retro-002

Lemma 1 : I have pretty much the most amazing and loving parents ever
( Subjectively: Which other lower middle-income family lets their son take a sabbatical along with any other stupid decisions throughout my life.
Objectively: Pretty much anyone with a non-traumatic childhood must be thinking about their parents the same way right ? )


Lemma 2 : I am a moderate misanthrope

Retrospection : I wonder what would i have been if I had any less adorable parents.

Well, maybe causality is overrated with respect to the Human Condition.

1297: CrossFitness

As I mentioned in my previous post, Crossfit is pretty neat to say the least.

It is a good way to realize how unfit you are anyways :)


Started following it properly this week. Still haven't figured out a way around olympic lifts etc. But even the non-equipment based WoDs are awesome. Combing Crossfit WoD with Crossfit Endurance would be an interesting experience. I am contemplating on the possibility of asking my dad's gym owner if I could come in once or twice a weak just to check out the snatch, squat , clean and jerk and so on.

Moderately crappy scores on Crossfit Benchmarks / WOD till now

1. Scaled down Murph

   1 mile- 30 pull ups - 100 squats - 50 pushups - 1mile
   Time : 27:02


2. Half Cindy

   Rounds of 5 pull ups , 10 push ups and 15 squats
   Result : 10 rounds in 10 minutes

3. Barbara
   5 rounds of 20 pull ups, 30 push ups, 40 crunches, 50 squats for time
   Stopped after two rounds ( roughly 11 minutes )

On a connected note made a set of gymnastic rings thanks to this instructable using PVC. Hopefully I will be able to do a muscle up in a couple of weeks. Ring dips are totally amazing.

Only good news physically seems to be the new found knowledge that I can hold a tuck planche and that I ran 2.1 km in 7:49 and the next 2.9 km in 14:41 finishing 5 km in 22:30

I found beyondthewhiteboard to be a very cool resource especially in terms of seeing the general distribution and so on for each workout.

--
Nagging people to start running has been a success . Hopefully a wonderful running event will happen tomorrow morning at kgp :D thanks to Thando, Daddu, Sarohaji and Victus.

Agha Shahid Ali : Farewell

...
I am being rowed through Paradise in a river of Hell:
Exquisite ghost, it is night.

The paddle is a heart; it breaks the porcelain waves.
It is still night. The paddle is a lotus.
I am rowed- as it withers-toward the breeze which is soft as
if it had pity on me.

If only somehow you could have been mine, what wouldn't
have happened in the world?

I'm everything you lost. You won't forgive me.
My memory keeps getting in the way of your history.
There is nothing to forgive.You can't forgive me.
I hid my pain even from myself; I revealed my pain only to myself.

There is everything to forgive. You can't forgive me.

If only somehow you could have been mine,
what would not have been possible in the world?


--

Something I shouldn't have deleted. Read rest here

1296: 官话

Regarding chinese learning resources, I am particularly impressed with the following

1. Routledge Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar - A Practical guide
2. Routledge Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook
3. Rapid Literacy in Chinese
4. Wheatley, J. K. Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin. and the associated courses at MIT OCW

also in terms of Online reference/assistance/practice

1. Livemocha - a very useful community approach to learning languages. (most of my chinese friends were made here)
2. Pin1Yin1 - helpful at initial stages thanks to the hanzi to pinyin conversion tool (I probably use it more than gmail these days)
3. Shuifeng - Eventhough the 笔顺 (stroke order) is relatively simple, it is nevertheless awesome to have a reference
4. Zhongwen - Too useful and obvious to be even mentioned

-晁淳 (Dawn Simple)