Uncategorized – Page 3 – Improvement Dave

I Created my Logo

The benefits of creative Do It Yourself! (DIY)

I want to start by thanking my inspiration for choosing the word Consistency as my word for 2023. I got the idea of choosing the word from the great instructional designer Stephanie Gerald, who I guess is now passing the bar to be a lawyer so soon-to-be great ID and lawyer! I have the amazing Betty Dannewitz to thank for the idea of using the word Consistency from her amazing episode on creating a brand with the expressive Tim Slade, who clearly stated the need to be consistent in your brand on the If You Ask Betty Podcast. Credit where credit is due!

In this Vlog post, I explain why I chose to create my own logo and argue why creating things for myself works for me and aligns with my brand. I backpedal to September 25th, 2023 which was the height of my 50 Pushups a Day Challenge for St. Jude’s Research Hospital. It was about that time that I completed the design of my logo and you can see it was first used on Day 26 of that same challenge where I also praised the use of our subconscious mind.

In this video, I have three reasons why I argue creating your own logo is the best choice. (If you are at all inclined and have the resources to do so.)

Creative Control

The first benefit of designing your own logo is that you are in control of what it is and what it becomes.

You are in control of the whole process from design to export.
You made the product, it is now a part of you. You are connected with it.
You know it’s strengths you know it’s weaknesses.

In the video, I explain you have to turn off the editor and invite the muse into the room to create something. Then invite the editor back into the room to resume editorial functions. I drew this concept from the book: “Art and Fear” by David Bayles, and Ted Orland.

This book is fantastic and I can not recommend it enough. I might talk about his book with people I know and people I meet on the street or in airports, more than any other book. I guess you could say at this point,
“This is my book.”

Financial Benefit

I saved money. I didn’t spend any money, I only spent time.
Money saved = Money earned.
I paid myself to create this logo, by not paying someone else to do it.

As promised here is the Freakonomics Episode: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask)” with a super-smart economist about spending less on trash bags. (Well, the trash bag part might not be in there, I might have made the trash bag analogy up, or it was from another expert on Freakonomics.) However, this episode still supports my point that spending less is good and is the same as making more money. (They also talk about how to invest money too, so that’s always good!)

It would have cost me $5 to $100 per hour to get a logo.
Did it take me an hour? No, it took 5 hours!

Do you want to see it? I recorded the whole thing! Some of the music I was listening to bled into the recording so it is not viewable in all locations. Sorry!
(I am sure a VPN would help if you need to see it.)

5-hour video of my creating my own logo. (Well, 4 hours 1 minute and 37 seconds s, but it took over 5 hours and my video capture function continued to crash after 30 minutes of recording because of my RAM.)

Now, I’d like to point out again here that I am not a graphic designer (as you might have gleaned from that 5-hour video.) It might not have taken a professional graphic designer 5 hours to come up with a similar product. The value lost in that time is offset by my third point.

Moment of Learning

I gained new skills, and I had a fun time doing it! I worked in Adobe Illustrator to create this logo. (Well, first I got lost in Adobe Photoshop, applied all the filters, and got to a spot that was kind of OK.) Then I went into Adobe Illustrator.

I am not very experienced in Illustrator, but I want to be!… with Adobe’s job aids, I was able to work through the flow at my own pace and build some confidence in designing in Illustrator.

In this way, I was building skills that I can use as an instructional designer or even a graphic designer if I ever choose to do that to myself…

“Living life as an artist is a practice.
You are either engaging in the practice
or you’re not.

It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it.
It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.”
You are either living as a monk or you’re not.

We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.

The real work of the artist
is a way of being in the world.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Happy Halloween!

You might not be aware but for October, I continued my consistency challenge. I paid homage to the great Chinese philosopher Lau Tzu by consistently NOT posting on my blog for a whole month.

Sometimes the best action is to not take action and I must say, a break was nice, after a month of posting every day for my pushup challenge and posting as frequently as I could for a biking challenge.

