Yesterday, I finally rolled over my new Thelio Mira Custom to my apartment. The box was too big for the cart, as you can see below, so I had to take my time:
I spent time yesterday setting it up, which included a fix I will expand on once I have more time. There’s a lot to write about. For now, World of Warships (which is a game I have a love-hate relationship with) works fine; I’m going to try some Helldivers 2 later on.
Was curious to see what this former NYC chief urban designer had to say about New York and urban planning in general. It was fascinating stuff:
Alexandros Washburn is knowledgeable and well-spoken, so I went down a rabbit hole and listened to more of his earlier stuff about NYC. It’s a long lecture, mostly about the history of Manhattan and why things are the way they are. I couldn’t listen to the whole thing (I got to work today too), but I found out he has a couple of books to, here’s one of them.
Good stuff. I love it when days start with a good learning experience such as this.
Thought to check on news. “🎺 said this!” And “🎺 said that!” Half the time he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, the other half he denies what he said last time. Don’t care. Back under my rock i go.
There is certain quiet in snow that is hard to describe. Even in the city, sounds are more muffled. They too prefer to stay warm under a heavy blanket
Ann misses the time when appliances were durable over smart:
Ann Aguirre (@annaguirre.bsky.social) bsky.app
I know this is an “angry man yells at cloud” kind of thing, but the idea that “kids today” find the notion that washing machines can last over a decade and that fixing them is something you can do yourself with tools, time and knowledge completely alien is crazy to me.
…I spoke to soon. It’s 3:00 in the morning now. Probably halfway the food, halfway family-related worries. Hope to get some more sleep before a busy Monday.
My sleep has gotten better recently. I still have 5-hours nights where I’m tired all day, but it happens less. With more sleep, my routine of waking up at 5:30-6:30 every morning returned, and I enjoy it plenty. Is this an age thing or a morning/night person thing?
Someone on my Micro.blog feed watched Perfect Days a couple of weeks ago, and I don’t remember who. It seemed like a movie I’d enjoy, and I did - so thank you, whoever watched it, it was a good recommendation. Review’s coming up.
Perfect Days, 2023 - ★★★½
Perfect Days is a "slice of life" light drama movie. It's relaxing to watch for the most part, though I can imagine some would find it boring to watch.
Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) just follows the motions, a strict daily routine of cleaning public toilets in Tokyo, which starts every morning with the sun and ends in the afternoon. We follow him as he wakes up from his dreams (flashes in black and white), brushes his teeth, gets in his van, and chooses what music to listen to every morning from his cassette (if you remember those, you'd also appreciate the music he listens too) collection.
It's like unwrapping a package carefully without damaging the paper, taking your time with it, finding a plain description-less box inside, then putting it on the kitchen table and staring at it, trying to think what's inside. What's next? What's going to happen today? Is it going to be bad? Good?
But nothing really happens, at least not the way you'd expect in most films. Everyone else besides Hirayama has a lot going on in their life, and they collide with him. And when they do, they get a piece of his peace, a chance to relax and play around a bit. I love this about this movie. This movie is about appreciating life, not celebrating it, just sitting down and smelling the flowers - or the tree leaves playing with the sunlight, in the case of Hirayama.
The toilets in the movie are actually "an urban renewal project through which 17 public toilets in the Japanese capital are being turned into veritable works of art by architects from around the world" (see more here
and here). Cool.
Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to create a list of this movie's songs.
Finally I get to try this Christmas gift. Mmm.