Sunday, July 26, 2020

Out of this world

Pic of the week 


During our space-themed Story Pirates camp this week, I turned into an alien.  It wasn't so bad.

What's going on?

Had an unusually busy week this week.  Story Pirates is putting on a virtual summer camp and I was a cabin leader for a couple of groups.  It was a lot of fun!  We made up planets and aliens and designed space ships.  It was good to have something of a schedule for a few days.  

I've been working with a family who used to come to Kidville to teach/interact with their kids for an hour a week and it's been really fun.  We meet in their backyard all masked up and I play a few songs on my ukulele, read some books, and then we do an activity of some kind.   This week our theme was all about food, so I had them taste different things in the four flavors - bitter, sour, sweet, salty - and the overwhelming favorite was sweet.  Though the 4-yr-old girl fully devoured her bitter lemon peel.  We made our own trail mix and then I taught them how to make ice cream in a bag.  It was a hit!  Last week we talked about plants and planted some seeds.  A few of them had sprouted when I came back this week and the kids were so excited.  Now if only the seeds in my planters were as willing to live...

I did a double-feature hike yesterday with two different friends and ended up hiking nearly 11 miles!  It was great.  My weekly hiking excursions are quickly becoming one of my favorite things.  This week's hikes features some steep terrain, a charming creek, the consumption of ~2 litres of water, and a tuna sandwich!  We also passed an abandoned wheel barrow, and a bowling ball.

I was inspired by my reading of "Grit" a couple of weeks ago to start memorizing an inspirational or meaning quote or passage every day.  If you've got any you especially love, send them my way!  I started yesterday with this one which I learned from Brene Brown, and which I will now attempt to type from memory:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

-Theodore Roosevelt

I double-checked and got it almost word for word - I only missed one - but I had to edit the punctuation because ol' Teddy loved a long and grammatically complex sentence.  

What I'm watching


This is a new Australian dating show on Netflix featuring people on the Autistic spectrum and is honestly just a heart-warming delight. 

What I'm reading

First, watch this video of Representative Ocasio-Cortez deliver what is truly an incredible speech.



Then read this fascinating take on the cultural surroundings of the speech.  We have a long way to go, folks. 

What I'm listening to

Spotify playlists that feature French pop music from the 60s.  Honestly, what a delight.  Thanks to my friend Jon for introducing me.

What I'm puzzling


I'm in love with this artist.  They've made a bunch of puzzles out of his work and I might just have to buy them all.

Sunday, July 19, 2020

You betta werk.

Pic of the week 


Just a little inspiration from this week's hike.

What's going on?

Once, twice, three times a lady who tested negative for COVID.  All of my tests have come back clear, so I apparently survived the gauntlet of airports and airplanes and probably too many hugs for friends. I am now back to spending much of my time inside my apartment or outdoors away from people. Dejectedly watching as our country continues to ignore science. *sigh*

I ended up having conversations with two different employers in the same day about the future of those businesses and my role within them.  

First was Story Pirates.  Since we as a country can't get it together, essentially all of our live programming is on hold indefinitely.  It is very unlikely that we'll be doing any live school shows this school year.  We have a couple of outdoor public shows planned for later in the year, but that's about it.  Since the job I was hired for was basically coordinating live programming and training people, my job is a little bit...pointless.  My bosses emphasized, though, how much they value me as a part of the organization (which was lovely to hear - please provide positive feedback to your employees when you can) and they want to keep me involved where they can, so basically they're scaling back my role and looking for opportunities for me to still be involved.  That also means scaling back my pay - but that won't happen until the end of the summer, so I've got time to make some other arrangements, and honestly what with schooling being up in the air, opportunities are abundant - imma be fine.  It kind of sucks because I was good at my job and REALLY enjoyed it, but I also understand that we are living in a bonkers time and there's not really anything we can do about that. Hopefully my job will be back up and running before too long, but until then, we'll roll with the punches.

Secondly, I texted my boss at Kidville to see if/what the plan was for reopening.  I stopped by Kidville a few days ago to borrow some books and honestly didn't know if I'd find a fully-stocked bookshelf, or an empty building.  We haven't been open since March, but presumably we've still been paying the rent.  Anyway, my boss called me and informed me that the CEO of Kidville had to file for bankruptcy - and not the restructuring kind.  Kidville is no more.  This also makes sense as the whole business model is built around in-person activities and who knows when we'll be able to do any of that again.  It's possible that once things get back to normal - whenever that may be - that they'll start over from scratch, but for now the windows are shuttered.  It's wild to think about because I've been working there pretty consistently for almost 8 years.  It's been a bit of a second home here in LA and a consistent source of supplemental income.  I'm gonna miss it.  Though my wallet will probably appreciate not being around so many delicious, but overpriced foods. 

