Heeeey everyone, it's been a while, wut?
Long story short - I've been keeping up with my 30 days of new things plan but since none of those included active blogging I've been very poor at keeping up with that. It was a classic case of a couple days' notepad files getting lost and then my motivation tanked.
For those of you curious about what I've been doing recently:
August - Promise Loop. It's a thing my work does, essentially stating that you make a series of commitments every day to people, saying you'll get X done by Y time. The important part is it realizes not everything can be met as initially stated so you have the ability to renegotiate with whoever your 'requestor/client' is. Anyway, goal for this was to meet all promises I made for the month.
Adding it to my 30 day plan kept it in the front of my mind more and made me more aware of my actions. I have a habit of willy-nilly agreeing to everything as my first response and that's come back to bite me in the butt a couple of times recently. Enacting a proper promise loop made me think more about the time-frames I was agreeing to.
September - Spanish! With the help of a really cool app (it's free, too!) called Duolingo I practiced my Spanish daily. I'm not functionally fluent or anything but it was a very good refresher and helped get my basic grammar back down. I need to stop being lazy though and keep up with it daily, even if it's just for one lesson.
October - Back to the fitness with T25. From the same guy who made Beach Body Insanity and the company who put out P90X comes the new hotness in kicking my butt... T25! The premise is simple; 25 minutes of high intensity workouts five times a week.
This has been a fun month so far because I suckered Malia and Peter into doing this with me as well. It also helps to have the peer pressure to keep me going during the workouts; there have been times I wanted to just call it a day but I can't look like a sissy in front of other people, can I?
The workout itself is pretty great, too. My biggest issue with P90X was the required 70-90 minutes a day; it was just a huge time commitment. 25 minutes is much more manageable and they really cram the exercise in there. Where normal ones would have a couple of breaks and stuff, this just keeps you going at high intensity for the entire time. It's been about half a month on it and I've lost 4 pounds of my bad food pudge and my calves are looking quite well turned if I say so myself.
Going forward - I'm going to try and update this a bit more regularly again as I noticed I just pay more attention to the 'soft' 30 day things if I have a way to hold myself more accountable.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
New Albums: June 10 - 18
June 10th:
The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti & Spearhead
I don't know what to say about this other than it's a damn fine album. It's kind of a reggae/alt/hip-hop mix-up and it just put me in such a great mood listening to it. I put on the first track, self titled 'Sound of Sunshine' as I was walking out the door to go to work and it just bumped the whole tone for the day up a notch.
June 11th:
Believe by Justin Bieber
This was definitely another album that I had huge preconceived notions going into. I've heard a couple of his recent songs and liked them well enough, but overall 'Bieber-fever' is to be frowned upon. Imagine my surprise when it was a very solid album; apparently the guy has talent! It flows well between songs and has a good mix of catchy beats and slower R&B crooning. I don't know how it compares to his earlier work since I assume he's grown as an artist but hey, hopefully he can keep this up.
June 12th:
Nux Vomica by The Veils
As Matt put it, imagine "if James Mercer (shins) and Paul Banks (Interpol) had a love child and made Jack Whyte the godfather, you'd get this guy Finn Andrews." A very specific, and super spot on breakdown of their lead singer. They have a fun sound, almost like Panic At The Disco decided to go more avent garde.
June 13th:
Some Nights by Fun
This album has a lot more depth than you might think, although the title song's theme should have tipped me off to the feels of the full album.
June 14th:
¡Uno! by Green Day
A nice throw-back to their earlier punk days. Pretty solid 180 from their last two albums more rock-opera feel.
June 15th:
Legend by Bob Marley
Here's another guy that I've heard a decent number of songs by but never more than one in a row. In retrospect, I think this album doesn't quite fit the bill of what I want to accomplish as it's a 'best of' compilation so you dont' really get the full feel of what the artist wanted as he arranged song order and stuff. Regardless, a super chill album with songs that contain great messages. I'll be going back and listening to more of his full studio albums for sure.
June 16th:
This is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars
I've liked their earlier stuff and it was fun to see them have an album that feels a bit more optimistic in general. Normally they're a bit of a downer group and while I still wouldn't qualify this as an 'upbeat' release, it at least felt like they were a bit more positive about life.
June 17th:
Call on Me by Eric Prydz
So I might have been thinking this was a full studio release of his but NOPE, just 'Call on Me' redone in like 8 different remixes. I love this song, don't get me wrong, but that might have been a bit much for a straight through listen.
June 18th:
The Night the Sun Came Up by DEV
Felt like a more hip-hop Kesha? I'm sold!
