Snippets of My Life

[kenyamericanah]

80′s Themed VR

Another week another book, yay! 2/52

Reads

Book: Ready Player One

I was 200 pages in before I understood the title, because I’ve only ever played video games on 3 occasions in my life. Literally. I very much enjoyed this book and the implications for the future of our world. What will the world be like when VR takes over, and what do human connections look like when the virtual life is as real as reality? I got none of the 80s references so I’m sure this reduced my enjoyment greatly. Overall?

RATING: 3 STARS

Articles

Only got through 2 articles this week, and they were both brilliant. My favorite was Serena’s vogue magazine interview. I read and watch everything Serena related, and this interview was brilliant. I’m glad she survived her ordeal and hope she comes back soon 

Also quite enjoyed the New Yorker article about a dad trying to connect with his social media obsessed daughter

The best thing I read this week, however, was the twitter hashtag #BlackHogwarts . Made my whole week and I’m so glad I recently finished the book so I could understand this magical

Listens

Podcasts

My podcasts are back in rotation. Dustin made me LOL alot in the Friend Zone, and I enjoyed the read portion of the read. Also loved Jade X XD’s walk down personality lane with the 20 songs that described their personality. My favorite listen of the week, however, was The Education Episode of Negroes with a Podcast. It was a really great discussion on the experience of educators and the changes needed to overhaul our education system

Music

Cassidy’s ‘Drink and Two Step’ came on to my Spotify workout rotation. I am sad to have gone 10 years without ever hearing this song, but i’m so glad I finally did. Fueled a couple of dance parties 

Watches

Continuing with the VR theme, the best (and absolute scariest) thing I watched this week was the Black Mirror episode “Playtest”. Shut up and Dance was the most disturbing - had to fast forward through some parts. But gah, playtest really got to me. 

Also catching up on Season 4 of Brooklyn 99. It’s losing steam a little for me, but still enjoying it. Andre Braugher is so brilliant. 

[kenyamericanah]

The format is still a work in progress, but I thought it’d be great to document my favorite reads, listens, and watches of each week.

Reads

Book: Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I managed 36 books in 2017, from a goal of 30. In 2018, my goal is a book a week - 52 books. Week 1 is off to a perfect start, with Robert Prisig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I found it equal parts insightful and pretentious, and had to stop myself from skipping through certain parts of the book.  I found I enjoyed most the exposition of the motorcycle journey itself and the exploration of the father-son relationship. The way Phaedrus was revealed and the Philosophy lessons were a hit and miss for me. I learned alot through the descriptions of , but found the exposition on quality at times self-important. Overall, I understand why the book was popular. I learned a lot and clarified even more. I’m glad I read it.

Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive….You look at where you’re going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you’ve been and a pattern seems to emerge.

It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life. not the top, but of course without the top you can’t have any sides. its the top that defines the sides.

If your mind is truly, profoundly stuck, then it might be much better off than when it was loaded with ideas

RATING: 3 STARS

Other reads: I opened a lot of articles, mainly white papers of emerging crypto currencies and blockchain technologies, but I didn’t finish any of them. I have about 20 articles saved on Texture and need to get on reading those.

Listens

Podcast: Jade & XD

No one made me laugh this week more than Jade and XD answering questions that are posed by popular songs. When they yawned through a whole Anita Baker verse, I almost fell out laughing. Among the questions they answered:

Brian McKnight’s “Do I ever cross your mind, anytime?” drew out a great story on the one time Jade met Brian McKnight at a wedding.

Plain White T’s “Hey there Delilah what’s it like in New York City?” led to a treatise on expensive rents in parts of NYC super far from the center and it was hilarious. .

5 of 50 cents 21 questions, including “if I didn’t smell so good, would you still hug me?”

HONORABLE MENTION

The 2017 wrap up episode of Desert Island Discs was a great walk down memory lane. 2017 was the 75th year(!!) anniversary, and it was just lovely

Music: 24K Magic

I didn’t listen to much music this week. No new songs for sure, but on Friday, after gym, 24K magic came on shuffle and I just had to have a dance party, so its my selection of the week.

HONORABLE MENTION

6 Foot 7 foot. One of my life goals is to memorize the last two verses, brilliant rhyming. I mean, :Real Gs move in silence like lasagna”

Watches

I watched ALOT of TV and movies this week. A lot.  blame jetlag and not being too busy at work yet:

3 Harry Potter movies (the books were better)

Rewatches of Grey’s Anatomy Season 12 (I miss Christina)

Dave Chappelle’s 2 new Netflix Specials (some funny bits, but overall preachy and forcedly bashful)

LoveSick Season 3 (BRILLIANCE)

I read a tweet that called Lovesick  the modern day romantic comedy, and I totally agree. The cast has great chemistry, with organic, believable friendships, and romantic threads that you can actually see happening in real life. I especially love watching Luke’s character develop with some help from a therapist. I watched all 8 episodes of Season 3 this the weekend and just, GAH. I might rewatch it because GAH, perfection.

I just started watching Black Mirror and OH MY GOD. I’m sure I’ll be posting about it next week. I still can’t get “White Bear” and “White Christmas” out of my head.