A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup

Listen Up!
Well, all that anticipation from last week and before have STARTED to go and be released. Why? I've released episode 0 of the new season of Jugglers On Juggling. I've uploaded a new batch of art to DeviantART, and will upload yet another within the next 2 weeks. I've finally got sorted out a lot of the details for Tech.MCC this fall. And I've gotten a HUGE monkey off my juggling back by learning consecutive 3 ball backcrosses and penguin catches.
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Now, the DeviantART batch I submitted this week was a lot of stuff you've already seen here on the blog, but I figured I'd put it up there so that they get more exposure and are part of my DA account. I did upload a few things you haven't seen yet, and now you have as they're the pictures in this post. That being said, they were all photo manips and stuff, and only 1 actual photo, so I feel like I kinda cheated my DA subscribers, and so I'll be uploading a bunch of photos soon which I've gotten from the Iselin Fair and other places.
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My laptop hard drive just today started glitching out on me, and wouldn't let me copy files over to anywhere. Luckily, I figured out the problem as being the corrupted files that I was trying to copy. So now I'm running the full CHKDSK in the hopes that it can restore the corrupted files and fix them so that they won't get lost. Just sucks because CHKDSK is always so slow.
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Daily Life:
So last week was the day my dad's friend Rich moved into a new house, and needed help. Ok, so here's the story of part of the reason why I was helping.

I was told on Thursday at 6:00 PM to mow the lawn when i get the chance. I figure, "Well, it's already late and if I mow it now I'd piss off the neighbors", and since Friday was the Tech.MCC meeting where I asked EVERYONE to go to, and I don't wake up until right before the meeting starts, that I would do the lawn on Saturday when I DID have the time. So I don't do it yet, and then when I get back home on Friday, I see that someone else had cut the lawn, and now I KNOW that she's gonna be pissed at me. Of course she was, and I just can't stand being yelled at anymore. I've organized my entire life, and need to stick to the schedule I make in order to stay at all productive and not-miserable (I'm not saying happy, because I can really cheer myself at any time, but when my routines get screwed up, so that I'm on 4 hours of sleep, half a meal, and working at weird hours to me, it makes me miserable.) SO, I've had it with trying to explain myself to her in a few sentences, and so I get her to sit down and explain MY ENTIRE LIFESTYLE to her and the fact that I CAN'T be a part of the "NORMAL FUCKIN WORLD" because of my ADHD. Now, if that sounds like I'm making an excuse, then you don't understand ADHD at ALL.

Basically, the easiest way to sum it up is that my brain works differently than everyone else, and I have to find ways to make myself able to function in the everyday world. It took me until late high school to understand social interaction to the point of making friends that weren't the "Will you be my friend? No one else will be" people. I'm only now figuring out a good method for dealing with my weight and health, and I'm still clueless as to what the deal is with women and relationships. Basically think of ADHD as a MUCH milder version of Autism, without any benefits.

So I had to have that whole talk with her, and then FINALLY she lets me in on what SHE REALLY wants of me every day, besides me to do my jobs (of which I have no objection to doing, it's just that I have to do it on my schedule.) But that's enough of this rant.

So it's Saturday, and I have to help move in, which I have no problem with, especially because I'm good at it. I'm very keen on the laws of physics and leverage, thus helping me move heavier stuff easier (having two other guys helping helps too :P ). So I wake up early to help them out, and they're shocked I even showed up, which really bums me out that they have such low expectations of me, but I like to surprise them too. I get there and we end up moving a TV cabinet, two sofas, and a fake plaster fireplace from one place to another, and then get lunch at Carmen's Pizzeria. After that I get dropped back off at home and begin working on JoJ.

