Point Reyes →

Published December 18, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 18

Tyson Cecka: Obstacles, artistry, and depression →

Published December 18, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 18  ·  

Tyson Cecka: Obstacles, artistry, and depression

What drives the creation and refinement of spaces and objects for parkour, and how do personal and communal experiences influence this process?

Tyson Cecka unpacks his design process, how he began to build parkour obstacles, and where he finds inspiration. He discusses his current plans and goals, and explains why he doesn’t consider himself a great artist or creator. Tyson shares his experiences with depression, how it’s affected his life, and how he’s working through it.

Failure should be a lesson. If you’re doing your trials correctly, every failure would be a lesson that you could then apply going forward.

~ Tyson Cecka (5:12)

This conversation centers on the intersection of creativity, movement, and mental resilience. Tyson discusses how his initial interest in parkour evolved into designing and building obstacles, driven by necessity and a desire to refine and optimize solutions for movement challenges. He explains how his creations are deeply informed by observing others and learning from failures.

The discussion also taps into broader themes of community influence, personal struggles with depression, and the balance between maintaining control over spaces and embracing organic creativity. Tyson reflects on the importance of spaces that allow for exploration and adaptation while highlighting the iterative process that shapes his work and life philosophy.

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Someone has to be the first guinea pig →

Published December 17, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 17  ·  ,

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series The interviews from my perspective

Adam McClellan / Episode 1

The story behind episode one is challenging. How much do we want to know? How much do we want to share about the birth of the podcast? That all plays into Episode One. I picked Adam as the first guest because I wanted a guinea pig. I had bought a Zoom recorder and some microphones and cables. There’s a guy who did our audio editing for the first two years, and I had sent him some test audio files just to verify that when I press “Record” it does what we think it does.

I had been training with Adam for years, so I approached him and said, “Hey, I’m thinking about starting a podcast. You want to sit down and have a conversation?” In hindsight, I now realize it takes a lot of chutzpah to actually say, “Okay, I’ll sit down with microphones,” but he was totally up for it. I said, “I need a guinea pig. I’m going to screw it up, and I want you to just be game for a radical F-up.” And, sure enough, now I realize the zeroth rule of podcasting is always press “Record” and then double-check that you’ve actually pressed “Record.” These days we actually have a system, because sometimes it still happens. The person who sits in and listens actually takes notes and uses the time codes from the recorder. So you have to actually look at the recorder, and if the timer isn’t running, we know that I haven’t pressed “Record.”

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2020 vision →

Published December 16, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 16  ·  

I often known when a bad joke or a terrible pun is coming. My confession is that I really enjoy that feeling of knowing there’s going to be a terrible groaner in… 3… 2… 1…

Except that in today’s case, I already wrote it.

”2020 vision.” As in, “20/20 vision.”

You’re welcome! Go start beating all your friends over the head with “insightful” comments about having 2020 vision for the coming year.

In other news: 2019 was the year I started using reading glasses. My past track record of prognostication and beginning-of-the-year vision statements, combined with my vision deteriorating… nope, lost it, I feel like I had something clever to say here. But no, it too is decagon.

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CRM’ing your friends and family →

Published December 15, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 15

This is daft… wacky… but possibly so brilliant, that I want to share it.

I’m seriously considering put all my friends and family into a ‘customer’ relationship management (CRM) system. Wait, don’t block me just yet…

*unfriend*

You see, for many years now, we’ve been sending out Christmas and Holiday greetings to an increasingly large list of our friends and family. Large. List. Growing. It takes days of shopping and stamp obtaining and writing and sealing and then a special trip to the post office for the sub-set of cards that need to go by AirMail overseas…

…and as I do each card, I think, “oh!” And a bunch of stuff I want to share, say, ask, etc. for that person/family/whatever pops into my mind.

So all I really want—the reason I’m considering CRM’ing all these nice people—is a something that will suggest one of these contacts… well, I’m not going to say how many how often I’d need to do… at certain intervals. Then I would be able to write a note or an email or make a phone call…

Because the other option would be to convert the “holiday” cards into “yo wats up” cards and just make a stack and do them throughout the year. :)

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Thoughtfully giving and receiving decisions →

Published December 14, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 14  ·  ,

Decision fatigue is a well-known effect. I’ve long since learned to be mindful of when I am going to encounter this, and to take steps to avoid or reduce it. There’s a paradox where I used to want the option to make decisions, while not having the energy to make good decisions.

