, walking through Jell-O, like I was in the world of Toejam and Earl, bouncing along through the aisles.
It ...
The Ableton Cookbook- Good tutorials for music...
Just passing along a blog I often read. It is a goldmine for users of Ableton Live, one of the most, if not the most flexible DAW out there. I’ve used it for 3 or 4 years now and still haven’t scratched the surface of the things you can do, but this blog has really helped with the aforementioned surface scratching.
Plus, Anthony (the author) sees like a real cool guy and it comes...
FBI Body Reading Skills: What Every Body Is Saying...
Just figured I’d pass this along— It’s a book on body language called What Every Body Is Saying by ex-FBI agent/human lie detector, Joe Navarro. I’ve just gotten through the first couple chapters and it’s definitely eye opening. He goes into detecting and analyzing evidence of discomfort, different levels of confidence, different subconscious body movements...
Update, Back in town
Hello all. I’ve been in Hawaii for the last week and wasn’t able to do that video update on my language mission. Expect it by the weekend! I’ll also be writing about my times wandering the streets of Waikiki.
November 2011
3 posts
Estaba pensando...(Post in Spanish)
Ya acabo de comer mi lunch. Yo estaba pensando…por que no hago unos posts en español? Tengo que practicar mas y además, si ustedes ven algo en que me equivoqué (gramática, vocabulario, o si hay algo que suena mas natural que lo que puse), me pueden ayudar.
Voy a tratar de hacer un punto de practicar español mas en todos lados de mi vida y empiezo aqui. Yo espero que ustedes que hablan...
7 tags
How Actively Watching Movies Helped Me Learn...
For the last year and a half I’ve been learning Spanish. I grew up around Spanish and took some in high school and although I would say I’ve had an advantage in that regard, I really only started learning it functionally a year and a half ago (and I could have worked a lot faster than I did). As far as my proficiency, I’d say by now I officially “speak Spanish”...
Making My Own Midi Controller Part 3: Layout
So this is the layout I’ve decided on. I have a cigar box that just happens to be the right size. Although I like how the box looks on its own, I’m considering getting some Plasti Dip spray and covering the whole box with it. I think a matte, rubberized finish would go way better with the red glowing buttons and knobs. Maybe I figure out a way to show some of the cigar box...
October 2011
6 posts
Making my own Midi Controller Part 2: Unboxing.
So here’s all the stuff I’m going to be using to build the guts of the midi controller. We got some ribbon cables, the boards, slide and rotary potentiometers (Faders and knobs), buttons, and LED’s (red…nice touch).
I’m having trouble deciding how I want to lay out the enclosure and where I want to put the buttons. I think I’m going to let my brain...
Building My Own Midi Controller
So I’m deciding to build my own midi controller. Why? I actually need it. I’m going to be doing some live beat gigs soon and my current setup is great but it’s missing a couple key knobs and buttons I need to really make things smooth. It’s going to be pretty simple, 16 knobs and 16 buttons in a very specific layout.
I ordered the electronics components from...
Muay Boran in San Diego
Just found this thread——If you want to challenge yourself and learn a beautiful family combat art, I suggest checking this out. Although I’ve been gone from the gym for a while because of a new job and BS injuries, I can wholeheartedly recommend Boungnaphonh Makthepharaks as one of the best and most warm-hearted teachers I have ever met. I’ll continue to seek guidance and...
Political Candidates Want To Cold Call Your Cell...
I oppose H.R. 3035 (“To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit informational calls to mobile telephone numbers,”) because I believe that it is an invasion of time and quiet enjoyment. Not only is it not courteous in the most basic definition of the word, it immediately inspires a feeling of resistance in the person listening. If we are to be realistic and not politically...
September 2011
9 posts
3 tags
“Things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“I love when rappers start their verse with “I’m not a...”
4 tags
I Knew It!! Spongebob is Killing Your Children's... →
Sorry to any followers who got their dashboard completely overrun by new posts! I migrated over from wordpress to tumblr today in the interest of simplicity. Enjoy the new post!
12 tags
Body Hacks: GABA Tea
This is the second installment of Body Hacks: Things you can do for yourself or consume that act as “power ups” in the game of life. Remember, I’m not a doctor so consult your doctor before doing anything ever.
This installment of body hacks features one of my best friends, GABA tea. I’m going to do my best to focus on the GABA more than the tea, as I am thinking of doing...
