April 2025 Update
This is a brief summary of the goals that I accomplished this past month. This is part of a monthly series of such posts so that I can track my progress and relay any insights therein gleaned.
Get CPR Certified
Most people don’t have formal training in CPR. The AHA estimates it at 18% of the population. This course covered CPR, use of an automatic electronic defibrillator, and basic first aid. Luckily, I have had no reason to show off my new skills and I hope it stays that way.
Solve a Rubik’s cube
I’d never solved one before! I used the method described on this website. I initially hoped to get “off book” when solving the Rubik’s cube, that is solving it without having the algorithm in front of me, but the final steps of this method are a little involved and require some faith in the system: if you mess up a step, you won’t know it until the end. However, this is a solid foundation to learning the algorithm by heart, and perhaps I will be able to get the algorithm memorized by the end of the year.
Learn how to make cocktails
I went to a mixer for AIGA–the professional design association. I went because it was open to everyone and they would teach us how to make a cherry blossom martini. It was fun to rub elbows with people from such different professions while sipping a martini I had made.
Attend a Protest or Rally
I went to AOC/Bernie’s LA stop on their Fighting Oligarchy Tour. The tour happened during a vulnerable seeming time in American politics: the weekend after Trump’s 90-day pause on Liberation Day and a week prior to Senator Van Hollen meeting Abrego Garcia in CECOT. Things seemed chaotic and the AOC rally gave me hope. I also got to see Neil Young and Joan Baez perform: Neil Young’s “Rocking in the Free World” has a special meaning today.
Do the 100 Women Challenge
This is a viral Twitch challenge. The idea is to list 100 women that you don’t know personally. I completed mine in fourteen minutes. Some of my more idiosyncratic pics were: Ursula Von der Leyen, Quvenzhané Wallis, and Abigail Thorn.
See wonders from 10 centuries
This is my companion goal to seeing wonders from three millennia.
9th BCE - Cuicuilco: A large astronomical calendar, the Mesoamerican equivalent to Stonehenge.
2nd - Teotihuacan: One of the most striking archeological sites I've visited, maybe in the world.
13th - Red Rock Petroglyphs: These are available for viewing just a quick hike off the main scenic route in Red Rock National Conservation Area.
14th - Templo Mayor: The chief Aztec temple, whose rubble remains in the center of Ciudad de Mexico.
16th - Centro Historico in CDMX: One of the best preserved examples of Spanish Baroque architecture.
17th - Monserrate: A Catholic church nestled high above Bogota. The views were spectacular.
18th - Campo de Cahuenga: A small ranch right next to Universal Studios where the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, turning over California to American occupation in the Mexican-American war and a precursor to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed a year later. Its historic importance is a 19th century phenomenon, but construction on the actual ranch was completed in the late 18th century.
19th - Bradbury Building: Popularized by many a movie: Blade Runner, (500) Days of Summer, etc. You can’t really see much of it but there’s a cute coffee shop attached.
20th - Salt Cathedral: Just outside of Bogota, I think it’s the most impressive architectural achievement of the 20th century.
21st - the Sphere: The most impressive technical feat of this millennium so far.
Hike 10 times
I enjoy hiking, but I only went on three hikes in 2024 despite living so close to Runyon Canyon. I wanted to do more this year. To accomplish this goal, I hiked Red Rock Canyon’s Calico Tanks and then hiked Runyon Canyon nine times. If you’re concerned about the lack of variety, just know that since April I have hiked to the Hollywood Sign and through Wattles Canyon.
See the Huntington Library
I had never been to this LA institution. Not only does it have a beautiful botanical garden, but its rare books collection was striking: they had an original Shakespeare folio!
Get to 1 million xp on Duolingo
I’m an avid Duolingo fan (2055 day streak). The value of Duolingo is derived from the simplification inherent in gamified goal-setting. Learning a language is a complex task, and the goals associated with learning a language tend to be all or nothing: you either have the requisite vocabulary to carry a conversation, or finish a book, or you don’t. With Duolingo, you just want your numbers to go up. XP is not meaningful when it comes to learning a language: accumulating XP is how you win the weekly league, and Duolingo records your cumulative XP. Now, I don’t want to steal the thunder for subsequent months, but I have made significant progress in a language I hope to discuss here soon and targeting this XP goal helped me get there.
Take a clown class
If you do improv in Los Angeles, you meet clowns. I had gone to a few modern clown shows on account of this and wanted to learn the methods to their madness. And the answer is: you get laughs! That’s the method! One of the typical exercises taught in clown workshops is called Laugh Step, where if you get a laugh you get to take a step across the stage and the goal is to reach the end of the stage. During this exercise, speaking in Italian got me a lot of laughs, especially Italian words that are very pretty but represent somewhat ugly things: “segatura,” a gorgeous word, means “sawdust.” Modern clown involves a lot of generating material on the fly, lot of listening to your audience, and this exercise trains that sensibility.
Learn to appreciate classical music
So, here’s how I decided to approach this goal. I had Deepseek generate a fifteen day syllabus of material for a short course on classical music and then used this syllabus to generate lesson plans and recommend music. I learned what a fugue is and what makes a concerto and who in the concerto is the concertino. The composers I liked the most were Rossini, who’s Cat Duet is a classic, and modern composer Steve Reich who pioneered minimal music. Music for 18 Musicians and Clapping Music were my favorite Reich pieces. I also saw a concerto at the LA Philharmonic. Right now, there is a lot of misplaced hype as to what LLMs can accomplish, but for me, their best use case is replacing “For Dummies” level educational material.
Learn fermentation
I home-fermented my own tiny batch of baby carrots, completing my ferment in late April. A week ago, I fermented a bigger batch where I played around with spices: thyme and ginger mostly. And my escabeche, the Mexican-pickles often served as a starter, finished just half an hour ago. Of the goals I have completed thus far, I think my humble fermentation practice has been the most enjoyable. It tastes great! My mom was really worried that I was going to kill myself in pursuit of this goal, which would have been embarrassing, so I am glad to have proved her wrong.
