As I usually do, I ditched the blog for a couple of months, getting carried away with other things. Sometimes it was just that, but more often I simply didn't have the energy or mood, period.
A lot has happened over these months. I managed to finish the kitchen renovation. Buy curtains and mountains of tea. Read the book (web-serial) Unsong by the well-known blogger Alexander Scott. Ride a few hundred kilometers on my bike. Get another dose of serious problems and trouble. Such is life.
The renovation looks beautiful (to me). I made the oak shelves myself in my dad's workshop, dad taught me. Working with wood is very pleasant. If you do it completely from scratch, even the simplest thing, a rectangular shelf with hidden mounting, is a tricky business.
I absolutely loved the pu-erh from the Crimson Lotus Tea shop, all three that I tried. Exceptionally cool taste, very delicate, slightly sweet or even creamy, but at the same time quite unusual for shou.
These are the ones I tried.
From the https://www.bitterleafteas.com/ shop, there are also good pu-erh nuggets, and excellent Dancong oolongs. Generally speaking, Dancong is red tea, but very often I come across oolongs specifically. I still haven't fully figured out why there is such a mix-up.
The book is excellent, and very mind-bending. There is even a translation of a couple of chapters into Russian, but the book is quite difficult to read, and for translation it's just kaput.
I especially liked the dialogue between God and Job, where God answers the question of why there is evil in the world. There's a standalone version here (not exactly the same as in the book).
Unsong organization logo
Right now I'm reading the novel "Railsea" by China Miéville, excellent psychedelia, easy to read (in Russian). I would call it magical realism, but they say it's urban fantasy. Whatever.
I hope new parts of my summer travels will appear soon, but I won't promise anything.
Also, board games on weekends have kind of resumed. My plan to lose weight down to 80 kg has so far stalled around 86. I've sworn off shaving my beard until I lose the weight, and it keeps growing. Just like the weights I can lift at the gym. That makes me happy, but it's some sort of sideways movement, not straight forward. As usual.