Personal project management…

I know, there are a ton of apps out there that handle project management – but I can’t find one the works for what I want it to do. Do I start settling or start hacking something together!? It’s almost like I want a project managing/journaling/note taking type thing that I can email ANYTHING to and it would just take care of keeping stuff around for me. I’m pretty sure evernote does something like that but still, not exactly what I’m looking for…sigh.

I thinking to hack something up but what’s going to prevent it from winding up in the graveyard of half finished apps sitting in my documents folder?

BTW – ran across this awesome little note-taking app today – very nice stuff! Go Paprika!

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Vibram FiveFinger KSO’s – Part 3 (the end)

Ok, I’m not wanting to bore anyone (of my 3 readers including my Mom (Hi Mom!)) with too much more talk of the Vibram FiveFinger KSO’s so until I really do something spectacular or buy a new pair so this should be the last post on the topic for a little while…

So onto the burning question; How are they for running? Well, frankly, pretty awesome! I was pretty skeptical if I’d even be able to run at all in them at first. From what I’ve been reading some people can hop right into them and go crazy while some people can take months before they fully adjust to them. Fortunetley, I’ve got a couple things going for me – first, I’ve only gone on one run so I can make a conjecture and not suffer any consequences and second…I don’t remember what the second thing was. Moving right along…yesterday I slipped on my VFF’s (which are still really fun to put on. I know – it’s hard to describe but it’s just cool to put some gloves on your feet) and I headed on out the door to run…here’s what I think about running around the neighborhood in ninja shoes that look like they were made by Eddie Bauer…

1.) I am much more mindful of how I run with these shoes on than any others. It’s not that I couldn’t think about my form in other shoes but I just don’t have to. In my big pillowy running shoes I can plod along without much thought to anything and I really don’t feel pain until much later in the run – and by then the way to resolve it is to just push through until the run is over. The pain usually goes away until I run again and I’m just nervous that I would have eventually reached a spot where it just wouldn’t have gone away. Since I’m now running in shoes with no support at all I am forced to be mindful of how I’m actually getting around because it’s hurts right away if I’m doing it wrong. No heel strikes, no stepping on big pointy rocks, no jolting or bouncing – just smooth, meaningful steps. Most of all, if I feel pain I stop (but haven’t yet.)

2.) My calves are getting such a ridiculous workout. I’m expecting by the end of summer to have calves that look like they were carved out of granite and then sharpened to a dangerous point. Seriously, right now they feel like they are ready to explode and pour lactic acid and unicorn dust all over the carpet. I know that’s caused from my striking on the front part of my foot now and not the heel but it does make me wonder, is that what’s absorbing the impact from my back and knees? I don’t know, I do know that my calves are really the only muscle group that is sore today from running yesterday. Of course I did blitz them last week with the stair run…

3.) Hot spots – yeah, I was getting them on the soles of my feet. This would probably be the one benefit of buying these shoes in store with someone who could tell you how they are suppossed to fit. I’m not sure if mine are too big but I do know that ill fitting shoes seem to cause blisters for me and since I also know how to add one plus one I was able to put the two together. Also, the pavement was freakishly hot so that may have had something to do with it as well. One cool thing I found was that it was no problem to run through puddles. My feet dried so quickly each time and it was kinda fun to hit a puddle like one of my sons would have!

4.) Again with the speed, I feel faster. I’m kinda excited to the get the nike+ hooked up so I can start tracking how fast this whole process is going. I may still look like a gypsy packed mule waddling down the side of the road but I certainly didn’t feel that way.

So overall, I’m still pretty excited about changing the way I run. I like not having socks, I like trying something new, but most of all, I just like that I’m running again. If anything these shoes have made running more interactive and engaging than just the “grinding through the miles” kind of routine that I’ve been on the last few years. I don’t know if they are the magic bullet to all running problems yet but the science makes sense and I’m enjoying easing my way into the community. These shoes (and style of running) continue to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go out tomorrow on another run.

That’s it for now! I’m waiving bye to you with my freakishly fingered shoes!

Read Part 1 here.
Read Part 2 here.

