Maan, if I stay around in Seattle, my life's gonna get hella productive and fun(!)

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

I'm writing this two months after I wrote the title, I realize this is probably a new record in laziness for me but here we are.

It was going to be about how all the cool exciting interesting friends I'd made at comedy class opened up the potential for a thriving and exciting social life, chilling with all different social circles, widening my view of the world, and generally having lots of fun. Joining various clubs, not just including the c.spc, the beekeepers org, the mushrooming society. And the walks, the nature, the existing group of friends is already good. I'm also working towards the prison release program and tech training.

So yeah, if I spend any amount of time in Seattle, my life will be fun, interesting, exciting, chilling etc.We'll see what happens, considering I'm going to Nepal for a significant time soonish.

Anyway, exciting times are ahead.

Comedy show: the aftermath

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

The delayed writing is quite unfortunate, because there was so much to write, this whole situation was outstandingly eventful. It was fun too. And almost two months later, I've forgotten the details of day and those preceding it. Here's the quick rundown anyway.

I was super duper worried about the whole thing, and rewrite my whole set late at night, was up until 5am eating thai chilli peppers fried, then rewrote a ot of that too, because I figured anything written at the last moment is not too good. And then to loosen up I drank some of my kombucha, figuring that the microbes inside the drink would be good for be. Not to be so, I was far too drunk because of the over-boozed kombucha, it was not good. Talked to AR(y too, and then got to the comedy place far too late. Laughed way too loud for everybody else, forgot my entire routine, and kind of...blacked out, I don't remember anything else from the night. So anyway, the show ended, we ended up at a different bar, friends and all, my new friend AY came, we got real drunk there, went to a different bar where I didn't drink too much, chilled out until two in the morning until I walked back home. It was a fun day and night, all things considered.

Chickpea-spinach tarkari, reheated tofu and rice for lunch, haircut and pike place market walk, chickpea sandwich yummies for dinner, watching Nepali tv show at night [Fri 30]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

This is the second time I'm doing this, first attempt was screwed up due to the internet connection argh.

So I had the spinach-chickpea tarkari, tofu, with rice for lunch. After work I went to get a haircut at my regular hair cuttery, then to the Pike Place Market to get chocolates. Didn't get the kinda' chocolate I wanted, but it was sunny and pleasant outside so one can't complain.

In the evening AS came over, I made chickpea sandwich with so much butter and man it was so-freakin' good, way better than one hoped it'd be. Still miss that dinner every so often.

We watched old Nepali tv shows at night, they're so fun to watch, so much political commentary and social activism going on, nice reprieve from bland bs they have in US tv shows!

Went to bed early because I'd be going to VA early in the morning.

Leftover lunch, volunteer park walk, seeing fancy car, roasted tomato, sausage and eggs for dinner, hang with the gang at AS(y)'s [Thu 29]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Had the roti and chickpea-spinach tarkari, with all the other leftovers I had in the fridge, for lunch.

In the afternoon I did the volunteer park walk, saw a couple of really nice fancy cars, man it was so bright outside even at 7 in the evening, it's mindblowing. This is late november as I write it and it's pitch dark at 4.3 already.

Had sausage and eggs for dinner, to finish with them before I left.

Hung out with SS and AS(y) at A's place in the evening, we just chilled, joked, smoked a bunch and talked about our future plans.

What do I even write

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

I'm running
Out of ideas,
There's only
So much you
Can write about
Your own self.

How much
Can one write
All those lists
Pointless and wandering
And these poems
Meandering and boring
Not a single
Observation good
Nary a journal entry
Worth the food...
But I go on
Keep working t it
Write on
And on and on
Until it's done
And I'm all caught up
Because nothing matters
Until this
Is done!

Too much water: a poem

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Yet again,
I've been drinking
A lot
Of cups
Of water
To warm
My body.
I don't mind
It warms me
Uses up the tea
And is yummy.
It's just
That
I have
Never before
Not in this life
Have I ever
Pissed
So
Goddamn
Much.
Again and again
So much
Until
I think
It's done
And then
We're back
To square one.

Touchy topic about getting married: someone you don't know

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

It has now been found
By absolutely everybody
Who's been around,
That you either
Marry the love of your life
Or for the straight boys out there
You find somebody
Who you don't know, neither does anybody else
Around you
To be your wife.
And same for the rest,
Generalize it y'all.

The reason is simple,
The people you know
You know to well
And any consideration
Of spending any time with them
Raises a storm of considerations
And reconsiderations
Evaluations and re-evaluations
Until the end of hell...

With people you don't know
That to well
There's a veil, one of surprise
And the possibility, and the potential
Of both the parties
Willing to compromise.
With friends, and former friends
And partners of friends, and former friends
It doesn't work out,
Because for them, neither of you
Can take a step back
To imagine a different future
And a different past
Of could and should have beens.

Being with somebody
You've known for long
Looks great on paper
Until you get to know her
And you go, oh brother
I know kinda' wish
Maybe we should have
skipped that dish?

I found someone you don't know

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Not even a year as gone by
And YKD messages
Oh by the way
I'm getting married.

Then comes the
All-to-expected
Interrogation
Oh. My. God.
Who is it
Where is he
What does he do
Where did you find him
And does he have
A cutie pie of a sister
Who might want
To marry me?

The answer is confusing
But only at first
The never-changing
Oh you will
Find out, eventually
In a month or two maybe
But he's not somebody
You might know
Or anyone that knows me
Will have known.

And somehow,
That answers
All the questions,
yes, agreed.

Would you marry me?

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Would you marry me
Is the toughest question
One can never
Answer.

Not because, I tell you,
The answer is hard,
No, that's not true
But because
It's
Too
Goddamn
Easy.

Way
Too
Easy,
The answer is.

And I'm no mean grinch.
Lying at these times
would not be beneficial
To any of the parties.

News of Nepal, why do you get to me

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Of course,
I tell everyone
Who will listen,
I don't want
To go to Nepal
Not now
Not ever
Just to
Chill with fam
Whenever.

And I
Really really
Do believe that
Or
Maybe
I want to believe
That I feel
That way.

Then why
Like a jilted lover
Who is not yet
Completely over
With an ex
Do I
Obsessively
Read the news
About Balen
And elections
And agriculture
And the rest?
Do I fully
Buy
What I say
All the time?

I sure hope so!

Revolver Bar: A review

 This is the bar I went to newfriend AH after my terrible comedy set, after the first bar that I don't remember going to, it's in Olive way, so nice and fancy, not terribly expensive, and cute bartenders! I liked the vibe, this is the sort of place where one would find people to date seriously or casually, hanging out with other guys, or girls, the sort of people today's version of HIMYM or friends would have, except nicer.

Is that all there is to it? I don't remember, all I know is we stayed there for three hours at wee hours of the night, they definitely have non-alchoholic beers, and the toilets are hella nice, thankyouverymuch. Also their last order is at 1.50am and they're confusingly busy even on Tuesday nights.

Highly recommended, though a more detailed review might be incoming when and if I eventually get there again.

Club Comedy: A Review

 This is the location I gave my performance at, took the class in, and went to watch a couple of comedy shows.

It's actually quite good. The comics are quite funny, without being overly mean or annoying. I won't use the 'o' word because anybody can be 'o'd at anybody for any reason, and it can be  'o' without being too mean and still funny. Either way, this was a nice, diverse accepting comedy place.

The food menu is surprisingly extensive, and so is the drinks menu. Prices aren't insane, the staff is friendly, and it's clear everybody is there for the comedy and community and not to get shitfaced and crazy etcetera. It's a safe neighborhood comedy club where people trust each other and the quality is maintained.

Possibly, very likely, the best comedy club in Seattle.

Balen, Nepali politics, and how I keep becoming a hopeless optimist every goddamn time

 So here's what I've been doing for the past three to four weeks. Going on youtube every goddamn morning and check what new stuff balen has been upto, the mayor of kathmandu and how he's improving things and how everything's going to work out eventually, it's all gonna work out guys!

And everytime I get cynical about Nepali politics, something like this drags me in, and history suggests there's not much reason to be optimistic about the situation, but one wants to be hopeful about the future, and wonder how things can be different if there was just some governmental authority to actually implement the policies and be forward-looking and work on behalf of the public and not for their own fking goddamn personal business. With Balen, things are looking on the up-and-up and i'm excited.

I'm talked about how I want to write 'mails to the mayor' and haven't really gotten around to that because of my own personal reasons, mainly that my sleep cycle is fucked up and I've been too busy with the move-in move-out and comedy, but really I want to help that man any way possible because he is going way above and beyond what the public expects out of him. Great stuff, really great stuff!

Repotting updates

 Repotting updates: most of them have succeeded, the water-replants need to go into the soil, will do that tomorrow. The poinsetta broke, the older plant, don't know if I want to replant it or just give hope, there's so much stuff in between. The succulents are going gangbusters actually, so that's wild.

Really hope the bird of paradise is taken care of because it's showing signs of yellowing leaf-tips, don't want it to be under-water. Generally speaking, this has been a bumper success, I'm exciting about coming back to see large creepers!

Pre-trip updates

Some pre-trip updates now.

I gotta get my haircut, laundry and packing done tomorrow the Friday. First chance to use my packing cubes. Will be taking two laptops: my M1 laptop and the personal chromebook, the ebook reader, bluetooth earpods and the regular headphone, lots of chargers.

Then there's gonna be two backpacks: the rucksack and the cool backpack I got. I won't need both both doesn't hurt awfully to overpack, considering I'm going towards the end of the summer but will see pretty cold and awful winter going in. Thinking of doing one heavy jacket, two light jackets, several comfortable trousers, several shorts, etc. Generally preparing for the winter, which means it's gonna be heavy. And need to pack the nice clothes too because it'll be dashain time!

