Note of the Living Deb

I've already talked about the Advanced Journalling badge. I've now tried out my first new types of journal.

Time Diary

I made up some categories for the things I do and tracked them for a month. Then I made a chart with hours on one axis and days on the other, and colored in the time spent on different categories in different colors. I used similar colors for similar types of activities. For example, black for sleeping and grey for trying to fall asleep. Orange for scrolling and red for playing videogames.

I have to say it's a huge relief to not be doing that anymore!

Oh, right, but my goal was to get a closer look at where all my time goes. I was surprised to see that I really don't spend as much time on videogames and internet scrolling as I'd thought. I do sometimes spend very long stretches of time (such as 5 hours) doing those things (or also, working on projects), and certainly it would be good to at least get up and stretch in the middle.

Gratitude Journal

As suspected, I'm already pretty good at remembering and noticing all the many, many things I have to be grateful for. Well, not all the things, but so many! I don't think actually writing down lists of those things does anything for me. It's already part of my internal dialog.

Strava

I joined Strava, an app for recording distance biked, run, or walked, and have been recording my (near) daily walks. I like it as a cute little way to interact with my friends who are also on Strava. You can also add photos, but I haven't figured out how to do that. I might hold off on counting this as one of my journal types until I start doing that. So far, I do want to continue doing that.

Future diary types

Next up: strength-training diary and prompted journal. For the latter, I found a book of prompts and have enjoyed writing them up. To be fair, I looked at many, many options and picked my favorite (FYI, it's called Burn After Writing). (Hmm, and I just now found this nice set of journal prompts online.) This may also give me ideas for writing an autobiography.

Additional activity

These badges are interesting, but they are not my boss. Ahem, I mean, now that I'm more mature (ha!), I'm willing to back away from just doing what it says and looking also at what would improve my life. So my philosophy is to honor both the letter and spirit of the badge in ways that seem fun and/or useful to me.

So, besides looking for new journal types to try and trying some out, I think it also makes sense to read some other journals. I've read Anne Frank's diary. I've read parts of Samuel Pepys's diary, which would be incredibly boring if I weren't so ignorant about daily life during when he lived, but nevertheless too boring for me to want to read the whole thing. Do you have any recommendations? I like autobiographies and memoirs, but for this badge I'd like to look for diaries. Here are some interesting ideas I've seen:

* Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman (1993-2016)

* Nelson Mandela's Conversations with Myself (1960s+) - also includes letters, but I'm okay with that.

* George Orwell Diaries (mid-1900s)

* Journals: Captain Scott's Last Expedition (1913) - literally found on his dead body in Antarctica

* A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece (early 1900s)

* Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman

* Anna: The Letters of a St. Simons Island Plantation Mistress, 1817-1859

* Charles Darwin’s Diary of the Beagle (1839) - Normally I'm not into travelogues, but this one could be interesting!

* A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812

* The Pillow Book (11th century) - by a lady of the Japanese court

* The Diary of Lady Murasaki (11th century) - by a contemporary Japanese lady-in-waiting and author

* Marcus Aurelius' Meditations (180)

Quote of the Day - I've been writing a lot of e-mails to my elected officials lately and I think it's time for a break because I literally sent something with this sentence to my Senators: "I'm horrified and tired of being in some giant reality TV show, and I'm sure you are, too. So I rely on you and your colleagues to remember that this is an actual government of an actual country."

Despite the title, Meik Wiking's Little Book of Hygge is really about three things: hygge, happiness, and Denmark. (Oh, I guess that shows up in the subtitle: Danish Secrets to Happy Living!)

Hygge (pronounced HOO-gah, like an old-timey car horn)

It's fun, if your language has a good word that's not perfectly translatable into another language, to write an entire book about what it means. Because although you can roughly translate hygge as coziness it really means a lot of things. For example:
* the art of creating intimacy
* coziness of the soul
* the absence of annoyance
* taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things
* cozy togetherness
* cocoa by candlelight
* hominess

The word comes from a Norwegian word meaning well-being, which might have come from the word for hug.

He made up a hygge manifesto to explain better. Hygge involves: 1) atmosphere, 2) presence (no phones), 3) pleasure (edible treats), 4) equality (we, not me; sharing tasks and conversation), 5) gratitude, 6) harmony (vs. competition and bragging), 7) comfort (relaxation), 8) truce (no drama), 9) togetherness, and 10) shelter (peace, security).

