Mike Jeff of the Web

Vibe Check №2

Vibe Check

I was shooting for a once a month update with these Vibe Checks, but I failed in the second month. Josh Scott of JHS pedals said in a live stream that there’s not enough failing in public because social media is all about showing a curated version of yourself. I agree, though I do see people documenting their struggles more now than ever before. It's hard to see much of it on my Twitter and Instagram feeds, but it's helpful and inspirational to watch people struggle and overcome massive challenges. Fortunately, the complexities of my life are trivial by comparison. I need to stop binge watching “Dahmer” and start dedicating more time to writing and creating.

Halloween was this week! We went trick or treating with my youngest son, who dressed as “Spin” aka “Spiderman: Miles Morales”, and we had fun! Thankfully, we have a nice neighborhood for trick or treating, and our neighbors go all out. We even got a pretty good scare from a guy in an 8 foot tall ghoul costume standing silently by a bowl of candy. I know what I’m doing next year!

Watched

These past weeks, I’ve been watching “Dahmer.” It's creepy and messed up in all sorts of ways. I appreciate how they’ve broken the story up and used different characters’ points of view to tell the story. I feel a sense of guilt watching it because it’s a story about the killing of 18 people. It’s strange to say the least that someone thought to make entertainment out of this.

Tales of the Jedi dropped last week and I managed to binge it. I Loved it! Dave Filioni is an amazing creator. I am always blown away by his creativity, and story telling as he and the rest of the Star Wars team continue to flesh out the Galaxy Far, Far Away. As for this series, I'm surpirsed to find that I enjoyed Dooku as a sympathetic character. We actually get to see how and why he becomes a Sith apprentice, and it makes some sense. Now, I need to google why he's called “Count Dooku” in Episode II! I googled it: My conclusion is that the original actor, Christopher Lee, was well known for playing Count Dracula before working on Star Wars. Also, “Darth Dooku” would sound silly.

Read

I need to read more, and keep track of it. I have two Javascript books on my desk, but they haven’t seen any action in a while. I’ve wanted to get some books on UX, I might pull the trigger on one or two soon.

Music

I’ve gotten way into The Bouncing Souls, so I bought their album from 2001, How I Spent My Summer Vacation and had it on repeat for over a week. I am truly a sucker for anthemic Punk Rock!

I took a stab at learning the guitar solo from “Back in Black” by AC/DC. I got through the first five phrases playing along with Marty Music (obviously). I wish he was around when I was learning guitar as a kid, he is a great guitar teacher! I’m amazed at what I can play after following along with him. Practice makes perfect, kids!

That’s a wrap for now. Let me know if you saw this post, and what you thought of it — hit me up on Twitter @fellaroonie.