Here’s the pictures of my Iris build and my key layouts:

My default layer. Dvorak, baby!

Gaming has never been easier than using this layout.

This layer is used as the other side of a ‘QWERTY’ keyboard when I hold down the GLayer key.

Left layer accessible while holding the L-FN button.

Right layer accessible while holding the R-FN button.

This is actually my 2nd PCB… my SD card in my phone nuked all my pictures and videos, so I don’t have any pictures of my white PCBs, but I’ll take off the bottom of one so you can see how much I’ve improved.

Here she is with no LEDs on.

With the LEDs on.

In the dark.

I loved doing this so much, I’m working on another one. I even reached out to the owner and asked if he needed a solderer and we’re engaging in an open dialogue.

Thanks for sharing in this adventure.

OK. The final purchase has been made, it’s time to total up the cost.

• IRIS PCB/Case – $57.30 : keeb.io
• TRRS Cable – $3.89 – Cable required to connect the left and right keyboards together. : Monoprice
• Purple LEDs – $9.25 – Have to have back lit keyboards! : switchtop
• LED Resistors – $7.99 – Need to control the power flow to the LEDs : Amazon
• Arduino Micro Pro (x2) – $39.90 – These are a bit pricey, but I hear they’re the better ones. : Amazon
• Gateron Switches – $18.25 – Blues for my FN keys (16) and Browns for my Alpha-numeric (40). : switchTop
• Keycaps: Modifier keys and Alpha-numeric: $69. Modifiers from WASD and the Alpha-numeric from MAX.

I wasted $6.95 buying the wrong LED’s from Amazon.

The grand total for this was: $212.53.

More than I was expecting to spend on a keyboard, but it was so much fun to build and customize. I love that I can change keys on a whim, or if I find myself pressing the wrong key, I can change it and if I don’t like it, change it back. There is a little bit of coding involved, but it’s pretty simple once you see how the logic works on the firmware.  I’m expecting to get my keycaps next week, and when I do, I’ll upload my pictures I’ve taken of this project. It’s been a blast, and I can’t wait to build another one.

Well, I found out that I ordered the wrong LED’s. The types needed for mechanical switches are 1.8mm (round) or 2x3x4mm (square). I ordered 5mm (round) LED’s and there is a good chance they won’t end up fitting under the key caps. I looked at returning them, but the cost of shipping them back was about the same price as ordering them, (the difference being a savings of $.29 or so). At least a pack of 100 LED’s isn’t super expensive.

I just ordered my switches from switchTop for $0.25 each. I’m super excited! I’m at the point now where I’m waiting for the Iris cases/plates to be in stock and then all I’ll have left to buy is the key caps, which I kind of need for a functional keyboard. This brings my out of pocket up to $58.29. (I bought a couple extra switches for my co-worker who wanted to swap out some of his browns for blues.)

Now I just need to get a soldering iron and practice a bit prior to starting the task ahead. I’ll get some process pointers from my co-worker before I begin, just so I streamline it. There is a part of me that wants to wait till I buy my case and get it sent before I start soldering so I can take ‘before’ pictures with all the packages together, but I doubt my excitement will allow that. Plus it would be kind of neat to have this done before Christmas so I can show it to you, but I don’t want to rush it. I do plan on taking progress pictures, but I’ve said that in the past and usually forget to do it.

So I created a list of things I have bought and still need to buy to get this puppy going, and wanted to share it here so you’d have the info too. Obviously these prices are subject to change, but here’s what I’ve priced/spent so far. (all prices reflect total including S/H)

• Iris PCB – $28.65 – I bought the White PCB Kit with Gold Pads (all others were out of stock) : Keebio
• Iris Case – $28.65 – (Currently out of stock, so I’ll have to pay for shipping again.) : Keebio Plates
• TRRS Cable – $3.89 – Cable required to connect the left and right keyboards together. : Monoprice
• Purple LEDs – $6.95 – Have to have back lit keyboards! : Amazon
• LED Resistors – $7.99 – Need to control the power flow to the LEDs : Amazon
• Arduino Micro Pro (x2) – $39.90 – These are a bit pricey, but I hear they’re the better ones. : Amazon
• Gateron Switches – $18.25 – Blues for my FN keys (16) and Browns for my Alpha-numeric (40). : switchTop
• KeyCaps – ~$30-75 – Still unknown. There are a lot of sites that sell keycaps, I’m looking at customizing them based on layers, but still want to stay cheap.

So far I’ve spent $32.54, out of pocket, and $54.84 from my Amazon credit, but this all adds up to $134.28, not including Keycaps, which I still haven’t figured out exactly what I want. So, were looking at a possible total of ~$185 for this project. I know I can buy a Dvorak firmware keyboard for less, but this is a lot more fun, and it will be really cool to have a unique 65% keyboard that I built myself.

I hope this info helps. Let me know if you still want to talk about this stuff.