(I found a fun blog post on taking these principles to heart, Cup of Jo's I'm Swearing by the Hygge Manifesto. The comments are fun, too.)

And then, to make it even more clear, he goes into detail about what it means, how it's created, what it looks like, etc. So here are some elements of hygge:
* soft lighting - candles, fireplaces, campfires
* slow food - stews, jams, yeast breads
* hot drinks - coffee, hot chocolate, tea, mulled cider
* sweets - cake, Danishes [which are called Wienerbrød (literally Vienna bread) there] (Exception: cake man - make a human-shaped cake to resemble the birthday person, then cut off its head first while everyone screams in horror)
* clothing - casual, with a lot of black, scarves, and sweaters
* home - smooth and soft things like wood furniture, ceramics, fur, blankets, and cushions

Denmark

One reason hygge seems to mean so much more than just coziness is that it's actually a much more important concept in Denmark than in the US. Like, when I enjoy an activity, I might call it fun or interesting or just some general awesome. I would never call it cozy. When I'm looking for a restaurant, I care most about the food and prices, less about service and atmosphere, and when people talk about atmosphere, they mostly just say the restaurant has atmosphere or doesn't. Not whether the atmosphere is cozy, luxurious, elegant, or whatever.

In Denmark, they will deliberately plan events and go to places that are hyggelig (hygge-like). They regularly discuss how hygglig various situations are. And since the language is full of compound words, a bunch of them have "hygge" as part of the word.

And this is where things get a bit alien. So much so that he feels he has to give many examples of activities that are hygge, because they are generally not the kinds of activities we focus on in the US, especially grown-ups. Basically, they are small get-togethers where people socialize. I mean, I guess we try to do that in bars? Here are some of the activities:
* picnics
* movie nights (classics everyone's seen so you can chat)
* foreign country theme parties (movies, food, vocabulary post-it notes)
* weekends in a cabin (board games and grill)
* board game nights
* TV nights (watch a series with friends every week or 2 episodes every other week)
* croquet games
* little free libraries (especially in your apartment building)
* campfire cooking
* outdoor movies
* swap parties

Living in the present also means seasonal ideas:
* picking produce from farms, then coming home to can it
* ski trips (especially the part where you relax afterwards with friends)
* sledding (you can use a plastic bag if you don't have a sled)
* solstice picnics and elderflower cooking
* watching the Perseid meteor shower (and reading Greek mythology stories)
* foraging for mushrooms
* hunting and roasting chestnuts
* barbecues
* community gardening

My sister also points out that errand-hanging (taking a friend with you while you do errands--kind of like an urban form of barn-raising) is hyggelig.

Another idea is from the guy who wrote No Impact Man - he started having an open house once a week on the same weekday night where people could drop in and out whenever for home-cooked food (cabbage soup in the winter, because he was trying to buy only locally-produced food), play charades, and just hang out.

Two examples the author gives are sort of like potlucks, but instead of bringing things that are already cooked, you just bring the ingredients and everyone helps each other. I can't even imagine coordinating with several people cooking several dishes--each person in charge of a different one--in one kitchen.
* soup cook-off - Everyone brings ingredients for soup for one, you work together to make them, everyone tastes everything, and you also have bread.
* pantry party - Everyone brings ingredients for a jarred good such as jam, relish, or stock, you work together to make them, and each person leaves with 1 jar of each.

Here's the closest I've come to that:
* potlucks - You cook your own dish at home and bring it already prepared or mostly prepared.
* chili cook-offs, pie contests - This workplace activity let everyone taste all the chilis or pies but again involved making the food at home.
* cookie exchanges - This workplace activity let you sign up to make several dozen of one kind of cookie at home, then bring them to work and go home with multiple varieties. But the cooking was not together.
* My sister had a party where we made multiple flavors of hamentaschen (filled cookies). We all helped roll out the dough and form the cookies, and maybe some guests brought their own filling, but I think only one or two people made the dough(s) and my sister had to be in charge of most of it, so it still wasn't quite the same.

And both of those also involved a lot of people. The most hyggelig activities usually involve very small groups of people. So it's perfect for introverts!

I also learned that Danish workplaces have hygge with plants, couches, office gardens, pets, and potluck Fridays.

