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A fake podcast about my latest chapter 🙌🎙️
I’m about 80 pages into writing my book, although most of it is classified except for the first couple chapters. But as noted before, it can be fun to see how AI interprets my writing. Having just finished chapter 6 of my book, I decided to use Speechfy’s “podcast” feature to generate a late-night show……
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Schlitterbahn 🌊
Went to Schlitterbahn, friends and family, did the Wolfpack and lazy river, got a couple artsy photos. #schlitterbahn #newbraunfelstx #family #summer #texas https://www.instagram.com/p/DNa9qwNOWF-/?img_index=1
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Thunder Road – accidental Elvis take 🎤
After playing around with some funky music tools, I’ve come back to the singing, which is my ultimate goal with Thunder Road. And going with the Show Your Work philosophy, here’s an early and very imperfect take of me figuring out how to sing this song. I only sing up to “You ain’t a beauty,……
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SUP yoga looks cool…
But I would 100% fall in. 🏄🏻♂️ #lakeaustin #lake #yoga #supyoga #austin #texas #atx #sunset https://www.instagram.com/p/DNGJCZsuroO/
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Thunder Road – shoegaze with Springsteen 🎸
As previously posted, I’ve been having a heck of a tricky time nailing down my Thunder Road cover. The song is long and fast and has lots of words. It does not follow anything close to a standard rock song format. The chords are complex and unpredictable. Being a total amateur, I specialize in covers……
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Happy birthday, America 🇺🇸
Happy birthday, America. 🇺🇸 This is supposed to be the land of abundance and freedom, so let’s act like it. Let’s be bighearted and open-armed. Let’s put our energy into doing cool stuff. Let’s get our collective swagger back. 🤘 #july4 #independenceday #usa #america #merica #patriotism #swagger https://www.instagram.com/p/DLsB9xeuu-9 Photos from The Negative Collection.
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The first rule of BBQ
The first rule of BBQ: where there’s smoke, there’s not fire. 🧙🏻🍗 #bbq #cooking #summer #austin #texas #atx #komodo #vessils @vessils_official https://www.instagram.com/p/DLa30NpSicA/
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“Right at the center of contradiction is the place to be.”
U2, which has been a post-punk band, an artsy ambient band, a hit American artsy roots band (even though they’re not American), a hit 90’s eurotrash band, and a back to a local Dublin band of sorts, is fronted by a guy who understands contradictions and tension. His band has a long and mighty legacy,……
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Black Beauties
I love stepping out my front door and collecting a handful of blackberries every day. Just have to beat the squirrels out there. 🐿️ #blackberries #urbangarden #berries #austin #texas #atx #shotoniphone https://www.instagram.com/p/DKU7e6BON6V/?img_index=1 Thank you, Lana, for the title inspiration. Cool song.
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The good, the bad, and the AI
A couple of years ago, I decided to play with ChatGPT and have it write a blog post for me. The results, I wrote, were believable but super generic and cliched. They reminded me of like a blowhard who is good at showing off but not actually very smart. Now we know that, despite all……
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Dreamy New York✨
Dreamy New York ✨ #nyc #newyorkcity #brooklynbridge #night #blur #lana https://www.instagram.com/patmcgtx/p/DHZ83KCO5W0/ Crossing over from Brooklyn, Baby.
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College football pyrotechnics 🙌
You’ve really got to enjoy the pyrotechnics at college football games. 🙌 #longhorns #texasfootball #stadium #fireworks #downtown #skyline #atx #austin #atx via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/DCvMqhfuYNX/ Explosions over the stadium, Explosions in the Sky.
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“I’m On Fire” – Casey clean remaster 🔉
My sound engineer buddy Casey heard my original cover of I’m On Fire and offered to “get this song sounding real good.” So I handed him my original stems and waited to hear what he could do. My song did need a remaster from a pro. I had been focused mostly on performing the song……
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I was going to frame and hang this old sketch, but is tabletop art a thing? ✏️
I was going to frame and hang this old sketch, but is tabletop art a thing? ✏️ #sketch #drawing #furniture #art #blackandwhite #austin #texas #atx #shotoniphone via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C941pRUO7bX/
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“I’m Writing a Novel” 🎵
As previously noted, I’m writing a novel. 🧔🏻 Not only did Casanova find the idea amusing, but apparently so does Father John Misty. I guess it’s not such a “novel” idea after all. And I’m writing a novel because it’s never been done before. Hey, you guys may laugh, but my book is going to……
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This is what black eyed peas look like while they’re growing 🫛
In case you were wondering, this is what black eyed peas look like while they’re growing. 🫛 #gardening #urbangarden #peas #blackeyedpeas #austin #texas #atx via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C9m9pTwO8_-/
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“I am writing My Life to laugh at myself, and I am succeeding.”
