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Week 474 from fberriman.com RSS feed.

Week 474

It's extra appealing right now to want to log anything when it feels like I'm doing absoluely nothing.

  • Once upon a time, I used to log movie reviews on Mike Stenhouse's oo5, but once he retired that I never replaced it with anything, but I've found that letterboxd is scratching that itch nicely. I miss going to Alamo Drafthouse (very strict no-talking, no-phone rules, table service snacks, no ads) in the middle of the day.
  • I've had a Goodreads account for a long time, but my kindle reading has gone up significantly since I got the library card. Also, I discovered the goodreads native app has a book scanner, so I went to town in a fit of boredom with the bookshelves here and discovered a few paperbacks I haven't actually read yet languishing under a layer of dust.
  • I've on and off complained about not being able to find a todo list that works with my brain, but Todoist seems to be the first one that's finally stuck. I've been filling it with really mundane things like "water the garden" or "launder the bedsheets", but it's been useful for feeling useful. I sync it up with my calendar to make my days look a bit less empty.

I think that's all the new logging I'm doing. I made two swarm checkins this month! A real busy one. What a whirlwind.

We've been very cautiously trying some socialising with Matt and Dana, who we consider our "bubble family" since we we've sort of been in each others' space since the pandemic started (literally since the shared airbnb in Kyoto in February) and we had them over for backyard lunch a couple weekends ago. I think they're the first people to be in the house since Jake stayed in January, well before lockdown.

I stopped drinking at the start of lockdown and have been getting into non-alcoholic IPAs. There's a trend right now, I think partially because nerds my age have realised their bodies can't keep up with craft beers anymore, of "good" breweries making low-to-no-alcohol beers that taste interesting! I've had some from Athletic Brewing Co., Mikkeler and Hairless Dog. All good fun.

Progress updates on end-of-the-world hobbies:

  • I'm a week out from finishing the Udemy JLPT N5 course, then I'll be on revision until I can get the exam booked.
  • I can successfully pick 2 and 3 pin locks!
  • Read a very good guide on the HAM Technician license and am doing the hamstudy.org flashcards until I hit proficiency and then I should be good to take the exam.

I've also started oil painting again!

Just a close-up of a work-in-progress
Scrub jay painting, work in progress