The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

World population to hit 8 billion, so? Are people still not having kids because it hurts the environment? Havent heard that argument in a while

Salman Rushdie stabbed! I remember when Satanic Verses came out... still havent read it

Double workouts

HSK vocab... 97 minutes on Sunday! Have I been slacking that much? Still no HSK results just yet.

24 miles around 2nd ring road!

YouTube shorts seems to be where its at. Lots of views, faaaar more than anything else

Lex Fridman's podcast with Andrew Bustamante, great listen and well worth the time. Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com, have a good start of week!

Listening to PT Barnum's "The Art of Getting Money". Known for his Barnum & Bailey circus that ran until 2017. USAmerican entrepreneur, in his introduction to this book he says alcohol and tobacco are two of the biggest problems that young people face, especially those who think themselves business savvy. Turns out he was a big smoker and boozer before a visit to Europe which changed his mind. Dual workouts, did NOT feel like getting up this morning... 'what if I just sleep in till 7 then go for a walk?'

OR YOU CAN GET UP, PUT YOUR SHOES ON, AND GO FOR A FKG RUN.

So, two mile run for warmp up followed by a no-weight vest HALF Murph. My deal was that I'd bring down my steel club if I felt really lazy but ended up going for an unweighted attempt at the Half Murph. The result? 10 rounds 5 pull ups, 10 pushups (no knees), and 15 air squats. A LOT easier without the vest! One mile on either side.

Afternoon consisted of another 2-mile run plus skipping plus a slow kb workout.

Why so lazy? My calves have been knotting, like... very close to seizing up. I did'nt want to push it lest I make it knot and just make things worse.

Tried an Argentinian arepa and empanadas today. Alright, but heavily deep fried so not sure I'll try this again. Got them from Andino's.

Getting trolled on my language vlog! Haaaa apparently some don't like my beard. WTF? Really? Haaaaa

Smells like smoke in the Beej... ghost month continues and people are burning the money and other offerings for their ancestors.

Episode 31 is done but yet to be posted. Since I promised you something to listen to I'm instead giving you the Introduction to PT Barnum's Art of Getting Rich. NOT read by me... though that is a thought.

Show notes vids n tracks up on the site stevensirski.com

Have a good weekend!

Joe Rogan reads TikTok's TOS: is it just a data mining app? Contrast Gary Veynarchuk's 'get on TikTok' and his claim that China will surpass the US within the next decade or so. You on it?

Writing a book in 30 days by James Altechur

-Could I write a book for ESL learners? Language learners?

Given the big push towards audio, do you really want to hear everything? Or what about these services that offer to summarize books? Those might work for news or other things where words may be filler, but what about the authors who actually put thought into their words to stand the test of time, not just to meet a deadline or capitalize on he latest ebook topic?

Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com. Have a good one!

Ukraine hits Crimea... why they cant use the weapons to go further into Russia

double workouts... TWO rounds of skip n ballz!

Vocab review, it's all I do

Sanya 80,000 tourists kept from leaving... there could be worse places I guess

On travelling and tourism: since Tibet is closed, they have suggested alternative routes

-would you rather travel on your own (no guide) or go on a packaged tour?

New cam set up for livestreaming. It's a bit of a cobbled-together affair but it'll do for now. Old cell phone, Zoom H4n, and the Reincubate Camo Studio software (free). Looks better already.

Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com

Happy Hump Day!

11 mile bike ride in the morning, get up n get it done

Gotta use up Russian lessons

Never seen anti-Russian sentiment so high before amongst the people I know. Foreign Affairs article. What would it take?

生闷气 (-悶氣) shēng mènqì - sulky

-Are the Chinese people you know a little downtrodden?

Sky miles are disappearing

Metaverse for F1?! Pro sports?!

NFTs are hockey players you create and train

Vodka'd garlic... still good after all these months!

Show noted tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com

Have a good day!

Humidity hits 84%?!

Internet problems... is it just me? Internet repair in Chinese! Thank goodness for translatation and multiple connection lines!

Setting up some new channels for the podcast and possibly will keep the audio blog separate. Also thinking of how to spin off May You Make Your Movie into a separate project.

Sanya hit by THE VIRUS! When will this end? And... turns out some universities in the US had contracts with multiple unis here in China tp research... you guessed it. Bat viruses! And they had some wording in there that meant each side could shimey away from blame.

Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com

Have a good start of week!

Nice and quiet today! No generator!

Slow n twenty workout today, focused more on technique and going slow

Early cause invites to go out

More people leaving but staying in Beijing

'Because if you don't you'll have to update your resume' - a little quote or saying I came up with to motivate myself.

Animations continue... animating bean makes it look like a ball sack some times.

Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com

Have a great weekend!

Qixi day... another Valentine's Day in China

Pelosi gone, internet a little bit better, but not much

Half bike ride today, lots of mobility work.

Humidity high, rainstorm finally to cool things down! Show notes tracks n vids on stevensirski.com Have a good one!

Humidity high! Affecting workout performance.

Few more animations done, need to soundtrack. Leaving open the idea of using anything to animate, but I want to focus on animation this month. A guy I know wrote a few improvised songs for his kid so I used them as inspiration.

China elections coming up, bet you didn't think they happen but yes, they do. Coincidentally, Evergrande executives forced to resign and arrested. Looks like 2015 all over again.

Oh, and why is the internet so spotty? Not just my connection either! Pelosi is visiting Taiwan.

Vocab vocab vocab! Only focusing on vocab these days.

Show notes tracks and vids up on stevensirski.com

Have a good mid week!

Reading some articles on Germany before the war... Foreign Affairs between 1931 and 1940. They saw what was happening. Have a few other articles I want to read on the subject as I find it fascinating and just a touch of a warning in some way. Just something to look out for.

Cyncism is popular, but why don't people reject their passports? They choose to live somewhere else yet they hold on.

Bike ride easy today. 10 miles just under an hour. Didnt want to run after work today either but did the 2 miles... in under 20 minutes.

August animation begins! But this one I want to work on two things: cell by cell animation and claymation. I will stray away from After Effects Motion and instead focus on real world stuff.

New SLV video up - three questions: what language learning troubles are you having, does technology make your studies easier, and what was some of the best advice you've received about learning another language?

Do you think you could replace your current income with something online?

Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com

Have a good one!