Lately, I’ve been shifting my writing time and energy to a novel. It’s fictional but based on some real experiences. I have four chapters drafted, and, let’s see… about 64 chapters to go. 😆 Accordingly, I have note had as much time to put into this blog. But I’ll do my best to keep writing……
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Game in the rain ⚽️🌧️
Game in the rain ⚽️🌧️ (Final score: 1-1) #austinfc #soccer #rain #stadium #austin #texas #atx via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C8cQnRfOiu6/
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Stormy ocean concept 🙌
After seeing the wall art that @yestocvnts had painted in her house, I asked if she could do a mural in my home office. I suggested a “stormy ocean concept” with “motion, mystery, depth, vastness”. I had no idea how someone would paint that on a wall, but she got creative and delivered beautifully. 🙌……
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Austin museum cheat sheet 🖼️
Austin has a variety of great museums of all shapes and sizes. And they all seem to have their own oddball hours. 🤷🏻♂️ It can be hard to plan a museum trip with so many irregular hours floating around, so I’m compiling a quick cheat sheet of some of Austin’s top museums and their hours,……
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Weird Austin 🏛️
Weird Austin 🏛️ #austin #architecture #brutalism #lbjlibrary #texas #utaustin #shotoniphone via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C7WaVsTOdpN/ I like the LBJ library, but I always wondered how the hard-scrabbled president from the Texas Hill Country ended up with a stark, brutalist monolith for his library. 🤔
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“Let life surprise you a little.” 🪄
As people are graduating all around the land right now – most notably for me, my daughter – they’re looking for their next steps. Maybe they’ve picked a college. Maybe they’re trying to earn some money and support themselves. Maybe they’re doing both and more. Sure, it’s good to plan things out, but it’s also……
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Graduation day 🙌
One graduated with “flying colors”, as she would say to be silly 👩🏻🎓, and the other is well on her way. I’m so proud of them both. 💪 #graduation #highschool #daughters #spring #dog #family #austin #texas via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C7JqemMOdGk/
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“Doubt can only be removed by action.”
One thing I love about Ted Lasso, especially on rewatching, is how it often brings some old wisdom to life within the story. Yep, Ted Lasso can make even an old German guy from the 1800’s sound interesting and relevant in the right context, as in this brilliant quote from Goethe in S3E1. Doubt can……
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Old: motel parking lot. New: motel pool. 🙌
1948-2022: motel parking lot. Today: motel pool (and leisure club). 🙌 #pool #motel #sanantonio #satx #shotoniphone #retro #shotoniphone #weekendvibes via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C6jCU8GOFIA/
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“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
I love this quote, which I came across in a list of ancient stoic quotes (with some pretty good visuals). Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. Epicteus This quote reminds me of a series on Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. This series noted the one thing these leaders had in common: sure, they all had……
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Work in progress 👩🏻🎨
Work in progress 👩🏻🎨 My friend Emily is giving my home office some much needed character. 🌊 #mural #painting #workinprogress #officespace #ocean #austin #texas #atx #shotoniphone via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C5mlaAaO8ra/
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And finally, SoundCloud ☁️
A few months ago, I knocked off a bucket list item by recording a song with a friend who can sing. The actual bucket list item was “Make a song that I can play in my car using Siri that I actually enjoy.” 😉 So I made sure to get it out on all the……
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Phantom chairs 🪑
Phantom chairs 🪑#reflection #glass #patio #patiofurniture #austin #texas #atx #shotoniphone via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C5YdadLuPlT/
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At a glance: stack views
Next up in iOS at a glance series, where I give you a quick visual about an iOS development concept, we’ll jump into stack views. Sticking with old-school UIKit concepts a little conger, stack views give us a simple way (pre-SwiftUI) to lay out a screen without a bunch of constraints, which can quickly become……
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Zizania texana 🛶
Zizania texana (Texas wild rice) is a rare species of grass found only on the first two miles of the San Marcos River. 🤯 It appears to be SUP-friendly. #sanmarcos #sewellpark #river #rice #wildrice #texas #shotoniphone #sup via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C5MStzMOy1d/
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“I wasn’t making any waves, so l made a decision.”