My plants I worry about, not sure if SS is good at caring for them, so I'll water them sufficiently so they don't die completely. The poinsetta plant, the first one is already broken due to all the moves, but it's okay, I wasn't counting on it to bloom anyway.

Gonna bring my medications and vitamin supplements too obviously. Specially excited about the packing cubes, and oh I'll have a laundry bag with me freakin' finally!

What else? I'm really hoping to find nice couple of places for personal work so I can get lots of writing done on this blog number one, and hopefully get nanwrimo and general fantasy dining done.

And also take this as an opportunity to finish all the books on my ereader!

Living with a temp roommate

 I've been living with a temporary roommate SS for the last several days, and will do so until I leave on Saturday. He's subleasing the place for me for the 40 days I'm gone, didn't have any place to go to or move towards, and as a normal person I offered him a place.

We've been having a good time, generally speaking but I do miss my tv-watching time and just my personal space, which means yeah i am super duper sure at this point I need a sleeping space and I need a workspace unimpeded by other parties despite being an extrovert. but we have good times, AS shows up all the time, we share meals and talk a bunch and shoot the shit generally.

Gotta clear my room, do laundry shower and everything's gonna be done soon. It has been an exciting experience, and I realize now it'll be very difficult to go back to living with a roommate or two or three even if they're good friends.

Am I growing up? Have I become an american? Selfish and individualistic? GOod times? adult?

Details of the upcoming trip

Want to write about the upcoming trip, what and where I'll be for the next 1.5 months as a sort of reminder to myself and also generally as a trip itinery for my future self.

Will be going to VA on Saturday morning, will get there at 6PM ish, to IAD. Will spend the following week with family, the eight of us at ED's place. Celebrating Dashain, just chilling.

Then I go to Boston, flying on my company's dime. Crash for a couple of days at I's place, maybe meet NG's friend who goes school there, meet PK and I and all the folks from back when. Then three days at the hotel, right next to the work, fun commute, fully comped lunches and dinners. Yum yum. Will have to go to work everyday but that's a fair trade.

Then a couple of more days at I's place, man I'll be missing them by this point I'm sure because who knows when I'll be in Boston next. Back to VA. Will hangout with PL, SP, and eventually NG in Philly, hopefully be there for a few days. AKS(m) is in DC, will see him too very likely.

Finally it's back to ED's place, chill, and come back to Boston on the 12th of November. That's crazy, I'll have left at early-to-mid Autumn and been back at definitely early winter.

Made ema datse for the first time!

 NG told me how easy Emadatse was to make, it's basically a stew for all the fridge leftovers with garlic and cheese. I figured since I'm living with SS for a couple of days, and AS(Y) invitation for dinner makes sense, might as well make it for dinner one night. That's what we did yesterday. Mushroom, potatoes, onion, cherry tomatoes, onion and garlic, frozen bell peppers, and lots and lots of extra sharp cheddar. Eaten with basmati rice, it was yum yum. Not enough salt or chilli peppers, but it was alright. We had other spices, chhop to eat with rice. It was really good!

Good Bhutanese-food making, really proud about experimenting and branching with new foods.

Asking for a work raise

 This will be short because I kinda threw out writing over the last week, first because I was having trouble fully processing the Jerusha situation, then the stress of the standup show was too much to bear to function normally, then the show happened which was its own intense crazy thing, and then there was the stupid effing hangover and recovery etcetera, and now here we are, writing six days worth of posts. Here. We. Are.

The goal for tomorrow, the friday, is to work on my job performance review, and then ask for a raise. That's it. My goal for the entire day is how do I optimize and improve my chances to get a solid 10% raise without getting weird looks or questioning stares from my boss. Because I have been taking greater responsibilities, and doing what more senior people would be doing. I can't get a promotion, but I deserve a raise, hey!

Gotta bring it up with my manager. I'll look up the docs about how to ask for a raise, and practice that conversation multiple times.

I hope this letter finds you well

I hope this letter finds you well
That your dreams of travel
Have all come true
And you have become
The best possible version of you

I hope that at work
You find everything you desire
And back home you are
Supported and cared for,
In a bliss of homely comfort
Hugged and cared and loved forever.

I hope your outings
Just grow and grow and grow
The way you have always wanted
To, you know
And you get to become
The person
You never dreamed
Or imagined
You could be.

I hope you get
To touch the stars
And way beyond
I hope you will
Remember
The rest of us normoes.

What scares you?

Where is your heart,
If not on your sleeves
What do you protect
Who do you imprison?

You are a plant
Bright and red
Thriving in the cold winters
And in forests small and great

Where is the danger
What do you fear
Do you not see
You're between those
Who really care?
You are loved,
You are hugged
You are protected
By your friendship bonds.

Come now you,
It is time to bloom
Smell the autumn air
And show your colors true
Let us thrive, let us grow
Let us make a statement
In the boring bland snow.

Ten things I shouldn't be doing anymore

1.  Drinking, alchohol, even if it means it'll get me out of / make me forget a very high-stress situation
   
   
2. Fighting
   
   
3. Doing drugs, generally speaking LMAO
   
   
4. Sleeping during the day
   
   
5. Browsing time-wasting news websites
   
   
6. Being too anxious about things that don't have too much of an impact on my life
   
   
7. Being afraid to explore new things, technique and hobbies
   
   
8. Making excuses to not follow my dreams, eg. writing a novel etc.
   
   
9. Procrastinating writing on my blog
   
   
10. Being lazy about feeding myself well
    

Stream of consciosuness about all the things happening to me right now

 So yeah that was a big fiasco and the last several to many days have been rough in terms of how much fucking internet and reddit and war-following has been happening on my phone -- mostly because I blocked all of those timewasting sites on my laptops -- but otherwise actually life is not too terribly bad, now only if I could have a group of people who wouldn't just disappear with zero notice and also I need to not be gone out of town for months and months but I'm making friends and I hope to dear gods, all the gods there are and ever more that I have a solid gang from comedy or otherwise going because this is the first time I've been on my own, truly independently and all alone and if this doesn't work out it doesn't bode well for my future prospects on how I want to deal with this scary cruel wild world where there's not a lot to do and everybody is depressed for no good reason and so pessimistic about the state of the world etecetera, regardless of everything else though it's dashain time which means it's time to celebrate and be with family and I'm super duper excited about that, being back in the East getting to catch up with fam and chums again, good times are on the horizon and nothing can make me question that, and besides I do wonder if I overreacted to my terrible performance and the ensuing fiasco at the comedy place and if actually all that needs to be done is have grit and courage and just keep at it, like a madman, go on nonstop without bothering or being bothered and go at it like it's nobody's business until you absolutely kill it with your jokes?

Some random material like the good old times

I like making new friends and people I can trust, and it's like we're going towards that direction. And shockingly, surprisingly, confusingly, people who've absolutely hated me -- and the relationship gone both way -- have reignited conversations for no good apparent reasons and I can't help but think...it's unclear what I want to think but it's interesting. Something's a-cookin' and I wanna know-a what's been a-happenin'.

Shameshame post-comedy, spinach-chickpea yummy tarkari with roti lunch, dinner for the boys with emadatse and rice and cheesecake [Wed 28]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Hungover from the previous day, took me some time to recover.

Made the yummies spinach and chickpea tarkari, it'll come back later, one of the best veggies I've made in recent times. Had it with roti for lunch.

In the evening I made dinner for SS and AS(y), emadatse and rice, and we watched some Nepali tv. SS got the cheesecake for dessert, I couldn't help myself with it.

Not enough sleep, spicy tummy, comedy rewrite, walk to the library, I am super anxious, accidentally get very drunk, comedy show blowout, hang with comedy friends, hang with Ay evening [Tue 27]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

I got up too early and basically didn't sleep because I was too scared about the comedy show. So I had a very spicy tummy from all the chilli peppers i had, ended up shitting warm burning hot poop all day long, terrible spice-induced diarrhea.

Rewrote most of my comedy routine, the one I'd spent four weeks developing, in a couple of hours, for the second time in 24 hours.

In the afternoon I walked to the Library to return all the books I'd gotten way way back, because I'm a lazy fucker who'd forgotten to return them, or read them entirely.

Before the show I was so anxious, I drank a lot of kombucha, forgetting that batch had gone...interesting, and got very very drunk. Talked to AR(y) honestly and made her aware of the terrible situation that I knew about had didn't approve of. We haven't met since, and it's exactly two months later as I write this, but to be fair, I've been back only two weeks, so that's something.

Got to the comedy place too late, laughed out too much, forgot my routine, don't remember what I said, hung out with comedy friends and AY at that bar after, we walked nearby to her place, and drank and talked and teased each other until wee hours of the night.

It went quite well, all things considered! Was home at 3 in the morning.

Tofu-tarkari with roti for lunch, covid-negative, I packup, SS gets in, TJ's spicy chilli and chocolate for the nerves [Mon 26]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

In the morning I cooked the tofu I had with the paste I'd made the week before, to add texture and falvor to both, and it was pretty decent. Had that with the TJ's roti.

Got tested for covid, came in negative.

While I was out walking, SS, who was to take my place in the apartment while I was gone, moved in basically, as I packed my stuff.

The next day was to be my final show, my comedy courses were on Tuesdays, as a reminder, so I picked up fudge, chocolate and Trader Joe's spicy thai chilli from their store.

I couldn't sleep because I was so nervous for the following day's performance, so I ate all the fudge and chocolate and the chilli pepper until 5 in the morning and went about rewriting my routine for the day. Wild times man, wild times!

Drive to UW, closed, Jefferson park, Lunch with BC at Bombay Burger, arboretum-interlaken-volunteer walking loop with berries, roti-tarkari for dinner [Sun 25]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

In the morning BC and I drove to UW only to discover it was to be closed for the day due to stupid football games taking place.

So we drove to the Jefferson Golf course and driving range which was way better maintained and nicer and greener looking though considerably more expensive too. But I had a good time, it took a bit to adjust to the new range but I dealt pretty great shots in there. I was glad it worked out in the end.