Juggle This:
So recently I was either inspired, or frustrated, or came to a realization, and I have no idea which, but I decided to work on some basic 3 ball tricks that have eluded me since I started juggling. Three Ball Backcrosses, penguin catches, a 441 string I'd been trying to get for months, and a reverse backcross. So I started practicing them and somehow, they ALL began to click in my head. I immediately setup my camera and just went for them. I started with backcrosses because that's what I most wanted to get done. I was having a bit of trouble because I was having to reach way too far to catch, and then I remembered Jason's workshop on backcrosses at Juggle This.

So I changed up my style to reach behind my back further on the throw and not move my body when doing it. I still had problems because they weren't going into my field of vision, and then I realized that my throws were way too far out, so I started throwing them inwards so much they were bouncing off the side of my head (which is an interesting trick by itself, because from the feel of the bounce, you can tell where the ball will be without seeing it). Eventually, I felt it click, and after only having my best be 2 consecutive catches, I suddenly was getting 3 every time. Excited much? You Bet!

So I move on to the 441 string and the reverse backcross and get them both on the 1st tries. So I move on to the penguins/reverse shoulder throws, and now the trouble starts, and again the problem isn't the catch, but the throw. I wasn't throwing them behind me enough, so I corrected and BOOM, got 2 consecutive, and then after another 5 minutes, three catches. That was as much as I wanted out of them now anyways. So I go back to backcrosses, because after the last time I compensated for throws, tit became ludicrously easy to do 3 consecutive backs.

So I refined my technique a bit more, and after 20 minutes, I qualified 3 ball backcrosses with 6 catches back to a qualifying run. I immediately stopped the camera, edited the footage, and put up this video. Good times.



A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150

Listen Up!
Oh man, the anticipation is KILLING ME! I've got so many things ready to go that it's absolutely going to destroy my mind. I've got the new season of Jugglers On Juggling ready to go on September 1st, A new video for my [Juggling] series that I'm recording right now, the fall semester at college, the new semester for the Technology Club (which I am president of), two BBQ's to go to, and a new batch of stuff for DeviantART. I am absolutely melting right now.
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So the AutoCAD job with Vino seems to be working right now. I talked with Gordon, and he's starting to work on getting a new computer for Vino so I can start work, and I just need to figure out a schedule that will work now that College will be starting. But it seems like I'll finally have a steady income source again.
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So I just upgraded my website with Godaddy.com, NO MORE BANNER ADS!!!! I cannot be happier. No I just have to update all of the CONTENT of the website. Arg. I'm working on it though, and it should be done sometime before September ends, at WORST.
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-- Music Release --
I got something in the works that I think you'll all find great. I should have it done within the next two weeks. I've gotten into the mindset now of taking the instruments from one track and the lyrics from another, and cutting everything else, then adding something of my own using a MIDI synth that I just bought myself. More later.

Daily Life:
So, besides what's going on with the Tech.MCC club, I actually had a job from Universal Talent that I did last week on Tuesday. An $80 job in Philly, for a Bollywood production that lasted all day. So let me begin from the beginning, because it's a long story.

I get the call from Universal literally 20 hours before the the shoot, and they say it's in Philly and will be paying $80. That was all they said, so I did the quick math as to what profit I would make after gas and Universals cut, and I figured it's be a quick 40 bucks. So I said sure, and got the details, and I immediately google mapped the place I was headed. Now, when I say yes to a job with Universal, it's in my contract that I can't back out of a job once I've said yes. The call time is 6:30 AM and it's actually in King Of Prussia. Basically, it'll take me an hour and a half to get there, and eat 1/4 tank of gas both ways. So I go take a nap sometime around 5:00, because I know there's no way I can wake up early enough if I sleep regularly.

So I wake up from my nap and stay up the rest of the night until 4:00, when I grab my laptop, some juggling props, ID, and a change of clothes. Why do I bring juggling props you say? Because I've worked on another film before this one, and the big difference between commercial extras and film extras is this, commercial shoots usually have about 2 minutes between shots where the extras and actors aren't on camera. Movie shoots have at least 7-8 minutes between any two shots. That and extras are always kept in holding for a few hours before any shooting actually begins, and given a full hour meal break. So I brought my juggling stuff to entertain myself and others.