Some pumpkins I carved with my kids. and some pictures of them moving in a slow shutter speed shot to look like “Ghosts.” Fun stuff as we prepare for Halloween!

What’s Next for Me!?

I will say that I have not shaved for the end of October and I will continue that for no shave in November. So I will be consistently NOT shaving the hair off my face for November. I want to share my inspiration. (Please read my response to this initial FaceBook post.

So you can see below that I have gotten a bit of a head start. My social media is not flattering. I am very transparent about how amazing my life is not. Here I have tagged myself #iswalking. I walk a lot and it is my most frequent tag on Facebook:

Here I am at the checkout at the local “Schnucks- the friendliest stores in town” They are inexpensive and their produce is sometimes OK. I am back on not drinking alcohol, so this is a very special #iswalking selfie.

I think I should be consistent in this #iswalking. I did not do that when I started, but I think I might. Well, I should, just to be consistent.

That Will Not Be All

So, as you might have guessed, October was the month of consistently not doing. I will continue to not do something in November by not shaving, but I will continue to start writing again. I am thinking about how I did 16 days of learning to design in 3D and then I completed the training modules and worked on an art piece, had trouble exporting to other Adobe applications, and then just stopped. Well, I was feeling tapped out. I was feeling very vulnerable for not knowing how to export and I didn’t want to force any creative ideas. However, now I have some ideas I would like to pursue in that space so I plan to return to that 30-day challenge and even though it is not 30 days back to back I can at least still follow through and be consistent in completing the challenge.

Thanks for Reading

I love you!

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
Lau Tzu [Tao Te Ching chapter 48]

Exercise is a Good Way to Generate Creative Ideas

Cycling through the woods is relaxing and enjoyable

The Cycling Oddysey Continues

So even though this was on October 10^th, and my Cycling More Consistently in September Oddesy is over, I still recorded some video footage. In this episode, I make a recording while riding and then nearly flip my bike into a hole in the ground. I comment on how I need to get a better setup if I want to keep recording rides.

Then I turn onto the street, drive down a hill flip my bike and bust open my lip. I was holding the camera with my right hand so the sun would be on my face, and my left hand was on the bike and controlling only the front brakes. I noticed I was going a bit too fast down a hill and so I squeezed the brakes on my new bike. I have disc brakes now, not the old caliper brakes with the pads. These disc brakes are way, more responsive, and I knew that, but I wasn’t aware I was just slamming the front brake.

At any rate, this was a good lesson to learn. I need to focus on my safety and I am glad I only busted open my lip out in an open space and didn’t break a bone somewhere in the woods.

There is a biking school that has been marketing to me on Facebook and the advertisements are good. I have looked into attending classes but I can’t justify spending money on learning this when I am a learning and development professional. I plan to locate some good learning content on YouTube and double-check my LMS at work. As a long-term goal, I plan to volunteer at NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association). This program offers me an opportunity to become a coach in training in a local team of student learners, then when I graduate I can lead a pack of cyclist students and perhaps include my kids in the team if they are game.

Home

Video Evidence of the Ride

Check out the video to see me bust open my lip and make video footage in a state of shock! LOL!

Getting There

This was easy. The bootlegger’s trail is a quick 5-minute ride from my house. Easily the second-ranked off-road trail in the Saint Louis area and is right next to my house. That’s lucky!

Where Was I?

The Bootlegger’s Run is a 4.7-mile trail through the woods of the upper level of Creve Coeur Park. All Trails has a lot of comments that it is not the best trail for hiking because there are a lot of Mountain Bikers. When I ran there the bikes didn’t bother me but I guess I am a walker and a rider.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/bootleggers-run

Ideas From the Ride

One thing I have liked about these solo rides is they give my subconscious mind time to speak up. I have gotten several ideas while on these rides. Many of them are about the Blog or my day job as an Instructional Designer. One that popped up during this ride is especially interesting. It pulls on my background as an actor and an English as a Second Language teacher. I did a lot of theater in high school and received my BA in Theater Arts. While getting that degree I also studied Japanese using a curriculum called Japanese, the Spoken Language (Authors: Eleanor Jorden, Mari Noda) developed by the US government for spies and the like. It was a great language learning platform because it systematically used simple dialogues to reinforce crucial grammatical structures. You relearned how to think and build thoughts according to the Japanese grammar system. (*I used this concept a lot when I worked in Thailand for 7 lucky years teaching English as a Second language ESL.)

