May Mileage Wrap-Up
(This year is going fast as hell, isn’t it?)
The fifth month of the year is done, so let’s check out that mileage:
May mileage: 673.99
Monthly average mileage: 620.62
Current end mileage with this pace: 7447.44
THAT IS SO DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO 7,500 HNNNNNNNNGH
(Also…could I do 700 miles in a single month? Do I dare try?????)
The May List: 2025 Edition
I KEEP FORGETTING TO DO THESE
- I like to imagine all three of these trending Twitter topics are related.
- The population of Saskatchewan would be like twelve if they got Thanos snapped.
- I noticed the two different answering screens, but didn’t know why both existed. Cool!
- I had one of each. MA was the first; MS was the second. The second was better.
- I hate generative AI. I hate it I hate it I hate it. How quickly my opinion of you will worsen if I know you approve of – or worse, use – generative AI.
- Every single game. (Source)
- I want those purple AirPods Max headphones SO BAD, bro. I absolutely cannot justify the purchase, but nnnnngh. PURPLE and MUSIC.
- There’s a dog that chills out on a balcony that I pass by on my way to school. His name is Gucci and he always recognizes me, barks to get my attention, runs inside to get a toy, and then comes back out and shakes the hell out of it. This e-scooter code is the perfect spelling of the noise he makes when he shakes.
IT’S THE END OF THE BLOG AS WE KNOW IT
Relentlessly Mammalian
(Blame my husband for the title.)
TWO THINGS TODAY:
One: we’re in a little mini heatwave up here and it was supposed to get up to like 86 or something today. So I decided to do my first night run of the year last night. I think the last time I did a night run was around Halloween last year, so it’s been a while. I like not having to put on sunscreen and being able to run down the middle of the road without much threat of cars, but I’m also more limited route-wise (I am NOT doing the creepy Bowness Park nonsense this year, sorryz) and I do just like being out during the day. Also, the nights are relatively warm if it’s hot enough for me to be night running.
Two: My mom, Nate, and I watched Captain America: Brave New World last night. It’s pretty sad that everyone seems conditioned to hate everything Marvel has put out since Endgame; I thought this one was pretty solid. It definitely had one of the best post-Endgame action sequences with the battle over Celestial Island:
Really good choreography in my opinion. Love the shots at 1:26, 2:11, 2:46, and 3:31.
DONE!
MATCHA, MATCHA MAN (An Update)
Yo.
So further research on matcha revealed to me that I may have used water that was too hot, which may have messed with the flavor. So today I:
1) used water at the oft-recommended temperature of 175 degrees;
2) used the higher recommended amount of matcha powder (1 teaspoon)
Picture of result:
And the taste?
Yup. Still nothing.
I reiterate from yesterday: my chemical senses are so broken, man.
MATCHA, MATCHA MAN (I wanna be…a matcha man!)
In my “One of These Teas Must Taste Like Something, Dammit” quest, I bought some matcha powder when I was in the States. Y’know the stuff that apparently has a super strong taste.
“Matcha has a bright, vegetal, and slightly bitter taste, with notes of sweetness and umami” according to Artful Tea.
Pic of final product:
It looks like someone took the wet grass clippings from under a lawn mower and squeezed the liquid into a cup, huh?
Want to guess what it tastes like to me?
My chemical senses are so broken, man.
Attention:
I am garbage.
That is all.
Can We Survey? YES WE CAN!
Is there someone you would like to meet of the opposite sex?
LEIBNIZ OMFG WHO ELSE EVEN MATTERS
Where is the furthest place you’ve traveled?
Like…from where I was born? Helsinki, Finland.
Which do you prefer, to eat or sleep?
Run. I prefer to run.
Do you look more like your mom or your dad?
My dad, definitely.
How long does it take you to shower?
Too long. I try to be fast but I suck at it, mainly because I spend half the time adjusting the shower curtain so that no cold outside air can get in around the edges.
Who likes you right now mere then a friend?
Probably my husband? Hopefully?
Can you do splits?
Absolutely not.
Are you flexible?
See above. Well, except for my tongue. I can do weird things with my tongue (giggity).
What did you do on New Year’s Eve? Was your mom there?
I cried, because that’s New Year’s Eve tradition. My mom was not there.
Can you speak any other language than English?
I’m trying to learn French. I’d say I’m at a B1 level.
What is the last letter of your middle name?
E.
How many hours of sleep did you get last night?
Uh…three?
Do you wear your seatbelt in the car?
Duh.
Are you scared of flying?
Nah. I just don’t like it.
What do you sleep in?
