The birds were singing in every tree

I bought a Playstation3 a little while back. It came with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I have already completed the game and found it to be decent, but not nearly as great as everyone says. I would give it about a 6.5 to a 7....whereas it is usually rated at 9+. The "plot twist" toward the end of the game just felt totally unnecessary and silly. The controls were sluggish and enemies would shoot at you from SO far away when you can just barely see them. Oh well. I might play the second one, but I will want to play a demo first to see if they fixed the controls issue.

I already have a decent list of ps3 games I want to play. skate, Assassin's Creed, Demon's Souls, Borderlands, and inFamous are on that list right now. Erin and I borrowed Little Big Planet from my brother, so we will be playing that a bit right now. It seems a little simplistic right now, but at the same time, seems like it could really widen up.

I finished the guitar neck I had been working on with tru-oil. I really like the feel of it and the satin finish I got by rubbing it down with #0000 steel wool after rubbing on several coats of the oil. I also got a pair of guitar bridges (one of them will go on the body I have been working on) and drilled the installation holes in the body for them. I started to put a coat of clear poly over the painted body, but it wasn't taking it too well. While removing (again with #0000 steel wool) the poly, I wound up sanding through the paint that I wanted to keep...so I think that body is as finished as it will be. I'll have to scuff the whole thing down and repaint it -- at least this way I can smooth a bunch of smaller things out and hide my repairs better...I will string the body up and play it acoustically for a little before I commit to making a pickguard and figuring out pickups/electronics for it.

Christmas wasn't bad. Erin surprised me by buying me a new skateboard. It is this one. We went to her grandparents' ranch on Christmas day, spent the night there, then drove to Katy for the day after and then back to Austin that evening. Then we woke up early to go to San Antonio to go to the zoo/visit my brother. Erin had her other 2 wisdom teeth out Monday and I had to go back to work on Tuesday. My new skateboard is pretty nice, though. I REALLY needed new trucks, and I really noticed the difference while I was riding a bit at my parents' house.

CUSTOM CARS AND CYCLES!

I hate those cd commercials where that guy yells at you about some "HOT NEW ALBUM". If I wanted to be shouted at, I would buy everything from street vendors or some shit like that.

I really want a bulldog. I want to try to teach it to skate. I wish I had thought about that before Erin donated that skateboard to goodwill... I want to name it Schrodinger...or maybe Oppenheimer. If we get a second, it will take the other name.

I've been steadily working on a guitar neck. It's getting closer to being done. I basically need to try to see how much it really needs a level and crown (I did the fretwork this past weekend) then I need to carve the back. That has me a little nervous, because I am so close to being done. I'm also working on shaping a nut out of a bone I bought at the pet store. I paid $5 for a huge bone I can cut probably 20 nuts out of, or I could have paid $5 per nut blank from a guitar parts supplier...dumb question.

I'm currently reading The Terror by Dan Simmons. I think I'm about 1/3 of the way through it and like it so far. It's not really scary...but it is odd in a mildly unsettling way. I might read The Raw Shark Texts next (Erin's dad gave it to me) or I might go on to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I've been kind of "saving" that one, but I'm worried I might have drawn it out too far and hyped it too high...

I can tell you how it feels to be a gypsy...

Erin and I have our 7th anniversary today. 7 years seems like such a long time, but I think we're just as happy as ever. We're going to Z Tejas for dinner tonight to celebrate. This has been a busy semester for her, and I've had some pretty late nights recently, but we've still found a decent amount of time to spend together.

I'm of mixed feelings about the change in the weather. I used to love the cold weather times. I like wearing sweaters and stuff, but I never really got TOO cold, so it was pretty much ideal...however, the cold has been affecting me more and more over the last few years. This winter, in particular, has been very cold for me...I think some of it may be due to the fact that I've lose about 40 pounds...so my bodyfat content is probably significantly lower than it was before. I still like wearing sweaters and stuff, though.

