Project 56
After Eli 25.0s time trial on Saturday, in an attempt to break my 1979 family record (57.0) in the quarter mile, Project 56 has a new name.
It's now Project 50.
There was no question, after a single month of speed training, that he would break my record. He told me the day before that he expected to run below 55 seconds.
We had a long conversation before I told him this at the end.
"By the way, I've hand-timed your race," I said.
"Hand-timed? Before I've even run?" he asked, laughing.
"Exactly," I said. "I already saw the outcome."
"What'd I run?" he asked.
"57.1," I said, and he burst out laughing.
I told C the night before that he was going to run 53.9. I know what happens when he's competing. He turns on a gear almost no one else has.
As it turned out, he didn't run 53.9.
He ran 53.5.
I saw two videos, both recorded poorly by his friends, and both only covering very small snippets of the race. I could tell, though, that this form still isn't very good. He's just burning through on raw speed, which means has has a huge amount of room for improvement.
I told him he might have run the fastest quarter mile time of any college hockey goalie in history, and he laughed and said it was certainly a possibility.
His real plan, now that he's talked to the friend on the track team who helped him train, is to come back from Columbia (and a year at an Ivy League school I can't specify yet, where he'll be working with one of the very best people in the world in his field) and join the track team.
His friend said he believes that with a year of proper training, he could break 50 seconds. This is important because it would mean he'd quality for a "full blue" in a second Oxford sport, which is extremely rare. He already has one for hockey, so pulling off the hockey-track double would be both incredibly unlikely. He doesn't think it's ever been done before.
I'm not betting against him.
Just No
I did a full edit of the book (230 pages) in two days before I left for Austin.
I recommend this to no one, ever.
Tuesday will return to a regular schedule, and I'll have Project 56 details as well.
Friday Links!
It's a big week for the Guardian on Friday Links because they've had a plethora of interesting articles this week.
A Change of Plans
I'm headed to Austin to see Mom 96.5 on short notice, so I don't know if there will be a post tomorrow or Monday. I'll finish Friday Links, though, and have it set to post at the usual time.
By the time I get back, Project 56 will be completed because Eli 25.0 is running on Saturday. I'll let you know what happened.
Also, if you want to watch a Koshien live stream for the semifinals (tonight) or final (Saturday, I think), here's a link: Sports Bull. Excellent picture quality, and replays are available afterwards for a limited amount of time.
A Matter of Detail
I'm at the point with the book (now with a title: We Trust the Future) where I'm spending multiple days considering the merits of "adventurer" versus "pioneer."
Originally, adventurer is used often in the text.
It's kind of a narrow word, though, and it brings to mind excitement and daring. It implies that adventure is the whole point, rather than purpose. Plus, at four syllables, it rolls off the tongue like a speed bump.
Pioneer, though, implies purpose. Marking trail. Forging ahead when others aren't strong enough to go with you. And at three syllables, it's smooth. It flows.
So I'm making the change. It's easy to search for adventurer and replace all instances with pioneer. Lots of edge cases are possible, though, so to do this, I have to read through the entire manuscript and ensure nothing feels out of place.
By the way, DQ Story Advisor John Harwood was the one who suggested that "trust" needed to be in the title, since it's part of a trilogy. Eventually, in theory, all three books will use that word.
I guess it's the trust trilogy now. Or the trilogy of trust.
A Project of Our Own
Eli has Project 56. We have Project Shoe.
We have a common entryway with our neighbors (who we're very fond of because they're generally fantastic). They asked us if they could put a shoe rack there, and we said of course.
It wasn't long after that, unfortunately, that a stinky shoe smell invaded the entryway, and then, our living room. They were incredibly gracious when we quietly mentioned it and put out a deodorizer, but the floral scent was so strong it actually made it worse.
This weekend, we figured it out, and I'm sharing this in case any of you have the same situation.
One pair of sneakers was 100% of the problem (don't ask me how I researched). Instead of asking our neighbors to remove that pair, I found an unscented deodorizer spray used in hospitals: M9TM deodorizer spray. We sprayed the shoes twice and it's substantially better already. We put the bottle in the entryway so they can use it whenever they wish.
Second, we found out our front door has gaps with the door frame that are more than substantial enough to allow air in from the entryway. To fix that, we got this: Holikme Weather Stripping Door Seal. It's extremely easy to apply and goes around the door (on our side) instead of inside the frame, so it's easier to remove if needed.
Doing these two things has reduced the odor so much (inside our place, at least) that it's not even noticeable anymore. The odor in the entryway is significantly reduced as well.
I received no compensation for this post. As if.
A Possibility
Last week we talked about a book now going unpublished because there were questions about AI assistance.
I wouldn't ever want AI assistance to write a book. I don't need it. Well, unless it was to check for typos. That would be quite nice, actually.
If I composed music or painted, I wouldn't want assistance, either.
Games, though, might be different.
I made Gridiron Solitaire all those years ago because it was a game I wanted to play. It didn't exist, so I made it. Then I continued to play it long after it was released.
I don't re-read the books I've written. I can't imagine musicians listening to their old albums, either, or painters spending hours with their old work.
A game, though, is play. I make games so I can play them.
So would I use AI if it made a game I wanted to play a better experience? I would. It might also make it possible to make a more complex, more interesting game than I originally imagined.
Which I would then continue to expand and play after I released it.
The only consideration, in the end, is would it be more fun?
A Tale of Two Days
Yesterday, five hours to edit half a a page.
Today, three hours to edit forty-five.
At times, writing is a very strange craft.
How It's Going
I spent five hours on half a page today.
This happens sometimes. Nobody is going to fix it but you. You just have to keep going. it doesn't make it any more fun, though.
The good news: I'm at the point where I can spend five hours fixing half a page. Being able to focus on such a small section is a luxury.
A Difference in Approach
I've been spending quite a bit of time playing
Pro Spirits 2026, the Japanese baseball game, focusing on high school (Koshien) mode.
I've been playing College Football 27, too, but not as much.
I'm struck by the difference in Konami's development approach versus EA's.
In Pro Spirits 2026, everything just works. Menus are snappy. Animations are correct. The level of jank is zero. Even though the gameplay loop in Koshien mode is quite repetitive, it's never annoying, because--like I said--it all works, and there are constantly tiny variations and individual moments that make the game feel alive.
College Football 27 is the third iteration of EA's return to college football. In typical EA fashion, they've revamped things that worked absolutely fine and made them different for no reason. Like the menus, which were snappy last year. Now, they're sluggish.
Other parts of the game have been revised in Dynasty, too, also for no reason. Things that never needed to be changed, like controls in slow sim, for example. These revisions have introduced bugs that didn't exist before.
Even after several patches, it's still a problem. The whole experience has more jank than I want, at least for now.
This is the difference in approach. Konami fundamentally opposes any jank in Pro Spirits 2026. It seems like a core development concept. EA doesn't prioritize reducing jank at all. I guess they assume it will be fixed eventually, even though it usually isn't.
I like the team developing NCAA. They've had two strong efforts in the last two years. But now, in typical EA fashion, they're going sideways.