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Vibram FiveFinger KSO’s – Part Two

Ok, now that we’re all warm and fuzzy from Part One – here’s Part Two…it’s a little something I like to call “A Lesson in Over-doing it.”

First, ouch and second, OUCH! The pain isn’t so much about me overdoing it in the vibrams as much as it is just overdoing it in general.

I have a thing with stairs. See, there’s something about running (climbing) an obscene amount of stairs that has always appealed to me. For instance, I’ve run every stair in the Vines Center and every time I go there I can have my own personal sense of self satisfaction to know that I have run every stair in the building. It’s about as close to being a professional athlete as I’m going to get. Or a ninja. Or a gladiator! The part I like about the stairs though is that they make for a really great workout when you’re short on time – you can still get a crazy awesome workout and also have some feeling of accomplishment as well. Anyway, as far as stairs go, me likey!

Since I have this “thing” with stairs I thought my first trip out with my new vibrams should be on a set of stairs – so I hit one of my favorite spots – Monument Terrace. This structure is a 139 step commemoration to all of the Lynchburg soldiers who have died throughout various wars. It’s beautiful and thoughtful and touching and (if you’re running it) very painful. I ran up and down it five times which isn’t crazy except for the niggling fact that a.) I’m over 30 years old so I can’t do the same dumb things I could when I was twenty and b.) I haven’t been exercising for the last year. Mind, you I didn’t say running, I haven’t been doing anything that would resemble some sort of formalized exercise for a year. The only thing I have going for me on health front as that I at least haven’t picked up any new self destructive habits (like smoking or bingeing on ho-ho’s and chocolate marshmallow fluff) and even that was only a matter of time. Anyway, I ran this thing. I felt great. I sprinted like a gazelle up the stairs. I felt like a machine as a I ran back to my car. People stopped their cars to admire my perfect form and amazing ability to parkour through downtown Lynchburg in my own personal samurai shoes. Then, by the time I got home, I could no longer walk. Turns out, if you walk in shoes for most of your life (oh, and not exercise for a loooooong time) the parts of your body that haven’t gotten that much work (like the whole group of muscles and tendons below your calf (no I’m can’t spell them out, I’m no doctor for crying out loud (and yes, it’s totally ridiculous how many parenthesis you can cram into one sentence when you write something that doesn’t need to be turned into an english teacher))) can end up being kinda upset when you blitz them like that. And by “kinda upset” I mean “AAAAGH, I can’t walk!?”

Ok, it wasn’t that dramatic but you catch my drift, I should be taking it slow and instead I’m just jumping into it. How were they vibrams on the stairs? Well, pretty awesome actually. Since the stairs kind of force you to stay on your toes the FiveFingers work really really well. One of their greatest strengths is in how lite they are. I haven’t weighed them but I know when I pick my old running shoes they feel like they sole is made out of lead and they just fill the rest with whale blubber. Plus, the sole was nice and grippy – no slipping at all and I felt much more stable than I have with regular shoes (although I have heard that when things get wet all bets are off.)

Here were my thoughts as I was running around downtown lynchburg with these things on:

Like bow ties, these things take some serious self esteem to wear. I literally had to psyche myself out to get these things on and go on my run. Generally I’m not an “in your face” kind of guy and I’m usually not trying to attract attention to myself – but you can’t help it in these things. Everybody I ran by, everybody I said hi to – they were looking at my feet. Nobody stopped me per se but I could definitely tell people were looking. Here I thought I was just buying some shoes!

Again with the quickness – I just felt fast. When I needed to move BOOM I was able to just go. I look forward to when my feet are used to the longer distances because it’s just so much fun to not only run but to run fast is just a whole new wonderful experience.

Running is general is a lot more…gosh, I don’t know…interesting? I was looking for things to run on. Instead of just cranking out some mileage I was looking for new experiences. “Oh look there’s a bench…why wouldn’t I run over it!? I’m going to jump over this rail. Is that….GRASS! YAAAAAAY!” It sounds weird but it’s almost like I want to find new experiences for my feet?

So still, I’m not regretting getting these shoes (I am regretting that my other running shoes are only going for $20 on eBay) and I can’t wait to wear them more. It’s as close to free running as a 33 year old father of two is going to get. I can definitely see why people start wearing them exclusively, they do feel really empowering.

