Random side-quests: one day I did a bicycle trip alongside the new tram rail “Jokeri Light Rail” to see how it cuts through all the various city districts in Helsinki and Espoo.
Summer continues. Have I been up to anything worth writing? Well, regardless of the answer I’ll write something anyways.
Self-improvement
One thing I’ve noticed with my light physical exercises is that some workouts that were slighty hard two months ago are now easier. So steady progress is been made, even if there is no six pack to photograph in front of a mirror. Just knowing I’m even slightly in better shape than six months ago is satisfying enough.
I’ve also continued reading various self-help books (maybe a few too many now). One recurring theme I keep reading is that I need to actively practice getting out of my “inner chatter” and start paying more attention to the world around me.
Crucially, I should accept my never ending stream of thoughts exist (as toxic as some might be), but understand they are not absolute truths that I should agree upon. This and focusing on the now is challenging however and requires patient practice just like the physical exercises.
Outside Helsinki
One thing that I have been saying week in week out that I need to exit Helsinki soon, yet I haven’t done anything about it (most obvious reason being the lack of scheduling). Luckily one morning I did manage to drag myself to a local train with my bike that took me to Lahti and bicycled around the area for half a day before returning home. What a relief. Hopefully the next attempt to escape Helsinki will be easier now.
Taking a short break from bicycling somewhere in Hollola, near Lahti.
Lahti did surprise me with a visual arts museum I wasn’t aware of and especially Jeremy Shaw’s video installation was pretty impressive. And just seeing a big lake beside the city was nice too.
Phase Shifting Index by Jeremy Shaw at the Lahti Museum of Visual Arts.
Tactics x Football
The theme back on the sofa has been the European Football Championship (Euro 2024), which will thankfully end soon as it has kept me awake after midnight and yet most of the games have been quite boring.
At least I realized that I could use my television’s Picture in Picture feature, so I could play Tactics Ogre: Reborn on my PlayStation and see what is happening in the football game at the same time.
The troop size in Tactics Ogre is growing slowly (and adding to the amount of tinkering per unit).
Tactics Ogre sure is a relaxing way to waste many hours with despite being slightly repeative. Yet I’ve clocked so far 128 hours with it and just maybe I’m over half-way of the storyline?