Alex "Gus" Gustafson

Category: Life

  • Road Movie to Berlin

    The A.V. Club put out an incredibly well put together sampling of They Might Be Giants songs on Tuesday. If you wanted to listen to all the songs it’d take about an hour, but that’s a lot shorter than the 30 years it took the band to write and publish them all.

    Pick #12, “Road Movie to Berlin” is one of those songs I always loved from them. Right up there with “Kiss Me, Son of God.” It’s quirky, but with lyrics that somehow speak a message meant to be heard — and chords I can analyze by ear. Seeing it now struck me with inspiration, and I picked up the guitar for the first time in forever.

    I think it’s been over 2 years since anyone heard me play guitar. But music is a powerful force and it tends to stick with you. Sometimes you’ve just gotta play what’s in your head, even if your hands are no longer skilled enough to keep up.

    Thanks TMBG, and thanks mom and dad for all those guitar lessons. They keep paying dividends.

    If you’re curious, the original song is here:

    —

  • Lesson from Jogging Failure

    Since June 16th, I’ve been doing the Couch-to-5k (C25k) running program. I really don’t like running and I’m surprised I’ve kept the habit this long. But I definitely needed to get my physical activity back up and running is free.

    Last night was the first task of C25k that I couldn’t complete successfully. It was Week 4, Day 2, where you do the following:

    1. Warmup walk (5 minutes)
    2. Jog (3 minutes)
    3. Walk (90 seconds)
    4. Jog (5 minutes)
    5. Walk (2.5 minutes)
    6. Jog (3 minutes)
    7. Walk (90 seconds)
    8. Jog (5 minutes)
    9. Cooldown walk (5 minutes)

    I had done this run successfully on Saturday (Week 4, Day 1.) Though I felt rough during the 5-minute jogs, I knew during that run that I would make through. Last night was completely the opposite. As soon as I started my first 5-minute jog, every muscle felt weak. My knees and feet were aching. I couldn’t even keep my head up or breathe well like I normally do. After the 5-minutes were up, I started walking home and that was it.

    The Mental Conversation

    When you’re taking that long walk home (it’s a lot faster when you run it…) your mind starts being cruel to yourself. All the reasons why you started running in the first place start coming back to say hi. I’m fat, I’m lazy, I’m unambitious — and that all starts to feel true since you just failed at something you know you’ve done before.

    Next come the excuses. It was raining all day and even lightly a bit while running, so it was hard to grip the pavement. I didn’t have much time to let dinner settle so I was low on energy and my stomach felt uneasy. I’m stressed and couldn’t properly think of my form.

    The Reality

    The excuses don’t actually matter. The reality is that failures and breakdowns happen when you’re training your body for something it’s not ready for yet. If I could run for 30 minutes straight already, then yes, this 8 minutes of running is pretty pathetic. But 3 weeks ago I was proud of myself for running 8 minutes total in 90-second portions.

    That’s right, Day 1 of C25k was 3 weeks ago! I’ve even been doing the training with not enough rest. This was supposed to be day 2 of week 4, and the reality is that it’s day 2 of week 3 on the calendar.

    Tonight happened because my body was sending a message. I did the right thing by going out there at all, and I did the right thing by walking back. The now is exactly what it should be. The future is up to me.

    The Plan

    I’ve run every-other-day since starting the c25k, except one break of resting 2 days. I’m going to take another 2 day rest and run again on Friday.

    Wednesday and Thursday will have lots of stretching.

    When I do run on Friday, it’ll be re-running Week 4, Day 1. If these 3-minute and 5-minute jogs are where my body is at, it’s where my body is at. I’m not gonna rush this along and hit the 8-minute jogs of week 5 before I’m ready for them.

    Most importantly, I’m seeing this as a failure of my muscles, not a failure of myself. I’m doing the part of this that I’m supposed to do: get out there, work hard, and learn the lessons I need to learn.

    jogging-lesson

    —

  • 19

    Wil Wheaton (and some of his guests) constantly references this song on Tabletop and Titansgrave. I assume he does in real life as well, but all I know is the internet. Anytime someone rolls a 19 with dice, he pronounces it ‘nine-nine-nine-nineteen.’

    I figured it was time I actually listened to it. And now I’m sharing it with you. Here’s Paul Hardcastle’s seminal eighties tune, “19.”

    —

  • I’m Back

    I love Ber’s sense of humor. Right now the parasite is the size of a lemon and will grow into tiny human sometime in December. Parasite to be named later.

    zarrek33's avatarBrews and Ewes

    So I took a bit of a hiatus.  Partly due to the fact that the books I had recently read weren’t review quality.

