A Solution!

One of the things that I've been working on and off (with more off than on) has been programming my game.  It's not so much the programming that I like, but the ability to create things and the experience of tackling any challenges that come along the way.

Lately I've come up with excuses on why I haven't made much progress; I had a move, a job search, had to learn the systems at the new job, and make new friends.  It's been almost two months since I moved out here and I think my excuses are wearing off.  I'm settled in and I'm going to get back to creating.

The technical me needs to think like the survival me.  I remember being out in Ha'apai and I couldn't climb a particular coconut tree.  My friends and I needed to drink something (since we only brought rum to the island), but the smaller trees that I could safely climb only had hollow shells.  So I improvised by poking at the tall tree with a very long branch.  It wasn't the most efficient method, but it worked and we got our drinks.  I just need to take that thinking and apply it to technology.

One of the many challenges of developing an independent game is the very limited amount of resources.  Compared to others, I'm not a talented programmer or artist/animator and I certainly have no idea when it comes to music theory.  On top of that, I have the manpower of a single person who can't even devote full time hours to develop.  So instead of crying "If only I had X and Y...", I'll break down one problem at a time and improvise with what I have on hand.

Right now, art is an issue.  Well, art isn't so much the issue as animation is.  I want to tell a visually compelling story, but I'm limited by time.  Animation takes each piece of art, then painstakingly requires recrafting frame by frame.  There's a reason why there's usually as many artists as programmers.

How can I easily create (animatable) art quickly?

I typed out my thoughts and then I laughed.  The answer was right there.  The answer is right here.  Text.

Used typography to make the models of your art.  Draw a tree using the letters T R E E.  Draw the hero using the letters H E R O.  You get the idea.

NYC - I love you!

Coffee.  We need coffee.  A coworker and I were busy with a 26 page web site that had a turn around time of two weeks (from mock up to final document - which is an incredibly tight schedule).  It was one of many projects.  2pm, third coffee.  I wasn't heavily involved with the web site, but I'm glad to be a part of it (doing design mockups and brushing off my ancient html skills).

The number and variety of projects at work have been really interesting.  I feel challenged and I get to use a lot of different skills (data analysis, report coding, design).  While analyzing data, sometimes I just think "Wow, that's fucking neat!"

As an example, say someone is giving out a survey.  We know that the location and time will affect the responses.  Now what if we throw in factors like the surveyor's race and the type of questions they ask?  Are you likely to have the same response to a question about racial inequality if asked by a black woman as you would a white male?  Now how do you quantify that data?  If you can, how?  If not, why not?  How do you remove these outside factors from your survey?  Are any outside factors present in your dataset?  You get the idea.

So that's work.

Outside of work has been just as interesting.  I feel like your experience in NYC can vary so much depending on who you are and who you're with.  I feel like this city makes your personality come out, whether that's staying in or going out.

Some people say you need a lot of money to have a good time here.  While that certainly helps, I think you don't need it.  If you know how to have fun, you will have fun.

Lately I've ditched the expensive bars and have been going to a lot of 'underground' events.  If you're good at searching the Internet and adventurous enough, you'll find gems like these:

• 4 Portions of Brooklyn - I arrived at this random guy's apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  He was hosting 4 events at his place that night; an art gallery, a classical band (singing Grimm's Fairy Tales jamming out in the living room), an interpretive dance sequence, and an acoustic set.  The people ranged from Couchsurfers to a New York Symphony Cello player.  There was a small bonfire out in the backyard and the conversation was amazing.  I left feeling the need to read "A History of Love"; iif it could make a grown man cry on the subway, it must be good.  This was a (free) Thursday night.
  
• Stories about online dating - If you've never been to a storytelling event, I highly recommend it.  I believe the Moth is the most famous one here in NYC (though I haven't been to it yet).  I was a huge fan of "So Say We All" when I lived in San Diego.  People basically pour their hearts out in stories (usually around the night's theme) and it's simply beautiful.  This event had me laughing, emphasizing, and even feeling like "the right girl" is somewhere out there.  This was a (free) Tuesday night.

The city does get expensive though.  There was a free secret concert by the Black Keys that I knew was going to happen on Monday (but they gave them away on a Monday morning when I had work).  I did manage to get two tickets to the Black Keys at Madison Square Garden (about $70 each after Ticketmaster).  I'm not sure why I bought two, but I figured I'll meet someone that wants to go by March.

There's also a "Sleep No More" event that I want to check out once I get enough money.  The move from CA, buying furniture, getting a new laptop, and buying winter clothes has put a huge dent in my savings.

All I have to say is, I love this city.

A very nice change of pace

A year ago I was sitting at a remote hostel having Thanksgiving in Canoa, Ecuador.  My friend Diego and I just finished our second surf session of the day and we found ourselves drinking wine, staring into the beach and thinking life can't get better.

Then it does.  A year later, I'm visiting my friends Jason and Carrie in Vermont at an off-the-grid farm, which is their latest caretaking gig.  About five years ago, I met the two in Los Angeles for our Peace Corps staging event.  Throughout the years, I'm glad to have stayed in contact as they traveled from NYC to Palau to Shanghai.


If you list where they've traveled, you would say they find great places to go.  I think they make the places they go great and Vermont was no exception.  The food was amazing and the company even better.  We hiked untouched snow, went fishing/canoeing, built a snowman and continued to fill out our days and evening.

Among the many things I learned...

• How to use snow shoes
• How to use gaiters
• How to play 31 (cards)
• How to play Chinese Monopoly
• How to play Bananagrams
• How to split firewood with an ax
• How to use a chainsaw
• How to sharpen a chainsaw

Among all that, I came with little notice on a holiday and they also drove out over an hour to pick me up/drop me off.  It makes me thankful that I have friends like that.

