Stuff that happened

July started on a rough note as I sustained a lower back injury at the gym. Because of this, I was unable to train jiu-jitsu for the entire month. Injuries are an inevitable part of jiu-jitsu, but I can’t help but get frustrated when I can’t train. I’ve also noticed that I don’t heal as quickly as I used to in my twenties… is this what being 30 feels like?! 😭

---

Later in the month, we took a weekend trip to an AirBnB cottage with a group of friends. It was a great time full of barbecuing, board games and beers.

On the second night, a couple of friends who brought ground beef with them weren’t too sure on how to best prepare burger patties. When they asked if anyone knew how to make burgers, Kylea, knowing that I had gone through a burger phase when I was living the single life, mentioned that I know my way around them. I stood up to the plate and prepared the patties that were to be barbecued that night.

This moment reminded me of a lesson I learned from reading Chris Hadfield’s autobiography An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth back in 2013. One of Chris Hadfield’s life pro-tips was to constantly learn new skills because you never knew when they might come in handy. In his case, he decided to learn how to play the guitar on a whim. Eventually, this led to him covering David Bowie’s Space Oddity in space (which has more than 43 million views on YouTube) and getting a nod from David Bowie himself.

In my case, there was a time in 2015 where I made burgers almost every day. I had found an awesome recipe on Nomnompaleo and obsessed over getting the right sear, flavour, and juiciness.

Fast forward four years, and I was able to use my expertise to confidently cook up burgers (which everybody loved!) using improvised ingredients. Definitely not as cool as making a music video in space, but it was a nice ‘win’ moment nonetheless 🍔.

What I’ve been playing

Because of my injury, I was finally able to start playing God of War 4, which was released back in April 2018 to critical acclaim.

I’m far from beating it and I’d never played the previous games in the series, but I’m really enjoying it so far. What’s crazy about this game is that there are no camera cuts or loading screens, making it a super immersive experience. The controls are tight and wrecking enemies with the Leviathan Axe is so damn satisfying.

I’ve got a long way to go but it’s my favourite game of the year so far. Shoutouts to my friend Charles for lending me this game 🤙.

What I read

This month I read Educated, an autobiography by Tara Westover. In it, Tara recounts her upbringing in an extremely religious family in the mountains of Idaho.

The whole book was a rollercoaster of emotions. The amount of physical and emotional abuse that Tara’s family put her through left me speechless. Her father did not trust the government and prevented her from going to school or receiving medical attention at hospitals. Her mother would not stand up for her when she needed her the most. One of her older brothers had an extremely short fuse and would physically harm her.

The interesting part was that despite all of her family’s flaws, they all showed moments of genuine love and care towards Tara, making their relationships not so black-and-white.

All in all Educated was a great story and I had enjoyed reading about Tara’s struggles with her family and self-discovery. Thanks to my buddy Pierre for recommending this book 👍