And I learned or was reminded about a few other things about Denmark: Apparently they are into bicycling like the Dutch. Hans Christian Anderson is from there, and so are Lego and Danish furniture design.

Happiness

The author is actually the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, so of course he wants to talk about happiness. Denmark regularly makes the top of various happiness lists, and he's biased to think that hygge is a big part of raising Denmark's happiness above that of other Nordic countries, though he admits that many things help with happiness.

He says everyday happiness has three dimensions: 1) life satisfaction (compared to the best and worst possible life you could lead, where do you stand?), 2) emotions (are they mostly positive or negative?), and 3) sense of purpose.

'Several factors influence why some people and countries are happier than others - genetics, our relationships, health, income, job, sense of purpose and freedom.' The welfare state 'reduces uncertainty, worries, and stress.' Specifically, he supports Denmark's 'Universal and free health care, free university education, and relatively generous unemployment benefits.'

'Furthermore there is a high level of trust in Denmark (notice all the strollers parked outside cafes when the parents are inside, drinking coffee). There is a high level of freedom (Danes report really high levels in terms of feeling in control over their lives), of wealth and good governance, and a well-functioning civil society,' just like other Nordic countries.

Social support is also important (do you have someone you can rely on in times of need?). A good work-life balance leaves you time for family and friends. The language and culture also support prioritizing time with family and friends. Also happiness and good relationships are a feedback loop--each helps the other.

Savoring and gratitude are important. Gratefulness improves happiness and also makes people 'more helpful and forgiving and less materialistic.' Even just writing in a gratitude journal once a week can increase alertness and enthusiasm, improve sleep and health, and help one be 'more mindful of situations where they could be helpful,' and more resilient (recover more quickly).

Hygge is all about savoring simple pleasures, planning for them, and later reminiscing about them. One study showed 'nostalgia produces positive feelings, reinforces old memories and sense of being loved, and boosts self-esteem.'

Take-Aways

What do you think? First, I think that in Austin in the summer, hygge is going to look a bit different than in Denmark in the dead of winter. You're going to want cold foods and drinks and ceiling fans (or other sources of breezes), though comfortable clothes are still good, and avoiding plastic/vinyl furniture is still good.

I do like the idea of hygge activities. Currently I have a weekly online craft night and an every-other-week VR golf game with friends that qualifies, though if they were in-person that would have an extra element of hygge. I also go to book clubs and a craft meeting at the library, but those are a bit large for ideal hyygelig. It's possible to do hygge alone, and I do plenty of that--reading books, doing projects, playing video games, eating comfort food.

Thanksgiving

I got to have a wonderfully social (and delicious) Thanksgiving with old friends, old acquaintances, and a new(ish?) person, all of whom I quite like. I got to try out a new pumpkin bread recipe, which I liked, so I posted it.

Archery

A friend also celebrated his birthday by organizing a private session at an archery range, with all the equipment we need and a professional to help us all out.

I've shot archery one or two times since summer camp, but the only thing in my brain is summer camp where I earned my Yeoman, Junior Bowman, and Bowman certifications from the Camp Archery Association:
* Yeoman: shooting 30 arrows at 15 yards for a score of 100 points
* Junior Bowman: shooting 30 arrows at 20 yards for 60 points
* Bowman: shooting 30 arrows at 20 yards for 100 points.
I also have evidence that I shot 30 arrows at 30 yards but for only 58 points. I'm also not sure what I mean by "points" but apparently you can get 9 points for a bullseye and lower odd points as your arrow is further from the center. Apparently I was working toward Archer. Also, at each distance, beyond "Junior" and regular are "First Rank" (130 points) and "Sharpshooter" (160 points).

Anyway, at Archery Country where we went, the targets didn't have point values and they put us super close (ten yards?) because there was one person who'd never shot an arrow before. No one was having trouble splitting one arrow with the next one, so it wasn't too close. And everyone was able to mostly hit the targets--there was no shooting too high to retrieve or sliding along the floor or hitting the wall or anything. Though one of my favorite quotes was when I told my neighbor something like, "see that arrow that went a bit wide [in your target]? That's actually my arrow." Most of my arrows did hit the target and none of them went further than the edge of my neighbor's target.