In this JSL curriculum, the learner looks a small clumps of very useful conversations and memorizes them one line at a time. These are backed up with well-written explanations of the grammar being introduced. Then you listen to recordings of native speakers saying these lines. After that you work in class and the teacher sets up given circumstances that support the same language (notice the teacher term I used there?) Once the scene is set the students take turns acting out the dialogue with the teacher. The benefit is you get to hear the dialogue multiple times in class and you get to participate. My basic conversational Japanese is not bad to this day, if I had pursued it I would have been set up for success. Instead, I decided to start over and learn Thai from scratch while living and working in Thailand.

So, my idea would work at this point in the curriculum. I came up with the concept to call “Play Right”. At this point in the language learning the students would take the simple sentences that we learned in class and each week, create a video of them speaking the dialogue with themselves or other students in a real setting. Throughout the class, the students could build a video scene of their achievements. This could even become an online resume of sorts the showcase their language skills. Very useful in a country like Thailand where tourism is a large part of the national income. With English being the universal language, That is one of the most useful languages to support tourists.

Another thought that I had that brought more of the theater into the idea was using simple plays as the dialogue. Like a fun play by David Ives. This part may maybe more of a useless pipe dream, but I think it could open the door to more creative results. The Tourist application would be more useful for a resume, but using actual plays would be more valuable for artistic or aesthetic reasons, which is what I am more interested in.

Music

Polo & Pan – Ani Kuni (CC)

Music by To Hot to Play, Lobo Loco, Free Music Archive (CC)

Wandering in the Woods

In this video, I share my experience as a father. As a member of a family where we all have aspirations and we all have goals. Everyone in our family unit has their perspective and their set of objectives when I get out of any given situation. This post is a continuation (Day 25) of my September Cycling Challenge.

Consistently Cycling More Often in September 2023 – Day 25

Yesterday’s Bike Ride Was a Crash

In the video, I focus on how we chose to walk through the woods on this day because the day before I planned a bike ride in my mind where my daughter would not ride as the third wheel behind my bike. That is a format that we call the copilot in which my daughter’s bike only has one wheel and is attached to my seat post. my mind it would be great if we could go out on a bike ride and she could ride her bike by herself. This was a large leap that I made on my own because she’s really only written on her bike a few times and her confidence is still low. We can add that, but it was late in the day she hadn’t had a nap, maybe not eaten the most healthy food and she wasn’t in her best form. More importantly, I packed the car without consulting anyone and when we got to the bike ride, that’s when she realized that she would not be riding with me but she would be riding on her own. This was met with unhappiness, tears frustration, and of course, I ignored all of that, because this was going to be the best thing ever.

Inclusive Decision-Making Wins

In this post on my Vlog, I resolve to better include my family in decisions, that impact outcomes that they will be a part of. I will attempt to pause and plan with everybody included. This idea of mine, to have my daughter ride her own bike, which was not malicious, or in any way an act of me wanting to negatively impact her experience; doesn’t change the fact that it did negatively affect her experience. It was hot and sunny in the only empty parking lot we could find, and she fell numerous times. She was angry, frustrated, thirsty, tired, and she cried; and then, of course, I was frustrated and angry at myself because I didn’t get to ride my bike at all or exercise.

What I learned
Don't make big decisions in a silo.
Include the whole team/family
Be open to possibilities you didn't expect

Ideas From the Group

We didn’t cycle the following day. My wife had a great idea to lower the bar and just go run through the woods. This turned out very well because everyone in our family is good at running in the woods.

