Actually, from the plane. I was in the Philippines again this week, doing some fun work with excellent people.  Seriously, that place rocks, and I don’t get why they’re not all 180kg because the food there is amazing. One of the things about business travel, aside from it lacking any sort of glamour, is that you get to see a lot of movies.  Here’s my review cycle for this latest trip.

I’ve got this critique group, who I reckon you can blame if Night’s Fall sucks. I call them my Writer Bitches™, because they are a) all writers and b) caustic bitches (meant in a loving way — because you really do need to cut deep with that knife to get a better product).  They, in turn, call me Parry Darling. Of all the nicknames I’ve collected, this one fits the best — or worst.

I spent a little time recently putting myself back together. Last year, I spent far too many hours working, and far too many hours on a plane.  Many things suffered, including health and fitness.  Fixing this was a high priority for me, because looking manly is … well, you know.  And aside from that, we all want to be a survivor in the zombie apocalypse rather than a food source. Anyway. One of the things I didn’t have a handle on was why I had so much trouble.  I mean, sure, gut feel says being on a plane and working 50 hour weeks sucks balls, but what specific bits cause weight gain, lack of sleep, lack of energy, and so on?  Intuition goes a long way, but data helps to make better decisions. Yeah yeah, this is how I justified buying a Read More …

But you win anyway. Yesterday, we experienced: Broken microwave. Broken blender. The BBQ running out of gas. A large chunk of food ingredients decomposing, like a three-months-dead corpse, in our pantry. Still made an excellent dinner, if I do say so myself.  Made broccoli Parmesan waffles, topped with rice and slow cooked tamari chicken thighs.  Take that, Fate: in your eye, motherfucker. On other news, we have a new microwave.

About that Facebook thing. So far, it’s going great!  I’ve had quite a few people interested in the impact of this and what’s going on as a result — it looks like about 50% of Facebook users are exploring similar ideas.  I find this fascinating — the reasons are all over the charts.  Some people are concerned about corporate oversight.  Some want to leave because Facebook … makes them feel lonely.  Others are concerned that there’s just no point.  Other people use the technology to feel less sad and don’t want to give it up. Where you sit on any of this is between you and God, right?  I don’t want to talk about your reasons; I’d like to talk about your outcomes. Let’s recap.  I’d left the devil because I was concerned about my personal data.  While social media channels are generally Read More …

One of the things I’m trying to do with myself over the next few months is get back into many of the things that make me feel good about being a human. Because, if we’re honest, life’s too short. I used to feel like I was leading by example, and for a little while now I’ve been feeling like I’ve been hit repeatedly with the WTAF Hammer™.  It’s been more than a year of spinning my wheels without a lot of traction.  Fuck that noise, amirite?  When life hands you lemons, you buy a fucking gun. My job is pretty high velocity, and over the last 12 months I let it take too much. I’ve given myself a little challenge to nudge more of myself back into my life. There’s lots of things I really like doing — spending time with Read More …

I’ve had a bit of a food renaissance since reading one of my Christmas gifts. Today’s experiment was a sort of broccoli waffle.  Wait, don’t go. Think of it like breakfast quiche.  You’ve got a waffle iron and a blender or food processor…  Disintegrate enough broccoli and cauliflower to yield 1 cup combined.  Add two eggs, the barest hint of a sharp cheese (I use parmesan, about an 3/4 inch-sized cube), sage, and salt and pepper.  Mix it all up, spoon into your waffle iron, cook (5-6 minutes in our Breville) and you’ve got a broccoli waffle. Or, as I said, a breakfast quiche.  But shaped like a waffle.  Quick, easy, and — for how filling it is — relatively low calorie.  About 350?  Depends on how much stuffs you use, especially cheese, so go the fuck easy on that, Read More …

Sometimes you get impressed by people who do their jobs with flare and style. Meet Brent*.  He had this to say over the break: Without a doubt, had the BEST retail experience in NZ at the @nike store in Wellington amidst their Boxing Day sale. Total professionals! — Brent of Zealandia (@BrentfromNZ) December 26, 2015 * This is not a story about Brent being amazing.  Sorry. I was in the mood for some new workout gear, so saddled up the horse and wandered into said Nike.  They were amazing.  Stress free, helpful advice, nothing was a problem, everything available in my size (often a trick, because Medium is right in the middle of the bell curve of standard distribution — I tend to find only size skeleton or bison are left locally).  I got my workout gear, a new hoodie, Read More …

I lost a dongle, okay? Rewind the clock.  Back in, oh I think it was November, I was travelling to fair Auckland.  This particular day was a fairly long day in a workshop, and I left with a sense of accomplishment plus a migraine.  I curled up in my seat on the plane, put on my headphones — Sony’s Wireless Golds — and cried myself to sleep.  When I landed in Wellington, I packed up my stuff, and got off the plane.  Or rather, I packed up almost all my stuff: the USB dongle that allows the Sony headphones to connect to a PlayStation or Personal Computer were lost.  Fell out of the bag, is my guess, and my brain was saying no to just about everything and didn’t give me the necessary prod. I’m pretty sure my fly was down for Read More …

I’ve had a long, distrustful relationship with Facebook for a while. Maybe it’s my professional history in IT security or government privacy, but whatever, the way Facebook seems to treat people — and their data — gives me the heebie jeebies.  My main reason for using Facebook was to keep up with the play in my karate dojo, but during 2015 my work, life, and the universe applied so much pressure I needed to step back from that. Thus, do I need Facebook anymore? I’m conducting a small, controlled experiment.  Here’s what I popped up* yesterday: Next weekend, I’m planning to go through and flense my Facebook friends clean, and reduce Facebook to a news agregator and “Richard Parry Author” system.  I won’t be responding to friend requests for a little while, if ever.  It’s quite interesting embarking on this phase Read More …