musings

clean computer.buy new clothes.book flight to japan.consider masters programs - applied math? sleep. get a climbing membership. consider team change to talk to abhishek. continue reading the power broker. acadia national park. yosemite. review spending and savings for the year. read more papers. practice keyboard piano. find woodworking classes? continue running

I recently watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. To combat seasonal depression and end of year dread, I will now take a moment to appreciate some things in my life.

• My PT has helped me understand where discomfort in my body is coming from
• A wonderful 3 bed, 2 bath apartment in Greenpoint! I lowered my rent by 1.3k,
• I didn't get to finish this list but I'll keep workign on it

It seems like I update this page at a once per month cadence.

I've been feeling better this month. The weather has also been nicer + daylight savings is back. I like coming home to

I haven't been updating this page and for the first time in a while i feel really bored

I've felt very fulfilled for the most part lately, but this week, boredom and loneliness have started creeping in again. I also feel like a bum by not getting up in the mornings.

i'm about to board a flight and i haevn't been able to find the time to work on this page while i was in sunnyvale. quick summary of what i've been up to

• SFO wifi was strong enough to play a lilia game w/ nathan matt matt
• SFO is nice. techy in a good way. the technology makes life easier (great sensors, fancy bathrooms, etc.)
• gate checked my bag and got assigned a seat. i think i got an exit row.
• I really lucked out. I got the whole exit row to myself!!!
• watched the end of rams vs eagles game and am now watching ravens/bills
• reminder to self: write a send off text to haley, flora, the sunnygang, advaith
• there's like no children either. blessed flight
• i should review my spending

I read an excellent blog post today titled "Tom Scott, and the formidable power of escalating streaks" written by Simon Willison. It's a quick read and I highly recommend checking it out, but in effect, the post discusses the power of using streaks for self-improvement. To get good at anything, one needs to perform that thing regularly, and thoughtfully with the goal of improving at it marginally each time. This is well-known, but the key takeaway for me was the importance of using a streak with leniancy built in. For example, instead of setting a goal of running 1 mile each day, a more flexible but still well-defined goal would be to run 1 mile for 4/7 days of the week.

Since moving to New York, I've already accomplished a few things that I'm proud of. I've started regularly attending social events for chess and melee. I've been reaching out to both old and new friends, expanding my social circle and skills. However, I feel that I can still do more. I feel as if I'm plateauing with many of my hobbies and have begun to accept mediocrity. For example, I go to the gym regularly but haven't pushed myself to go more than 2-3 times a week, especially in the mornings. I'm leaving a lot of progress on the table as a result. To push myself, I will declare and document my streaks more visibly on this page.

1. Update this page 3 times per week. An update can be very minimal. Benefits: Github square :star eyes:, improve web dev skills, improve writing, outlet for other creative projects like photography. accountable using github activity.
2. Gym 4 times a week. Why: I want to be stronger and maintain good health, feels good mentally. I go 2-3 times per week right now.
3. arrive at the office by 10am consistently. 4/5 days of the week.

i made these collapsible! ironically, I never wrote the on effort musing.

work in progress. now that I have a lot of these I should make these collapsible.

I keep on getting the urge to write a musing but have not gotten around to it until now. it is currently 11:39am. I am sitting on my couch listening to Clairo, drinking green tea, and eating a bowl of plain yogurt topped w/ sliced almonds + blueberries + honey. Yesterday I made baked three cheese mac and cheese (cheddar, tj truffle cheese, parm) for friendsgiving at Chong's. It was well received. Today I want to finish writing my Thanksgiving cards, visit Greenwood cemetary, I also need to pack a suitcase for tomorrow.

lol

this is my first musing on this page. it is currently 5:34 pm at the office. I've been working on this little personal website for the past ~1.5 hrs. I finished my fde related task earlier this morning but I'm not sure what my next steps are so I decided to work on this instead. Raymond, Boyu, and Saurav are still in the office. I am killing time until Alan's birthday dinner at 7pm. There was jazz playing in the meatpacking plaza (idk its official name) earlier. I dropped off my ballot today at the nearby post office. It is now 5:39 pm. What should I get Alan? This site is public so he could be reading this 😳. Hi Alan! Happy birthday! I think I'll take a walk.

I went to Chong's Pleasure Palace last night to watch Incantation. The F train home at 10:30pm last night was packed like a can of sardines. As of tomorrow, I will have been in NYC for 3 months. I've experienced ridiculous emotional swings. Some days I feel devastatingly lonely. On others, I feel exhilarated. Today, I feel alright.

sunset from halloween yesterday