BarefootFord

And just like that, all done.

Andrew Ford — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 05:54:02 +0000

I didn’t practice a lick of Spanish today, but I’m all done with the book. It’s got room for improvement, but I like the cover and, breathing, at least it’s freakin’ done.

Day before

Andrew Ford — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 22:42:21 +0000

Library, library, library.

Day 10: She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes

Andrew Ford — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 11:44:01 +0000

Tetris book:

Crunch time boys and girls. There is just a few more days until this guy has to be sent and of course there is plenty, plenty more to do.

Of course my head is trying to play tricks on me: “Push the deadline back just a few more days! It will create a higher quality book! You’ll make more money! You won’t look like an idiot!”

Luckily, I know this is hogwash. I’ve seen first hand in journalism how rarely pushing back a story results in a better one. Most ‘the time the interviews that couldn’t take place by deadline, surprise, slip past the next deadline too.

July 4, freedom or typos, this book will be… in the books.

Spanish:

I have felt like a total bad-a the last two days reading the news. While the last time I set out to read the news only in Spanish I squirmed every time I opened up an article, I’m actually enjoying it now. I’m not reading Don Quixote, but it sure beats reading Los Tres Osos.

I’ve been watching CNN Espanol and reading BBC Espanol and lovin’ it. I’m not sure, but I think the BBC might be english stories translated into Spanish, so that makes it quite a bit easier. I’ve dabbled with some Chilean and Argentine papers but it’s pretty damn tough. This is a nice in-between.

PS: I am looking forward to not having to update everyday.

PPS: I am looking forward to going camping by myself soon too. I’ve never done it before and it’s supposed to grow your manhood like none other.

Day 9: Shoot. First late Post.

Andrew Ford — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:58:39 +0000

Last night I cranked through the last 100+ pages of For Whom The Bell Tolls and somehow forgot about this bad boy. So, today is the first time there has been a late post. I was halfway through Google News when I realized it.

Tetris Book:
I’m maybe 10 percent done with my first round of edits, which is making me feel like the chance of being ultra anti-social the next few days is pretty high. And OK.

Spanish:
Have been ultra happy with CNN Espanol.
For the record I hate broadcast journalism more than just about anything, but for some reason in Spanish it seems exciting and I get butterflies when I understand half of what they’re saying.

Day 8: So much crap to do

Andrew Ford — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:56:57 +0000

I am just hoping that my 7-minute minimum on Tetris this week doesn’t balloon to 70 a day.

Luckily for energy I’ve been ridin’ a few miles a day with this in the ears:

Suspiraban lo mismo los dos
y hoy son parte de una lluvia lejos
no te confundas no sirve el rencor
son espasmos después del adiós

A little ridiculous.

Day 7: The grind

Andrew Ford — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:13:02 +0000

It’s getting past the point of being uber excited everyday and inching closer to the putting off until midnight stage, but I am still glad to be getting into it everyday.

Tetris Book:
1. Make corrections
2. Write 4 more chapters
3. Get a second or third set of eyes on this thing
4. Make graphics for pages that need it (Not looking forward to that.)
5. Edit and format HTML for Amazon submission

Spanish:
On days when I invest an hour or more I feel like I make so much progress in the language. Today I worked on using future tense with the language tapes, confirmed how it works in my grammar book and made sure to see it used in some news articles.
I’m feeling good.
But, it’s time now to get back in the habit of actually speaking the language with natives so I can conjugate all this stuff in real time instead of patting my self on the back in imaginary conversations.

On it.

Day 6: Piece frequency

Andrew Ford — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:30:36 +0000

An I Tetrimino will show up every 6.25 pieces and a L Tetrimino will show up every 5.83.

#gamesandgamesandgames
#jugando

Day 5: Why Tetris?

Andrew Ford — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:25:34 +0000

Sorry if I am draggin’ a bit. Videos from here on out will always have caffeine in the system.

Day 4: First draft editing and the wonders of flash cards

Andrew Ford — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 12:35:07 +0000

I’m sure I must be missing some chapters, but as of 10:20 p.m. Saturday night I have all of my first draft edited. I probably have 3-5 chapters to write, including some the 2-3 most difficult, but it still feels good to have red penned through a first draft. On with the second.

Today I studied with my long-neglected Spanish flashcards on

http://ankisrs.net.

It’s a cool system that shows you cards in increasingly longer intervals to push the info. further and further into your long-term memory.
Cards that I checked off today won’t show up for another 14 months. Crazy.
Flash cards aren’t a sign of any level of real fluency, but I do think they’re a sign of how much work I’ve put into this language.

Day 3: Gone fishin’

Andrew Ford — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 12:35:58 +0000

Right now I’m headed up near Bogus Basin to do some camping and bro-in down. But rest assured I’ll keep the nose to the grind. I have a bunch of probability stuff for the Tetris book I need to do and the iPod will be cranking the Espanol.