D&F 3-27-22
Yesterday marked my longest ever bike ride at 100.5km and 711m of climbing. Afterwards I was far too wiped-out to do much more than eat and share a beer with my pal Soleil, which means this newsletter is coming go you a few hours late.
As I write this, I’m watching the controversial Saudi Gran Prix, marred by human rights violations and bombings—I hope they don’t go back next year. If you keep up with F1 I don’t need to tell you how interesting this season already is with new teams doing well, and old favorites suddenly struggling. It’s a good season to get into the sport, or catch up on Drive to Survive, the Netflix documentary about each season.
This afternoon I’ll finish preparing and presenting a Japanese lesson on Showa-era TV for my classmates. I’ve studied Japanese off and on (mostly off) since middle school, but having a weekly tutoring session and group class is really helping my confidence and joke timing. If you’ve considered getting into Japanese yourself, this guide on how to start if super helpful. It’s a challenging language, but there’s so much cool media and culture to experience and enjoy on the other side of learning. As a kid I first learned about Japanese kanji from my friend Alex’ DragonBall manga, brought back from Taiwan, and years later I still find some fascination in the power levels of its characters. DragonBall offend ended-up as a bit of top trumps with a lot of grunting, but the idea that one could spend time training and have an objective number showing progress is very appealing to me.
A nerdy obsession that I completely loathe is Bitcoin, and its related technologies, so I was delighted to see how poorly the El Salvadoran experiment is going.
And finally, I read this essay on friendship this week while doing a lot of thinking about how my friendships are maintained and nurtured. The two friends whose letters pepper the text seem a bit over-the-top, and I find myself more in favor of the woman cast as a mother by the other woman. It’s interesting how much two people can say to each other without getting to the root of things until the end. I hung out with friends this week that often feel like family and talked about how my supposed “extroversion” is actually a strong desire to ensure my chosen family remember me—a strong anxiety response to the failure of my bio family and fear of having to start over. It takes a lot of work to keep friendships going, but it’s often well worth it. The trick I’ve found as I get older is to make sure both parties carry the weight and that there’s sufficient trust to create a sense of peace and care instead of the constant friction so often a part of long-term relationships. It’s tough!
Links
- Dune continues to deliver:
- I thought this was a rather clever way of mocking the idiots who refuse to acknowledge and respect folks whose genders fall outside fe/male:
- You, looking for an easy way to prepare meals; your neighbor, thinking you live a wild life:
- Nirvana speed run starts NOW:
Closing
If I’ve done my job today you’ve learned a little, laughed a little, and ascended to Nirvana. You’re welcome. I’m still beat from my bike ride yesterday, and I’m very low on groceries, so it’s time for me to hop on a different bike and go resupply. My shopping treat is always a fresh baguette and some jamon, and I can highly recommend a special something for whoever buys groceries in your house—it makes the whole chore feel like a joy, I’ve found. Snorri is busy sleeping in a sunny patch, and his happy little pose makes me think I too should take a nap later. The weather is shifting between warm and nippy every day, and its made me much more horizontal-prone than usual.
I hope you’re getting to rest and prepare for what is shaping-up to be a very busy summer. Get some new swimming gear, drink something tasty, and take care, space cowgirls~