Category: quantified self (page 2 of 3)

November 1, 2015 / 0 Comments

A list of things I’m doing while my wife is away being awesome

 

 “I just can’t wait to get you home with me.” – Tuxedo, Get U Home

Tiffany is off to Washington DC for a few months doing good works. She’s been doing cool shit all year (ed. note: Have you bought CSS Master yet? Stop reading right now and improve your code life) but this is the first time she’s left for an extended period since our union.

It’s only been like three days but dang. The house is too quiet. Time has slowed down. And, I need projects.  

Yesvember

Kid President tweeted this just this morning, and I’m on board.

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  • Say yes to invitations, requests for my company, requests for my service, and the like. When in doubt, Say Yes.

Things to which I have already said yes:

    21 Day Challenge

    I’m focusing on my fitness y’all. The eight or so people that actually watch my snaps with any regularity know I’ve been toying with a fitness challenge. I tried one at the beginning of October: a 30 day commitment that died on day 14 when my legs gave out. This month, I’m going to give it another go.

    • 21 Days of running or biking. At least 20 minutes. Preferably 30. No Days Off.

    I’ve also been wanting to try a meal service. I have proven over 40 years that I don’t really have the personal discipline to manage my own eating in a healthy manner and with Tiffany not here cooking regularly, the risk of lots of Chipotle and Popeye’s runs is high so…

    I just had some breakfast tacos. Not bad. Not bad at all.  


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    Netflix and Clones

    Derrick peeped me to this chronological list for viewing the animated series Star Wars:The Clone Wars which I’ve watched in bits & pieces over the years but never consistently. It’s been much more enjoyable this way.

    I also plan to finish Narcos and finally watch Amazon’s Transparent and then get immersed in Marvel’s Jessica Jones which looks even better than Daredevil which I very much enjoyed  

    Tool Time

    There are projects around the house that need tending. I’m going to make a list of them and…probably send them to our landlord. I’m not Fix-It Felix. I may do some re-organizing, though. Sorry, Tiffany.

    Reading List

    Books and everything in my Pocket. I cleared so much out of my backlog yesterday afternoon. I felt smarter and unburdened.

    Currently Reading

    On Deck

    Blogging

    Oh, and writing right here on this blog. Ideally, every day.

    Hi. 

    September 30, 2015 / 0 Comments

    On Living Wisely: Broad City

    “Where are you going with your life? What kind of chances will you take?” – Alice Smith, Cabaret

    What does it mean to live a good life? What about a productive life? How about a happy life? How might I think about these ideas if the answers conflict with one another? – Richard J. Light, How to Live Wisely (New York Times)

    The Broad vs. Deep Exercise. If you could become extraordinarily good at one thing versus being pretty good at many things, which approach would you choose?

    Mastery has never been my thing. I like to find the connections between ideas, disciplines, and activities and follow the thread where ever it may lead picking up the skills necessary to get there along the way.

    In role-playing games, I usually select thief or rogue. Quick-witted, agile, clever but not particularly adept at any one thing.

    As a child, my father attempted to make me a musician like him. I picked up the piano, the drums, the cello. I didn’t stick with any of them.

    In college, I went from political communications to psychology before finally settling on sociology and I think that stuck because it felt like an amalgam of studies I liked. And I still minored in creative writing.

    Is my life organized to support my broad interests? Mostly. I live in Los Angeles—a city that has everything if you know where to look. I work on Internet stuffs which allows me to be good at and do a wide variety of things.

    But I don’t always take advantage of this. I don’t follow the thread off the computer screen and in to the physical world often enough.

    As I age, I need to remind myself to exercise my curiosity like a muscle. Too frequently these days, I let a question go unanswered or trust my assumptions as if I know anything.

    You’re a master of nothing, champ. You don’t know shit.

    Just enough to get into trouble.

    An aside: SnapChat is hard. All 6 of you that consume my snaps know that I’m not producing as much as I suggested I might. I’m working on it. I’m finding it hard to get over myself and just talk to the camera like a video diary or create scenes or not care and post just anything.

