Taking it slow with learning Java / Android, but need to keep it a daily thing
I didn’t get the chance to really dig into much Android stuff today due to the fact I had so many other things to do. It’s around midnight and I feel great about how I got some life-things done (paying bills, laundry, cleaning my place, etc.), but not so great that I didn’t get a chance to spend much time on learning more about Android. Ah, it’s all good.
I did, however, watch a few videos about the how Java uses methods and events while I was doing some cardio at the gym. The video that I’m on right now in the Udacity course is called The Need for Variables and I’ll hopefully get around to that tomorrow at some point.
Not enough time, but whatevs
I didn’t get as much done today as I wanted to, but I still want to keep updating where I’m at with everything. There’s a balance of learning Java on its own and also how it’s used with Android Studio and specific to developing apps. I don’t think it’s ever a waste to learn any of it, but I want to continue to roll through the Udacity videos so I’m kept on some sort of timeline.
Here’s to another good week and getting back to my actual job at Bird. The weeks always go by fast, but before the weekend I want to be able manipulate variables and ideally pull in some sort of 3rd party data to make my apps a little more exciting. But, one step at a time. It’s going to continue to seem confusing as I take on the learning curve, but it’ll get easier soon enough.
I thought that I was going to start with this course, but it wasn’t beginner enough
I’m sitting here at Starbucks and I just downloaded the latest version of Android Studio and I’m about to start going through this free Udacity course for Android beginners (you’ll need to create an account to go to this course and others I mention later).
I have no idea where to start, things have changed a lot since I last coded up some Android stuff. I’m going to take a look at the first videos and see what’s up. But first, a coffee refill. ☕️
I just figured out that I need to do an even more beginner level course than I thought, so I’m starting with this one, which is all about building layouts (the building blocks of any Android app).
Yep, this one is really for beginners like me – it never hurts to start slow. 🙂
Also, the guy sitting across from me at this Starbucks who looks homeless has now put around 10-15 pieces of gum in his mouth since I started typing this. Annnnd one more. He’s also looking at his iPhone. Interesting.
Anyway, starting the new course. Game on.
Starting my first course
First learning about views. These are what make up everything you see on the screen. There are text, image and button views.
Now learning about XML syntax. Sweet. Starting with TextView elements / attributes.
Learning about density independent pixels that helps make elements in the app the same size / shape regardless of the actual pixels on the phone. Using 50 dp means that it will be the actual size regardless of phone.
Now learning all about how to do relative / linear views and how they both work.
Downloading Android Studio takes a little time – make sure you have the Java SDK.
Installing Android Studio. Just selected all default settings and it’s not downloading components that I need.
So far this has taken me about 90 minutes to get to this point and that’s with skipping through a lot of stuff. I could have probably got straight to this, but I think learning a bit about the views and how to make them do what I want was worth listening to / watching.
It’s installing a bunch of stuff. Just went to the bathroom here in Starbucks and it’s still got a little while to go before it’s done. I’m going to get kicked out of here in 10 minutes, so hopefully it works. Going to move next door to Vitos here in Santa Monica and transition from coffee to some beer + delicious pasts. Hells yes.
Ok, installation of Android Studio is done. Boo yah.
Now I need to figure out how to write code in this thing.
Running my first app on my phone
Now at Vito’s Pizza in Santa Monica and drinking a beer and figuring out how to put my first “Hello World!” app on my phone. Seems easy enough. Just added the developer options to my celly.
Trying to run the app, but I’m getting an error. Not sure what the hell is wrong and the Android Studio is looking so damn confusing. I’ll figure it out, but not sure how to do this. I want to get the Hello World app on my phone before I eat this delicious pasta that was just brought out to me. Must. Figure. This. Out.
Ok, figured it out and got it on my phone. Just started the entire project over.
Now wanting to do more with the app and create the first project, which is a simple birthday app with image and text views. I have to admit, the Android Studio is very intimidating, but I know I can figure it out. Just takes a little bit of time.
