A to Z meme
Taking a break from travel topics, here is a meme snaffled from scream_queen.
A is for Argument: Who is the last person you argued with and what was it about?
Colleagues. A big part of the job as a software engineer is critically reviewing the work of your peers. In some companies you can spend hours a day arguing for your proposed changes or against someone else's. That's one of the reasons why the work is so exhausting. It does help to make the code better in the end, but sometimes the battles can be massively out of proportion to the change. In that case, everyone loses, even if you "win".
Since i've gotten older i've become better at learning to pick my battles and let the small stuff go, even when i know from experience the other person is definitely wrong, because actually it doesn't matter. I still get into it unnecessarily at times, though, and it destroys me. I can't imagine what a lawyer goes through, having to do this shit full time.
B is for Breakfast: Do you eat breakfast?
Yes. For the past few years my breakfast has been oatmeal/porridge. When i was on the road it was a cup of oats with some cold water and dates or other dried fruit in it. Now i am living in a house it's mostly fresh fruit with just a sprinkling of oats on top and hot water for maximum hug factor.
C is for Car: Do you have one? What kind? If not, how do you usually travel?
I've only owned one car in my life, and it was a long time ago. I am staunchly anti-car nowadays and i can't imagine i'll ever get one, even if it were electric. I love not owning any vehicle and just using public transport - being able to carry everything you need on your back is true freedom. But if i would own a vehicle again i expect it would be a bike.
D is for Dinner: What's on the menu tonight?
I already ate. I made 葱油餅 spring onion pancake with some stir-fried mock duck and greens plus my usual garlic, chilis, peanuts base. I spread peanut butter on the pancake too, then shoveled it full of the other stuff and ate it like a giant taco.
E is for Excellence: Name one thing you're good at.
I don't think i excel at anything. But at least i know i am not especially bad at my job or i would've been fired.
F is for Friends: Tell us something you like about the last friend you spoke to.
I don't have friends any more, at least not ones i meet with in real life. I still keep in touch with R, more or less, but i haven't heard from her in a week or two. That's not unusual, she might just be busy or down. What i like about her is that she has no judgement about the fact that i, too, might disappear completely for several weeks - or months. It's fine. No expectations, no obligations, that's the best friendship.
G is for Games: What's the last game you played (computer or board game)?
This long weekend i have decided to spend the time in bed recuperating, and i've caught up a bit on my Steam backlog. I just played some Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, which i bought a while back. It's not very well localized, the port to PC is has extremely awkward controls, and the mechanics are needlessly laborious... but there's something endearing about it. Decent game to just turn your brain off and pass the time.
H is for Home: Where do you consider to be your "hometown"? Is it where you live now?
My hometown is wherever i stay more than a few weeks in a row, which right now happens to be Taipei.
I is for Internet: What websites do you look at every day?
LiveJournal, The Guardian, HackerNews, DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia, EZTV. If you count daily newsletters then CBC News, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Wake Up To Politics, Sinocism and New Bloom Magazine. I also follow a couple of special interest forums about alternative travel, pro wrestling and (recently) the war in Ukraine.
J is for Job: What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that now?
Depending what age i was, i wanted to be a sci-fi writer, an electronic musician, a game developer or a scientist at a public research lab like CERN. Turns out i wasn't good enough at any of those things to make it my job, so i became software developer instead.
K is for Kitchen: Are you a good cook? What's your go-to dish?
I don't know if i'm objectively a good cook, but i love to cook. It's the thing i miss most when i travel, not having a kitchen. I only make food that i like to eat. Which means vegan dishes from mostly fresh ingredients, very spicy and designed to eat with my hands, a spoon or chopsticks. I haven't owned a fork in years.
L is for Learning: Are you studying or learning anything new right now?
Chinese continues to be on my Anki flashcard rotation as it has been for 5+ years. Spanish for 2-3 years and still going. Any other learning i do is unstructured from Wikipedia and various news sites.
M is for Movies: What's the last one you watched and did you like it?
I don't really watch movies. I watch TV. I don't remember the last movie i watched. I feel i must've watched something else since Dune came out in the theater, but perhaps not.
N is for Nightmares: Do you have bad dreams? Any recurring themes?
I think i just have the usual "nightmares" that adults have, which is to say nothing particularly scary per se, but sometimes a dream ends up going into a chase scene or an uncomfortable situation that you want to escape from or you get that weird sensation where you know you're asleep but you can't wake up and you're trapped in your bed and can't move. But i haven't had a "nightmare nightmare" in a long time, like where i need to turn on the lights or am afraid to go to sleep again. I just wake up with a temporarily racing heart, shrug my shoulders, turn over and get on with it.
O is for Orders: What's the last thing you bought online?
Plane tickets. I don't buy much online. I don't really need anything outside of groceries, and that's always better to get in-person.
