I'm about to embark on a new adventure! The grand adventure of grad school! I'll be working on a master's degree in aerospace engineering at my alma mater, UCSD, hopefully on the thesis track. I just stopped by the lab of my advisor, Professor Tom Bewley, and it looks like a really cool place, got to meet a bunch of people, see some cool robots. Check out the Switchblade!
I'm starting to get really excited about this transition. The prospect of not having income is still a bit distressing, but I'm sure I'll adapt in short order, perhaps get a part time job. The idea of working on something challenging and interesting is tantalizing, and to get into a different culture is also appealing. I'm not wholly certain that my current place of employment is a good fit for me. There's a focus on adherence to rules rather than performance, and I've increasingly felt that I have to censor myself in more ways than I think are really necessary for a workplace. It's likely that this is true of any work-environment, but I'll have to wait for my next one to see. My thoughts in this vein are pretty well summed up by one of my favorite XKCD strips ever. It's time to break my routine and set up a new one, and I can't wait.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tournament Report: September 11th Three Weapon Open
So, I'm having a hard time summing up something. I got whaled on yesterday. I mean, I barely showed up. I got my butt kicked. A fourteen year old wiped the floor with me (on a related note, happy birthday Ryan). There are any number of things I could say, excuses I could offer, but I'll try to do a bit of analysis instead.
I think my technique was pretty solid all day. I could complain about the slippage on the floors (Mira Mesa High School's gym is well maintained, but it apparently doubles as an ice rink), but it wasn't a huge issue. My problem was that I didn't fully get into, or at the very least didn't maintain a competitive mindset. I was treating the bouts like practice and taking my time to get mentally warmed up and engaged. And this didn't just happen early on, it lasted until my elimination bout. I remember an old teammate used to tell me to 'be hungry', and I don't think I accomplished that today. Not even a little bit.
So, proceeding under the assumption that I've found the problem, it's time to find a solution. My physical warm-up works out, now I need a mental one. I could do a decision drill beforehand, or do something to psych myself up. The thing about individual sports is that it's hard to do a rah-rah cheer when it's just you. The UCSD team used to do a couple different cheers, but they were pretty graphic and not really appropriate for the local opens I'm attending, which are all-age events.
I've got another tournament next weekend, so that gives me a week to come up with a plan. 'Til next time!
Updated: Here's a link to the results. I wound up placing fifteenth out of seventeen. So, not dead last! That counts for something, right?
I think my technique was pretty solid all day. I could complain about the slippage on the floors (Mira Mesa High School's gym is well maintained, but it apparently doubles as an ice rink), but it wasn't a huge issue. My problem was that I didn't fully get into, or at the very least didn't maintain a competitive mindset. I was treating the bouts like practice and taking my time to get mentally warmed up and engaged. And this didn't just happen early on, it lasted until my elimination bout. I remember an old teammate used to tell me to 'be hungry', and I don't think I accomplished that today. Not even a little bit.
So, proceeding under the assumption that I've found the problem, it's time to find a solution. My physical warm-up works out, now I need a mental one. I could do a decision drill beforehand, or do something to psych myself up. The thing about individual sports is that it's hard to do a rah-rah cheer when it's just you. The UCSD team used to do a couple different cheers, but they were pretty graphic and not really appropriate for the local opens I'm attending, which are all-age events.
I've got another tournament next weekend, so that gives me a week to come up with a plan. 'Til next time!
Updated: Here's a link to the results. I wound up placing fifteenth out of seventeen. So, not dead last! That counts for something, right?
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Mesa Rim
So this blog is called 'Watch Ed Build', so you probably expect me to build something at some point. To write a post where I talk about fixing or creating something. Well, this post is not that post. This is the post in which I discuss the wonders of rock climbing, and my gym in particular!
I've been climbing off and on for several years, but in the past year I've started going regularly to a gym with a buddy and working on my top rope and bouldering skills. I have to note about Mesa Rim, it is for certain the best climbing facility in San Diego, and I can say that, having tried them all. The walls top out at fifty two feet, the tallest indoor walls in San Diego, and the routes are constantly being updated by a really talented setting team. There are about seventy individual top ropes set up, plus a number of routes for lead climbing (lead climbing being the practice of bringing the rope up with you as you go). The ropes are also regularly replaced, which matters rather a lot, as ropes do not age well.
