My new blog. (Don't be jealous, old blog.)

You all know about my new blog/podcast. I'm kinda pleased with how it's going so far. I've received plenty of wonderful compliments, and it's made me play the piano once a week (which is more than I was playing), and it's kept my mind busier than it was a month ago. That said, there have been some negative results.

1) I have contacts at the NSA that track views of my page, as well as downloads of the individual mp3s. They make handy graphs for me, like these:
As you can see, on the day I invited everyone to partake, I got a healthy response of 62 people looking at my website. 62! That's a lot of people. However, I happen to also know that I sent out over 250 emails, and I'm not happy with a 25% response rate. Furthermore, as the graph plainly shows, most of those people have not come back.


2) In preparing this music for public consumption, I have been listening to it over and over. I have decided that this is unhealthy. I am listening to myself far too much. If I hated it, that would be one thing, but I happen to really like it. I feel kind of gross doing it, listening to my lovely playing again and again. It's like admiring yourself in a mirror.

Learning.

I read an interesting article online about learning and insights from a study of chess players. Here's an excerpt:

"Ericsson [K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University] argues that what matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study,' which entails continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one's competence. That is why it is possible for enthusiasts to spend tens of thousands of hours playing chess or golf or a musical instrument without ever advancing beyond the amateur level and why a properly trained student can overtake them in a relatively short time. It is interesting to note that time spent playing chess, even in tournaments, appears to contribute less than such study to a player's progress; the main training value of such games is to point up weaknesses for future study.

"Even the novice engages in effortful study at first, which is why beginners so often improve rapidly in playing golf, say, or in driving a car. But having reached an acceptable performance--for instance, keeping up with one's golf buddies or passing a driver's exam--most people relax. Their performance then becomes automatic and therefore impervious to further improvement. In contrast, experts-in-training keep the lid of their mind's box open all the time, so that they can inspect, criticize and augment its contents and thereby approach the standard set by leaders in their fields."

Here's a link to the article, "The Expert Mind," by Philip E. Ross:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=00010347-101C-14C1-8F9E83414B7F4945&print=true

Movies.

I just watched an online trailer for a movie called "Definitely, Maybe" which made me glare at the screen. It is about a man (played by Ryan Reynolds) who, heading into a divorce, tells his daughter a story about how he met, fell in love with, and married her mother, but he leaves out the names and changes some facts so that the daughter won't know which girl in the story is her mother until the end. I guess it's kind of a clever premise; sort of a Memento turned forward - revenge + Abigail Breslin. The three women in his story are played by three of the most beautiful actresses I've ever seen — blonde, brunette, redhead — and that's where they lost me. I know that people in the movies are always better looking, but this was ridiculous. In the trailer, besides being gorgeous, all three women also appear to be smart, talented, altogether perfect, and COMPLETELY into the guy. Well, I am fed up. I demand my three perfect women to choose from.

There was another online trailer I watched recently that depressed me, but for a completely different reason. It was for a documentary about the mystifying recent occurrence of Vanishing Bee Syndrome, which is threatening bee populations across the country and could wreak havoc on our agricultural system. The trailer was very interesting, and I hope I get to see the movie, but man, it was a downer.

http://www.vanishingbees.com/

Books.

I am not much of a reader. I'd really like to change that about myself, but for now it is the truth. And so, when I read a book, I am reminded of how great books are, and I think I might get a little overenthusiastic about them. I remember a while back reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being. From the first page, I was floored. I know that I emailed people I cared about, telling them to read this book, even as I was working my way through page 13, page 22, page 49. I never finished it. Things came up, I had to return it to the library.

So, here, a grain of salt for you... Okay. Now, I just started a book called Stumbling on Happiness, by Daniel Gilbert – it was a Christmas present from my sister – and I'm really enjoying it. I'm on page 11. The foreword really made me think! There was an idea in it about how we do all sorts of altruistic things every day for our future selves. You know, save money, eat healthy, that sort of thing. I thought that was a great idea. I've never been one to care about myself enough to do situps, but maybe I could care about Future Chris. I bet he's a nice guy; we'd probably get along well.

This is a cartoon that I drew a while back.

Groups of N.

I'm trying to make a list of famous groups of N, for every N between 1 and 20. For example, if N=7: Wonders of the Ancient World; Deadly Sins; Noble Gases. Can you help me? Just comment with your favorite groups of things, and I will compile them. If a list like this already exists, point me in that direction, will ya? Thanks.

A troubling trend in Chris Hubbard's life.

He has begun to use the made-up exclamation "Friggity Frack!" instead of the concise "Fuck!" If he is not careful, it could spiral out of control.