Wanderlust has intensified

Entry for August 20th, 2021

Wanderlust

Over the past few days I've constantly had thoughts of travel and exploration on my mind. I just want to get out of town for a day or two, take a cheap flight or train somewhere and just have a nice time. The issue, however, is that I don't exactly have the funds necessary to do that right now -- or likely for the next few years, for anything more than a short drive.

I spent a long time poking through Skiplagged and other sites, essentially looking for a way to get something for nothing. The issue is that even the cheap tickets still come with bag prices, and I still have to deal with things like transportation and lodging (even if packing a tent and some supplies, I still have to be able to get around...)

I've been thinking about looking into a folding bicycle, but that's just another thing I can't really afford to put money into right now until I pay down more debt.

ハッピーハイクの日! Happy Haiku Day! (8/19/2021)

This entry is for August 19th, 2021.

I must confess, I really should've taken more pictures of my preparations for Haiku Day.

I'd like to encourage you to browse through the entries posted on Sudo Haiku here!

First meeting

I had a slow cooker full of cactus chili, as well as popcorn, Mike's Pineapple Lemonade, and some cornbread cookies.

I also put on my nice suit and tie!

At a little after 8 AM (EST), we all piled into a Zoom call. There was a lot of patient translation and various questions -- I felt like a bit too much attention was on me, but I didn't mind it (I would've liked to learn more about the other people there!)

We did take a group photo, but I don't know if the people there are okay with it being published on my blog.

I asked on Sudo Haiku, but I did not receive response from all participants about whether it would be okay to include their photo, so I will be leaving the photo out.

All in all, though, it was great fun! It ended with various fun Zoom call effects, though I couldn't figure out how to turn any of them on, ahaha.

Wishlist

I finally made my Amazon wishlist public. It took a while for me to get it translated to Japanese (thanks id:PlumAdmin !) and then to actually finish updating it. But it all got sorted. If you'd like to contribute, please see this:

And for advanced instructions (thank you again id:PlumAdmin !)

I received two Amazon gift cards and I'm very appreciative of it. I'm planning to use them to purchase daily home supplies as well as some things to help make my life easier. Thank you to id:PlumAdmin and id:quadratus, who I really appreciate.

Received thanks

I'd like to say thank you for the kind words recieved today:

id:qohelet

id:teisi

id:quadratus

There were many others, but I am grateful to all the people who use Sudo Haiku each day to express themselves. Let's continue to Haiku, everyone! :D

Second meeting

The second Zoom call was at about 11 PM for me, and on 8/20 for the people in Japan. A few people attended, and it was much more relaxed. I may have been trying too hard to make a good impression the first time, haha. This time I just wore a T-shirt :)

We showed each other various stuffed animals and dolls and figures that we had and talked about what we did for work. It was really enjoyable and I had a nice time.

I love that our site has a fun little holiday to enjoy. I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to meet with everyone in person when my finances improve and the coronavirus is managed.

ハッピーハイクの日!

More planning for Haiku Day!

Entry for August 18th, 2021

Recipe Exchange

So I refined my idea for a "Recipe exchange" activity on Sudo Haiku: The details are here:

Essentially, each person would submit a recipe. At the end of the submission period, everyone would claim a different person's recipe, and then make it. The final results would be shared on Sudo Haiku with details about the process and pictures of the final result.

Twitter account

I made a Twitter account for Sudo Haiku.

Bees

There seems to be a bees nest being constructed above my door. It will need to be removed soon.

Starting planning for Haiku Day

Entry for August 17th, 2021

(This entry and the several after it have all been backdated.)

Planning

So I've been asking around a bit and trying to figure out what is going to happen on 8/19 (Haiku Day). It looks like id:boundary-line has taken up the charge and is working on setting out a schedule for the event. Looking forward to it :)

Career advice

I've been talking with a friend lately about the various ways in which they can approach their future. It's going okayish.

Played around with Minecraft for a while

Entry for August 16th, 2021

Minecraft

I've started playing around a bit with Minecraft again. It's kind of a time sink so I usually try not to play for very long.

I didn't get much else done today. Here's some things I've built in Minecraft:

Mine Ops Aquatic Center

It's a fishing farm where several people can get together and fish for food and loot.

Mine Ops

Mine Ops started because I was tired of running out of materials. It took several months to dig out this area.

Mount Oswalt

Mount Oswalt, named after one John Oswalt (a man I admire), is home to a vast jungle, a little jungle city, a giant gold farm and a place called the Repository: where there are five double chests dedicated to each and every item in the game. There are additional levels planned, and it's also home to a large automatic smelter, several farms and factories, and a transportation hub.