Although I knew better, I still managed to twang my forearm with the bowstring several times, but it was still fun, and there was new technology/more luxury compared to the affordable bows they had at my summer camp three decades ago. First, when you slide the bowstring into the notch at the back of the arrow, it stays there on its own rather than being able to slide up and down the string. So you don't have to hold it there yourself which means all your fingers can be below the arrow while you're shooting. Also, the bow strings now have nocking points, basically a crimp bead at the perfect place for you to attach your arrow in preparation for shooting. Like I said, this did not make me an amazing shooter, but it was fun.

I asked our instructor if there is a traditional exclamation for hitting a bullseye. (I had just said, "Bay-BAY," which, ugh, surely I can do better!) Unfortunately he did not know of one, though he did say that he knows one person who says, "BOOM town!" Much better. (Per https://badaxethrowing.com/axe-throwing-terms-culture/, the exclamations "boom!" and "nailed it!" are traditional.)

When someone got one arrow right next to another arrow, though neither were all that close to the bullseye, I enjoyed shouting, "BOOM pueblo!"

Other Possible Adventures

Archery is one of the activities in the Adventure badge in the Rebel Badge Book. I haven't wanted to do this badge because you are supposed to try five different things in only three months. I guess I'm not that adventurous. I've tried five of the things over my lifetime:
* archery
* bouldering/rock climbing
* high ropes/tree climbing
* horse riding
* skiing

Just for fun, I looked to see how many things I hadn't done that looked like they might be fun:
* axe-throwing
* go-karting
* parkour
* zip lining (though I've already bypassed several opportunities to try this)

I also realized there were several activities listed that I've never heard of:
* abseiling - Turns out that's rappelling. I've sort of done that on the way down from rock climbing.
* canyoning (aka canyoneering in Utah) - Apparently this is a combination of things you can do hanging out in canyons such as rock climbing, hiking, swimming, jumping, and rappelling.
* coasteering - Apparently this is like canyoning but on a rocky coastline, involving such things as walking, swimming, and body surfing. (It started in Wales.) I think I did this informally at beaches, plus the swimming pool equivalent, throughout my childhood.
* quad biking - all-terain vehicle
* zorbing - 'rolling downhill inside an orb, typically made of transparent plastic.' Okay.

Then I realized I've done a few other things that seem similarly adventurous:
* bumper car basketball
* canoeing down a river
* dune sledding (okay, I tried this but it didn't actually work)
* kick sledding
* helicopter riding
* laser tag
* paddleboarding
* pub crawling (by which I mean the 12-person bicycle we used for this activity)
* roller skating/roller blading
* sledding, tray sledding (using cafeteria trays at college)
* tubing

Climate Change Nonfiction and Fiction

I finally finished the climate change book I was reading (see previous post for review). And at the end of it I was simultaneously reading Neil Stephenson's new book, Termination Shock (2021), set in a near future where we have done business as usual and one man has decided to inject sulfur into the stratosphere (as described in the other book I'm reading).

The book starts off depressing because it's crazy hot but people are still being morons by using as much gas as possible. But then we get to meet several interesting characters. In this book a spoiler is that three of the four main characters get a new job and one keeps their current one. Well, it's a semi-spoiler because you still get to guess which is which.

Reading this book, you can also learn a little more about Texas geography, the Dutch monarchy, people with multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, drones, mining, Papua New Guinea, welding, gatka (a martial art popular in the Punjab region of India), the border between China and India, falconry (with golden eagles), and Commanches. And this book is set in modern times where everyone has a smartphone and it never has to be broken for the plot to work. Well, okay, once, but it was a weapon that took out all kinds of things.

The pacing was varied. I enjoyed the start--get one person's story, then another person's story, then they intersect. The next third of the book is a bit slow. Then we get another exciting story. And then the dreaded "Eight Months Later." So first I complain about it going too slow, then too fast. Then we get several more stories. And then there is a semi-satisfying ending. I want to know more, but maybe not enough to want a sequel. I like most of the characters. But there are a lot of disturbing things about how people react to things. I liked it but I don't love it.

It was weird to be reading this at the same time as Douglas Adams's Mostly Harmless because this book starts with a jet practically in space and with wild pigs taking over the landscape and the world is depressing after climate change and the other starts with an earth that still exists but is overrun by wild pigs and is depressing. The scene with the Chinese operative was also surreal in that context. Then it was weird to read it at the same time as Adams's Dirk Gently book, which also features golden eagles.