Back to the story, I get into the truck at about 4:00 AM, figuring that I' have an hour and a half of free time when i get there that I can fill out all the paperwork and dodge the line that forms for breakfast. Well, I was hungry enough while traveling down the Turnpike, that I HAD to stop at a rest stop and grab a bagel at the 24/7 news place inside. That burned up 10 minutes, and then I was back on the road down the NJ Turnpike. So then I get down to the PA Turnpike, where I start heading West, and I can see the sun begin to rise in my rear-view. So I get all the way down to my exit, and it's a combo exit, but I didn't see that in the directions while I was turning off. Basically , my directions said "Take the exit for 43", and then the next step was "Exit onto 23". 43 and 23, or whatever they were, shared the same exit ramp, so I just saw the 1st line of the directions and swung my way onto 43. Only to find out 1/4 mile down the road that I'm on the wrong road. So I get off the nearest exit I can and figure, "Hey, if they shared an exit, and I didn't travel far, I should just be able to get right onto 23 from here without needing to back-track."

30 minutes later, I finally realize that I had absolutely no idea where I was going or where 23 was, and it's 5:AM, so I can't get directions from ANYONE. I start backtracking, and make my way back until I find signs for 43. I go back 2 exits and take 23. So I figure, well, Murphey's law has been satisfied, everything else is going to be cake. Then I get to where I'm supposed to exit 23, and my directions didn't say which way to go on the road I was exiting onto, left or right. So it figures, I turn the wrong way, and finally find a gas station where I can get someone who's awake to guide me. I learn I've turned the wrong way again, and go back the other way.

So that burned up another 15 minutes, and I think "There's no way I can screw up again." Until I find out that the address I was going to was the right road, but the wrong number, and so I had to look for other people walking down the road to the movie shoot before any of us (they were lost too) found the signs saying "Ring Of Fire Productions". All that overwith, it is EXACTLY 6:30 as I walk in and begin filling out my papers...

So now I've filled out all my papers, entertained myself and others by juggling while in holding from 6:30 to 9:00, and established that there is no Wi-Fi on this college campus that they're shooting at. So now it's 9:AM, and shooting is beginning. The next 8 hours were spent as part of the crowd of extras playing, a cheering crowd (Shocking! I wonder if extras are ever used for anything BUT a cheering crowd?). At one point I realized I was getting sunburned, and spent as much time past then in the shade. This courtyard where the scene was being showt looks a hell of a lot like the courtyard at Hogwarts, and was basically an open lawn with a fountain in the middle, and 3 of the 4 sides were basically a set of archways separating the lawn and the open corridor on the other side.

The scene that was being shot, if I could stop talking about other things, was a big race scene. Where 2 competitors were running around the corridor and up to the top of the building where there was a flagpole. Now, this being a Bollywood production, all logic went oput the window, and my absolute favorite take of the day was a series of shots where the two competitors would be running down the corridor I mentioned earlier, and the cheering crowd would not only be a cheering crowd, but would be a cheering crowd that was running with them at the same speed, tightly packed together, with everyone's eyes still on the runners. Needless to say, it was fun. At the end of every take I couldn't stop laughing because inevitably a third of the crowd will have fallen down behind me and we'd have to do the take again.

Enough about that though. Basically, I spent 8 straight hours cheering like a madman, and at the end of the day I basically walked out with my arms at my sides and slumping my feet all the way to the truck. I was looking forward to the one thing that would make me happy, Subway. The thought of a footlong meatball marinara on italian herb and cheese kept me awake and alert long enough to make my way up the Pa Turnpike, to the NJ Turnpike, to Woodbridge Ave, to the best Subway in the world. Why is it the best in the world? It's a Subway that's run by white people! So they pile on the meatballs and give extra sauce as needed, and it is an awesome sub every time. Now I feel like having one again, thanks a lot memory.

