Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Merlin Mann, in Three things about Marco Arment (emphasis mine):

We all need to figure out what the fuck it is that we can do to make this gig better for everybody. Yes, starting with ourselves and the ones closest to us. But, I’m more convinced than ever that the path to feeling whole and happy means bucking up, dropping the “poor me” act, and stopping everything you need to until you figure out the next thing you can do that would make you feel alive and useful — driven by something other than the need to rationalize why you aren’t where you want to be.

Doesn’t have to be a cool computer program or a rocket to the moon. But, it’s worth remembering that we all have at least a little potential to do something bigger and more useful than pissing ourselves about what we don’t have or what we can’t do.

And part of Marco’s response:

There’s only so much time in the day, and only so many days in our lives. There’s enough great work out there that you don’t need to waste any time with anything that isn’t great…

Life’s too short to drink bad coffee or read bad blogs.

Make the effort to care.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

I was a fan of Zend Studio 5.5, but for whatever reason, Zend Studio 7, with all its Eclipse-iness, just doesn’t do it for me. I don’t do much coding these days, so I’ve stuck with my beloved TextMate, even though I missed the full suite of functionality – especially debugging.

But now that I’ve finally gotten around to installing Xdebug and MacGDBp (following instructions on TechnoSophos) I may uninstall Zend altogether. It’s lighter, it’s quick, and it will be plenty for the little bit of debugging that I need to do.

The only complaint I have thus far is that I can’t seem to get the xdebug.file_link_format option to work:

xdebug.file_link_format = "txmt://open?url=file://%f&line=%l"

That txmt:// link should be included in stack traces in the browser, so that clicking on the name of the offending file will open it in TextMate to the right line, but it’s not using the specified format. The Xdebug documentation claims that it wasn’t introduced until Xdebug 2.1…but the latest version is only 2.0.5. It’s a minor thing, but it would be nice.

So I’m content. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do. And don’t bother wasting your time to tell me I should be using vim – I loves me some TextMate.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

From The Foamy Rules for Rabid Tools:

Think of it like this. What if I told you that each time you wanted to save a file, you had to stand up, climb up on your chair, and jump up and down, yelling, “I would like to save my stuff now!” The first time you had to do it, it’d be kind’a fun, but after that it’d drive you bat shit crazy. It’s a similar feeling each time I reach for my mouse. I feel I’m engaging in an unnecessary task, which is always going to waste my time, because with a mouse sometimes you miss and missing is a tremendous waste of time.

It’s not a post about keyboards or mouses, but I liked the quote.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

For someone that has terrible handwriting and spends most of his time on a computer, I sure do have a complicated relationship with notebooks.

Like most geeks, I’ve liked Moleskine notebooks since I first met one. They feel nice. They’re a good size. The paper is deeply satisfying to write on. Something about writing in one makes you feel like you’ve got something important to write – or should, anyway.

And that was a problem. That nice little elastic band and the quality of the notebook actually caused me to not use them for a long time, even though I had one in my messenger bag all the time. It’s stupid, I know, but subconsciously, I was convinced that such a nice notebook deserved to be filled with something better than random lists, fragmented notes, and little sketches, all of it in poor handwriting. It caused just enough resistance that I wouldn’t use it – there was that tiny subconscious barrier, from pulling the notebook out of my bag, pulling off the band, and making my notes look good enough for the notebook, and that was just enough. It was stupid, but maybe it wasn’t all me: I mean hell, every one comes with a little insert that describes how they’ve been used by the likes of Picasso, Van Gogh, and Hemingway. How can you not feel a little pressured to live up to the notebook?

A few months ago, I met Field Notes. These pocket-sized notebooks are sturdy, straightforward, and they come from a company that doesn’t take themselves so seriously. They were exactly what I needed.