We came back to CapHill and got lunch at Bombay Burger, it was yumyumyum, man what a great post-golfing lunch it is.

In the afternoon I did the standard arboretum-interlaken-volunteer loop once again, the berries were still not dried yet, got to eat a few during the walk.

For dinner I had roti and tarkari. Too easy, too lazy, but hopefully nutritious too!

Drive with the boys to Northgate and beyond, seawatching, almost crab-stealing, tacobell lunch on drive back, 4 hour afternoon walk, TJ's shopping, hang at AS(y)'s [Sat 24]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

This was a long and fun day with SS and AS(y).

In the morning we drove to the Northgate mall, went to Target to check a few things out, and then to the park and seaside even northwards. Almost stole crabs from somebody's trap, watched the sea, saw massive jellyfish and wondered about the sea and Nepal and buying boats and cars and talked Steve Jobs' family etc.

On our drive back, we stopped by Taco bell and got solid lunch. I was so full, so content, this was effing fantastic.

After drive back AS and I went on 4 hour walk, the standard weekend one including Arboretum to Volunteer loop. We stopped by Trader Joe's for shopping, and hung out at AS's place in the evening, got dinner, watched movies and I came back home late at night.

I might pause writing for a day or two

I'm very anxious about the Jerusha situation man. Lots of emotions and stuff it's so terrible. Man I really really really hope and pray with all my might she's alright. Ughhhh. She's too talented and nice and kind person.

Realization: you need quite a bit of commitment for fiction writing. Am I able to provide it?

 You can't just sit down for 30 minute or 45 minutes or even an hour and pump some 'fiction' out without at least doing some homework. Unless it's flash fiction, and even then... You need the context for the fiction, the universe, maybe the characters from an earlier piece, continuity stuff etc. Lots of work to be put it, not possible to just say "I'll write fiction now" and get 1.5k 2k whatever it is that one wants to get written every day.

Since my writing habit is semi-regular but not as disciplined as fiction-writing deserves, I'm now wondering if I need to separate some solid time and commitment to do it. And it's unclear if I've got that to get further than the furthest I've gotten, which is ... I don't know man.

Khai k khai k.

Multiplying plants

 I wrote two weeks ago about my succulents that I'd pinched off from my one large leggy plant. I finally got around to planting in several pots yesterday. Because i'm not yet clear about the exact humidity requirements for a propagation, I went the safe route and put the steps in pots with a variety of water levels. So even if some go bad, the others will make it and it'll thrive. Most of them are in the same one pot though, and if that pot blooms, lets just say, I'll have a lot of the same kind of succulent.

The water propagation for my broadleafed plant has been a broad success, as the roots they've grown out are looking thicc and healthy. They're ready to be planted to the pots at any point.

The succulents have successfully healed and are now in various plants, don't know if they'll root, but there's potential for massive success there.

The poinsetta aka lalupatey has been fully replanted and has grown new leaves, so that's another feather on my hat.

I've been trying to 'steal' the cuttings from two of the three plants Sb left before he flew to Nepal, and we'll see how that goes. But things are on the up and up!

To JR, who I hope will be found well soon

A friend of a friend
Great friend to many friends
Is missing,
And I wish her all the best
And promise, even if I don't know you
We'll make sure to take care of the rest
Just be okay, just be fine
It's alright if you want to take your time
Please come back well and in one piece
We beg all for you to be given the life-lease.

These are not good times
Hope I'm not offending with my rhymes
But an unimportant topic this is not
This sort of situation I care about a lot.
They said they found a letter,not so good
But surely maybe hopefully she just was in a bad mood
It's possible, and even likely she'll be back
And we'll all breathe a sigh of relief at her lifepack.

Fingers crossed, palms joined
May all the luck in the world cross her path
A kind person and a talented singer that she is
Way too much for the world to untimely miss.

My weekend walks to the parks

Down the 29th and into the Arboretum
My weekend walks in Seattle
Are freakin' bitchin'
On to the lakes, by the You-Dub (UW)
Man, Seattle just makes grow my nature love.

Watch the boats and the swimmers pass by
And then walk the pontoon bridges to the Islands, oh my!
Track back through the swamp, and back to he parks
I'm high on nature here, I don't need no narcs.

Then walk across the mossy bridge
And then to the arboretum exit
There were berries in late summer
But even without, lots of fun never a bummer
On to the lazy streets, and then a big crossing
And then I'm in the Interlaken, with happiness I'm cussin'.

The Interlaken is dark and mossy
So cool and classy
Never a slow moment, nary a day
Even the short walks make me happy and gay.

Then comes Volunteer, popular as always
Not as much fun as others, but it's got its ways
Take a pic here, take a nap there, sit down to read
Careful of the homeless though, that you'll have to heed.

My long weekend walk comes to an end
Down my ave I'll walk in a straight trend
Listening to my podcasts, so much fun
Sometimes I do wonder if I could ever make it a run.

Leftover tomato-onion-sausage-roti-paste for lunch, walk to volunteer park, oatmeal for dinner with brown sugar [Fri 23]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

At this point I'm working on finishing all the leftovers and veggies and things in the freezer as I'm to leave for the East Coast in less than a week and didn't want the foods to go waste.

So for lunch I had roasted tomato and onion, with fried vegan sausage, the takari paste all with roti.

In the afternoon I went to Volunteer park, took two rounds of it.

In the evening I had oatmeal for dinner, with brown sugar added on it, it was yummy, with coconut milk too! The goal was to finish the oatmeal and I finally did finish that large container of Quaker Oatmeal, several months earlier.

Leftover pizza lunch, walk to volunteer park, latenight snacks and drinks at QFC and getting steps out, hang out at AS(y)'s and SK's last night in the country [Wed 21]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

For lunch I had the leftover yummy yummy vegan pizza from the Greek Place that we got the night before. Man, Greek pizza is amazing, it's a surprise that I hadn't had that style of pizza earlier.

In the evening I walked o Volunteer park, took a couple of rounds.

Because I didn't get the requisite 10k steps, I walked over to QFC and got grapefruit juice and doritos. I walked around the neighborhood and the park nearby to get my 10k when AS(y) called/texted me, and I went to his place. Sk was going somewhere...the next morning, not sure where because he hadn't gotten the tickets yet, but he was to eventually end up in Nepal in a couple of weeks. So we hung out until 1 in the morning, chilled, got caught up, talked about Kathmandu and things we'd like to do for the future. I had way way too many Doritos and left the packet there, carrying only the grapefruit juice with me. The grapefruit juice is important because while it won't be mentioned later, it lasted quite a while. I enjoyed it, but it tasted so nasty and strongly bitter. Refreshing but one can't reliably take in decent amount.

On Ukrainian politics w/ Russia situation, and how I need to handle my obsession with the matter

 This is annoying, interesting, wild crazy all at the same time.

Regular readers of this blog will remember how around February I was addicted to the internet, for several days I didn't leave my house or do my job, I took days off of work to follow the news of the Ukraine war. I was crazy about it.

Fortunately for the next many months I eased off of it at things got better, but the last few weeks as things have improved for Ukraine I've been getting into the news huffing, finally blocking the news websites etc on my laptops but my self-control has been compromised. And I spend all day long instead of writing or socializing or reading or walking or working out or doing anything good and useful reading up on the war and imagining how things might go. It's no good. Really, it's not good at all.

Man, I need to get rid of the news sites and sites like reddit and just get off of it, like how people quit cigs.

Speaking of the situation in general though, here's my view on the matter: Russia is fucked no matter what and they're throwing good money after bad to recover from a scenario they know they messed up but don't have the cajones to own up to it. This is terrible, embarrassing, and also awfully evil of them, and it'll pass by just like that yet again. But thank god the Western world has found a united cause to rally around and the forces for democracy and freedom have generally coalesced.

Thoughts on the matter of missing the 10k steps by 10 steps because I forgot about it

 This will be short.

For the past several weeks I made it a very big point about not missing a single day without going 10k steps. Because I had a streak going on and it made me feel good and it was great and awesome and I wanted to have that one single thing be constant in my life.

Not that I literally hadn't missed a day, but in general, I'd been avoiding missing my walks. Tuesday I missed it entirely because I was busy preparing for my set during the day, and out eating with my comedy friends after the class, and by the time I got back, I was far too tired and it was far too dark to do anything.

Yesterday though I made it a point to get out of my house at 9-9.30 in the evening, got very close to 10k steps, so very close, like I was away by 14 steps, if I'd moved my hands for 10 seconds I'd have gotten there, but because I was too busy with life, I didn't, and my streak was broken.

Now should that get me all bummed out and sad and disappointed about the futility of it all, and convince myself that I'm not good at committing to something at all, or should I be okay with it because good rituals are flexible and so what that I missed, I got pretty close and spiritually was pretty much there, and the number which could have been a rounding error doesn't matter anymore?

In the past, I'd have gone with the former. My learning from the last four years have taught be the wisdom of the latter, and that's what I'll believe. Getting it wrong once or twice, or even more, but relatively few times, and without meaning it, is not a big deal. As the rule goes, only a sith deals in absolutes.

