TL;DR: Intro, Webdev Adventures, Covid hobby: Fitness!, Other things I've discovered, Fotos of the month, Games Roundup
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Reading my first log here I just get reminded that I keep evolving over and over again. Isn't that weird? On the one hand I crave structure and continuity and on the other hand I have bursts of motivation to flip the script and find me in new ways. I also experience lots of ups and downs in that regard (and also others). This time I am redefining my body and expression. I want to go away from my learned role of the programmer-that-rarely-leaves-the-pc-especially-in-lockdown to... well screw that role, I wanna get strong!
Things I've learned and want to share~
Webdev Adventures
I've learned the basics of how to use the static site generator jekyll and am intrigued. In the process I also for the first time played around with travis ci and setup a basic testing and deployment pipeline with jekyll. Really cool! I will use travisCi a little more in the future, it is very handy, especially to run automated tests for example during the pull request. Somehow it's just so satisfying and fun to setup pipelines and just see the things flow and... work!
Covid hobby: Fitness!
The past months I've built up a new habit and my official covid hobby: fitness. I know, it's very original. I originally started in support of my wife, because working on habits together or in a community is always easier than to climb that mountain alone. But quickly I've set up my own goals. I'm glad I was introduced to the ethical fitness resource called DAREBEE.
In short: I can recommend!!! It has workouts, that usually consist of six different exercises and with a couple of sets takes around 10-15 minutes. It also has challenges like the impossible abs challenge that I am on right now. They challenge you for a quick exercise over 30 days in a specific area. And my favorite thing are the workouts. Also usually 30 days long, they guide you through different workouts around one topic and can be used as a training plan. The topics range from yoga, to general strength or epic RPG adventures where quests can be cashed in for items.
But the thing that astounds me the most is... how much I enjoy that it's non-profit, ad-free and body neutral. It's never about "shaping that booty" or about being super sexy and slim af. Just reading the descriptions keeps me motivated throughout the week:
The program is perfect for beginners and for those who are already active but looking to level up their cardio game. It primarily focuses on high burn and streamline but it also heavily taxes your core and abs.
Sometimes, we all need to reboot and start fresh and this is a good way to do it.
Other things I've discovered
- Tiddlywiki -- a non linear personal web notebook
- edX -- online courses!
- workrave -- assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
- anydesk -- a great alternative to teamviewer
Fotos of the month: selfprotrait series #1
As a person of color I don't see a lot of people that look like me in media or elsewhere represented. And I'm starting to learn how this is connected to my sense of beauty. My confidence is pretty good. I feel comfortable in my abilities and my body, I actually like myself! But as the person usually behind the lense, I have a hard time thinking of myself as handsome or beautiful.
So I've started a little experiment and tried my luck with self portraits. And let me tell you, it feels very different from taking selfies. I picked something to where, propped up my tripod and faced the camera. And since I shoot with film, I was only able to look at the pictures later. I've developed them myself.
And let me tell you, the process feels really empowering.