Working on the birthday card app and trying to get a handle on the naming structures and view types. I’m sure I’ll get used to them very quickly. The beginning is always a little intimidating. Just need to keep going.
Was having some issues getting the app to run on my phone, but just realized that I was using “relativelayout” instead of using camel type like “RelativeLayout” in the XML. Now it’s all good in the Android hood.
I was just playing with the file structures for the app that I built and deleted it all on accident. Now I’m doing it all over again, which now that I think about it is probably really good practice. Hacking together a new version right now and want to use my own stuff.
It’s almost 2am, but wanted to start up a new course. Why not?
Ok, it’s almost 2am so I’m going to call it a night. Not a bad first few hours of trying to pull this Android stuff together. Like I said, it’s going to take a while to get the hang of it, so just need to keep on cranking on it.
My goal is to touch something that has to do with Android every, single day. I need to make a habit out of it. Just like eating hummus, except writing code. Should be easy, right?
I love the non-sexy and easily unforgettable parts of traveling. I love airports, I love taking trams & shuttle buses, I love taking the stairs whenever I can, I love the coordination of it all, and I love the actual time that I spend traveling even more than I love getting there.
In the past while traveling I’ve stayed in some pretty interesting places and now that I’m back working in the States I’ve ended up in a few Airbnbs, but mostly find myself staying in hotels. One of the main reasons I choose to stay in a hotel is simple: I love hotel gyms.
I love hotel gyms so much that while some might search for nearby restaurants, want a nice view, or a room that has all kinds of amenities, I just want one thing – a gym. It seems like an easy box to check, but not all hotel gyms are the same so it pays to do a little bit of research.
Stretching in the basement of an NYC hotel gym.
During check-in while most might ask about a free continental breakfast, wifi code, or hours for the hot tub I’m just interested in one question – where’s the gym?
Each gym has it’s own vibe, but one thing is pretty standard across the board – no one really goes to the gym while staying in a hotel. No matter how the gym looks and the quality of the space and equipment, I rarely see other people in there whatever is inside of most gyms doesn’t seem to get much use.
I’m a simple man these days when it comes to working out, so I’m not looking for much in a hotel gym – just some weights and a cardio machine that doesn’t fall apart when I use it (yep, that’s happened before). Most offer more than I or any guest would need, but as you start getting into the cheaper hotels as you might find yourself in a “Fitness Center” instead of a gym. This usually means it’ll have just the basics, which usually includes a few old yoga mats, an “As seen on TV” cable machine, and water cooler with those cone-shaped paper cups. With a little research ahead of time I can usually weed these guys out, but sometimes it still happens.
A gym on LSU campus was more of a “fitness center”, but still got the job done.
Of course, on the other hand there are the super-fancy gyms that have all kinds of things that no one really needs like free headphones, baskets of fruit, endless number of televisions, and little fridges full of cold bottles of water. I guess having these things is a nice touch, but for me I just need a spot to get my sweat in and call it a day. The one good thing about going super-fancy is that usually the nicer the hotel gym, the less it’s used, which works out better for me.
Keeping a regular habit of working out is what keeps me full of energy and moving along while traveling and finding a gym is key to making sure that happens. The feeling I get the first time I step into a hotel gym I’ve never been in before is something that I always look forward to after making it to a new city. It’s a space to do my thing, it’s my time to get energized no matter how I’m feeling from the day before, and it hasn’t let me down yet. Yep, I love me some hotel gyms.
While traveling around the world as an American there are some questions that I always get asked, but the most common one is about guns.
I get questions like:
“What’s up with all the guns?”
“Why do Americans keep killing each other?”
“Do you have any guns?”
These are great questions for me to answer considering that I’ve grown up with guns and have a dad whose love of guns is only trumped (no pun intended) by his love of sitting in the cold for hours to kill deer with guns. Yep, besides going to Bob Evans, going deer hunting is also where he’s in his element.
Anyway, while I was in China everyone was amazed and very curious about our country’s love with guns and from their perspective, I get it. People in China aren’t allowed to own guns and most likely have never even seen on in real life (much less shoot one). All while I live in a country where some type of gun shooting is happening nearly every other week.