P is for Pop Culture: Do you follow the world of celebrity and know what the hottest new music, movies and trends are?
I read the headlines on ohnotheydidnt every day, but mostly to click on threads where i know the comments will be entertaining. I rarely have any idea who or what they are talking about, which perhaps makes it even funnier.
Q is for Quiet: If you're home alone, do you like silence or background noise like music or the TV?
I live in a city, so there's background noise all the time. I spend almost my entire day - both at work and at home - in front of a screen, and i am actively doing something on it, so i don't think i would call anything on there "background" noise. If the question is can i put on music and also do something else at the same time, the answer is no. I love music, which is why i can't ignore it. Either i am actively listening to music, or i am actively doing something else.
R is for Reading: What's your go-to genre?
Sci-fi.
S is for Sweets: What's your favourite dessert or sweet treat?
Does fruit count? Anything sweet that isn't fruit feels like a waste of calories. Sweet tea in Taiwan is pretty good, now i found the brands that actually sell it. I use that in the evenings as an alternative to drinking booze and on long bike rides to get the calories back. When i was traveling in Europe i put a half teaspoon of sugar in my morning espresso, which felt like a treat, because at home i just drink it black.
T is for Travel: Where did you last take a trip?
Greece.
U is for Useless: Name something you're just really bad at.
Drawing. I'm just fucking hopeless at it. I know you can practice and get better, but honestly i have no interest in ever getting good at it, so i will suck forever. My handwriting is atrocious too.
V is for Vision: Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?
I wore contacts for 20+ years, but recently i switched to glasses for the improved convenience when on the road. I wish i had spent some of my earliest pay checks on getting laser surgery like some of my friends back in the day. Now i'm old it feels like it's not really worth it any more.
W is for Weather: What's your perfect day, weather-wise?
Hot and sunny. Like around 30C. Ideally more on the dry end than the humid end, but not so dry it chaps my lips or makes my skin scratchy. It's nice to have a bit of a breeze too, so when you are inside or take a break in the shade you can cool off.
X is for X-Men: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Flight.
Y is for Yesteryear: What period of history is most interesting to you?
The whole chain of ancient near east cultures that stretch over 3000 years into classical antiquity. The most exciting part about that branch of history is that there is still a chance we might uncover new tablets with lost literature on them, which is something less likely to happen with cultures who didn't write on clay.
Z is for Zero: What popular activity do you have zero interest in doing?
Having a partner or kids.
A is for Argument: Who is the last person you argued with and what was it about?
Colleagues. A big part of the job as a software engineer is critically reviewing the work of your peers. In some companies you can spend hours a day arguing for your proposed changes or against someone else's. That's one of the reasons why the work is so exhausting. It does help to make the code better in the end, but sometimes the battles can be massively out of proportion to the change. In that case, everyone loses, even if you "win".
Since i've gotten older i've become better at learning to pick my battles and let the small stuff go, even when i know from experience the other person is definitely wrong, because actually it doesn't matter. I still get into it unnecessarily at times, though, and it destroys me. I can't imagine what a lawyer goes through, having to do this shit full time.
B is for Breakfast: Do you eat breakfast?
Yes. For the past few years my breakfast has been oatmeal/porridge. When i was on the road it was a cup of oats with some cold water and dates or other dried fruit in it. Now i am living in a house it's mostly fresh fruit with just a sprinkling of oats on top and hot water for maximum hug factor.
C is for Car: Do you have one? What kind? If not, how do you usually travel?
I've only owned one car in my life, and it was a long time ago. I am staunchly anti-car nowadays and i can't imagine i'll ever get one, even if it were electric. I love not owning any vehicle and just using public transport - being able to carry everything you need on your back is true freedom. But if i would own a vehicle again i expect it would be a bike.
D is for Dinner: What's on the menu tonight?
I already ate. I made 葱油餅 spring onion pancake with some stir-fried mock duck and greens plus my usual garlic, chilis, peanuts base. I spread peanut butter on the pancake too, then shoveled it full of the other stuff and ate it like a giant taco.
E is for Excellence: Name one thing you're good at.
I don't think i excel at anything. But at least i know i am not especially bad at my job or i would've been fired.
F is for Friends: Tell us something you like about the last friend you spoke to.
I don't have friends any more, at least not ones i meet with in real life. I still keep in touch with R, more or less, but i haven't heard from her in a week or two. That's not unusual, she might just be busy or down. What i like about her is that she has no judgement about the fact that i, too, might disappear completely for several weeks - or months. It's fine. No expectations, no obligations, that's the best friendship.
G is for Games: What's the last game you played (computer or board game)?
This long weekend i have decided to spend the time in bed recuperating, and i've caught up a bit on my Steam backlog. I just played some Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, which i bought a while back. It's not very well localized, the port to PC is has extremely awkward controls, and the mechanics are needlessly laborious... but there's something endearing about it. Decent game to just turn your brain off and pass the time.
