Day 102 - Portland, OR - Restorative Yoga

This morning I had the opportunity to teach a restorative yoga class, and I thought I would share what I taught.  It was an appropriate time considering my body is still recovering from my attempted climb of Middle Sister.  Restorative yoga is a great thing to do at home; a yoga studio has a lot of advantages, but some of these you can replicate at home if you work at it.  Make sure to keep distractions away, set the temperature to something you find comfortable, and make sure to have plenty of props handy.  Most of these poses could be done quickly, but that's (of course) not the point; the goal is to let them soak in.  Our muscles have a mechanism for autonomic inhibition; in plain English, that means that when we put them in the right places and leave them alone for a while, they will do the right thing on their own.  So, without further ado, in a 50 minute class, here's what we did:

Start with a brief meditation, cross-legged, to set the scene
Supta Badda Konasana - seated pose with feet together, lying on bolsters
Side lying twist - hip next to the bolster, turn the upper body and lay across the bolster
     Once each side
Viparita Karani - legs up the wall
Supported bridge
Supine - lying face down with the face supported in a cradle, like on a massage table
Savasana

As you can see, this is not a lot to "accomplish", but again, that's kind of the point.  I call this a "spinal 360" because you get to most of the major spinal positions.

Day 100 - Middle Sister, OR

Today, I made an attempt on Middle Sister, in the Three Sisters Wilderness.  It was a gorgeous, warm day and the climbing was great, but I had to turn around 800 vertical feet from the summit, but it was still an awesome, and exhausting day.  I was cramping because of the postholing in the soft snow, and I also was worried about avalanches.  Another thing that concerned me was there was a team of three experienced climbers on the mountain and they advised me that snow was too soft and they were, themselves, turning around and skiing down.  Right after I turned around there was actually a small rock fall right behind me - never a good omen.*  But it was a really great day.  (Another weird omen was passing their bags all in a pile a few minutes later.  I have to assume they left them behind to ski down and then climb back up but it was just eerie seeing them sitting there without their owners).

I think any day where you learn something new is a good day.  And today, I learned how to fail to climb a mountain.  Now, you may scoff, but I think that learning to fail to do things is a really valuable skill.  Especially when those things are dangerous, and even more so when you're the kind of person - like me - that doesn't like to fail or quit things.  Some things, of course, need to be quit, and gracefully, and intelligently.  And today, at 1:30 PM, at 9,275 feet above Sea Level on the slopes of Middle Sister, I passed that particular test.

It's worth noting that I had not yet actually gone out to climb a mountain and failed to do so.  I was 4 for 4 so far.  This isn't because I'm really good at mountain climbing; at best it's because I'm a bit lucky, surrounded by talented people, and incredibly stubborn.  When I climbed Mt. Thielsen, I made several naive mistakes that, had the situation been different, could've gotten me hurt, and I got away with all of them.  Which is a fun story, but dumb.

When I was at COCC, my professor was also the professor for the Psychology of Risk class, which I'm still hoping to take some day, and I learned a lot of interesting things from him.  In Rescue training, like for WAFA, you learn that a lot of really terrible situations arise because of compounding mistakes; the "rule of 3", for example, which says that 3 really minor mistakes that all end up layered back-to-back can easily be enough to get somebody seriously
hurt.  Like, say, you're leaving the house to get in your car and drive, but you forget your glasses; but you're running late to meet friends, so you decide you'll just drive anyway.  Then, at dinner with your friends, you have one more drink than you really intended to.  You also stay an hour too late, which means it's dark by the time you leave and you have bad night vision when you don't have your glasses on.  Wham; car accident.  None of those three
things might have been enough to make a mess, but put together they certainly could be.

