Hot Yoga

So, I tried hot yoga today. I'd tried yoga before, but found it infuriating trying to follow abstract instructions ("reach with the roof of your mouth", "extend your tailbone", "unfurl your heart", etc). I liked the stretching, and I could definitely stand to be a bit more flexible. I also really liked feeling that I got a full workout out of the deal. Hot yoga came up because I figured in a stressful, hot environment there wouldn't be any patience for that metaphorical instructions bullshit. Also, Sweatbox Yoga has a pretty sweet intro deal. First off, I'm happy to report that I was right. I really liked this instructor. She just told you what to bend, what to flex, what to press into what, it was great. So, in short, the "yoga" part of hot yoga was great. Turns out the hot part of it isn't so great. At first it didn't seem to bad. It wasn't as hot as a sauna, and I really liked just laying on the ground in a warm room, breathing in warm air. Truth be told, I was imagining I was in Hawaii, and the heat pretty much sold that illusion. But then we did yoga. There were 3 sections. I paused once in the first section because I was short on breath. I stopped halfway through the second section because I was dizzy. And I didn't do much of the third section, except the very last bit, because I was still super dizzy. (by "stopped" I mean I either knelt or lay down on the mat. They recommend you do either if you feel dizzy or nauseous. The class goes on without you though and you can back in whenever you want) But that wasn't the worst part. After leaving, I was starved and dehydrated. I had brunch and took a nap, but it took me pretty much the rest of the day to shake my dehydration headache and that odd feeling of dizziness. Even then, my muscles still felt entirely spent, like I'd just finished an Ultimate tournament. I had no energy to do anything until about 6pm. The class had ended at 11:30am So yeah, it kicked my ass. I might do it once again and super hydrate beforehand, just to make sure this experience wasn't a fluke. Even saying that, it sounds like a stupid idea, but I guess I am an engineer.

Bike commuting

I don't have the time for full, well thought out blog posts. I could make the time, but frankly I'm happy with the amount of time I spend doing other things. But for the time being, I hope to make more frequent (but shorter) updates here. I'm trying to keep up this bike commuting thing. I really like how quickly I can get to work, and I like that I'm doing it under my own power. Not so much because it saves gas, but because it helps works exercise into a daily routine that I have to do anyway. Its also awesome to use the roads and not be a car when there's a good amount of traffic. Especially riding on a freshly tuned-up bike. We'll see how long I can keep this up. I probably need to buy a few things as it gets colder and wetter, like a jacket that's actually waterproof and splash guards for my tires. For now, a change of clothes seems to be working just fine.

Lullabye

I wrote this song, and it turns out its too hard to play correctly and sing at the same time. So I couldn't do a video for it. So all i have is the mp3.

Get the mp3 here.

Lyrics:
When you go to sleep at night
And you wonder whats inside
Of the closet in your room
And your head is filled with doom

Well you know that daddy's here
Just to wash away your fear
If you follow all these rules
Then you will not die by ghouls, so

Put away, put away, put away your toys
Don't kiss, don't kiss, don't kiss the boys
Say no, say no, say no to drugs
Don't deal, don't deal don't deal with thugs

while these rules are a short list
I hope there's none you have missed
For it'd be a tragedy
If you disobeyed me

Because daddy knows best
Now please try and get some rest
I just hope you listened well
Or you will see beasts from hell, so


Now you may be wondering as you drift slowly off into the night
If this song was just made up to give you such a terrible fright

That is simply not the case

But in fact this song was written by a wizard in a magic land
To protect all the children from the land's evil inhabitants

But only kids who follow these rules:




I can see you rest at ease
And this makes me very pleased
Because you are not afraid
So my rules you have obeyed

I hope you dream of something good
Just like all little girls should
I won't say another peep
And I'll let you get to sleep

My girl

Hitler Potlatch Bid

We slapped together a potlatch bid this year. The deadline really snuck up on us. Craig came up with the idea and script, and I threw it together in iMovie. Enjoy.

Junk Food

Download the mp3 here.

Lyrics:
Hello
I see we meet again.
As I stroll through the mall
With my group of friends
I try to look away
But my eyes stray

Okay.

We may have ended badly
But you were always sweet
Ever since I left you
I just don't feel complete.
Whats there left to do
Except admit that i love you

Junk food.

I love your every Ruffle
I love your every Mound
Once I've popped I cannot stop
I just won't put you down.
High fructose corn syrup
And artificial cheese
When you're talking dirty
You bring me to my knees

I have even more fun
When you're sold two for one

Delicious!

Doctor says that you are really poor for my health
I should give you up and exercise as well
But what does he know, an expert in his field
All his scientific tests can't capture how i feel..

I've been thinking over
Our relationship
We've become codependent
And youre a bag of chips

The truth is simply
That we can never be
We may meet again
Perhaps in aisle 10
But until that day
I have to walk away.

Goodbye junk food.

Creative Time

My "update this blog daily" goal has fallen by the wayside. The last thing I told myself was that April was an odd month; so many changes with respect to work. That debt of entries could be annulled or at least be a debt ceiling I could maintain. But May, man. Once May comes around I'm going to hit the ground running.

But wouldn't you know it, it's already May 3rd. I'm still on break between jobs. I'm really excited about going to work next week, but I'm also really enjoying the time off. I've been putting my creative juices to other projects that I've been neglecting. I know I'm about 2 entries behind on posting songs that I've written. I've got some more on the way. I'm also finally making my wallet out of netflix strips. You'll see what I mean.

Also, it seems that every adventure that I take on now requires a YouTube video for admittance. I got in to the World Henchmen Organization puzzle hunt with this lovely video. And it looks like I've got less than a week to throw something together for Potlatch. Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun.

I'll try to not slack off so much on posting in here. But no promises.

Thoroughbreds of Sin: Villainous Deeds

If you haven't seen this yet, enjoy:

It's probably the most ambitious creative project I've done in a while. In the span of about a week, I figured out the tune, wrote some lyrics, filmed my puzzle troupe acting goofy, and edited the whole thing. It was definitely 2 late nights of editing; making music is way easier than making a music video.

I might make a behind-the-scenes post if I have time. But for now, enjoy the video.

Goodbye, Hello

The big news:

Next Friday will be my last day of work at Amazon. I'm leaving to join Decide, an electronics shopping startup in Downtown Seattle.

I joined on to (what would become) the AWS Elastic Beanstalk project very early on, and I'm proud to have seen it through to completion. There are still tons of useful features that can be built into the system, and I do believe that Elastic Beanstalk will only get more powerful and easier to use as time goes on.

I'm excited to move on to Decide. It's a small, smart team with a great idea. I'll be working with a good number of folks that I met when I worked for (Live Search) Farecast. This will also be my first start-up job, so it doesn't feel like just another job at a giant company; it feels like I'm starting an adventure.


Not to mention the fact that I won't be able to talk about my work publicly again for a while. Finally. Explaining Elastic Beanstalk to your average Joe is tough. "It's a secret" is a much simpler response. :P