Part 3 will be interesting as I want to see what happens when I wear them to work. Woohoo!

Read Part 1 here.

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Vibram Five Fingers KSO’s – Part One


Small disclaimer: I’ve been drinking the barefoot kool aid…and lot’s of it. I’m writing this review while still feeling endorphines and pangs of glee so make of that what you will…

I like to run, but I imagine like most people – it hurts. And not in that “oh I’m getting older and just need to deal with some aches and pains” but more like the “eventually I’m going to snap my knee or my back or both” kind of way. The way I dealt with it in past was to buy better shoes. As a consumer, that’s about all you can do right?. Well you can buy shorter shorts or gel-i-er gel shots or microfiber climax ultra-moisture heel hugging XDSXL socks but eventually there are some diminishing returns right?

So about a year ago, I bought THE shoes. I went to THE local running store, I whipped out THE credit card and boom, I had THE most technical shoes one could buy without a license. The Mizuno Wave Creation 9. Click the link and look how much trademarked technology is on that bad boy. Go ahead, this post will still be here. Don’t want to go? Ok listen, for $135 bucks (well, that’s how much I paid for them) you get over 8 different running technologies designed to stabilize, tractionize, rotorize, combulatize, and metaculize (yes I made most of those words up – that’s just how I roll) your feet in ways you never thought possible. You might as well be running with a basket full of fluffy puppies and baby chicks on your feet because they provide much more comfort than this. I bought these because my ridiculous Nike Shox (yes, the shoes with springs in the heels) kept giving me horrible blisters. Anyway, I spend all this money, I run a fairly modest amount of miles and boom – the knee pain is still there. In light of starting a new family and growing more familier with the extra weight that I’m accumulating, I put my really expensive pair of running shoes in the closet. Maybe they’ll work better a year or two from now…or never…

So, a couple on months ago – I run across this article over at Marks Daily Apple talking about the Vibram FiveFingers. First thought? Those are the most ridiculous shoes I’ve ever seen. I do not have the self esteem to even consider wearing a pair of shoes like that. However, they keep coming up. I see them at Mark’s site, I see them at Leo’s site, I see them at the Rowdy Kittens site. (No, I don’t actually know any of these people – they just seem like they’d be cool with me saying things like “Leo’s blog” rather than “Zen Habits.”) Anyway, I come across this post and all of the sudden it just seemed ok…ok, maybe I too can enjoy these shoes that I keep coming across.

I mean, up until this point, running for me was about calories burned, toys and mileage – probably more about the mileage. Nah, maybe more about the toys. I had the nike+, and I have the iPod nano with the running case, the really expensive running socks, the short running shorts, and as you now, the highly technical running shoes. I would drown my runs with music and podcasts and never really give much attention to how I was actually running. It was all about just dragging myself through however many miles I had committed to do and somehow still be standing at the end. In my mind, I was running around like a fine tuned gazelle with precise foot stikes and stride that was efficient and somehow artistic all at the same time. Turns out, I was bouncing around like an old ford down an abandoned dirt road. Shoulders hunched over, head down, feet twisted out…it was not pretty. Well, it’s still NOT PRETTY!

So this time, I am going to try again – this time with a different attitude. I determined that the FiveFingers were in fact AWESOME and I was going to find myself a pair. After saving up a little stash of money, I finally have a pair of KSO’s. Here are my initial reactions from having them.

They…feel…AWESOME! Seriously, like a freaking glove for your feet. I kept wearing them all day just because I loved the way they felt. I was unreal. Man, it’s 11pm and I want to put them on again, I’ll be right back. Aaaaaah, much better.

I felt totally stable. I took a quick jaunt through the yard (the one with so many mole tunnels you’d think it was a the staging area for the great mole uprising) and usually were I’m very weary and cautious about rolling an ankle I felt totally solid in these shoes. Not only that, I could feel the terrain. I was just a totally different experience.