An old Bloomsday shirt and undies.
Who was the last person you kissed?
Husband!
Do you like funny people or serious people?
Both. Or neither. Depends on how I’m feeling.
What are you listening to?
Nothing.
What jewelry do you wear all the time?
I don’t wear any jewelry all the time.
What do you have planned for tonight?
Making broccoli. Watching Riverdale for the 100th time. Hating every aspect of my being. Y’know, the usual.
Sickness
Please watch this.
Dianna has been sick for so long; I’m glad it sounds like she’s slowly getting better. And I’m glad her inclusion of Tobias in this video has brought attention to his situation as well (here’s his GoFundMe, which is also linked in the video description).
It can be really hard to do so at times (and even in the best of times it’s easy to forget), but try to appreciate what you’ve got, especially if you’re in good health. It can all be taken away so quickly.
Accelerate Your Distain
Did anyone else have to take those Accelerated Reader quiz thingies in junior high (and/or elementary school and/or high school)? For us, these started in sixth grade and went through junior high. We would read a book and then have to take a quiz on it in order for the book to “count” for our English class. I think you had to get like an 85% or something on…I don’t know…15 multiple choice questions in order to “pass.”
I don’t know what reminded me of those things today, but I remember how much I hated them. I always found them very difficult because the multiple choice questions were always about very specific things. That’s fine if you’re reading a relatively short book, but I remember reading Gone with the Wind in 7th grade and having to take one of these AR quizzes on it. That book is 1,000+ pages and the quiz still focused on incredibly specific things. Like…ask me about the major themes or events, not about the color of Rhett’s shirt the first time he met Scarlett.
I much preferred the way we “proved” that we read books in 10th grade. We’d finish a book and our teacher, Mr. Murray, would sit down with us for a short one-on-one conference where we’d very openly and informally discuss the book. I remember doing this with As I Lay Dying and feeling like I got to explain more of what I got out of the book rather than having to demonstrate that I remembered which sibling drilled holes through their mother’s coffin.
Anyway.
Bottom Eyelashes
The one single facial feature of mine that I don’t ABSOLUTELY DESPISE?
My eyelashes.
Well, sorta.
They’re naturally very dark and long. The ones on my left eye piss me off because there are like three lashes that grow in a different way than the rest, but in general, they’re like the one part of my body that doesn’t disgust me constantly.
Anyway, when I wear mascara, I typically just put it on my upper lashes. Why? Because my lower lashes are basically the same length as my upper lashes and so when I put mascara on both the lower and upper lashes it looks like I shoved a handful of spider legs into my eye. Observe:
That just looks weird to me.
(Sorry, I have nothing else to blog about today, haha.)
Phood Phixation
So I’m sure this is a relatable thing to quite a lot of people, but does anyone else latch on to some specific food and want THAT FOOD and THAT FOOD ONLY for like a month and then never want to touch it again?
Remember all those freaking string cheeses I showed y’all a few months ago? Yeah, I’m over those now.
This month’s fixation is this:
Will I hate them forever by June?
Probably.
Humans are weird.
Dots
Super interesting. I also love his voice.
Age of ULTRAmarathon
May’s ultramarathon COMPLETE!
I haven’t done this route in a long time (not since late last spring, I think); it’s nice if you’re not doing it too often. It gets old pretty fast, though, which is weird ‘cause it’s a nice flat route with not too many people once you get past the Bird Sanctuary.
I think the path grading past there is a little weird in a certain spot, though. It always throws me off a bit.
Also, I’m slow as hell.
Humans: Ruining Everything Faster Than We Ever Thought Possible!
Well this is horrific.
I don’t even have anything else to say about it, except to mention that this is not the first discussion of this kind of thing; I blogged about another bird-and-plastics article more than ten years ago.
Sports = Art
Happy birthday, mom!
So I’ve come across this Twitter account called ArtButMakeItSports. The guy who runs it finds photos of various sporting events and compares them to artworks that have similar compositions, vibes, and/or colors.
Today’s example:
The best thing is that he claims he doesn’t use AI to do the photo/art comparisons, which is fantastic. He’s got several breakdowns of his process on his website, too. Example.
Some of his “best of” comparisons look like they were just made for each other (all pics from his website).
That last one, hahahaha.
A Music Blog!
It’s not like I have one of those every other day, huh??
??????
??
?? ?
?
Anyway.
Music #1: I had the “Mr. Booze” song from Family Guy stuck in my head all afternoon. Whether you like Family Guy or not, you have to give Seth MacFarlane credit for how good he is at finding catchy songs and having them sung very well.
