as we get older, grouchier, crankier and more creaky it is admittedly getting harder and harder to get out there and have fun together. “fun” is such a strange word for me…
How would my 43 year old self react to the 33 year old me? I hope I will make her proud. I laugh at my 20s self, but there were things that remained constant – my desire to question and analyze every single bit of my life.
I am 44 years old now, and it is difficult to process that it has been 11 years since I’ve written that post. Am I proud of my 33 year old self? I think I am more concerned about how my 33 year old self would think of this 44 year old self.
My 33 year old self was misguided in some ways, emotionally immature in other ways, but I think she did her best she could at that time. Those years were still some of the best years of my life.
What surprised me from that post was a quote I included from my 21 year old self:
What is real, really? Who are we to define what is real?
I guess some things just never change.
Today also marks 10 years since I’ve moved back from the US. I don’t miss the place per se, but I miss the innocence and optimism I had while I was there.
ecently unexpectedly she started going to the gym with me — at first she wasn’t sure if she could really commit to it because to avoid crowds we have to go to…
the latency of eink is slower so there is always a slight lag when drawing, and due to the inherent nature of the technology it can be frustrating to draw with, but at least i don’t have to suffer the glare of the ipad, plus it is more forgiving than pen and paper. i also like the idea that digital drawings are a lot more portable, but there is still something so romantic about the physical sketchbook. i guess for me, every medium has its seasons.
(thanks to @katebingburt for the inspiration to do these b&w drawings)
The Airfanta 3 pro is a corsi-rosenthal-style air purifier that is sold commercially and has an impressive CADR (clean air delivery rate). It is also relatively affordable compared to air purifiers with equivalent CADR. Most importantly, it is collapsible so it can be packed into a luggage, backpack or bag.
I brought its sibling the Airfanta 3 non-pro on my recent trip to Khao Yai. I wanted to clean the air in the rental car so I had to figure out how to power it without a power socket. I had intermittently come across people posting that it can be run with a portable battery, but the how-to wasn’t that easy to find. It was not documented anywhere except on one twitter thread and one reddit thread. So I thought I’ll share my learnings here in case some internet stranger needs this later.
It comes with an adjustable dc 12v power supply: adjusting the voltage adjusts the fan speed, which would affect the CADR. The Airfanta 3 pro requires 12v 3A to run at full speed, whereas the non-pro version requires a 12v 2A power supply. It will still power up if the voltage or amperage is lower – it will just run slower.
So to run it on usb power we will need:
a dc 5.5*2.5mm 12v to usb-c cable – there are such cables with a built-in voltage selector for fan speed control (example on amazon)
as 12v 3A portable battery – at least 10000mah so that it can run for at least an hour but be mindful of the regulated limit if it has to be transported on the plane. If in a time crunch, any portable battery will do, it will just run slower.
optional:
car lighter charger capable of charging 12v 3A if you want to run it in a car
usb pd charger capable of charging 12v 3A – useful if you don’t want to bring the original power supply on travels
Basically with the dc 12v to usb-c cable it can be plugged into any usb-pd power source.
Apart from travelling overseas this is useful for situations where there is no power socket available, like at the dentist. The smaller airfanta 3 is half the size of the pro so it fits into a standard-sized boston bag:
The CADR is only half the speed of the pro version, but I find it a reasonable exchange for the portability. It is not available internationally though.
Bringing the airfanta purifiers around give me more of a peace of mind, especially at the dentist and in hotel rooms. It is still a hassle, but I guess health is priceless.
when i was into bicycles she would accompany me to see bicycles, she would even accompany me to computer malls in various cities around the world even though she has zero interest. i think the world is always trying to deaden us, so any attempt to nurture aliveness should be applauded. she, has brought more life to me than anyone or anything else; she, encouraged my adhd-switching of hobbies, never frustrated with me when I lose interest in things rapidly; she, who would cover my ears when planes go by because of my sensory difficulties; she, who goes anywhere i want to go – in return i have accompanied her to yarn shops, fabric markets, museums, art supply shops, nature walks…throughout the 111 months together she has also been changing like seasons. so today we spent the entire day looking at sewing machines, in between i get to get my daily dose of cafe hopping and matcha. i guess every month on this day we not only celebrate our love, but we celebrate what each other love as individuals too. in a world that is so numbing, isn’t it wonderful to love somebody, something, some time? i feel so lucky that we both have similar priorities in life, knowing that all else is just distraction and noise.
happy birthday to my favouritest person in the world. thank you for everything you are and aren’t, for making my world a much better place, for seeing me more than i can ever see myself. i was a flat dull person before you, with you i discover roundness and colours. just like you bring life to scraps by sewing them, you have given me life by putting the broken pieces of me back together. the dimensions of you are infinite, just like these pictures of you.
as we get older we tend to be more conservative in terms of the things we would attempt to do, so our world gradually shrinks because we tend to stay in our safe and comfortable zone, experiencing less and less as we prefer the sameness of our routines. but for this trip i deliberately wanted to break out: haven’t drove in a foreign country since 2019 but we wanted to experience something different. am glad we did so, and i love that she supports my weird endeavours even though she tends to be skeptical. what a wonderful place to spend our 110 months together, how lucky i am to be able to build memories with her, that i can still delight her by bringing her to experience a new place, that we can still attempt to find some joy and brightness in chaotic times. we both don’t take peace and health for granted so we try to cherish the present and do everything we want to do while we can. after living for more than 4 decades of life i realised how difficult it is to find someone who is not only on the same page when we met but also still moving in a similar direction after nine-ish years together. it is so precious to grow together, to have someone to share and endure the messiness, heartbreaks and surprises of living. happy 110 months: i just like being with you so much i want to go everywhere and spend everytime with you.
