Stuff from my brainpan.
Hi. I have decided to move back into blogging over at jaydef.com. I figure I’m paying for the name, and I have it hosted, I might as well use it. So, check that site out. Not only can you find my blog, but you can also check out a couple of my songs I’ve uploaded there.
Enjoy.
I have decided to learn the harmonica. Last friday, I went to Guitar Center here in Boise and purchased a Lee Oskar Major Diatonic Harmonica in C. In researching it, I figured out that this would be an excellent choice for a beginning harp. I am really enjoying this experience. After 3 days of practicing, I’m doing pretty well. Harmonica is supposed to be one of the easiest instruments to learn, and I’m beginning to believe it. The most difficult thing for me is keeping enough breath to play it. I’m sure that will come with time. I love learning a new instrument.
Celisse from Consumating decided to start a podcast inspired by the site. She was kind enough to ask for one of my songs to play on the show. I just got done listening to it and it was great.Check it out here.
Thanks Celisse. It was fun, and I hope to hear more.
This morning, I participated in a thread on Consumating.com which turned out to be a very fun and challenging mind excercise. The idea is you take a musical instrument and combine it with a type of candy. Thus, Pocky and Keyboard becomes Pockyboard.
Other Examples
Everyone who played had a very good time and there were some really brilliant combinations. It’s an honor to have spent the time with such intelligent people. Good job, all.
This morning, as I was taking my shower, I started thinking about the word, shampoo. Isn’t that a weird word? I find it hard to believe that, if made today, it would have been called shampoo.
It makes me think of fake dog poo. Shampoo. Fool your friends with this realistic dog poo. By the ACME Joke Company. (In my head, this is said in a 50’s style radio announcers voice.)
From the Wikipedia article:
The word shampoo in English usage dates back to 1762, with the meaning “to massage“. The word was a loan from Anglo-Indian shampoo, in turn from Hindi chāmpo imperative of chāmpnā, “to smear, knead the muscles, massage”. It itself comes from Sanskrit/Hindi word “champā”, the flowers of the plant Michelia champaca which have traditionally been used to make fragrant hair-oil.
So, that explains that…but it’s still weird.
Recently, the Boise State University Broncos played against the University of Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl (We’ll stay away from advertising for tortilla chip makers in this space). The Broncos beat the Sooners 43 to 42 in overtime.
Oh my god, I’m sick of hearing about this! Okay. I get it. This is currently considered to be one of the best college football games to date. BSU were slated as heavy underdogs in this game. Since I live in Boise, I can understand why people would be excited about this. Can I just say enough is enough?
I am, by no means, a sports fan. I find most sports to be boring. This is just a personal thing for me. I understand that there are people who enjoy watching sports. I also understand that this is a big deal to fans. I also never went to BSU. Do I have to get all excited about this, just because I happen to live in the same city as this school?
To some people I know, apparently, yes. So last weekend, one of the ESPN stations reran the Fiesta Bowl. One of my coworkers said to me, “So, ESPN is going to rerun the Fiesta Bowl this weekend. You should watch it.” I replied, “Hmmm…I doubt I’ll remember to watch it. Even if I do, I’m sure I won’t. I’m not interested in sports.” He semi-jokingly acted shocked that I wasn’t interested in watching this game.
Then, on Monday, when I went back to work, he asked me, “Did you watch the game?” I, of course, said, “No. I forgot that it was on.” He was kinda shocked!
Does he not get it? I don’t like sports. My parents and my brother are also big BSU supporters. I’m sure the next time I talk to them, I’ll have to hear about it some more.
I just don’t get it.
I really would like to be a regular blogger. I always struggle with it…I never seem to have stuff to say. Blah, blah, blah.
Well, I’ve been reading some of my friends’ blogs, and it made me realize something. If I want to keep a blog, I need to keep up with current events. Then I can have something that I can give my own commentary on.
So, that’s the plan. Thanks bots! and Helen (from ReadySteadyGo) for unintentionally being there for me.
There is a website I frequent called Consumating. If you’ve never heard of that site, it’s pretty cool. So, you may be asking, what is Consumating.
To find out more about Consumating, you can visit the site, or check out the Wikipedia article.
So, here are my thoughts on this wonderful site that takes up a lot of my time these days:
First of all, I found out about the site last May, when my friend (who goes by Osteocephalic over there) sent me an invitation. At first I was a bit leery, because I thought it was going to be another MySpace clone. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was wrong.
What’s the same:
What is different:
I have made some reallly good friends on Consumating. I feel like the majority of the people who stick around tend to have interests and personalities that coincides with mine. Also, unlike the other sites, like MySpace and Friendster, it is hard for the “whorebots” to take hold. This is due to the private noting system on Consumating. You get to send 10 private notes to people per month, and each month it resets so you can send notes to new people. However, once you’ve sent a note to someone, you can send as many notes as you want back and forth with them without counting against your ten. Therefore, it’s really hard for someone to Spam the site with ads or whatever. That isn’t to say there haven’t been attempts, but they never get far. The tagging system is very fun, and it’s possible to get into tag conversations.
Speaking of conversations, each person can host a conversation, and that is the main way you get to know people. So, you choose a topic to talk about. Anyone who is interested in that topic can then post their opinion. This way, we all get to know each other. As I said above, it really creates a real sense of community that I’ve not really felt on other sites.
Another aspect of Consumating is Consumeets. Those are gatherings where people on the site get together in person. So far, I have attended 2 of them. The first was in San Francisco and the second was in New York. That was my first time in New York, and I got to see a bit of that wonderful city as well as meet a bunch of reallly amazing people.
So, if all of this intrigues you, give the site a try. If you enjoy meeting really great people from basically everywhere, you won’t be disappointed. I’m Jay Def over there. Feel free to say hi.
Here are my New Years Resolutions for this year:
Happy 2007, people.
This is going to be a year for changes for me. Let me tell you, I’m excited. I have decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area and try my luck at making my way there. This is both exciting and scary for me.
I feel that this is a needed change. I am soon to be a 36 year old man (boy). It’s time I attempt to live somewhere where I can truly be on my own. I have never lived more than a 3 hour drive from my family. It’s not as if I don’t care about them. I love my family. I just need to challenge myself, and I don’t believe I can do that here.
So, I will be changing scenes, changing jobs. Changing my life. I am confident that, with the support of my family here and my friends (wherever they may be), I can do this. I’m very excited. And, as I said, scared.
Scared that I’m making the wrong decision. Scared that I will screw everything completely up. However, that is what makes this so exciting.
I am hoping to chronicle what is happening to me here. Great things are afoot. Or something.
