Harriet

lovely!

Oh spirits. I got 3.5 hours of sleep due to jetlag and enthusiastically waking up at the wrong time. Also my quads hurt a lot thanks to squats after time off. I am shuffling around the house like Frankenstein's monster. Squats were 60kg for 35 total reps, bench at 32.5kg for 45 total reps. Also did lunges, leg raises, lateral raises and seated cable rows. I've been doing good work by saying "okay" and "why not?" to plans even though I'm tired. I met some friends of my brother's last night and went to a market today. I also finished a book on race and gender identities and had a good chat with my brother about some related, controversial topics that have been coming up a lot on my social media between acquaintances. It's good to have complex discussions in person. Now I'm reading William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience at the recommendation of Mr Harriet. A favourite quote is as follows: "If we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see 'the liver' determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does that of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul. When it alters in one way the blood that percolates it, we get the methodist, when in another way, we get the atheist form of mind." He's attempting to undermine the argument (which must have been common amongst scientists and sceptics in his time) that religious temperaments have pathological, physical causes. As a sturdy atheist, I found it amusing to discover that the cause of my atheist form of mind might be the manner in which my liver percolates my blood. I haven't internetted pointlessly all day, I've kept it for 4pm like I said I would.

Hah, yeah, he really comes across as a sensible dude. I'm trying to implement some of his insights too. Good luck to us both.

Yes, my all time favourite is this one https://existentialcomics.com/comic/125 I am actually familiar with the character in this comic, it's based on real life (though in my life they were young men at university, not teenagers). And as a moral realist, I enjoy "administering 50 ccs of moral realism".

What's up, how's the running, darebee, and food?

Ehhh, bureaucracy and telephone calls are like my least favourite adulting obligation. Hopefully they won't mess anything else up.

It's always a good time to start. Welcome and good luck! Those goals look prudent and achievable.

Welcome Pierre! Yeah, the forums can be a great source of inspiration and support. Good luck with your fitness journey

Gotcha. Stats scared you off, it didn't reel you in. Hey, your degree looks a little like mine in terms of the level of concentration... I have a BA (Honours I) with a double major in philosophy... there was no such thing as a minor in my programme, but almost all my electives were... philosophy. I just googled practical theology and it looks SO interesting.

Hamburg pics. Beauty and ugliness everywhere. Graffiti art and grime. Building sites and parks. Beautiful old buildings and rotten detritus.

So the rest of the trip was fine, and my brother picked me up from the train station. We had an excellent long chat then went to bed early. Today I couldn't decide what coffee shop to work in. I got the impression they are all more like little restaurants that serve breakfast, cakes and sandwiches. I'm not sure if it's socially acceptable to just buy coffee and then whip out one's laptop and work for an hour. Maybe I should work from home or the library? But the library looks so ugly. Since I was indecisive about that I decided to hit the gym instead. There's a place not too far away that has day passes. My only complaint is that the fixed arms on the squat rack are WAY too high... maybe by six inches. First I tried squatting in the rack and just not going as far... it was hugely distracting and my squats were wobbly. Then I just decided to squat outside the rack. It was a relief. But I'll have to be careful about not going too close to failure. Especially since my new squat numbers will be bigger (seeing as I added 15lb to the 1rm on which they're calculated). Hmmm. Try not to fail, that's the thing. I did some grocery shopping, some reading, and some knitting. I finished Newport's Digital Minimalism, which resonated with me. I was thinking, maybe a new environment can support some new habits? I'm considering trying to fill my days with useful, valuable activities and minimising mindless internet use and passive entertainment. I'm thinking I could set aside an hour for internet, news, nerd fitness in the afternoon at 4-5pm before my brother gets home. Then I would try to fill the rest of the day with reading, writing, lifting, knitting, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning and maybe exploring Hamburg. Yeah, I'm going to attempt it. No internet before 4pm, except to find routes to places and other practical stuff. Lots of reading and writing. Oh, and I'm going to have to watch the drinking because I got the impression alcohol is considered necessary to social events, and my being here is a series of daily social events...

I don't know what either of those are, but I'm going to google them. Yay food. Excellent work by little bit on gaining the ounces.

Yeah, I read the BC pills can maybe lead to slightly slower muscle growth, though I don't think it's been studied nearly enough. But it's one of the reasons I decided on other methods. Oddly enough, I don't find periods to be particularly inconvenient. No symptoms or anything except my skin. But my skin wasn't great on BC, either, so... *shrug* Excellent work! The applications, I mean. Good luck with the LIFTING!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait. What role does stats play in theology?

Oooh, that takes me back to my childhood. Ahhh, the concept of capsules and getting needed items every season is so grown up. I should do this, too. It's a bit annoying, but t-shirts just don't last. They get holes, they get shabby or stretched out of shape. I should probably just commit to replacing them more often. Hmmm.