(Why am I reading so many books at the same time? I'm generally in the middle of three books: one I can read on my iPad in bed at night, one I want to take notes on, and one I can just read in the daylight without needing to take notes.)

Trevor Noah

I also learned that Trevor Noah has a new podcast on Spotify called "Now What?" So I need to look into Spotify.

Reading Challenge Complete

I've finished my library's reading challenge for this year, reading at least one book in each of at least ten categores. And I got a pin for it! But my personal goal is to read at least 3 books in each of all 12 categories, after which I'll give you a summary of what I read.

I'm using our public library's Keep Austin Reading challenge as an excuse to finally read books I've been wanting to read for a while, but haven't for some reason.

Each month, there is a different topic. I already have ideas for seven of them! Below, I list the topics and the ideas I have. For the topics where I don't have ideas, do you have a recommendation? (Actually, I will happily hear recommendations from any category listed or any other category.) I'd also like to hear why you recommend it, but that is optional.

I don't have a favorite genre. I prefer books with decent characters and/or good writing, but also sometimes other excellent books. In this year's book categories, it looks like something educational would generally be appropriate. I prefer no torture, but alas.

January - Literary Award Month - Read a literary award nominated book. (It's not too late--we can read the books at any time during 2023.)
* I'm thinking of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time (Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction of the year in August 2016). It was recently recommended and has sociology and biology themes (humans meet intelligent alien spiders).

February - Black History Month - Read a book written by a Black author.
* Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave: Written by Himself - I've already read this one--I'd heard good things about it. Since he was under several different masters, you get several views of slavery from one book, plus the author was decent, honest, smart, brave, and wise.
* I've also been wanting to learn more about Harriet Tubman, one of my two childhood heros (along with Martin Luther King). Yes, I do know more information could be disillusioning. In fact, Frederick Douglass didn't like how the Underground Railroad was actually quite well-known and not really underground at all.

March - Women's History Month - Read a book written by a female-identifying author.
* Stacey Abram's Our Time is Now - I've been wanting to read this book on how to protect voting rights. I've already read this book and I do like it, though it's a little repetitive. It's a tiny bit memoir, which is fascinating, a lot history, and a lot activism. I plan to publish a review of this in the future.
* I might also want to look into something about the history of women's rights in the US - like when we were allowed to own property and write checks.

April - El Día de los niños(as)/El día de los libros - Read a book in Spanish or a bilingual book.
* I've been wanting to try to read Roald Dahl's Charlie y la Fabrica de Chocolate again. I think it might not be crazy hard for me anymore.
* Of course, ideally I'd choose a book originally written in Spanish, but I have not enjoyed (translations of) any of the Spanish-speaking writers I've tried so far. A book has to be really good to be worth looking up all those words, and I have good memories from last time I tried this book.

May - Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - Read a book written by an AAPI author.

June - Pride Month - Read a book written by an LGBTQIA+ author.

July - Disability Pride Month - Read a book written by an author with a disability or neurodiversity.

August - Audiobook Month - Listen to an audio book using the library's online audiobook collection or audiobook CD collection.
* One of Kwei Quartey's Inspector Darko books (set in Ghana). I recently read somewhere that hearing the book is very nice for getting to know how things are pronounced and getting a better feel for the flow of language than just reading the print and decided I wanted to do that.

September - Banned Books Week - Read a banned book.
* Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (#37 on the American Library Association's list of the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000") - I feel like this is a part of modern culture I should experience. I've already read 1984 and Fahrenheit 451.

October - Hispanic Heritage Month - Read a book written by a Hispanic/Latinx author.

November - National Native American Heritage Month - Read a book written by a Native American author.

December - Graphic Novel Month - Read a comic or graphic novel.
* Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia - One of my nieces absolutely loves these books.

Hank Green (How Will Post Pandemic Behavior Change?) talks about not only what old activities he's looking forward to and what new activities he wants to keep, but also the added dimension of which of these things will or won't actually happen. Check it out!

I've also been keeping a list of activities I do and don't want to keep, but I've only been focusing on what things I want to make an effort to keep doing or to restart doing, and not thinking about how other people or society in general will be responding.

