D&F 2/23/25
February is almost over, but what a month it's been. Sure, the United States is rapidly declining into a global pariah and a fascist monarchy, but also it rained in the bay! Winter finally sort of hit and I pulled-out my thermal bike gear and shoe covers for some very chilly evenings of riding to take my mind off of everything else going on. Hearkening back to year one of Corona times, I got deep into Call of Duty, and began learning Dutch.
There's a time to be scared, sad, and angry, and a time to try to find what joy is around in our lives still. I hope you've also surrounded yourselves with friends and good activities to keep you fueled through the ever-increasing chaotic shit-spiral. It helps.
Honestly, when I think back to my parents early 40s, I don't think they had many friends or support outside of their church, which was hit or miss. Since I'm firmly middle-aged now, I'm incredibly grateful I managed to build lasting friendships since middle school (hi Grant, Mark, and Nathan), and build a latticework of community around the world. I still feel bad, because I'm a person, but knowing that a bunch of smart, creative, loving people have my and each other's back is a balm. Relatedly, happy early birthday to Haley, one of my closest friends, and a neighbor I love having close.
I'm going to balance super-bummer links with fun and silly things over the next months because being a downer all the time is not worth it. With that said, let's dive-in.
Links
- F1 starts again soon, with its inaugural race in Australia, and as excited as I am to see Hamilton in red livery, and all the chaos I'm sure will occur, I also like to reflect on the inane companies and mountains of cash that go into the sport. Cars? Yea, they're bad, but watching Formula 1 is fun as hell, and Drive to Survive has introduced so many of my friends to a sport I've enjoyed since childhood. I never thought I would be able to talk to other people about qualifying laps or wing aerodynamics. If only the Tour Unchained series (RIP) had convinced more of them to watch cycling.
- I think I mentioned that I got on Zepbound last month, and it continues to help my digestion, and my weight loss, while leaving me with plenty of energy and the executive function to eat tons of veggies and protein. Apparently it's good for a lot more too. Monocle this month even had a profile on the very cool-seeming lady who found and researched GLP-1 agonist drugs at Novo Nordisk. I'm sure that in 20 years I'll find out it's given me radioactive bones or whatever, but YOLO.
- I learned about Hurling recently, and you should too. It's wild: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biFcgUB98ns
- On the theme of lovey-dovey friendship in my intro, I present to you an essay on unstructured hangouts. I fucking love "just hanging out" with friends, and it's a big part of why having folks in my neighborhood, or close-by really makes my life better. Maybe we get dinner or they come by to watch a movie, but I never schedule anything else around those hangouts, because I want to be able to just kick it with those pals. Even today, I had a friend drop by while I was having my morning coffee (it was 2pm, lay off), and we listened to some Aphex Twin before I kicked him out so I could go on a bike ride. Instead of feeling frazzled or too-busy, I love being able to make time for hanging with a pal here and there. Give it a try.
Best stuff I've bought recently
This is a new section I'm going to experiment with because I end-up buying a lot of goofy things and some of you might either enjoy buying them too, or just laughing at my purchases.
- Thermadody JetBoots Prime: they're compression boots that squeeze your legs to theoretically increase blood flow. I mostly use them before and after bike rides, and enjoy the semi-massage and relaxing legs-up vibes of putting these on and watching tv or reading a book.
- Old Witch cheese: with my discovery of the good German lactaid, I returned to my cheese-loving ways, and this is a great one. It's not particularly funky like most cheeses I love, but it's got just the right chew to it and a rich butteriness I associate with good Swiss cheeses.
- Evergoods Element Weathershed 22L Backpack: it's expensive, but damn it's good. Fully-water-protected by a large flap, with a good amount of expansion through a hide-able strap, it's a comfortable and discreetly cool bag. Maybe it's nerdy, but I am already looking forward to taking trips with this bag, or making-up errands to pack it out.
- Tunitas 137 Basket Tote: I used this tote almost every day in my cargo-e-bike basket. It's good for groceries, bringing a spare jacket, and carrying a book. I got the purple one. It's cute.
Closing
The next edition of this newsletter is coming to you in March, and I hope news will be somehow better by then. Until we get there, stick together, hug someone real tight, and try to eat one awesome thing every day. We'll get through this together, space cowgirls~