I always love a good story of transformation. The documentary STEVE (martin) tells the story of a really awkward, out-of-place aspiring comedian who wants to do something genuinely new but was initially failing badly. It is cringe-worthy at times. What is this guy doing? But Steve keeps relentlessly trying things, observing, and changing. It goes……
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College visit 📚
College visit 📚 #trinityuniversity #college #trinity #sanantonio #satx #daughter #shotoniphone via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C40s_-3Ovqw/
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Invincible summer (pic) 🌱
A while back, I blogged one of my favorite quotes. In the depths of Winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Albert Camus Today I found myself looking right at this phenomenon in my little garden. You see, this winter’s cold snap savagely killed almost all the plants . As……
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Cabo beach 🏝️
Cabo beach 🏝️ #cabo #cabosanlucas #beach #mexico #shotoniphone #playa #boats #playamedano #baja via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C4Rm2awJB9q/
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Autoresizing at a glance ⍈
Kicking off the iOS development “at a glance” series, we’ll start pretty basic: autoresizing. Autoresizing was Apple’s first shot in the days of yore (iOS 2, circa 2011) at letting early iPhone views rearrange themselves (this is the “auto” part) in response to screen rotations. It was limited and clumsy, as was pretty much all of……
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Graduation or giant halo? 👨🏻🎓😇
My daughter took this pic the other night while out walking. It looks kind of like a graduation 👨🏻🎓 or a giant halo? 😇 #ellsworthkelly #ellsworthkellyaustin #nightphotography #museum #austin #texas #atx #shotoniphone Via instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/C4BEEhjO9_V/
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Be a (good) shark 🦈
This Medium post lists some great ways to make your life easier: Focus on next steps. Be present. Say no a lot. Focus on one thing. One really surprised me, though: speed up. I was going to add a point about slowing down but then decided to mix things up a bit and go the……
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City within a city 🙌
City within a city 🙌 #austin #utaustin #university #urban #texas #college #swimmingpool #downtown via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C3xi6EAumnN/
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“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.”
I like this quote from a Mr. Miyamoto Musashi, “a 17th-century Japanese samurai, artist, and writer known for his undefeated fighting record and philosophical work.” Wow, talk about #goals. 🤯 Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. Miyamoto Musashi He must have been onto something. Yes, the world matters; everything matters. But don’t……
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Introducing The Coastal Service
Now that I finished up my first solo cover song, I wanted to get it out in the world. As Steve Jobs said, “Real artists ship.” I’ve been working on that mindset for a while now and trying to show my work along the way. To get my song out there where it can be……
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The office 🏢
The office 🏢 #office #inside #moderndesign #interiordesign #austin #texas #atx via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C3RYC-2IUb2/
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“I’m On Fire” – final cut! 🎸
After vacillating a bit on the final arrangement for my I’m On Fire cover, I finally headed some advice from Teddy Roosevelt and picked a direction. While I liked the extra guitar part on the previous take, I also felt like it was a bit too much. It sort of changed the song from a……
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Austin skyline sketch ⾢
Among other elements, my first sketch of Austin produced a quick and simple downtown view using a ruler tool. Inspired by that look, I decided to give downtown its own focus along with a more abstract river using Sketches app’s spline, fill, and ruler tools. Here’s the result. I kind of like it! Yeah, it’s……
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“You have to act as if it were possible to transform the world.” 🎨
🎨🌎☁️ #publicart #soco #inspiration #austin #texas #atx #shotoniphone via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C2ljuBcopnO/
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Imperfect is perfect 🙌 (visual)
I like the saying, “Imperfect is perfect”. Sometimes I switch it up to, “Perfect is boring.” Music that is super-slick and produced starts to sound kind of the same. As a person’s appearance approaches “perfect” (often with plastic surgery), they start to look the like everyone else who had that surgery. That’s why I love this……
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Lantana 🪷
It’s late summer, but the lantana is still blooming. 🪷
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Family visit 🙌
It was fun showing my brother and the unofficial in-laws around town, including a little kid who kept stealing my hat. 🤠 He loved the @texastoymuseum so much he’s dying to go back. #family #austin #texas #uno
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Only a couple more weeks of summer break 😭
Only a couple more weeks of summer break. 😭 #summerbreak #kids #austin #texas #atx #bahnmi https://www.instagram.com/p/DNLTFv9uhAP/
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Big Stacy is always a big treat…
Especially on a weeknight. 🤯 #swimming #swimmingpool #swimminghole#southaustin #summer #atx #shotoniphone https://www.instagram.com/p/DMO5-XFIdYl/
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Thunder Road on the way
I’ve been working for weeks on a cover of this old @springsteen song to add to my small catalog of covers, playing and singing my own way, more shoegaze-style. 🎸 Dude must be a mad genius, because the song still barely makes sense to me. 😆 Stay “tuned”. #garageband #homerecording #springsteen #fender #guitar#music https://www.instagram.com/p/DLxu1vQuz_J/?img_index=1
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I like Austin, but I love…
I like Austin, but I love San Antone 🫔⛪️🇲🇽🇺🇸 https://www.instagram.com/p/DLLt2tBO9Xa/?img_index=1
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Is there anything more satisfying than a car wash?
Is there anything more satisfying than a car wash? ☀️💦 #carwash #summer #mini #minicooper #finishlinecarwash #austin #texas #atx https://www.instagram.com/p/DLDGzc8uy2r/
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Pretty lucky to have had this dude as my dad 🙏
Pretty lucky to have had this dude as my dad. 🙏 Happy Father’s Day. #fathersday #dad #retro https://www.instagram.com/p/DK7HNEZIAjt
Mental Break Town 