Of course the question is, which plan? Well right now, roughly two. The studies plan and the technology consolidation plan. The studies plan is what I’m calling the part last week where I figured out that if I get certain things done, I’m be really done with them and can move on to different stuff. I haven’t mentioned the technology consolidation plan yet. I’m still assessing a couple of items with that. However, I did get started on it.
About a month ago I ordered an iPad Pro, at the same time I ordered an Apple Pencil and a cover to go with it. A couple of days later I had the pencil and the cover and was waiting on the iPad. The iPad finally arrived last week. Finally. And now, I’m getting used to using it. There were a few things that finally convinced me to get an iPad again. For starters, the Pencil. This was really exciting to me when it was first introduced and now with some of the upcoming changes to how it works in iOS 14 I’m even more excited. Another thing was trying to draw or sketch with the tools on a Windows tablet styled Surface and finding it a difficult enough experience that it hasn’t inspired me to learn how to do it. Yes, I have a stylus for the Surface. There were other things that appealed to me as well. The fact that the OS on the iPad is designed for a tablet and not a desktop operating system trying pretend to be a tablet operating system. The difference in how privacy is handled is another plus. And it fits into the bigger technology consolidation plan, which, as it implies, will ultimately see me with fewer devices. Hopefully.
Since art is a factor for having the iPad getting the right app was important. For that, this time I decided to purchase Procreate. I have Auto Sketch I think that’s what it’s called. It’s the Autodesk Sketch program and I could have stuck with that but I decided to go with something that seems a bit more “Apple main stream”. I have tried it already. In fact I used it to play with an idea for what to do for the next donut scene after the one I’m working on. It was fun to use that idea to learn a bit of how to work with the app, it was also the first fairly simple thing I could think of. And you know what. It was so easy and smooth to use that I actually want to learn to use it to make 2D digital art. That’s a cool thing to me. In fact it’s probably the coolest thing so far.
I already have Garage Band for the iPad so I’ll be able to use it for some recording of my practice and noodling if I want to. And yes, you really can produce music in Garage Band. I haven’t done it yet. I’m looking forward to trying it. I am planning on getting an iRig to go with it so that when I do record it will, in theory, be better quality.
Speaking of music, I worked on my guitar course again this weekend. And again I learned something. It is a slight variation on the turn around for the 12 bar blues. It was easy enough with a couple of the boogie patterns he uses and more challenging with the other two. My brain and fingers kept getting a little tangled. I kept at it though. I played it until I could do it. I used the iPad to watch the lessons. I like the portability more than my other devices and I think that will be important as I get to some of the more involved lessons that I may want my guitar in hand for as he’s going through them.
It probably seems like all I have to talk about this week is the new iPad. That’s because, last week, up until it got here I was working the study plan. It was a full week at the day job and a long one as we had server patching at the weekend. As I mentioned in the last post, I figured out that if I got a few of the things I’d been working on done I’d have more time to better concentrate on the big study so I could get that out of the way. So that’s what I did. I was about half way through the week and found that I was really close to finishing the AWS course. So I pushed through and finished the course and the test for the course. I am done with that. For the immediate need. Now back to the SQL study with that as the focus. Which is what I’m working on now.
Though I did take some time to work on the guitar course and to practice, and I worked on the donut scene, once I was done with the patching and maintenance for the day job, SQL was my focus for the weekend. And I worked the iPad into that plan as well. I have these notes I’ve been taking for some flash cards online that even though I’ve been taking the notes, I haven’t gone back and read through them. So I decided to do that. Read the notes. As I was reading them I thought it would be better to re-write them so I could read them more easily. But I wanted to write them, not type them. So I found a good notebook app for the iPad. I chose one that I had to pay for. It is one I can have full access to and not have to subscribe to it after the free trial. I’m really loving it. I’ve got almost all of the notes copied. Just a few more sets to go. And I’ve retained some of the information too. Progress.
I’m expecting to make a little more progress on the donut scene this weekend, maybe even adding some color to it. And I will be making sure to get some guitar practice as well as the guitar course. Even planning for that, my big focus will be the SQL. I’ve made progress with my notes, and my book study and I have a few more tools to work with so that I can get myself ready to take that test and pass it. For now, I have few pictures I managed for this week so enjoy.
Yes, I felt the earthquake.