Updates Weekly
I set up a Slack workflow to run every Monday morning at 8 a.m. on my company’s slack. It sends me a form to ask a few questions about how the previous week went, and a few looking forward to the upcoming week.
I find this short check-in to be incredibly useful. It primes me for the week, and helps keep me accountable to myself. Whether it’s for personal or professional aid, I recommend giving something similar a shot.
The last several years have left me unenthused about celebrating my birthday to any great extent. I always did something a bit special, like going to get a dinner I wouldn’t do every week, but it was never much. I think it was the easiest approach when I was by myself.
However, this year just felt different. I turned 25, and wanted to make it feel special. While nothing I did was out of the ordinary—disc golfing, a baseball game, and homemade pizza—telling myself it was special made it better. I brought Erin to the disc golf course I frequent for the first time, and shot a really good round. I upgraded our tickets for the baseball game to be in row 6 off the right field baseline, and managed to catch a ball as a result. And the pizza was excellent alongside the brownies for dessert.
There’s something to sharing events, and naming them as special, that I’ve discounted in my adult life. While I don’t relish others trying to make a big deal out of my birthday, that doesn’t mean I should make it less fun for me. I hope to remember this in years to come. Even if I can’t manage to do anything special some year, the day can still be special if I choose to make it so.
I’ve started tutoring through an organization called Step Up Tutoring. They run online-only free tutoring for students in grades 3 through 6 in the LA school district, one of the largets in the country. They haven’t been around long, but have already developed a great relationship with the district and a pretty robust network of tutors (mainly in California) to work with the students.
After a couple weeks in Minnesota, I’m back in my San Francisco apartment.
A key indicator of your living situation is taking a big whiff of the air the moment you walk in the door, because that’s what other people smell when they arrive.
I’m happy to report the smell was pleasant and flowery, as well as comfortable and familiar. Erin and I have discussed what we refer to as “home” these days, and this apartment certainly has a lot going for it.
I’ve wanted to try disc golf for a couple of years. I discovered it through the fantastic YouTube channel JomezPro, and have been into the sport since. However, I never took the time to buy and mess around with discs, or check with my friends for people to play with.
While in Washington, I discovered that a few friends of mine have started playing. That was enough to encourage me to give it a go while back in Minnesota. It’s already been a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to working on it even more once I’m back in California.
Now that my fiancée and I are both vaccinated, we were able to fly back to Minnesota for two weeks. I don’t anticipate having a lot of time to write blog posts, since the little bit of free time I have outside friends and family will likely be spent editing Comical Start. So I’ll leave this short post as a reflection of my excitement and luck that I get to be back home for a little while. I hope others get the same opportunity soon.
This past week I was lucky to head out to Washington state with some friends. We had all gotten vaccinated (and had mainly been working from home), so it was a nice opportunity to just spend time together and go exploring.
We went to various beaches, went on a whale-watching excursion, checked out the Hoh Rain Forest, and got up early to see a meteor shower (my first ever).
Most importantly, I discovered my phone could take a timelapse. So, I made this nifty video.
With a vaccine in my veins and a cautious reopening of Oracle Park in San Francisco, I was able to attend my first baseball game of 2021, and my first MLB game in nearly 2 years. It was an absolute privilege and joy to do something that has always meant so much to me over the years. I’m incredibly lucky to live just a short walk from this absolutely fantastic stadium.
The setup at Oracle is actually quite nice. They’re open for 22% capacity, but so far they’ve only achieved about 10% capacity after opening day. I’d say there were no more than 3 people within 10-15 feet of me throughout the game, with everyone else more than 20 feet away. Masks were required unless actively eating, and luckily everyone around me followed those rules. You’re required to have a negative COVID test or proof of full vaccination prior to entering a game, so I felt very safe throughout.
It gave me the ability to appreciate seeing the stadium for the first time. I love when the concourse doesn’t allow a full view of the field, so as you walk through the breezeway, the shade recedes and the incomparable atmosphere of a baseball game hits full force. I’m looking forward to spending any spare evening (and the occasional afternoon) at games this year.