Thanks for feeding the testers

I finished the work assignment today, that I have been on since February (See My fitness commitment.) Although we hit a few rough spots along the way, it ended well. The rest of the test team took me out for lunch today.

The work load was pretty intense for a while, especially in May, but it lightened up in the last few weeks.

I had started doing the stairs every day at first, but that fell off when things got really busy. I was completely off the stairs for several weeks. Towards the end of the assignment I was doing them sporadically, maybe a couple of times a week. Of course I did them yesterday and today, for the last time.

Given the business relationship that exists between my employer and the client, I am sure I will be back there for another project.

In the meantime, it's time to say So long and thanks for all the timbits.

Dreamin' and screamin'

Every once in a while I have a bad dream and wake myself up screaming. Several months ago, I had such a dream. In my dream, there were intruders in the basement of my house in the middle of the night. I try to shout to scare them off and warn my family of the threat in our house. Of course, my vocal chords are immobilized because I am asleep and I am unable to make a sound. This heightens my fear in the dream and escalates my attempts to shout until I am quite literally screaming at the top of my lungs and I wake up. It was a very unsettling experience.

I had another, similar yet different experience of that on the weekend. This time I did not have a scary dream. I could scarcely remember at all what I'd been dreaming. I had a vague impression that I'd been standing on the sidewalk on the street where my parents live. I had a vague impression that I'd been dealing with some people and that I was upset with them. I had a vague impression that there was something inside me I needed to express. It started as a low pitch in my gut, and it increased in pitch and in volume as the scream rose up through my chest, through my throat, and out my mouth. That's about when I woke up.

There is something inside my subconscious that is trying to get out.

Reason, automation, and Matrix

I have figured out how to record automation in Reason. It was pretty intuitive how to do it - just a matter of spending a little bit of time fiddling around.

I used a component called Matrix Pattern Sequencer. Matrix itself does not make any sounds. Instead, you use it to define a pattern, which is a sequence of notes to play. Matrix then sends the appropriate note information to another component, such as the Subtractor Synth, which generates the sound.

Matrix has four banks, named A through D. Each bank can contain up to eight distinct patterns, numbered 1 through 8. Thus there can be up to thirty two distinct patterns, from A1 to D8.


For the Painted Smiles intro, I used three patterns, A1, A2 and A3. By recording automation for the pattern selector, I was able to have Matrix play the required pattern at the appropriate position within the song.

While playing around, I had an idea for an alternate chord progression for Verse 1. I don't know which chord progression to use for my demo - my next step will be to make a mini-demo using each one and decide which one I will stick to.

Starting Chapter 2 - Mission: Dawn

I've decided not to let the fact that I haven't finished Chapter 1 stop me from starting Chapter 2.

My objective for Chapter 1 was to introduce the story, introduce the characters, introduce the ship.

My objective for Chapter 2 is to introduce Planet 542 - show us the world, show its inhabitants, how they see themselves, how they see the world around them. Show what all that is like before the unintentional interference from Dawn occurs.

Chapter 2 is also where I plan to introduce Dr. Tsui, and explore the interactions between the characters we've already met in Chapter 1.

Vacation calling

There's been a vacation calling me - it finally decided to leave a message. J and I are going to Sault Ste. Marie for a few days to ride on the Agawa Canyon tour train. We're going in July and we've already made our reservations. Woo-hoo!

It's nice to have a niece

I have a new niece! She was born last week, on June 16, 8.3 pounds, and a head full of black hair. Her birth date makes her a Gemini. This is what her horoscope read on her birth day:

You're quite the person about town, making the scene and having a boatload of fun. Those you leave in your wake are entirely impressed -- and, in some cases, entirely enamored.

J and I went to see her on the weekend. I got to hold her - I never held a three day old baby before!

My congratulations and blessings go out to her mom and dad, and to her sister and brother that preceeded her into this world.

