Hello!
This is something new I'm trying to do 😅 (It's a little late for a New Year resolution, but my birthday is a couple of weeks away)
This isn't going to be a tech newsletter, but more of a compilation of everything I've been working on, and playing with - be it with food, health, code, or ideas I'm stockpiling in my head. Mostly anything that I've spent some energy on, and something I think would be worthwhile for you to look at too! I'm hoping to hear back from you on what you think about stuff I write, and maybe make things more interesting for both of us.
Some questions I've asked myself about this while starting -
Why this format? - I've tried blogging in the past, and have done a couple of versions of a photo-a-day public journal. They all have, at some point, felt like a chore and my interest has fizzled out. One thing that hasn't waned is my want to jot down things that pique my interest, and a never-ending to-watch/to-listen/to-read list. This newsletter is going to be an abridged version of those lists, coupled with a few topics close to me that I will frequent.
Why now? - As I said, my birthday is a couple of weeks away - nearly 34 revolutions around the sun. It's an arbitrary thing, but feels like the coming year is going to be more chaotic than the last few. The reason could be for posterity, but right now I'd like it to be a pseudo-accountability thing, where I can show more than tell things.
With all this said, let's get on with the newsletter :)
-Teej
🥗 What's for brekky?
naale thindige yen maadli? is a question that's plagued us for months now! Especially when we're with more-adult adults (read parents).
Meal planning has worked, but one major issue I have with it is a chicken-and-egg problem of shopping-vs-planning. Do you shop first and then plan with what you've bought, or plan first and then look in the markets for what you need to buy? While I'll be working on something for this soon, I recently compiled a list of breakfast options available for a mostly South Indian palate.
Check out the breakfast ideas sheet here.
Do let me know if you're interested in my weekly meal plans.
🪴 Stray plants in my pots
We got a few pots a month ago, and some mud. (side quest: Sadly, we have to buy mud too). Transplanted a beautiful but dying bird's eye chilly plant, and sealed its fate - chillies don't like being moved around. But out of the homemade compost, we got a creeper, which we had no idea to identify until the fruit started to mature recently.
It's a beautiful Malabar Cucumber or bannad southekayi. The fruit smells quite bitter, and I'm not sure if that's a thing. Hoping it'll be good in a week or two, and we can make some nice alsande-bannadsouthekayi huLi (cowpea-cucumber "curry") with it!
🧑💻 Return to the code
This part of my life has legit taken a backseat the past few months.
With whatever small projects I work on, I'm in absolute love with platforms like SST, and Remix. I'm working on an SST-Remix Starter template, loosely based on KCD's Epic Stack. Both SST, and Remix recently had major changes, and I'm still wrapping my head around them.
I'm also launching a Twitch channel, to do some live coding. More on this in the next week 😄
If you have ideas on what I can build/clone on this tech channel, hit me up! One thing I think will be fun is doing Exercism #48in24.
🤔 On Overthinking
This video stood out to me the past week. It's a condensed version of Miyamoto Musashi's works and talks about being in the present and stopping overthinking.
Perceive that which cannot be seen by the eye
Acknowledge your inner fears and truly know yourself.
It talks about being in the present.
Adaptable
Overthinking often occurs when one becomes rigid.
Let go of the anxiety that comes from pursuing perfection.Focus
Don't dwell on things that don't matter. Get rid of all the fluff, and give your mind a path to pursue a purposeful action.
Similar to the Pareto Principle, 20% of what you want to do gives you 80% of the results you seek.Compare with yesterday not others
You're guaranteed the 24 hours you have today, tomorrow might never come. Take things 1 day at a time. Commit yourself to 100% on todayJourney is the goal
Rushing leads to mistakes and stress. Good things take time, and there's a natural rhythm to everything.
Balance - Mind and Body
Sync your mind and body; you cannot have a sound mind in an unkempt body, and you cannot have a fit body in a stressed mind.
The way is in the training
Practice makes permanent, and cut yourself some slack when it comes to goals.
Also, connected to this is something I read in Tiago Forte's newsletter on feeling overwhelmed because of the Zeigarnik Effect - where one remembers interrupted loops more than completed ones; and that one has to permit oneself to forget.
What are your thoughts on this?
📰 Fleshing out this newsletter
Taking a page out of Dann Berg's workflow, almost literally; I'm writing all this on Obsidian - my tool of choice for processing thought. Much of the format, and styling are inspired by
, and I'm curious what my mileage will look like for this.You should give him a follow on YouTube, where he goes deeper into Personal Knowledge Management and Obsidian.
👍🏽 End Note
If you've liked this post, I'd love it if you could share it with a friend. You can get them to subscribe here
I do my best to have 5 "fun" things I've been working on every week hopefully on Thursdays. I'm stoked you're here on my journey and would love to read/hear about what you think. If you think there are other things we can look at, do them my way!
Thanks for being here, and reading all this. See you soon!
-Teej
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