A coworker has been fascinated lately by my ability to use the Dvorak keyboard layout and decided to do some research. Upon searching online for hours with strict criteria, he decided that he was just going to build his own. But it wasn’t just a sudden decision.

He has decided to learn the Colemak layout, but he likes ergonomic keyboards, and since it’s all switched at a software level, it poses several problems, things that I have dealt with for years since learning Dvorak. So to get the ‘perfect ergonomic’ layout, and have the ability to have the firmware determine the keyboard key maps,  he decided to buy the parts for the Iris Keyboard, at keeb.io.

We have since talked and obsessed over keycaps, and other hardware to make this keyboard perfect, and while he has had a number of trial by fire errors, has finally completed this keyboard. It looks awesome. He brought it in and due to my excitement, put a Dvorak layer on so I could get a feel for how the keyboard is, and I was quite taken by it.

I decided when he was ordering his stuff, that this was probably something I wanted to do, after all, I have put up with the same problems, especially when working with Remote Desktop Connections, and VM’s where the keyboard layout changes back to QWERTY and messes up password entries.

So, I’ve decided to go ahead and start buying the parts, as they become available. I just ordered the PCB today, which is a kit that includes the diodes and other things that I’ll eventually have to solder onto the PCB. I’m so excited to start this project, but I know it’ll be a ton of work. I’m kind of glad that the parts are sold out, so I will be forced to space out the purchase over a couple of months, even though I’ll be dying to start working on it.

Once I get everything together, I’ll take some pictures and upload them so you can check it out.

If you didn’t know, I’ve started reffing volleyball this past year. It’s been a blast! The Jr. High season came to an end, and I was sad; I really loved being a part of that. So I was excited when I was offered an opportunity to ref an adult co-ed league in Nampa and totally took advantage of that. (it was actually offered to Melissa, but when they wanted us to start, she was busy, so I took it on) Reffing on that level took on a different vibe to volleyball, and actually helped me to relax quite a bit, since it can be stressful to ref an honest game when you haven’t had any training and weren’t 100% sure on the calls. It’s not the hand signals, since I have them memorized, but it was applying everything to the game, when it can be pretty fast paced, even at the Jr. High level.

So adult league was fun, and really good practice. The players tend to be sloppy at times, but for the most part, no one complained. That ended two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, and I’ve been itching to ref again. Well, as it turns out, someone in Caldwell needed someone to fill in for a couple of nights for the next two weeks and I replied immediately. She emailed me back and I’m reffing again! Albeit only a few nights, it’s still reffing.

It’s interesting to see the caliber of talent (or lack thereof) when reffing leagues, especially compared to Jr. High. While the girls in school have a base understanding for the game, there is something that comes with age, and experience. Some of these players while they make incredible hits over the net, don’t quite grasp the difference between legal hits, and just hitting the ball over, which usually consists of ‘throws’ while spiking the ball, or stepping over the center line, which is a net fault.

I’d normally be pretty strict on this, but both teams in my first game last night were equally sloppy, and I decided quickly, just to let them ‘play’. I called the major things, but sloppy hits were frequent on both sides, and neither team complained.

In stark contrast to that, the 20:00 game was much tighter. Teams were better on hits, watching the net, and I really only had couple of net calls. The ability of these players is part of the reason I enjoy reffing so much. Some of these rallies went on for a minute or two, and some players commented on coming to play volleyball as a workout. It was a lot of fun, and there was a lot of thanks for reffing, as I hear a lot that there are many times when they just have to keep track of their own scores and call their shots as they see them, in absence of a ref.

It really felt good to blow that whistle again, even though it hasn’t really been that long. I’m looking forward to reffing in spring, and then getting back into the Jr.High/High school level next year.

Thanks for reading!

“If I didn’t call it, it didn’t happen.” – Refs everywhere.

I’ve decided to try my hand at keeping this blog again. It was recently bought to my attention that this was severely out of date and all sorts of broken, and to be honest, I forgot it even existed. It was fun reviewing the things I wrote, and relived in a sense, the excitement when I would come up with something new, share it with others and excitedly discuss them. So I’ve decided it’s time to commit. Maybe I can get a few of my friends and family to visit here so I have a valid reason to keep this alive and going. I’m not always open to sharing my thoughts and views with others, and that’s an odd habit considering I claim myself a writer.

It’s been nearly a decade since I last posted on here, and it’s odd to see how I’ve changed, both for better and worse. In some ways, I feel like my mind was a lot sharper and filled with bright ideas, and when it came to jotting them down, it flowed from the pen(cil) to the paper with poetic fluidity.

There are many days when I wish I could sit with my laptop and type out all the things I’ve been dying to publish since I was in my early twenties. I know the story, you know a lot of it, but my inner-self berates me, constantly telling me that I’m not good/smart/educated enough to pass it off as artisans work, or valuable enough to someone view to stop in a store, whether digital or brick and mortar, and think, ‘Hey, this looks good.’ Also, there’s the fact that my medium has access to distractions that tend to win in the battle of work vs. play; self-discipline– where have you gone?

