The Pencil Kings Shading Drawing Challenge is starting this March, and I’m going to try to get better at shading my artwork.
[Read the rest!]Mar 022015
Live School
Education, Music, Technology
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Feb 092015
There’s a really good Intro to Ableton Live course going on right now on Coursera, taught by Erin Barra of the Berklee College of Music. It’s only three weeks long, but it’s a good way to meet a bunch of different people who are into Live, make some music, and pick up some tips.
[Read the rest!]Figure Drawing Challenge
Art, Education, Technology
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Jan 302015
I use art and photography to feed off of each other. So that one helps the other. Art helps me be creative with photography, and photography helps with art. Pencil Kings rebooted their Figure Drawing Challenge this January, and I had a blast. It was just enough work to learn some useful stuff and make
[Read the rest!]Oct 012014
Paying full price is for Suckers. Ouch, that’s harsh, isn’t it? But it’s true. When it comes to music production software and hardware, just about everything software (and some hardware) goes on sale 2-3 times a year. There are a few products that never go on sale, but those products are a minority. A small
[Read the rest!]Sep 252014
In Part Two, you’ll get a lot of links to useful info about free (or very cheap) software synths, effects plugins, and a couple of good sources for low-cost batches of demos and samples. And the best free drum library ever. EVER!
[Read the rest!]Sep 222014
Time to start learning real stuff– let’s get a starter DAW, and talk about hardware a little bit. (But we’re still going to keep it cheap!)
[Read the rest!]Sep 202014
I’m finally putting out my Cheap Guide to Making Music. I’m aiming this at the vast army of people who keep asking the same question over and over, “How do I get into production for cheap?” Part 0 starts with getting your mind set right, and finding some knowledge.
[Read the rest!]Sep 152014
Thanks to a $15/month deal, I signed up for MacProVideo’s monthly service. It’s been good so far. I like the mix of audio and video oriented tutorials. Very useful for someone like me, who works in both areas!
[Read the rest!]The JOI of the N1.
Education, Japanese Language
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Sep 012014
I signed up for the JLPT N1 again, and for classes at JOI. Meanwhile, I ditched Anki for now, and I’m working on improving my reading speed. We’ll see if there’s any change!
[Read the rest!]Ya Big MOOC.
Education, Technology
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Aug 202014
Just a MOOC update. I’m finishing up some stuff on Udacity and Coursera. Took a look at edX, but for a non-profit, it was even more expensive than the two for-profit programs. What gives?
[Read the rest!]Aug 042014
I’m working on my visual sense in order to improve my photography and design. So I’m giving Pencil Kings a shot to see what it’s like.
[Read the rest!]Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study
Education, Foreign Languages, Japan, Japanese Language, Technology, Travel
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Jun 052014
I finally bit the bullet and bought a second Kindle Paperwhite, this time for my Japanese language library. And I don’t regret it one bit. It has become an incredibly powerful tool for improving my Japanese, because I read more books, faster, with the Paperwhite than I have with any other reading platform.
And I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to read Japanese books.
[Read the rest!]Apr 022014
Juan had a question about how I did the Anki cards for the A+ exam. I started to write a reply, and it turned into a book. So I figured I’d post the reply as a blog post instead.
[Read the rest!]Snowmageddon Round Two? (Random Stuff Post)
Art, DIY, Education, Music, Photography, Technology
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Jan 282014
As I’m waiting for a ton of snow to fall, I figured I might as well summarize what’s going on these days. I’m taking more music classes at Coursera; Bitwig Studio is coming out in a couple of months; I found an easy way to ReWire the Yamaha Vocaloid Editor into Live and Cubase; Piapro Studio now accepts non-Crypton voicebanks; the monitor stand works; and finally, my slide duplicating project is taking off as soon as some parts show up.