    I’d love to be just good enough at it to be dangerous.  

    September 29, 2015 / 0 Comments

    On Living Wisely: Finding Meaning in the In-Between Time

     

    “Offer me something inside. A place to go. A place to hide.” – Jessie Ware, Something Inside

    What does it mean to live a good life? What about a productive life? How about a happy life? How might I think about these ideas if the answers conflict with one another? – Richard J. Light, How to Live Wisely (New York Times)

    Yesterday, I tried to reconcile how I want to be spending my time with how I spend my time. I was unsure, so I spent time SnapChatting my day to see what was going on. I don’t think I did enough talking about what actually happened so tomorrow I’m going to do more explaining. More storytelling.

    Today’s exercise, though, asks about how I spend my spare time.

    Well, right now, I’m writing. It’s 8:51 P.M. and I’ve watched the premiere of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Good job, kid!) and what I’d rather be doing than anything else is typing words into the white screen that Ulysses provides. I don’t do this enough. 

    I wrote on the first night of XOXO:

    I’m most human when I’m writing.

    That’s true. I also feel most human when I’m reading other people’s words. I do that often. When I take a break from work and grab an iced skinny hazelnut latte at the nearby Starbucks or take lunch by myself, I’m usually spending my time with the writing of others.

    I talk a lot and watch a lot of basketball. When I was a kid, Hell, up until my late twenties, I played a lot of basketball. These days, I’m particularly passionate about women’s pro ball. We are season ticket holders for the Los Angeles Sparks. I’ve seen more women’s basketball live than I’ve seen any other sport, by far.

    I love television and consume it in large quantities.

    So how do I spend my spare time? Writing. Reading. TV. Ball is life.

    Now, the way the question is presented in the Times article, the question is meant to help a person focus their college studies. I extrapolate that to presume this is supposed to be a good way to make decisions professionally, but I’m not so sure. What I know is that when I’ve had to write as the primary work product of a job, it’s dimmed my love for writing.

    Having worked in/around television for the bulk of my professional career, my love for it only grows when immersed in the process. I like how those donuts get made. I imagine, at some point, I will get back to that.

    I do a lot of reading as part of my gig now. Reading. Editing. Massaging copy. I should do more of it. It’s painful but making someone else’s words better whether through soft nudges or complicated surgery is satisfying.

    If a professional basketball team came calling for my services in some way, I’d have to consider it but I worry it would tarnish my love of the game. I’m a fan first. Could I still be with a paycheck on the line?

    What I didn’t mention to this point is that I also enjoy doing things in service of the greater good. I didn’t include it because I don’t do enough of it.

    I’m making time for writing and reading and basketball and my eyes glued to the endless hours of great tv, but I haven’t been creating space for making the world a better place.

    Huh.

    There it is.

    A moment of clarity.  

    September 28, 2015 / 0 Comments

    On Living Wisely: How Do You Spend Your Time?

    You told me to take the chance and learn the ways of love.” – DeBarge, All This Love

    What does it mean to live a good life? What about a productive life? How about a happy life? How might I think about these ideas if the answers conflict with one another? – Richard J. Light, How to Live Wisely (New York Times)

    I’ve come back to this article a few times since dropping it in my Pocket in early August and while these questions are rarely far from top of mind for me, they’ve taken on greater urgency since leaving Portland after XOXO. There, the question is, perhaps, more specific-What does it mean to make good things?—but as Amit Gupta’s talk conveyed, these questions may, ultimately, be one in the same.

    The first exercise referenced in Richard J. Light’s essay is:

    Make a list of how you want to spend your time. What matters to you? Then make a list of how you actually spent your time, on average, each day over the past week and match the two lists.

