- I am back to teaching again. ML to data engineers in my company and Python to Electrical Engineers who use Matlab. I learn more because I prepare for my lectures.
- I work on time series data. As a romantic gesture, I started reading theoretical physics on time as an entity. It’s a black hole I have fallen into and am taking my colleagues along. ( The company was founded by engineers from NASA and we have folks from Space industry. ) We read, explain it to each other and get stuck together in concepts we don’t understand. I have a degree that says ‘Doctor of Philosophy’. I finally am starting to feel like one.
- I have started networking with the regenerative farming community in India. It’s my dream to become a farmer and perhaps even do some computer vision for agriculture. The aquifers in India have been drying up and I always found it too risky to make the career switch. But the folks out there have figured out low-risk locations and methods to work around it. It’s starting to look like a possibility if I can plan for it and work towards it. Can I really quit and walk away from this lifestyle I have ? Oh minimalism, help me out here a little. And quickly. We need to get to net zero emissions in 11 years and the emissions are on the rise.
- Mina Huskador. Her vet thinks she is 9 months – making her a puppy officially. I always wanted a puppy but wanted to adopt an older dog. #adoptDontShop. Events somehow aligned and she found us. I walk her thrice a day. I dress up like I am asked to appear on a catwalk. And strut, we both do. I appreciate the warmth of the woolens I own and the quality of my shoes, now more than before. She has made me an outdoors-woman – someone who spends more time embracing the weather than hiding for nature’s mood swings.
Read :
Want to move to France to do climate research ?
Think better : First Principles approach of Physics.
Ten lessons from Pattern Making.
Fossil Fuel free portfolio. ( But if we still rely on growth of the market … )
A scientific breakthrough to make plastic truly recyclable.
This comic on privilege and climate change. ( I would add to this cartoon by showing the privileged individuals sprinkling extra water into the boat with a dialog box that says “I am sitting in my comfy large home and picking out my next air travel destination that has the best carnivorous food choices. But we need more collective action, not individual”. )
Watch :
On improving your concentration.
Materialism :
Alabama Chanin released a book on stitches.
“ Even making “cheap” clothing requires a substantial amount of human effort and skill”
This really stuck a chord with me.
When the “buy less, buy better” mantra became the battle call of the ethical/sustainable elite community and entire fast fashion wardrobes were Marie Kondoed out of closets and deemed “throw away” clothes, we took a giant step back from having gratitude for what we had and the resources that were needed to bring those clothes into being. Imagine the garment worker who toiled all day only to be told his/her work was “throw away”?
I guess my point is that so many people are forced to work for organizations that may not align with their values/ethics because money to survive supercedes all other considerations. Choice is a luxury. Respect for hard work shouldn’t be withdrawn because someone happens to produce or do a job you don’t like.
Disdain for the CEOs that are all about profits and not people/environment….another story!
Recently heard this line : “Throwing out all your fast fashion clothing to buy ethical clothing is like starting a diet, but eating all the cookies in the house first.” Gosh, how true. I am guilty of doing massive declutters when i first started. All I read about minimalism was about decluttering and I equated the both. I dont know why I kept reading these blog posts on decluttering instead of a good book with some depth on this subject. Yes, respect for an object and the work that went into its existence is the fundamental truth if we want to do some good in this area.
The more blogs I read from the 10%, the more jaded I seem to become. This ability to throw away, the illusion of choice, the lip service to sustainability while preaching what to buy, …. all of this is so jaded. Its like a charade, imo. The best learning thats coming my way is from women who don’t belong to the 10%. More real. More raw. Less sponsored. More worn in clothing. More mends. More love.