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Friday, June 12, 2009  My new baby Well, it's taken me long enough, but I'm finally planning on posting about my guitar gear. I'll start off by posting about my #1 guitar, my Gibson '57 Goldtop Les Paul (VOS). She was made in 2008 and I purchased her during Easter weekend of this year. VOS stands for Vintage Original Spec . It is Gibson's new line of reissues(historics, or whatever else they've called them), and they are designed to have a worn-in look and feel without looking trashed (*ahem* *here's looking at you, Fender Custom Shop). The case is pretty nice, though I didn't get as much case candy as I would have with some other Gibson Custom Shop guitars (no idea why), but I have to say this guitar is the best guitar I have ever laid my hands on, period. The feel is amazing, the playability is superb, and it just looks beautiful, in my opinion. She has a Burstbucker #1 pickup in the neck position, and a Burstbucker #2 in the bridge. Though there are certainly nicer boutique pickups you can buy (and which I may eventually get), these sound really nice to me, and have that vintage vibe I look for. I also like that these pickups are made to look aged and slightly worn, but don't look rusted or corroded. I'll write more about the guitar sometime, but here are a few pics for now (click for a slightly larger version). Labels: 1957, Gibson, Goldtop, Les Paul 7:55 AM | Dude, the Fender custom shop, haha. Why would I want to pay, what $25,000 for a guitar that looks like it was a battering ram in a war? haha Posted by  Kenny | 6/13/2009 10:26 PM    She is a beauty! Did you name her yet? Posted by  Kristen | 6/14/2009 9:11 AM    Post a Comment Sunday, March 22, 2009  My Lala.com Forecast...for your listening pleasure I've added my Lala.com Forecast (a selection of 4 songs I like and want to share with others) to the sidebar.  I'll be updating it every so often, so check back regularly if you like my picks.  Also, if you're on Lala.com, feel free to hit me up sometime.  My user name is Romonster.  :) Labels: In my ear, Lala.com 10:53 AM | Post a Comment Friday, March 20, 2009  Jailbreak! Well, I've finally done it.  After giving it much thought, I've decided to "jailbreak" my beloved iPhone 3G.  What influenced my decision most was my desire to share my iPhone's internet connectivity with my laptop when no wifi network is available (in general, this is known as "tethering").   Jailbreaking the iPhone was very easy.  I followed the guide found here and the iPhone was jailbroken in a matter of a few minutes.  Then, to tether my laptop to my iPhone, I had to install PdaNet. Download the PdaNet iPhone app via the Cydia package manager (which was installed during the jailbreak). Download a desktop PdaNet app for my laptop which allows it to communicate with the iPhone version of PdaNet.   After that, I ran PdaNet on my iPhone and on my laptop and I was online!  So as to not upset AT&T, I only plan to use this for basic internet usage (e-mail, browsing, etc.), and probably only on weekends when I am out of town or on long trips. I'll let you know how it works out! Labels: iPhone, Jailbreak 8:48 AM | Are there any other 'cool' reasons to jailbreak? Posted by  Kristen | 3/20/2009 4:32 PM    there are a number of cool things you can do, but I imagine the one of most interest to you might be that you can customize many aspects of your iPhone's appearance and behavior. Many user interface themes are available. Posted by  Román | 3/22/2009 9:55 AM    Post a Comment Saturday, March 14, 2009  Looking to join an open source project I've decided a good way to get back into development in my spare time would be to join an open source project of interest to me.  I've been poking around Codeplex for the past few days trying to find something that I can help with but I haven't found the right project yet.   Does anyone have any interesting projects they care to suggest?  My interests are varied, so I'm willing to check just about anything out.  I'm only interested in joining a project developed in C# or VB.NET, though. Labels: Open Source, Programming 10:18 PM | Post a Comment Wednesday, March 11, 2009  I'm back! Not that anyone cares in particular, but after over a year of mostly neglecting my poor blog, I'm back and hopefully more committed to it. :)   These are still random musings...I don't have much direction for the blog other than to be an outlet for thoughts I'd like to share.  However, I've been considering the possibility of shifting the blog to a more focused range of topics. In the meantime, I'll try and catch you up on the highlights of the past year. First and foremost, Kristen gave birth to our second son, Brennan Miguel on October 10th.  He's a beautiful boy with a winning smile and laugh.  He loves to be tickled and held, and seems to favor being in motion at all times.   He doesn't like when the car stops driving or his swing stops swaying...it's adorable. Lately most of my spare time is dominated by my guitar practice schedule.  I still play in the Younger Generation worship band at the Arlington SDA Church, and it continues to be a blessing to me.  I've grown as a musician, but I've also learned a lot about what it means to serve God.  I know I still have much to learn, though. I've fallen away from my previous time wasters of choice: Halo and World of Warcraft.  Don't get me wrong;I still enjoy those games, but I just don't have much time for them at the moment.  I am, however, trying to make more time for programming in my spare time.  I feel that doing so used to keep me on top of my game, so to speak, and having not done much programming at home in the past 2 years, my programming skills have taken a bit of a hit.  No worries, though, I'm trying to think of a project or two to entertain me for a little while and hopefully exercise my mental muscles a bit as well. Last but not least, I am looking to revive my devotional and prayer life, which are all but dead, I'm sad to say.  Any suggestions on a good Christian read or two would be nice.  I'm currently reading "Lion and Lamb" by Brennan Manning (who, by the way, was the inspiration for naming our son Brennan).  A good read, but I am already ready to read something else. Labels: Brennan, God, Programming, YG Church 10:27 PM | Yay, you posted! I'm so glad! I wish that there were many more hours in the day, as I, too, have so many things that I want to do. Posted by  Kristen | 3/12/2009 4:05 PM    I recently started reading The Love Dare and I highly recommend it. It is a 40 day challenge and each day you are dared to do something. The first day talks about patience and holding your tongue so the day 1 dare is to say nothing negative. The reading is really good and even if a marriage is perfect this book is still a great tool. It is from the movie Fireproof, which I also recommend watching! It all has a Christian theme and is really good. Posted by  Casey | 3/17/2009 5:09 PM    Casey, that sounds like a very interesting book! And I've heard good things about that movie! Thanks for the suggestions... Posted by  Román | 3/19/2009 8:32 AM    Post a Comment	In My Ear The Helio Sequence Matt Pond PA Au Revoir Simone Interpol My Lala.com Forecast Profile: Romonster Archives May 2004 December 2004 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 March 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 September 2007 November 2007 February 2008 October 2008 November 2008 March 2009 June 2009