To them it doesn’t make any sense and to me, knowing where a loaded gun was in the house while I grew up was totally normal — it’s just that I knew never to touch it and if, for some reason I did need to use it, I knew how. Dad made sure we were all on the same page when it came to the guns in the house and we never had any problems. Guns also have a long history here in the U.S., so it’s not easy to just to dismiss them altogether. I guess you could say it’s complicated.
Speaking of guns, my friends also really like them, too, but this is pretty normal for people here in good ol’ Indiana. So, for the past two years on Thanksgiving morning me and my buddy Marc have gone shooting with The Rev Peyton and his Big Damn fam out in a cornfield to celebrate the beginning of the holidays. It’s a fun way to kick-off Turkey Day and this year was super fun (see photo at the top). So, I guess you could say that shooting guns doesn’t always need to be crazy, it can be just a way to bring people together who like to load up shotguns and shoot them at targets on Thanksgiving mornings.
The pro/against guns argument will continue here in the States, but I guess as long as we can still keep this tradition I’ll still be pretty happy.
These are a few of the reactions I got after showing some of my lovely, yet apparently super judgmental friends the above photo of a postal worker I took the other day.
I can see where they’re coming from, but for me, getting a little weird is normal and something I’m used to. For example, take this situation with the postal worker. I saw her cross the street as me and a friend were getting into the car after eating some delicious doughnuts (they had bacon on them).
My friend sees the postal worker and has no reaction, probably because she’s seen the postal worker before. Me, on the other hand, see this postal worker and think about a few things.
1. I’ve never seen a postal worker that young
2. I’ve rarely seen female postal workers
3. Her bright red hair was awesome
4. The rest of her outfit with the socks pulled up, sock hat, and headphones looked even more awesome
I mentioned her to my friend and still didn’t get much of a reaction, so off we went and as I drove away I didn’t think much more of that super-cool looking postal worker.
Well, that is until I drove back through town on my way to the coffee shop and there she was again, this time walking out of our small town post office with overflowing bags of mail pulled over both shoulders. I slowly cruised down the street a bit and told myself that if she walked by me, then I’d ask for a quick photo.
It didn’t take long until I saw her turn the corner, so there I was, hopping out of the car and asking a random girl who was delivering the mail if I could take a photo (followed quickly by an explanation why). Yeah, she thought it was weird at first, but after telling her I was from there, what year I graduated, and asking her a few other questions about her job it was all good.
I really like the photo and for some reason I think it screams small town U.S.A. — I even got the flag hanging off of the front porch behind her in the photo. After being gone from my hometown for so long it’s these types of small things I notice and realize are so unique to where I grew up and I think that’s pretty cool. Sure, a little weird, but also pretty cool.
I love seeing people in their element. Like, really, really love it. Seeing someone surrounded by an environment where they thrive and feel the most alive is the best and makes me ridiculously happy. If you haven’t seen someone you care about in their element, then you haven’t really seen them and should figure out how to do that asap. For reals.
Maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about, I get it — I tend to ramble about some pretty weird stuff. But, I don’t think that this is too complicated and hopefully I’m not the only person who loves experiencing this type of thing. Here, let me give a few examples.
Seeing people in their element can be simple, like when my dad goes to Bob Evans in the mornings to hang with his peeps. Or, like when my friend Nicole teaches Zumba – that’s totally her element and when she’s teaching I can tell it’s her happy place (even if she’s trying to kill me with those crazy dance moves).
While I’m home and not in China studying Mandarin for 10 frustrating hours per day, I try to see my friends and family in their element as much as possible. Not having a job definitely helps with that as I can just drop everything, hop on a mountain bike, and ride through town to a lake to go fishing on a random afternoon. You know, like I did today with my homie Marc.
If I’m in Indiana I’m talking to Marc all the time as long as his phone is charged (it’s like 10 years old and has a battery life of approximately 7 minutes). He’s always going fishing and that’s definitely his element, so today I was happy to be able to take a step into his world by floating in a canoe with his crazy ass for a couple hours while trying to catch some fish.
