Learning
😎
I continued exploring ideas and collecting resources for my memory system. (1) I finished collecting PAO names for my number memorizing list, and the next step is collecting their associated actions, objects, and perhaps locations. (2) I experimented with narrative ways to set up a memory palace using the neighborhood next to work as my lab, asking various chatbots for story ideas using the street names as characters and a setting, stories I would use to name the landmarks. (3) For more help finding mnemonics, I picked up dictionaries of rhymes, proverbs, images, descriptions, mythology, idioms, and similes. (4) I started dropping by the Memory League streams on Twitch to get to know the community a bit and find some inspiration in the memory athletes’ performance, which is easy when you see them whipping through the items they’re memorizing.
Music
🤔
I settled into Dreamscape ambient. Since I’ve drifted into a liminal space and Backrooms frame of mind, I decided to find some fitting music, so I merged a bunch of Backrooms playlists on Spotify to sift through. It added up to a lot of music, over 1500 songs and 64 hours, so making my way through it is taking a while. Most of it is from a genre that seems popular now, a sort of melancholy chillhop ambient that doesn’t seem to have a consistent name but is mostly released under the Dreamscape label. The songs have titles like “hope to see you again” and “blurry vision” with lonely, foggy cover art. Even though my idea of a Backrooms soundtrack is more like distorted music boxes, mechanical hums, and muffled 1940s music, I’m getting into this reflective type of ambient.
People
🙂
I colored greeting cards for the Phil’s Friends charity. Confession: I’m bad about volunteering my time, at least when it comes to one-off events. But my health insurance troubles this year gave me a sense of solidarity with people in desperate medical situations, so when my employer hosted an event to support cancer patients, I took a baby step towards more volunteering and signed up. I didn’t know what to expect, but we watched an inspiring video introducing the charity, and then most of us colored supportive cards while others packed very practical care packages. An enjoyable experience I recommend.
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Nature
🧐
I took a long walk Friday getting used to the new landscape of one of my regular walking spots. The park down the street from work isn’t one of the big attractions in the area, but I often find my walks there interesting and surprising. My walk on Friday had a bigger surprise for me than usual—the woods in the northwest region had been majorly thinned out, I’m assuming on purpose, judging by the splintered wood all over the ground and large tire tracks everywhere and lack of charring from any fire. I imagine they took the opportunity of their current park remodeling to remove some invasive species, the usual explanation I hear for plant destruction. I was sad for a minute, but mostly I was curious what the place looked like now, so I spent extra time looking around.
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