I finished that neck prototype and have begun building my "final copy". It is kind of nerve-wracking due to the fact that it is pretty nice looking lumber. I managed to center one nice ambrosia streak down the center of the fretboard for effect. I hope I don't make any mistakes that won't be fixable. My router table sucks, so some of the shaping was a bit rough. I didn't have any major tearout, though, and have sanded most of what came up. So far, I've just routed the outline shape as well as the truss rod cavity. I might post some pictures of that process, the jigs I use, and the such, for documentation purposes.

I am expecting a delivery for many of the remaining parts that will make up the guitar, but I still have no idea what pickups I plan to use. I will probably just wind something myself at first and decide later if I want to change them. Additionally, I'm unsure about pickguard material...I bought some vinyl tile that I will use temporarily...can't beat 88 cents. I might go with some plain black garolite, but I feel this guitar might call for something a little flashier -- perhaps black pearl pickguard, or even brown tortoise, but that gets pretty pricey...which is silly because it's just a sheet of plastic.

Dear sir, I write this note to you to tell you of me plight

I've done a bit more work on that guitar body. I routed out the neck pocket and the swimming pool pickup route. I may need to deepen the swimming pool route, but I can do that later. As far as the body is concerned, I just need to drill holes for the bridge mounting cups and finish the finishing process. I will probably try to go for a nice shiny surface.

I built started on a prototype of the neck, as well. It is really really wide, but I think I'll like it. So far, I shaped the neck, thicknessed the headstock, drilled holes for the tuners, routed for the truss-rod, and drilled access holes for the truss rod. Still to do would be to fit the truss rod, plug the headstock hole, sand the transition, shape and install the skunk stripe, cut fret slots, shape the back of the neck, radius the front, then install frets and finish. For the prototype, because it is made of pine (not good for stability/sturdiness) I won't do everything. I won't install all of the frets, I won't install a truss rod, but I should do everything else, just to make sure that the new shape doesn't throw any new challenges.

I have some progress pictures of the body.

This one shows the back of the body with the tremolo route filled with a bit of mahogany.

From Strat/Mustang

This one shows the front of the body with the front bit of the trem route filled with mahogany. I've also cut the swimming pool route and the neck pocket.

From Strat/Mustang

This one shows the front of the body with the mustang-style tremolo plate installed, the yellow is a posterboard template for the pickguard I want to use, and the neck is actually only the neck template, as I hadn't started the prototype neck yet.

From Strat/Mustang

I ran 3 miles the day before yesterday. I really got into a good pace and probably could have run 2 more, but I was bored. I know I finished them somewhere between 20 and 26 minutes, but that's just because I know it was 6:02 before I changed into my shorts and it was 6:28 when I got back...also, I can't imagine that I ran my third mile faster than 6:30, as that's how fast I usually run my first mile...

She dances in a photograph...but that was yesterday

I've been working a bit more this past couple of weeks, which has made running a bit more difficult. I've tried to keep it to at least 3 days a week, but I would prefer to get it back up to 4 or 5 days a week. My hasn't been improving like it had been; I think I've hit a wall in that regard. Speed was never really my goal, anyhow, so I'm not really frustrated or anything.

I made a template for my guitar's neck pocket, made a heel to match it, designed the neck from there and drew out a headstock. From there, I made a template for the headstock. Now I just need to make the neck template, route the body, make the neck, then proceed. I may toss up some pictures at some point, but I'm just so bad at photographing my projects....

Erin and I have seen a few movies lately... Inglourious Basterds was really really good, District 9 was also very good. 9, however, was disappointing (for me, at least). I felt that the story and animation were lacking. The concepts, however, were great...

There are a bunch of other movies I want to see, but a lot of them are too "scary" for Erin to watch...so I may have to wait until they're out on video or something, I guess.

As I was going over the far-famed Kerry mountains

Another long time between posts...

I've been running at about the same pace (down as low as 13:20 for 1.96 miles...but usually around 13:30-13:50). Trying to run and ensure I do it at least 3-4 times a week. I've slipped a few times because work has been hectic and we've been swimming a lot on the weekends (because I like to swim at the bottom, my ears hurt and a few days later, I get sinus headaches...ear infection?). I'm happy with my weight and my exercise, though, so I'm just trying to keep it from feeling like a chore.

