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Mechanical White Noise

I recently discovered that typing on a mechanical keyboard does an excellent job of maintaining my desire to write.

Typically I use a Microsoft Sculpt ergonomic keyboard when I’m working at my desktop. I bought one only a few months after moving to San Diego to use at work. Once my hands got used to it, going back to a standard keyboard at home didn’t feel quite right. So, I now have two of these split ergonomic keyboards.1

Despite how lovely my arms and wrists feel when typing on them, the keys have little travel and are awfully quiet. That is great for an office environment, and physically beneficial since work takes up most of my computer term. However, this is not nearly as fun in casual use. So, I’ve broken out one of my several mechanical keyboards for use after-hours.

In addition to being more amusing, I’ve found it to be mentally helpful as well. The clicking and clacking of the mechanical switches creates a white noise to my brain, allowing me to focus in on what I’m writing. While I’m sure having the separation of tools between work and hobbies is part of the effect, I know I respond well to white noise. Having it self-generated is more desirable and satisfying than relying on my phone, for example. I’m sure once I move in with my fiance it won’t be a sustainable choice, but we shall see.

FOOTNOTES

  1. Working from home has made this duplicate purchase situation less great. ↩
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New Writing Workflow

Over four years ago I wrote a post about my off-the-cuff writing style. It was a flash-bang approach with only minor edits along the way. However, since writing stories for NaNoWriMo last year I’ve been rethinking my broader aims for this blog, and what processes can help me achieve them. Writing a post each week is a fine goal, but if they aren’t each in service of something larger it’s hard for them be anything but a pleasant chore. Subconsciously, that far-away target was establishing a writing routine with the hope it would improve my abilities. I think it has, but it took a concerted effort in editing a short story (and a few other projects before) for me to recognize that growth. It’s time for a change in approach and a new target.

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Doctor Feelgood and the Asparagus Kid

One month ago, a good friend of mine released a feature-length movie on YouTube. I had followed along as they released the various trailers, then discovered the half-truths in their lovely making-of documentary.1 I managed to watch it the morning after the film’s premiere, on December 19, and have not gotten it out of my head since. I’ve started and stopped multiple reviews, taken copious notes on a second watch, and am finally releasing what I consider the movie’s canonical review.

If you frequent this part of the internet, you may be just the right person to watch Doctor Feelgood and the Asparagus Kid or: The Respect for the Omnipresence of Death. If the title intrigues you, give it a shot. Then come back here (regardless of whether you completed it) and enjoy a shameless, spoiler-filled plug and review for this movie co-written by my friend Timothy.2

Continue reading “Doctor Feelgood and the Asparagus Kid”
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Yearly Playlist Troubles

On an episode of the podcast No Dumb Questions, Destin and Matt discussed how they compiled a playlist for each year. This allowed them to track changing moods and tastes as the years went by, and also to link songs to specific times in their lives.

The benefit of listening to these shows hosted by people with more life experience is that I can actually learn from them sooner than how they learned themselves. I loved the idea of having anchor points in songs on an annual playlist, so I made my own for 2019 and 2020.

I spent some time the other day trying to begin building out my 2021 playlist. I seeded it with about 5 songs that were late additions in 2020 to give Spotify something to work with.

After thirty minutes of going through songs, nothing stuck with me.

This situation is still unresolved. I’ve always had trouble intentionally finding music that suits my tastes. It’s unusual for more than a few songs from a given band to strike me as my kind of music, leaving me in a tough position. Despite that knowledge, I scoured internet forums looking for bands related to those I’d listened to the most during 2020, but still couldn’t get a song to grab me.

I’m not sure what to do better. Perhaps my relationship to music is just a bit complicated, and I need to let things settle, let the playlist formulate naturally. Maybe I just need to do more research. I am certain that I love this idea of a yearly playlist, and I’m not giving up on it. It worked pretty well in both 2019 and 2020, but I had old music that hadn’t been a part of any playlist to fall back on.