The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti & Spearhead
I don't know what to say about this other than it's a damn fine album. It's kind of a reggae/alt/hip-hop mix-up and it just put me in such a great mood listening to it. I put on the first track, self titled 'Sound of Sunshine' as I was walking out the door to go to work and it just bumped the whole tone for the day up a notch.
June 11th:
Believe by Justin Bieber
This was definitely another album that I had huge preconceived notions going into. I've heard a couple of his recent songs and liked them well enough, but overall 'Bieber-fever' is to be frowned upon. Imagine my surprise when it was a very solid album; apparently the guy has talent! It flows well between songs and has a good mix of catchy beats and slower R&B crooning. I don't know how it compares to his earlier work since I assume he's grown as an artist but hey, hopefully he can keep this up.
June 12th:
Nux Vomica by The Veils
As Matt put it, imagine "if James Mercer (shins) and Paul Banks (Interpol) had a love child and made Jack Whyte the godfather, you'd get this guy Finn Andrews." A very specific, and super spot on breakdown of their lead singer. They have a fun sound, almost like Panic At The Disco decided to go more avent garde.
June 13th:
Some Nights by Fun
This album has a lot more depth than you might think, although the title song's theme should have tipped me off to the feels of the full album.
June 14th:
¡Uno! by Green Day
A nice throw-back to their earlier punk days. Pretty solid 180 from their last two albums more rock-opera feel.
June 15th:
Legend by Bob Marley
Here's another guy that I've heard a decent number of songs by but never more than one in a row. In retrospect, I think this album doesn't quite fit the bill of what I want to accomplish as it's a 'best of' compilation so you dont' really get the full feel of what the artist wanted as he arranged song order and stuff. Regardless, a super chill album with songs that contain great messages. I'll be going back and listening to more of his full studio albums for sure.
June 16th:
This is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars
I've liked their earlier stuff and it was fun to see them have an album that feels a bit more optimistic in general. Normally they're a bit of a downer group and while I still wouldn't qualify this as an 'upbeat' release, it at least felt like they were a bit more positive about life.
June 17th:
Call on Me by Eric Prydz
So I might have been thinking this was a full studio release of his but NOPE, just 'Call on Me' redone in like 8 different remixes. I love this song, don't get me wrong, but that might have been a bit much for a straight through listen.
June 18th:
The Night the Sun Came Up by DEV
Felt like a more hip-hop Kesha? I'm sold!
Monday, June 10, 2013
New Albums: June 5 - 9
June 5th:
Born This Way by Lady Gaga
What can I say, I'm a huuuuge Lady Gaga fan, no regrets there. Born This Way seems to have a lot more songs that are laced with symbolism and talking about subjects she cares about instead of being more 'mainstream let's sell records' stuff. Makes sense since she's popular enough she can kind of do what she wants now. This was another one that I'd heard three or four of the most popular songs from it but hadn't listened to the whole album straight through.
June 6th:
MASHed Potatoes by K.Flay
A fun album to listen to with really solid lyrics. Definitely breaks out of the hip-hop norm on subject matter.
June 7th:
Night Visions by Imagine Dragons
An interesting album; if you only listened to Radioactive you'd be forgiven for thinking they were pretty close to dubsteppy with that large drop but the album is actually pretty diverse in style.
Breakfast by Chiddy Bang
Fun stuff, almost a pop-rock/rap crossover feel. It's definitely not something I would have ever thought to listen to before but I'm glad I gave them the chance.
June 8th:
Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
Lots of albums today due to Fresno trip! This is another one of those albums where I apparently know half the songs off it but never had put them all in a row to listen to. MGMT is great stuff.
Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro
I don't actually remember too much of this other than I enjoyed it. I was going through Pacheco pass and was wrestling with some pretty gnarly high speed wind which took a lot of my focus. The parts I did actually listen though had some good alternative music.
North by Matchbox Twenty
An all around very pleasant album to listen to. I'd heard a couple songs off it before but not straight through in the entirety. Every time 'Radio' comes on I have a compulsive urge to sing along as loudly as possible to it.
Grow Up and Blow Away by Metric
While I'd heard some Metric songs that I enjoyed before, I never actively sought them out to listen to until after Scott Pilgrim vs The World when they did the music for The Clash performing at Demonhead. Something about the song Black Sheep just completely sold me on Metric.
June 9th:
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye
Much better than I was expecting actually. I think I had pretty low expectations just because I really dislike Kaye as a person and let that taint my view of his music. Good beats and most of the tracks sounded like they were him just kind of talking about his life and experiences. Oddly personal at times.
