Work
I’ve continued to have fun with playing with things in the Canvas. I’ve also unlocked a new skill this week - being able to talk about the thing I’m working on in such a way that I am able to adequately convey the complexity of the task without making the task bigger than what it is. It remains to be seen if this skill will carry over when I’m talking to people I don’t have an established relationship with, but I intend to practice it.
It’s been 9 days of GloProWriMo and I’ve written 6 poems. That’s not too bad, all things considered? On the days I didn’t write the poems it was because I expected too much of myself and the poem, so I didn’t let myself sit down and write something quick because I wanted to bring to life my vision but I didn’t have the time. That’s not the point of this exercise though (at least to me, someone who is not aspiring to be a professional writer) - it’s to prove to yourself that you can write many poems. I’m trying to embrace the tenet “done is better than perfect” and these last 4 months have felt like a long exercise on all the different ways I have to apply them.
Life
I have converted a good friend into jigsaw puzzling so I’m looking forward to seeing her every week at the Monday meetups :)
I had a good reminder that conflict in interpersonal relationships is incredibly important, and I hope I can continue to get better at them - especially when the friend I have the conflict with has a different resolution style
A friend found the most adorable dog in the world abandoned in her building. Let me preface that I am not a dog person, even in the slightest. I have three cats and have fostered over 30 kittens!! But this boy.... I went to the vet with her for physical and moral support, spending 4 hours with her and the boy. Afterwards, I came back home and missed him for 2 more hours. I wish the nesting partner and I were in a place in life where we could adopt a doggle. It would really complete the family - and give me a reason to get back into running via couch to 5k with dog. But I have no sense of what they need and no ability to find out at the moment. I have found myself stretching and extending just to find ways to spend more time with this boy. I envy the house he will go to - they are going to be so lucky to have him.
Saturday was the walkability assessment’s final project day! We widened the curb, painted on 2 zebra crossings, and added two mirrors to fix a blind spot around a busy junction in Cooke Town . We also cleaned up a location outside a popular (and the only) darshini in Cooke Town, painted parking signs, and today a friend and Ankur and I moved 9 coconut tree stumps from the house of a lady in the neighbourhood to the footpath in front of the darshini so that people can sit and eat aaram se. It was hard work! I am a happy man.
Health
Had one stupid bad headache from early Saturday through Monday. I think that should be blamed on a combination of too much physical work in the sun on Saturday + period + not using my saline spray enough. The last thing has been added as a recurring task on my todo list so I don’t miss it as much again.
When am I going to start working out regularly again!?!?!?!?!? I think I have stopped because it is just. boring. I am bored and not ready to deal with the bright fuckin lights at the cult near me. Group classes are way too intense for me at any given time. I need to simply renew my membership at the old place and just go for runs.
Learning
Mandarin has been going excellently. The HSK one means nothing to anyone except me AND I’d have to spend a bunch of money travelling to Bombay or Delhi to take the test, so I will simply do the HSK 1 and 2 at home, and aim to do the HSK 3 by November. That’s a very aggressive timeline though. For the HSK 3 I will have to remember the Hanzi (characters) of 600 words!!! fear. But also excite.
Media Diet
Reading
- This week’s literary obsession has been The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. I really disliked Witch King, and I think I also would have disliked this series if I had read it, but the audiobook narrator does a great job - plus, she writes with this stilted, logical style that didn’t work for the fantasy setting but works really well for a character that is supposed to not be a human being, or a bot. Also, the whole thing seems to be an allegory for agender asexual people, which I am deeply enjoying.
- I just started Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (yes, that Bechdel). It’s quite relatable. The best part is the visuals - it tells a story that is so much richer than just the text. I’ve put the book on my iPad so I can take the time to zoom in and really follow along with the details of the story.
Watching
The season finale of White Lotus really was something. I’m not going to spill more ink on it though.
I also finished the first season of Extraordinary today, and whew. I have been enjoying watching unlikable characters. It seems like it would be incredibly hard to craft a character that is crappy, and yet get the audience to root for them. I hope to be that skilled one day.
Listening
Mostly to the extraordinary playlist - it contains only bangers. I’m on the lookout for more music in this vein but slightly more lowkey and without vocals. If you think of any give me a shout?
Around the web
- This article by Josh W. Comeau on How to learn stuff quickly - it’s a good reminder and addition to the coursework in the eminent Learning how to Learn course by Dr. Barbara Oakley
- This incredibly beautiful and moving article by Natasha on girls; pain and innocence. It gave me many emotions and I don’t have enough skill to articulate it. I need to give it a second read-through this week.
- This cute etymology of some very Bangalore words that unfortunately I have gone too long without hearing - KD and OC