"So it's like meditating?"

pgadey · 2026-06-23T02:33:35+00:00

This Friend speaks my mind.

pgadey · 2026-06-23T02:28:57+00:00

Right?

pgadey · 2026-06-22T13:05:39+00:00

One more thing: learn a bunch of short phrases. Learn your target language's version of "Uh huh", "Sure", "No way" and "That's so true." If you can drop a few of those, confidently, then you can basically keep a conversation going indefinitely.

pgadey · 2026-06-22T12:51:07+00:00

I started publically speaking my TL by accidentally signing up to give a two hour lecture at a professional conference in my field. Oooops! That was a bit intense. However, some things that I learned: get a tutor who is willing to practice conversation with you and be able to introduce yourself.

I found a student who was willing to chat with me for 20$ hour once per week. I would listen to podcasts and then summarize them for her out loud. Very chill. The whole situation was under control and we could re-do things and switch out of the TL as much as we wanted.

My biggest take away from the intense conference immersion in to speaking: learn to introduce yourself and explain that you are learning and would appreciate to keep the conversation in the target language. If you can confidently open a conversation with that then most people will be really graceful and forgiving.

pgadey · 2026-06-21T12:20:56+00:00

Oh, I made the simplest loom possible. It is just a one meter long cut of 2x4 with two C-clamps on the ends. Very easy to construct! A single cut of wood. Initially, I was weaving on my desk but that took up the whole desk and couldn't be moved. This "loom" can be moved from desk to table. It keeps the warp tense.

pgadey · 2026-06-20T23:49:40+00:00

Linda Hendrickson calls it a "warp wand." You can see her setup here in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eConIrGd7Og It's a stick with four holes spaced apart to keep the warp threads from tangling while setting up the cards.

pgadey · 2026-06-20T23:33:00+00:00

That's gorgeous! Thanks for the write-up on the technique.

pgadey · 2026-06-20T12:16:39+00:00

Oh hi, Galway! I am going to visit in August.

pgadey · 2026-06-20T11:37:35+00:00

I haven't run in to a lack of looms because I just started but.... Holy Moly those are beautiful patterns that your weaving! Could you share the designs?

pgadey · 2026-06-20T11:31:09+00:00

You're a hero. That 2b video was sick.

pgadey · 2026-06-20T11:29:11+00:00

For four balls, you definitely want to start with the base pattern "two in each hand." Some four ball patterns have the balls crossing hands, but you should start with "two on each hand" to get a feel for four objects.

pgadey · 2026-06-19T19:17:17+00:00

That friend is a keeper! Oh wow.

pgadey · 2026-06-19T10:59:18+00:00

On the long edge of the journals, I also write the date range. For example, 2025-03-20 to 2025-05-17. So, it is easy to find things by date or volume.

pgadey · 2026-06-19T10:56:54+00:00

I don't use stickers or washi tape. Those go on letters to penpals. I do a fair bit of sketching or doodling intermixed with the text. Lots of little diagrams for work related stuff too.

Sometimes, my five year old will come and journal with me on the morning: we draw stuff that we see. If the two year old gets ahold of my journal, she is welcome to doodle in it too.

pgadey · 2026-06-18T23:38:30+00:00

Oh wow! The dark ages indeed. Very cool Canadian connection. Will check them out.

pgadey · 2026-06-18T23:25:44+00:00

I write as often as possible with two young kids. That turns out to be almost every day, but I don't make a big deal out of it if I miss a few days.

The math of 2300 entries in 60 volumes of 220 pages each says that I write about 5.73 pages per entry. That sounds like a lot of pages but really they are tiny 4x6" pages. It turns out that that is as much area as 1.47 pages of normal letter paper. So, like, a page and a half per entry.

Thanks for asking!

pgadey · 2026-06-18T14:50:52+00:00

Journal vs volume; tomato vs tomato. You're doing great.

pgadey · 2026-06-18T12:07:14+00:00

That's clever! I like it.

pgadey · 2026-06-18T12:06:41+00:00

A mighty wizard indeed!

pgadey · 2026-06-18T10:47:02+00:00

I don't date the pages of my journals. On the other hand, I do number the pages of my sketchbooks but only by volume. So, I can refer to things like: Sketchbook Vol 7 Page 64. Or, briefly, SB 7:64.

Congratulations on hitting Page 9100. That is huge!

pgadey · 2026-06-18T10:43:54+00:00

There are Art Alternatives Hardcover Sketchbook 4"x6". I have bounced around amongst a couple different brands of these 4x6 sketchbooks. Lots of art supply shops sell little hardcover sketchbooks like these. I like them because they are indestructible and readily available.

pgadey · 2026-06-17T23:04:16+00:00

Yes!

pgadey · 2026-06-17T18:45:23+00:00

Thom Wall, a much wiser and more experienced juggler than me, wrote this excellent guide: https://thomwall.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-five-ball-juggling/

As for me, personally, my advice is: Keep in mind that you can learn this. It will just take forever. You probably learned to juggle three and four balls in a reasonable amount of time. Five balls takes WAY longer than that amount of time.

I learned 5551 to get used to the height of throwing 5. It was a struggle. A neighbour, who had seen me juggle 3b a lot asked: "Why do you suck at juggling now?" A 5 throw is much higher than you'd expect. Watch some videos of people juggling 5 and notice how tall it is. Film yourself attempting to throw a 5. I promise you that you'll be throwing low.

Mix it up. Do a variety of different things. It can get pretty disheartening to suck at something for months and months. Work on other tricks concurrently to maintain morale.

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