Mesmerizing the Ultra by Bassnectar
It had the wub-wubs, I was entertained.
Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park
This queued up at a very appropriate time on my trip back from Fresno. I left later than I had planned to and night fell as I was passing by Tracy when this came on. More of a low key and darker feel to it than their other stuff, not as much energy oomph I'd say.
Born This Way by Lady Gaga
What can I say, I'm a huuuuge Lady Gaga fan, no regrets there. Born This Way seems to have a lot more songs that are laced with symbolism and talking about subjects she cares about instead of being more 'mainstream let's sell records' stuff. Makes sense since she's popular enough she can kind of do what she wants now. This was another one that I'd heard three or four of the most popular songs from it but hadn't listened to the whole album straight through.
June 6th:
MASHed Potatoes by K.Flay
A fun album to listen to with really solid lyrics. Definitely breaks out of the hip-hop norm on subject matter.
June 7th:
Night Visions by Imagine Dragons
An interesting album; if you only listened to Radioactive you'd be forgiven for thinking they were pretty close to dubsteppy with that large drop but the album is actually pretty diverse in style.
Breakfast by Chiddy Bang
Fun stuff, almost a pop-rock/rap crossover feel. It's definitely not something I would have ever thought to listen to before but I'm glad I gave them the chance.
June 8th:
Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
Lots of albums today due to Fresno trip! This is another one of those albums where I apparently know half the songs off it but never had put them all in a row to listen to. MGMT is great stuff.
Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro
I don't actually remember too much of this other than I enjoyed it. I was going through Pacheco pass and was wrestling with some pretty gnarly high speed wind which took a lot of my focus. The parts I did actually listen though had some good alternative music.
North by Matchbox Twenty
An all around very pleasant album to listen to. I'd heard a couple songs off it before but not straight through in the entirety. Every time 'Radio' comes on I have a compulsive urge to sing along as loudly as possible to it.
Grow Up and Blow Away by Metric
While I'd heard some Metric songs that I enjoyed before, I never actively sought them out to listen to until after Scott Pilgrim vs The World when they did the music for The Clash performing at Demonhead. Something about the song Black Sheep just completely sold me on Metric.
June 9th:
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye
Much better than I was expecting actually. I think I had pretty low expectations just because I really dislike Kaye as a person and let that taint my view of his music. Good beats and most of the tracks sounded like they were him just kind of talking about his life and experiences. Oddly personal at times.
Mesmerizing the Ultra by Bassnectar
It had the wub-wubs, I was entertained.
Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park
This queued up at a very appropriate time on my trip back from Fresno. I left later than I had planned to and night fell as I was passing by Tracy when this came on. More of a low key and darker feel to it than their other stuff, not as much energy oomph I'd say.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
New Albums: June 1 - 4
This challenge came around somewhat organically (Thanks blowed up hard drive... :[ ) but I'm pretty excited about it! Since I didn't actually know I was going to be doing this until yesterday, when wonderful Facebook friends showered me with recommendations, my first two albums are not that far off the normal reservation.
June 1 - Back in Black by AC/DC
What is there to even say about this album? It's my favorite album by my favorite band and I probably listen to it at least once a week. Most bands would fold after their lead singer died but AC/DC rustled up Brian Johnson and went on to release an amazing 'comeback' album. Leading in with Hells Bells, you know it's going to be good, and then it just keeps pumping with Back in Black, and then (the best song ever made in my opinion) Shook Me All Night Long, and finally capping out with a 'mellow' Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution.
June 2 - Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
I'm really digging the 70s funk feel this album evokes, it's nice to see Daft Punk back out there getting music going. (Although I view the Tron album as an unofficial Daft Punk album release, and it's amazing). The only downer in this was track three, which just has a dude rambling for a couple minutes about music in Germany in the 70s. It's interesting but put it as the last track; it completely breaks the flow of the album I feel.