Stepping down off the bike also enabled us to talk more, and I realized that maybe my children would like to be more of a part of my video creation. You can see in the video that the kids are interested in being involved so I started including them more.

Wondering About Consent Whilst Wandering Through the Woods

In the video, I talk quite a bit about wanting to have consent from my kids. While also not asking them to speak, or asking them to do something for the benefit of my videos.

Consent Matters

Consent is something that came up while I was on a business trip last week. We were all at a table, eating and drinking and I started recording my colleague.

I had no ill intent in this act, I just really liked what was being discussed at that time and the designer in me had an impulse that I should record the conversation.

The second time I hit record on my phone the recording app stayed on the screen and I laid the phone on the table. My colleague noticed I was doing that, and he politely said, “You need to ask before you start recording me” he was 100% accurate, especially in a business setting. I will add that we have discussed the idea of starting a podcast together, so this is a person that I know rather well, but that doesn’t change the fact that I need consent and can’t just start recording without sharing what I am doing.

I will say that I had already had a few cocktails and did not make a good choice at that moment. The next day I felt very guilty about my behavior. I apologized and he said that he was kidding, which felt good but didn’t change the fact that had a good point. Moving forward I will commit to always asking for consent before, including anyone and one of my recordings.

Music

Music by RoyaltyFreeMusic Nver Avetyan from Pixabay Technology Dubstep

Music by John_Kensy_Music from Pixabay Mindfulness Relaxation & Meditation Music

Polo & Pan – Ani Kuni

Music by To Hot to Play, Lobo Loco, Free Music Archive (CC)

Never the Same River Twice

Consistently Cycling More Often in September 2023 – Day 22

This was not a new path that we rode, but it was still a brand-new experience.

This was another Family Ride, but we got set up nobody wanted to pose for a picture, and I can’t say that I blame them. So, in the act of benefiting my children’s experience, the content on my BLOG suffers, I think I can live with that…

A Techie With Difficulties

I still managed to drive back home without switching the GPS tour tracker on my phone off, this reduced the mileage listed on the map of our trip (left) by 7.8 miles. So, instead of 14 miles we only rode 6.2 miles.

If you look at the inaccurate visual aid, to the left, we rode from the “A” in the black dot to up north toward “Saint Charles”.

We went to the “Bike Stop Cafe”, and I paused my recording, (so it would be super accurate). Then we rode back to the “A” where I did not end the recording, loaded the bikes, and drove 7.8 miles (US) home. So, the only thing completely accurate on this image is the date.

Accidental Attendance of Oktoberfest

We rode from the Family arena in St. Charles, MO on the infamous Katy Trail
up north to Old Town St. Charles. The Oktoberfest was in full swing in Old Town
St. Charles, but there were no interesting pictures to take of a mass of
Americans binging over-priced beer, pretzels, and sausages.

While I am talking down on them I’d like to mention that at this time a couple of years ago I attended that party. I drank a few beers while pushing my son around in a stroller. I would like to share that I had a great time, and although it was not inherently bad, I felt much better after a bike ride and a lot of ice water in my mouth.

Video Evidence of Our Ride

Never the Same River Twice

You can step in the same river twice but it will never be the same river. This ride runs alongside the Missouri River. I prefer this accidental experience of Oktoberfest from the outside looking in. Then the planned one where I was included in the shenanigans. This just felt better in my soul. I am not saying that Oktoberfest is a bad choice, many times it is.

However, I will share that the time I did go I had a shocking image presented while leaving. There was a couple, a mom and dad, who had probably had a bit too much to drink. Their child was strapped into a very cheap “umbrella” stroller and was screaming to get out. The child was desperately pushing up from the stroller with all their might and had been when I walked up and stood and watched, while my crew caught up. The child was still desperately trying to get out of the stroller when I walked away. Throughout the whole event, all the parents did was yell at the child without even looking at them.