I really can't convey how tired I was at the end of this 8 straight hours of cheering and jumping and running without writing a novel, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it was more tiring then the most tiring day of work you ever had, unless you work full time at either a parcel service or a U-Haul. On the bright side though, that was the best Meatball Marinara I've ever had.

Juggle This:
I think I've found the reason why I haven't been practicing as much as I should be. I'm not in the MOOD to juggle. Why? Because I haven't been watching any of my Juggling DVD's or longer videos for months, and as a result, I haven't been motivated to juggle, or inspired to juggle. So now I'm going to go back to watching VD's and Peden Sweden videos and getting the urge to juggle all over again.

So I've also been working on a few new ring tricks with lower numbers, such as improving the "Boob-roll" as people call it, and even trying a 4 ring version of it. But that's a story for my next video, for now, you can get a good idea of what I'm doign by watching Three Minus. I do some great new tricks in there.

I love rings. I love sleep too. Ah, sleep. I need sleep now. Good bye...

A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150

Listen Up!
So I've kicked things into gear with the new season of Jugglers On Juggling. I'm about to start recording episodes now. And guess, what, I'm releasing some details now about the upcoming season! First, It will return to a weekly format, but as I've said before, it won't be a week in review show anymore. Second, the first episode will be called "Practice Time" and will focus on finding time to practice throughout the day without interfering with your daily life. That episode will be on youtube on the 1st of September. Yes, mark your calendar. I'm also redesigning the website and will hopefully have some more content put up there each week while the podcast is going. Another bit of information that I have to let everyone know about, I'm planning on stopping after a while for season 3, and then do season 4 at a later time (not 6 months like the last difference was). But I guarantee at least a dozen new episodes before I end the season.
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This new job with Gordon's uncle is really turning out to be a pain. Not because the work is a pain, but the last guy that quit somehow sabotaged the computer and now I have to wait until they get a new one with a new version of AutoCAD before I can even START working. ARG!
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I am heading out for a job with Universal Talent tomorrow though, so I'll be able to put SOMETHING in my gas tank for this week. I really do hate being broke. It's strange, I technically have 4 jobs, but I can't work at ANY of them right now. It's frustrating.
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Well, last week's Tech.MCC meeting sucked so much the other 2 people besides me decided to leave early, but I know why and it gave me inspiration for another fall semester meeting. The Networking meetings, where we're just going to teach members how to set up a wireless network between computers without a router.
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I've got a few things coming up for my Youtube profile. I have no idea what they are going to end up being, but I've got plenty of raw footage right now to edit into something to throw up. Oh, and I'm starting to really burn film and get recording on video #15 for the [Juggling] video series, so that should be coming up sometime later.


-- Music Release --
Pump and Roll. Not really sure where this one came from actually. I think it was because I'd listened to Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas so many times, I just knew the track in and out and figured I could do something with it. Turns out I was right. Trance and Roll, while I was listening to it I realized it'd be a great backdrop for a hip-hop track, and it just kinda clicked I guess. The very first recording was so good, I almost used it without editing any more. I re-recorded it once again taking out as much of the instruments from Pump it that I could and adding a few beatgrids where they felt appropriate. Viola, here it is. Simple, but good. I was really tempted to do some more adding of things once it was finished, but ultimately decided against it. Now if only I can apply the same idea to the other mash-ups I'm working on, they all either sound too boring and simple or too busy, and I can't find the middle ground for any of them.
Analog Pussy vs Black Eyed Peas - Pump and Roll.

Daily Life:
So let me think of a story to tell you all. Well, I didn't go anywhere for the past week, and nothing really spectacular happened at home either. I really can't think of anything worth telling. I mean tomorrow I'll be able to talk about my 3rd gig as a movie and tv extra, but I have no idea what will happen tomorrow, and I want to upload this tonight.

