Strawberry

The last day of November and Nicholas is sleeping as I look outside through the sliding glass doors of our apartment. There is snow on the ground for the first time this season. There is still a month left to go in 2008 and already I find myself reflecting on all of the change that I've seen this year. Nicholas was born. I left my job of over four years and even made a slight shift in profession. We left Chicago, our home of seven years, for Omaha of all places. We also left our house for a temporary two bedroom apartment where I now sit on the floor. There was an election of some import. The economy staggered into problem territory like we haven't seen in 80 years.

Some of these changes are good. Some maybe not so much. But I mention none of them in order to attach labels. I'm just sitting here amazed that so much can change in a year. We expected Nicholas. The rest of it has been a surprise unfolding at every turn.

Looking at the snow now is like looking at a clean slate. Things are quiet and I feel a strange kind of peace that I haven't felt in a long time. It's taken me three paragraphs to figure out that the feeling is one of being in this moment and no other, being reflective but not in a critical way, again without assigning those labels. I'm also not planning for the future, something that tends to keep me up nights. I'm only dreaming of what it may bring, what other surprises could possibly be in store.

These moments are rare, but it's during these short epiphanies that I best understand the zen story of the tigers and the strawberry, which apparently, according to the link, had a very different ending depending on who told it and when.

This Thing Rules!

The Korg DS-10 I ordered finally arrived last week. I've been playing with it intermittently when I get time and I'll say it again: if you have any interest in real music creation and not just playback of pre-made samples as in Jam Sessions, this is the real deal. It's set up with step sequencers and a tracker that can store up to 16 patterns made by you. The reason I like this more than Jam Sessions is the sound synthesis. If I wanted to play a guitar, I'd just play a guitar. But not everybody has access to vintage analog synthesis. There's enough control with the DS-10 that you won't run out of ideas for new sounds any time soon.

I have one song almost finished and another is in the works although I'm not sure I like it. Here's a video to demonstrate some of the flexibility I'm talking about. This guy gets some things wrong. For instance, there's no sine wave available in the either of the synths. There's triangle, sawtooth, pulse, and noise, but no sine. OK, I'm nerding out now. Here's the vid for beginners:

Homaha

Chris, Curtis, Jon, and Mike, four of my ex-cohorts in audio crimes against nature at my old job, came out for a visit this weekend. It was the most fun I've had since I can't remember when. They stayed downtown in the Old Market area and I met up with them Friday night after work. Curt cooked me up a Manhattan while we caught up on the past few months and then it was out on the town. Well, almost. Before going out we actually hit up the hotel's complimentary welcome package, which included free beer. Who passes up free beer?

Then we hit the town, had some dinner at M's Pub, and then headed over to The Dubliner, and Irish pub with some live music. The only strange thing that none of us were really used to was that everything closed up at one. So once we closed the bars, we headed back to the hotel and had a few more brews and some pizza until everyone crashed for the night.

The next day, I gave them a tour of my audio facilities and some of the school. Then, we met up with Amy for some dinner at Spaghetti Works. After dinner, we did some bar hopping, but things didn't really pick up at the first couple places we went to so we ended up right back at the Dubliner. It seemed like one of the more happening places to go. The crowd on Saturday was noticeable younger, though. Not a huge deal, but some young tempers were easily flared.

All in all, a great weekend. I'm totally flattered that they would drive all this way to party for two nights. It was a blast and I won't soon forget it.

Lagaard to Layton

So Etrian Odyssey didn't last long. I don't mind grinding for the sake of grinding, but this game had it in spades. Not only that but the difficulty spikes of the bosses were infuriatingly steep. Imagine you just spent the last 45 minutes grinding for special power points for your entire party only to be wiped out in the first round. "No more," I said. "I'm finished with this."

And so it was that my Odyssey came to an End. But, it was soon replaced by a host of brain teasers in Professor Layton and the Curious Village, a worthy game filled with puzzles mostly found in the always disappointingly titled "Games Magazine". It was disappointing to me, anyway.

Layton is fun but I was informed only yesterday that my DS-10 shipped. I can't wait. LFOs, here I come!

November 4, 2008