June 3 - Head First by Goldfrapp
A fun, light electronic duo. Had it running while I was playing Tower Defense instead of the in game music and apparently everything just does get better with a good beat. I'll definitely be checking out more of their stuff as it makes for great background music while doing things. (Recommended by Roxxane)
June 4 - Je t'aime je t'aime by Bang Bang
This is the first artist I'd never even heard of before listening to them and based on the name I went in expecting a punk rock style. What I got instead was a very chill and relaxing trip-hop style of electronica. I listened to it while riding my motorcycle up to San Francisco today and it really put me in a relaxed mood, with the music almost feeling like a background noise of my life as I was heading up the freeway. I could easily see having this playing while people are over as an undercurrent white noise to hanging out. (Recommended by Nessa)
June 1 - Back in Black by AC/DC
What is there to even say about this album? It's my favorite album by my favorite band and I probably listen to it at least once a week. Most bands would fold after their lead singer died but AC/DC rustled up Brian Johnson and went on to release an amazing 'comeback' album. Leading in with Hells Bells, you know it's going to be good, and then it just keeps pumping with Back in Black, and then (the best song ever made in my opinion) Shook Me All Night Long, and finally capping out with a 'mellow' Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution.
June 2 - Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
I'm really digging the 70s funk feel this album evokes, it's nice to see Daft Punk back out there getting music going. (Although I view the Tron album as an unofficial Daft Punk album release, and it's amazing). The only downer in this was track three, which just has a dude rambling for a couple minutes about music in Germany in the 70s. It's interesting but put it as the last track; it completely breaks the flow of the album I feel.
June 3 - Head First by Goldfrapp
A fun, light electronic duo. Had it running while I was playing Tower Defense instead of the in game music and apparently everything just does get better with a good beat. I'll definitely be checking out more of their stuff as it makes for great background music while doing things. (Recommended by Roxxane)
June 4 - Je t'aime je t'aime by Bang Bang
This is the first artist I'd never even heard of before listening to them and based on the name I went in expecting a punk rock style. What I got instead was a very chill and relaxing trip-hop style of electronica. I listened to it while riding my motorcycle up to San Francisco today and it really put me in a relaxed mood, with the music almost feeling like a background noise of my life as I was heading up the freeway. I could easily see having this playing while people are over as an undercurrent white noise to hanging out. (Recommended by Nessa)
I am a blog slacker... Or: Where I recap May and talk about June.
I've been quite solid on my 30 day challenges but apparently not nearly so solid on keeping up a blog about my experiences with it. Whoops!
Anyway, to bring things up to speed, May's was another exercise challenge, with the primary being a series of increasingly lengthy plankings. I initially scoffed at this, because the challenge starts out with only 20 seconds of planking.... which lasted right up until I tried to do 20 seconds of planking... I made it (barely) but I definitely have a new respect for that exercise.
Long story short, it ramped up daily and by the end I was able to do 3:00 in a row, huzzah! It was a very good ramp, too, as the last 10 seconds of each day felt like my abdominal muscles were going to pop out at any time.
There were squats and crunches too, but they were much less exciting and honestly just kind of boring. Once the squats ramped up into the 150 plus range it became more of a chore than an exercise. I ended up doing goblet squats instead with my 35 pound kettlebell. Way less repetition for a bigger burn.
Aaaaanyway, that's done and it's time I do something a bit more mentally rewarding, instead of all the physical stuff I've been up to so far this year. With that being said, the month of June will be all about MUSIC!
A bit of backstory: one of my hard drives just died on me recently, taking with it my entire (unbacked up) music collection. This pretty much sucked. It especially sucked considering I just purchased a NAS recently to move all my media onto but I was still in the process of doing this and hadn't shimmied the music up yet. The plus side takeaway from this is it finally freed me from the shackles of thousands of individual tracks I'd picked up here and there in my collection. Going forward I can just do entire albums and will make sure everything is sorted in nice and purdy-like as I'm rebuilding the library.
I put out a call to Facebook and many friends answered (thanks everyone!), recommending an assortment of albums and bands worth checking out, becaaauuuuse: June's goal is to listen to a new album every day in it's entirety.
I'd like to take this time to really branch out of my normal music box and experience new bands and genres I normally wouldn't listen to. If you can think of anyone or anything worth checking out, please let me know!
Monday, May 6, 2013
Squats = Quads Death
Four days completed! I've got to say, when I first looked at this, the three minutes of planking was pretty darn intimidating but the initial 20 seconds only earned an eye roll from me... until I did it. 20 seconds seems a lot longer when your whole core is shaking around.
Fifty squats just seemed scary right off the bat though, but per Ashley's advice I broke it up into three sets with a short break between each one. Still hurt like the dickens the next day! Yesterday I kind of shuffled things together and I liked how it ended up so I'll probably keep up with that format: 20 squats, 20 crunches, 20 squats, 20 crunches, 15 squats, planking, and then finish the last 15 squats.
Overall I'm seeing an improvement in how much I can do already, but that three minutes is still sitting at the end of the month, giving me the stink eye...
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Another Exercise Challenge!
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