Randomness of NYC

The randomness of NYC... I found an art project where you show up, get a free train ticket to a random destination, then you document your travel.  I'm going to check this out next week.  Seems neat!

http://unknowndestinations.org/

Dating

I recently joined okcupid, an online dating site that matches people based off their answers to random questions.  The questions range from relationship specific (e.g. "Is it mandatory for your significant other to have a college degree?") to some that are just interesting (e.g. "What's worse, starving children or starving animals?")


Here's my thought process when answering questions.  The web site asks "Are you intense or carefree?"  I'm intense in some ways; I watched two seasons of Breaking Bad in one weekend... does that count?  Oh man, am I really on a dating web site?  People do say I'm laid back.  Maybe I should delete my profile before someone I know recognizes me.  Maybe I'm more carefree.  All right, I'll keep the profile and play it by ear.  Okay, carefree it is.

Anyways, I tried okcupid out for a few weeks while in San Diego, but it didn't really stick.  I went on one date, which went okay, then I disabled my account.  During that time, I think I had about 15 profile visits a week.

A few weeks ago I went to reactive my account.  I looked through my previous answers and found that I think a lot differently now than I did just a couple years ago.  For example, one question asked "Would you be okay with your significant other seeing their ex as a friend?"    My previous answer was a flat "No".  Now, my thoughts are "Sure, go for it".

Most of my answers were slightly different so I just deleted the account and started from scratch.  Since 2012, (around when I reactivated the account), I've gone on four dates and I already notice a huge difference between West Coast (San Diego) and East Coast (NYC) dating.

In San Diego's dating scene, the odds were against straight men.  I thought it was pretty difficult to find a girl my age that was thoughtful, intelligent, into the outdoors, and passionate about something.  At bars, the girls were always being pursued; you could always see a group of men swarming around the girl.  The girls either loved the attention (usually the type that I didn't like) or they hated the attention (and didn't go back to bars).  That's why we couldn't have nice things in San Diego.

In NYC's dating scene, the odds are heavily in favor of straight men.  It's a good mix between girls and guys.  The guys are just as likely to be gay as straight, thus the odds being in favor of straight men (from my experience, I haven't met as many lesbians).

The NYC girls seem a lot more substantial too.  We have the rock climbing programmer who does non-profit hackathons, the yale grad going for her JD and PhD in political philosophy while TAing at Princeton, the RPCV teaching at a charter school, and the sociology professor that loves the outdoors.

So yeah, NYC is better in the dating scene too.  I love this city.

Guitar!

I wish I had my guitar here!  Edit: I just picked up a ukulele! :)  Edit Edit: My older brother just sent me my Takamine guitar!

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...