The Little Room

This week felt better than the previous ones. I stuck to my goals (mostly), made some progress in other areas, and even made some decent contributions at work.

I got three Peloton rides in this week, and even did a new-to-me ride type: a ride with a light arm workout. I’m coming up on 500 rides as well; I think I’m 10 or so rides away.

But! The big surprise this week is I actually did some work with the AT Proto. I started the process of migrating my posts to the standard.site lexicons. I’m not fully done yet, but the goal is to store these post on a PDS instead of as Markdown files in the repo and have this site read them in and publish at build time. Once I get that up and running I may look into hosting my PDS myself rather than using Bluesky’s, but that’s a challenge for another time.

I’m still digging my way out of my comics backlog. This week I finished the entire stack of Martian Manhunter comics, plus the new Scarlet Witch book Sorcerer Supreme, and the first two issues of the current volume of Daredevil. In terms of unread stuff on the backlog I’m down to one or two series to get caught up on. After that I should be able to stay current when new issues hit my mailbox each month.

Still no board games this week though. I’m in a space where they feel daunting. I think I probably shouldn’t have picked so many games that I don’t know the rules for as part of my challenge. Then again the reason I don’t know the rules is because I haven’t played them enough.

Things I enjoyed this week

• We had a classic Minnesota-summer weekend. Clear skies, highs in the 70s. We spent a lot of it outdoors just soaking it up.
• I stumbled across an anime series called “Dungeons and Television”. The concept is typical fantasy fare but in this world television exists. So far there’s only been one episode, but I can’t wait for more.
• Season 21 of “Taskmaster” wrapped up this week with a great finale. I honestly think this is one of my favorite seasons and casts.

This week we went to two Minnesota Aurora matches. The Aurora is our local pre-professional women’s soccer team. We’re season ticket holders, and the games are always a lot of fun. The team is undefeated. And I mean undefeated all-time, but that’s not what makes going to the games great. It’s the crowd, which comes with all the things you’d expect at a soccer match but also the over all inclusivity. When they say “everyone is welcome” they mean it.

I really fell of the exercise wagon this week logging only two rides for the week. The cascade was in full effect this week. I put off my Monday ride, forced myself to ride on Tuesday, and then didn’t ride again until Sunday. I had planned to get that third ride in on Saturday, but that was one of the days we went to an Aurora match which threw off my entire schedule. At least the two rides I did were of higher intensity, but this is a bad pattern I need to break soon.

It comes down to planning. I’m realizing a lot of this does. I made all these plans at the beginning of the year. No, not plans, goals. That’s the rub. I set goals without plans for achieving them. It’s kind of funny kind of sad, really, because this is a thing I’m constantly complaining about at work. Lot’s of big grand initiatives tossed around, never any planning to make those things happen. “All show, no go” as the saying goes.

I need to plan my days, my weeks, my months, etc., but boy am I resistant to that. A plan feels like a constraint to me, which I suppose is exactly the point. I probably need those constraints. Maybe I should think of them as guard rails or like those bumpers you can put up when bowling that prevent the ball from rolling into the gutter.

The comic-book backlog read down continues. In fact I received a whole new stack in the mail this week that contained some issues I was missing from the new Iron Man series. I’m all caught up on it now and am working my way through Absolute Manhunter. Only a few more issues to go there.

Once again another week has gone by without any activity on the board game challenge, social gaming or AT proto fronts(See above about lack of planning).

Things I enjoyed this week

• I made this Chile Tofu recipe as my first foray into eating tofu, and it was excellent. It’s a brand new recipe but it’s already garnered a five star rating.
• Season 2 of Marathon launched this week with an experimental PvP-lite mode that’s been really fun. Bungie, the game’s developer, is on the backfoot right now, and Marathon’s success isn’t guaranteed, but if they keep listening and tweaking I think they can take a game that’s already really special and make it great.

I’m stuck in a rut. That’s what this week showed me. I want to do different things, but I just end up doing the same things instead. I fall easily into habits and routines. I procrastinate too often, or rather I too readily give in to weaker impulses. Past me is a real son-of-a-bitch.

All of that showed up in a variety of ways this week. I kept putting off my bike rides. I intend to ride on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. I used to do Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays, but Tuesdays end with a late meeting at work, so I switched to Mondays. Except Monday’s generally suck too, so I put those off. Then if it’s nice out at the end of the day I’d rather go outside for a walk. You see where this is going. So this week I did ride my bike on Tuesday, then put off riding again until Saturday, which meant I had to squeeze in a ride on Sunday as well. I refer to this as the cascade.

When I say I just end up doing the same things instead of new things, what that usually means is I spend much of my free time either playing video games, watching videos or reading about video games, or thinking about what I’m going to do the next time I get a chance to play video games. Which—fine—they’re my hobby and a big part of my life. I don’t have qualms with that per se, but I don’t like how it impacts other parts of my life. Things like messing around with AT proto, playing boardgames (yes, more games, but different) or even adding features to this site or other coding side projects I’d like to get into.

I did attempt to play Dragon’s of Etchinstone this weekend, but my brain was a little foggy—I think because of my allergies or allergy meds— and I couldn’t keep the rules right in my head. But that wasn’t until Sunday morning, which meant I’d put off playing them all week.

I think I’m going to have to dedicate days of the week to certain things, or at the very least not play video games on certain days. I’m resistive to things like that generally, but I also see the appeal. And I do it for some things in my life already. It feels weird to schedule fun.