May 2011
1 post
9 tags
Taco Shop 101: Your Guide to Border Town Food
Visiting a border town for the first time? Feeling like trying some tacos? There are thousands of these beautiful places out there, each one having something unique about them, but all with the comforting promise of amazing late-night food. The following list is a guide to all things taco-shop. I’ve asked fellow taco-fiend and San Diego local Mariano Diaz to contribute and we’ve come up with...
March 2011
1 post
11 tags
"I Am The White Homie" Part 2
The first stop was the liquor store for some party favors. I waited in the car as Lucc went in to get what we needed. A couple minutes later, we took off for Beverly Hills. The party was on the roof of some hotel in the heart of Beverly Hills and since that’s not really a place I frequent, we enlisted the services of my (un)trusty GPS. The drive there was punctuated with conversations about...
February 2011
3 posts
Twitter Updates for 2011-02-25
#awfulsupergroups salt and red hot chili peppah # #awfulsupergroups three-six tim mcgraw-fia # Powered by Twitter Tools
Twitter Updates for 2011-02-25
#awfulsupergroups salt and red hot chili peppah # #awfulsupergroups three-six tim mcgraw-fia # Powered by Twitter Tools
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"I Am The White Homie" part 1
I was in the trenches. Not fighting in them, just driving through them. The streets of Watts, California were new and interesting to my suburban eyes. I knew my GPS, suction-cupped to my windshield, directing me with a fake Australian accent, had no idea who’s hood it would take me through, and what streets to avoid. This meant that as I gingerly turned down the narrow streets, I had to...
January 2011
12 posts
Twitter Updates for 2011-01-28
Kava root in some soymilk= nightcap. # No, I don’t nightcap with booze. # Powered by Twitter Tools
Twitter Updates for 2011-01-24
coachella is run by greedy swine. # Powered by Twitter Tools
Twitter Updates for 2011-01-23
I wish there was a way to “like” tweets. I also wish there was a #stfu feature # Powered by Twitter Tools
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Short Story-Taco Shop Rockabilly Boxcutter Part...
Deciding that hiding in my fries was no longer an option, lest I get rockabilly blood in them, I left the fork standing stabbed in the heap of meat and potatoes and turned around. I turned around, as a matter of fact, just in time to hear the box cutter flick into a locked position. Without thinking I jumped on Chavo’s back like a papoose—I had to prevent the razor blade from finding it’s...
9 tags
Short Story- Taco Shop Rockabilly Boxcutter
I can’t exactly say it was “just like any other night”. Around this time every night was different. This particular night finished it’s sick pageantry in Umberto’s Taco Shop, a small hole in the wall with a neon green cactus unconfidently flickering and glowing from the roof, making a green, cactus-shaped halo in the haze of that night. I was with a group of true hooligans whom I had recently...
7 tags
Quick Book Review: The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki...
I’ve been trying to do a lot more reading recently— fiction to be exact. I usually like to read books on complicated/crazy topics like shamanism, drug literature, metaphysics, and other heavy things because they’re sort of like mental beef jerky—something for my brain to chew on and roll back and forth between my brain’s teeth— even if I don’t end up understanding it all. ...
Twitter Updates for 2011-01-16
Putting this out into the universe: I want to go to morocco # Just had fried chicken neck tacos at El Take it Easy…not bad…not bad at all… # Powered by Twitter Tools
6 tags
Care to vote for my article? How to Wrap Your...
I wrote an article for tutorial site WonderHowTo I’d really appreciate some votes to get it published—Thanks!
11 tags
4th Ammendment Wear-Assert Your Rights Without...
Every time I go to the airport I can’t help but feeling like I’ve been bent over unfairly. As I stand in line for security a miniature panic comes over me…what if I left a nail clipper in the front pocket of my back pack with the nail file out? What if I let my ninja friend borrow my jeans and he left ninja stars concealed in the waist band and I just don’t remember?...
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Taco Shop Conversations
I’m back in the states now— sitting at a taco shop waiting on some Carne Asada fries. It’s ironic but all that time in Southern Mexico made me miss my border food. Granted, we were eating really good food but there’s something about burritos wrapped in yellow paper, weird combinations of ingredients and the bright colored booths with local ese gang grafitti scrawled on...