The point is that learning to cut your losses instead of compounding mistakes is important.  When I was sitting up on that mountain, at 1:30, I had one major problem and a couple of minor ones.  The major problem was this: I'd read the weather reports, but because I'm not experienced enough, and because I'm not intimately familiar with the area around the Sisters I didn't know how to interpret them.  Most importantly, I missed the danger of postholing.
Postholing is a phenomenon where warm weather creates slushy snow, sometimes with a layer of ice on top.  When you step on that snow, you go deep into a hole.  4 times today one of my legs went in all the way up to my waist, and going up to my thigh was a regular occurrence.  The answer to this problem is either pick a different time or, sometimes, to bring snowshoes.  But I didn't bring snowshoes; they're big and unwieldy and I didn't think I'd need them.
So I postholed**.  Postholing can be dangerous in and of itself, but the real consequence is that it's exhausting; you have to keep pulling yourself out of holes and every step is extra work.  But I'm stubborn, so I plowed on.  But by the time I got to 9,275 feet, my body was done.  Specifically, I was getting bad cramps in my hamstrings and adductors.  Now, if you wait, the cramps pass, but they come right back, and always at the worst time.  Plus, I was slow,
and while I had intended to hit the summit by 1:00, it was 1:30 and I was still 800 vertical feet away.

Another thing you read a lot about is "summit fever".  Otherwise intelligent people do dumb things when the summit looks so close, and you've invested so much time and energy.  This doesn't just happen in mountaineering, of course; most people hate "sunk costs" and all of us have thrown good money after bad. When things look like they're just around the corner we lose our ability to think clearly.  In mountaineering, summit fever can kill.  And I wanted to
touch that peak today.  But at the end of the day, I limped into my car completely spent and exhausted and cramping.  If I had tried for that extra 800 feet, I either could have had an accident right there, or - possibly worse - I could have just become over-exhausted on the way down.  Two years ago, an experienced mountaineer died on Middle Sister for what's largely thought to be that reason.

I did some things well and others poorly today.  I've got to get a handle on the frostbite problem in my feet.  I have poor blood flow to the extremities, and my feet just get really cold.  Even though it was quite warm on the mountain, snow got in my boots and my feet took a beating.  I had to MacGyver two pairs of wet wool socks with a black plastic bag in-between, which worked, but was a little silly.  One thing I am doing a much better job on is rationing
food and water; I had plenty of both which was good.  And I practiced a little bit of self-arrest lower down on the mountain; I'm getting much better at that.  I also give myself a gold star for navigation; I'm getting the hang of it.

*If you've never heard the sound of layers of snow compacting on top of each other next to you, it's distinctly disconcerting.

**One of the things that annoys me about myself is that one of my instructors actually warned me about postholing and I totally ignored her.  My bad.

Three Sisters is badly burned in many places. 

Gorgeous approach  

A beautiful day

Cold feet need dry socks!! 

Bags without owners creep me out

Day 99 - Portland, OR - Exercising Indoors vs Outdoors

CNN posted an interesting article the other day, which I'll link below.  They basically tested running and cycling indoors vs outdoors, to see which was "better", where better is defined as burning more calories, getting injured less, etc.  The results were interesting because they line up with my intuition.  I've always disliked running on treadmills; it's boring, and I feel like I get a lot more sore.  From yoga I know the dangers of repetitive motions; every step on a treadmill is the same, and it "burns out" certain muscle groups.  Conversely, I've always enjoyed riding outdoors but I feel like I don't get very good exercise that way.  Indoors, in a spin class for example, I sweat like a pig, but outdoors I often can't keep a consistent cadence because of real-world things like stop lights.  Of course, riding outdoors is amazing and fun and I do it because it's very rewarding, but in terms of sheer exercise, I feel like I need to go at least 50% harder outdoors, which is exactly what this article found.  It's a really interesting article, and I highly recommend reading it if you're interested in the topic.  One concrete takeaway for me is that I don't commute by bicycle for exercise as much as I used to.  I feel like it's a better use of my time to drive, and then hit up a spin class.  Of course there's other excellent reasons to ride a bike, like reducing pollution.  But for places far away, it's just a better use of my time to drive.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/07/health/treadmills-bikes-indoors-versus-outdoors/index.html