I am not saying that this type of experience is inherent with children at an Oktoberfest party. However, I will say I did not experience that type of scene while riding my bike through the same environment. Sure people were aimlessly walking on the Katy Trail oblivious to their surroundings and mad when I called out “On your left”… but this only confirmed that I was in the right pair of biking shoes and on the right path for my family.

Music

Polo Pan – Ani Kuni

Music by To Hot to Play, Lobo Loco, Free Music Archive (CC)

Consistently Cycling More Often in September 2023 – Day 22

This was not a new path that we rode, but it was still a brand-new experience.

A Techie With Difficulties

If you look at the inaccurate visual aid, to the left, we rode from the “A” in the black dot to up north toward “Saint Charles”.

Accidental Attendance of Oktoberfest

Video Evidence of Our Ride

Never the Same River Twice

You can step in the same river twice but it will never be the same river. This ride runs alongside the Missouri River. I prefer this accidental experience of Oktoberfest from the outside looking in, then the planned one where I was included in the shenanigans. This just felt better in my soul. I am not saying that Oktoberfest is a bad choice, many times it is.

Music

Polo Pan – Ani Kuni

Music by To Hot to Play, Lobo Loco, Free Music Archive (CC)

Mu Kratha of Thailand

If you travel to Thailand there is a very high probability you will encounter the Thai “Mu kratha” dinner.

What Mu Kratha Is

Mu kratha (Thai: หมูกระทะ, RTGS: mu kratha, pronounced [mǔː krā.tʰáʔ])
…is often a buffet of uncooked vegetables, meats, and various types of tofu (Egg, bean, fish, crab) and noodles (rice, bean) that are cooked on an open fire right on your table on a “Grata” or “pan”. Mu in the Thai language translates to pork, so this culinary experience is transliterated to “Pork Pan” but it is so much more than just that.

Mu Kratha originated in the regions of Siam: Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia, all have their version of this dish. There is also a version in the Philippines. This dish differs from the Japanese and Korean versions by the shape of the “Pan”. The Thai Kratha has a mote around the perimeter of the convex pan. The flavors tend to be rather simple, seasoned with salt, pepper, egg, soy sauce, fish sauce, or oyster sauce. The dipping sauces tend to have more Thai flavors, crushed garlic, sliced ginger, lemongrass, chilies peppers, fermented peanuts, or any other Thai ingredient that the family likes to use. The grilled meat is tender but has a crispy outer layer. This is because on the top of the pan you lay pork belly, or large chunks of fat that sizzle and drip fat down seasoning the pan.

Never the Same Meal Twice

From my experience, every Mu Kratha restaurant in Thailand does it a little bit differently. The marinade on the meats is unique, the sauces they offer to dip the cooked meats in are secret family recipes. Sometimes there is ice cream, sometimes there are Thai desserts, but there is nearly always beer and whiskey with soda water over ice involved.

A Social Event

Mu Kratha is a slow meal and it can take hours to prepare as well as hours to consume. It is a lengthy social event where people slowly cook, slowly eat, and calmly talk around a live charcoal fire.

Video of Mu Kratha on My Deck

“It [Mu Kratha]
is so good!”
Robert Minemier

Consistently Cycling More Often in September 2023 – Day 19

A special thank you to TK (Tatiwat Kananuruk) or Ngop (Thai Nick Name) for letting me tag along on his morning ride. TK, thanks so much! TK also gets credit for the Featured Image at the top of this post. Great shot TK!

The Ride!

LOREM

The ride today was 12.3 Miles
but I didn’t turn off my tracker
for the 4.2 mile ride home
so it reads 16.5 miles.

I am a grown man and I do not know how to use apps on my phone, or at least I can’t seem to consistently stop tracking when I get off my bike.

I will make this a new goal of mine:
Don’t FCUK up the map track, Dave!

Below are some more pictures that we all took. (TK, Da, and I.)

