Some Things I Did To Feel Better This Week
We’re out here on month 6 of lockdown and it’s the worst it’s been (for me) in terms of how I feel, how my body feels, how much I’m struggling to get things done. I’ve been a night owl my whole life, going to bed at 2AM or later. But the past couple of weeks I’m in bed at 11 and up at 7-8am. Like, I guess that’s a good way to fit into the expectations of “society” but also that’s not normal.
Some Things I Did To Feel Better This WeekI Miss Paris
Two things. Watching this video made me miss Paris. It's not like it even shows any of the places that I like or any particular activities I enjoy, but it has the "vibe" and I really miss that vibe. Seeing people, without masks, nonchalantly take the subway is weird. I caught myself feeling low-key panicked while looking at it, and so now I'm constantly wondering how everything is going to work if/when we all find a new, post pandemic normal.
I Miss ParisStay Home &/ Wear a F*cking Mask
The thing with this thing is that at any given moment you're either preaching to the choir or talking to someone that's so thick, so dumb, and so ignorant that you just have to move on knowing that their nose sticking out above their mask is a problem that's going to take care of itself. But it still hurts that even though they don't care if they get sick and die, their lack of care can get someone perfectly careful sick.
Stay Home &/ Wear a F*cking MaskThe List
Last Saturday I got really bored and decided to make a list of things that I remember being interested in from my teens up until now. I’ve always been the type of person who darts between hobbies several times a week, and so I have hundreds of interests that I never got good at, didn’t pay enough attention to, or abandoned because #Life got in the way. At the same time, I feel/know that I’m never happier than when I have the time to properly explore something I’m …
The ListQuick Q: How Do You Take Notes?
I’m in between being an Evernote user and a Notion user, and I’m trying to figure out how to take notes and how to store reference material. Im not working on a specific #project right now, I’m mostly just hoarding quotes and articles and images. If this was for a specific project I’d have much less trouble figuring it out. Right now my big line in the sand is that Notion is basically RAM — information and resources that are likely to be revisited within the next month …
Quick Q: How Do You Take Notes?Summer So Far
The last thing I remember was taking the subway home from the office and being astounded by a woman eating popcorn out of a bag with her bare hands, occasionally holding onto the railing, as everyone around her (including me) was wearing a face mask. That was in the middle of March, before cases skyrocketed in Ukraine[note]we have a very modest rocket here, so it’s not that scary, but I still went full-quarantine and stayed home.
Summer So FarThe Plan
I hate writing about my plans online. I love doing it, but I hate the way it feels. This blog alone (and this is what, my 10th-ish blog?) has had at least three “I’m getting back to blogging” posts. Sometimes it’s just the only thing I can muster. I have the ambition to do something, but not the energy to make it anything substantial. And so, this is a “here’s the plan” type of post.
The PlanInbox Zero
I’m not enjoying the fact that this is the highlight of my day, but I’m at Inbox Zero and if feels like a huge load has been taken off my shoulders. For a person who hates working from their Inbox, I do it all the time. So, to not have to do that anymore (even if it’s just for the next 12-ish hours) feels amazing. That’s it. Thanks for tuning in.
Inbox ZeroThe 4 Things that Helped Me Through this Week of Quarantine
This was a particularly difficult one. I couldn’t get myself to do any real work, but I didn’t feel like I was having a good time with any of the other activities either. Except these four: Comic books (Saga, in particular) I basically read through the entire 54 issues of Saga in 4 days. I think I started on Monday and by Thursday I was done with everything that was published before their “indefinite hiatus” in 2018.
The 4 Things that Helped Me Through this Week of QuarantineQuarantine Update 3.4.20
I’m going to be honest, the highlight of the past week of the quarantine was my discovery/re-discovery of Nintendo games. I have spent 30+ hours playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past on my old Nintendo 3DS. They’re so good! A Link to the Past was released in Japan in 1991, and I’m out here in 2020 and the gameplay still holds up. It’s still exciting, engaging, and engrossing.
Quarantine Update 3.4.20What I've Been Doing
Playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf[note]It's as peaceful and as addicting as everyone says it is. If you have any Nintendo-device, buy the game. And if it's a Nintend DS/3DS — add me![/note] Playing Zelda: Link to the Past [note]I'm very surprised that the gameplay holds up.[/note] Actually trying to make music[note]Like for real. I've opened Garageband and actually made something in there with a friend (remotely, cuz we're isolating responsibly)[/note] Working From Home[note]It's the best, and I …
What I've Been DoingShould I be relating to The Bell Jar this much?