The bouldering area is also pretty excellent, offering a variety of inclines and heights and a couple of caves. The best part to my mind is the fully padded flooring, which makes any fall a painless tumble. In many other gyms, they keep a number of pads that you have to drag around and put down underneath where you'll be climbing, which provide all the cushioning of a sack of rocks. Actually, that may not be strictly true of all of them, but I had a bad experience the other week, so I'm gonna assume that they all do. For reference, if you're going to Vertical Hold, get two or three pads to make sure you're covered. Whatever part of your anatomy absorbs the impact will thank you.
A final word on the facilities: they evidently have a hot yoga room, a really solid gym, showers and a sauna. I haven't taken advantage of the sauna or the yoga room, but it's nice to know they're there. My last word on the place in general is that the staff is pretty excellent. They're helpful and friendly as all get out. And Allyson Boyd's boot camp class regularly beats the living tar out of me, and keeps me coming back for more.
Now, I've had a hard time trying to come up with a way to show my climbing on this blog. I've seen very clever things done with photography, taking a number of pictures and then making a mosaic out of them to show the progress up the wall. I've thought about using one of those nice GoPro cameras to perhaps record my ascent, but I don't have one, and also I'd look really silly wearing one on my head around the gym. So I'll work on coming up with a good way to demonstrate that and get back to you. 'Til next time!
I've been climbing off and on for several years, but in the past year I've started going regularly to a gym with a buddy and working on my top rope and bouldering skills. I have to note about Mesa Rim, it is for certain the best climbing facility in San Diego, and I can say that, having tried them all. The walls top out at fifty two feet, the tallest indoor walls in San Diego, and the routes are constantly being updated by a really talented setting team. There are about seventy individual top ropes set up, plus a number of routes for lead climbing (lead climbing being the practice of bringing the rope up with you as you go). The ropes are also regularly replaced, which matters rather a lot, as ropes do not age well.
The bouldering area is also pretty excellent, offering a variety of inclines and heights and a couple of caves. The best part to my mind is the fully padded flooring, which makes any fall a painless tumble. In many other gyms, they keep a number of pads that you have to drag around and put down underneath where you'll be climbing, which provide all the cushioning of a sack of rocks. Actually, that may not be strictly true of all of them, but I had a bad experience the other week, so I'm gonna assume that they all do. For reference, if you're going to Vertical Hold, get two or three pads to make sure you're covered. Whatever part of your anatomy absorbs the impact will thank you.
A final word on the facilities: they evidently have a hot yoga room, a really solid gym, showers and a sauna. I haven't taken advantage of the sauna or the yoga room, but it's nice to know they're there. My last word on the place in general is that the staff is pretty excellent. They're helpful and friendly as all get out. And Allyson Boyd's boot camp class regularly beats the living tar out of me, and keeps me coming back for more.
Now, I've had a hard time trying to come up with a way to show my climbing on this blog. I've seen very clever things done with photography, taking a number of pictures and then making a mosaic out of them to show the progress up the wall. I've thought about using one of those nice GoPro cameras to perhaps record my ascent, but I don't have one, and also I'd look really silly wearing one on my head around the gym. So I'll work on coming up with a good way to demonstrate that and get back to you. 'Til next time!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Fencing Video Breakdown
So this fencing recap video is a little different, as I actually took the time to examine all the individual clips and group them into something that's almost coherent. I broke it down into three basic actions, counter attack, long attack and ripostes, and then good and bad examples of each. I went through several hundred clips, which I eventually whittled down to less than a hundred, for a three minute video.
On the counterattacks, there's not much to say. I tend to succeed when I step into it with a my arm high and fully extended. I bring it back in to close out a lot, which isn't ideal, but it gets the job done. The failures are often because I'm not properly countering, but rather sticking my arm out while being run down, or because my hand is low and arm isn't properly extended.