When we were out of the reach of sunshine it was a little chilly and I was just wearing shorts and a hoodie, but it was still an epic time. We also didn’t end up catching any fish, but I was able to fish for the first time in 15 years and it was top-notch hangout time. Like I said, it was Marc’s element and I was just there to take it all in, one cast at a time.
Squatting isn’t really a thing here in the States and took some getting used to while traveling through Asia. But, whether squatting to rest while checking a phone on the side of a street or to go to the bathroom in an airport – squatting is a common part of life for most Asians.
The Asian Squat, while interesting to see and fun to joke about, can be very intimating — especially when trying to master the squat toilets of Asia. Personally, a few years ago I wasn’t even close to being flexible enough to use one of them without clinging to the door or something else in the stall for dear life. But, over time I’ve gotten more used to the position and have even gotten to the point to where I can squat enough when the situation calls for it.
A shared bathroom in a Beijing Hutong — don’t worry, you get used to it.
But, I also feel like I still have a ways to go before I’ve really mastered the Asian Squat, so I’ve been working on it while I’ve been home here in Indiana. I try to spend at least a few minutes in the squatting position during my workouts as well as in the morning and before I go to bed. Over the past few years I’ve also dramatically increased the amount of overall stretching while working out, so that’s been a big help when it comes to squatting without falling over like an idiot.
So, I’ll keep on fighting the good fight of forcing my legs to loosen up and hopefully one day I too will be able to master what everyone in Asia seems to think is so simple.
The way that my brain works leads me to noticing things that others might just gloss over. I don’t know why I pick on up these small, seemingly unextraordinary parts of life, but it’s what I do and while traveling I try to document them as much as possible.
I guess from my perspective different types of people from all around the world are still very similar, so it’s the smaller things that differentiate them from each other. Like, how Filipinos, no matter where they’re at, will just start singing out loud if a song they like starts playing. Or, how so many people in South Korea wear the most fashionable, square-shaped backpacks. These types of day-to-day things are the most interesting to me as I travel through somewhere new.
Considering that I lived there for over 9 months straight, there are many, many things like this that caught my attention while staying in China. But, one of my favorites is what I like to call “The Chinese Power Walk”, which you can see the man doing above in the photo that I took while crossing a normal street in Beijing. As you can see there’s not much to it, basically all you have to do is hold your hands behind your back while walking. The Chinese Power Walk isn’t overly flashy and doesn’t really catch anyone’s attention, but for being so simple it looks so damn dignified while subtly screaming, “Hey, I’m a badass!”
Mao Zedong’s O.G. power walk in the 1950s
I’ve only seen men walk this way and while they’re usually a little bit older, I’ve often seen guys in their 20s and 30s rock this casual power pose, too. When I’ve brought it up to some of my Chinese friends they think that this style of walking probably came from Chairman Mao Zedong who ruled Communist China for nearly 30 years through the end of the 1970s (see photo above).
I think they’re probably right, but no matter where it came from, I love that it’s a thing in China and notice it nearly every time I’m out wandering around.
I’ve been told that a couple of years ago something changed in China. Before that time, the sidewalks weren’t lined with different colored bikes waiting to be rented for pennies on the dollar per hour. For me it’s hard to imagine the time when there was no renting bikes in China because now there are more than enough of these bikes to go around.
At times it can get a little messy and the amount of bikes streamed up and down the streets is a lot to handle (especially in bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai). But, that’s a small price to pay for what I feel is by far one of the most convenient ways to get from place to place.
Renting these bikes is super easy, too. As with most things in China you can use your cell phone to scan a QR code on each bike and within a few seconds you’re on your way. There are no racks you need to put them in when you’re done, just pick it up on your way out and leave it in front of wherever you end up. While in China I saw just as much older people using these bikes as young people, which was also super cool. It’s a piece of cake.