Day 98 - Portland, OR - An App in a Day

It's fair to say that, in anticipation of heading out of town soon, I'm getting a little bit stir crazy.  But before I lose my mind, I decided to try an experiment; I wanted to see if I could make a full-featured iOS app in one solid day of work.  And, long story short, mission accomplished.  I woke up early this morning and got crackin', and after about 9 hours of solid work, I finally hit submit on the App Store.  All I started with this morning was the idea for the app, which is a (in my humble opinion) cool little word puzzle challenge.  Hopefully they'll approve it soon (it sometimes takes as much as 2 weeks though), and when they do, I'll post it here and urge you guys to try it out.  I think it's going to need a little bit of play balancing to tweak the difficulty and such, but it turned out really good, and it's pretty awesome from a visual and design standpoint, so I'm pleased.  It includes sounds, some animations, an icon, splash screens, Game Center integration to track high scores, all the bells and whistles.  It's a simple app, to be sure: no networking, no multiplayer, no save games.  It's an experiment to see if I can make something fun in a single day, though, and the answer is clearly "yes"!

I don't think I'm going to make this a common thing, but I am interested in seeing if I could pull this off once every couple of months or so, maybe 4 or 5 times a year, just taking a day and powering through a single app.

Day 97 - Scappoose, OR - 40.3 miles

Today I did a training ride.  40 miles may seem like a lot but it was really flat.  The ride was mostly just to test out some of my equipment and my setup.  I'm taking a lot of the same things I took 2 years ago, but some of them were stolen in the meantime and needed to be replaced, and a few things will be different than last time.  So today I put it all together, dug out my eTrex 10, and recorded my GPS track, like I will over the summer.  I can report, by the way, that there is really not much interesting about Scappoose, OR except that it is exactly 20 miles from Portland and a nice place to turn around.  (Sorry, Scappoosians).  It was also a chance to get some sun and work on a bit of a base tan - with 2 months in the heat of the Midwestern sun, I better get ready!  The ride went really well, no complications to report - which is how I like it!

Day 96 - Portland, OR - NY Times Crossword App

Another app that I want to highlight; it's one that's free, and I use every day, and it represents one of the things that I think can be great about apps.  It's the NY Times' crossword puzzle app.  Now, their app gives you access to their full crosswords if you pay for that, but what I love using it for - which is completely free - is their "mini" crossword puzzle of the day.  I often solve it in under a minute, but it's a great way to kickstart my brain in the morning.  It's a little miniature dose of fun, like one of those Andes' mints they put on your pillow at a hotel.  A little miniature and predictable delight.  Check it out; it's available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, just search for the NY Times Crossword.  And, of course, if you're a crossword person you might even be interested in the full crossword. 

Day 93 - Portland, OR - Lifting Chart

One of the things that I am trying to reintegrate into my workout routine is some light-duty weightlifting.  When I was at COCC (community college), one of the classes I took was a weightlifting class.  I didn't like the instructor, but I liked the technique of keeping a weightlifting "chart" of sorts.  That's basic stuff to people who lift, but for me, who's always kind of hated lifting, it was a game-changer just to keep track of how I was progressing.  I've fallen of the wagon, though, but by posting here, I'm committing to getting back on track.  It's not rocket science: you just list down the left side of a piece of paper the exercises you'll do each time, and then under the column for each day you write down what you did.  Here's what I'm currently doing for my routine:

Push-Ups
Bicep Curls
Seated Leg Curl
Leg Press
Chest Press
Pec Fly
Chin Up
Rear Deltoid
Sit Ups
Plank

I don't necessarily do them in that order; it depends on which pieces of equipment are free and how I feel.  I do try to do all of them each time.  Some people do "leg day", "arm day", etc., but I'm not enough of a weightlifter to need that (at least not yet).  This is more of a complement to my cardio, which is my focus.  When I'm focused, I can get this done in 15-20 minutes, but usually it's closer to half an hour by the time I end up waiting for machines, drinking water, changing, and generally wasting time.  Each of them I do 3 times for 10 reps, except for Push-Ups and SitUps where I try to do 10% more than the previous time or until exhaustion (same with Plank, I guess, but for time instead of reps).  And I can't do anywhere near 30 chin ups so I use a machine that provides an assist.

