Weekly Report #28 - Mastodon, Hometown, and the Hide-and-Seek Cat

Preface#

This article is a record and reflection of my life from January 23, 2023, to January 31, 2023.

Most of this week was spent in my hometown, making up for some regrets. It was plain but precious. After returning to Hangzhou, I stayed for an extra day to meet a friend before hastily returning to Beijing. As soon as I arrived home in Beijing, I quickly put down my luggage and couldn't wait to go to my colleague's house to pick up Nie Nie. By the time I finished tidying up, I was already in a daze. I quickly freshened up and planned to take a short nap before writing the weekly report. But when I opened my eyes again, it was already 7 o'clock in the morning. Combined with the fact that I had to commute to the office during the day, I postponed writing the report until now.

On the first day back, Nie Nie made me angry, adding a bit of surprise to my first day of work. But thinking that I had returned to this interesting daily life, I felt more at ease than blaming her (~~I dare not blame her~~). Then I quickly ordered a mobile camera. No wonder my friend said I was raising Nie Nie like a daughter. I worry about her in every way. There were also many other interesting things.

Interesting Things and Objects#

Mastodon#

I didn't write much blog posts this week, and I didn't finish the things I wanted to do before the Chinese New Year. However, I did some research on the fediverse and found it very interesting.

elk_zone_mastodon_yu

I originally wanted to post some English content on Mastodon, but then I thought it would be better to narrow down my own output platform. I will still post on Twitter and automatically sync it to Mastodon through IFTTT. It will still be aggregated on Telegram channels and Crossbell. Interested friends can join me. I am @[email protected] in the mas.to domain.

There are several interesting articles about these topics that I read and gained a lot of understanding:

Crossbell#

In addition, in the previous article "Weekly Report #25 - Personal Information Output and Synchronization System Based on Crossbell (Reconstruction)," I mentioned the problem of synchronizing Twitter and Telegram message history to the blockchain. I have also obtained corresponding solutions from them:

When I use them, I also reported a few bugs. I will write a detailed article and raise some issues after experiencing them more deeply. It's quite interesting.

Input#

Books#

My Career as a Novelist: In fact, Murakami's essays or collections are quite enjoyable to read. The language is sharp yet sincere, with a unique charm that feels like a conversation. It often contains subtle humor that makes me smile. It took me about three months to finish reading it, and as one of the few physical books I have, I often flip through it casually. When I first went to the cat shelter, although I was tempted, I didn't have the determination to take on such responsibility so quickly. But in one of the pages I randomly turned to, it said, "At that time, we lived a very frugal Spartan life. There was no TV or radio in the house, not even an alarm clock. There was almost no heating equipment, so we had to cuddle with the cats we raised to keep warm on cold nights." These few sentences became the biggest motivation for me to bring a cat home. It also talked about many things, such as hobbies, writing purposes, creative ideas, and balance. It took me nearly two months to truly understand them after calming down.
The End of the World and a Hard Boiled Wonderland: It's been a long time since I felt such anticipation from a novel, maybe because of the narrative style or because I read a few short chapters during the journey, always wanting to know what will happen next but not wanting to miss out on the beautiful writing. The setting of this "another space" reminds me of an old but equally interesting game, "The Legend of Abandoned Capital."

TV Series#

Shizuka: I really liked the first few episodes. The songs by Spitz, the personalities of the characters, and the comfortable daily life were all very enjoyable. Perhaps because I empathized too much with the emotional struggle of the male protagonist, it reminded me of the tenderness and determination described by Shunji Iwai as "I love you, but it has nothing to do with you." However, I was disappointed with the development of the story, and in the end, I couldn't understand the starting point of the relationship between Aoyu and Shizuka. It was beautiful but somewhat straightforward and shallow.
The Three-Body Problem (TV Series): It has become a series that I follow every day. The plot is a bit slow, but so far, I still have some expectations for it.

Anime#

Bungo Stray Dogs: I caught up on it during the Chinese New Year holiday. The concept of using writers and literary works as tasks and skills is quite interesting. I like the personalities and character designs of the members of the detective agency. However, I don't feel the urge to immediately watch the next season. Maybe I will continue watching it later when I remember.

