maverick dilettante, logic and creativity.
tinkerer of the arts, gadgets, and maverick thoughts.
You might be wondering what happened to the DIY/maker/tinkerer in me in the past couple months…
School took over that for awhile. I needed to cut back…
But also in the past couple months I’ve been working on bikes, sparsely, a couple times a week. My dad snagged a great deal for a 1998 Schwinn Homegrown, the frame on which is supposed to be indestructible, a ‘classic’ mountain bike from its time. And I’ve been determined to make the best out of it.
So… I
- cleaned it with a power washer
- tuned the brakes
- tuned the gears
- freed the @#$@#$@#$ stuck seat post with a ridiculously overkill contraption… it worked
- drilled out the (reallllly nice and light aluminum) rims to accept schrader tubes
- changed the tires from commuter to proper mountain bike tires with a center rib for less rolling resistance on the road (might change that still if I’m going to ride more trails around the area… alum rock’s slopes totally made me slip)
- bought a bike computer to keep track of distance/time
- …and… this past week I changed the fork from a yellow Rockshox Judy SL to a black Rockshox Judy Race (more travel/durable). This has been one of the most frustrating and exhilarating experiences I’ve had to deal with so far. So after swapping the cracked, blown out top caps on the Race with my SL’s, I took the whole thing apart and cleaned everything, then changed the damper oil.
OEM the v-brakes were mounted with some tight !@&#*&@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$ thread lock onto the old fork… I stripped the screw with everything i tried — from regular allen key, to torx wrench, to diagonally fitted flathead. And then pulling advice from a forum, I took a blowtorch, heated the screw for a good 20 seconds, then rapidly cooled it with ice, the expansion and contraction of which hopefully freed up the thread lock. Then I dremeled out a slot in the screw to use a flathead (the allen part was completely mangled), took an impact driver drill and worked the crap out of that screw. And that worked. It was the greatest feeling ever. I felt like I could tackle anything. LOL
lol :3
I find it rather amusing that on the last day of school my dashboard is filled with anon questions that compliment girls’ attractiveness… Applause. She’ll never find out who. But really, you guys should step up your game. o-o
For y’all that missed it.
There was so much love at Grace Lounge :)
Kind of a week late, but…
1. Kim asked Justin out to prom
(lemon date style… kind of long, no vid)
2. Dan played a song dedicated to Trish
3. Jimmy proposed to Tina. (she said yus. ^__^)
The three steps, maaan. I love my youth group x)
There’s another one in september :)
“Precisely because death awaits us in the end, we must live fully. Precisely because an event seems devoid of meaning, we must give it one. Precisely because the future eludes us, we must create it.”
—Elie Wiesel, All Rivers Run to the Sea
(via the-holocaust)
(via valinored)
To be 5 hours of flute practice today, the longest I’ve practiced in one day for any formal instrument playing in my life. This is what I get for putting starting picking up the flute again off for too long.
Praying to God it pays off tomorrow… and if not hopefully my diligence shows through.
C:
mountain biking ^__^
biking at alum rock park was fun today. Brings back memories from 8th grade cross country… I biked the same route we ran ^__^. That said, though I love my bike, I think it’s a little too light or my balance is off or the tread is not at all aggressive enough because it was really tough going up the steep hills without either the front wheel lifting or the back wheel slipping. Eh. I guess it takes practice. Didn’t break a sweat for those two or so miles… it was too short, haha. for once I had to actually think about riding a bike. Going downhill was sooo freaky though, especially on loose dirt. Normally 18 mph is fast on the road for me… that was like the minimum I would go had I not braked the whole time. I wonder how long those brakes will last. lol. But I think I’m in love. hehe. I seriously want to do this every week for the summer, explore new trails and stuff with pastor jonathan, nhi, dan, the rest of the youth group, eh. yeee…
Oh and next time I’ll mount my mini camera to my helmet and upload clips and pics and stuff. the view is awesome. and I wonder if i could catch someone wiping out in front of me. knock on wood.