Well, then let me talk about my weight loss plan. Because I just spent ten minutes trying to think of something to talk about, and this is the one thing I've really been doing recently. I've got a pretty simple plan. Drink less Mountain Dew (I drank about 2 or more a day), eat less food, practice juggling more, and do sit ups while I'm laying in bed before I go to sleep and right after I wake up until I can't do any more. A simple plan, and it seems to be working so far.

I've also gotten into the habit of playing Wii-Fit a lot, not only because it has an accurate scale unlike the bathroom scales where you can lean to the side near the springs and throw the reading an extra hundred pounds upwards. It really is a great game, just make sure that noone's watching when I play it because half of the games are either really weird looking or sexually suggestive, in a "TAKE ME NOW!" kind of way. Not something that I really want other people to see, and I know for a fact you don't want to picture me in your head hula-hooping without the hoop physically being there, no matter how much clothing I have on.

Juggle This:
I think I've finally gotten back from my slipping of the past few weeks. I realized what my problem was, was that because it's been in the 90's outside over the past few weeks, I haven't wanted to go outside, and I have no reason or money to go to MCC and practice at the raquetball courts, so I'm stuck under my 8 foot roof doing the same tricks over and over again. That's not good to have an unvaried practice routine. So it was raining today and there was a break in it where I was able to go outside and practice my 5 ball 744's and 97531 before it started raining again. Felt good, and I could feel it coming back after the first 3 absolutely horrific attempts at a 97531.

SO I'm going to make an effort to vary things up now, and I'm going to try and find a regular time to go practice at MCC once a week. I know that once the fall semester starts and I'll be there 4 days a week I'll be getting all the practice I need, especially with ring numbers, but for now I'll have to settle for thinking of new things to do with 4 ball showers and stuff.

Speaking of 4 ball showers (SEGWAY! SEGWAY!), I came up with a great trick that I can do in a 4 ball shower. It's an adapted version of my old triple shower that I used to do with a 3 ball shower. Basically, I'll take a 4 ball shower, throw one of the right hand throws as an 8, do a synched up 8x6 going over to the left hand, and then have the last ball do a standard shower pass underneath everything, and it all falls back into place in the right order and time. I love it.

A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150

Listen Up!
So I've noticed my youtube account recently, and seen that I'm barely putting up anything good, especially anything juggling related, so I got to work today. I'm going to be recording a video o some 1 ring manipulation ideas I've had recently. I've also finished editing the videos from my performances at the Iselin Fair. That video should be up by the end of the week at WORST. That and I'm still working on [Juggling] Video 15.
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Jugglers On Juggling. I just made the new intro and recorded episode 1. I'd like to set up and record a few more episodes before I start editing and releasing them, but I'll hopefully start rolling out season 3 before the end of August. Go Me.
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Work? Well, it's interesting right now, because officially I'm still freelancing on 2 jobs (Universal Talent agency and ACME Railing Co), though I haven't gotten anything new from them in about a month. HOWEVER! I just got hired at another place as a part time intern with a regular schedule converting paper drawings to autoCAD drawings. 12 bucks an hour for work that I don't mind doing seems fair enough to me. I'm going to be starting that as soon as they get the office computer fixed because the last guy who quit sabotaged the computer apparently, and I can't get it running.
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Oh, and I'm going to WJF5. I saw in the last WJF update that the price for registering was about to go up, and the big thing that I had to check on was whether the timing of the convention would overlap with any of my fall classes. Turns out, my classes end a full WEEK before the convention starts. I have enough time to DRIVE to Vegas if I felt like putting up with it. SO I'll be at WJF5, and hopefully competing in ring intermediates.
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Website updates. Still workin on them. The hardest part as I've learned is the ONLY part. Generating content.
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Tech.MCC what can I say about it. Wait, I know exactly what I can say about it. In fact, I'll make that this week's daily life segment...

Daily Life:
Well, last week was pretty boring. Not a damned thing happened besides today being asked to mow the lawn and wash the car, and I've already posted a rant about how much I hate mowing the lawn.