As for long attacks, I'm landing when I've got the distance right and my hand in the right place. A lot of the time those two are linked, as when my arm isn't extended, I take an extra step in to make up the distance, which puts me in the way wrong distance to hit. Also, the most successful touches in this set are when I vary my acceleration on the attack, to draw a parry or force another reaction.
Moving onto ripostes, it seems I'm hitting when I properly disengage or feint past the first parry and then hit. I'm also hitting from prime (the top-down shot) a lot, which I need to clean up, as it's a bit of a desperation move. My lesser/lousy riposte moments come when I'm too close, or parrying in weird positions. It helps to keep the blade right in front of me so I don't have to bring it back into center to riposte.
Well, that's it! Stay tuned for more fencing fun!
On the counterattacks, there's not much to say. I tend to succeed when I step into it with a my arm high and fully extended. I bring it back in to close out a lot, which isn't ideal, but it gets the job done. The failures are often because I'm not properly countering, but rather sticking my arm out while being run down, or because my hand is low and arm isn't properly extended.
As for long attacks, I'm landing when I've got the distance right and my hand in the right place. A lot of the time those two are linked, as when my arm isn't extended, I take an extra step in to make up the distance, which puts me in the way wrong distance to hit. Also, the most successful touches in this set are when I vary my acceleration on the attack, to draw a parry or force another reaction.
Moving onto ripostes, it seems I'm hitting when I properly disengage or feint past the first parry and then hit. I'm also hitting from prime (the top-down shot) a lot, which I need to clean up, as it's a bit of a desperation move. My lesser/lousy riposte moments come when I'm too close, or parrying in weird positions. It helps to keep the blade right in front of me so I don't have to bring it back into center to riposte.
Well, that's it! Stay tuned for more fencing fun!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
With Apologies to Epic Mealtime
So, much like most guys who like to compensate for their lack of perceived masculinity by watching a lot of men-children cavort on video screens, I'm a big fan of Epic Mealtime. Their videos are almost always hilarious, and the food occasionally looks good too. Having watched a number of them, it got me thinking of odd food mashups, things that haven't necessarily been done before. And, living in San Diego, home of the best burritos in the world, according to no less an authority than World Champion Judah Friedlander, I wondered if the greatest burrito of all, the California Burrito, could be morphed into another form. Perhaps unrolled, placed on a pizza stone and baked? A California Burrito Pizza? Madness! Could such a thing actually succeed? I had to find out.
So I decided to do it at my friend TJ's bar-completion party. I rounded up all the ingredients and proceeded to Dave and Katherine's house, the site of said party, to start prep.
Ingredients:
4 avocados
2 limes
4 greenhouse tomatoes
1 onion
1 jalapeno
1 Trader Joes package of carne asada
1 Trader Joes package of pizza dough (this blog brought to you by Trader Joes! Just kidding, no one would pay for this)
1 package of mexican mix cheese
1 order of McDonalds french fries
First step: Make the guacamole and salsa. This went pretty easily, as I'm a certified guacamole ninja, as seen here.
Second step: BBQ the carne asada. I relied on my stalwart companion Ashok to complete this difficult task.
Third step: Lay out the pizza dough. Dave Drake's pizza expertise proved invaluable here, as he laid out the stone, peel, and corn meal and proceeded to knead the dough into the proper configuration. We then applied the guacamole, then the salsa, and then layers of carne asada, fries and cheese, in that order.
Fourth step: Pop in the oven! It took a while to cook, because it's a pretty topping-heavy pizza, and most of the ingredients have a lot of water in them. Still, after a while, it was done, and ready for devouring.
And here's a close-up.
It was actually really good overall, as evidenced by my roommate, who fully devoured about a third of it in short order. However, I'll say this: the cost is somewhat prohibitive. I spent about $50 on this pizza all told, which is really not worth it in the long run. It was a fun experiment, and might be good to try again, as I definitely bought more ingredients than I used, but probably not a staple meal, as it were.
Credit for the pictures goes to Florence Lee, who only needed to be poked about three or four times to send them. Just kidding, thanks Flo!
So I decided to do it at my friend TJ's bar-completion party. I rounded up all the ingredients and proceeded to Dave and Katherine's house, the site of said party, to start prep.