Things I enjoyed this week

• A new Boards of Canada album came out this week. Their first in 13 years. It’s a bit darker than their previous work, but I’m getting into it more with each listen.
• Every once in a while I’m reminded that the Nancy comic strip is still ongoing.
• 868-BACK, a modern update to the classic 868-Hack developed by Michael Brough was released this week. Brough makes some of the most interesting roguelikes around, and I’m so happy that 868-Hack, is, er, back, bigger and better.

So, yes, I’m technically writing this one on Monday, but! it’s Memorial Day weekend, and I was fortunate enough to have the day off, so this is more like a Sunday than any of the previous Mondays.

I realized about mid-way through this week that last week when I wrote that my exercise streak was still in tact it—in fact— was not. It ended on May 15th. I know I at least went for a walk on the 15th; I just failed to log it into the Peloton app. I only realized later when during a ride I earned the 3-day streak badge. I’ll be honest, not having to maintain the streak was freeing at first. Reflecting back on the week and how much exercise I did though, I’m sensing it may have been a little too freeing. So far this week I’ve managed four days of “exercise”, but only two of those were bike rides. One was an outdoor walk that I logged, and the fourth was a mediation session. I haven’t logged any exercise since the 23rd,

I kind of knew this was coming. My brain isn’t wired to be flexible like that. Doing fewer Peloton-based exercises was always going to result in me doing zero Peloton-based exerices, which will eventually lead to me doing fewer exercises of any sort, and finally no exercise if I’m not careful. The plan this week is to re-double my efforts: get back on the bike, do the mediation and stretching exercises, even if I go for a walk or whatever.

The comic book back log read down continues. I’m now all caught up on Absolute Green Lantern (it was nearly two years worth of issues) and now I’m reading my way through Absolute Martian Manhunter. The to-read pile is getting thinner and thinner.

On Thursday night we saw The Joy Formidable at a little venue in walking distance of our house. It was a lovely, cozy show from a loud band. At one point they unplugged their instruments, came down off the stage, and stood right in front of us while they played. One of the more memorable experiences of my concert-going life.

We spent most of this long weekend outdoors, working in the yard and around the house. I finally got around to cleaning our windows with a squegee kit I bought at least two weeks ago if not longer. (That’s how it goes with me. Projects take time to actually get moving, and when they do it’s in fits and starts). We also planted flowers in our window box, which has become our annual Summer kick-off activity.

Things I enjoyed this week

• We watched “Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie” this weekend and oh my god was it great. I knew very little going in, and I think that’s the best way to see it. Just when I thought I knew where it was going they went another direction. A must see.
• The latest Forza Horizon game came out this week and I’ve been having a blast. I’m not a car guy or a racing sim guy, but the Horizon series is still tons of fun. It’s got all the stuff the sim-folks want it to, but also full of silly things like smashing into stuff for points. I love it.

Yeah yeah, another Monday retro. Sue me.

Yesterday was a very busy Sunday, at least on my terms. I had to do the grocery shopping, fill up the gas tank in our car (expensive!), buy cat litter, change the litter boxes, and pre-prep some of the food I bought for meals later this week. That took me a solid four hours going almost non-stop. Maybe I’m privileged (I know I am) to consider that a heavy day, but it was. So much so that I didn’t even get my normal weekend ride in.

I’m disappointed on the exercise front over all. I’ve managed to keep my streak alive but only rode the bike twice and filled out the rest of the week with walks. No mediation, no stretching, no strength-training. Don’t get me wrong—I enjoy the walks and view them as exercise, but they don’t push me as hard as the bike rides or work on other parts of my health like meditating or stretching do. The two rides I did were at least intense—one 30-minute Power Zone ride and one 20-minute HIIT ride. I’ll need to focus on working the other activities in this week. The easiest thing for me to do would be stop recording the outdoor walks which would force me to do other activities to keep the streak alive. I like also tracking the walks though. If only I wasn’t so susceptible to gamification.

On Monday I had my annual eye-exam where it was confirmed it’s time for me to start wearing progressive lenses. I already knew—I’ve been looking over my glasses or removing them entirely when looking at small text on my phone for months now. I just got the notification that my new frames are ready for pickup. I ended up getting a pair of “computer” glasses as well. They’re lenses specifically designed to use when I’m at work looking at my monitor. I’m honestly not sure if it’s a scam (or at least scam adjacent) or a legitimate thing, but I’m not one to argue with medical professionals. The idea is to reduce eye strain. I’m not excited about having to swap between glasses or carry an extra pair on my commute when I do that, so I’ll probably end up using them at home unless the benefit really is that noticeable.

We saw Courtney Barnett play the Palace on Saturday night on her tour for her new album. She was amazing. And loud. Probably one of the loudest rock shows I’ve been to. She’s a solo artist but tours with a band. So it’s Courtney on vocals and guitar, a drummer and a bass player. I enjoyed being immersed in a wall of sound. Thank goodness for good ear plugs.

In other big news we’re getting new doors for our house. It’s quite the undertaking and more expensive than I would’ve guessed. I suppose it’s the only time we’ll purchase doors for this house, but man, what a chunk of change to drop on something as boring as doors.

Things I enjoyed this week

• These Stuffed Cheeseburger potato chips, which are based on the Jucy Lucy, a cheeseburger where the cheese is on the inside; a Minneapolis invention and claim-to-fame. The food scientists have really outdone themselves with this one. It’s uncanny how much this tastes like a cheeseburger, down to a subtle hint of mustard.
• Widow’s Bay is a new comedy horror series on Apple TV and it is so well done. I spent a considerable amount of time convincing people to watch this show last week. Don’t read anything about it, just go watch it. Trust me.