When something feels off: a moment of concern after the message I heard this morning

Sermon/church notes

I was planning on going to another church today but I got the time wrong and missed it, so a good friend let me listen in to her church service instead over Discord. But things were a bit strange.

Speaker: ???

Morning worship
- There is Power In the Blood
- ??? (Call kept cutting out)
- ???
- Thy Word [is a lamp unto my feet]

Personal testimony/discussion
- A lady had good news about car repairs
- Some story about catching fish

Prayer of thanks, for continued health, for help in day to day things.

Scripture reading: Colossians 1:1-29

Prayer

Message

And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:45‭-‬46 KJV

(Anecdote: Speaker questioning the necessity of some modern gimmicks intended to get people to visit church -- when God's word is the thing that the people should be spiritually hungry for)

(Anecdote: The Israelites wandering in the desert with aged and worn clothing)

(Vaccination was mentioned at some point in here about being a requirement to attend churches now, but it was sorta slipped in and not connected)

(Something about becoming closer to God? It was really unclear)

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 Peter 2:1 KJV

(Anecdote: Spanish flu - it's mentioned but I was unclear why it was mentioned)

(Callback to Elijah running with the horses, related to our spiritual focus: No matter what happens on Earth, we should fix our spirits/spiritual focus on Christ)

I was having immense trouble connecting the different things the speaker was saying -- but I pulled out some concepts:

- Empowerment to do great things through God (this was the mention of Elijah, the verse wasn't mentioned but I was able to locate it as being from 1 Kings)
- The eventual destruction of those who preach false doctrine
- The rebuking of Satan
- Satan slowly chips away at us
- We should be "forceful" in how we reject false teachings
- Closer relationship with God

Thoughts

I felt troubled listening to this. It was a bit hard to follow along.

I felt rather uncomfortable, but not in the "right" way of discomfort when faced with my own sin or conviction. It felt like something was wrong: there were several things mentioned: quarantine and the pandemic from (1918?) with no real connection to the other concepts.

The message felt a bit more like a collage of concepts and doctrine that are implied to be related than a sermon proper. So while it wasn't explicitly stated, if we pull all those concepts together, we end up with something troubling. I can't say that the message explicitly said anything about this, but it reminds me of something else I've heard (and that I think is both disingenuous and harmful):

- That we've faced things like pandemics before and gotten out alright
- That in the Bible, there's stories about superhuman feats enabled by God, and that we should look to God as the source of our strength
- That we are being restricted from fellowship with each other unless we get vaccinated
- And the most troubling bit: that these are works of Satan to drive us apart as believers

All in all, the whole thing had a bad smell to it. It calls back to this wild idea that medicine and healthcare somehow become, at best, unnecessary in the face of God's love for us, and at worst, hindrances and dangers to us as a body of believers. Not only is it unsupported by Scripture from what I know of it, but I believe it actually flies in the face of how we are supposed to provide care for those who are sick and weary as outward expression of the love we live through Christ.

Rest of the day

I spent most of the rest of the day kinda sitting around, and decided to open Minecraft for the first time in a long while. I hit zombie pigmen and loaded swords into the smelter for a while.

A beautiful, musical day on the MSU campus

Entry for August 14th, 2021

Enjoying the day

I felt a strong pull to worship and sing today. I went and walked around Michigan State's campus and practiced both whistling and singing. I wasn't trying to do it where there were a lot of people, but I was still out and about.

Beautiful view of the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden

I walked by the Red Cedar River which was very high.

In the left of this image we can see someone kayaking (I think?) against the rapids generated by the much higher than normal water flow from the recent storms.

Here's a picture from one of the ponds in the garden

I stepped inside the music building

I wanted to see the new wing, and also ended up here in the courtyard. I could hear someone practicing music on a glockenspiel or something -- it sounded very intense.

Front entrance

A song I found that I was practicing. It made me feel better since I've been lonely.

I also met someone called Emma who was sitting by the river. We talked for a bit. She's studying genetics. I asked her about the Long-Term Evolution Experiment which I've found particularly interesting; we also talked about some cool local places and local history (my contribution was some info about Eaton Rapids.) It was really fun!

At home

I've been struggling a little bit with cleaning things up, and I need to take the ladder down from the attic so that I can close the trapdoor up. Not 100% sure how I'll do it since I used the ladder to push the door out of the way in the first place...

I spent some time talking with various friends and catching up with an old one. It was nice!