I had been thinking there's only one activity I want to keep: wearing masks sometimes. I now want to wear masks when I'm sick but going out into public anyway (like when I used to go to work sick).

But I also like Hank's idea of always wearing masks on airplanes. Doh! Airplanes are famous for getting people sick! And I did like doing telemedicine for my cancer gene test. And they mailed me a kit to do a saliva test instead of making me go in for a blood test, saying the former is just as reliable (if you wait long enough after eating). That lack of driving slowed global warming a bit.

And I like having our friend in California at our craft nights, though I miss carpool socializing on the way to craft night, breaking up into smaller groups to talk, and sharing munchies. For non-carpooling things, I do like the commute for Zoom events!

I also played a board game that's a pain to set up online, where a computer sets it up automatically. I would do that again. And I still haven't zoomed with my nieces in another state, but would be up for that.

And then there are a bunch of things I miss of course:
* eating inside restaurants (while the food is still hot and not yet soggy)
* all the regular events on my calendar (craft night, game night, happy hour, gym visits).
* also going to other parties and events
* hugging
* browsing at libraries
* taking the bus (mostly downtown, mostly to the library)
* talking to the workers at stores, especially Trader Joe's
* having samples at grocery stores
* traveling (I want to visit friends and relatives and travel to Washington DC)
* getting to walk on the sidewalk instead of crossing the street to avoid everyone and their dog

I was also putting off medical things like annual dermatology visits, but then stopped doing that. And I had quit inspecting new items at grocery stores, checking out the ingredients and nutrition, when it seemed rude to touch things, but now that they know that covid is spread mostly by breathing, I do that again.

It turns out that for me, juggling is not like riding a bike.

An old roommate and I spent hours and hours through many, many weeks and learned to juggle. But then my juggling balls were ruined and I didn't get more until recently and now I can't juggle anymore. So I'm going to learn again. In case you want to learn to juggle, let me teach you like some experts taught me.

Preparation

You're going to need something to juggle. Balls are easier than clubs, torches, knives, etc. You can start with lemons or whatever, but the ideal juggling balls do not roll and especially do not bounce. They just go thud, and then you don't chase them all over the room, you just pick them up. Some kind of bean-bag or hacky sack type of ball is good. Game stores (and the internet) also have official juggling balls. I made my first ones and really liked raw rice as a filler--except that rice is edible and thus attracts, uh, some kind of beings who can eat through fabric. If you make your own juggling balls, use dark-colored fabric so they look good longer. You also want a little heft to them--rolled up socks are a bit light.

It is also recommended that you stand facing a couch or bed so you don't have to bend over so far to pick up the balls. My friend and I also practiced sitting cross-legged, but your knees might get in the way a little bit.

Yes, you will drop the balls millions of times. That's okay, of course! (Well, maybe you're fantastically talented and can learn physical skills almost instantly. Still, you probably don't want a super bouncy ball.) Probably you will screw up in so many different hilarious ways that you will be adding laughter to your day. Extreme lack of coordination is pretty funny, if there aren't any bullies around.

One ball

Start with one ball. Juggling is about good throwing much more than it is about good catching. Your goal is to start with your arms L-shaped with your hands face-up in front of you and your elbows at your sides. Toss the ball using a small upward motion so that the ball goes in an arc past your eyes and then down into your other hand. Practice tossing from one had to the other and back until your throws are consistent and you no longer have to move your catching hand (or feet) to get to the ball to catch it.

This step may take a disturbingly long time. But keep practicing!

Two balls

Start with one ball in each hand. Toss one as usual, and when the ball reaches its apex on front of your eyes, toss the other ball. Now that hand is available to catch the first ball, so catch it. Then catch the second ball.

Alternate throwing with the right hand first and throwing with the left hand first. You need to be good at both!

If this starts getting too hilarious, go back to one ball for a while.

Three balls

Start with two balls in one hand and one ball in the other. Toss one of the balls from the hand with two balls and continue as with two balls. Every time you catch a ball, immediately throw it again.

For me, the key was to learn to panic by throwing. Yikes! A ball is coming! don't just drop the other ball or hang on to it--throw it! And then you work to improve these panic throws.

Technically, once you have caught three balls in a row, you have juggled!

At first, your throws tend to get worse and worse with each throw, but eventually, you can learn to just juggle indefinitely.