Ingredients:
4 avocados
2 limes
4 greenhouse tomatoes
1 onion
1 jalapeno
1 Trader Joes package of carne asada
1 Trader Joes package of pizza dough (this blog brought to you by Trader Joes! Just kidding, no one would pay for this)
1 package of mexican mix cheese
1 order of McDonalds french fries
First step: Make the guacamole and salsa. This went pretty easily, as I'm a certified guacamole ninja, as seen here.
Second step: BBQ the carne asada. I relied on my stalwart companion Ashok to complete this difficult task.
Third step: Lay out the pizza dough. Dave Drake's pizza expertise proved invaluable here, as he laid out the stone, peel, and corn meal and proceeded to knead the dough into the proper configuration. We then applied the guacamole, then the salsa, and then layers of carne asada, fries and cheese, in that order.
Fourth step: Pop in the oven! It took a while to cook, because it's a pretty topping-heavy pizza, and most of the ingredients have a lot of water in them. Still, after a while, it was done, and ready for devouring.
And here's a close-up.
It was actually really good overall, as evidenced by my roommate, who fully devoured about a third of it in short order. However, I'll say this: the cost is somewhat prohibitive. I spent about $50 on this pizza all told, which is really not worth it in the long run. It was a fun experiment, and might be good to try again, as I definitely bought more ingredients than I used, but probably not a staple meal, as it were.
Credit for the pictures goes to Florence Lee, who only needed to be poked about three or four times to send them. Just kidding, thanks Flo!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Comic-Con 2011
Well, it's been a while, I should probably report in.
Comic-Con this year was a blast, as usual! The highlight for me was, as ever, walking the convention floor. The cosplayers were out in fine form this year, but my personal favorite was a mash-up of Darth Vader and Super Mario. It's a complete non sequitur, but that's why it's so amazing.
I also came up with a terrible game to play on the convention floor, which I called 'makeup or skin condition'. I make no excuse for how terrible that is, except I actually had back to back moments of genuine confusion, where I realized that one person actually had fake blood on their face, and not rosacea, followed immediately by making the converse realization about another person. Again, I'm sorry I'm occasionally the worst person. It happens.
My favorite part, however, wasn't strictly a Comic Con event, it was rather Con-adjacent. It was the ever-hilarious, nerdy and moving W00tstock, as put on by Paul and Storm, Wil Wheaton and Adam Savage. The guy who rather stole the show for me was Patrick Rothfuss, the author of two of my favorite fantasy novels of the past couple years. In the video below, he reads an old advice column he wrote for his college newspaper.
So imagine if the whole show was that funny. For four hours. That's W00tstock, people.
Another Con-adjacent show that blew my mind was the recording of the Nerdist Podcast Live, with the normal Nerdist crew plus Wil Wheaton, and then the guests of honor Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, known for their roles on a little TV show known as Dr. Who. The part where my brain exploded was when Wil and Matt started discussing how it was to pilot the Enterprise and the TARDIS. NERDGASM. You can find the whole thing here! Sadly, I did not receive a TARDIS burrito from Matt and Karen after the show. Still, well worth it.
Something that's always been a big part of the Con for me is the swag. I could probably get most of the same stuff online, piecemeal, but this lets me do it all in one go. Plus, it lets me meet a bunch of artists and writers whose work I admire greatly. This year was a pretty minimal haul, but I'm pretty stoked about it.
True to form, I bought a lot of comics! Clockwise from top left, I bought the Questionable Content book (the last one he had!), Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi (whose work I've always loved in the Flight collections), Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, the latest Penny Arcade collection, Orc Stain by James Stokoe (probably the weirdest comic I've read in ages, but it's a hoot), and the second Astonishing X-Men collection (signed! But since the signature is illegible, I don't know who by). Okay, I'm done abusing parenthetical statements, rest easy. The print is the cover of the Japanese edition of the first Scott Pilgrim book, the shirt on the left is a Dr. Who joke on the NASA meatball logo, the middle one is a Game of Thrones bit of swag I got in the redemption room, and the tanuki plumber shirt on the right is from Sam and Fuzzy via Topatoco. Come to think of it, that's actually a lot of swag. So it was a good year!