Day 92 - Portland, OR - Escape Room

For my birthday, I invited a couple of friends to do an Escape Room with me.  I'd never done one, but I've always been interested in puzzles, scavenger hunts, teambuilding, all that kind of thing, so I knew it would be right in my wheel house.  And I was right!  We did the "Arcade" themed one from Portland Escape Rooms, and it was really fun!  Huge thanks to Tommy, Kelli and Vivien for helping me almost escape.  We were on the very last puzzle when time ran out; I think we were 3 or 4 minutes from getting out alive.  I loved the experience and would love to do it again; hell, I'd love to run one of my own!  The "Escape the Room" phenomenon is one of the best modern trends around and I hope it continues.  More pictures and information to follow; they took a group shot of us and hopefully it will be up soon and I'll share it when it is!

Day 91 - Portland, OR - Windows Phone 10

Yesterday I did something a bit cray cray; I bought a Windows Phone.  Now, before you go thinking I've lost my mind, I bought it just to write code on.  I want to broaden my skills, so to speak.  But I should mention a few things about this phone: first of all, it's a really nice phone.  It has a solid feel to it, and it's quite peppy, and very usable.  I haven't used the phone part, admittedly, (because I didn't want to activate it) but then, who uses a phone as a phone these days anyway?  The hardware is slick.  It's obvious that it's the descendant of the Nokia machine; say what you will but they build quality phones.  User replacable battery, for example.

Of course they don't call it Windows Phone 10.  It's just Windows 10.  Which is cool, because I think Microsoft is genuinely onto something here.  The major reason I haven't invested in an iPad Pro is because it doesn't run OS X.  It runs iOS, which is cool and all, but doesn't run the stuff I want to run, most notably XCode.  Merging all the Windows platforms - what they call UWP (Universal Windows Platform) is clearly the right answer.  

And another thing worth mentioning about this phone - the Microsoft Lumia 640 - is that it costs 30 dollars.  30.  Without contract or anything.  At Best Buy.  It's a very nice, solidly mid-range phone, that I could recommend to anyone (from a hardware standpoint), for roughly 15 times less than the cost of a comparable iPhone.

This is not to say anyone will buy one.  They won't.  At least, not this time around.  But if Microsoft can keep pushing out $30 phones and merge Windows with their phone OS, and if I could run Visual Studio on my $30 phone (which, by the way, can already connect to a keyboard, mouse and monitor), then I honestly think they could be on to something.

Day 90 - Portland, OR - Workout Music

Lately I've been going to more than my fair share of organized gym classes, in particular spinning, and one thing I've noticed is that good instructors are really on top of their playlists.   I've also been spending some time just alone working out at the gym, and I've noticed that I am *not* on top of my playlist!  So in an effort to fix that I've been walking through my music library and looking at a lot of workout and BPM-related apps.  Two that I've identified as winners are BeatGauge, which is a desktop app for Mac that instruments all your existing music with BPM ratings, and Splyce, which is an iOS music player that's BPM and workout-centric.  I think we can all agree that the built-in iOS music player is crap, especially for working out.  It's filled with junk I don't want and does things like make the play/pause button super tiny and in the corner.  Fortunately, lots of folks have stepped in to fill the gap, but I particularly like Splyce because it's free, and it fits the way I work out.  It lets me use my own playlist but tells me the BPM of all the upcoming songs and also has kind of an "intensity meter" that it uses to display the song.  Today I used it for an elliptical session and I felt like I got about 10-15% more out of my workout, without even changing my music.  That's pretty good, for free!

