i was really impressed that i would have two windows in my summer room, didn’t think it mattered much they were facing walls. mostly for light right?

what i didn’t realize is that even the smallest window outside at least has things that change. the monotony of the built environment, the wall.

set up a livestream of the street just barely visible out the corner of the window. then switched to 4k Walks. handheld phone gimbals are $100 now. there’s people all over the world filming themselves taking (often pleasingly cyberpunk rainy) walks through ordinary city life. (the masks help the privacy concerns mildly, but still creepy). on youtube, these 30min to 4 hr long walks. seoul (korea), tehran (istanbul), etc. havana (cuba). ones of places i’ve been to before: kunming, boston ! so i put up on monitor near the window. visit london chinatown, walk around an island trail in korea, … moscow, bangkok, cairo, phillipines. the temples just in the middle of the asian countries which otherwise can seem very generically modern country are nice. it feels a bit travel-y. though, it’s missing the noise, the annoucements, the smells that really help you feel like you are in a foreign place (along with like, bigger than a small rectangle in the corner of my vision).

landed there from looking at webcams, and then videos of “cabview” trains going through fields (or long stretches of boring tunnel…), then monorails in cities. and finally the night walks, … youtube is impressive service. can’t hate it too hard for its monopoly / aggressive ads.

people in a tourist attraction taking selfie, but with a drone. (and surrounding people filming them!). the goregous temples in chiang mai, the temperature chcks going into markets, the hella cute cat chilling in a cardboard box on a storetop counter, double decker bike storage, cat in a parking lot, mystery strangers with shoping bags taking a profile pic against a grungy wall, the BOXIEST car I have ever seen like the window is 90 degree box the headlights are 90 deg box the contour is 90 deg box the door is box in the phillipines, the normal but totally illegible street signs in tehran, cute cat in a parking lot ! , cute dog in store window!

dogs, there’s a scary dog outside my summer house, that dog is muscular AF and barks at me from behind the fence every time i leave my house basically

culture shock in boston. flight was almost normal. no empty seats. gratifyingly everyone wore masks (properly!) except when they were eating. i took a long video of just flying through the takeoff, etc. it’s been very long for someone like me who used to fly so much. is it over yet? i want to live abroad…tar

saw fireworks on the way down and taxiing. stepping into logan. was mostly exhuasted. lyft on takeff was $20, on landing was $70. i was hauling 150 lbs of luggage. brought almost everything, vacuum cleaner (it’s been so useful, room is dusty from disuse, plus i. shed. hair), fan (battery powered??), rice cooker, even brought ramen for my first dinner in boston ! and asian tofu snacks as gifts.

just ended up taking bus at end. and calling lyft from kendall. $10. so much more reasonable… lyft driver tried to straightup just offer me a $50 ride. said that because it was raining it was good times picking people up inside boston. (signs said to not call a ride until the 10 min walk to lyft pickup… in the ten mins it went from 20 to 70 to 80 again, and didn’t come back down for another 30-40 mins before i gave up). bus and train were totally fine. will never call lyft from airport again.

anyway. got home past midnight and had ramen for dinner after showering (covid).

going to the docks the next day. to be on the docks in boston. it felt like i closed my eyes and woke up and a year had passed. (georgia, a dream?). as if i was taking a walk through spring 2020, accidentally tripped and landed on the fast forward button, and by the time i managed to hit play again it was already summer of 2021.

where is the joy in my work? i need to find it again. its buried under so much muck…

culture shock. making an exception for sailing. but for optionally meeting friends, still want to do it outside (why not?). then i might consider unmasking. with roommates, well, i guess folks are vaccinated. it’s nice to relax at home. culture shock, going past the streets full of outdoor dining, people walking around without masks and giving zero berth (at home in the suburbs we literally cross a wide street when we see another family coming). so. many. people. it’s odd. can’t handle meeting a lot of people without feeling anxious. but also miss all the activities i did with my parents. slowly trying to find my rhythm.

working inside all day. not comfortable going to indoor spaces yet. (the university spaces probably aren’t open either?)

have gone into stores every day almost. (minus day or two off for bee sting on underside of foot !). such a change. with parents, initially we spaced out to 3 or 4 weeks per trip. in and out in 30 mins, hit up two or three stores in one go, wipe down groceries / purify, and then shower. now i go in for 2 or 3 items, and wander around… masked and vaccinated. peace of mind. feel a bit strange though.

i think i’ll start on some small plants. fit them in a container for easy transport. maybe with mats or peat, and dense sprouts, so there’s no loose soil floating around waiting to get spilled when I move again in 6 weeks..

(hmm, if I get a bike trailer, could i move by myself?)

eibke – ebike has been amazing. $270 refurbished. thought battery life was shot, miserable ride home from marina with stung foot. collapsed in the parking lot in tears. turns out, i caught the rear fender rubbing. but the disc possibly bent a bit in transport. almost completely undid front brakes (sketchy, will get fixed). pumped up tires. before, barely 1 mile range. now seems great to still be >70% after 4 or 5 miles (with pedaling). pedaling is also possible now. should’ve looked up adjusting brakes at the time, didn’t realize it was so bad (well also was in pain). ebike! dou feng, at first just went out for rides for the heck of it (and to check the range). have no hesitation about 3, 5 mile far out places now. just go out and take a whirl. much bigger difference than i thought, even though max throttle is still less than normal bike speed. but being able to take a break whenever from pedaling, and still keep going, feels great.

reading about junk food on BBC for Chinese practice, came across this fun fact: 明治 is meiji, but add a three 三 and it becomes 三明治 sandwich !

• 

• 

In my defense at not recognizing “sandwich”, I was totally waylaid by the idea of a “fourth generation sandwich.” Turns out there is actually an “Earl of Sandwich” !

The phrase then reads “England’s 4th Earl of Sandwich” (according to wikipedia you use “4th” and not “Fourth” here??).

Been feasting on tofu snacks lately, as well as lychee jellies. I bought them to give for friends in Boston but now my travel there is delayed (flights were full even on Wed!) and I haven’t been able to resist

Built up a “racecar” track, surprisingly fast with two people. just used an exacto on the yellow dotted lines. for the edx duckietown self-driving cars class

ate some tomatos finally?!

• 

• 

• 

the succulent seedlings are coming along nicely.

there seems to be a real difference in seed viability between 5 year old seeds and 1 year old seeds.

news lately: miami surfside collapse 🙁 at miamiherald.com. india pandemic seems to have eased from height (those awful pictures of rows and rows of funeral pyres… almost anyone Indian I know has family members who passed 🙁 ), yea just a lot of talk about the delta variant (it took about a week for the name changes to sink in for everyone) and it’s transmissiblity and impact on China, Australia’s former covid free zones. vaccination has slowed in the US which was a bit depressing to see. now you can get vaccines without an appointment, walk-in. trying to see about getting a covid test since i will be traveling; seems like it’s only covered if i have symptoms. been kind of hypochondriac after going to the dentist. in fact after i went to the hmart nearby and was in there and realized i’d just gone in there to kill time and i didn’t actually have anything i actively needed to buy! and the intense heat waves in seattle and canada killing dozens of people (boston was at 99F this week). the volcano in dr congo.

double rainbow — did you know the second rainbow is always reversed?