I started off my Field Notes by putting the date at the top of every page, because it’s nice to know when I wrote something when I go back to look at it again. But as it turns out, that was barrier enough. If I force myself to use even a simple convention like the date at the top of the page, I often won’t bother – even forcing that tiny ‘rule’ on my own notebook was enough to keep me from using it (have I mentioned I’m a little OCD?)

Then I settled on a simple enough convention that I would do quickly when necessary, simple enough that it wouldn’t cause even a split-second hesitation when I reach for my notebook. If a page has any to-do items on it, I put an empty checkbox in the upper corner. If it’s some kind of reference material – notes from our dog’s vet appointment, a list of restaurants we want to check out, decisions made at some meeting at work – I write REF at the top corner. This way, I can flip through and see what pages I need to revisit. I give myself just enough information that it’s negligible include it, but all I really need when I’m looking for something later on.

This worked nicely for a couple weeks, but I soon found that I had more to write than could comfortably fit on a page or two in the Field Notes. And before I knew it, I was back in Moleskines. If I keep it on me all day, and have it at the ready, I will actually take notes during meetings and phone calls – and really, that was what I needed all along. I had to change my perception of it from being a notebook for capital-w Writing, to being a regular old notebook for meeting notes, and now I have it on me all the time at the office. I’ve also started numbering the pages and keeping a simple index at the back of the book, so I can easily locate notes on a particular RFC I was reviewing or a conference call I took part in (a trick I learned from Tim Ferris).

This week, I stopped carrying my Field Notes altogether. Some part of me still feels like I should have a little notebook with me all the time, just in case, but the reality is that I was never using it, so why bother? Notebooks have been one of the more persistent expressions of my OCD, so I’m still kind of surprised that in a matter of a few months, I wound up right back where I started – for now.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Science help me, I’ve become one of those Starbucks people.

Venti pumpkin spice soy no-whip latte, please. Keep the dignity, thanks.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Seriously, you guys: I love fall.

I’ve loved it as long as I can remember. The twin October holidays of Halloween and my birthday probably deserve most of the credit for making it seem so delightful when I was a kid. For a long time, it marked the exciting beginning of a new school year, or even a new school. Every year when it starts getting cooler, I still think about my first few weeks of college, and the beginning of every year when everyone would come back to campus after months away.

In more recent years, I’ve come to appreciate the changing season more than anything else. The summers in DC can be brutal, and the chilling air and early sunset is a welcome reprieve. I like walking home from work on a dark, breezy evening, more than I think most people do. Not to mention, Starbucks only has the Pumpkin Spice Latte for a couple of months.

The past couple years, fall has passed me by. I was too busy working to enjoy it two years ago, and I don’t know what happened last year, but it got away from me somehow. It’s made me all the more present and conscious this year; I’m paying more attention as I walk the streets, drinking in as much of the evening chill as I can because I know it won’t last long. In no time at all, we’ll be bundled in jackets and scarves again, slogging through the measly snow that DC gets but the city can’t quickly remove, and once again I’ll be counting the days till the next October.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Ya know what? I think that if our apartment were lower than it is (the 13th floor), I might not need street-level parking.

We have a small balcony – too small to really use, even, since it’s not even big enough for a chair. But, what if we installed some kind of swing arm just below the ceiling, rigged that up to a motor, and attached a bike lift with an electric winch? How cool would it be to stand outside and use a remote to swing the bike out over the side of the balcony and lower it down?

If I ever own an apartment with a balcony lower than, say, the fourth floor, I might try to get away with this.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

If you keep an eye out for them, there’s a crapload of bikes in DC.

Also, the weather tonight is superb. A mostly clear sky, a little bit of a breeze, and just a scent of that crispy chill that settles in around Halloween.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

As much as I love our current apartment, things could always be a little bit better in some way, no matter where you are. I’m calling this Part 1 because I’m sure I’ll think of more, but for now, I’d love me some:

Street-level bike parking

Our building has a bike rack in the parking garage below the building. It’s indoor behind a locked door, so it’s better than outside, but it still didn’t keep Erin’s last bike from being stolen. The real problem is the day-to-day practicality of it – we don’t have a clicker for the garage door, and it’s a pain in the neck to go down to the garage to walk a bike through three sets of doors and an elevator to get outside. Actually, even parking them in our apartment would be better, if we had room for them.