    Stream of Consciousness Answer:

    I want to make good shit every day. I want to spend time coming up with creative ideas and then executing on them. I want to talk about what’s good and why. I want to spend time figuring out why certain things get seen, read, watched and others don’t. I want to work on big ideas. I want to delight and surprise. I want to be clever. I want to waste less time. I want to read more for pleasure. I want to Tumblr. I want to help more people more often. I want to workout. I want to spend time with those I love.

    How do I normally spend my time?

    • I dilly-dally on the internet in the mornings.
    • I spend two hours of the day commuting usually listening to podcasts and dilly-dallying on the internet.
    • I spend a lot of time looking at why things are or aren’t working.
    • I spend a lot of time in or preparing for meetings answering other people’s questions
    • I watch a lot of TV.
    • I workout.
    • I twitter.
    • I…

    I don’t know. Well, what I do know is I don’t spend enough time being creative and making stuff. I don’t spend enough time talking about what’s good or working on big ideas. I don’t give enough of my time to others in need. At least that’s how it feels.

    I want a more accurate view of this, though. This week I’m going to SnapChat my days and document what the hell I’m actually doing.


    You can follow me there if you don’t already. And bug me if my story seems a little thin. I haven’t done much SnapChat making so I tend to forget and/or get shy.

    Does your every day look like how you envision? 

    December 26, 2014 / 0 Comments

    My Favorite Music of 2014

    “When everything’s clear like cold water go feel better.“ – Little Dragon, Klapp Klapp

    I rather enjoyed music this year. As I spent time re-listening to albums and songs in preparation for this post, I realized how much music I heard that I thought was genuinely good and interesting. In the midst of all the cotton candy confection on terrestrial radio and vine—a place that increasingly became where I discovered new to me sounds and artists and songs, some of which I actually liked—there were a lot of artists releasing confident and risk-taking songs and albums.

    It almost seems anachronistic for artists to attempt to put out complete and connected albums with strong thematic ties or storytelling flourishes today. We live in the age of the eternally shuffled on streaming services like Spotify and Pandora and Rdio (my personal fave). The music video (even if it’s just lyrics or a static image) and soundcloud dominate the young ear. So why put together an album whose songs work better together? Especially with the standard being about 10 songs and 45 minutes these days? I don’t know but I’m glad folks did.

    My Favorite Albums of 2014


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    1. Nabuma Rubberband – Little Dragon
    2. Art Official Age – Prince
    3. Piñata – Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
    4. Black Messiah – D’Angelo & The Vanguard
    5. Tough Love – Jessie Ware
    6. A Love Like Ours – Dominique Toney
    7. Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
    8. Jungle – Jungle
    9. Oxymoron – Schoolboy Q
    10. With Metropole Orkest. – Laura Mvula

    Some notes: D’Angelo did me dirty like Beyoncé did last December and put out an album that’s impossible to deny but that I haven’t had the time to sit with like I have with other albums. In fact, Black Messiah’s inclusion bumped Mary J. Blige’s The London Sessions—another late in the year entry—out of my top ten but you should really cop that one too. You’ll also have to forgive the nepotism but my sister’s album is good y’all. 

    Little Dragon, Prince, and Freddie Gibbs with Madlib on the production produced the albums I kept coming back to this year, though. Every time I hear just one song from their releases I want to hear the whole collection. Art Official Cage is a revelation. I haven’t enjoyed the purple one this much since the Batman soundtrack.

    Like Pusha T’s album last year, Piñata was the get hyped soundtrack for 2014. I bumped that in the car on road trips, in the morning on the ride to work, on the way home to take the edge off (or get it up). I was Thuggin’.

    Ultimately, though, there’s a certain sound and sensibility that gets to me (gets me) more than everything else. Little Dragon is one of those bands and Nabuma Rubberband is one of those albums. Love it.