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer …
Should I be relating to The Bell Jar this much?January Media Diet
So, uh, the monthly film photography posts didn’t work out, did they? Also: So, uh, it’s 2020 now, I guess? And the first month is over? Wow. Life comes at you fast. Here’s my ‘‘‘‘media diet’’’’ for January. Movies (and TV Show Seasons) Parasite Probably the best movie of 2019. Dracula Very much typical Moffat “all flash no substance” with a few perfect puns that were (most probably) written by Gatiss.
January Media DietA Month In Film (September)
I've become obsessed with film photography, but I become obsessed with things really quickly and tend to forget about them and abandon them equally quickly. I'm hoping doing these monthly posts will help me stick to the habit and continue taking pictures regularly. I enjoy the process and (more importantly) I like that it's a reason for me to go for a walk. An anxious brain like mine needs to be outside more and a lazy brain like mine needs a reason to go outside.
A Month In Film (September)What's gonna kill us first,
The climate or these things? [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sBBaNYex3E)
What's gonna kill us first,A Month In Film (August)*
* I actually first loaded this film into my camera in November of 2018, but then I had to move, and my film camera lived in the middle of a cardboard box until I found it again in August. The first picture of the roll. My cat, Sherlock, in our old flat. Also the only picture from November 2018 on this roll. An out-of-focus picture of me AKA the only way to make me look good in a picture.
A Month In Film (August)*The Story of Us
Tim Urban is doing something that I've wanted to see for a long time. He's taking all the problems we're facing today, and laying the foundation for helping us solve them. And he's doing it in a way that makes a lot of sense to me and appeals to me. He's first forming a "language" and a way for everyone to look at things from the same perspective. So part of what I’ve spent three years working on is a new language we can use to think and talk about our societies and the people inside of them.
The Story of UsDAEWON
[www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd-wbQJZs5w)&t=969s
DAEWONSelf-Publishing Tips from Savannah Brown
[www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5xpc5XS0Bw) i self-published a poetry book that sold 20,000 copies (a self-pub how-to) Some great tips about self-publishing + comparing self publishing and traditional publishing + a discussion on the benefits of print-to-order and doing an initial print of 2,500 books.
Self-Publishing Tips from Savannah BrownThe Perfect PokéRap
There’s a thing I have for people who take something really simple and then overthink the living shit out of it. [note]It’s been put into words better than I ever could in this video right here. Which isn’t to say that I won’t someday come back to it and give it my own little spin.[/note] So, here’s one of my favorite internet creators trying (and IMHO succeeding) in making a perfect PokéRap!
The Perfect PokéRapBird by Bird
I’m reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I’m 6 chapters in, and I think they’ve done more to help me accept the “shitty first draft” and the “just write every day” mantras better than the tens of other books and hundreds of other articles that tried to beat me over the head with them. Her opening paragraph in the “Perfectionism” chapter may have actually changed my entire life. Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people.
Bird by BirdHaving a Good Morning with ToDoist and iOS 12 Shortcuts
Update: Literally this same day ToDoist released an app update that significantly simplifies the integration with Shortcuts. It will only get you to 70% of this shortcut, but for 90% of people that will be more than enough. I refuse to delete this post, though, cuz I had fun writing it so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I spent a few hours setting up this morning workflow for myself, and because I want to get something else out of this wasted time [footnote]IMO time well spent, actually.
Having a Good Morning with ToDoist and iOS 12 ShortcutsMission Impossible: Fallout
Let’s get the important part of this review out of the way first: this is a 10/10 action movie. Good. Now we can dig in. I’m the kind of mediocre white guy who took a film class in high school and decided to make that the cornerstone of my personality. I’d like to say I got over it quickly, but I think I only really got over it about a year ago.
Mission Impossible: Falloutadidas Skateboarding & Mark Gonzales & Tom Sachs
I haven’t been feeling well over the past couple of days so I’ve been spending some time surfing the web and going down internet rabbit holes. Here’s an interesting one. It started off with watching Adidas skate videos: [embed][www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EuNycDVhGk[/embed]) Tangent: Here’s a video about the origins of the Adidas logo [embed]www.youtube.com/watch Which led to this 20|50 video that just got uploaded: [embed]www.youtube.com/watch Which led me down a …
adidas Skateboarding & Mark Gonzales & Tom SachsKanye X The Office (US)
twitter.com/kanye_the… I can’t think of a better description of the discography of Kanye West. Honestly. I’ve read hundreds of articles about his discography and career, watched countless “Worst to Best of Kanye West” videos, done every Kanye Madness bracket, and this is still the best Kanye-related thing I’ve seen.
Kanye X The Office (US)