Strem of consciousness yet again

I am freaking out that my classmates are become really good friends with each other and out and about with one another all the time and doing open mic nights and I'm missing those because the first night I didn't know it was happening and kinda' zoned out as I napped for like four hours and then talked to NG on the phone for two hours and then went on a walk but returned too early to get doritos then went to see the boys and then far too late when I got back to the house, and that I'm going to get left out of it, also the fact that maybe I'm not as good as one would have hoped after like the first class but I can improve, gotta remind myself, it's not about being the funniest mofo in the room, it's not about tightest writing or whatever, it's about the improvement, and yes if I go to the east coast it'll all be fucked up because there's no goddamn way I can do that there, but oh maybe in Boston, I should explore that, or should I be spending time with I, that's something else to consider, I needs to find a job ASAP because it'll be in everybody's best interest and also Philly's a great city, man I wish there was something interesting happening with E because it's a terrible place I find myself in and it's clear there's lots of heartbreak in the box for me for the foreseeable future, which on the one hand I don't mind because it's a strong powerful emotion and I have been complaining about how I haven't felt any strong powerful colorful emotions for a while, everything has been lukewarm and toned-down, but on the other hand it's got the potential to be too painful and incapacitating, and I do not like that experience, regardless my understanding is that she's a nice person and it'll be great, freaking finally good things coming out of work, I feel so very blessed, very very blessed, lucky to have such a great team, great manager blah blah blah, this is it, don't want to write anymore now, the future plan for writing going forward is going to be 1 hour of writing while during work and one hour in the evening so I don't have to cram it all at once for seven hours and then not write anything for the five days that follow.Str

A decently long list of random things I want to do, part 32

1.  Take writing class
   
   
2. Take microbiology class for learning agar culture
   
   
3. Take biotech class for leveraging 3d printed equipments
   
   
4. Become the mayor of Kathmandu
   
   
5. Become the innovation consultant to the Mayor of Kathmandu
   
   
6. Deputy mayor of Kathmandu because Balen ain't losing at this rate
   
   
7. Start a large conglomerate starting with either a goat farm or a school or a resort
   
   
8. Start my own little farm for fun
   
   
9. Take advanced comedy class
   
   
10. Do standup comedy regularly
    
    
11. Do kayaking on a regular basis
    
    
12. Take novel-writing class
    
    
13. Finish my goddamn unfinished novels
    
    
14. Take dance class
    
    
15. Write a play script
    
    
16. Produce the above play
    
    
17. Take acting classes and get into acting
    
    
18. Become comedy writer
    
    
19. Become a coordinator for PPP public - private partnership
    
    
20. Start a chhyang-kit company
    
    
21. Travel around the company on my RV
    
    
22. Write newspaper columns regularly, become a columnist
    
    
23. Become woodwork innovator in Kathmandu
    
    
24. Become a general politician in Nepal
    
    
25. Get more active politically in Seattle
    
    
26. Host 10+ people in my apartment, most of them mostly strangers
    
    
27. Join various social clubs in Seattle, some of them beyond my comfort level
    
    
28. Learn golf well enough to play 9-hole golf in respectable time
    
    
29. Become a Nepali entrepreneur
    
    
30. Become an importer-exporter
    

On the comedy way

This much I know
I have the potential
To make somebody laugh
Somewhere sometime
Somebody will
Be having fun.
Whom where and how
I do not yet know
And maybe that is
The comedian's ultimate job,
To make his family proud
From the laughs
And to find
His one perfect crowd
That laughs at every one
Of his gags.

This is scary
It is wild
All my classmates
Ready to go out on the ride
Weeknight after weeknight
And on the weekends to
Our tool will be the open mic
I know I'm not yet there
And not yet great
But giving up I know,
Is not the way
I must keep up the fight
I must sharpen my jokes
I must keep my wits
Until all the laffs come out right!
It is the comedy way
That I have chosen
And my goal is always
To make people happy and gay.
Etcetera.

Fear want and confusion

Am I afraid,
I am too good
To be true
Or am I worried
That I might
End up dead
Without doing
What I'm
Out to do?

Am I worried
For the rejection come
The trip to the Brotherly love
Or am I worried
That I will get
What I have always
Wanted?

Is it okay
For me to run
From the goodtimes
And all the crazy fun
Because as I claim
I'm not that into it?
Or am I shy
That I might not
Be the explorer
I have always
Sought to become?

Is it the fear
Of being wrong
Or am I afraid
I will get
What I have always
Wanted for so long?

On this side
One moment
And the other the next
The only way
To break this tie
Is to center myself
And hunker down on the cement.

Thoughts after the third and semi-final comedy class

 My first videotaped set, and it seems there's a plateau for a lot of people's performances. I...gotta get better, people keep laughing at the wrong places, and the instructor doesn't seem to get what I'm tryina say at all. Maybe its different comedy styles because some of my classmates do get what I'm tryina say, but that's not matters, you gotta reach out to the masses.

We had a comedian come to give us pointers, and it was super helpful. I might completely rewrite the majority of my set, and it'll be fine because I'll finnesse this to the point of puking, for sure. My problem was I didn't rehearse enough, I didn't cut down on the fat enough. It's about being funny, not about being accurate or talking about your days. Sigh.

The gang hung out after the comedy class, the entire set almost, and it was lots of fun. Got to know a couple of folks better, I can confidently say I know most of my comedy gang at this point. Walked home halfway with one of the dude and one of the ladies in the class told me we should have a conversation about me being a part of 'the lifestyle' which uhhh sure I'd like to understand what the wild people are doing, like in an anthropological sense mostly and not as one of the monkeys, but still.

Lots more work needed, the investment in the class was totally worth it, and I need to be spending a lot more time doing comedy to get better. It's like a hobby that takes lots of wok and effort and you cannot fake it. Gotta know what works and what does not. Also need to take other classes like this, if only to make friends!

I'm very very afraid about the coming tuesday's class.

Egg, roti, tarkari paste and kefir lunch, volunteer walk, final dinner and catchup with Sb at Danbo [Thu 22]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

For lunch I had egg, roti, and blendered leftover tarkari from the previous weekend because I couldn't take it anymore. Kefir was also a part of the meal. Blended tarkari could go well...if it had more interesting texture, and if it was used as a spread instead of just veggies. Also, extra-spicing doesn't work.

Walked to the volunteer park, wrote a bit, and then got dinner at Danbo ramen with Sb, talking about home and investments. I don't like Danbo too too much because it's like, just right, and it turns out that it's a chain and not a place with unique ramen. It's just...alright, no reason for people to go gaga. This was the last time I was to see Sb before he went to Nepal and I went to the East coast.

Egg, spicy chili tarkari and rice for lunch, yummy pizza, chill with comedy friends, walk home with folks [Tue 20]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

For lunch I made one of my fancy french omlettes, spicy tarkari with chinese chilli sauce and rice. Walked home with friends. I don't remember the last part for sure, all I can say is I definitely didn't get my 1k steps.

Review: Mighty O' Donuts

 I went to Mighty O' Donuts over the weekend and bought two donuts, so it's not like I have a lot to write.

I got the chocolate overload and plain donuts. The chocolate overload tasted exactly like a cake with a donut crust and shape. And the plain donut was the fancier version of the classic Nepali donut. They were small and kinda' pricey (seven bucks for two donuts ugh) but maaan what a trip that was. So sober, and so yummy. You definitely can't eat just one!

In terms of rating, five out of fucking five stars, I'd eat their donuts every goddamn day if I could and more! Man what a treat that was!

Early morning wake, clean and grocery trip, UW golfing with new friend, the student becomes the teacher (golf), mushrooms at farmers market, massive lunchmaking, we get high, rooftop hang, monopoly, leftovers, sleep finally [Sun 18]

 Got up super early in the morning and cleaned up my apartment. Then went to Trader Joe's soon after they opened up and did a pretty hefty grocery trip. Cleaned up my apartment more after coming back, and then headed out to the CapHill station.

On the way tried waking up AS so he could join AH and I for golf, but he'd just gotten up and wasn't ready, also he said he forgot about it, so it was just the two of us. I waited at the platform for a while, and we took the train to the course. On the way I taught AH about the rules of golf, the different clubs, etcetera. I guess I got to become the teacher for once. We got the large bucket, student discount since I'd be studying at UW, and then got golfing!

She's really good, she was quite bad as all people are on their first day at the course, but I can see she's going to get better than myself significantly faster.

After a solid round of driving and putting around the green, we took the train back, I bought a box of Shitake mushroom so I can grow 'em before leaving for VA.

And then the massive lunchmaking started. We made eight items. AH made homemade hummus, for the chips I'd brought from TJ's. AR(y) and SS made alu-maseura. AS made rice and dal. I made the eggplant and potatoes. AS bought the tomato ko achar from two days earlier. I also made the saag. It was all yum.

The gang besides AS and myself went away for an hour to get weed, they walked a lot it was stupid. We got high and ate and we were all so full and it was insane that the entire thing took like four or five hours.

After eating and chilling for a long time, we went to SS's place where we hung out on his rooftop, played a round or two of Jenga, then played a very frustrating game of Monopoly where I had the toughest fucking luck ever. I hated it! We smoked up some more.

After several hours of that, it was like 10.30 in the evening, all of us came to my place for everybody but AH to get the leftovers, and AS drove everybody else home. I got to rest and sleep freakin' finally!

Roti and leftover for lunch, three rounds of dishwashing, Volunteer-interlaken loop, lots of writing, lots of vacuuming, on to comedy and applying for UW course [Mon 19]

Note for the future reader: I'm writing all of this in late-November, exactly two months after I should have ideally written this all, because I feel bad about not writing a thing during my VA trip. I don't feel too bad though because I am 'covering up' for the lost days, and it's looking like by the end of the month I might almost be done with November's worth of writing.

Had the trader joe's flaky roti and all the leftover tarkari for lunch, and then did 3 (!) rounds of dishwashing, with all the dishes from the weekend, from the 8-dish lunch we'd made the day before.

Did the volunteer-interlaken loop in the afternoon, wrote a dozen or so posts in the blog, did two or three rounds of the vacuum machine on the apartment.

In the evening, I went to the second class of my comedy class, the review of which you can read in these pages. In the evening I completed applying for the UW program for management engineering, and that was my day, finally a productive day all for myself after the hustle and bustle of the Sunday.