Finally, the thing that really made my Con this year were my friends. Or rather, the fact that I have friends, and rather more than I thought. Hanging out with Dave and Katherine and Ashok one day, then Raymond the next, then Peter, Hillary, Ruth and Kiana the day after that, and then my dear old friend Thomas who rolled down from LA, I was reminded of the fact that this is not an event to do alone, as I've previously thought. Con is an event that is always enhanced by the company of the people you attend it with, and I'm grateful that I had so many people to hang out with. Oh, and dressing up as Sherlock Holmes was awesome too. Pics to follow.
Anyhoo, this is my Sunday crew as we were rolling out on the trolley. Can't wait for next year!
Comic-Con this year was a blast, as usual! The highlight for me was, as ever, walking the convention floor. The cosplayers were out in fine form this year, but my personal favorite was a mash-up of Darth Vader and Super Mario. It's a complete non sequitur, but that's why it's so amazing.
I also came up with a terrible game to play on the convention floor, which I called 'makeup or skin condition'. I make no excuse for how terrible that is, except I actually had back to back moments of genuine confusion, where I realized that one person actually had fake blood on their face, and not rosacea, followed immediately by making the converse realization about another person. Again, I'm sorry I'm occasionally the worst person. It happens.
My favorite part, however, wasn't strictly a Comic Con event, it was rather Con-adjacent. It was the ever-hilarious, nerdy and moving W00tstock, as put on by Paul and Storm, Wil Wheaton and Adam Savage. The guy who rather stole the show for me was Patrick Rothfuss, the author of two of my favorite fantasy novels of the past couple years. In the video below, he reads an old advice column he wrote for his college newspaper.
So imagine if the whole show was that funny. For four hours. That's W00tstock, people.
Another Con-adjacent show that blew my mind was the recording of the Nerdist Podcast Live, with the normal Nerdist crew plus Wil Wheaton, and then the guests of honor Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, known for their roles on a little TV show known as Dr. Who. The part where my brain exploded was when Wil and Matt started discussing how it was to pilot the Enterprise and the TARDIS. NERDGASM. You can find the whole thing here! Sadly, I did not receive a TARDIS burrito from Matt and Karen after the show. Still, well worth it.
Something that's always been a big part of the Con for me is the swag. I could probably get most of the same stuff online, piecemeal, but this lets me do it all in one go. Plus, it lets me meet a bunch of artists and writers whose work I admire greatly. This year was a pretty minimal haul, but I'm pretty stoked about it.
True to form, I bought a lot of comics! Clockwise from top left, I bought the Questionable Content book (the last one he had!), Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi (whose work I've always loved in the Flight collections), Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, the latest Penny Arcade collection, Orc Stain by James Stokoe (probably the weirdest comic I've read in ages, but it's a hoot), and the second Astonishing X-Men collection (signed! But since the signature is illegible, I don't know who by). Okay, I'm done abusing parenthetical statements, rest easy. The print is the cover of the Japanese edition of the first Scott Pilgrim book, the shirt on the left is a Dr. Who joke on the NASA meatball logo, the middle one is a Game of Thrones bit of swag I got in the redemption room, and the tanuki plumber shirt on the right is from Sam and Fuzzy via Topatoco. Come to think of it, that's actually a lot of swag. So it was a good year!
Finally, the thing that really made my Con this year were my friends. Or rather, the fact that I have friends, and rather more than I thought. Hanging out with Dave and Katherine and Ashok one day, then Raymond the next, then Peter, Hillary, Ruth and Kiana the day after that, and then my dear old friend Thomas who rolled down from LA, I was reminded of the fact that this is not an event to do alone, as I've previously thought. Con is an event that is always enhanced by the company of the people you attend it with, and I'm grateful that I had so many people to hang out with. Oh, and dressing up as Sherlock Holmes was awesome too. Pics to follow.
Anyhoo, this is my Sunday crew as we were rolling out on the trolley. Can't wait for next year!
Friday, July 8, 2011
A video or two
Hello! I've been terrible about posting lately, or should as I say, as usual. So here's a video of me fencing!
And here's a video I made during a hike back in Santa Fe!
And here's a video I made during a hike back in Santa Fe!
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