More Advice

My friend and I learned from people who really liked to juggle. They, in turn, learned from someone who loved to juggle so much that he started a juggling club when he went away to college. They were all members of the Texas Juggling Society, which is full of people who like to practice, learn, and teach juggling (and other related skills), and that's where they learned. (Me, I have a problem with asking for help, especially from strangers, so I never joined.)

I really liked learning from experts. And I really liked learning with my roommate. We both stank for so long, but I stank worse than her. Unfortunately, I practiced just a little bit more often and eventually caught up to her, after which apparently she was no longer motivated. :-(

My friend and I also had fun making more and more ridiculous juggling balls. We even made one of pentagons! A normal cube shape is fine, though.

Related Music Video

Back when I could juggle, I was always looking for good songs to juggle to. I only found two, and of those, I only remember one: Art of Noise's "Dragnet", a rather silly song.

Do any of y'all juggle? Have you tried learning? Do you have a favorite juggling song you would recommend?

I got an interesting letter in the mail today from my pension fund. It says that due to changes in the 2016 federal income tax withholding tables, my net pension amount will increase next year.

I guess that makes sense. Whenever the government admits there's inflation, they do things like raise the income levels for each tax bracket.

As a result, I'm bringing home an extra 23 cents every single month next year. Yeah, baby!

Blog Entry of the Day - Northern Expenditure's Fill-the-Bucket List - "Life is full of opportunities, changes, and unpredictability.... Instead of making a list of things you would like to see happen in your life, a fill-the-bucket list focuses on the opportunities you have had and the things you’ve taken a chance and done."

That fits in with my urge to add things to my bucket list after I've done them. Things that were never a goal, but the opportunity came up and I took it. We don't always know ahead of time what's going to be great or even what's going to be possible.

So things on my fill-the-bucket list include:
* teach someone to read - I loved reading, and as soon as I learned how, I passed on the information to my little brother, who was a handy victim
* learn embroidery (thanks, Mom)
* learn ceramics, canoeing, and how to make things by lashing (thanks, Girl Scouts)
* learn to ski (thanks Bill and Dave et al.)
* learn ballroom dancing (thanks Bill, Mary, and Richard et al.)
* visit cool places where family and friends have invited me

Happily, there were some additions to both kinds of lists last year.

Bucket list:
* retire
* learn more Spanish
* enjoy media from multiple countries
* learn how they make taco meat in such tiny pieces (cook it in liquid such as broth or water)

Fill-the-bucket list:
* re-write song lyrics to help with Spanish and share it
* learn to frost cookies using the flood frosting technique
* learn a better way to fold my knee socks

I just read a book (Lawrence Block's Hit and Run) where a stamp collector always carried around a stamp catolog in which he had circled all the stamps he had so that he could make sure not to re-buy those stamps.

One day he lost his collection. He didn't really have the motivation to start a new collection from scratch, but he still had the collecting itch and he still had that catalog. So he decided he would continue buying stamps he hadn't already bought before. He would just circle the new stamps in a different color so he could see which ones he currently owned. He decided that this way his catalog would be like a bird-watcher's birdlist--it showed every stamp he had ever owned.

And so it occurred to me that making Spanish flashcards (and then learning what's on them) is sort of like adding to my life list of Spanish words I have learned. Of course with words, after a while you get to a point where you can communicate with some people who don't know your native tongue, but until that point, it also feels a little like a collection.

I could copy the stamp collector and circle words that I master in a dictionary. Would that be motivating or disheartening?

I think I'm finally getting to the point where I can deliberately add fixed activities to my schedule and then look forward to them instead of feel stressed by them. Until very recently (perhaps two weeks ago?), I really didn't want anything on my schedule except Sunday brunch (and maybe Spanish class).

For example, I went to craft night on Friday. We ate out on Sunday. I went to the gym today and probably will again on Wednesday if we're not aching too much and Robin has time. Tomorrow I'm having lunch on campus and checking out some library books. Thursday I'm going to try out a Spanish conversation activity at the public library with J and maybe R. Saturday I'm going to party before which I will be making and decorating some appropriately themed cookies, which I learned how to make at a recent cookie decorating class (which I attended mostly for socializing) and which I experimented a bit with in time for the craft night. So many things! I'm only a little worried that I'll forget something, not have time, or sleep through something.