H is for Home: Where do you consider to be your "hometown"? Is it where you live now?
My hometown is wherever i stay more than a few weeks in a row, which right now happens to be Taipei.
I is for Internet: What websites do you look at every day?
LiveJournal, The Guardian, HackerNews, DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia, EZTV. If you count daily newsletters then CBC News, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Wake Up To Politics, Sinocism and New Bloom Magazine. I also follow a couple of special interest forums about alternative travel, pro wrestling and (recently) the war in Ukraine.
J is for Job: What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that now?
Depending what age i was, i wanted to be a sci-fi writer, an electronic musician, a game developer or a scientist at a public research lab like CERN. Turns out i wasn't good enough at any of those things to make it my job, so i became software developer instead.
K is for Kitchen: Are you a good cook? What's your go-to dish?
I don't know if i'm objectively a good cook, but i love to cook. It's the thing i miss most when i travel, not having a kitchen. I only make food that i like to eat. Which means vegan dishes from mostly fresh ingredients, very spicy and designed to eat with my hands, a spoon or chopsticks. I haven't owned a fork in years.
L is for Learning: Are you studying or learning anything new right now?
Chinese continues to be on my Anki flashcard rotation as it has been for 5+ years. Spanish for 2-3 years and still going. Any other learning i do is unstructured from Wikipedia and various news sites.
M is for Movies: What's the last one you watched and did you like it?
I don't really watch movies. I watch TV. I don't remember the last movie i watched. I feel i must've watched something else since Dune came out in the theater, but perhaps not.
N is for Nightmares: Do you have bad dreams? Any recurring themes?
I think i just have the usual "nightmares" that adults have, which is to say nothing particularly scary per se, but sometimes a dream ends up going into a chase scene or an uncomfortable situation that you want to escape from or you get that weird sensation where you know you're asleep but you can't wake up and you're trapped in your bed and can't move. But i haven't had a "nightmare nightmare" in a long time, like where i need to turn on the lights or am afraid to go to sleep again. I just wake up with a temporarily racing heart, shrug my shoulders, turn over and get on with it.
O is for Orders: What's the last thing you bought online?
Plane tickets. I don't buy much online. I don't really need anything outside of groceries, and that's always better to get in-person.
P is for Pop Culture: Do you follow the world of celebrity and know what the hottest new music, movies and trends are?
I read the headlines on ohnotheydidnt every day, but mostly to click on threads where i know the comments will be entertaining. I rarely have any idea who or what they are talking about, which perhaps makes it even funnier.
Q is for Quiet: If you're home alone, do you like silence or background noise like music or the TV?
I live in a city, so there's background noise all the time. I spend almost my entire day - both at work and at home - in front of a screen, and i am actively doing something on it, so i don't think i would call anything on there "background" noise. If the question is can i put on music and also do something else at the same time, the answer is no. I love music, which is why i can't ignore it. Either i am actively listening to music, or i am actively doing something else.
R is for Reading: What's your go-to genre?
Sci-fi.
S is for Sweets: What's your favourite dessert or sweet treat?
Does fruit count? Anything sweet that isn't fruit feels like a waste of calories. Sweet tea in Taiwan is pretty good, now i found the brands that actually sell it. I use that in the evenings as an alternative to drinking booze and on long bike rides to get the calories back. When i was traveling in Europe i put a half teaspoon of sugar in my morning espresso, which felt like a treat, because at home i just drink it black.
T is for Travel: Where did you last take a trip?
Greece.
U is for Useless: Name something you're just really bad at.
Drawing. I'm just fucking hopeless at it. I know you can practice and get better, but honestly i have no interest in ever getting good at it, so i will suck forever. My handwriting is atrocious too.
V is for Vision: Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?
I wore contacts for 20+ years, but recently i switched to glasses for the improved convenience when on the road. I wish i had spent some of my earliest pay checks on getting laser surgery like some of my friends back in the day. Now i'm old it feels like it's not really worth it any more.
W is for Weather: What's your perfect day, weather-wise?
Hot and sunny. Like around 30C. Ideally more on the dry end than the humid end, but not so dry it chaps my lips or makes my skin scratchy. It's nice to have a bit of a breeze too, so when you are inside or take a break in the shade you can cool off.
X is for X-Men: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Flight.
Y is for Yesteryear: What period of history is most interesting to you?
The whole chain of ancient near east cultures that stretch over 3000 years into classical antiquity. The most exciting part about that branch of history is that there is still a chance we might uncover new tablets with lost literature on them, which is something less likely to happen with cultures who didn't write on clay.
Z is for Zero: What popular activity do you have zero interest in doing?
Having a partner or kids.