Also, I started therapy this week!  Yay!  #normalizeit Had my first session on Monday and I think it went well.  I'm working through some stuff related to the interesting mix of my personality, the nature of a high-demand, authoritarian religion, and my parent's parenting style.  Everyone has their own unique blend of influences and reactions and nature and nurture, and I'm excited to deconstruct mine a little.

What I'm watching



This is an interesting show.  It's sort of a mystery, sci-fi, comedy. The idea is that when you die, you can be uploaded to the cloud and live digitally.  It's a hot take on the afterlife concept, along with the usual discussions about socio-economic inequality etc.  The lead guy is a very classically handsome fellow, but in a surprise twist for Hollywood, he's also a decent actor.  He makes the main character likable and relatable - which I find refreshing.  There is some language, so buyer beware, but overall my roommate and I both really enjoyed this one.

What I'm reading



This one is great.  It approaches racism from the dichotomy of racist vs. anti-racist.  There is no "not racist".  And it's not that you are one thing or the other permanently, it's that in any given moment you are either behaving in ways that are racist, or anti-racist.  You are either actively working against racism, or you're not.  Usually I don't love either/or black and white thinking (see above, re: going to therapy), but it actually makes a lot of sense in this context.  And I think there's enough nuance in the idea that any given person is not entirely racist or anti-racist, but that each action, each moment falls into one of those categories.  And hopefully we're all working toward more and more of our actions and moments being anti-racsit.

What I'm listening to


The TED Radio Hour with Manoush Zomorodi.  This episode was all about apologies and forgiveness and I LOVED it.  Give it a listen.  

What I'm puzzling

This is an infinity puzzle.  There are no edge pieces, you can kind of keep moving pieces around and creating different shapes etc.  I bought this puzzle for myself a couple of years ago, and it's been hanging on my wall for a while, but I decided to revisit it and play around with it a bit this week.  It's a fun one!

Sunday, July 12, 2020

That bath was the bomb.

Pic of the week 


I am plant-sitting for a friend while she's out of town, and she has a bathtub that will fit me - a full-grown, but average-sized man - which is harder to find than you might think. So I took full advantage of that - bath bomb and all.  It was glorious.  I might even do it again.
 
What's going on?

It's been a couple of weeks!  I'm not always good about the weekly check-in when I'm out of town.

Happy 4th of July, y'all.  This was an odd year for patriotic celebration, I have to admit.  We're grappling with a lot as a country right now, and I think it felt a little...disingenuous?...to say, "Yay America!"  But I keep thinking about the idea that we live in a country where hard conversations can happen and change is possible and where we're allowed to fight for something better, so even though we're deep in the fight - and perhaps BECAUSE we're deep in that fight - I still think there is reason to celebrate.  

I tested negative for COVID again, which means that I didn't pick it up on a plane or in an airport on the way to Utah or a 4th of July parade or a family BBQ.  My roommate is relieved.  I was perhaps a tad irresponsible in my social distancing practices while in Utah, but now that I'm home, it's back to leaving my apartment only for exercise and grocery store trips.  *sigh*

I had a GREAT time in Utah.  It was so nice to spend time with so many people I love (mostly in a socially distant way).  Good conversations, too many treats, fireworks, so many laughs, more treats, and even a 5k!

Now I would like a vacation to somewhere tropical, with beaches and frosty drinks and cabana boys and sun.

What I'm watching


Finally got around to watching this.  Great show.  While Lin-Manuel Miranda is a straight-up genius storyteller, writer, and musician, I would like to see this show A - live, and B - starring someone with more acting/signing chops.  Don't get me wrong, ol' LMM was fine, just clearly not the most skilled performer on the stage.  Anyway, I think pieces of art like this are important for starting conversations and sparking an interest in history and telling powerful stories through unconventional lenses.  More of this, please.

What I'm reading


Took a little break from anti-racism because I got a "skip-the-line" copy of this gem from the library and had to read it real quick. Fascinating look at the importance of hard work and discipline.  It's sparked some internal conversations for me about how to get back some of that drive that I once had.  Unmet life expectations mixed with a global pandemic have left me feeling a bit melancholy and listless of late.  But reading through this has given me a little hope.  

What I'm listening to


GREAT podcast from the New York Times.  It's only 5 episodes long, but gives some amazing context to the moment we're living in.  Give it a listen.