I've also figured out that although I don't have a job, I do have a "mission," a default activity for when I find myself with some free time, and that's (duh) learning Spanish. And a minor mission, which still needs work, has been exercise. Also, I've run out of (non-Spanish) books recently, but am about to have a new pile.

Related blog post of the day - Root of Good's Early Retirement Schedule - see what another retired guy does with himself all day. 'I put “adventure time” on the schedule and this is intentionally vague and open ended. Sometimes we’ll hit the road for a walkabout, visit the park, library, and community center, stop at a restaurant, and get back home a few hours later. Or we’ll walk the 3.5 mile round trip to drop the kids off at Grandma’s house. Or drive to one of the city parks or nature preserves and enjoy a fun afternoon exploring along trails and creeks while hoping to see some deer, hawks, or fish. Other times we’ll attend a festival in downtown (living in the city, there’s always something going on downtown).'

Yesterday we had our oral presentations in Spanish II, which was the last project, and thus we are now done. Whew!

Before class, one of our classmates said, "I only have to get a 2 on this to get an A." I replied "A 2? I have to get a 10." R added, "I have to get a 50." So, stakes were low for many of us.

We got to go first, like we wanted. Unlike usual, our skit just flew by for me. (Accidental pun, woo!) Our skit was about a flight on Air Rumba. I remember almost nothing. We did get big laughs during the part where the captain explains that Air Rumba is not great with emergencies, so if one happens (flight attendant pulls something out of the ceiling), just close your eyes (that something turns out to be a blindfold and the flight attendant puts it on), cover your ears, etc. Also, many, many people did not want any food or anything at all, though some people were thrilled to get water, popcorn AND cookies.

So I'm hoping that means I magically whipped through my lines quite well on some kind of high. R. says he missed a minor one. Our skit was well-received, so that was good.

I was worried that we'd gone a bit overboard, but the other skits had just as many lines or more than ours did, so we only went overboard on the props.

Unfortunately, I did have some trouble understanding the other skits. But I got enough from each one to find some funny bits, even in my least favorite one (though I'm not totally sure those funny bits were all intentional).

There was a nice variety of themes. The second skit was three friends getting together to plan a surprise party for a fourth person (also in the class!). One guy said, "I want steak. I'll bring the meat."

Then there was a game show where the MC would describe something in Spanish and the contestants would buzz in and guess what those things were in Spanish. I understood this one the best, so I loved it. The last question in the final round seemed to be a description of a heart attack, but I think the MC was just describing his symptoms in an unanswered call for help since he finished by slowly crumpling to the ground.

The next one was my favorite with two gals going from their baseball game to the emergency room, one with an arm in a sling and one with a bandage over her eye. They were totally hilarious, yet the nurse stole the show with her bored bureaucratic responses.

Next was two people ordering things from a waiter. Once they carefully established that a wine recommended for one of their dishes was also a great match for the other, they both ordered their own personal bottle of wine anyway.

Next two friends talked about their daily routine--one guy was complaining that he ran out of water in the shower, but then it came out that he spends a lot of time in the shower, not only showering, but also shaving and brushing his teeth. Then they each quizzed each other on something from their majors. I was a little surprised at first that the guy who thought it was weird to brush your teeth in the shower was also an ancient Egyptian king come back to life, but then I realized that really it was a who-am-I sort of game.

Finally there were two guys in an open-air market: one in charge and one asking questions. Suddenly, the customer starts complaining about various symptoms and doing hilarious acting across a table when a third person (who'd just been rolling an invisible shopping cart everywhere all this time while wearing a stethescope) figures out the problem--it's just indigestion.

Can you tell we recently had a unit on health and medicine?

After class I still felt drained. We had a relaxing evening and went to bed at a reasonable time. Three hours later, I woke up and never fell asleep again. I kept re-living scenes of our play and otherwise having racing thoughts.

Today I joined some old co-workers for a "poker walk" in which the employer encourages walking and now I'm still glad we're done with Spanish class for a while. I will still be doing Spanish all summer to try to get all of Spanish I and Spanish II material more solid in my head for Spanish III in the fall. It feels like I'm an expert in class, but when I look back at old chapters, it's shocking how many of those things I once learned are gone again. Still, I'll just be doing stuff that's fun and that's mostly review at whatever speed is fun rather than whatever some teacher assigns.