I've been reading quite a lot lately. Mostly Stephen King (I found that the Dark Tower series ended [well, it ended in 2004, but the last time I checked was way before then] and had always wanted to read it...so I've started that), but I also picked up one other book: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I was immediately drawn to the fact that the book appeared old. It was a hardback edition, and the dustjacket is a thin paper over plastic; the paper bends and gets distressed easily while the plastic gives it structure. The pages are also rough-cut. I knew immediately that it wasn't new because Half Price Books had 4 copies that appeared to be in nearly the same condition, but with different distressing on the sleeves (same type, but different locations). I opened the book to find that it was printed in 2004. I probably would have bought it anyway based solely on the cover (I have judged books by their covers since I began reading and it has almost never done me wrong), as it was a fantasy book (which is probably my favorite genre) but the little blurb on the inside cover sounded good, so I definitely had to pick it up. I'll try to remember to review it once I've read it (which might be after The Dark Tower...I'm a little more than halfway through book 2 of 7).

I've had some luck with guitar neck building. I think my processes and techniques are all in a row, except for fret slotting. I have an idea, but have been consumed with another project. Artie gave me a strat body a long time back (along with the neck I put on my thinline I built) but it was in pretty poor shape. The neck pocket is uneven and poorly cut, the trem route was NOWHERE NEAR being square with the centerline, but I painted it a really nice color... I've opted to patch the trem route with a bit of mahogany I picked up at WoodCraft. I will be installing a trem spring cover on the back like a strat (but it will have to be oversized to cover the patch, which I didn't paint) and I will install a Fender Mustang bridge/trem unit (primarily because it covers the patch on the front of the body. I'll probably wind up routing this one with a swimming pool route (so I can swap pups as I see fit) but I'm not getting too ahead of myself. The trem unit still needs to be routed. Once that's in place, I'll draw off a center line and figure out the neck pocket. Assuming I can make something work, I'll build a neck from my piece of ambrosia maple (probably 24" scale length or something a little smaller, just for fun and because I don't want to BUY a shortscale, but I've always wanted to at least try one out). I plan to install a black pickguard, maybe black pup covers and black knobs, but that might be too much black. We'll see.

I've been really tired the last few mornings, despite getting a decent number of hours of sleep. It's quite unfortunate.

If I could open my mouth...

I haven't updated in over a month. Oh well.

Haven't really been up to that much. I've still been running. I've gotten my time down to below 14 minutes. I've also measured the distance and it is about 1.96 miles...not terrible.

Guitar building has been going slowly, and I still haven't done a "real" neck yet. I'm too worried of screwing up, I guess. I've got a stack of pine necks that I'm working on right now. So far, they're roughly cut to shape. I need to cut fret slots, drill some holes, plug the skunk stripe and sand a transition, also shape the fretboard. Then it's the part I really like: spokeshave! The fret slots are the only part I'm still worried about. I really need to figure that one out well...otherwise the whole thing is just pointless. I have a few ideas, but I might wind up spending some money to buy a fret miter box.

Work is fine. Our office moved to a mostly-cubicle environment from a mostly-office environment. In a way, it's nicer, because I have my own "space"...I used to share an office with another guy on the team; in another way, though, that space is less private (you can hear conversations from a few rows over with relative ease). However, the thing I really like is that our teams feel (to me, at least) a bit more cohesive. Not only do we sit in little cube areas, but the teams we interact with most tend to be in the areas bordering ours...so things feel a bit more effective, in that way. Plus, the new building is a lot nicer than the old one.

I think I had a sinus infection earlier this week, but I'm not sure. My sinuses just felt like hell and my nose was running clear junk for a few days. Then the sinus pressure eased and giant chunks of green stuff came out when I blew my nose. Now I'm better. Erin got sick right after I got better, though...but we're pretty sure hers was just allergies...her symptoms weren't the same or as severe as mine.

I'm getting my computer set up again. Fedora 11 is pretty sweet.