Day 89 - Portland, OR - Spin Class

The last few days, I've been going to back to an old standby, the Spin Class.  For obvious reasons, I'm trying to train for this summer.  And I'm reminded how much I enjoy a well-run spin class.  I've been trying a few places near me because they often have first-class-free type deals.  And there definitely are differences.  It might seem like you're just getting on a bike for an hour or so, but there's a bit more to it than that.  One of the things I've realized is how a spin class is so different than just riding my bike around, for example for commuting.  It's so much more focused and sustained; at least a good class is.  So here are some of my things on my wish list for a spin class:  first of all, a really good on-bike computer.  Some don't have any at all; most have at least cadence.  But I want total distance, calories, instantaneous and average cadence, resistance level, and maybe more.  On an easy to read display.  Also, it's got to be a freewheel-based cycle, which they almost are now.  The freewheel is the best replica of riding a real bike.  And I want to clip into the bike; ideally with both Look and SPD style pedals.  The instructor should be engaging, but not critical; only positive reinforcement and no shaming (I hate that).  The room should be clean and smell good and there should be towels available.  And the music can't be too loud; I have to be able to easily hear the instructor.  These things all seem obvious, maybe, but I've been to several high-end professional spin centers that get one or more of these totally wrong.

Day 88 - Portland, OR - Poison Oak

Today's post is just going to be a big PSA for poison oak.  You don't want it.  Last weekend I went hiking with my awesome BCEP team and we had a great day out on Coyote Wall - it had been beautiful weather and the slopes, normally dry, were awash with green.  We stopped and had lunch and also practiced rappelling, which means a lot more Adam-to-green-stuff contact than usual when I hike.  And at some point I must have gotten into some poison oak.  And now I suffer.  It's kind of everywhere, including places you really don't want to have it.  I must have spread it with my hands or something.  So, just...just don't.  Just say no.  Google what it looks like.  Or I'll do it for you. 

Day 86 - Portland, OR - Leaving Portland

I've talked openly here about leaving Portland for a while now, obviously to do my bike ride this summer.  But I've also decided that after the ride, I'm likely not heading back here.  I've had an awesome time here in Portland.  It's been a big part of my evolution as a person.  I feel a lot less upset and stressed out than I was in San Francisco.  But I think my journey needs to continue somewhere else.  I've had a lot of trouble with the weather, for example.  And I feel very far from my family.  This is also a bit of a difficult job market for me.  But, to be clear, I am leaving with very fond memories of Portland.  I love the commitment to the outdoors, the generally intelligent and live-and-let-live attitude of people, and some of the creativity.  The Pearl has been a fun place to live, and Planet Granite is just an absolutely amazing rock climbing gym.  So no complaints, but I think it's time to move on.  I'll be moving back across the country with my Dad at the end of April, staying in Jacksonville for about a month with my parents, and then heading out on my ride.  When the ride is over, I'm looking at a few spots, mostly the Austin area, the Bay area again (though not in the city anymore), and possibly also in Jacksonville.

If anyone knows of any opportunities for a quality Senior software engineer, especially one specializing in graphics, in the Austin metro area, Bay area or in Jacksonville, please keep me in mind!  I wouldn't be available until August but I'm ready to hit the ground running then!

Day 85 - Portland, OR - Kirtan

Folks, this blog is not only awesome, it's also educational, and today I'm going to teach you about Kirtan.  When I was a kid, I had to go to church.  We're talking Roman Catholic church, the whole nine yards of it.  Now, I didn't really like church much at all, but one part that I really did like was the singing and chanting aspect.  Not so much the "memorize all this stuff we believe" part but just the communal act of chanting.  Kirtan is the closest thing I've found to extracting that part of the experience that I enjoyed.  Now, to be sure, Kirtan is a pretty hippie exercise that certainly isn't for everybody.  And there still can be that "memorize this stuff" aspect.  But the words are not taken terribly seriously.  It's not about the meaning of the phrases, generally, but more the sensation of them, the vibration of them.  If that sounds really frou-frou, I understand, but trust me, it works.  Once, long ago, I went to a festival and attended a "sound healing" workshop, and it sounded cheesy, but basically I laid on the grass while people played giant gongs and it was heavenly.  The vibration of the sound as it moves through your body is something I find deeply soothing.  It reminds me of putting my head against the glass of the car as we traveled down the highway on a road trip; another awesome feeling.