Failed drive to UW, new golfing at Jefferson park course, walk to caphill, mighty o' donuts, lunch at AS's, arboretum-interlaken evening walk, egg sausage kimchi noodle at my place, early night in [Sat 17]

 Got up super early in the morning, like at 6.30, despite going to bed for realsies at 2.30 because I was afraid I wouldn't get up from the alarm I set for 8.40, and couldn't go back to sleep. Changed real quick, got ready, and at 9, we set out for the UW golf course. Where we discovered that the course was closed on Saturdays for the rest of the football season due to game days.

So we improvised and decided to go to Jefferson Park course, it was a hella long drive and we were worried there'd be no parking there -- the lots were packed, but we did find one sweet spot, and the stalls were open. Man I love the Jefferson park golf course, it's nice and green, well maintained and makes one feel really good about being there. Which is not to pooh pooh the UW one, it's great for the price range, but I can see what the statement 'you get what you pay for' might mean for low-range golf driving ranges now.

My shots were pretty good generally speaking, save for the starting few that were awful. I can do half shots from the driver pretty well, and don't have the stability or strength for the full shots. Still can't use an Iron to save my life. Saw a couple of dudes making the balls fly literally fly like a ball and not in a ballistic trajectory and it was insane. Didn't know the golf balls could do that!

BC dropped me next to her place, I walked back home. Got Mighty O' Donuts on the way, called up AS and told him I'd come do the leftovers for lunch from the night before. The two of us shared the two donuts (one plain, one called 'chocolate extravaganza' or something, it was basically a cake in a donut form and I didn't mind!). Good times!

Came back home, tried writing but couldn't, watched lots of youtube and tv and just ambled about, didn't even go on a proper walk. AS called later in the evening asking me if I wanted to go on a walk, and we headed out at around 6, which is the latest I've headed out for the Arboretum loop. We did Arboretum but just upto the vistor center, interlaken and volunteer, and by the time we were in Interlaken it was already so dark we walked with torchlights in our cellphones on.

Back to my place, I made us kimchi-egg-sausage noodles with indomie and shin ramyun mixed. Watched Nepali Idol sort of tv show where they don't see the performers before judging. Called it an early night because the following day was going to be busy and I needed to get up on time!

Tempeh has fermented, veggie sandwich for lunch, walk to volunteer park, groceries at Vietwah, dinnermaking and hangout at AS's, gang grows, latenight movie [Fri 16]

In the morning took out the bar of tempeh that had fully fermented. Also the kinema was complete, so decided to take some of it out, and let the rest ripen for yet another day.

Made veggie sandwich for lunch. It was a pressed sandwich, that's all I remember, don't ask me the details because I didn't take a photo of it.

Walked to Volunteer park, didn't take an extra loop, walked back and got my grocery bags, went to Viet Wah and did some basic groceries. Then got home, got some more supplies in, walked to AS's place, and we made dinner. We made rice, really rich fried dal, golbheda ko achar, kinema ko tarkari, mapo tofu and spinach ko sag. It was yum yum yum. AR(e) showed up and so did SS. We watched movie, I fell asleep during because we smoked up a bunch before the movie. The movie was Bareily ki Barfi.

I walked home at like 2 in the morning because I had to go golf with BC the next morning.

Red bean buns for lunch, robo vac arrives, low on motivation, cancelled plans, rancho bravo churros, walk at Sb's with fam and friend, pool and asian dessert, pesto and cheese sandwich for midnight snack [Thu 15]

 For lunch I steamed up the final two red bean buns and had them. And also couple of slices of the apple pie from the night before. It may have been two sweet, i don't know.

In the afternoon I picked up my robot vacuum. I made plans with Sb and then with AR but felt so sleepy and lazy and tired due to who knows what reason that I didn't want to do any of it. Then AR was quite insistent that I show up, and I almost went to her place, but Sb wanted to confirm our plans, so I went to his place instead.

On the way I walked by the park and then picked up Churros at Rancho Bravos.

Walked to Sb's place, his partner and her friend were there too. We spent the following 2-3 hours playing shuffleboard, talking, eating and shooting the shit generally. I had some kind of Asian dessert, and also played pool with them. Because I had to get up early in the morning the next day, I left early, and then made myself a pesto and mozzarella sandwich for midnight snack because I had to finish my last pesto and mozzarella. Man that sandwich will never be made again because I suspect that's the sole reason for the messed up situation with cholesterol.

Tomato-cucumber-fried jalepeno-mayo sammich for lunch, interlaken volunteer walk, nap, kimchi-spinach egg ramen for dinner [Wed 14]

 For lunch I had tomato and cucumber with fried jalepeno and mayo on pan toasted bread. Yummy sandwich.

During the day I did the standard interlaken-volunteer walk. And also napped for a couple of hours during the day because that's what I do now, that's what I've become.

Had ramen in the evening, put in kimchi and spinach and egg in it because I wanted it to be healthy. There's not much to write about this day because most of it. Slept for four hours at night and napped for four hours, which I know is wild but as regular readers of the blog will remember, this tends to turn into a vicious cycle that can only be broken by me taking copious amount of tea and then wasting that time I'd have napped on reddit or the orange site instead of writing or reading books or going out on walks or many number of productive things I could be doing.

Alas!

Leftover Dominos lunch, comedy prep and walk on the streets, long talk at comedy class, half performance, happy crowd, drinks and hang with comedy buds, midnight QFC Apple pie [Tue 13]

 Writing this post (and the six following) exactly six days after because at first I was super low on motivation because I felt lonely, and then towards the weekend super amped up on social stuff and too tired and busy to write. That, I believe, is the duality of man.

On this day I finished the three remaining slices of pizza I had from the night before, I believe I ate them all raw and it was yum yum yum. Man I need to order more of whatever order I made that day because it was truly sumptuous.

In the afternoon I skidaddled, wrote a bunch and basically got my comedy routine going, we were supposed to do a one minute piece first, and then a longer two minute set. I left my place a little earlier than usual, and walked along the 15th Ave memorizing my routine.

We got to present our first set but not the second at the comedy class because we spent too much time talking. My performance didn't completely bomb and people actually kind of appreciated it after. I'm glad, I think I'll include that bit in my final routine.

After the class, a couple of us got drinks after spending 15 minutes to figure out where to go. Great talks, great people, really hope I'm in touch with most of those people and become friends because truly this is a wildly diverse and fun group of young men and women and one hopes there's many such similar activities that I get to engage in to make more friends.

We spent like three hours just talking. I walked with the guys -- the Nepali bro and the British dude -- to the CapHill station, from where I took a couple of rounds of Volunteer park to get my steps in. And because that was not enough, I walked to QFC where I saw apple pies. Couldn't help myself -- grabbed one of 'em, brought home and had an embarrassing number of slices.

And that was my day!

Cooking grand, once again

 On Friday I cooked, along with AS, a six-dish dinner: rice, dal, spinach ko saag, golbheda ko achar, mapo tofu and kinema ko tarkari. On Sunday, I planned and cooked, along with AS and a couple of other friends, an eight-dish lunch: rice, dal, golbheda ko achar, hummus, kale ko saag, mustag alu, alu maseura, and eggplant. Took a lot longer, but it was totally worth it. Dare I say a bit too much and a bit overwhelming because it was a cacophony of all the tastes and textures and smells.

Still, I'm cooking big and hosting people and inviting guests and having a good time and for that I'm very happy. The lull in inviting people and cooking and funhaving that had been ongoing for the several preceding months has ended I'm hoping, and one can hopefully be doing a lot of hosting and being social extroverted etcetera once again.

That's it. I need to expand my repertoire of dishes I can cook, there's always that, but the raw materials for random items are so freakin' expensive and  there's no point shelling big bucks for items you don't care for that much and you're going to mess up cooking anyway.

But still, man these dinners can add up in the prices sometimes. The lunch for the group of five cost me about thirty bucks in raw materials and a lot of that was leftovers and groceries for me (though my co-cook did take away most of the leftovers as well) but still, it's shocking how poorly I've been grocery shopping lately. That, or the prices are cray-cray. Either way when I start doing it more often I'll have a good sense of how to reign in the prices, and how to put on the whole show a lot quicker and with less freaking out.

I'm excited about this!

The robo roomba is making and will make my life significantly easier

 I bought a robo roomba, the one without the LIDAR from woot couple of weeks ago, it got in last week. I've let it run a few times on the apartment, man I'd forgotten the feeling of letting the machine do its job while you're away, and seeing the filter bag collect all the trash and dirt, and feel good about keeping your place clean.

It does not clean every nook and corner: it doesn't have any sensors...when I told Sb I was getting it he told me to return it and get a better one with sensors because the experience of running these stupid vacuums is frustrating. Be that as it may, I'm not running it to get the whole apartment shiny, I'll be running it once a day or once every few days on the living room and the bedroom separately. The stuff it doesn't get I'll either use the broom for, or occasionally the vacuum. And if the same room is getting the run multiple times in a week, the vacuum will eventually get to all the spots. It's not like I'm shedding like a dog or a snowman.

Yeah, so that's something I'm really excited about because it gets me to a base level of cleanliness above which I can rise manually. I can do the occasional vacuuming and steaming of the entire apartment once a every few weeks and not have to worry about being a useless husk of a slob. Makes me feel better, keeps the place clean, and I have to put in a lot less effort to clean the place.

It's an amazing creation, no doubt.

Writing and preparing for the comedy show

 The previous post was about my feelings after the 2nd comedy class, this is bout how I'm feeling a day before the third comedy class.

First, I'm nervous because the standards have increased. My classmates are not bad at comedy as much as i thought they'd be. There's expectations that have been set and need to be met. Now that I've internalized that this is a proper performance that needs to be put on and practiced, and get the timings right etcetera, I'm a bit worried I haven't put in enough time. And what is enough time to put in anyway? The standard 'recommendation' for a work presentation is 10 minutes per minute of presentation time, but 50 minutes are most certainly not enough to prepare for the show. I need to write a bunch of jokes, figure out my timings, listen to myself, make improvements, listen to myself again, and figure out body language and facial expressions. SO a couple of hours at least I'm thinking. It's exciting but also exhausting. And I'm afraid. Actually this could be the best thing for me: a low-stakes situation that ultimately doesn't decide the direction of my life in any way whatsoever, but one that I can choose to get stressed out over, and lean so hard into it by preparing for it, I absolutely kill it.

