Just thought I’d use Dark Room and write for a while. I went back through my archives and this site has been sort of stagnant for a while. I feel like it was better around two years ago; the site has become impersonal. I like being able to post links easily and throughout the day, but for whatever reason, it’s kept me from writing longer entries. So I’m going to make a conscious effort to write longer entries. I’m not planning to go crazy and post every day like I’ve tried before (it usually causes burnout like when you go crazy working out on the first week of January). For now, I’m going to shoot for one entry per week and play it by ear from there.
After playing Rock Band for a month straight, Dan bought the Weezer album with “Say it ain’t so” on it. It was in the iTunes rotation for me last month, and one song kind of stuck out one day: “Only in Dreams.” While listening to it, I noticed there weren’t any vocals. Except I was wrong, it’s just a fairly long song (8 minutes), and the last half has no vocals. Last week it was the only song I listened to on my iPod. And mostly the only song I listened to at home. There’s something special about the buildup and the end. Apparently, it was ranked #7 on a list of the 100 greatest guitar songs by some UK Magazine.
Speaking of guitar, I’ve failed to mention that Dan bought me an acoustic guitar for Christmas. (Thanks Dan!) It’s one of those presents that I use, but wouldn’t have bought on my own. I practiced a solid amount for three good weeks, trying focus on learning the chords in a logical order and avoiding learning how to read tabs. Then I learned how to read tabs and just played parts of songs that I liked. Then my fingernail ripped off during the Super Bowl game. For a few weeks, Dan’s been living without the ambiance of me singing the first verse of “Making Love out of Nothing at All” over and over. I want to get back on track learning things in a practical order, so I think I’m going to start with the About.com lessons.
I added the Google Analytics code to the site to track visitors, because something seemed off with 1&1’s WebStatistics. The Google Analytics statistics seem a lot more realistic. It seems like there are around 40 people who visit this site regularly (Hello) and then about a dozen people stumbling in on any given day. The best part is that it shows the search phrases that got people here. A lot of people were searching for that bird pooping in the news reporter’s mouth. Definitely understandable.
After winter break, I started working out again. Not exactly a New Year’s Resolution since I started about two weeks in, but it’s close. I’ve been following LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout Plan (LLCJPWP from here on in). The main reason is that I want something to have already figured out what I need to do. I’ve tried the Men’s Health Book of Muscle, but the workouts seemed tailored more to lifters with a decent amount of previous experience, and it didn’t lay out any cardio plans. I also considered Crossfit, but from what I’ve read it’s also for people who already have a solid strength foundation. I like that LLCJPWP eases you in and considers cardio and overcoming typical strength/weight-loss plateaus. I’ve done a decent job following the workouts, but I was sick this week and took the week off. There was a Men’s Health issue sometime in the last decade that had a bunch of athlete’s giving their workout advice. Kobe Bryant said the most important thing is to stick to your plan and not stray or take days off. In other words, Just Do It. Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all night folks!
