Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in hackerguitar's LiveJournal:

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Monday, December 14th, 2009
3:03 pm	Not eating vegetables..... ( At least not any time soon. ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
11:27 am	of rolling pins... ( Turned a rolling pin, a french-style tapered one, for a friend who wanted to give one as a gift.  ) (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 11th, 2009
12:26 pm	LASIK? Has anyone had LASIK? Any experiences to report? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
4:14 pm	tempus fugit ( twenty years ) (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 7th, 2009
10:32 pm	Dead gear: the sequel At my friend Jacline's request, I played a gig at the local art association with a local pianist, who was a monster player with great chops. ( Of course, that's when some gear went belly-up ) Current Mood: frustrated (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
10:24 pm	Mending Musicians have a good bit to think about - notably, what they're going to do when they're playing. Building a decent act is a full-time job. ( Gear shouldn't die.  Period. But it does, way too often. ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
5:16 pm	Assorted random: Assorted random things I've discovered, after not posting for a bit: Caffeine withdrawal hurts.   Muscle stiffness is not uncommon.  Ouch. A chiminea which is not painted or otherwise varnished steams when a fire is built into it after a rain, and is rather eerie-looking late at night. Bad memory in computers is more common than it used to be, and it's more expensive to fix. VoIP is awesome.  DDWRT firmware is awesome.  The ability to use the latter to provide QoS is invaluable. Four days off in November?  Hah.  I anticipate three work calls on T-day, minimum.    (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
10:12 pm	Sunday productiveness We were very productive today. Reorganized the spare room Cleaned up the cables and got started on the computer room.  There is LOTS of stuff in there which will go - if you need a mouse, call me; I haz billions and billions. We got the outside of the house ready for rain - that which must be covered, is now covered; that which much be under the half-roof is mostly there.   And the chiminea, still in need of a stand, is under a tarp to protect it from the rain.   I shall not be able to use it until the rains ease up. Lined up all of the instruments and found three that I'd forgotten, two of which require some work and one of which is going to be good fun. Got the first of the tables made from barrel-tops and barrel-staves and barrel-hoops together.  It's a bit spindly but sturdy and are appropriate for the patio.  Go team getting things done. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
3:58 pm	mentally exhausted today Yesterday was a terrifically stressful day - our IP phones, provided by a third-party vendor who shall not be named, went out completely about 8:30 am.  Since we're a service business, and since phones represent the fount and source of all revenue, the outage required a tremendous amount of very manual coordination to implement the DR plan phone fallback and coverage plan.    IT was, as they usually are here, completely useless, so it fell to client-facing operations senior management to invoke a phone fallback and coverage plan.  I was on a cellphone almost continuously for almost 12 hours, with the thing plugged in.   The longest stretch I had off the phone was when I swapped batteries at 2pm; that was blessed, but I nearly fell asleep.  Right now I feel as thought there's not much brain activity going on.  I could use a nap.....why is it not 4:30 yet? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
9:30 pm	Another fine fix.... Today was flea market in Niles.  This led, as it always does, to sunburns, a lot of food, and the occasional exchange of goods and services for either money or other goods and services.   Today, the goods-and-services exchange led to a table traded for a mandolin, to wit, this: It's nice.  It's loud.  It has great tone.   It was an impulse trade for a small table I made, and I think it's worth it.   It's all solid woods, no laminates, and it's actually pretty well-made and playable.  The nut maybe needs some adjustment but it's in tune and there aren't any major rattles, so it seems as if it's a good starter piece. I really haven't a clue how to play it, although for the three hours I've had it I've been practicing like a mad thing and now sort of know how to find the basic four chord types - major, minor, augmented, and diminished.  They're similar to guitar, but upside down.....this thing is tuned in fifths. Really it was time to learn another instrument, because I've so thoroughly mastered the other ones needed something to pique my curiosity.   It's fun, it's loud, and it'll be a different voice in the local music sessions. Good fun. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 28th, 2009
