This is the other side of my brain (†). Like a garden in the forest that the world will never see. Asking a question on a dream job for SWIM. Where do people who go fishing plastic out of the oceans store all of it? (†) https://youtu.be/x_a2GA2CSOM ------------------ Entertainment Maps ------------------ This summer I made a map of my entertainment for the season. Written by pencil on an A5 notepad sheet. Mostly emulated videogames from arcade and various consoles. Stuff that I own, too, but the hardware has been broken since forever, and I wanted to get the visual feeling for it again. Some books, some programming and studying, a couple of purchases, some items about a notable card game too. I ended up crossing like 1% or 2% of it. Then autumn came and I made another map, on a smaller sheet. 80x120 mm. A custom format I reckon. Winter comes in two weeks, and I have crossed one or two items only. I like the feeling of paper. I like that I can erase and rewrite things on a piece of processed wood that has no screen and no backlight. It's a constant reminder of how hectic life is, and how much of it is left unlived. I would like an even smaller map for Christmas. (2023) ------------- COVID Stories ------------- [1] I saw two girls on a wooden bench. They were clearly friends, sitting close to each other, one on the seat, the other on the backrest. Both texting. Both wearing no mask. The bench was at the borders of a small garden, the grass littered with junk that came out from an overflowing bin nearby. Here we are, I said to myself: back to square one. (2020) [2] I was outside the pharmacy waiting my turn. There wasn't a proper queue: people sat around on a parapet outside the entrance. Everyone but me was wearing masks even if we all were distanced more than 1 mt. Barely anyone can be heard when they were talking because of the mask but especially because of the traffic going on in the street. The noise of engines never ceased, be them propelling cars around or tickling while cars were still at traffic red lights. I felt myself getting shaken more and more by that noise. It's like I noticed it for the first time. I wonder if I'm going to get accustomed to it again - and if getting accustomed means that my stress level will be constantly higher without me even being aware of it in the slightest. (2020) [3] I don't understand the logic behind claiming that a certain clinical event has no correlation with a certain vaccine while *at the same time* adding that event to the list of possible side effects on the leaflet of that vaccine. (2021)