So let's talk Tech.MCC. Now, I had a couple ideas that I've been struggling with for a while now, and I think I've figured out what I want to do. One of my original big ideas was to offer free USB flash drives for EVERY registered member of the club this coming semester. I figured everything out down to that the drives should be 1 gig in size and no less than 512 mb in size, and that we'd even put a splash screen on it to make sure people just don't forget about it. The one thing I didn't figure out until recently was the cost, so when I went to order them and found out that even 30 1 gig drives would go through half the budget, I had to stop and re-think about it. Eventually, I realized that it is much more of a novelty than an attractant, and that people would forget about it even with the splash screen. So I've officially abandoned the idea.

To replace the USB drives, however, Danny came up with the idea at the last Panera Bread Friday to give out pens with the Tech.MCC logo or text on them. I immediately came back and built upon it, and how it should be that there's always a stash of Tech.MCC pens at every meeting and would be given out as needed, and that that would get much more attention for basically the same amount of work. SO that's the replacement, and I just need to figure out exactly what to do in terms of ordering.

The next big idea that Gordon had when I was talking to him a number of weeks ago in the truck, was that this years giveaway contest would NOT be another DS, but would be a GPS system. Because it's the perfect item, everyone wants one, but noone is willing to buy one. That's what I call a holy grail giveaway item. Definitely going to be huge, and Marv can supposedly hack it beforehand to display our logo onto the splash screen of the device. If we don't do anything else the entire semester, we're doing this because it's just such a perfect item.

Another big brainstorm me Gordon and Danny had at the last Panera Bread Friday was about advertising. We were talking about how to get people into the club, which has been the focus of my thoughts since I became president, and we came up with simply, advertise more. Because advertising worked last year, despite how shoddy and random it was, and it's basically THE way to let people know what's happening. I realized that when I was 14, is that unless you are advertising, there's almost no way for ANYONE to know who you are, what you're selling, or that you even exist. So since Danny is the one whose major is marketing, he took the idea and ran with it. He came up with that we should advertise not just with fliers like last year, but with the college radio station which plays on campus constantly. He even came up with the basic idea and outline for the commercial right there in the parking lot as we were leaving. The commercial would be just two girls having a dialogue about getting their pictures taken and learning to use their computer by going to the club, and then me at the end with my wonderful announcers voice giving the relevant info to when and where. I definitely like the idea, we just have to flush it out a little bit more before we go for it.

Ok, one more, then I need to move on. A big idea I had, was one that I was thinking about before last semesters meetings even ended. Basically, last semester was movie night every last meeting of the month, and the meeting before that was designated as the DJ meeting, where we'd have turntables and DJ equipment setup by Gordon and just jam and teach the entire meeting. I noticed that after the 3rd DJ meeting, it seemed to be getting REALLY repetitive and actually a bit boring. So I knew as soon as I became prez that I wanted to change that, and it came to me two or thee Panera Bread Fridays ago, that we should keep the schedule, but replace it with a LAN party, or more specifically, a lan game of Risk 2 (The most AWESOME GAME EVER). Basically, that game is PERFECT for the type of people interested in the club because it pits you against everyone else in the room for world conquest, ad it is an absolute brain melter. At the end of a 5 person game at one of the Panera Bread Fridays, I actually got a headache and needed an iced lemonade to get myself back. It's an amazing game that is more addictive when playing multiplayer mode than Halo was back in the day. I expect to see great things at those meetings.


Juggle This:
I haven't been practicing nearly as much as I should, and I'm not sure why. I am practicing enough that I don't get rusty, but it's a little bit concerning to me. I'm coming up with a lot of one ring manipulations and am getting really good with lower numbers, but not being at MCC every day really seems to be putting a stop to my practice of 97531, 744, and other high throw tricks. Because I'm unwilling to go outside in the blazing NJ heat, and gas is really expensive. I'm really not sure what's going to happen, but for now I can just keep practicing.

A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150