Monthly Archives: March 2018

I got to the end of Desert Golfing.

I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this here. I’ve been playing the jeepers out of this game for a couple of years. And now I’m at the end. It’s a surprisingly great feeling.

This is a good read if you’re a fan of the game. It talks about the guy behind the game, Justin Smith, and his decision to make the game beatable for the unlucky players who had come up against Impossible Holes (of which I was one).

I’m irrationally excited at getting to the end. 11,100+ holes.

I’m also a bit lost. While I’m still playing Clash Royale and Alto’s Odyssey on the regular, Desert Golfing has been a constant for years.

kottke.org is 20?!?!?

Holy smokes. kottke.org is 20 years old.

Cheers to him for sticking with it. I’ve always admired kottke.org as the what a blog could be, but more importantly what a blog should be. No bullshit clickbait, no intrusive ads, just the best of what the web has to offer.

Slow Burn Podcast


Slow Burn is a recent podcast from Slate that i’ve been enjoying. The narrator, Leon Neyfakh, presents Watergate as it unfolded, taking special care to present some smaller characters that have been forgotten over the years. The Martha Mitchell story is sad and very interesting. She was wildly famous in the 60’s for her part in Watergate, but she’s also not someone I’ve ever heard of. Neyfakh drew a parallel between her and Anthony Scaramucci because everyone knows that name right now, but in 20 years, no one is going care or remember someone who served in the White House for 11 days. He also makes some really obvious connections between the way the Watergate scandal unfolded and the current Russia Election Tampering/Collusion investigation we’re living through. It doesn’t take much to connect those dots.

The episodes are pretty short so it’s an easy binge over a weekend.

Alto’s Odyssey

Alto’s Odyssey is the sequel to Alto’s Adventure, a great (and very chill) iOS game. The basic gameplay is the same but I think they’ve added enough new mechanics for it to feel fresh. I don’t generally get down with the endless runners, but this one does it for me. I’ve been playing a ton. It’s taken a lot of time from my other iOS obsessions, in fact.

adidas Boost

After hearing Gabe describe the adidas Boost as “the most comfortable shoe I’ve ever worn” I felt like I had to try them. I’m a shoe dork, which is different from a sneakerhead, but I figured if I could find a pair at a steep discount it would be worth the investigation.

These are not the most comfortable shoe I’ve ever worn. They’re not even the most comfortable sneaker I own. Maybe I chose the wrong model, or maybe I’m too big for the Boost to cushion, but they’re only okay. I’m going to rock them hard this summer to see how they hold up. I’m not optimistic.

All 105 Liverpool Goals this season, so far.

It’s been a tremendous scoring season for Liverpool and this video has me hyped!

With 9 Premiere league matches left, plus however long they last in the Champions League, there is room for plenty more.

The Biophonic Boombox Recordings by The Nightcrawlers

The Biophonic Boombox Recordings is an archived collection of the tapes released by The Nightcrawlers, an 80’s electronic ambient improvisation group. I know, I know. But it’s really been treating me right at the office while I’m working.

All of these songs were recorded directly onto a tape in a JVC boombox. It’s a punk rock way to record your band.

American Open Series 1, March 4th 2018

I had a big weekend at the American Open Series 1 at The Arnold, in Columbus, OH. This was my 3rd weightlifting meet and it was successful again. I added 1kg to each of my lifts for a new meet total PR.

The weekend started badly on Friday when I got caught in a huge traffic jam. I was parked on the highway for over two hours. People were out walking their dogs. It was weird.

I stopped in Charleston, WV for the night at about 1am, caught some sleep, and then got back out on the road to Columbus at 8am on Saturday. My lift session wasn’t until Sunday at noon so there was plenty of time to rest and stretch.

The way the weight/age classes worked out I was one of two lifters, so all I had to do was complete at least one of each lift to get a medal. The other guy in my class was *way* stronger, so I was looking at the silver (which I got pretty easily).


That lift above was my final lift of the meet, a 101kg clean and jerk, and a PR. It was exciting.


The other best part of the weekend was spending time with my gym friends. The Weight Room is my home gym and the best place I can imagine for getting strong. Chris does a great job of preparing athletes to compete and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without him. Danny is the whole reason any of us go to The Arnold. He competes in Strongman and finished this weekend as the #9 amateur middleweight strongman in the world. The way he works in the gym is inspiring and I’m glad we’re pals. Wayne was my friendly nemesis for this meet. We had the same qualifying total so we were training like this was a head-to-head contest. I won, obvs., but he’s also 5 years older than me so he’ll probably mention that if he ever hears me bragging.

My next meet is set for April 14th in Dowell, Va., at the 2018 Virginia LWC Championships and Open. I’ll tell you how it goes.