I think I turned 28 today.
My day
It’s day 2 of keeping a sourdough starter. It’s sitting on my counter in a jar, and I feed it everyday, sometimes twice a day - equal parts flour and water. I think it takes 1-2 weeks to become active, and over time, it’s going to double everyday.
I started my day with peach tea. It was a little disappointing, which led me to coffee. I keep ground coffee on hand for mornings like this. Add hot water. Wait till the grounds settle, done.
An ideal day for me would be lots of movement. Hikes, treks. I walked past a busy city, watched people pass by. Had some yogurt under a tree, with a dog watching me and asking for seconds.
I hadn’t been to the monkey bars in months. It’s always fun to visit, but life got in the way - applications, client projects, deadlines - it’s the probably the first time I’ve been mentally free since December.
It’s addictive in a quiet way. You hang from a bar once, and suddenly you can’t walk past one without stopping. Not because you have goals, just because it’s fun.
I also found a baby bird (looks like a crow) that had probably fallen from its nest. I covered the chick with leaves, pretty sure mama bird will find it. I think not intervening is the kindest thing I could do for it.
I hadn’t played guitar in months. I tried playing Buckethead’s Soothsayer. Crazy how muscle memory works - my dexterity is returning fast.
Gifts
I wasn’t expecting to get any gifts this year.
It’s surprising how many friends remembered. Honestly, I don’t think I remember any birthdays other than my own.
I got hiking shoes from two friends - it must be hard to think of something practical I’d use that I don’t already have. I do plan on using these on hikes, but I might need to exchange them for ones that fit better. I’m not fond of brand logos either - still quite grateful for the gesture.
I have three teas now (lemongrass that I dried), peach tea (that I bought), and roselle tea (gift I got today!). Honestly, I don’t know how roselle tastes - I’m told it’s tangy and acidic, but haven’t tried it yet.
I also got an orange. I ate it right away!
Reading
I’m reading two papers on genome language models (gLMs). I’m also reading Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. Haven’t read it completely, but somebody recommended this to me, so here we are.
Footnotes:
- Roselle tea is basically calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa; with a tart, cranberry-like flavor.
- The gLM papers are quite dense. One is a survey on gLMs in bioinformatics and the other is a cheatsheet on gLMs