    Other albums worthy of consideration – Michael Jackson’s XSCAPE;  Kelis’s Food; alt-J’s This is All Yours; FKA Twigs – LP1; Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour; Jóhan Jóhannsson’s The Theory of Everything soundtrack; The Juan Mclean’s In A Dream; and, Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint

    The Top Songs of 2014


    rdiosongs2014.pngrdiosongs2014.png

    Rdio helpfully made a playlist. It’s pretty accurate although last.fm notes a few differences. Klapp Klapp was the song I went back to the most this year though less so in the last quarter of 2014. Drake’s 0 to 100/The Catch Up and D’Angelo’s Sugah Daddy deserve mention for the back 90 of this year.

    Two important musical notes for me at the end of 2014 came out 22 and 25 years ago but seemed especially relevant for the complex ways I was/am feeling about the world. The hope and clarity of Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 and the anger and obstinance of Ice Cube’s The Predator were what my soul needed as America in the Fall of this year felt more like Los Angeles in the Spring of ’92. Rage and sadness and uprising and the knowledge and power to the people. 

    We are a part of a rhythm nation and 20 years after Rodney King we’re still asking “when will they shoot?” and so we’re going to make it rough.

    December 25, 2014 / 0 Comments

    2014 Annual Report

    “You know you’re better than that.” – Little Dragon, Mirror

    I didn’t make goals for 2014. I had professional ones, sure, but no overarching personal plan like I had in 2013. This year rapidly got away from me and I never caught up.

    2014 was hard. Is hard. A review of my activity on Thinkup would lead you to believe that this year started in August with the murder of Michael Brown and the rising tide of emotion and action that has come since. This is what I leave this year with: that racism continues to dominate the institutions that make up our society and it is quite literally killing and terrorizing black people and this must change. Black lives matter. I want to scream it.

    sometimes i do.

    Also, men are terrible. And the evidence suggests want to be and want to continue to be. This too must change. I apologize for any and all actions during my life where I wasn’t the man, the human, I like to think I am. 

    See? 2014 got me fucked up.


    I’ve thought about this a lot since I tumblr’ed it in September. I’ve failed at this professionally since about August. I haven’t “made fun” but I’ve definitely leaned towards complaint over action. I hope to shake that off over the next 2 weeks and begin 2015 in Just Do It mode. No excuses. Make cool shit. Every day.

    This is not to give short shrift to the accomplishments of the year at work. We started publishing live entertainment stories on AXS.com in April, right before Jazz Fest. Speaking of, I got to attend my first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this year! I wrote a few things I liked. We took what we learned from our first six months in responsive design on Examiner.com (I may not be proud of a good chunk of what gets published there but I’m proud of our UX work) and kicked it up several notches. I got to be creative in ways I haven’t been since I left The Mouse.

    But I end the year feeling like we worry about the wrong things and not chasing greatness with what we publish.

    Make cool shit. Every day.

    At home and with friends, I’ve felt, I don’t know, distracted or distant, maybe? I’ve been so consumed with navigating work, I haven’t had mental space for much else including those I love. I don’t mean the grand gestures or the emergencies and the like. It’s easy for me to come through in those situations. It’s easy for me to give. But in the every day? In the small moments? I don’t think I really had it for y’all this year like I would want and I’m sorry. Brotha’s gonna work it out.

    A toast to my health. Despite carrying 10 pounds more this year than last, I’ve been consistent with a personal trainer for the last six months. I’ve taken much greater advantage of my insurance and I’m getting every closer to buying a ticket on the eat right train. My doctor says I’m strong like bull so we’ll stick with that. I just want to be a more fit bull who is slimmer around the middle.

    I also have to be more honest about my needs emotionally.

    https://twitter.com/misterjt/status/545357397296807936

    I tend to keep it pretty level but, this year, I think I’ve needed more…something. I don’t know what it is so I haven’t been able to say out loud to anyone, give me this, but there’s a hole. I’m feeling some kind of way about the world, about what I’m doing or not doing to make it a better place, and about the life I’m leading and I need…something. The early part of 2015 has got to be about figuring that out and saying out loud the answer to the equation.