1:03 pm	Best piece on medical insurance I've seen so far Dmitry Orlov has written a brilliant piece on medical insurance that doesn't once mention medicine. Worth reading. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
9:11 pm	Linux FTW (again) The recent software update for the phone ensures that video shot with the phone now goes out in 3GP.   About this format, Windows (natively) knows nothing.   Ubuntu, otoh, had a converter utility installed which knocked out the conversion to MP4 (it's posted on B's blog) in about six seconds.   Without ads or nagware trying to sell me something. Once again, Linux FTW.  All this and a real command line.... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
2:19 pm	If you like traditional music... Check out Sarah Janosz.   She's from Texas, outside Austin.  She plays guitar, mandolin, and banjo with amazing fluidity and skill.  Her compositional acumen is at a level not usually seen among 18-year-olds. Yep, that's right, 18 years old.  Her playing, at 18, is at a level that's been the top of the game for a lot of musicians.  I suspect she'll be resetting expectations pretty dramatically in the next couple of years, the same way that Chris Thile did, and on several instruments.    Her work is worth the listen.  (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
10:43 am	back - hands! After a protracted bout of soreness related to cleaning and stacking about a billion bricks, the soreness in my hands has abated. Yay!  Last night, I was able to play for about half an hour.  This is good. Small pleasures... (Comment on this)
Monday, April 6th, 2009
3:53 pm	Writer's Block: Grab and Go Scenario: For exactly 1 minute, you get access to all the databases of all the intelligence agencies in the world (CIA, FBI, KGB, MI-5, etc). What do you want to find out before time is up and you're caught and jailed forever? View 503 Answers What crypto can't you crack? How do I circumvent the one-minute limitation? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 16th, 2009
11:40 am	Mid-America Headed to Columbus (OH) on business later in the month. Is there anything I should check out while I'm there? (12 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
10:22 pm	Things complete ( Of note this weekend: completed both nice square shaker tables (two), and a shaker candle stand made of some slightly spalted european cherry. ) (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
11:42 am	Icarus Icarus is Ralph Towner's signature piece, a wonderful standard which bears repeated listening very well. Towner plays it solo or with Oregon, but the LA Guitar Quartet does it ample justice in the clip below.  (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 5th, 2008
10:32 am	Meme day From e_juliana  Your result for Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test... Naturalistic 22% Logical, 39% Spatial, 41% Linguistic, 14% Intrapersonal, 18% Interpersonal, 25% Musical, 14% Bodily-Kinesthetic and 55% Naturalistic! "This area has to do with nature, nurturing and relating information to one's natural surroundings. Those with it are said to have greater sensitivity to nature and their place within it, the ability to nurture and grow things, and greater ease in caring for, taming and interacting with animals. They may also be able to discern changes in weather or similar fluctuations in their natural surroundings. They are also good at recognizing and classifying different species. 'Naturalists' learn best when the subject involves collecting and analyzing, or is closely related to something prominent in nature; they also don't enjoy learning unfamiliar or seemingly useless subjects with little or no connections to nature. It is advised that naturalistic learners would learn more through being outside or in a kinesthetic way. Careers which suit those with this intelligence include scientists, naturalists, conservationists, gardeners and farmers." (Wikipedia) Take Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test at HelloQuizzy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
5:13 pm	Thanksgiving: The Sequel. Got up late Made it to in-laws' on the Penninsula by 10:30 began cooking Stuffing done and in bird and bird in oven by 1:30pm Have eaten B's mushroom pate and more cheese than is really necessary. Turned on PC and began to see what was up on teh internets.... I have faith that the bird will be done in some reasonable timeframe. **************************** Every year, my BiL & I make the turkey and some of the side dishes; B always makes her mushroom pate, without which she is persona non grata at certain Thanksgivings; and SiL and B make (respectively) green vegetable and sweet potato soup; Sil sometimes but not always does mashed potatoes.   What I want to add, and probably will next year, is some sort of rustic bread.....not that we require more starches but I like good bread, and I'd like to go through the very physical process of making it. **************************** Update:  The turkey is nearly done.  We need to start on the remaining bits.... Off to cook. (2 Comments |Comment on this)