From the outside, scraps of paper as the thing of the year seem laughable. It is laughable. I am laughing on the inside at it too.

I have a habit with paper that I got in control of in 2024.

The first is accepting that notebooks are cool, but I am not good with them. Either the blank page stops me from writing a thought down because then I need to fill the whole page with things. Then I need to fill up the whole other side before moving on. So I found myself not noting things from "page pressure".

Cut up the notebooks into index card-sized pieces.

There was less pressure, but there was still unused space to fill. I had all these half-used notecards hanging around, which felt like there was a ton of unfinished to-dos.

Then I cut the notecard-size pieces into business card-size pieces. It was like a logjam in the mental river was released. It is the perfect size for a single thought. I don't feel like I am wasting paper because the piece is so small.

Now instead of pausing at a blank canvas, I grab a scrap and write a quick thought. A bonus that happened as well is the thoughts are s.｡oO sortable and rearrangeable. The fluidness rules. I am not reading old thoughts while composing the new thought. The momentum keeps moving forward.

All the thoughts get processed during processing time.

• Sort: All the scraps are sorted by context (person, music, computer, etc.).
• Read: Spread out all the scraps in the context and read them.
• Process: Look for patterns, combine any redundant, put tasks into the to-do app, store non-tasks into a reference text file (one for each context).
• Crumple: Crumple is the new cross-out. Very satisfying crunching a processed thought.
• Throw: Throwing away a handful of crunched thoughts is also satisfying.

So cheers to you, humble scraps of paper, you are the non-drum thing of the year.

Cleaning

The end of year in Japan means it is （大掃除）time at our place (and everyone elses too). The big clean to refresh the place for the new year. My plan is to set a timer for 20 minute intervals. Twenty minutes computer time and then twenty minutes clean time. Makes it a little more fun. Throw on some music and get things in order. My mantra for the day is "what is it? where does it go?" then wipe and put it in its spot. We have a small place so it isn't so daunting.

Computer

At the end of the year, I think back on what was a work thing that could be down easier/lazier for the next year. Then I get the fancy app that solves the problem as a self present. The rules are it need to be/feel like an Apple app and can't have a monthly subscription. Past examples are apps like MindNode for mind mapping, Text Sniper for copying text, and Name Mangler for bulk file editing. Each one makes getting things done less of a chore. 

This year I got Retrobatch for bulk image editing. Stoked to play with it and get some workflows happening. Just typing this has my mind planning one for responsive images. Stoked!

I finally had a chance to work on the drum micro pattern I mentioned in a previous post. I had a couple new songs to work out that pushed this pattern to the back burner for a couple weeks. The funny thing is the concept I was trying to workout from this pattern works perfectly in one of the new songs.

Pattern

RLRL
K HK

Very cool pattern. A struggle at first for sure. I couldn't do the hi-hat at first. I had to split that out, get used to it, and then I could do it.

Steps

This..

RLRL
K    K

Then this...

RLRL
K H

Then both...

RLRL
K HK

Reasons

The reason for focusing on this little pattern is getting my feet separated from my hands more. If the feet are on auto-pilot then I have a little more brain to pay attention to the hands. I am shooting for "complex simplicity". Meaning I just want to be able to drop a single hi-hat "chick" whereever I want whenever I want.

Another reason is subtle. When I play a beat on floor tom or ride, it sounds good. When I play the same beat but add the hi-hat with the left foot, it elevates. It's hard to describe the dimension that tiny "chick" sound adds. It's like when I hear chefs talk about adding Bay Leaf to their dish.

If it isn't there, the beat still holds up. The song goes on. When you add it, it sounds/feels more complete.

I went to check out my blog posts from the past year. I found myself staring at a page of teasers, thinking, “I wish I could read all these posts quicker instead of clicking into each one.”

I love those little decisions on this blog and how it slowly morphs over time.  So the front page is now full of full posts. ( ^_ - )y

As the year winds down, I am getting to one of the dreaded tasks. There are a few blogs and podcasts that I have subscribed to that I never got to.

Clicking the unsubscribe/unfollow button is a tough click. Giving future me a cleaner list in the future is a big gift, though.

My trick is to not forget the blogs or podcasts. I just need to store them somewhere better. I note the name on my someday/maybe list and then remove it. It's still somewhere. Just a better somewhere than in my face every day, making me feel guilty for not getting to it.