Concrete Lunch

I was going to say “amazing”, but I’m tired of hearing people say everything is “ameeeeeezing”, so I didn’t.

Anyway, my friend Dale and I took a few pictures while out skating yesterday. I could have taken these on the iPad too, but I didn’t. I don’t like to carry it around skating. I prefer my beat-up old point-n-shoot.

Anyway, I put a few images on the iPad to play with, using only the built-in editing functions already available on the device. I’m certainly no artist or photographer, but it is very cool what you can do creatively with an iPad. Audio, video, images. You can really do a lot.

Anyway, here are two originals and the cropped/edited/tweeked images I created with them. Lots of fun.

I got some new stuff today. My first Chromebook, a Samsung, lasted over 2 years before it started wearing out. It still works, but the screen has a lot of static. I’ve been very rough on it, and used it a lot. It cost $250, and I think it was money well-spent.

So today I bought a new Lenovo Chromebook for $149. If it last as long, that will be only about $75 per year. I’m writing on it now. It seems like the trackpad/keyboard area are maybe a bit sturdier than the Samsung Chromebook. We’ll see how it does.

Like the previous machine, this is the 11″ size, so it is light and easy to carry in a backpack, which makes it ideal for travel, writing while I’m at lunch, etc. The trackpad and keyboard still are not super nice – very much worse than a Macbook, but what do you expect for only $149?

One really cool thing about a Chromebook is that since it all runs via Google’s Chrome OS and browser, when you get a new machine and log in, all your apps magically appear. No need to search out and add all your apps back in. They are just there. Very smooth transition.

I also picked up this small Altec bluetooth speaker. It’s nice and small, charges via USB connection, and comes with a standard audio connector cable too, so you don’t have to use energy with Bluetooth. Its case is rubberized and waterproof, so it is rugged enough for travel. For its size it sounds pretty good. Not like my Bose SoundLink, but alright. My goal for all this is light weight and portability.

I went to see the Hunger last night, at the local Alamo Drafthouse. It’s great to have a theater in neighborhood that has the flexibility to show movies like this at appropriate times (death of David Bowie) and to be able to show classics, cult movies, etc.

I had never seen this film before. Honestly, I enjoyed it. I liked the opening scence with Bauhaus playing Bela Lugosi’s Dead. I liked the stylized cinematography, even though it could be argued it looked like a long commerical. I liked David Bowie. I liked it that the lead women in the film looked like adult women, and not girls.

I don’t think movies like this are made anymore. They way it looks, the pacing, the look of the actors — nothing like this could be done today. It’s slow, while today’s movies are all fast.

Anyway, I don’t have a lot to say except that I dug it.

I want to start going to more special showings at the Alamo.

This week’s LA Weekly column by Henry Rollins contains my favorite new word, “monsterize”.

We pay specialists to slice away our ugly parts or shove orbs inside of us, so we can look more attractive to others who would shun us if we didn’t monsterize ourselves.

Then the last sentence is classic, and true.

That is all.

First post of the new year.

I spent New Years Eve at home, drinking hot chocolate, watching movies with our cats. My wife was on the road, so the cat’s and I were just three dudes chilling. I did some writing while I watched TV.

On New Years Day I spent some time on reading, then my friend Dale came over and we went street skating. We hit this new little spot – one of those super crappy spots you come to love – and had a great time. It’s a rough little alley, that slopes upward in kind of a pseudo-bank, to a rough and shitty step. We sessioned it for a couple of hours. Fun.

Saturday I wore myself out. Aikido all morning, then skating that night. Sunday night my wife and I went to the new Star Wars movie. It was the second viewing for me, and I decided it was better the second time.

Tomorrow is the start of 2016.

I don’t really like to do New Years Resolutions, because I always change my mind. But I do think I need a bit more focus in 2016. My mind is on too many things. No way I can test for Shodan in Aikido this year, so I need to just go to class and practice, and let the test come when my teacher says it should.

My focus needs to be on (other than family stuff) the following things:

1)Freestyle Skateboarding
2)the Freestyle Podcast
3)Reading more
4)Writing

If I focus on those things, I can actually improve each one.