    But, tonight, let’s get to the accounting of things. I traveled to San Francisco, Denver (twice), New Orleans (twice), Palm Springs, Phoenix, and DC this year (I think that’s it). My office moved to Downtown LA at the beginning of the year and I really like working in that part of the city. I’ve never driven to the office.

    I really need to do a better accounting of the shows I go to each year. Ray, once again, puts me to shame. But there were a few pretty exceptional shows. My sister, Dominique Toney, essentially closing the 4th of July show at Exposition Park (sorry Troop); Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the Wiltern with Sharon’s amazing post-cancer energy and short hair. Big Freedia on the Congo Stage at Jazz Fest just a few weeks after her mom passed. Laura Mvula on the Jazz Fest main stage. DJ Spinna’s Wonder-ful set at the Echoplex with Stevie Wonder showing up to surprise him and perform a bit. Har Mar Superstar in New Orleans on my birthday by myself. Also, Rhye. Jessie Ware. And a grip more at the echo/echoplex I’m forgetting. 

    The best thing I experienced this year, though, hands down was the WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. It was the most entertaining women’s basketball game I’ve ever seen live. It was amazing how much of a women’s basketball town Phoenix is (and lovely to see considering Los Angeles…isn’t.) I was high off that experience for weeks.

    That game and everything around it reminded me that for all the shit of 2014, we live in a world where a rookie from a reservation can be the best baller on the floor. We live in a world where an out lesbian black woman dunks with regularity and is cheered for it. This world exists. 

    The world changes. The world is changing. It starts small. It gets big. You put in the work. You make cool shit. Every day.

    And some days, like on July 19th 2014, your shit is the coolest shit.

    Thanks 2014. I won’t miss you but I hope to think back on you fondly as the spark.

    December 31, 2013 / 0 Comments

    2013 Annual Report

    “Wasted time, can’t get that back, so everything I go hard.” – Pusha T, No Regrets


    awesome.jpgawesome.jpg

    These were the goals for 2013 (written in February):

    • Do more of what makes you awesome
    • Be more invested…
      • In the lives of those I love
      • In the moment
      • In my own well-being
    • Go outside and see, do, live

    The last one is easy to assess. I saw nearly 20 musical performances live this year. I started going to yoga on most Saturdays. I traveled to Greensboro, Denver, New Orleans, Louisville, Palm Springs, La Jolla and San Diego, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and even stay-cationed in Santa Monica for Valentine’s Day. I walked more, biked more, and ended the year spending way more time in public transportation than my car. I accepted more invitations than I declined and I regularly felt inspired by my experiences away from most of my screens.

    I won’t be making my goals for 2014 for another month but I hope this trend grows and continues. Ray spent his 2013 going to 157 shows which is insane but also feels like a challenge. More shows in 2014, y’all. Must.

    I feel ill-equipped to determine how I did on being more invested. One of the interesting parts of living in the default of optimism is I have short memory for “bad things.” So, what I know is that I was much more deliberate about being engaged and admonished myself (often in my journal) when I noticed I wasn’t. I did spend more time with my sister this year. I saw friends near and far a little more often and tried to make the most of that time. I relished the moments when Tiffany and I turned off our gadgets and just talked.

    I didn’t see my parents as much as I would’ve liked. I didn’t talk to my extended family as much as I would’ve liked (but more than I’ve done in recent years). I skipped a funeral.

    In matters of my own well-being, I read more. I wrote more. I learned a little bit. I got easily derailed from my commitments to physical health. I’m more successful at getting back to exercise and far less good at staying on the eat right train. As usual.

    And so we get to the big question: Did I do more of what makes me awesome? At work, I think so. I struggled with managing a team from afar but we accomplished most of our goals for the year. I stayed committed to quality and discipline and a balanced and pragmatic approach to strategic decisions. I took advantages of opportunities as they presented themselves and created some great opportunities in the process.

    In life as a whole, I worked hard at being kind. Outside of people on terrible reality television shows, I presumed the best of intentions of those I interacted with more often than I thought the worst. I’d like to think that’s my default now. Should we meet, know that I assume you are intelligent and capable and that I don’t know the troubles in your life. I hope our interaction is filled with dignity and compassion.

