I just got my fastest recorded (on video) 3×3 solve of 36 seconds. I’ll cut to the chase, and put the long-winded commentary below the media content for once. Here’s the video:
(music: “The War” from the Duplicity soundtrack; cube: properly Lubixed white 57mm Dayan Zhanchi with Cube Depot light matte sticker set)
At 36.10, this was not my fastest 3×3 solve; Continue reading
My first sub-30 solve: 28.28 seconds! Pretty Lights’ “Finally Moving” played in the background.
Clearly, this is well outside of my ~40 second average. Even with the benefit of the 28-second solve, the session average was over 40 seconds. Everything just came together easily: I visualized the cross perfectly and performed it in six moves; my four F2L insertions went off without a hitch and with minimal hunting; and I knew the OLL (#23).
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I got lucky with a PLL skip, which probably saved me 4 seconds. But, even if you throw in a 2-look PLL, I should have been below my previous personal best of 34 seconds (with best-recorded of 39 seconds).
I guess my recent F2L work is paying off!
I’m an archivist by nature. I like collecting things, sorting them, tracking them, seeing them change and grow. I believe in elaborate backup systems and in preserving all the digital information I can (photos, videos, emails, college and even high school papers, etc.). A six terabyte NAS at home, mirrored to one at my office, stands as proof.
I enjoy sifting through data. I should have been a scientist or analyst or the like. Anything but a lawyer.
I also have a strange affection for Google. They seem to get it right more often than other companies. Google is to the internet what Apple is to hardware.
So, when I started cubing six months ago, I missed no opportunity to record, track, and preserve as much info as I could. That is, in a nutshell, this blog’s raison d’être. From the beginning, I kept two Google spreadsheets for myself — one tracking my 
personal best solve times and the other tracking my feverishly expanding cube/puzzle collection. I added a third when I started to learn more OLLs and PLLs. Last week while running (when I seem to do my best thinking), it suddenly occurred to me that I should publish those spreadsheets and embed them here in this blog. Why not?
You’ll notice in the sidebar to the right a new “personal stats” section that is in dire need of rebranding. It links to pages embedding the aforementioned spreadsheets. (Nav sprites, in case you’re wondering.) Continue reading
Another personal best: 34.0 seconds! Brad Mehldau’s angular take on “My Favorite Things” played in the background. Proof that jazz is good for the soul.
In my excitement at shaving a full 4.8 seconds off my last best time, I neglected to get a screen grab with that big ‘ol 34.0 in the middle. (Of course, nothing proves that I’ve actually solving anything in the times of which I boast — with requisite humility, mind you. Meaningless in terms of evidence, but still meaningful to me.)
So, I thought I’d post this chart of my last 11 days of sessions (since switching to gqTimer) instead. Nevermind the slight improvement of my averages. I’m struck by the consistency — right around session averages of 50-seconds. Freak personal bests pop up, but 50 seconds is inarguably where I am at this point.
Another personal best: 38 seconds. Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” played in the background.
adventures in cubing 