Work
My instinct of tracking my web presence project on linear was a good one. I can’t wait to be doing this for a few weeks and then be able to start looking at velocity trends. I’m already looking at velocity trends on my personal task management system and feeling good about this exercise.
I’ve exported most of my posts from my mataroa instance to my new site, but now I have to lay them out, build appropriate components that correspond to markdown elements, and test it all before I can release this. I can feel how close I am - the new site will be up in the next two weeks!
Life
Dee and Saket came and left. I introduced them to Ankur and took them to calisthenics and went with Dee on a run. My heart is so full. I dreamt today of a little golden urli filled with cold water that warmed me when I turned myself tiny and swam in it. Then I grew big and turned it over my head, drenching me even more, but the cold didn’t touch me because I was protected because I was loved.
Health
So far, I’ve been able to manage my workout with work and some social engagements. Running with Dee this week I unlocked two things:
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I’m a heel striker. This is not good for my running or my heel. I will train myself to be a midfoot striker.
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On all my runs so far I’ve been pushing myself to hit a certain pace, to reach a certain distance. And then I push myself in calisthenics. And then I push myself at home with things to do. And then I push myself to go out and spend time with the people I love. I’m going to challenge myself to run at 8.30 instead of the 7.30 or 7 I tend to hit. Yes, the run will be longer, but I will feel so much better at the end of it! This Sunday was example enough.
No headaches :) I cannot believe I lived with these recurring headaches for 4 years. I remember when I was too weak to lift a pan, put a cup of water in the microwave in the fridge, or even pop a pill open. Sometimes, very rarely, I still have those moments of... let’s say, body failure, but I know much better now how to not panic at it, and how to manage it, and - most importantly - remember that it has gotten better before and will get better again.
Learning
I was annoyed by Hello Chinese, so as a supplement I have downloaded a few more apps. I’m really enjoying hanly, which helps me learn and memorise the hanzi (chinese characters). I also got du chinese, which supposedly has a very large collection of stories in Mandarin, but I haven’t spent time on yet.
Last week, I drove around a bunch more with my parents. I drove about 30km - from my house, to my old college, then various banks around my parents’ house. My dad even left the car with me today morning, and cleared me to drive it if a friend who also drives is sitting with me. I am very excited - maybe I’ll finally get to take Jalebi to a cafe this week? I have a tendency to drift when I drive which is very dangerous, and I am terrified I will accelerate when I mean to brake, but the only way to deal with that is to actually do more driving.
Media
Reading
I read another of Nghi Vo’s books - When the Tiger came down the Mountain, and I really enjoyed that one as well, but I was a little tired of the style and the world when I started the third book, so I instead picked up Light from Uncommon Stars, a book Abigail recommended to me at Queer Reads. Imagine my surprise when the narrator of this one is also Cindy Kay? I suppose there are only so many people who read queer sff books to go around :)
I was very excited about the books on this new york times list of queer romances, but the one I chose to read first - An Island Princess starts a scandal - was so bad, that now I’m questioning the rest of the books on it. I just couldn’t take the prose - did an editor even touch this? I am on the lookout for more tropey fluffy queer romances. I am talking Drarry levels of Feelings. All the amazing writers on AO3 have set my standards for what is acceptable in queer fiction sky high.
Watching
We watched Miss Congeniality this week, and... I really disliked it. It was clear this was a movie about “women’s empowerment” made by men, for men. Yes, it had a surprising amount of queer rep for a movie made in the year 2000, yes, ACTOR is incredibly hot and they knew what they were doing with that makeout scene but... did Sandra Bullock’s character have to go back into her uniform with eyeliner, earrings, and make up on? Where was the moment of shocked relief when the models realised what had happened and fell over consoling themselves and each other? This could have been a great movie, but it fell short and disappointed.
Around the web
- This fascinating article from Nautilus about how we read - as in how the brain works when we read. Especially interesting to people who have struggled with dyslexia or something of the sort.
- My friend Akila has started a weeknote series of her own! Go read it.
- How videah built a radio-wave intercepting thingy at home and then a web app with it to control their thermostat. I love reading about the things people do with hardware and low level software. One day I will understand enough of it to be able to do some of this myself.
Ok no no, so, in Miss Congeniality Sandra going back to her uniform with eyeliner is important for her because earlier she is shown to be dismissive and insulting of feminine nature. She took pride on her work and the way she did it never considering there were other ways to do it too, ones that did not take away from her dedication to her work. She starts the film by looking down on the other contestants and grows comfortable with her own femininity by the end of it. The movie is wonderful because the villain is a woman, the hero is a woman, and men are accessories reacting or getting in the way.