The Blochhead: Bloch is the New Black!

Connecticut, be my Valentine

blochhead — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:32:01 +0000

People of Connecticut, will you be my valentine? I will see you in 39 days.

Be Mine, Connecticut, Be Mine

Love,

Artie

Going Veggie Again- for the most part- and More

blochhead — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:49:36 +0000

A lot of people already know that I’ve gone mostly (as opposed to strictly) vegetarian again. I thought I’d try to explain this, as people often have questions about why/how/etc.

Maybe not the diet change I should be looking for...

As I thought about the times that I reverted from a more healthy diet to an even less-ideal one, two malignant factors stuck out to me: money and a want-it-now paradigm. I quickly realized that neither reason should prevent me from making more healthy choices now, at least the ones that are within my means.

Initially, my plan was to simply force myself to eat healthier by cooking more, not eating fast food, and making all around better choices. Successfully not eating meat takes a lot of planning to get protein and all the nutrients that one needs. However, after this moment of decision (Jannell can tell you how the guy with steaks in a hand-held cooler in the back of his flatbed truck pushed me over the edge) I immediately began hearing all sorts of information to confirm this change of lifestyle. I had several of those experiences that make you wonder if taking note was due to a heightened awareness from having the subject on your mind or if it was simply coincidence that things would happen now: self vs. fate. Either way the reason to not eat meat (especially red meat) started to pile up (you have to click the link to get the intended pun).

All this has snowballed to my own self-education about food in general. I’ve learned a lot about how our bodies process sugars, preservatives and how they are used in foods, which products to buy organic and which aren’t worth the extra $$$, etc. There is so much to learn! In a nutshell, I have switched back to organic milk and organic spinach, since these are two of the organic foods to reap the most benefits from; I have actively tried to cut down on things with high-fructose corn syrup (although my love of pop makes that one of the most difficult changes to make); and I make vegetarian (or vegan) meals at home almost all the time.

All in all, I have learned a lot, I feel better, and I feel good about how my choices are impacting the world we live in. Now I just have to keep this going!

Next steps: make the Muncie Farmer’s Market a weekly instead of option event in my schedule and put more thoughtful planning in my garden (using Maria as a resource for the latter).

Tagged: high fructose corn syrup, organic, red meat, vegetarian

Long-term Music Goals

blochhead — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:18:08 +0000

If an MRI makes a bunch of strange sonic vibrations but no one records it, does it make a sound?

These are the top five things I wish I could do with music today. Right now. I’m going to find a way to do them some day.

Go on tour with Meat Coma. It would be amazingly fun and we might never make it back to civilization.
Record the hour of sounds that I heard when I had my MRI and use it to make an entire solo album mixed with guitar, bass, and cello riffs.
Record at Soma Studios with John McEntire. He offered to give me a tour sometime, so I need to take him up on that.
Start a post/math/space/surf-rock band with instruments no one has ever played before
Write a Piano Trio

Photo by get directly down on Flickr.

Tagged: John McEntire, Meat Coma, Piano Trio

Issues with Social Media: User Interface & the Sea of Information

blochhead — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:48:36 +0000

It dawned on me this morning. The biggest trouble that I have with social media is sorting through the sea of information. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, or any other stream of networked posts and status updates, it’s easy to get overloaded by a mass of diverse topics presented by various voices. I immediately thought about my parents and how they have been slowly getting into social media, starting with Yahoo! then Facebook. I wonder… if I have trouble- as someone who has grown up with computers and used them since I was five, owned a Palm in college, a Windows Mobile user, social media enthusiast, etc.- then what about people who are “on the fringe” (so to speak) of SM? There definitely are those who get frustrated with their experiences, despite a reasonable amount of effort to make it work. I think about not only all of the time it’s taken me to sort through information but also to organize it in a way that makes sense to me, and I realize what a tremendous effort I’ve had to undertake! Sorting through information is truly a life-skill that starts developing in childhood and eventually extends into many aspects of adult life.

Not exaclty social media, but unreasonably complicated nonetheless

I am a huge proponent of user interface (UI). This interest partially developed from my experience with Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software: Pro Tools is the industry standard but I also use Digital Performer. To me, the UI is the final frontier in technology, and ultimately what determines much or most of the success of a product. Features are great, but if you can’t use it easily who really cares enough to commit to using it? Probably only a niche, and if you have a niche product (and the niche can accept an un-refined UI) then that’s fine. But for the “average” technology user, it’s gotta be easy to use. Our lives are busy enough that sure we maybe smart enough to figure it out, but we’ll lose attention if it doesn’t happen with a certain amount of ease. I don’t know a whole lot about Facebook Lite but I would have to imagine that the creation of this variation to the main site is closely related to some of these thoughts. I have to admit, I kind of prefer it to the normal Facebook UI sometimes….

Everyone has their own personal tolerance level with “ease of use.” I think this is where some of the generational gap that I am proposing comes in. I would include other social, lifestyle, economic, and more factors in holistic view.

I know that for companies the balance between UI and feature-set is always in question, or it should be. I think that in many cases, features seem to take precedence over UI, and I am sure this contributes to some failure of social media sites.

Random though: If I was the mouse in Dumbo, able to induce the power of suggestion to leaders in social media while they were in REM sleep, I whisper in their ears to tell them to seek a better balance and offer options to allow for a more broad range of users. Finding the right option is another issue…

Image by StephenVanDyke on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvandyke/ / CC BY 2.0

Tagged: dumbo, facebook, google reader, social media, twitter, user interface

Thank God for the Twins!

blochhead — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:26:49 +0000

Photo by ConspiracyofHappiness on Flickr

As a Cubs fan, 2009 has been a year of injury and mediocrity. you know it’s not good when one of your highest-paid players is suspended for the rest of the season by management and the Chicago press is looking forward to 2010 with more than two weeks left in the season. As a MLB fan, it has been… well, a bit boring honestly. We basically know who is going to the playoffs. In fact, when I originally sat down to write this post, it was looking pretty bleak for any last minute regular season drama.

Thank God for the Twins!

[I should also be thanking the Vikings and Packers for giving MLB fans one extra day as well!]

OK, so I’m a Cubs fan. I root for the underdog. It’s just boring to watch the Yankees win 100 games with their huge paychecks. Manny Ramirez is good, but he’s not likable and hardly someone to root for. The Phillies and Rockies are much more interesting to watch because they’re far from perfect but manage to keep winning. The Twins, however, would be the undisputed underdogs of the playoffs, but one of the most exciting teams to watch play. There’s a nice balance unlike teams such as the 2005 Padres or the 1981 Royals who had basically no chance of winning a single playoff game, let alone a pennant or championship. The Twins are fighting for their lives since August and you can tell they mean business. They make me wish I’d been paying more attention all season long!

Photo by ConspiracyofHappiness on Flickr

I remember watching the 1991 World Series with Kirby Puckett, although I was young enough to not appreciate the MVP pitching performance by Jack Morris. The game 6 homer by Kirby Puckett seemed so much more exciting. It would be great to see Joe Mauer and Scott Baker in those roles. Even so, I am just glad that they have kept things interesting to the last moment when football is taking over the sports world and baseball might normally seem a distant second.

Tagged: 1981 royals, 2005 padres, Baseball, Cubs, Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins, MLB, underdog