Music #2: Again, even though it’s not an original, Peter singing the entirety of the “Shipoopi” song from The Music Man as a touchdown celebration is pretty great, too.
(Now I want to watch The Music Man)
Music #3: While on my walk this morning, I had my “favorites” playlist on shuffle and this song came up. I hadn’t listened to it in a long time and I forgot how beautifully heartbreaking it is.
Music #4: I absolutely love this song. I would have lost my mind if I had been at this thing.
END!
My BUTT, my BUTT, my BUTT my BUTT my BUTT
Also: a survey!
1. Rosehip tea: Which book did you love when you were younger?
How young are we talking, here? Because I’ve loved The Caine Mutiny since the first time I read it, which was back when I was twelve, so…
2. Oolong tea: Which book series could you read again?
I am slowly re-reading all The Baby-Sitters Club books in between my “adult” books, because 1) they’re like $4 each on Kindle and 2) I have autonomy and can read what I want.
3. Rooibos: What is one of your favourite books?
The Caine Mutiny is still my #1. The Great Gatsby is up there, too.
4. Strawberry tea: Tell me about your first kiss, if you had one.
We were at a drag show. We were both in drag. “Sex Tonight” was blasting over the speakers. It was inevitable, really.
5. Apple tea: Tell me about your first break up, if you had one.
No.
6. Earl Grey: Which countries have you visited?
Canada (before I moved here), Sweden, Finland, England.
7. Chai: Where do you want to travel next?
I don’t like traveling anymore, but I’ll always be happy to go back to Moscow. I already miss it and I was just there like a week ago.
8. Darjeeling: What languages do you speak?
English and a bit of French.
9. Hop tea: Do you have a favourite tea? Which one?
See this blog.
10. Herbal tea: Which person would you chose to travel the world with?
I don’t want to travel the world.
11. Nettle tea: Are you jealous on a person? Why?
Yes. Because I’m garbage and everyone else is better than me.
12. Ice tea: Do you miss somebody? Why?
I sometimes miss having friends.
13. Yellow tea: What shampoo do you use?
Monday.
15. Ceylon tea: Do you have a song you like, but have bad memories with?
Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters.” Beautiful song. Wonderful song. But it remind me of Rob.
16. Hibiscus tea: What is a song you can always hear?
Like…play in my head as if I’m listening to it? Pretty much all of them, haha.
17. Flowering tea: What is a movie you can always watch?
Mystery Men. Apollo 13.
19. Turkish tea: What is your favourite cake?
German chocolate cake, though it’s been a long time since I’ve had any.
20. Green tea: What was the first movie you saw in a cinema?
I have no idea. But the first one I remember seeing in the theater is Toy Story 2, for some reason.
21. Blueberry-Muffin tea: Tell me a memory, which makes you smile.
Noodle Fridays with the gang.
22. Panda tea: Do you have pets? Which one?
Yes! We have a Pepper. She’s wild.
24. Hot chocolate: Do you have (a) stuffed animal(s) sitting in your room? Which one(s)?
Missy Witch Witch is sitting on my suitcase right now.
25. 24 flavors: What is your favourite word?
Syzygy.
26. Jasmin tea: Can you draw / paint? Wanna show me something?
You be the judge.
27. Kombucha: What do you order on a pizza?
Extra olives. I’m cool like that.
28. Cloud tea: Which movie do you want to watch next?
Eh.
29. Gunpowder tea: If you had the chance: would you go to space?
YES
I want to BUY STUFF
I’ve been really good so far this year in terms of not buying extraneous stuff. There have been maybe two…three?…things that I’ve gotten, which is way better than I’d been at this point last year
I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve lost all interest in everything and thus even buying new crap doesn’t do it for my dopamine anymore or what, but I haven’t even had the urge to shop much this year.
But it’s still there sometimes, and thus I have my “FUN STUFF I’D LIKE TO BUY” bookmarks folder that I like to scroll through on occasion while trying to keep in mind that I actually don’t need any of these things.
But some of them are cool, so I’ll put them here in case anyone else wants cool things.
Whatev.
- STUDIOCULT earrings. Soda tab, corkscrew, shooting star, binder clip.
- Retro-style Apple shirt.
- I still use an iPod (I don’t think a lot of people do?), even though they no longer have these wheels. Old school.
- Many of the items from this cool store.
- Cute.
- Love the retro look.
- I don’t wear button-down shirts, but I LOVE this idea.
- Flare pants are cool.
- FLARE PANTS ARE COOL.
That is all.
Nostalgic Item!
