D&F 11/12/23

The effort is underway to preserve the bridge I use to travel around the bay to Mount Tam or SF from my mouse for cyclists and pedestrians after the “test period” of the cycling lane ends. I’ve talked about this before, but the frustration of seeing myopic motorists try to ruin things that actually make the planet better is tough.

In more fun future news, the tv show For All Mankind is back for a season exploring the speculative future of space travel and trying to answer the question “why build on Mars?” I think a lot of people slept on this show as it slowly built from an alt history to a wild sci-fi show over a few seasons. If you like spade stuff or thinking about a future where humanity occasionally comes together to make positive change, you might enjoy this. There’s also a new season of Bake-Off in the UK, Taskmaster, and US and UK Survivor. Cozy TV season is looking up.

After a whirlwind of social events and a wedding I’m mostly counting the days until I get to Japan for my cycling trip. I’ll publish my gear list and more on my site in the coming weeks, if that’s interesting to you. I can’t wait to see a lot of the middle bits of Honshu I’ve never even taken a train through, and to catch up with a few friends and eat so much food. It’s wild that the year is nearly over, as the pre-Halloween xmas tree at the outdoor mall reminded me. I’m still thinking about what a seasonally-running newsletter might look like so stay tuned.

Links

• If you’ve worked in or around tech you’re likely aware of Git, an open-source technology that helps codebases track changes and organizations collaborate. You might also know it’s super hard to understand and use for most people. I think it’s a neat tool, but I really wish it were simpler for folks to onboard into. My pal Nick in the link above covers a lot of interesting points from the perspective of someone who spent a lot of their career explaining challenging tech.
• I spent a long time last month watching videos about the interrelation between Germanic languages and just how much they might be mutually understandable. The spoiler is you likely won’t be speaking olde English to Frisian farmers or the Dutch anytime soon, but if you’re learning Swedish or German you might chuckle at the many similar words and false cognates they have.
• More delivery e-bikes please! In Oakland the amount of dangerous double-parking and fire lane parking delivery drivers do is obscene.

• Finally, I am here for the trend of “midwest emo” versions of other songs and these tunes. This one is a bop and was stuck in my head for a while, so sorry if that happens to you:

Closing

The bike ride to the SFR bridge to celebrate its 4th anniversary was a success. I got to ride with my pal Rory, get a sushi roll the size of a burrito, and even a vegan cinnamon roll. A three day weekend always makes me think Saturday is Sunday, and the constant relief of having another weekend day is priceless. I’m writing this as I watch Dicks: The Musical, which has a bizarre SNL energy. I texted a friend 10 minutes ago to say, “…this musical has too much singing. Still, it’s a fun show. Keep singing, but not too much, space cowgirls~