From the Mind of Trevor Stone

Recent ups:
• I've ridden my bike to work more often than I've driven so far this quarter
• I wrote a MapReduce to compute statistics on how people use our product. It feels good to say "Hey, 400 computers, run my program tonight!"
• Today I finished putting the graphing front end to those statistics together. Now when we have questions like "How many users have uploaded more than a thousand files?" or "What's the average size of an image?" we'll be able to make decisions informed by data rather than speculation.
• I've adjusted to the work environment and have been able to focus and be productive. Playing albums straight through, rather than putting iTunes on shuffle, helps.
• I'm applying my technical know-how to volunteer projects.
• My games day on Saturday will mark three straight weekends of playing games and seeing friends.
• Ignite Boulder 8 last week was a lot of fun.
• The final drum circle at Witches Brew had a great turnout and lots of good rhythms.
• I watched The Bicycle Thief, La Dolce Vida, and Mars Attacks at IFS. I've had the first two on VHS for a while, but never got around to the former and watched half of the latter without understanding the point. Both were quite rewarding on the big screen. And the third? I think Mars Attacks is the second funniest movie I've seen from the '90s (behind Clerks). So many big-name actors are metafunny in it.
• Benzi is hosting a monthly cuddle party on second Saturdays at the Solstice Institute. More information at cuddling.meetup.com.

Recent downs:
• I caught the cold going around work and was sick for about five days. I realized that when I'm sick and not being productive, the "I should go home and get some rest" part of my brain is in the spaced-out-sick area and doesn't activate properly.
• After replacing my rear bike wheel a few weeks ago, my tube's valve got a pinch-flat, which is essentially impossible to patch. After being sick last week, I was all set to ride on Thursday when I discovered the replacement tube was totally flat. My other bike also had a flat. Thwarted! I fixed the flat (piece of glass) this weekend. On Tuesday, I noticed my pressure was low while riding. About a third of the way to work, all of the remaining air suddenly left the tube thanks to another valve pinch-flat. I walked the remaining two miles to work. Fortunately, showing up at 10 AM is no big deal. I replaced the tube with a Presta valve tube, hoping the metal stem will do a better job of staying in place.
• I've been staying at work pretty late. From my experience at Tyler, I know that pattern doesn't lead to long term happiness, so I need to monitor my routine, especially once the weather gets nice.
• I haven't watched any of the Olympics, since I don't have a TV at home. I installed Silverlight, even though the license agreement says you will not "work around any technical limitations in the software." However, both NBC and CTV's videos all gave me errors. NBC has a tantalizing page with full video of curling games and speed skating runs, but to access it you have to have an existing premium cable, satellite, or Internet TV contract. If I had cable, I wouldn't be trying to watch the Olympics on your website, punks!
• I slacked on getting tickets to Les Claypool at the Fox and it sold out. Instead, my roommate took me to a small bluegrassy concert in Lyons which was fun. Sold out shows at the Fox aren't especially fun anyway.

Some things I've done in the past month or so which don't involve work or sitting around the house alone:

• Hiked around on Lookout Mountain with Thuy.
• Helped Thuy move.
• Realized it was my half birthday and I should see a show. Found out Explosions in the Sky was playing at the Ogden.
• Got started with Thor's GURPS game.
• Made a character and played a game or two at Keith's.
• Watched E-Days fireworks at Mines.
• First Saturday drumming at Witches Brew.
• Ate vegan (seitan) pizza and hiked from one side of Green Mountain to the other with Zaydie.
• Played in the first game of a 4th Edition series with Keith and others.
• Ran the geometry table for Mitchell Elementary's math and science night.
• Took a day off work to attend the Conference on World Affairs in Boulder. Will write up my notes in a separate post.
• Chose the wrong parking lot in Boulder, resulting in a Denver Boot, the loss of $65 dollars, and the waste of half an hour while two people failed to unlock the boot.
• Played games with Thor and his cats.
• Second Sunday drumming at David and Nanette's.
• Monday drumming at the Buffalo Rose.
• Bought well over $100 of used CDs at Twist & Shout and Black & Read on National Record Store Day and 4/20.
• Third Saturday drumming at Spirit Ways. Talked to Doug.
• Purchased (among other things) lotus root, frozen jack fruit, preserved duck eggs, bamboo shoots, a case of basil seed honey drink, and a tea set at Pacific Ocean Market Place in Broomfield.
• Walked up to Green Mountain and then around the neighborhood on Earth Day.
• Saw Kraftwerk at the Fillmore. Found a place to freeform dance near the end of the show.
• Hung out with my brother who's going to Boston tomorrow and then moving to Ireland for a while.
• Danced around to Medeski, Martin, and Wood at Balch Fieldhouse at CU. (Aside from the acoustics, the Fieldhouse is more enjoyable than the Fillmore).
• Served osimanthus tea from Guilin and stir-fried eggplant/lotus root/bamboo/nuts in a sesame marinade over bean noodles to RPG guests.
• Took players through the character creation process and ran a fight in a Goo's Noodles and Dim Sum, the first scene in a one-shot Feng Shui RPG story I created.

I'm pretty happy about the themes of gaming, drumming, and hiking, though I want to significantly increase the frequency of the latter. I haven't run an RPG in quite a while, but it went quite well. I spent enough time rereading key parts of the rulebook and thinking through characters that things went fairly smoothly. Hopefully everyone will be more comfortable with the system next time and a combat of mostly mooks doesn't take two hours.