D&F 3-14-21
It’s midway through march, and I’m cautiously optimistic! This week marked news of a general > 16 y/o availability of vaccines in the United States by May, which means this summer could feel a lot safer than last year. My fingers are firmly crossed.
I can’t stop watching these goofy mashups:
In the world of burning rubber, cycling races are still going with the Tirreno Adriatico, Healthy Aging Tour, and Paris-Nice all going on without a hitch. For my other love, Formula 1, drivers are testing this season’s cars while we wait for the first race in Bahrain and the drop of the new season of Drive to Survive on Netflix. Meanwhile, I’m just watching the Litespeed factory tour over and over and imagining them building my new bike.
I may be largely shut-in, but on my television I’m traveling all over the world. I hope you are too, whether or not you’re getting out much otherwise. And speaking of staying-in, if you know of any cool women around SF or Oakland that want to share a great apartment with a friend of mine, hit up this link and give Lena a wave. She’s very funny, kind, and makes a mean vegan chili.
Last week I really enjoyed reading AHP’s missive on the future of remote working that covers a lot of ground about how to set boundaries, and the vital nature of getting these options for more than just “knowledge workers”. I also learned about this cool lady recently, who opened a gay bar before being deported for being a lesbian, basically. Her story ends in a very sad and fucked-up way, so warning for that.
If you struggle with focusing on one thing at a time, which as you can tell from my newsletter I definitely don’t, then perhaps you’d enjoy this new app called Minus. It integrates with Things and Omnifocus, as well as helping you hide a bunch of other things, and you can kick it off with a global shortcut, ensuring you get the temporary laser-focus you might need to finish writing something or read that article you’ve had saved for forever.
On the reading note, I continue to enjoy Storygraph, which has fully replaced Goodreads for me, and has an excellent developer and public roadmap. If you want to befriend me there, I’m at this link, but I’m also publishing my reading habit on my site as well. In my quest to sleep a bit better, I’ve read a little less, but I’m still excited about my queue, and a few books coming out this year. Once again, you don’t have to go outside to go on a journey through time and space.
While I’ve never been a very good skateboarder, in my youth I was pretty obsessed with it. These days, I still watch skate videos occasionally, but due to my desire to avoid injury, I rarely get on my skateboard. Regardless, these are cool shoes designed by a rad skateboarder. It’s been interesting watching women’s skateboarding grow a bit, while still sadly lagging behind men’s in funding and attention, much like in the cycling world. I hope more kids get excited about these far more carbon-friendly outdoor activities, and each successive generation gets a bit more equal.
Do you want to sound smart without saying much of anything? Do you thrive on controversy while having a skin so thin the slightest hint of editing sends you crying to Substack? Then my friend, you might want to become a Silicon Valley “intellectual”. I can’t believe these shitbird dudes are what passes as “smart” in this temperate climate. Just like money can’t buy taste, it doesn’t buy you an analytical mind, empathy, or quality prose. Maybe they can’t find a good ghostwriter who believes in eugenics?
It makes me feel like this:
Finally, I learned a lot about prosthetics and how some differently-limbed folks feel about both their usage and the typically-limbed folks’ opinions on cybernetics. I’m not sure how much of a parallel there is, but parts of this definitely reminded me of neurodiversity activists who resist the idea that we should all be medicated until we’re less difficult for the neurotypical. Wherever you are on the many axis of ability and “health”, it’s worth considering.
Links
- I feel deep into the world of adult foam blasting last night:
- I miss traveling, especially because of the gear:
- Did you know I was the lead in this musical in high school? Yes, I’m also shocked:
- Gambit seemed a lot cooler when I was a teen:
- I still don’t understand furries, but you kno w what, I’m glad they have fun:
Closing
As we round the corner to what is hopefully the final few laps of of this long, long COVID race, I hope we can all stay focused and kind to each other. I’ve been glad so many loved-ones are taking care of each other and caring about their community, and I hope that keeps going for the next many years. This whole time period has sucked at various levels for everyone, but I hope the lessons we’ve learned about resilience and finding our own ways of self-care stay with us. I know that I will always appreciate the amount of time I got to spend on my own, watching movies and getting back into cycling, but I can’t wait to go back to Japan or Germany and just wander around being in awe.
Well, that’s all for me this week. I’m off to pick up some takeout Filipino food from FOB Kitchen, which I’ve looked-forward to all week. Stay safe, and take care of each other space cowgirls~