Personal Life Highlights#

Life#

Continuing from the description of my home in last week's report, I spent nearly 10 days in my hometown during the Chinese New Year, which is rare in recent years. The number of people in my hometown is decreasing, and the atmosphere is becoming quieter and less lively. But we were able to set off fireworks, creating a different kind of memory.

Since I left home at a young age, my childhood playmates and memories have long been blurred, let alone childhood friends. So during these ten days, I visited my grandmother, accompanied my grandparents and grandfather, and other family members. It was a rare and leisurely time.

There was an abundance of warmth, but the sub-zero temperature made me miss the cozy moments with heating and Nie Nie (~~gradually losing the integrity of a southerner and surrendering to heating, so comfortable~~). Fortunately, I brought my old Intel MBP, and it quickly warmed up when I ran an IDE and opened a few web pages.

I brought a camera this year, although I didn't take it out to shoot much due to the cold. However, I took many family portraits. The elderly in my family don't like taking photos, but fortunately, we now have smartphones and other tools to record daily life at any time, so there aren't too many regrets. But I still miss the time when the whole family went to the photo studio to take pictures, even though it was a memory from many years ago. This time, I acted as the photographer and took many photos of the whole family and each individual family. Sony's autofocus and continuous shooting are worth praising.

When I arrived at my home, my sister brought a dog as a "placeholder" and said that I could just Photoshop myself in the picture. She was jokingly playing the role of a comedian targeting her older brother. In the end, we did take a photo with the dog, the four of us lined up neatly, without me, haha. This is probably one of those interesting things that sound absurd but seem normal in my family.

Of course, the family portrait of the extended family was taken with a tripod and timed continuous shooting. I plan to fix and develop some of the photos soon.

Nie Nie#

nie_nie_on_the_bed

This time, I was away from Nie Nie for almost half a month. Although my colleagues were very attentive and often sent me videos, I still couldn't help but worry. The first thing I did when I returned to Beijing was to go to my colleague's house. On the way back, I comforted her in various ways. Fortunately, she didn't forget me and still had some conscience. After returning home, there wasn't much unfamiliarity. She quickly jumped onto my favorite spot and comfortably lay down. It's really nice.

The next day, because I had some things to discuss with my project team colleagues and it had been a long time since I went to the office, I tidied up and went to the company. After getting used to remote work, I felt a bit uncomfortable returning to the office. It was already 10:30 when I arrived at the company. I exchanged a few words with my long-lost colleagues, but as soon as I opened my computer, I was called to have lunch. After eating, it was time for a nap. I felt that deliberately dividing time into "work and rest" made it easier to disrupt the rhythm. I might still prefer the mode of finishing work without eating or drinking and then arranging my own time.

There was also something that was both annoying and amusing.

dispear_nie_nie

After three months, I went to the office for the first time. When I turned on the camera during the lunch break, I couldn't see the cat for ten minutes. I shouted into the microphone for five minutes without a response. I carefully recalled whether I had closed my doors and windows properly. I felt extremely annoyed and anxious. I quickly applied for leave and rushed home. When I got home, I found her hiding lazily behind a blind spot of a chair. I guess the number one reason for me to find a fully remote job next time is this troublesome Nie Nie 🙃.

And there's a follow-up.

dispear_nie_nie_2

Follow-up to the previous incident. After I came back, I originally wanted to educate her, but she quickly jumped onto my lap and fell asleep. When she woke up, she looked confused and innocent. I couldn't bear it, so I ended the cold war after an hour. In addition, I ordered the ebo mobile camera recommended by @mr_easonyang. Thank you! Now I can go out with peace of mind!

~~In the future, I can control the surveillance robot to play with the cat when I'm slacking off.~~

Others#

Two close friends have encountered some conflicts that are currently difficult to reconcile. As a small group that has been like family for many years, I can't help but feel that I haven't done enough.

I hope everything will be fine.