Also long ago, I started intentionally reigning in the urge to have an opinion when a decision is available. I now think, “do I want to have an opinion on this?” and I try to steer myself towards, “no.” There are countless examples, but they most often fall into, what I’ll call, refinements. This is when something is happening, and it is happening because I’m following someone’s lead. Our culture encourages that leader to solicit opinions; I’m presented a dinner invitation, but asked, “where would you like to eat?” These refinements come in a huge variety, but usually, that leader had an idea in mind when they set the ball rolling. These days, whenever I can, I don’t add an opinion to the mix.

I’ve gotten really good at not having an opinion. In fact, I’ve realized this is now a problem. Everyone is so used to people complaining—about everything; the movie, the food, the traffic—that they assume I too am going to complain later, after going along with their choice.

Each of us needs to practice giving the gift of making thoughtful choices for others. Each of us needs to practice accepting those gifts graciously, (up front, and during and after without complaint.)

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Tis the season →

Published December 13, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 13  ·  

I like paying for my software when I’m buying it from a company that’s responsive, fast and focused. I like being the customer (as opposed to a social network, where I’m the product). I spend most of my day working with tools that weren’t even in science fiction novels twenty-five years ago, and the money I spend on software is a bargain–doing this work without it is impossible.

~ Seth Godin from, On paying for software

slip:4useoa1.

Tis the season… to talk about paying for the things we get value from. Last year Seth wrote that great gem about software and I whole-heartedly agree.

Here’s a short list of a few pieces of software which I gleefully pay for, without which everything I do would be vastly more difficult or outright impossible: Hover, BBEdit, Hindenburg, Overcast, Reeder, Feedbin, Tower, Transmit, OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, iaWriter, Discourse, Basecamp and Front.

As a bonus round, here’s a short list of a few online services or publications which I also gleefully contribute to, because they provide me with magnificent information that makes my world a better place: Brain Pickings, Müvmag, PodNews, Once is Never, and WikiPedia.

My challenge to you for the holiday season: Post your own lists somewhere public, and share the love for the software and services that make your life better throughout the year!

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Is movement an integral part of my life? →

Published December 12, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 12  ·  

It certainly is an integral part of life, in general. But the vast majority of my life does not involve movement. I probably move more than the average American my age. I certainly moved a lot more in my 20s when I had a job that involved doing things. (Make this, move that, go over there, etc.) But today, movement is something that—I don’t quite have to make time for it, but I definitely have to be mindful of it. I generally plan to do something every day. Usually that’s a multi-mile walk, a leisurely bike ride, an hour wrestling with firewood, etc..

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Yosemite Valley →

Published December 11, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 11

US Parkour Association (part 3 of 4): Funding model, membership voices, and next steps →

Published December 11, 2019  ·  All posts on Dec 11  ·  

US Parkour Association (part 3 of 4): Funding model, membership voices, and next steps

What are the challenges, structures, and opportunities involved in building and maintaining a transparent, community-driven national governing body for Parkour?

Membership dues directly support a transparent, nonprofit structure designed to empower the Parkour community.

This conversation goes into the structure, purpose, and vision of the United States Parkour Association (USPK), a nonprofit organization aiming to unify and support the Parkour community. It discusses the unique governance model involving committees and Special Interest Groups (SIGs), emphasizing the grassroots nature of SIGs as member-driven initiatives addressing both internal and community-specific challenges. Transparency is a cornerstone of USPK’s operations, with open financial reporting and an inclusive process for member contributions to decision-making.

The discussion also touches on the challenges of convincing individual practitioners and skeptics to join the organization, highlighting the importance of proactive involvement to ensure Parkour remains community-led. Broader topics include potential external threats, such as legislative actions by industries like CrossFit and Coca-Cola, and the role of public perception in shaping Parkour’s future. The conversation underscores the urgency of building a robust membership base to drive the organization’s efforts and sustain its mission.

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