I’ve received feedback from people that it does qualify in their eyes as something of worth, yet the skeptic in me doesn’t allow their praise to soak through the hard shell I unknowingly built. Funny (sad?) how self-esteem adversely affects one’s perception on the quality of their crafts. Yet, one of the bigger pushes to publish comes not from my peers, but from Kayin, who has an attachment to the story and periodically asks if I’ve worked on it, or to read what I’ve written to her, even though she knows the story– that in itself should be motive enough to tip the scales toward work rather than letting the heavy weights on the ‘play side’ keep winning over again. So, this feels like an acceptable start; a creative nudge forward or a go-get-er. I earnestly hope that the creativity starts moving through my mind again and prods me over the edge.

So, as I like to say “Lets DO this!”

To start, I had to laugh when I read the topic for today because I get that answer a lot. Being the creative person that I am, I thought I’d add a little twist to the topic.

She rushed through the open door and into his arms. He had to step back to keep them upright as she buried her head into his chest and sobbed. He held her shaking body and lightly kissed her on the top of the head.

“You’re back!” she cried. “You’re back.” She repeated as if she had to confirm it to herself that she was again in his arms. Looking up at him a smile broke through her tear stained cheeks and sunlight filled the room. They parted and interlocked hands.

He smiled for the first time. “I missed you.” something in his voice just didn’t sound right.

She looked up at him and as their eyes met, he looked away. “Somethings wrong.” she pointed out, and dropped his hands. “You were coming back to marry me, did ya forget that?” she asked and her hands went to her hips.

He took a step back and sat down on an old oak chair. “I can’t.” he said as he let out a breath. “Things have changed. I know I promised, but I just can’t.”

It was her turn to step back. One of her hands went to her mouth and covered it. “What?” he couldn’t have really just said that. After all the years they had spent together, how well he had fit into her family and life. “It took you four months to come to a decision that negates the past three years together?” It was ridiculous.

He held up his hands. “Calm down, Kathy. So much has happened in these last four months. I’m just not the same person you grew up with.” he explained. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s my fault.”

Her hand dropped. “And you just come back here to tell me that you want to be friends? You want me to just accept that from you?”

Her mother walked into the room to see what the commotion was. “Hi Paul, is everything okay?” she asked walking to Kathy’s side.

“Do you love me?” she asked.

Paul looked up at both of them, and let out a sigh. “No.” he stood and excused himself as Kathy burst into tears and leaned onto her mother’s shoulder.

Strange. I’m usually so open about this, but here I am sitting across from the most gorgeous man I have ever met, and instead of wearing my heart out on my sleeve, I’m carrying it in my pocket. Maybe you could say I was being safe, cautious, careful, but when have I done that before? I realize that it wasn’t everyday I meet someone as charming and wonderful, and independently wealthy as this, and perhaps that was what scared me.

He was brutally honest, in every question I asked him, or so it would appear. Occasionally his cheeks would redden as I asked him questions about past women he had seen, or been with. And yet as I wanted to allow myself to fall for him, to give my heart to him, I carried it in my pocket. This was an unusual action for me, I would always talk about meeting Mr. Right, falling in love on our first date, going home and having a wonderful night with him, but it wasn’t that way.

As we stood to leave, he gently took my hand and kissed me, twice. I smiled and blushed, something else that was strange for me. He led me to the door and proceeded to help me into my coat, wrapped his arm around my waist and lead me to his car. I felt excited and my heart began to flutter, but I carried it in my pocket. He took me home, took me to the door and kissed me deeply. He made small talk before heading back to his car. And that was it.

As I related my story, her arms fell forward and her mouth opened slightly. Her brow creased and she looked into my eyes. “How did you not fall for him?”

I smiled “I never gave him my heart. I carried it in my pocket.”

I was standing against the cold brick wall in my summer dress, littered with flowers of blue and violet, staring at the dancing fire as it cast light into the otherwise dark room. Occasionally I would glance down at the bracelet on my ankle, given to me by my grandfather when I was a girl of four. How I cared for it each day, made sure to shine it and keep it looking like new.

I heard the door open and looked back at him to see him watching me as he buttoned the top button of his gray uniform. I tucked a loose strand of hair back behind my ear and my heart sank.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” I tried to sound strong, but I could hear the concern in my voice.

He let out a sigh and his eyes dropped to the floor. “I don’t know.” He replied, “We’ll be heading toward the front at a command. “It’s going to be dark soon, and you know he likes to strike in the night.” He glanced at the floor before studying me.

I turned back to the window and fought back the tears that were trying my eyes. “I’ll pray for you.” I said and brought my hands together. I knew he wasn’t a religious man, but I hoped it would make him feel at ease. “I know you don’t believe it, but I think it helps.” I faced him.

I watched his lips twitch. “Thank you.” He grabbed his heavy coat and I crossed the room and entered his warm embrace. The tears won the battle as he kissed my forehead. “Keep well.” He said then walked out the door.

That was the last time I ever saw him.