Spring

As usual, it’s been far too long.  It feels good to publish some words again.  I’m in Mexico City at the moment still, and life has been good here.  The weather has been perfect for months, I’ve been having friends perpetually visit, and I managed to finish up my latest batch of trading projects.

This week I replaced my trading research time with reading, meditating, learning some Spanish, and finally doing this blog post.  

I let some bad habits creep in (some extra meals/non-paleo foods), but I’m reassessing and getting things back on track this week.  A new thing I’m trying is working out less but training harder each session (inspired/stolen from Mindful Mover).  This is week three, and somehow it seems like I’m breaking out of a stagnant rut in my fitness.  My pull-ups, squats, and other things all seem to be improving with less training (once a week each only but nearly maxing out each set) and more recovery.  I’ve admittedly changed my training routine far too many times, but it’s hard to find the right program that gets results,  good for people 35+, and leaves me with energy to do things the rest of the day.  I’ve done a lot of things that hit one or two of these really well.  

I finished a sci-fi book called “Flicker Men” by Ted Kosmatka this week and enjoyed it.  The first third of the book (as many reviewers pointed out) was much stronger than the last two thirds, but I hadn’t read an addictive book in a while.  I got into a “big book” phase where I’ve been slogging along in some 1000 page tomes, and finished some, but I prefer things more fast paced.  It was also fun to read something contemporary with real physics that wasn’t too big-brain nerdy.  It makes you feel like you’re reading something smart, but it’s mostly an escape thriller.  

On television I recently finished “Warrior” on HBO Max which was great.  It’s set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1870’s, and although it wasn’t a part of history I knew anything about or was interested in, it gave me a lot of compassion for immigrants of all types especially from that era.  They also have tons of action, violence, and sex, so that doesn’t hurt either.

Another show I’m really enjoying now (it’s still coming out each week) also on HBO Max is “Tokyo Vice”.  It’s based on a memoir of an American guy in the late 90’s who goes to Tokyo to become a reporter for a newspaper, and covers dangerous Yakuza stories.  The most interesting and main aspect for me is the fish out of water experience trying to truly enter life in Japan.  It’s one thing to nomad in different countries where you can get by with English, but learning Japanese to the level of working for a newspaper and attempting to integrate is something I’d rather live vicariously through a show than do.  It’s also beautifully shot.  

Leaving you with a pic from a sculpture inside the Anthropology museum here. Shout out to Jared who got me out of my normal life slumber for some culture. Wishing you all a great week/month!