Tag: weeknotes

weeknotes, 16/21

– spent the week in the north, helping the in-laws run errands and making sure they got the second round of vaccinations. all the parental units are either vaccinated or have appointments to get that done. hurray! :D

– currently using the momentum from our last hiking trip to plan new stuff. morale has been a bit low, so trying to remember there are things to look forward to.

– put together a walking desk of sorts in my parents old treadmill. it’s surprisingly comfy to type on it — i think i might make one at home, so that i don’t sit so much during working hours. raking up thousands of steps during the workday feels a bit like cheating, but if it works to strengthen the back and make me healthier, i’m all for it.

– while looking for stuff to draw, came up with an idea of drawing this day in (our) history. so everyday i go through our photos and draw something we photographed on this day, in previous years — an haphazard diary of sorts. it’s surprisingly soothing, and also nice to have an excuse to look back and remember.

– 25th of april, always!

just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 15/21

– this week was just… ugh. being away is amazing, but coming back to work after a few days away feels like being slammed by an avalanche. it’s relentless and overwhelming, and it takes days to catch up.

– on better news, my air plant is blooming! i got it from a friend’s mom, and it has been hanging in our olive tree ever since it got here last summer, looking half-dead. we just let it be, and now there’s pink flowers in it, whoa!

– following our detour into the chinese supermarket last week, i cooked my first gong bao chicken. omg, it was amazing!! :D i feel like i performed some sort of sorcery involving a dozen ingredients that somehow leveled up my powers!

– i finished listening to the artist’s way. i’ve been writing morning pages on and off for years, so it feels good to finally read the book that started this idea of stream of consciousness writing as a sort of rambling meditation, of getting rid of the thoughts that just clutter the mind.

algarving

weeknotes, 14/21

it feels like a few weeks have passed in the last 7 days, and all because we took a few days off… we should probably do that more often! :D

– seeing a sea hare! at first, we thought it was a plastic bag just floating around, but then it kept moving in a strange way… and when we looked closely, we found out it was a gigantic sea slug. often we see something interesting and then are disappointed to discover it’s just plastic, but this was the other way around and it felt brilliant.

– kestrels, little owls, whimbrels, rare red-billed choughs, the ellusive (though exceedingly loud) corn bunting… it’s been a good week for birdwatching.

– the highlight of the week was definitely the return of the long hikes: three days walking from lagos to sagres, up and down aaaaaall the cliffs. i’ll probably write more about it at some point, but it was sublime to be outside in open air. just us and the birds and the waves crashing the shore for miles and miles, nothing to do but walk all day. if that isn’t nice, i don’t know what is.

– a visit to the chinese shop on the way back to stock the pantry with the essentials was ridiculously exciting for me, who had been listing ingredients and anticipating it for weeks. the nearest proper asian supermarket we have is all the way in albufeira and it isn’t even very good… but no matter — i got what i could find and i can’t wait to cook some stuff from chinese cooking demystified and work on improving my tolerance to spiciness.

just life

weeknotes, 11/21

nothing special going on this week… just this overwhelming feeling of not having enough time to do ALL! THE! THINGS! my mind wants to work overtime so that projects move faster, but it also wants to knit, draw, practice chinese, call friends and do all sorts of other stuff. sigh. some highlights:

– the relief of having 10 fingers to type again!

– the reddit crack chicken recipe. stewing chicken in cream cheese sounded weird at first, but it turned out delicious.

– this super fun drawing together class with lynda barry. behold my spotted giraffe on the right, drawn with the eyes closed — i love it!

– the discovery of this spotify playlist with ambient noise from a lidl shop. :D

– this huge swedish model of the solar system, which we shall visit some day.

– spring (and tshirt weather) is here!

just life

weeknotes, 10/21

– bread! at last, proper sourdough bread with only wild yeast. i’ve done a couple half rye, half wheat loaves that turned out beautiful! <3

– cutting my index finger and nail while chopping a slice of said bread. :( when your job is 90% conveying words and instructions via a keyboard, this is most inconvenient. my other fingers have tried to make do, rearranging themselves haphazardly around the keys, stretching into unmapped paths. it’s slow going, but getting better.

– landed a 2-months free trial of skillshare, and i’ve been checking out random stuff. mike lowery’s sketchbook class was quite fun, and prompted me to draw silly stuff this week.

– still thinking about how these forced periods of staying put have given us the chance to recalibrate some things, not just opportunities to explore and improve stuff within our own homes, but also within ourselves. i’m looking forward to traveling again like everyone else, but i’m also starting to see travel in a different light lately. i read this bit on craig mod’s newsletter and it made sense:

Travel is an astounding gift. When “done well,” (slowly, thoughtfully, with respect for the local culture, in ways that minimally disrupt, that add to the richness of the place you’re visiting, that are cognizant of your own impact as a “foreign body” on the landscape) it becomes a cornerstone of building empathy and personal growth. My hope is we keep this a little more front-of-mind going forward. That getting on a plane, “teleporting” across the world is remembered for what it is: A freggin’ miraculous dance between politics, science, infrastructure, and human ingenuity.

And, similarly, that we remember to give time and attention to the “boring” commutes and “dumb” adventures to be had in our backyards. Of which, of course, exist enough to fill a curious lifetime.

– this blog turned 17, whoa!