Or not. Maybe I don't have the talent, and hard work itself is not sufficient for such things. Besides, do I even have the work ethic for the whole thing? Who even knows.

Regardless, here's what I'm doing today and tomorrow. I'm putting in at least an hour of serious time writing and sharpening the jokes today, and maybe figuring out body languages and facial expression I might do, the pauses I might play with, without knowing the full routine. And spend several hours tomorrow practicing over and over again until I absolutely perfect it. Perfect it in the sense that I'm comfortable with my material and the general flow of it, not in the sense that I'm know my material word-to-word. The trick is to leave enough flexibility for some spark of genius to jump at the very last moment if it wants to, but still be comfortable with the material if it doesn't.

This is going to be a wild ride.

I'm excited and eager, fingers crossed.

Stuff after 2nd comedy class

This is a complicated situation. I wrote the title the evening of the second comedy class after it ended, and now here I am, six days later, waiting for the comedy class tomorrow. I have lots more to write about the comedy class and there's more posts incoming, but here's the headlines.

The second class was fun. I had prepared two routines, the first one a minute long, and then a two minute long routine. I got most of my first routine out, forgot the last few sentences after freaking out about the time, and didn't really get to present my second routine. Which is fine because I was freaking out. My first routine went...surprisingly well actually. I wish we'd spent more time just performing instead of talking about performance because tomorrow is the 'prep show' and our final show is next week, so not a lot of time to actually perform, but ah maybe this is not my thing? Or perhaps if I commit to doing comedy more often, I gotta do my writing earlier in the day and that'll help my routine etcetera.

A few of the classmates -- one british dude, two of us Nepali guys, and a girl who was very into Indian guys or South Asian dudes in general and she made a point of reminding us that several times -- went out for drinks and jokes and it was quite fun, we stayed out for several hours and walked back to the stop. We got our small chat group started too! And then there's the chat group of the entire class, which is active periodically, but it's encouraging that my classmates are out and about doing comedy sets in amateur nights. It makes me wonder if I could do it too, and the only thing stopping me is my desire and my grit? Like golf! Wondering if it makes sense to start doing the amateur nights every so often after I'm back from the East.

What else, what else. Oh yeah I discovered that standup comedy is not just about telling people jokes, and writing for all the time you have. It's literally about the performance, you can even do it without the jokes, it could be a mostly quiet comedy routine, if it gets the laughs, it gets the laughs. I'm thinking I need to write a set for about 60% of the time, and give the rest to well-timed pauses and general stuff.

Tomorrow is the second-last class, and we're expected to present two routines. I'm a little afraid, but also excited. I'll be writing a small routine after I'm done writing today's worth of post on these pages, and then finish my application for UW. Oh I gotta create a post about that too.

I'm nervous.

Successes at work make me a happy successful boy in life

Here's the most obvious statement that anybody can ever come up with that still needs to be said: when I'm doing great at work, and am making achievements etcetera, I'm happier during my personal life and productive the rest of the day. Put differently, the more productive I'm at work, the more productive I'm at personal life. I've written this before, but I rediscover it every six months or so, and that's how we're here.

The problem here is that my work situation is...complicated in that it's really hard to make clear-cut achievements and progress, and it's frustrating quite often, and many a day I'm not at all motivated to get anything done. So the days when I'm productive at work are quite rare and far in between. Which means my work is rarely the pickup for the rest of my life that it has the potential to be, rather it often drags my mood down because I feel like such a fraud and a loser who's extremely unproductive.

But yeah, maaan I wish I had a job that I could get achievements on a daily basis, and I could at the end of the day put on the tally chart my wins for the day, and use that to motivate myself.

I wish.

The reason I didn't write

 The reason I didn't write
Was I felt sleepy
And took a big ole' nap
And then it was the evening
So it was sleeping time
And the day just went by!

The reason I felt sleepy
Was I didn't sleep the night before
Because I was up coming
Up with ideas for posts
But I didn't write, so
The sleep was harmed
But nothing got written.

The reason I didn't write
The night before
Was because I was hungry
And bored
And watching the tv
And who's got the time to write
Anyway
When there's so much
Happening in the world,
Or so I told myself
Until I fell asleep
Of boredom
And apathy.

And one day
At this rate very soon
I'm going to wake up
Realize my life has
Whizzed past me
With nothing written
And barely a thing done
While I was busy
Napping it away!

Three loads of the dishwasher is all it takes

 Three loads
Of the dishwasher
Is all it takes
To run
A large dinner party.
It's all it takes
And a bit more
But not that much
To have people over
And have fun
Do understand
That to make change
You start from you
And that maybe
Things don't
Grow on trees
But from you.
Not that you grow on trees!

Three loads of the dishwasher
And a lot of love and respect
Is all it takes, to earn friendships
It is all one needs
TO meet new people and explore
The world around them
In the realms unseen unknown
TO one's worldview
And to really understand
What the heck
Everybody else
Is all about.

A list of fifteen things I'm proud doing the last weekend

1. Made six (!) dishes in one night, and fed dinner to four people
   
   
2. Did the above in only an hour and half, and cleanup etcetera took less than two hours.
   
   
3. 24k steps of walking on Saturday
   
   
4. Went to the golf course at Jefferson park, and played at a non-home golf course for literally the first time ever.
   
   
5. Went golfing with a new friend and taught them the technique and the philosophy.
   
   
6. Got up super early in the morning on Sunday and went shopping first thing
   
   
7. Bought my own roomba and let it loose upon my apartment.
   
   
8. Coordinated and cooked eight (!) dishes in one afternoon, and fed five people
   
   
9. Did the above in less than 2.5 hours. Not including the cleanup.
   
   
10. Spent 12 hours over the course of the day hanging out with the same group of people
    
    
11. Made a new friend, hung out with them a bunch, hung out at their place
    
    
12. Got high, talked about my political ideas, communicated it to other people
    
    
13. Got really obsessed with Nepali politics and seriously considered writing a series of emails or letters to the mayor of Kathmandu
    
    
14. Didn't give up on Monopoly right away.
    
    
15. Got into the 'setting my expectations reasonably low by being open to seeing the worst of the dating world' situation
    

Who you should help vote for this Nepali national election: a guide

 As the Nepali national elections approach, many a man woman and child voter starts wondering who they should be voting for, and what they should be looking for in a good leader to lead the country, or at least their constituency to the Nepal of the 21st century. Well it's been quite a few years since we entered this century, but the country very clearly has not, not yet anyway but we still need to enter it and the question is who to vote to get us the entry. So here's a quick guide to voting for your leader this upcoming election.

1. Look for how many times they've become ministers or prime ministers. If they've been in those posts for more than nine times, don't vote for them. If between three to nine times, maybe don't vote them because they're rich enough. Zero to three? Give them a chance if you think they're really good. None at all? Hey, a man's gotta eat, why are you being mean and not giving new people a chance?

2. How many crime of non political nature have they been charged and or convicted for? If the number is more than five, maybe avoid voting for them. If it's between two and five, consider voting for their opponents instead. If it's one, hmm if the crime is not bad enough, it's alright. If it's zero times, that's good, look at their other features.

3. How corrupt are they? If they're very corrupt, don't vote for them. If they're slightly to very corrupt, really stop voting for those people. If they're a little teeny weeny bit corrupt, hmm I don't know give them a chance perhaps. If they're not corrupt at all, highly recommend putting them in the parliament.

FAQ about the mountains that have been suddenly discovered inside the valley

Q. What was that again? How can one find not one but multiple large mountains inside a crowded city?
A. The same way somebody can find massive mfufking rivers running underneath the city that nobody knew about, or knew but had lied through the teeth -- and are still lying -- and pretended they didn't exist, or if they were drainage pipes. If you can reject reality for that long, you can once again reject it for slightly longer.

Q. How were the mountains hidden?
A. Shockingly, very much like the rivers were! People had just constructed a tonne of houses, roads, banks, trash compactors, landfill sites, zooes, etcetera on top of them and no one had known what was underneath until the local leaders did an archaeological dig and found them again, after a really long time.

Q. What are the people on the other sides saying?
A. Just like some have fabricated fake historical documents claiming those rivers were actually something entirely else and it wasn't a big deal and even if this was a big deal what's done is done, and even if this is a big corruption matter and issue of government failure, cant' we just let things be and move ahead from here, together and in peace and not talk about unpleasant things, pretty please? Because really, why do we even want to talk about such awkward things guys?

Oh also, the 'mountains' that were discovered are actually hills of trash that were already existing thousands of years ago, and actually what would you know, a historical document from the time of the Mahabharat was just discovered literally just now and it says 'oh and there was a massive mountain of trash, actually several mountains in Kathmandu, and people were fine with it' and so there you go, all questions answered. We understand it was all big misunderstanding and won't sue you for charges for destroying our illegally constructed property and we can all be friends again and move ahead, yeah?

Personal achievement unlocked: multiple massive dinners three days in a row

 Because somehow the weekend has gone by and it was so eventful, after so long, that I had literally no time to write on multiple days, we are on the Monday. And now I must live with the guilt of writing for three days plus whatever was pending before that, which is like two more days of writing. Yes, I know dear reader lots of complaining about my failure to write and not enough meat and potatoes. But that's what one ends up at, gets stuck rather, without a proper teacher and a guide. Yet we must persist, so here we go.

The reason I didn't get enough time for the writing during the weekend was because I was busy hanging with the gang. On Friday we made dinner -- SIX dishes between the two of us, AKS(y) and me, and had AR(e) and SS come in as well to eat. And then we watched some movie. So obviously I was busy.