Heyooooooooo so this is totally random, but here is a little music box that I’ve had since I was a kid:
It’s pretty old and beat up now and half the sticker on the back is torn off, but I was able to Google it and found out that it’s an Otagiri music box from the 1970s. While it looks like there are quite a few near-new versions of this out there that you can buy from eBay, Etsy, etc., I wanted to put a recording of mine up here just in case it ever breaks. Plus, it’s super cute. And don’t we always want a super cute topic for a blog post?
Anyway.
You can hear how old it is, hahaha.
It’s a survey…about BLOGGING?…RARARAAHAH
Ahem.
Why did you start blogging in the first place?
Kind of as a joke, haha. I got peer-pressured by some of my high school friends into getting a MySpace (remember MySpace??) back in 2006. So I did, on May 1st of that year, and I decided on a whim to make a blog post. I jokingly said I’d try to post a blog a day for 50 days and, well…we see how that’s gone.
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
I’m on WordPress now; I started on MySpace.
How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?
I used to just type my blog out straight in the “New Blog” entry field, but I lost far too many blog posts that way when I’d accidentally hit the back button or the internet would crap out as I posted and it was lost forever (MySpace didn’t allow blog drafts, as far as I remember). Now I write all my blogs in a big-ass Word document. In fact, that’s what I’m doing right now! Screenshot:
The months marked “[DONE]” are the months for which I’ve posted all the blog posts. The “TO WRITE” section contains some ideas I have for future blog posts. I have to start a new Word document every year or so because they get so big and I’m worried about them getting corrupted. I think I still have all the old ones back through 2018…which is kind of sad.
When do you feel most inspired to write?
When I’ve got something to rant about, haha. When I’m angry or passionate about something. Or if something happens at work that PISSES ME OFF.
Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
What are you generally interested in writing about?
Anything. I love that my blog doesn’t have a theme to it. I love being able to post a rant one day, a cool space fact or find the next, and then a dumb YouTube vid the following day. While I did like my “This Week’s Science Blog” series that I did for a while, it’s nice not to even have a weekly “thing” that I have to figure out all the time.
Though those science blogs did force me to look up more science-y stuff, so…maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.
Who are you writing for?
Me. Others can come along if they want, but it’s written for me and my memories and as an archive of my life.
What’s your favourite post on your blog?
I have a list of my Top 10!
I still think my #1 on that list is my #1. What if the founding fathers had drafted the Declaration of Independence in a chatroom? Having John Hancock type in the biggest, most obnoxious font is like the funniest idea I’ve ever had, hahaha.
Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?
Currently the big “plan” is to make it to 10,000 blogs. September 15, 2033. We’ll see what happens after that. I’m sure there will be several redesigns in the interim, too, though I never really plan those.
Who else do you want to tag?
I have no one to tag. No one blogs anymore and it’s SAD.
I need to know…
…the story behind these little decals that are plastered all over the sidewalks in Inglewood.
They’ve been there for a while now – since about the time they closed the section of the river path that runs through the start of Inglewood, forcing walkers/runners/cyclists to go through Inglewood proper to get back to the rest of the river path – but I’m still curious about the cause.
Was there one hooligan runner that was like shoving past walkers on the sidewalk?
Was there a particularly aggressive running group that didn’t want to share the sidewalk?
Was there a particularly angry walker and/or resident who didn’t like runners going through the neighborhood and made a big enough stink to make them stick these decals everywhere?
I’ve run through Inglewood quite a few times since they closed the path, but I don’t think I ever did anything to warrant this. So hopefully it wasn’t me, haha.
There are also signs stating that runners are encouraged to use the southside sidewalk, so…something must have happened.
I’m just curious.
How Badly Do I Want to Jump Into Traffic?
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo badly.
The Future is Bleak…For Many Reasons
UGH.
I am so glad this crap wasn’t around when I was in school.
But I am so angry that it’s around while I’m teaching.
And in general.
I remember when I first started college I posted a blog post about the “real reason” people go to college. I’m going to guess that was on…August…18th, 2006.
*checks blog archive*
AH I WAS CLOSE it was August 19th, 2006.
The “reasons” are probably the same now, but the big difference is the ease at which people can just fart their way through without learning anything.
Which, if you ask me, is INCREDIBLY DUMB.
Why waste your time? Why waste your (or your parents’) money? You’re going to look back on this time of your life and wish you’d actually taken advantage of the amazing opportunities you had to actually learn stuff instead of coasting your way through by typing misspelled prompts into ChatGPT.
Or maybe not. Maybe nobody really actually cares anymore.
It’s very discouraging either way.
Eigenblogger 