    But mostly due to the fact that I’ve been sick for the past 2.5 months…

    Its a parasite

    parasite house MD funny

    View original post

    —

  • Infinite Bela

    I’ve appreciated Matt’s “Infinite Jimmy” playlist on Spotify so much that I figured I should give back to the world in some way. I present to you, “Infinite Bela”:

    24 hours and 20 minutes of Bela Fleck , the Flecktones, and other groups of wonderful musicians whom Bela calls friends. Enjoy!

    Photo: Flickr user bluenineburger
    Photo: Flickr user bluenineburger

    —

  • Marcus Aurelius on Managing Your Own Thoughts

    My brain hasn’t been my best friend this week. I read some of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations to help me get centered again. I liked this quote a lot:

    …thou must use thyself to think only of such things, of which if a man upon a sudden should ask thee, what it is that thou art now thinking, thou mayest answer This, and That, freely and boldly, that so by thy thoughts it may presently appear that in all thee is sincere, and peaceable…

    Aurelius, Marcus (2009-10-04). Meditations (Kindle Locations 1081-1084). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

    —

  • Crafty Wedding Gift

    My Aunt Pam is a really talented person. She spins, knits, sews, dyes, and weaves – the crafter’s crafter. She made a beautiful wedding gift for Ber and me. Take a look at this throw!

    It’s be living at my desk because Ber hasn’t taken it away yet 🙂
    Close-up of the checker pattern
    Nice and big!

    It’s a handwoven, cotton throw in a really nice stone/gray color. It has a really cool checker pattern too. Ber hasn’t taken it away from me yet so it’s become a part of my workspace.

    —

  • Fiddlin’ The Minors

    In the last week, I’ve listened to this song at least 20 times.

    —

  • Caturday 6/20

    Coffee on the couch with the panther
    Coffee on the couch with the panther

    —

  • DCI Tour Premiere Simulcast

    For the last few years my best friend and I started up the tradition of going to Drum Corps International World Championship Finals every August. Since DCI started doing these simulcasts at the beginning of the season, that seemed like a perfect addition to our year too. In fact, we so decided on this that neither of bothered to look at the upcoming tour schedules and notice that DCI Louisville was to be only two days later.

    Whatever, the simulcast was great. We’ll see it all in person at the biggest show of the year in three short months. Here’s my quick reactions to the shows:

    Madison Scouts

    I really liked all the sectional features in ‘Gotta Dance’ and the costuming for the Gene Kelly-inspired guard. In particular the Tuba feature a minute and a half in can be a really great moment once it gets clean. What’s the deal with those manikin guard equipment in the ballad? I don’t know, but points for originality.

    Super props for that hourglass drill maneuver, and really all the drill in the closer. Not easy stuff in Madison’s visual program.

    Blue Stars

    There’s a few nice moments but really the show doesn’t do it for me. The high striker looked cheap and they had three stages and really only did a good job of displaying great moments on one. The juggler was a fun touch, but probably needs to work on making his routine a little more impactful. There’s two big tosses splitting the routine when I’d rather have one as a nice climax.

    Carolina Crown

    Good lord this brass book is amazing. I was transfixed by this show just as much as I was during ‘For the Common Good,’ ‘E=MC2‘ and ‘Out of This World.’ Just as important to this show is how prominently they feature their percussion. In their recent title-contention and championship year(s), percussion scores have been their weak spot. Rather than shy away from it, they keep attacking the problem head on with aggressive features. My kind of attitude. They’ll get that whole drapery snafu figured out eventually, I’m sure.

    The Cavaliers

    Enjoyable, but not so remarkable. I did not like the vocalist treatment to the ballad nor did I think the ‘Game On’ theme really presented itself well beyond the guard’s performance. Hopefully they have some additions planned to project that better.

    The Cadets

    Every few years The Cadets win me over again. After stinker shows like last year’s I want to forget that I’ve ever liked them, but this year I come back with open arms. ‘The Power of Ten’ has just enough nerdy nods to the theme to make me go “oo oo oo!” and just as many moments of outstanding marching and playing to show they know their stuff. In particular I enjoyed the ballad, which is performed in a space only ten yards wide. Definitely a title contender.

    Photo: @TheCadets on Twitter
    Photo: @TheCadets on Twitter

    Bluecoats

    Not as clean as The Cadets yet, but this show was mindblowing. This is the most interesting use of electronics I’ve ever heard in marching arts and it genuinely feels like a pivotal moment. Danny and I couldn’t help but gasp at each other for minutes after what we just experienced. As much as I loved Crown’s show, I cannot believe Crown as with tenths of Blooooo. Do not miss this show. I feel like this is bigger than Frameworks was in 2002, and probably what it felt like in Star ’93 — a whole new vision for what  show can be. The very last moment left me wanting more, but it seemed like there is more planned to come.

    —