People seem to mostly put up with this method of bike sharing in China, but here in the States just leaving your bike in random places seems to create some issues like at UC San Diego where one of the Chinese bike rental brands was quickly banned due to complaints. Also, from what I’ve seen the sidewalks in the U.S. are also much smaller than in China since Chinese sidewalks are often used to park electric scooters, so there just isn’t as much room here for bikes to be parked.
Who knows if we’ll ever see this level of bike sharing fully make it’s way over here to the States, but it’s definitely unique to China and something I wish I could still use here.
When I’m back in the States I like to see my peeps and one of these weirdos is Marcus P, who I grew up with way back in the day. We’re both a little bit older, his hair’s a little grayer and mine a little thinner, but we’ve been friends for over 15 years and still act like idiots when we’re together. I could fill this entire blog with stories of dumb shit we’ve done together, but I’ll save that for another time. Well, ok — here’s one. 🙂
Anyway, what’s important for you to know now is that even though Marcus P is the bomb-dot-com, his girlfriend Nicole is slowly becoming one of the best parts of knowing him. I mean, nothing against my homie, love the guy, but getting to know Nicole over the past few years has been a nice addition to me and Marc’s weird and fantastic friendship.
All Zumba, all the time
Besides putting up with Marc (and his friends like me), Nicole has something else unique about her — she’s a Zumba freak (which I mean in the best way possible). She’s a certified teacher and has been for a while now, which I think is super cool.
Now, you’ve all probably heard about Zumba or seen someone rocking a neon shirt with “ZUMBA!!!” written across the front with way too many exclamation points, but have you ever tried it? Nope? Well, me either. I had seen people dancing Zumba all over the place in the Philippines, with the craziest being thousands of Filipinos getting their Zumba on for Earth Hour a while back. Man, that was a trip.
Time for me to get my Zumba workout on
For me, life’s about trying out new things and experiencing what normal is like for other people. It’s a great way to really understand someone else, even if you feel like you already know them. So, when Nicole told me that she was teaching a class the next morning I was all in for trying Zumba for the first time.
Nicole teaches a class almost every day – daaaaang, girl
The class started way too early and thanks to a concert we all went to bed way too late, but Nicole and I still made it to a nearby apartment complex’s half-court basketball gym in plenty of time to get the Zumba party started. As people started showing up Nicole plugged her phone into the huge speaker she lugged in from her SUV and fired up the hip-hop playlist she had masterfully put together.
Then, according to some sort of cue that thanks to me being the new guy I wasn’t aware of, the dancing started. What followed was an hour filled with an incredible amount of attitude, pelvic thrusting, and several dance moves that seemed to be just outside of my body’s range of motion and/or coordination. Not knowing the moves didn’t matter though and as the sweat quickly showed up I was so happy every time we had a short break to catch my breath between songs. This Zumba stuff was no joke and my lungs felt like they were on fire.
This made it even more incredible that Nicole was still doing her thing in front of us, non-stop and at maximum level, all while still looking like she was actually enjoying herself. The rest of the people in the class also seemed be more used to the ridiculous amount of energy this was requiring, so I just had to keep going and hope that every song that ended was the last one (which took longer than I would have liked).
I Zumba’d and lived to tell the story
Eventually the jumping, clapping, and my many attempted failures to shake my ass ended and my heart felt like it was going to bust out of my chest. Nicole, on the other hand, was still smiling and talked us into doing a “quick and easy” ab workout on top of yoga mats to finish up the class. Well, 10-minutes of intense ab-burning later we were officially done and our hour was up.
Zumba had officially done what I wanted it to, give me one hell of a workout, and even though it brought the pain it was also a really fun way to kill some calories. It was also great to see Nicole in her element and experience this thing that she spends so much time doing for myself. I don’t think Zumba will be something I do all the time, but this definitely won’t be the last time I let a bunch of women show me what a real workout looks like.
If you’re reading this and happen to be in Northern Indianapolis area, here’s more info on Nicole’s classes. She’ll help you get in a 1-hour workout that’s super fun and still hard enough to actually do something.
Also, if you live around Indianapolis and have an interesting experience that you think I’d like to check out, let me know! I’ll be in town for a while and I’m always up for checking out something new and a little weird.
