Cranking it loud in the headphones. This music is meant to be played at a volume which would shake the entire building (neighbors and all) if amplified to its proper level.

So on a whim, I stopped by Best Buy on the way home today and picked up Garbage's self titled debut. Quality music. While I was there, I noticed that their new release had also come out, so I also grabbed a copy of Beautiful Garbage. (Their track record is good enough that I feel confident buying an album without having heard any of the tracks but one.)

Yes, I know I haven't been posting much in the way of ramblings lately. I rationalize this by saying that I'd rather not post anything at all than writing repetitive drivel. ("Gee... what shall I say today? Tonight, I watched an episode of Buffy, and then, after that... I watched another episode of Buffy. How about that!" (sidenote: FX is an utterly wicked channel to be putting out such temptations on regular and frequent basis.))

Next week, I have the entire week off, plus the first two days of the following week. During that time, I intend to do some serious coding and maintenance on projects that have been neglected for altogether too long now. Those projects, of course, are my only serious coding projects embarked upon in recent memory: Bitscape's Lounge and the Content Collective.

I also intend to host the Nth Annual Feast Fest (which may or may not also involve some unknown amount of phesting) in the Castle Lair. More info on that when it becomes available.

During this upcoming period, I want to do more than just implement a patch or two (although that is definitely in the cards). I want to reclaim that long lost coding groove. The spirit of Festing! The path of The Source.

To that end, I will attempt to retell a motivational bit that was related to me by bouncing as inspiration for some of the earlist fests ever undertaken. I'll also throw in a few bits of my own along the way.

You see, bouncing knew someone via email who had described his method of coding.

You get all your stuff and put it around you within easy reach -- all your reference books, writing implements, tons of cds (this predated the era of mp3 music), food to last for days, and lots and lots and LOTS of caffeine. And you sit there. You envision, you code, you design, you debug, you code some more, and you don't stop. Ever. Unplug the phone. Don't answer the door. Everything in the world fades away. Nothing exists except your mind and your project. Before long, the brain and the code become one. When you go to sleep (this guy didn't even move anywhere to sleep, he just stayed in his comfy computer chair), you dream the code. Your subconscious finds ways to solve the impossible puzzles. Then you wake up, and you put the what was learned in the dream world into practice. Finally, when the Festing Phase ends, you look at everything you've done, and you marvel in amazement at what has been accomplished. It couldn't be done, but it has been done. Then you return to the bed to sleep a long and peaceful sleep.

Ignoring for a moment the fact that this individual would later contract a nasty case of stomach ulcer, THIS was the original definition of a "fest". A "fest" is not a LAN party. A "fest" does not involve playing games, except as a way to occassionally loosen up the mind after a particularly harrowing battle with the code. A "fest" is not a movie night. Movies are fun, and sometimes movies might be watched before or after a fest, but a movie is not part of a "fest", in the original sense. A fest is a brain, a project, and at its conclusion, it is characterized by a pile of code of which the programmer can be proud. (I later coined the term "phest" to describe an activity is often inaccurately referred to as a "fest" nowadays. BTW, this rant is not an attempt to blame anyone, as I am at least as responsible as anyone for the degeneration of the concept.)

Phests are fun too. :)

Well anyway, that's my thought about the goings on and whatnot. I think I'll cook a little supper and assume the role of a couch potato for an hour or two. (Can anybody guess what I'll watch? Anybody? Anybody?)

Peace to the people.