Friends, You Didn’t Know You Had

I met TK while working at Fin Japanese Cuisine in Chesterfield, MO. TK was, and is, an amazing sushi chef and I was a mediocre bartender at the time. I knew TK, and I always thought he was one of the funniest people I have met. I would say he is the funniest Thai person that I know. However, maybe he is just very happy.

Either way, we never spent any time together outside of work. When I started posting about cycling online TK appeared out of the mist. He said, “Hey Dave, let’s go biking.” … So, today we did just that. Not only did I have a lot of fun I learned a lot. TK is into doing events. He doesn’t race for winning, he races for fun, or at least that is what I understood.

I feel like today I made great progress on my Cycling Oddessy and I made a new friend with a good heart in the process.

I Rode a 9 lbs (US) 4.08 KG Racing Bike

TK thank you for letting me ride your awesome racing bike! I hadn’t even thought of asking, but then TK offered. I was shocked he would let me ride his prized possession.

Then I rode it really fast and he was probably really scared that I would crash. Check the video, when I make a joke about not wearing a helmet, he is like “Ah, yeah, heh heh…”

Video Evidence of the Ride

You can pay a lot for a bike, but it is an investment in your health.
Tatiwat Kananuruk (TK)

Cycling All Morning and Hiking All Afternoon

I continue my quest to bike as frequently as my schedule will allow in September. On Sunday the 17th it was a family affair.

Be Prepared

As I cycle more frequently I am finding a rhythm in being prepared. I always fill my Camelback with water and hold it close to carry my, car keys, wallet, phone, and of course my phone’s travel tripod. I also wear my long-sleeve SPF 50 sun shirt. (below)

Getting There

We ride out with two bikes in the Oddesy van and then two bikes on the back of the van. This works OK now because I can borrow the bike rack from my dad anytime we want. His bike rack is sturdy but it is heavy and only holds 2 bikes.

My wife is on her new TREK Marlin, my son is on his new TREK Pre-Caliber, and I am on my old TREK ZX6000 pulling my daughter on her neon green “WeeRide” Co-Pilot.

Cycling

We are all at a point on our cycling journey where we can all handle a relatively long ride. I paused the tracker for lunch, so collectively we rode 6.85 miles in 51 minutes. We parked in St. Charles just north of the Page extension, or, Highway D, or Highway 364. We drove north along the Missouri River to Old Town St. Charles.

The Destination

So, we ended our ride in Old Town St. Charles and had some drinks at the local Bike Cafe.

Video Evidence of the Ride

Spontaneous Afternoon

The weather was so amazing that we just decided to drive down to Elephant Rocks State Park. We had been to that park before but it is always such a good time. We made plans to go back in a few weeks when he leaves change!

Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Syd Barrett – Chapter 24

Consistently Cycling More often in September 2023

In this Vlog post, we rode around Creve Couer Lake which was around 5.6 miles in 30 minutes at an average speed of 11.5 miles per hour. I rode with my daughter on my old Trek ZX 600 from the 1990s towing her on the green Co-Pilot by Wee Ride. (The tail end of the ride on the map was actually in the van, I didn’t ride up that treacherous bluff with my child.)

It was a perfect day for a ride, I realized I had an hour free in the afternoon so I picked her up early from her “school” (daycare). We drove straight to the park with the bikes in the back of our Honda Oddesy to have a lake-side Oddesy of our own.

Pushups

Even though my 50 Pushup-a-Day Challenge for St. Jude Research Hospital is over I am still doing pushups. So I added that to the end of this video for the fun of it. It’s nice to hear the pushup music again.

Video

“This is the best day ever.”
My daughter as we reach the halfway point around the lake near the new soccer/(International football) feilds.

From the Series

This post is from the Series I created in September 2023.

Consistently Cycling More often in September 2023

Music

polo-pan-ani-kuni

To Hot to Play, Lobo Loco, Free Music Archive (CC)

RoyaltyFreeMusic Nver Avetyan from Pixabay Technology Dubstep