[Read the rest!]More Coursera Fun
Education, Music, Photography, Technology
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Jan 202014
I love Prof. Hornstein’s lectures. If you’re interested in Environmental Law, he’s teaching on Coursera right now. I’m also taking a music composition class there that follows the rules in Mozart’s time. Also, Paddy may be one of the coolest Lightroom plugins, ever!
[Read the rest!]Reason Book and Other Stuff
Education, Music, Technology
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Jan 052014
I’m turning the corner on the cold. My Reason book showed up. It’s awesome~! I’m also agonizing over getting Push or Maschine.
[Read the rest!]Oct 212013
Man, that was nerve-wracking. Part two of the A+ exam was trickier than I thought it would be. I know a lot of this stuff just because I’ve been messing around with computers all my life. I’ve built every computer I’ve used for the last 20 years. (Except for laptops.) But if you ask me
[Read the rest!]A+ Part One: Pass!
Education, Japanese Language, Technology
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Oct 112013
Passed the first part of my A+ Certification. Woot. Now I have to get ready for my sis and nephew’s visit this weekend. Part two is in ten days. Gotta hustle!
[Read the rest!]Glass in Durham
Education, Music, Photography, Technology
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Oct 052013
I got to see what all the fuss about Google Glass was about. It’s pretty cool. I’m also cramming like crazy for part one of my A+ certification test next Friday.
[Read the rest!]Anki Assault / Piano Practice
Education, Japanese Language, Music, Technology
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Sep 102013
I’m dumping tons of new content into Anki now, which I’ve finally upgraded to 2.0. The upgrade wasn’t that bad. And I’ll need it for the N1 and A+ exams. Greenshot and e.Typist are making my exam prep a lot easier, too, helping me OCR stuff and dump it into Anki. Also, the piano class is a lot of fun.
[Read the rest!]Music School
Education, Music, Technology, Travel
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Sep 032013
This fall is going to be hectic. I’m going to take a couple of music classes at UNC’s new Community Music School. I’ll also be preparing for the N1, and getting ready for the Boston Career Forum by getting my A+ certification. Somewhere in there, I’m going to need time to breathe!
[Read the rest!]Fahrenheit 451 or What Do I Do With These Things You Call “Books?”
Education, Technology
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Jul 312013
It seems like everyone is getting rid of paper copies of books these days, and I’m joining the herd. I’ve donated 8 boxes of old books so far, and I probably have another 8 or so I can get rid of. Companies like O’Reilly that let you get DRM-free e-books make the transition a lot smoother.
[Read the rest!]Grabbing the N1 Bull by the Horns
Education, Japanese Language, Technology
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May 072013
My calligraphy class in Raleigh has ended for good, unfortunately. So to fill that gap, I’m going to try taking some online classes at the Japanese Online Institute, which has an online speech/chat/whiteboard way of group learning for pretty reasonable prices.
[Read the rest!]Done with Intro to Music Production
Education, Music, Technology
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Apr 272013
I finished the Berklee intro to music production class on Coursera. It was educational and fun. I wish they had more free offerings that went into more depth, but that’s all we get.
[Read the rest!]Coursera-sera // Nektar Panorama P4
Education, Music, Technology
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Feb 092013
I’m trying out an Intro to Sound Design class in Coursera. It looks pretty interesting. I’m really getting more and more into music production (as a hobby for now), and I want to learn more how to do it. Having a MOOC teach it makes it easier than wading through thousands of YouTube videos. Also, my Edirol MIDI controller finally gave up, so I replaced it with a Nektar Panorama P4. I love it.
[Read the rest!]Working on My Japanese
Education, Japanese Language
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May 012012
I met up with my first Japanese teacher from when I was a grad student about ten years ago. A-sensei is a great person who will always help a former student out, and I really appreciate it. We had a nice chat and she’s going to connect me with some local folks to talk to.
[Read the rest!]Feb 102012
I did my 12 hours of CLE again, and listened to some interesting, but depressing, environmental law seminars.
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