My father’s father died of a heart attack at 64. After that, my father’s fitness discipline was suddenly clarified as a daily grounding, in a way that was not future-oriented but present-oriented. In observing him, I learned the importance of exercise as a practice — not of becoming but of being.

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2. health
3. exercise

This week, Kraken announced that it was partnering with National Grid in New York and Massachusetts to act as the AI customer service and billing platform for 6 million U.S. customers.

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2. climate change
3. energy
4. kraken

• 🚲 I rode my Brompton into work twice last week and it was great. Having my bag on my bike let me carry things I wouldn't otherwise (my lock, extra shirt) and made the commute much more comfortable. Cycling there had me feeling more focused and on the way back I was able to turn off work-mode. I still need to get the timing of my fold and bag/de-bag and unfold to be a bit quicker, but I 'know I'll get there with a bit more practice.
  
  Going by bike has also enabled me to get coffees at places I wouldn't usually visit / be anywhere near, which is an added bonus.
  

  

• 🏃 My running has been limited to about once a week as of late. But I think cycling to and from the office is maintaining my cardio, especially the the big hills in Tokyo on the way in, and in Yokohama on the way home. This week's run, thanks to those hills, was easier (and faster) than it had been the past few weeks. Gives me hope I can find a balance between running, cycling, and lifting which doesn't cause me stress trying to do all the physical things.
• 🏍️ It's been about 5 years(!) since I first watched Long Way Up. Last week (or the week before last) the newest edition of the duo's motorcycle adventures Long Way Home (youtube) started on AppleTV+ and it's great.

• 🌷 This week had Mother's Day. This was the first time I was able to get Leo into it a bit and we went out on a secret mission to the local Ito Yokado to get a card, chocolates, and a sweet Magewappa Bento Box (traditional wood bento). When we got some, Leo could not wait so he wrote his message and gave it to Yumi a day early. I facetimed with my mom for the fist time in far too long as well. A successful day celebrating all the moms in our lives.
• 🚲 I rode my bike to the office for the first time in a long time. Rather than getting on/off the train at Shinbashi, I rode from one station further back on the Tokaido line, Shinagawa. The extra ride time was great. This convinced me it was finally time to retire my regular backpack of 12 - 13 years and got a messenger bag that I can attach to the front of my Brompton. This will make it so my bike is doing the carrying of things and my back won't end up as sweaty. I took it for  a spin over the weekend and it's everything I thought it would be. I look forward to commuting to the office again this week.
• 🎥 I watched this excellent chat with Jony Ive. It reminded me how much I like thinking about not just the implementation details of software, but design and UX as well. There were some very interesting practices he and the design team at Apple used to build empathy between the team: someone on the team would be responsible for making breakfast for the entire team on Fridays and every so often they all go work and design at someone's house. I don't think I'll try these with my team (we're spread across the globe), but it's an interesting thought experiment nonetheless.
• 📚 I finished In The Weeds: Around the World  and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain. If you're a fan of Bourdain and his shows, I recommend it. You get a real sense for just how difficult that show was to make and that it still turned into such good work is a testament to the entire team. Needing another non-business book to read, I started on Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod. I enjoy his newsletters and blog posts and this book does not disappoint.

• 🏆 It's golden week and I've enjoyed a 4-day holiday. The weather has been 75% great. 3 sunny days around 25c and 1 rainy day. Luckily the last day was the rainy day, so it creates an opportunity to rest by forcing you to stay in.
• 🐓 We broke out the barbecue and invited the whole family over for lunch. We grilled all the colors of bell peppers, chorizo, chicken, shrimp,  yaki-niku beef, and some ahijo. It was a lot of fun, though the heat and lack of shade exhausted me by the end of it.
• 🚲 I went Tokyo Pottering. This post has a lot of photos and reminds me of my blog 20 years ago when I was a student, especially as all photos were taken with my Canon Powershot. Navigating around with my cellphone worked great, though it chews through battery.
• ⌚️ In my efforts to live a less distracted life I've been thinking about the role of watches and phones in my life. 
  
  On one hand, I find my Apple Watch very useful. I like tracking my movement and sleep with it. It's also very useful for when I ride trains and because I wear it on my right wrist (left handed 🙌🏻), going through the train gates requires zero cross reaching or digging for a passes. With the battery on its last legs, upgrading to a cellular version is tempting because then I could leave my phone at home.
  
  On the other hand, putting my classic G-Shock back in service to tell me the time sounds great. But am I going to become a double-watch wearer? That feels awkward. But also using a physical card for transport (no battery to run out) and phone in your pocket/bag feels consistent with my trying to use my actual camera for photos again. No conclusion on this one, except I think I may try double watches for a period.
• 🎥 This film by Beau Miles, A moment 29 years ago changed everything, has me thinking about my own life, forks in the road to get where I am today, and community.