    I’m sure I fail at “being more awesome” constantly but I’m trying y’all. And because I made it a goal and a practice this past year, I’d like to think I got a little bit better at it ever day.

    Thanks 2013. 

    December 3, 2013 / 0 Comments

    These Three Words

    “Got sucked into a culture, living like I do.” – SBTRKT, Living Like I Do (Feat. Sampha)

    There’s a moment in Best Man Holiday when Harper asks his friends what are the three words that define who they are. His reason for asking is a bit duplicitous but I thought it was an interesting question.

    Curiosity. Compassion. Kindness.

    I am many other things, I’m sure, and I am also sure that there are times when I am not these things but if you were to label me as such, I wouldn’t quarrel.

    But who needs labels anyway?


    What's Your Label? by Zach WeinersmithWhat's Your Label? by Zach Weinersmith

    What’s Your Label? by Zach Weinersmith

    But maybe I’m wrong. How might you define me?

    More importantly, how might you define yourself?

    December 1, 2013 / 0 Comments

    November 2013 Personal Report

    “From the outside everyone must be wondering why we try.” – Jessie Ware, Wildest Moments

    November of two thousand thirteen felt like the first month of the year when all things in my life were on point.

    Work has been great and I can’t wait to show you what we’re coming up with.

    I made time for friends and family throughout the month and felt invigorated by their energy and love and warmth whether at Thanksoween, my sister’s house warming, dinner with Team Toney at our house, or now, with the In-Laws in Greensboro.

    I said yes to just about every invite which presented me with Jessie Ware live, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and J.Rocc, The Book of Jezebel reading and signing event, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and a tour of the Grand Central Market.

    I took care of me. I finally visited the doctor for the pain in my right leg that had kept me from working out for most of the previous six weeks. I took my medicine, followed the instructions, and am back to the gym in force and running at length. And, if you follow me on fitbit, ignore this past week. It’s too damn cold here for steps.

    Our house is a home and not a sty. This is a big deal and very uncommon. Trust.

    Others can be the judge of this but I know I made the effort to be more present, more accessible, and more concerned with keeping my commitments.

    November is a time for gratitude. I’m grateful for whatever stars aligned to make it such a positive one for me in what has been a year of incredible ups and downs.

    Thanks.

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    Using #movember as an excuse to see how much facial hair I can grow until Tiffany vetoes it.

    October 4, 2013 / 1 Comment

    The Commodified Self

    “I can’t afford to not record.” – Little Brother, Watch Me

    I ended my work day by listening to Aral Balkan’s Drupalcon Prague  2013 Keynote:

     

    By the end of it, he’s making an impassioned plea for open source makers of digital goods to create high quality “indie data” solutions and products to compete with the “Big Data” world that most of us have acquiesced to with the GOOG, Apple, Facebook and their ilk. His point is that closed systems are successful in creating great user experience and that lulls consumers into choosing an experience that trades privacy because it just works and makes you happy. He uses his misadventure with Firefox OS as a great example of this that I found quite amusing.

    Then I got in the car to come home and the first feature story on All Things Considered was the final part of their series on “Your Digital Trail.”

    Included in the audio but not in the text was a question they posed around devices like fitbit and fuel band. Say you’re in a car accident, couldn’t an insurance company use the sleep data you’re tracking to question your alertness?

    That was a scenario I hadn’t considered. I track just about everything. I use google and apple services and devices. I check in to locations via foursquare. I wear a fitbit. The music I’m listening to while I write this is being logged on last.fm. I use geo-location enabled features all the time. I text message. I tweet.

    My standard position has been that I get a lot of value in exchange for giving up all this data. I’m not so sure I believe that, anymore.

    I doubt that means I’m going to change my habits tomorrow but it does mean that if there were “indie data” options that were designed with a consumer intent, I’d be more than open to them.

     

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