So glad that I made a stop in Cincinnati to visit Collective Espresso. They rotate beans from various roasters, and during my brief visit over Memorial Day weekend, they featured this gesha from Sweet Bloom based out of Denver. This is hands down the best bean I’ve brewed at home. Ever. I finished off the beans yesterday, but I’m keeping this bag as a token – a reminder to go out of my way to explore and try new things. 

I’ve finally made some headway into Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth. It’s a collection of short stories all focusing on Indian American immigrant families and their experiences. I read the title story over the past few days. Oh Lord, just wow. So many emotions, far more internal than the stories in Interpreter of Maladies.I think a lot of American-born children of immigrant parents have conflicted feelings toward their parents. Eternally grateful for their sacrifices and giving us a better life, yet we’re often critical of their shortcomings and resentful of their inability to understand us. The title story gave me some insight into both perspectives, so I’m gonna try my very best to better understand my parents. I’m amazed that her writing so accurately encapsulates these real emotions, and better yet, enlightens me with real wisdom.

Habits easily compound, both good and bad. Ramadan left me with a few bad habits that fed off each other – eating late at night, often eating out, not exercising, and spending a lot of time watching Netflix. I’m trying my best to sustain one good habit, and hopefully it’ll snowball into more good habits. The key is consistent exercise. Yesterday I ran a mile and lifted after work, and it felt really great. More energetic, more awake, more focused. I even had the energy to read before bedtime, and Netflix didn’t happen! Consistency is key, so after work today, no excuses. Running that mile and getting swole in the weight room.

I woke up this morning feeling awful. I slept only about 5 hours and I had a raging headache. Perhaps the caffeine dependence is coming back. I tend to feel blue most Sundays just from thought of the upcoming week, but I made up my mind that today  I will not succumb to such counterproductive mind traps. Sundays are meant to be enjoyable, so today became an ultimate treat yo’self day. I enjoyed a wonderful pastrami poutine at The General Muir, a New York deli inspired restaurant, and even treated myself to a slice of cheesecake there. The cheesecake is so dense and rich – it might honestly be the best cheesecake I’ve had in my life. The day definitely took a positive turn from such an indulgent morning, but I will stay level-headed. I’ll go out for a run tonight to compensate for this. I promise.

The biggest struggle these past few months has been dealing with traffic. Atlanta has a major traffic issue. Walking is impossible, transit is not comprehensive, and as a result, everyone has a car. Almost every person has four empty seats traveling with them on these highways every day. It takes me about an hour to get to work, and about an hour and a half to get home. But nowadays I’ve been staying until about 7pm at work, and traffic is dead by then and I can get home in about 25 minutes. I use those two hours to do things for myself – read, write, gym, or just running errands. It effectively saves me over an hour of transit time, and I come home feeling more productive and accomplished for the day. Win win.

Wow. This makes me proud to be a transplant. Raised in Indiana, educated in Philadelphia, and now maturing in Atlanta. Atlanta was very much unaccustomed earth to me, and it’s taken over a year to make this place finally feel like home. No regrets at all, things turned out wonderfully.

This excerpt is from the opening pages of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth

What a whirlwind of events since my last post. My day of coffee shop chillin’ ended with my car breaking down. Serpentine belt snapped suddenly, and the engine was bound to overheat and further damage itself. Lucky I pulled over immediately and consulted the YarisWorld forum to learn that towing the car to a mechanic is the way to go. I stood in the Atlanta heat for about three hours, waiting for the tow truck to show up. In the meantime I retreated myself to coconut water and a Martinelli’s apple juice. I got the car towed and fixed today, and thankfully I got to work from home as a result. These are life’s knocks – just gotta stay calm and persevere. Things aren’t always as bad as they seem. 

It’s been a great weekend. I usually feel awful on Sundays as the upcoming work week lurks merely hours ahead. But this weekend has been different. Honestly I haven’t done much, and I think that’s the key. I used to view the weekdays as an absolute drag, and I’d live it up on the weekends. In a sense, I was living 2 out of 7 days of the week while burning away the other 5 days. My new strategy is to make the weekdays a bit less painful and the weekends not quite as exciting. In spirit of this weird strategy, I’ve done close to nothing this weekend beyond house chores, catching up on emails, and some random writing projects. Doing less on the weekends make these two days feel much longer. The weekends used to disappear in a blink of an eye. In fact, burning away the weekdays and living it up on the weekends makes life disappear in a blink of an eye. I want to slow things down and live in the moment. Today has been just that. This morning I brewed some coffee, walked to the park, practiced my jump shot and left-handed layups, and now I’m sitting in a coffee shop. Cortado sippin, blog writin’, Python codin’. Not the most lit Sunday afternoon one could have, but I’m loving every minute of it.

Summertime in Atlanta is no joke. These days it’s in the upper 90s and humid almost every day. Today was no exception. It is currently 8pm and I am yet to leave my apartment just to avoid dealing with this awful heat. Confining myself to 500 square feet for the past 26 hours sounds depressing, but it’s been strangely enjoyable and relaxing. I caught up on the little random tasks that clutter my life. Taking out the trash, cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry, dusting surfaces, going through emails, and even planning out some future travels. I know it isn’t good to obsess about these endless little tasks, but sometimes it feels good to get them out of the way – well, perhaps just for a few days until it all starts again. Maybe I’m getting old, but the idea of staying in often sounds more appealing than going out. All with balance though, surely I’ll go out somewhere tomorrow.

It’s tough to find happiness in weeks like this. Such devastating news all around the world and even here at home now. We need more empathy, more caring, more accepting. I’m thankful for all the folks out there who care about me. The ones who say happy birthday, Eid Mubarak, congratulations. Even a simple hey, what’s up, hello. With such darkness around us lately, these people make me happy and hopeful.