Generally speaking it's rare to find full Kirtan sessions.  There happens to be one here in Portland every Sunday at 6 and today I managed to make it by.  Usually I find Kirtan as one piece of a larger session involving yoga and meditation.  Either way, though, if you happen to find one, it can be worth your time.  If you're new to all this, I suggest finding one that's being taught by a community center or a yoga studio, as opposed to a temple.  Not that Buddhist Kirtan isn't great, but it can feel a lot more church-y and some people get turned off by how complicated the chants are or just how religion-y feeling the whole things is.

Give it a shot; you'll like it.

Day 84 - Stevenson, WA - My Gear List

Today was a conditioning hike for my BCEP hiking/mountaineering training group.  We went out to Coyote Wall and did about 8 miles hiking and practiced rappelling.  In honor of today's hike, I thought I would put together my own gear list which I've been developing with the help of the BCEP folks and through my training.  I won't claim it's a perfect list but I'm starting to hone in on what I like to carry for mountain climbs.  Note: this list includes things like crampons and mountaineering boots that are not needed (or even appropriate) for all climbs.  It also includes some items that were designed to support an overnight stay and a weekend away, because it's my list for the Snow Weekend.  I've tried to separate those out into a different list.

Again, I won't claim this list is perfect or complete.  It's just my list!

Main list:
Ten Essentials (flashlight, compass, map, first aid kit, matches, etc.)
Gaiters
Light (liner) gloves
Heavy gloves with internal warming pack
2 wool hats
1 pair light socks
1 pair liner socks
2 pairs wool socks
2 pairs underwear
2 tshirts
2 shell layers
top coat (waterproof)
snow pants
hiking pants
hiking/mountaineering boots
micro spikes
hiking poles
2 grilled cheese sandwiches
oranges
3 clif bars
GPS unit w/working batteries
watch, charged
harness
4 locking caribeeners
3 prussiks
practice rope
mug
pack knife
pants liner
belt
snow shovel
ice axe
glasses in case
helmet
headlamp w/batteries
2 pairs sunglasses
goggles
 

overnight extras:
sleeping bar
laptop w/power cable
Freedom of the Hills
phone charger
silk liner
toiletries
eye mask
regular shoes
 

Day 83 - Portland, OR - Fitness Journey Adventure

Oh no!  Cliché alert!  I'm about to go on one of those Epic Fitness Journeys that people love to post about on Facebook.  Yes, there will be douche-y photos of me shirtless in my bathroom, but no, I will not make you look at them.  I will also try to avoid discussing my carb intake.  I'm not terribly good at this thing, the fitness thing.  I've always had a pretty catch-as-catch-can approach to fitness.  I love it, but I love it the way that somebody who plays soccer on the weekend and roots for Arsenal loves competitive team sports: haphazardly.  And that isn't likely to change, really, at least not in a wholesale way.  But I am posting here to commit myself to a somewhat more rigorous plan.  I happen to have the next few months fairly open with plenty of time to commit to fitness, and in addition I have this upcoming little thing called a ride across the country.  Just between you and me, it isn't really necessary to be in amazing shape to complete that ride, but it does provide a convenient excuse, doesn't it?  When I was a kid, I thought I was fat, and ever since then, I've always been just short of committing to getting in really good shape; and with my 39th birthday coming up, I think it's finally time.  The stars are aligned, so to speak. 

So I'm looking forward to trading some cheeseburgers for smoothies, taking it easy on the alcohol, drinking plenty of water, and getting to the gym every day.  And we'll see if 45-60 days of that, followed by two months of chasing my way across the heartland, can make a dent in the flab.

