Latest Stuff…
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Upping My Blogger Game
I came across a Hacker News post regarding the year’s most popular bloggers. And the first one really struck me. It’s Simon Willison and his approach to running a link blog. I’ve been blogging off and on (mostly off) since blogging was a thing. I usually lose interest and end up deleting my effort. But…
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How to Play MTG Arena on Mac and Without Epic Games
Today I learned I could play Magic the Gathering’s Arena on my Mac Air. And it runs amazingly well, better than my PC laptop. It loads faster and plays smoother. The other thing I also learned was that you can skip the Epic Games downloader which requires an Epic Games account and is the default…
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First Practice on Vacation
Family took a vacation this week to the dunes and I brought my practice pad and a single drumstick. Aka, my minimalist drum practice kit. I’ve crossed 40 hours and approaching 300k single strokes. My left hand is starting to feel strong. i can now go like 500 strokes without needing to rest. Today I…
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Milestone: 65 BPM Left Hand Strokes
Today I practice my left hand finger strokes at 65 BPM. My first bump in tempo since I started using a metronome to track it. It’s on the edge of my ability. And I do have to take breaks from fatigue. I only did about 20 minutes today, mainly because I want to also work…
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Sabian Quiet Tone Classic
When I search online for good practice pads, it’s interesting to me how many there are. And there are lots of videos that go through dozens and dozens of pads. But most are just a variation of the rubber mat or the cheapie 8 inch plastic one. It took me a long time to find…
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Starting to Use a Metronome in Daily Practice
Today I am starting to use a metronome. I’ve seen enough YouTube videos now where they say you really should be doing *everything* to a quantized beat. Especially beginners. So today marks the date. I start today. I did an hour of left hand quarter note strokes at 60 bpm. I think that’s about as…
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Milestone: 200,000 Left Hand Strokes
My left hand strokes are starting to feel good! I have a sense of control, and it’s a feeling I never knew I didn’t have. It’s like getting a new ability in your body. It’s weird. Other notes: I think my focused efforts are paying off. It’s as though spending time practicing something really does…
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Milestone: 20 Hours of Music Practice
Just hit 20 hours of music practice since I committed to at least one hour of practice per day. So, 20 days ago. Actually less because I couple of days I practiced more (moar!) than 1 hour. The vast majority of the practice time as been spent on just left hand single strokes. I’m up…
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Three Personal Bests in One Day!
Today I practiced two hours of music. That’s a first! And because most of it was left hand finger technique. I logged 20,000 strokes today, also a first. And since I did so many, that pushed me over the 100,000 milestone. When I first started doing this tracking nonsense, at the back of my mind…
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SD10 Swinger Sticks
I do my practice pad work using marching sticks. Big huge heavy things. I like them a lot. They’re easy to hold and rebound easy on the practice pads. But I’ve been asking myself are these the right sticks to be practicing my strokes with? After doing some reading online, I still don’t know the…