Updated with pictures!

Ice cream for dinner, one of the many benefits of being an adult!

I love being an adult, I get to have ice cream for dinner :)

Plus I get to have my own place!  This is two weeks after moving into a place in NYC (I was living for a week in a hostel looking for jobs, exploring the city, and finding a place to live)

The place I ended up finding is a small studio in Queens and it's about a 35 minute ride to get to work, which is over on Wall St. in Manhattan.  I guess I'm starting to grow up because when I sign a lease now, I feel happy (that I snag a sweet place) instead of getting depressed (that I'm stuck somewhere).

I can't believe that just a couple weeks ago I only had two backpacks and now I'm almost settled in!  Big thanks to Josephine for helping me out with her car in a crazy Costco run! :)

There's a small kitchenette, which I've used to do some cooking already.

I put together this bed from IKEA; it looks simple, but there were so many parts and it was a little difficult building it solo.  I love the swivel LED lighting; there's something about functional and clean designs that really intrigues me.  I still need to put up some posters when I get a chance.  I'm thinking of getting another "upside down world map" poster similar to the one I had in San Diego.

I plan on programming a lot (as a side hobby) now that I'm settling in.  I can't wait for Android's Ice Cream sandwich to come out.  I've also looked at the things I own in a whole new light; how often do I use something?  Depending on the frequency, I should spend my resources accordingly.  At least that's my justification for getting an Aeron chair...

First Snow and First Visitor!

I'm getting settled into my new place.  I have my mattress, sheets, and most of my kitchen setup.  I still need furniture, curtains and Internet, but I'm working on that.  I'll probably rent a U-Haul this weekend and buy a lot of stuff at the IKEA in Brooklyn (I went there today to scope it out).

Today I also got hot water!   It's helpful since it snowed early (about 4 inches of snow in a couple hours).  I was in Target one minute picking up stuff for the place and when I left it was snowing!    Luckily I had my gore-tex shoes on to walk through the slush.

Work has been great; the people are nice and I'm learning Crystal Reports (it's a pretty powerful tool).  I feel like this is a place where I want to be for years.

I've been going to a few meetups (Android Developers, Reddit, and I'm trying to get into NY Tech, but the list fills up too quickly).

Last but not least, I had my first visitor on Friday night!  A Peace Corps friend is in Jersey for work so we'll be meeting up again tomorrow.

Anyways, that's my update.  I'll try to write something more interesting once I get more settled in.

Excited for next week!

Next week is going to be packed.  Here's my list of to-do's:

Monday - I start my first day of work at Mental Health Association of New York City!  I'm a little rusty on my SQL so I'm brushing up on that right now in case I need it.

Tuesday - Reddit meetup at Peculier Pub after work.  I used to go to the Reddit meetups in San Diego (it's a web site where users can upvote or downvote links/posts to make them appear on the top).  The people there were fellow geeks and it was easy to relate to them.  We would do random social events like go play kickball or meet up at breweries.

Wednesday - I'm meeting up with a friend (that I know through an ex) and we're going to Costco and getting supplies.  It's also the day that I'm moving out of the hostel and into my new place in Sunnyside!  I'll need to call utilities and Time Warner to set things up.  I've been tethering my Internet, but today I hit my 5 gigabytes per cycle cap and now the speed is throttled.

Thursday - I'm checking out a "Discussing Ice Cream Sandwich" session with the New York Android Developers meetup.  I'm hoping this won't be like the San Diego Android group that consistently flaked.

Friday - I'm thinking about hitting up the Museum of Modern Art, but don't really have anything planned yet.

Weekend - I've been trying to get into a soccer pickup game or league, but the waitlist keeps going (about 40 people in, another 40 in waitlist).  I'm also going to try to get a bed and some furniture this weekend.  Maybe rent a zipcar or something for it.

So excited!!! :)  I'm also thinking of hitting up the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers meetup and see if there's a rock climbing gym nearby.  Lately I've been really interested in doing more design (photoshop, illustrator) and want to see if there's any classes for that.

Sometimes I forget...

Oh fuck you Ghosts and Ghouls.  That wasn't even fair.  The zombie spawned right below me.  Oh what?!  You gotta be kidding me; as soon as I jump across the crevasse a ghost spawns, killing me instantly.  I need another beer.

Frogger, I can do this.  Jump, jump, jump, easy peezee lemon squeezy, jump, die.  WTF?!  I made it across safely.  Nothing even hit me.    Maybe that was a glitch, let me try that again.  Nope, the game is just stupid.  I need another beer.

And that's how I lost $15 in quarters, but played a variety of old school arcades from some bicycling newspaper delivery boy game to Rampage (where you're a monster that destroys the city).  The beers were good and it was a fun night.

Even though tonight I was out with a couple of new friends, it's the first night where I felt a little lonely.  I know that the feeling will pass, but I kind of wanted to see some of the new places with old friends.  I get kind of sentimental like that; I like sharing experiences with people and the more they mean to me, the more I want to share the excitement that's going on.  And it's been a long (exciting) week in NYC.

Sometimes I forget how supportive friends and family are.  It's not that I don't appreciate it.  It's that I don't realize the magnitude of the support they've given me over the years.  I guess it's right, you don't realize something until it's gone.

I miss my old roommates Wayne and Martin; I wish we were going to get beers at the bars here.  I miss Adrienne, an ex-girlfriend that later became a great friend and still shows her support through numerous text messages a day.  I miss my friend Sara, whose always up to some outdoor activity and always there with an open ear.  I miss my family, especially my older brother Mike.

Anyways, I know I'll meet new people and create new memories.  I just wanted to say that I do miss everyone.