I've got Reason, I've got rhythm

I had a chance to fiddle with Reason again the other night. I was trying to get a particular drum sound that I want to use in the intro of my song, Painted Smiles. In the end, I didn't end up with the sound I wanted - the one I hear inside my head.

I want to make a version of Painted Smiles using Reason. Doing so will give me an opportunity to get more experience with this product.

My next step is to learn how to record automation. Knowing how to do this means that when I want to change a song parameter, such as a note or volume or temp, I can record the parameter changes and the software will automatically apply the changes during playback.

Once I know how to do that, I can combine the three different note sequences that make up the intro to Painted Smiles.

Good time, not a lot of time

J and I have been going through a rough patch the last few weeks. J has commented that we haven't been spending much quality time together. I gess I've been feeling the same. Between our work stress, real estate stress, and just the general busy-ness of life, the quality of our relationship has suffered.

J's feeling that we don't spend enough time together has been a recurring theme in our relationship. Despite my attempts to make myself more available to her, I have finally come to the realization that I cannot give her any more time than I already am giving, not without compromising my integrity to my self. We are already spending lots of time together and I can not, will not, give more of my time to us.

What I can do however, is improve the quality of the time I spend with her. The issue here isn't about how much time we spend together, but about how we spend the together time we have.

Reason or excuses?

I have some left-brain activities I need to take care of. Checks to write, bills to pay, that sort of thing. I was going to do some of that tonight. I just couldn't make myself do it though.

My right-brain started clamoring for my attention. It wanted, it pleaded, it begged me to pay it some attention. So I fired up a piece of software I have, called Reason. Reason is a music-creation program with a really cool user interface. It resembles a hardware rack, like you might find in a studio, and provides various sound and effect generating components, just like their hardware counterparts.



I played around with it a bit tonight. I set up a funky groove based on a song I wrote, Painted Smiles, and got a pretty nice result. Fun, fun fun! Though I think J got bored because I kept playing the same loop over and over and over again and again.

I would like to do a full version based on the parameters that I set up tonight. Sigh. I think my life is terribly out of balance. Too much left-brain stuff to do, not enough time for the right-brain stuff.

My morning exercise routine

I have a morning exercise routine I have been following for the past few days. The routine consists of - roll over, stretch out my arm, hit the snooze button. Set of four repetitions.

Maybe I can make my own exercise video. Move over Jane Fonda.

Please feed the testers

A coupe of weeks ago when I was still assigned to test execution at work, I was in the test lab with the other testers. One of the environmental support guys came into the lab with a new guy he was training. I heard him say to the trainee, in a total deadpan, that they need to come in at nine o'clock every morning and take orders from the testers for coffee and donuts.

That gave me an idea - I took a piece of paper and with a highlighter I wrote, Please feed the testers, and I pinned it to the wall. When one of the other testers saw it, he said the sign needs to be bigger. So I took a larger sheet of paper and wrote the same thing and put it up. Meanwhile, the other tester got into the spirit - he made a third sign on his computer, complete with clip art.

Today, there are still three signs up in the test lab that say Please feed the testers, and one of the managers bought a box of donuts for us on the thirteenth floor as well as a box for the testers in the lab.

June bugs

I can't believe it's June already. It snuck up on me pretty fast. I got to work yesterday at 9:30, then realized I had a doctor's appointment at 12:45. I knew I had this appointment coming up in early June - I had made the appointment about two months ago. However, June 1 crept up on me so fast it caught me off guard.

We had a shift of direction at work last week. Some of us who had previously been doing test execution got pulled off in order to revise the test scripts. Some new resources (i.e. people) were added to continue the test execution. I'm finding that the experience I've gained from doing test execution for the last month and a half has given me new perspectives now that I am writing (or re-writing) scripts again. If I'd known when I first started this assignment, what I know now!

I expect to be on this assignment for another few weeks. The intensity at work is taking up a lot of my energy, so I'm noticing that my personal goals like my music, creative writing, are falling behind. I'm even having trouble keeping up with my blogging.

I think there's a vacation calling for me.