Ahh, someday.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

I set another personal record today – over 21 miles in one trip! This is up from the 14.6 I did yesterday.

• Total Distance: 21.27 mi
• Average Speed: 13.3 mph
• Max Speed: 24.1 mph
• Total Ride Time: 1:35
• Calories Burned: about 1300

I was only going to do two laps around Haines Point today, since I was still sore from yesterday – two laps there and about four hours sitting on the lawn to see Lord of the Rings will do that. But, after two and a half laps, I decided to go for it.

I’m not going to lie: I’m kind of proud of myself. Well, proud and a little suspicious. On Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I managed two laps. Yesterday I did three, and today I did five. It’s both exciting and a little weird that I was able to pick it up that quickly in the span of this week, but then again, I know it’s going to be tough to drag my ass out there a few times a week and keep doing it consistently. I know I’ve still got a ways to go before I can ride to work three times a week – it’s only 10 miles, but mostly uphill – but I’m getting there.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Last night, Erin and I went with Johanna and Solomon (and hundreds of other nerds) to celebrate Solomon’s birthday by seeing a showing of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at the Wolf Trap in HD. Pretty cool on it’s own, but the kicker was the full orchestra and chorus providing a live soundtrack.

It started pouring just as we got through the gates, but that didn’t seem to slow down anyone with lawn seats. I mean, what kind of self-respecting nerds are going to miss a live performance of the score to The Two Towers just because of a little rain? It stopped just in time for the movie to start and a cheer when up from the lawn, and we started pulling out all the picnicky snacks Johanna had secretly made at our place the night before.

The rain was on and off all night, but it didn’t matter. Umbrellas went up when it got harder, but only a handful of people on the lawn gave in and left. The Two Towers is, of course, the awesomest of the trilogy, so it was fun to watch on the big screen again anyway. I kept getting lost in the movie and forgetting about the orchestra; you kind of snap back into it after an action sequence when you realize that all the music is being played live.

In short, it was awesome. We all agreed the rain was unfortunate, but it didn’t matter – it was a wonderful, nerdy Saturday evening.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

I got drizzled on for the last of my three laps around Haines Point this morning, but hey – I’m up to three laps.

• Total Distance: 14.64 mi
• Average Speed: 13.5 mph
• Max Speed: 26.6 mph, cruising along Independence Ave
• Total Ride Time: 1:05
• Calories Burned: about 900

It occurred to me when I got home that I should really be more careful when I’m out riding these days. Not because I’m usually reckless or anything like that, but because I’ll look pretty stupid at my wedding in three weeks if I’m in a cast and stitches.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Did another two laps around Haines Point again tonight – the same ride as Tuesday night, except I didn’t get lost in the middle and came straight home after, so it was shorter.

• Total Distance: 11.88 mi
• Average Speed: 12 mph
• Max Speed: 65.9 mph (might be a fluke with my cyclometer, but I doubt it)
• Total Ride Time: 58 minutes
• Calories Burned: about 600

Not bad. And it may be TMI, but I can pedal a lot longer than I can sit on a bike saddle. I’ve got low-end padded bike shorts, and I’m wondering if it would be worth investing in a better pair to make the ride more comfortable.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

I haven’t been getting as much exercise as I should, and this evening was quite a bit cooler than most we’ve had lately. It was a perfect evening to ride down to Haines Point, a 3.2 mile loop of well-kept, lightly-trafficked pavement that local bikers use to train.

I got passed a lot while I was there by much more fashionable and trim individuals wearing much flashier outfits, but I still managed two laps. Between the ride there, the two laps, and then tooling around the city on my way home, I rode just shy of 14.5 miles tonight – a personal record for a single ride! I know it’s not a lot, but cut me some slack – I’m a fat guy and I’m working my way up.