On Saturday I went golfing, cleaned the house, went on a walk, and then made great dinner for AKS(y) once again, so that was the second day in a row that I cooked for somebody else and put some effort into the whole thing.

And on Sunday, I did groceries early in the morning, went to play golf yet again, cooked for several hours, hosted four or five guests, and spent solid time with them for the rest of the day. And mind you, eight dishes this time around. Yes I didn't technically cook all of it, but I was involved significantly in the planning and execution so gotta take that win.

It's a great freaking achievement truth be told, and just as I was feeling lonely and kinda lame, I think if I may say so, I got some of my social mojo back.

Good times, good times.

What the eff do I need to start making myself read books again?

 This will be a quick one.

I have about fourty books in my ereader and I have not read any one of them, not one single goddamn of those books in the last several weeks. And what do I do all my day? Spend my bullsht time spending reading bullshit fking websites that are totally useless for my future goals, don't add value to my life in any possible way, just make me mad and sad and cynical about the state of humankind and generally are miserable in all ways possible. Unlike books which are often well written, well reviewed, edited, and organized, and presented to us after great investment. One could say books are actually blog posts and/or reddit posts and comments but summaried and collated and organized and sharpened as much as they can be.

Perhaps that's the angle I should take: see books not as the papery things from back when that I should be still reading because they will make me brainy, but the 'best internet comments of the years, collated, edited and presented for your pleasure'. Sounds stupid, but if it works, it works!

Golfing achievement: teaching people now

 So I went golfing -- and by golfing I mean driving, obvs -- the last weekend with new friend AH, who is PG's friend from college and who I met at her 'housewarming'. And you know what, I was able to teach her the basics of golfing, including what the clubs are, the scorekeeping, posture, how to think about it, what the great thing about the sport is, yadda yadda yadda. And I'm so mad to say, she's already where I was on my fourth session out, right on her first time ever. I mean...not really mad, excited, pleased, eager perhaps, because I'm the person who taught her that, so I am maybe a great teacher and a golf instructor secretly, maybe that's what I was meant to do but never figured it out until just now? Right, that could totally be what's up?

Sublease situation is working out well, for once

 So it turns out SS (who is the SS of former roommate PK's classmate, also the one with the juice brand) is looking for a place to sublease for a month or two until he finds his new place, and what do you now, I'm leasing out my place, so now we might have a mutually beneficial situation where an exchange of money for an apartment to stay might happen. My past experiences with subleasing have been...of varied quality...lets say, and most of them towards the 'not-great' end, but depending on how this situation evolves, it's looking like for once I might get it right. Get two thirds of my monies back while letting a pretty decent person stay at my place, and letting them use my groceries etcetera. Good times, hopefully everything works out. We've talked almost but not really on two occasions from the business perspective, so gotta have that conversation soon and have this figured out.

As always, fingers crossed!

Frequently asked questions about the reality of the bullshit bloggers

Q. The milbloggers are making a whole lot of claims about the status of our army and making some wild recommendations. Is there any truth to that?
A. None whatsoever. They are deluded fools, who while quite patriotic, have no idea about the state of the world and re like little crybabies in their cots, unable to see the reality for what it is.

Q. Some of them have produced visual evidence, and otherwise corroborated information that the defense ministry has categorically denied. How can they be lying when all of them have found similar evidence from different sources
A. It is all faked evidence planted by the enemy, who our patriotic yet misguided and uninformed comrades take for the truth because they don't understand the true victory for the enemy is not just our physical destruction but also ego destruction, that we lose respect for ourselves. They have fallen into that trap.

Q. What IS the actual status of our forces in the regions of interest?
A. As explained in a previous FAQ, we are winning, we are winning on all the fronts and all the rounds, and there is absolutely nothing to be worried about. We are slowing down for the sake of our enemies to catch up because we want to play a fair fight, we would have made it to Berlin by now if we used our full force.

Q. Why are we NOT using our full force?
A. Because what is the value of it? There is no point in exposing your full might and abilities. Do you use a rocket launcher to kill a mosquito? No. In a similar manner we have not used our full set of abilities because the time is not right. Yes, a mosquito is annoying and sometimes you have trouble defeating it, but it doesn't mean it's stronger than you are.

Q. What about the claimed loss of manpower from various regions further outside the capital?
A. Let us be clear. Because we are so confident we will not be losing too much of our manpower, we have offered great rewards for any loss of soldiers who will be martyred in this operation. If we thought we were going to lose men to this cause, we would not be offering all this money and potentially going bankrupt. As a result of all the money however, people have become greedy. We have heard of instances where greedy villagers have signed up for the fighting forces, and then abandoned their posts, gone back to their hometowns, and then fabricated evidence of their own wartime deaths to collect the monetary compensation. They will be dealt accordingly with the legal system.

Y'all gotta go, decide how to

I don't wanna go
Out of my house
The world is rough out there
And there's winds wild
The sun burns
And the animals bite
I'm safer in here
Cared for loved
And lie in peace
The mummy tells himself
As he withers away
Into dust.
And eventually
End up
Out there.
Willing or crying and shouting
We all gotta go,
Out there, or up wherever
What matters is
If we do so
In our own terms
Or in those
That the fates
Have decided
For us.

Find your cause, NOW!

When was the last time
You thought
I am write
And for that
I am willing to fight
With my life?

When was it
That you knew
That you found
That one cause
Which would
Let into a life
Of searching round
For allies
Who could
Help you fight
Without taking out a knife?

It's those moments
And those times
The instances when we
Find what's right
And willing and able
To commit to it
To make our life's worth
Until the day we die
That make us
More than a husk
That survives
Only to
Live another day.
Go about
Go out
Young lads
And gals
And find
Your cause!

Twenty reasons why rents in Seattle are so high, probably

1.  The landlords are the greediest in the country
   
   
2. The renters are the cheapest in the country
   
   
3. No new construction happening, increasing demand
   
   
4. People here make a lot of money, generally speaking
   
   
5. It's a secret conspiracy to keep people oppressed
   
   
6. The homelessness industrial complex
   
   
7. Those nice couches and coffee machines in the common areas ain't cheap, chief
   
   
8. Seattle apartments are made of golden bricks
   
   
9. Seattle apartments generate money automatically, with a 2x modifier if you pay more.
   
   
10. Nobody wants to live here because it's so crime-infested. Therefore...something something..so expensive.
    
    
11. When the proletariat rise against the bourgeoisie, they shall discover that it was all a plan to suppress the revolution etc.
    
    
12. Somebody fat-fingered an extra zero on their listing at apartments.com and everybody just followed.
    
    
13. Seattleites are so large they need more space than everybody else, which means more money
    
    
14. The buildings are way more expensive to construct since they need to take in a lot more weight (see above)
    
    
15. Every apartment has a secret bomb shelter and the costs add up.
    
    
16. The buildings can float during a flood caused by the massive pacific tsunami.
    
    
17. All the buildings can stand up to 10 richter scale earthquakes.
    
    
18. They're extra strong to hold the massive amounts of bullshits produced here
    
    
19. It's a wonderful place to live and everybody wants to live here and land usage rules suck.
    
    
20. The reptiles want to bankrupt you
    

A list of twenty things

 Because I'm running out of ideas, and things to write about, and have limited motivation and time.

1. So many plants!
   
   
2. Golfing
   
   
3. Letting go of your ego because reality won
   
   
4. People who don't have their shit together, AT THIS AGE
   
   
5. New friends
   
   
6. Cute girls on the street
   
   
7. Cooking, yum yum yum
   
   
8. Patience
   
   
9. Travel
   
   
10. Libraries
    
    
11. Prayer
    
    
12. Stomachache
    
    
13. Eagerness
    
    
14. Jokes
    
    
15. Confusing political stances
    
    
16. Relief
    
    
17. Unexpected friendships
    
    
18.  Sleep
    
    
19. Time
    
    
20. Fear
    
    

A list of all the brewing/fermentation projects I've done yet

1.  Kombucha
   
   
2. Milk kefir
   
   
3. Water kefir
   
   
4. Tempeh
   
   
5. Natto / Kinema
   
   
6. Rice wine (chhyang)
   
   
7. Regular kimchi
   
   
8. Radish kimchi
   
   
9. Fermented veggies
   
   
10. Carrot wine
    
    
11. Banana wine
    
    
12. Mushroom growing
    
    
13. Fermented mustard greens
    

Maybe the fact that I'm living life in the 'easy' coast mode isn't great either

 Something I thought of during my walk this afternoon. Which I went for after...wait for it... a FOUR hour midday nap. Regular readers here will know I absolutely love naps, like I love...hmmm.. a sack of potatoes-- I love potatoes. Right, back to the topic at hand, which is the consideration that maybe the difficulties in life and taking care of them make you a more content, stronger better person in the long run.

Let me be clear before I begin. I have absolutely no desire, not one goddamn bit to live life in the uhh challenging anymore. There's no reason to you know, to struggle, to be poor, to have ridiculous expectations out of life and people and strive towards really really high goals, which you might meet but at a great cost and after many a compromise. Suffering is not a virtue, suffering is awful, suffering doesn't teach as much as popular culture makes it out to, and generally it's a great idea to suffer for the sake of it.

But idyllic contention is like not great either. Where's the growth, where's the challenge, where's the change you're bringing to the world? Sure you're not very much stressed out all the time, but then are you really living or merely surviving? Where's the life, the substance, what's the point of just...being.

There might be a middle ground. Somewhere where you learn to compartmentalize your emotions. Until then, it's  rough ride eh

More standup jokes after 2nd class of comedy standup

 The other day I was in one of those places where there was uhhh adult entertainment, you know. People taking off their clothes, drinking and going wild, getting naked, people doing drugs in the dark corners, throwing stuff around. Really wild! It was quite exciting, exhilerating really, I felt so very alive. Like it was a wild bachelorette party, but every day. But you know, all good things come to an end and I had to get out... at my bus stop. Man I love Seattle public buses.

