for every step forward, there's a step back
June 6, 2020, 9:00 AM
2020 has been one of the shittiest years in memory - for the world at least. Personally, it has been one of my best years, oddly enough.
For the sake of my record of current events, here's what's going on in the world:
- the killing of George Floyd. It's was fucking awful watching it. Here's what the wikipedia article had to say about it:
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while he was handcuffed face down in the street. Two other officers further restrained Floyd and a fourth officer prevented onlookers from intervening. During the final three minutes Floyd was motionless and had no pulse. Officers made no attempt to revive him, and Chauvin's knee remained on his neck even as emergency medical technicians attempted to treat him. Two autopsies determined that Floyd's death was a homicide.
And then there's the coronavirus pandemic, and shelter in place order. Other than grocery shopping, I don't go outside anymore. I kind of miss going to work, but also just being able to go to a cafe, buy some overpriced coffee, and just sit and read. There are rumors saying it'll go on until the end of summer.
And then, there was a curfew. Not like I was going anywhere though.
In terms of my overall health, I did have a lot of knee discomfort and pain last week. I'm feeling better this week. Still don't know what's going on. Maybe I just chalk this up to getting old?
It reminds me of Tomomi always telling how important health is:
Speaking of health, I've done some mild experimenting with my sleep patterns. I've been getting up at 6 am, to give myself an extra hour of sleep. What's I've been noticing though, is that when I first hear the alarm, I feel tired. But as soon as I get up and I'm moving, I won't feel tired at all. So I set my alarm for 5 am, just to see, and had the same result. It could be that I'm sleeping closer to 9 pm than previously, but I'm thinking of returning to my usual 5 am schedule next week.
Unusually enough, what's helped me focus at work is a variation on The Pomodoro Technique. I used to play this pomodoro video of a 2-hour block:
But then I discovered these types of videos where people are filming themselves while studying:
I don't know why I prefer "study-with-me" videos. Technically, I'm not studying, but the same idea of focusing for a few hours still applies.
one other thing that I've discovered, is Lao food recipes. Most notably something called "kalabao", which is like the Chinese steam pork buns. I used to eat these all the time as a kid, and it was nostalgic discovering these again:
As for the cover image to this post: I still have my 2nd-gen iPod touch. What's more shocking than the fact that the battery still holds a charge, is how "retro" and old-timey the icons seem. A lot can happen in 12 years!