Day 82 - Portland, OR - A Dark Room

Last night and this morning, I did something I haven't done in a very long time - I got totally immersed in a video game.  Four hours flew by and I didn't even realize it.  The game in question is called A Dark Room.  I have been playing it on my iPhone, but you can play it in a web browser, too.  It's $.99 if you want the iPhone version but it's free on the web.  The thing is, there's absolutely no graphics; just fancy text.  But it's captivating.  It's a kind of survival game, but with a subtle horror element that I don't really want to ruin.  You'll have to just try it.  It's a model of game design; everything is tightly and carefully crafted.  It's not terribly hard, but it will encourage you to keep coming back and trying again.  I love the way the story unfolds as a consequence of your actions.  The understated story really is well served by the game mechanics and the lack of graphics.  It's kind of one of those "the thing you can't see is scarier than the thing you can" deals.  

It inspires me to make my own games, especially because it's so powerful without the use of complex art (which is typically the thing I suck the most at).

Give it a try, and you'll see what I mean.

Day 81 - Portland, OR - Voting in the Oregon Democratic Primary

Today I figured out how I needed to vote in the Oregon Democratic Primary, and in the interest of civic duty, I decided I would share what I found out with the audience.  It's not terribly hard, but you do have to jump through a couple of hoops.  I am making it more complicated on myself by being out of town when the ballots are getting mailed out.  Oregon is a primary and not a caucus (so that's nice), but it is a closed primary, so you have to register Democratic if you want to its in the Democratic primary.   The easy way to do this is to go to a local public library and fill the form out and mail it in.  But you have to do this by April 26.  The primary isn't until May 17 but if you're not registered by April 26 you can't vote.  

So get off your tuckus   and go get that voter registration form filled out!

Day 80 - Portland, OR - The Room

Lately I've been playing this great game on my iPhone called "The Room".  Yes, there was an incredibly terrible movie called The Room, this is totally different.  They're on The Room Three, and it's all part of an ongoing lovecraftian story of the search for knowledge unleashing horrors on the world.  The environments are amazingly detailed, ranging from abandoned islands to the interiors of a creepy clock tower.  The game consists of a series of puzzles, kind of Myst-like but with a lot less confusing navigation and, honestly, much better game design.  I really like playing first thing in the morning when I wake up because the puzzle solving gets my brain started on the right path for the day.  Check it out!  I admire these guys; they're one of the indie studios I look up to as a model for what I'd like to create someday because they do things the right way.  http://www.fireproofgames.com/.

Day 79 - Portland, OR - OK Go

I remember the first OK Go video that really blew my mind.  It wasn't the treadmills.  I like the treadmills (everybody likes the treadmills), but I thought that was just kind of cute.  A Stupid Human Trick.  A one-off.  No, the one that blew my mind was This Too Shall Pass.  If you haven't seen it, go watch it now; it's a Rube Goldbergian contraption that not only will make you shake your head but fits the song perfectly.  This Too Shall Pass, as we pass by thing after thing in dizzying fashion, much the way life sometimes seems to just zip by.

But it wasn't until I watched Inside Out, Upside Down that I finally realized that OK Go is my personal spiritual band guide.  Everyone has one; for some people it's Dave Mathews Band, for others it might be They Might Be Giants or Pink Floyd.  I love all those bands, and TMBG in particular was my spirit animal through high school and college.  But as an adult, OK Go really gets me and inspires me.  It isn't just that they make awesome music (they do) or make awesome videos (they do).  What really gets me about them wasn't obvious to me until I saw that opening scene in zero gravity and the disclaimer about how they "really shot this", no green screen, and I thought well, of course they did.  They got in a plane and vomited 58 times while plummeting towards the earth over and over and spliced together 21 second snippets of zero gravity video to make their music come to life because of course they did.  They are OK Go.  This is what they do.  And as I watched, all my cynicism dropped away and I realized, as cheesy as it sounds, that I can do this.  I will ride my bike 3800 miles across the country because of course I will.  I will find a great job that's fulfilling and lucrative because that's what I do.  OK Go is out there showing us that you can have what you want, be who you want to be, if you just admit that it's possible and then bust your ass to make it happen.