• Total Distance: 14.43mi
• Average Speed: 12.3 mph
• Max Speed: 23.7 mph
• Total Ride Time: 1:10

My goal is to ride to work three times a week next summer. It’s about 10 miles from home, but mostly uphill. The loop at Haines Point is flat and easy-going, except for the headwinds at the southern end, but it’s still a good place to work on my endurance. In the evening, it’s almost all bikes, so I think it would be worth it to go do laps as often as I can.

And according to the Internet, I burned over 900 calories on that ride. That’s damn near half my daily intake! (more on that part later) I’m not gonna lie: I’m feeling pretty good tonight.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Erin: We should give our next dog a people name, like Vanessa.

Me: How about Truck?

Erin: That’s a Palin name. I said a people name.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Hilarity!

Wait, the conservative opponent of health care reform, fighting (literally) to defeat a plan that would bring coverage to those who lose their jobs, lost his coverage because he got laid off?

…Either way, the new right-wing cause celebre needs to take up a collection to pay for his medical bills because he doesn’t have health insurance. It’s a fascinating sign of the times.

via The Washington Monthly.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

Earlier today, a free public beta of NetNewsWire 3.2 was released. This version syncs only with Google Reader, instead of NewsGator. I love Google Reader, but I’ve always been a fan of the interface on NetNewsWire, so this is huge.

On top of that, NetNewsWire now includes Instapaper integration. Instapaper is a service that allows you to save the content of a web page with a “Read Later” bookmarklet, so you can (dur) read it later. Moderately handy on it’s own – it replaced my delicious “toRead” tag – but fantastically useful when paired with the iPhone app, which can download the text of the articles for offline viewing. Any long-ish articles that I come across go into Instapaper to be read on the train ride to work on my phone.

In NetNewsWire, just hit Ctrl+P to save the article to Instapaper. The first time you do it, you’ll be prompted for your account info, and each time after that it’s just a quick save. This replaces three steps for me: open the article in a new tab, hit “Read Later”, close tab.

One small beta release just made my day.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

I haven’t got much work-work done this weekend, except for a three-hour burst around midnight last night.

So far today, I’ve been focusing on little things: cleaning the apartment, scanning and shredding documents, doing laundry. Some days, I need this a lot more than I need to get the big stuff done, for my own sanity. I’ve been carrying about 20 items over from one daily todo list to the next, and it often feels like I’m not getting anything accomplished. On days like this, I need to spend a couple hours just doing the little stuff, to make some progress and knock some stuff off the list and get me started.

And for that reason, it’s been a pretty satisfying day already.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

From Cracked.com: 10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (And Must) Agree On:

The war that’s coming between the fundamentalist Christians and the hard-core Atheists probably won't be the most violent of the holy wars. But it has the potential to be the most annoying. Well, I’m going to try to stop it.

…So how about this: I’m going to throw out a few of these statements - things I think we have to agree on if we want to avoid disaster - and you can read until you see something you disagree with. We’ll see how long we can make it last.

Originally published at Brock Boland. Please leave any comments there.

This one’s about four years old, but new to me thanks to kottke. Some of this stuff really irks me in my peers. My favorite:

19. Take care of yourself. If you are sick, visit a doctor. If you are sad, visit a shrink or talk to a friend. If you are unhappy in love, break up. If you are fed up with how you look, buy a new shirt or stop eating cheese. If you have a problem, try to fix it. Many problems are knotty and need a lot of talking through, or time to resolve, but after a few months of all complaining and no fixing, those around you will begin to wonder if you don't enjoy the problems for the attention they bring you. Venting is fine; inertia coupled with pouting is not. Bored? Read a magazine. Mad at someone? Say so — to them. Change is hard; that's too bad. Effort counts. Make one. Your mommy's shift is over.

25 And Over « Tomato Nation