Shaine Mata Blog

I'm simplifying my blogging by just having one blog from here on out. Since most of my posts are about me and my experiences, I figure the best thing to do is have a dedicated personal blog. So, I opened up ShaineMata.net today and worked on it a bit. You're welcome to change the links to keep up with the latest. If you followed RGV Life, I may continue that theme as a podcast only. However, it may just be easier to merge that with the new blog.

Coworking.com presentation , originally uploaded by shainelee . This is an interesting concept for working.

SecondLife , originally uploaded by shainelee . Linden Labs is presenting on SecondLife. There is some info on the war on Grey Goo.

Steel reign , originally uploaded by shainelee . A real-life battlebot, Steel Reign. Visit teamxd.com for more info.

Good times at BarCampAustin , originally uploaded by shainelee . I'm having a good time at BarCampAustin, which is sort of an ad hoc series of tech seminars. Microsoft gave away copies of their ExpressionSession07 software and opened up a $1000 bar tab. Most of the time, whe I start talking tech, people's eyes glaze over. This is not so here. It's a nice change.

Filing deadline , originally uploaded by shainelee . Today is the last day for Reps to file bills for this Session. I have the honor of being the filer of our last two bills. I took a pic of this note that says "Too late, too bad, so sad. Love, Rob" on Rep Eissler's door. Basically, lobbying for new bills is over. For the most part, lobbying will focus on those bills already in the pipeline. Good thing I went early, a line of other filers formed behind me at the Chief Clerk's office.

Positive Image , originally uploaded by shainelee . A haircut goes a long way towards improving your image. Well, that and shaving. Back in the day when I was a student here in Austin, I had the long hair and scruffy look. I also wondered why I did not get any respect. In time, you learn that the world does not run on ideals. It runs off the whole lot of us who fall short of ideals. Ideally, looks should not matter, but they do. Good grooming goes a long way towards improving our image.

Nice trees , originally uploaded by shainelee . I saw these lavander colored trees and thought I'd capture them.

Penny pinching , originally uploaded by shainelee . I got through the day without spending a penny on eating today. I had a bowl of oatmeal at home and had a lobbyist join us for lunch. There are several receptions tonight, but I'll skip. Lunch was pretty satisfying. With all the money I've been saving up, I can buy a beer on the way home tonight.

Bad CD, Bad! , originally uploaded by shainelee . I got another coaster. The cd burned, but won't play back last night's hearing. Now, I've got to get another copy.

Today, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence will be meeting at E2.016. The following bills will be heard: HB 1887 HB 79 HB 267 HB 303 HB 1779 HB 495 HB 959 HB 681 HB 184 HB 1212 HB 541 Just as a notice, these bills are scheduled, but there is always the possibility that one or more may be rescheduled. You may see the video feed at the House Audio/Video page later today.

Sisters Jackie Adame and Jennifer Navarrete of the Morning Brewcast made brief mention of me on their latest show . If you recall, I got a visit from Jennifer and her two sons last month. They have an ongoing segment in which they highlight the coffee mugs that people use. All you do is send them a photo of your crusty old mug. If it's not crusty, you're not a real coffee drinker I say. Strangely, the bottom of the cup, which I cannot reach, is clean. It's the area where the coffee reaches its max height that has...something that refuses to come off. I don't take this cup to work because it's the only cup I brought from home, along with 1 bowl, 1 plate, a knife, a fork, and a spoon. If I take the cup to work, then I might forget it and have a horrible time waking up in the morning. We don't want that to happen. I recommend you listen to Jennifer and Jackie if you get a chance. You will hear what high doses of caffeine can do to you. Even if you're not a c...

Down in the committee offices , originally uploaded by shainelee . The committee offices have serious problem with their sameness. The layout is simple, but the uniformness and lack of color make it easy to become disoriented. To this day, I have to think about how I will exit. My mental map is all white like the halls.

Making copies , originally uploaded by shainelee . I am assembling hearing packets for distribution this morning.

When you are involved in heavy minutiae as is common around the Capitol, it's easy to become lost in the goings on that you may or may not have any direct bearing on your life. In a sense, you become disconnected from your life and become submersed in the affairs of the state, the challenges of your boss, and the details of your job. I have found myself disconnected from my own personal mission as of late. We all require some personal time to reflect on where we are and what progress we have made towards our goals. When you put that time off for too long, you grow disoriented, disconnected, uncentered. The past couple of weekends were great because I had the opportunity to spend time with my family. The only downside was that I spent my free time with them or on the road. The result is that I had two weeks of mental junk piling up without a moment to go through it and throw out all the useless information. When you collect mental crap, it clogs up your thinking. This weekend, I am ...

My first landing , originally uploaded by shainelee . Today, I went on a bike ride from my place to Zilker Park. I wanted, originally, to look around and find the Green Belt. I read that this was a good trail for mountain biking. When I found the entrance to the trail, I couldn't help going in to check it out. It was a pretty good trail. There was a combination of both rocky and dirt trails. You can see many rocks with marks from bike pedals and other scraping parts. Two miles into the trail, I decided to turn back. There was a small drop that passed between a manhole and a large rock that I attempted to ride through. I hit a rock that turned my handlebar and lodged the wheel with another rock. The end result was that I flew off my bike and landed a few feet ahead of my bike. Unfortunately, the landing was amongst the rocks. I scraped my knee and bruised my left hip really well. I was stunned for a moment when I realized I was no longer riding a bike and in pain. I did not...

Blacktip Reef Shark Sea Life Centre München , originally uploaded by Wolfgang Kopp . No, this is not a post about politics. I feel good about our hard work this week and decided to treat myself to a movie. I went to the Bob Bullock Museum to watch a 3D movie about sharks. It was a great movie. I would love to take my children to watch it if they have a chance to visit this spring break. There are a couple of scenes with jellyfish that really amazed me. The jellyfish seemed to be floating right up into my face. The sharks and other creatures did seem to come off the screen but the jellyfish had the best feel of depth. I never went to a 3D movie as a kid because they were all violent. As an adult, I haven't seen many movies in 3D that interest me. I was skeptical about enjoying a movie in which I had to wear glasses in red and blue. At the Sharks movie, you don't wear colored glasses. I don't know for certain, but I think the glasses they hand out are polarized. It...

Texas Independence Day , originally uploaded by shainelee . Today was a rather slow day, probably the last of its kind this session. Today is Texas's Independence Day. Some offices had skeleton crews, others were fully staffed, and some were completely empty. Every Rep. Has discretion over their own sweat shop (that's a joke only about 5 people really understand). Down at the Committee Offices, clerks do have to show up. It isn't mandatory, but taking time off only makes the work pile up. Clerks have to process incoming hearing requests, which includes entering stuff into a database, writing bill analyses (despite getting one from the author's office), and a bunch of filing. Prepping for the hearing involves assembling hearing packets for the committee members. Usually the pieces to the packets slowly creep into the office up until the day of the hearing. We send out the packets as soon as the more important pieces are available. Some pieces may not arrive unt...

Serranos , originally uploaded by shainelee . Today was pay day. Alex and I went to Serranos for dinner.