Thanksgiving rocked. My wife always cooks yummy food, which is a bigtime upgrade from me doing it myself (just over a year ago). She made turkey + stuffing + candied yam and OHHHH it was just so 'licious. We had leftovers the next day, drumsticks. Big ones. I give thanx everyday that she is in my life. We hug a lot. That's a fine sign.

I called my Mom + bro to reminisce. To Merritt, my little sibling (by 2 years), I was like,

"Remember when we were kids and we'd get SOOO excited after we got a new computer, and load all the games in it and play late into the night?"

Can you relate? I watched some demo loaders for old time's sake.

The weekend passed too fast. Then again, it always does. I'm thrilled I got my Mac Pro. I should be more productive… rightaboutnow.

Remind me not to take naps whenever possible. I know for various inventors and other smart folk, they're energizing and inspirational. They just ruin my day's flow and make me cranky. Taking naps is counterproductive. Instead, I want a good night's sleep.

I mainly use an M-Audio Keystation 88ES to play my "piano music". It's just a controller, so no sounds in itself, but I use various computer synth engines which can be quite realistic. The Keystation is very light for its 88 keys, but they're SEMI-weighted. So, downer if you insist on a hammer-action piano feel, but I'm totally cool with them — and I grew up hardcore on a bona fide Yamaha baby grand. The Keystation 88ES fills a nice niche in the market, but what would make it even better: some knobs and sliders! But, there's still a gap between "people who want 88 keys" and "people who want to tweak sounds". As a result, 88-key controller synth workstations are still VERY EXPENSIVE… and not my bag. I'm evolving towards more software synthesis.

I think a lot about my past. Maybe too much sometimes. Not regretfully, but "frozen capsules" of time where I can see a younger me, and wonder what I would've done differently. Likely not much at all, because the foolish, younger Torley learned to become who I am now.

I can't help but feel nostalgic come holiday season.

Don't ever buy a cheap Sabrent 7-port USB hub. You WILL regret it, as I did. Infact, I wrote my first 1-star review @ Amazon, titled "An awful, time-wasting mess. Don't buy this one!" But I am getting a PCI card to add 5 more USB ports to my Mac Pro. It just doesn't have enough to begin with.

I sometimes wonder if I become too pedantic and overly concerned with including every detail. I've become better over the years at "broad brushstrokes" and selectively recounting the most important points. And adept at mentally countering doubts, and "going beyond" on possibilities.

Self-awareness is such an amazing tool to achieve your dreams.

I'm thinking of making a shortlist of the web companies I really, REALLY like. Not just "companies" in the "HUR HURR PROFIT!!" sense, but "Cool people with a clever business model who have great customer service". Like, Wufoo, Lijit, and Picnik. (But wait, there's more!) I'm sure I'll keep sharing as time goes on.

I just felt a compelling need to share this.

It's funny, sometimes I'll forget something I said, then I'll remember I blogged it, and look it up. Especially true when I make tutorials.

Got Windows Live Writer setup on Boot Camp and testing Parallels and VMWare Fusion — I have a slight preference towards the latter due to speed and UI. Couldn't get drag-and-dropping to work. But we'll see. Blogo is OK, I miss title levels in-post. Thanx to Kisa for recommending MarsEdit, but I can't get along without WYSIWYG-ish formatting. Immediate style + content are just too intertwined for me. Maybe looking into Ecto later.

This feels like a whole bunch of Tweets gathered into gestalt form, like Devastator (of Transformers fame, he's one of my faves. But so dumb).

Tested out 100s of Mac shareware today. OK, exaggeration. Still, ran comparisons on multiple programs in a single category, like: image viewer, info-organizer/notetaker, and… oh, I already mentioned blogging. Curious to see what's out there in the field. Batches of experience yield pattern observation, such as: the many times I opened a .dmg, then dragged an application into a shortcut to my Applications folder. And such icon and layout art! How about all those countdown timers on trial versions, usually spanning 2 weeks-30 days?

NakaMats is a crazy genius. But have you ever seen a non-crazy genius? Didn't think so!

I'm occasionally wincing when some of my fave Windows apps aren't on Mac, but then feel a rush of joy when I discover a Mac program works so much better for the same purpose. Am disappointed Google Desktop Sidebar has no Mac presence and some of the gadgets (To Do, Scratch Pad) aren't on Mac. But hey, there's Things.

Whenever I have a problem I write it down, hoping to find a solution.

3/4 of the way through Alexander Brandon's game audio advice book. Smiled very much upon reading the brief story w/Todor Fay, now of NewBlue, Inc. whose video plugins I HEART. I'm going to share more about my experiences with them in the future; if you're looking to spice up your cinematics, they are quality in quantity with simple, no-fuss interfaces. A superb collection.

I get concerned on occasion that I write the same thing the same way too many times, so then I write it a different way. But then, I wonder if that's really my style. And I know if I keep doing it, it WILL be…

Truely excellent and truely awful people can only be human part of the time.

(Is San Pellegrino like luxury 7-Up/Sprite?)

Various conversations I've had recently reaffirm my belief that the end of a story or created thing get disproportional recognition compared to what went into it — the middle guts of the work, so to speak. And yet, without that inbetween, you wouldn't have an ending. (The beginning's important too, of course.)

I may check popurls and various productivity and deals sites many times a day. But I can't stop, they're gladdictive. And I learn a lot I put to dandy use.

NEW TOYS!

Thanx for riding with me in my river of consciousness.

Signing off… for now.