/12AMramblings
IHS symphony orchestra is soooo good. I wonder if my 2 year rusty flute skill from 1st chair middle school intermediate band will get me in… scared about Mr. P’s tolerance… it would be awesome though… gah. Doubting myself so bad right now. O_________O
I really hate what comes out of my mouth sometimes. I just wish there was some way to check myself without wrecking myself and actually feel comfortable speaking at a normal pace where everyone understands me 100% of the time and like not have that killed for the day by a brain frying thing like AP lang or physical activity or anything. It was really getting to be an awesome day. sheesh. And now even though we’ve made up I’m sure I’ll remember it forever and ever like many other things I’ve said and cringe whenever I think of it. Maybe I was always meant to be restrained.
How Music Travels - The Evolution of Western Dance Music
FROM TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SONGS TO ELECTRO HOUSE.
(Source: fastcodesign.com)
crap. AP lang exam tomorrow. borderline 4 to 5… for the love of all that is good and best in this world, let’s do this thing. writer’s block is not in my dictionary.
Returning my precious Norton Reader T_T
I seriously think I’ve been loving my Norton Reader more than my Bible lately. Countless hours spent SOAPSToning, struggling to tie things together, looking like a hardcore college student poring over tiny text. I wish I could do the same with the latter. Here goes.
They both contain a lot of wisdom. One is a message of love, one is a message of love in the face of reality, a principle handbook on how to survive an increasingly complex world. Yes, with similarly complex prose. A difference which puts a lot of people off to the seeming irrelevance of Bible stuff — both in language and in examples. And true, reading the works of great writers has influenced my own style. I guess you could compare it to a boy trying to make a toy gun out of paper and to be surprised it doesn’t shoot. Yeah, I’ll never be a hard-core philosopher. There’s an element of trusting other’s beliefs for that.
But the Bible will never become a textbook. It’s not that it’s not good enough… it can be a little one-sided, but in the end, satire and criticisms aside, it all comes down to truth/ethics. And more — how you will deal with what you believe in. And I will give it to Jesus for the inspiration to question my beliefs and give it to the Norton for asking me those questions. Because, still, after all this exposure, I still don’t think the Bible is a fairy tale. It’s not that I’ve grown up with it… but there’s always this seed of thought that I get upon reading the Bible, and the author’s craft is not apparent in the book; it’s only evident in divine relationship. And that’s always different from reading the Norton. Reading the Bible is a lot more complex than it seems. So believe what you want to believe. But with all that’s out there, you gotta discern something. I’m glad I’ll still have a 1000+ page book in my collection, tho ^___^
Thanks Mrs. Stover.
Nah, AP Lang won’t make you a Christian, if that’s what you’re worried about. But reading this tome will rock your world. It may seem absurd… I still think so myself. But even with countless study guides in WHAP, I haven’t felt such an admiration for a school textbook. hahaha.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
It must be hard raising a terribly rational, yet self-driven inexperienced son who moves at a pace too fast and in a generation too apart while you try your hardest to give the best for me, from health to safety to cleanliness and awesome food. On the material side at least. Sorry that I always seem too busy. And through those clashing perks, I will always remember the sacrifices you have made for me. Regardless that we cannot sometimes connect anymore, that’s a connection that I haven’t forgotten nor completely have forsaken. I always wish for what could be. And yet in doing so I’m pretty selfish to think your job is to accommodate. I’ll serve as best I can, and sometimes that means soft-spoken obedience and washing dishes. And in those ever-wearing-out arguments that end one step too close to each others’ souls and where I always seem to want to trust my own instincts only, I see beyond my pride and to the care you’ve always had for me. But as the years drag on, in each I will never take our time together nor yourself for granted. And later when our paths will not cross, our lives will always be intertwined, my business always yours. Please don’t grow wrinkles from that. Nor be concerned about your wrinkles. Because your care for me and for all those around you will always exist undemonstrated.
Love,
Huyen. (yeah, that’s my viet name. xP)
New track/Late night jams…
I heard a song (last night) at Grace Lounge, To Build A Home by Cinematic Orchestra.
David, Jusmin, and Allison choreo’d a dance for it and performed it. It’s such a beautiful song.
Came home, felt in the mood, out pops a new beat/remix.
Used Ableton, played around with the ping pong delay and reverb and stuff so that’s where you get all that binaural trippy goodness. :)
Enjoy!
I can feel summer music production coming along. two more weeks, oh the joy.
(minor edit from the 1 AM upload haha xD)