And then when I got home, oh right, I was going home from my friend's place -- he moved by this new apartment building -- I live in the most exciting part of town, uhh I won't give you my street address, but let's just say I have a police station on one side of my apartment, and a very active fire station on the other side. So going to bed is really comforting to me because I know, with all those sirens going on all night long, that I am going to be safe. That and the daily gunshots I hear out of my apartment -- I'm not making this up, there's gunshots on CapHill quite on the reg -- but the great part is with the inflation and crazy prices and everything going on, the gunshots give me comfort because if nothing else, I know the bad guys are shooting their guns to bankruptcy. Eventually, peace will prevail. But until then, there's the regular nightly gunshuts to put me to sleep.

-------

So I recently moved to Seattle -- a year and a half ago, and was quite impressed with how diverse the city is.

[And I've been really impressed with how diverse this city is]

Yeah, I was hanging with some dudes from Meetup at South Lake Union, and not only are there people working for Google and Facebook and Amazon, but there's also people working for Microsoft and Expedia. This is truly a diverse melting pot!

It doesn't stop at that! There's all kinds of people living here too. From the rich people who can afford hundred million dollar properties to the poor beggars who can afford 2 million dollar houses, this is truly a place for everybody.

And there's more! All people from all parts of the spectrum! From people who believe that Noam Chomsky is a Capitalist sellout republican, to people who believe complaining about human shit on your front door literally equals murder, there's people of all political inclinations in this city.

----

What do the British Royalty and Seattle fashion trend have in common? Wait and find out!

I recently moved Seattle, and my favourite part about the city is...hmm dunno how to say it...so I'll just say it...[point both fingers to the mustache] the pedophile mustache. It's an unfortunate name, but hey at least it's catchy!

I've heard a few theories about it, let me tell you I DON'T care about any at all. Somebody told me it's big only among the single middle-aged gay men with daddy issues demographics. Another theory, is it's popular among sad pathetic older men to lull young women into a false sense of security by implying they might be gay daddy-issues-riddled-men and get their guards down. In which case the name IS kinda' appropriate, so THAT makes sense. But the most popular idea I've heard is it's popular among men who weren't able to grow a full face of hair like that [angrily] bullshit fake fake brooklyn hipster woodcutter facial hair look, and [passionately]now that they finally have a fashion trend they can get onboard with, they're jumping into it with great aplomb. And again, I have no cock in this fight. So to speak.

Ladies and gents, presenting to you, the pedophile!

Peanut butter banana sandwich for lunch, cleaning the apartment, soybean projects, laundry, vacuum and steaming, volunteer park walk, domino's dinner, good deal, writing [Mon 12]

 Productive day at work after a really long time, possibly leading to a very productive personal day but who can say really.

Had peanut butter banana and honey sandwich for lunch because I wanted to something easy and also yeah it sounds unhealthy when I put it like that but remember there was a time when it was a legitimate packed brown bag lunch people took to work every day.

Cleaned the apartment, got things in order, vacuumed and steamed the floor and the carpet, cleaned the restroom, threw out the trash and recycling. Did three rounds of laundry folding, and two each of washing and drying.

Cooked the soybean, and then put the cooked beans in the oven with proper starter culture to make kinema and tempeh. yum yum yum, I'm worried about tempeh but kinema will work probably.  Also processed water kefir, the old round tastes hella nasty in a very sour kinda' way.

Walked to Volunteer park, two rounds there, walked -- rushed even -- to Domino's and picked my $10 large pizza, brought it home and had it for dinner. Felt so food and good, gotta reward yourself for having a good work and personal productivity day.

In the evening spent significant time writing. Like write now. Goodstuff. Hope the workday tomorrow does well too.

Cancelled golfing twice, walk with AS(y) to the parks, the full circle, TJ's trip, Bombay Burger lunch, tomato-egg-pesto sandwich dinner, writing late at night [Sun 11]

 Golfing with BC was cancelled because she is in the Cascades. Golfing with PG and A was cancelled due to the smoke. AS(y) didn't want to go golfing on this day generally. So we went on a walk instead. Headed out of the house at around 10, went to the arboretum, next to the canal by UW where we chilled for a while, walked the islands, walked to interlaken park, and walked up 19th st. to Trader Joe's. At TJ's A did his shopping, and we went to Bombay Burger where I bought us lunch as I did owe him ten buckaroos from the other day when he walked for the fifteen minutes on the white roadside marking. Man the paneer tikka burger at that place is insanely good.

Got back home at 3/4, watched tv, wrote a bunch, napped, used the internet and generally good times were had. Made tomato egg pesto and vegetarian sausage sandwich for dinner, yum yum yum. Wrote until late at night while watching tv, talked to PA, and then went to sleep after midnight.

Cookiemaking, soy projects begin, arboretum-interlaken-volunteer walk, chill next to the water, smokey skies, hang and din with AS(y), watching toilet movie, back home pretty early [Sat 10]

 So I'd made cookie mi the night before, I turned those into cookies, so big, so soft and sweet and yummy. I need to put a lot more tahini into my cookies. Also the only decent prices at the dollar store are for the betty crocker cookie mix and the spicy salted nuts. Maybe other items too, but a buck twenty-five for like eight pieces of solid cookies is an amazing deal. Man, less than 25 cents apiece, and one could easily sell each for dollar fifty individually. So So goooood. In the end I gave it all to AS(y) the later part of the day, but this was a fun project.

Got a pound and half of soybeans to soak to start a bunch of soy-related projects.

At noon did the Arboretum-interlaken-volunteer walk, solid journey, got 22k steps out. Spent hours next to the water by UW, talked to friends, took photos, and appreciated the beauty of the nature. Observed the terribly smoky nature of Seattle skies caused by the wildfire. Also visited the arboretum greenhouse, and looked at the plants for sale, didn't buy anything really.

Got back from the trip, got a few things in order, took kefir and cookies to AS(y)'s place. We made rice dal tarkari achar, and ate it, and watched the movie toilet. Talked and argued about space travel and just shot the shit.

Left for home at half past twelve which is kinda' early for Saturday nights, but it felt alright. I felt a little unsafe during my way back.

Latenight walk into the park, internet addict, daynap, kimchi-cheese taco dinner, all plans on hold [Fri 9]

 It was Friday, I should have been excited and productive. But alas it was not to be so.

Work was extremely slow. Played Age of Empires during the day, even during work. It's fun and everything but it's beginning to take a lot of my time, I gotta figure out a way to avoid it.

Slept a lot during the day, for several hours, I don't know whats up with me, I've been feeling sleepy during the day a tonne over the last week or so. As I wrote in a previous post, I don't mind anymore because I'd rather be sleeping than spending time on the internet with the creeps but maybe if I can convince myself and motivate myself to do great things, that'll be a better option.

Because I slept for most of the day and played games etc, my walk to Volunteer park was pretty late. Took two rounds of the park and back, fun but not really exciting. I gotta get rid of reddit somehow, the ukraine war has been obsessed, I'm tracking their cities and solider locations and what not. What a terribly disappointing usage of my time.

Had cheese and beans and kimchi tacos for dinner with the chilly oil flakes, good stuff. Didn't feel liek doing much with anybody in the evening.

Double veggie sammich, early interlaken-volunteer loop, texas toast and veggies dinner, nap, tv, writing [Thu 8]

 For lunch I had the veggie sandwich, you know the standard tomatoes, cucumber, carrots and mayonaise. Had two of those. Also added capers into the mix, good stuff. Man it'd been so long since I had something easy and 'simple' and fresh, so it was a really refreshing meal.

Did the interlaken-volunteer loop pretty early on after work because I wanted to get lots of stuff done earlier in the evening.

So after I came back, I tried to be productive, and napped, for a couple of hours. Got up at sevenish or eightish, felt so good about the whole situation. Made Texas toast for dinner, it hurt my tummy, ate fruits instead.

Watched tv and wrote a bunch here on this blog before going to bed, but was generally very unproductive because reddit news about ukraine kept distracting me!

Frequently asked questions about what's next for our super duper awesome greatest country in the world

 Q. What is the government's policy for the current economic crisis that has been ongoing for the last several years?
A. First, there is not too big of an economic crisis going round,  so shut the fuck up with your lies or be ready to face the hands of the secret police. Having said that, what matters the most is not economic growth or numbers or crisis or all of that, it's employment numbers and how well people are doing, and it seems people are doing pretty well despite almost triple-digit inflation numbers, the industry is seeing growth, so no worries, everything is going great.

Q. What about the rapid decline in our country's currency value compared against every other trading partner's currency?
A. It just means that our exports are going to be cheaper, and we're going to be selling more things. Tourism is going to go up, our international trade situation will get so much better people will be left dizzy. Yes, it is true that most of the exporters also import raw materials before processing them and selling to other countries, and the cost of raw materials will increase the costs associated with exports. But then the industries can just increase the price for the exports, and our income will go even higher! And besides, if the profit margin of the greedy large industries goes down it's no big loss for the common man, so why are you arguing on their behalf...unless you're on their agent and acting on their behalf against common public interest!

Q. They're saying the government's actions are making the situation even worse. What's the situation there?
A. Yes, traditionally economists have argued that decreasing the interest rates increases borrowing and egs the market on, increasing the money supply and accelerating inflation. Yes, at these more than triple digit inflation rates, the sensible thing to do would be to increase the interest rate until there's great demand for the country's currency and borrowing becomes prohibitive, so economic growth is curtailed, but so is the rapid increase of the country's currency in the market. And yes, we have tended to do the opposite -- decreasing interest rates precisely when they need to be increased, and yes that's only created this vicious cycle and even a fifteen year old can figure out what's happening. But remember, we're mavericks, these theorie re produced by hoity-doity rich western dudes who have no clue how this works, so don't give a second thought to their production. Our economics is true, everything else is a lie!