They quickly showed my the deficiencies in the way I walk and run. Granted, just taking off my shoes and running around would have done the same thing, but still, it was quite illuminating. It became immediately apparent that if I kept running by striking my heel that I was going to pound the knee to dust. I could feel every part of my body that was (man, I don’t know how to explain it)…wrong? Even when I straightened up and ran in a more efficient way, I could feel the extra weight around my gut and love handles bouncing around. It’s like, they brought to life the areas of my body that I need to work on…

They are just FUN! Usually, running for me is a plodding trip from point A to point B, with these, I kept trying to find new things to run on. I hit the grass, I hit the gravel, I jumped on logs, I ran over the tall grass and I almost “pranced” through the obstacles in my yard.

Because you can’t really run on your heel in these things and find yourself more on your toes – you can take off at any time. Seriously, just think about it and BOOM you are gone. I don’t know why but it was such a great feeling to just take off and run.

Push-ups are much better with them on. Or barefoot. They’re just better without shoes on I guess? I digress…

I feel really fast…like really fast. I don’t know what it is, maybe that’s why olympic sprinters where those really tiny flat shoes because man, I feel like I’m moving in these things.

I really want to wear them to work but I’m not sure if I have the confidence. Seriously, they make you feel like the whole world is watching your feet!

So overall, I’m pretty excited! Very happy to be running around in these things. It’s like I’m nerdy suburban ninja! There’s more to try out with these things so Part two is coming soon!

Read Part Two here.

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Things I’ve learned as a parent #238

Do not leave a toddler unsupervised with 10lbs of dog food…

Posted in awesomeness, family | 1 Comment

Taste Selects in Lynchburg is AWESOME

I know, this isn’t the best angle but it shows you were the shop is. Navigate around to see the actual doorway…

So, I’ll leave it unnamed but there’s a coffee shop downtown that I frequent quite a bit. The coffee is great and they have really good scones. Well, they used to. As of late, they switched their coffee to some unnamed brand, they haven’t had scones (or any pastries) in weeks or probably months, and the place is started to become more and more and more unclean. The final straw was that they stopped using a creamer dispenser and started putting out the little creamer cup things – the one’s with the “shelf stable” milk in them that are probably made out of oil and sugar for all I know. Like Seth says, “if I want something cheap and average I can find a place that sells it cheaper and averager.” In this case, I’m now better off going to Sheetz than to continue buying coffee from this still unnamed coffee shop.

On a whim, I headed over to Taste Selects to see what they had to offer (I had previously only been over for cupcakes which are pretty awesome btw) and was totally and completely and utterly and *insert some other descriptive adjective here* happy with my experience. Fresh pastries (I had possibly the best cherry danish I’ve ever had) and good coffee and the place could not have been more inviting and pleasant. So, for the 3 people that read this blog, if you’re in lynchburg any time soon I HIGHLY recommend you go check them out – they are awesome!

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Wow – now that’s a nice flash app

audiotool.com

I have no idea how to use this yet but man that is some nice flash!

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Behold – The Tentacle Couch!

From Because We Can:

Wow – when you throw out all the rules about interior design, something amazing happens.

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Be an Octopus!

From Ryan at Untold Entertainment:

“At the end of his talk, Dan painted a very bleak picture of the Flash games industry, one where ongoing consolidation leads to big, unstoppable companies, and Flash developers serve at the behest of their new overlords. He’s totally right – that’s already happening. But then he started channeling Karl Marx and Sun Tzu, preaching that workers (Flash devs) must own the mode of production, or build their castles on less crowded hills. His advice: be platform-agnostic. Don’t be a Flash developer or an iPhone developer or an Android developer. Be an octopus. Constantly dip your tentacles into many different buckets, pulling out new players and audience members on a variety of platforms, so that you don’t become beholden to the powers that will eventually control any particular platform, given enough time.”

It’s funny, I’ve for the longest time identified myself as a Flash Developer – even now as I primarily do C# development. It seems like the advice is conflicting though – some say to specialize and be the best at what you do and some say to “Be an octopus.” I’m starting to lean toward the octopus camp in a Robert Rodriguez “People are scared when you can do everything yourself” kind of way…

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Quote of the Day

From Rework

Ever seen the weapons prisoners make out of soap or a spoon? They make do with what they’ve got. Now we’re not saying you should go out and shank somebody – but get creative and you’ll be amazed at what you can make with just a little.

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