The music well is not dry. I know there is more out there for me, and I’ll keep hunting for it. Ignoring my struggles though, I highly recommend something similar for everyone. Maybe music isn’t your thing (it wasn’t mine until I started working full time), but I’m sure there are other things you consume that could be put in a yearly list of some type. Track new meals, new books, places you visit1 or media you watch. Being intentional about tracking your life is putting an investment in your future. Memories are important, and setting up a system to enhance them isn’t something you’ll regret. At worst, a failed system may be something memorable itself.

  1. You probably shouldn’t do that this year. ↩
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2021: Year of Transition

On the most recent episode of OHAC, Mikhail, Jack, and I talked about our yearly themes. You can head over there to get links to other resources, and listen to our takes on each of our themes. This post is to summarize my own theme, and try to have something clearer in my mind after a lot of talking through it with Jack and Mikhail.

My theme for this year is the Year of Transition. Its focus is twofold: acceptance of the changes happening in my life, and leveraging the progress I made in 2020 to capitalize on those changes.

I’ll be moving from San Diego to San Francisco this year (and potentially moving once more within San Francisco), causing an uprooting of my routines and requiring the need to adapt to new spaces. This is not inherently problematic, but it’s something I must face rather than trying to hold onto my past situation. There is an opportunity to reevaluate my working situation, for example. In fact, moving in with my fiancee means everything has the chance for adjustment and improvement.

Regarding routines and habits, I’m focusing on how to dissociate them from a particular location, and let them grow into the new place they occupy. I have created a solid groups of habits to bring along with me, but they have new facets to them. Exercising and eating, something that’s been a solo activity the last few years, will now require me to be aware of someone else. Taking the time to write these blog posts and pursue side projects needs the same consideration.

There are changes coming my way, and I plan on working with and through them to make the best year that I can.

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The Best of My 2020

Tomorrow I’ll be recording an episode of OHAC, where Mikhail, Jack, and I will be discussing yearly themes. That will serve as a nice recap of the year and a starting point for 2021.

To wrap things up on this blog though, I figured I’d go back through my posts from 2020 and select one or two favorites from each quarter, and maybe write a little bit about how I view those posts now. I don’t often revisit my expository writing, so I think it’ll be a good exercise.

Continue reading “The Best of My 2020”
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Remote Christmas

I’ll be spending this Christmas away from family for the first time ever.

I’ve been left trying to make the best of the situation. I’m not alone: I’m spending Christmas with my fiancee, and we have been decorating her small San Francisco apartment with lights. Our parents have sent us cookies and gifts, and we have a small tree on the table. 1

I think the biggest difference is that this is the first year where I don’t have a distinct build-up towards Christmas externally pressed upon me. Until I graduated college, there was always winter break. The last two years, flying home for the holidays was a clear marker where I was now working remotely for a couple of weeks, surrounded by family and trying to see all my friends who were back as well.

None of that is available to me this year. I’m not going anywhere, and working from home is no special deal. Hence, decorations everywhere except the bathroom. We have a home automation set up called Christmas Time that sends our lights flashing and Christmas music playing. We made mint cookies this weekend, and decorated sugar cookies my mom sent us. I’m happy with how we’ve adapted.

  1. The apartment is less than 250 sq. ft. so there’s limited space for anything more than the 2-foot tree we chose. ↩
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Advent of Code 2020

A coworker told me about Advent of Code last week. It’s an independently run site that provides an advent calendar of programming puzzles. Similar to sites like Project Euler, they are of varying difficulty and not designed to be completed in any particular language.

So far, the puzzles have been clever and fun. There is a central plot for the entire month of needing to get a currency of star coins to pay for your post-Christmas vacation. I take it not as tone-deafness to the pandemic, but more of wishful thinking for a better 2021. They’re cute premises.

Anyone who like programming puzzles will enjoy these; I highly recommend them. I came to it a few days late (and if you’re reading this post, you’re behind too!) But it’s reasonable to do two in a day, and you’ll probably want to!

Of course I’ve been using Python for all of them so far, but I could totally see myself using the puzzles as a way to learn another language; they’re overall more accessible (and engaging) than Project Euler.