#creativefitness

Here’s this week’s challenge: read the front page from a newspaper printed 100 years ago.

Luckily the NYTimes has an easy way to do this:

Day 4 and I’m finally charting out my second part of inputs.  Without further adieu...

First, I’m mapping my time across my days. Things are a little different now because of corona. The curriculum said this about that: 

Try not to be overwhelmed. This isn’t an exact science. We’re looking for the major influences. Perfectly tracking and then categorizing how you spent a random sliver of time on a one-time task isn’t worth it or necessary. Just focus on the big building blocks.

I know we’re not looking for exact, but it was fun divvying it out anyway.

Corona-version of my time:

At home, working: 8 hours (33 percent) At home, working out: 2 hours (8 percent) At home, eating: 1.5 hours (~6 percent) At home, watching TV or playing video games: 3 hours (12.5)

At home, working on hobbies 1.5 hours (~6 percent) At home, sleeping: 8.5 hours (34.5 percent)

Besides working and sleeping, the most I do is probably consume fun media or play video games with my friends. What if I swapped any piece of “fun” media for something more edifying? DNA related or not.

Macro influences

How were you raised? Where were you raised? One place? Move a bunch?

Modestly. Small town Oklahoma after moving there when I was 5 for my dad’s professor job. I went to the same school system my entire life until I moved to Edmond, OK for college. 

Level of education? How many of your friends can you trace back to a common school or work environment?

Master’s degree. My three core groups of friends come from high school (they went to the college), the second group I met in undergrad and the third group I met through friends of friends. But my boyfriend got a job where he works with one of them, so there’s a work tie now. 

Interests

What subjects come easily to you? What do you love to learn about?

Literature, art, writing, music, movies, design. The Arts. Government management. 

Hobbies?

Reading, video games, writing, working out, Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, cooking, making stuff. 

Blind Spots/Dislikes

What are subjects you have a blind spot for? 

Math, science, computers. Sorry, I’m a walking stereotype of An English Major. Also I can’t dance, but I like watching other people dance. 

What music can you not (under)stand? Ever tried opera?

Commercialized country about big trucks and hot girls and cold beer. Screamo metal. Dad was a music professor. I like opera. 

How about shows and movies?

Super christian-y movies and media. 

Meant to blog for Day 2. Didn’t. Maybe it’s because the 30 minute DNA research didn’t click yesterday. I broke a couple of times to watch an episode of a TV show or an unrelated YouTube video. 

But even if I have splurged on some “fun brain” stuff, what I am finding is that I’m not just compulsively scouring YouTube for a new hit of dopamine. I honestly feel kind of bad for mindlessly consuming that stuff, even if I did watch a makeup tutorial while washing dishes. 

If the goal was to make me just pause and think about what I’m doing before I do it, then that’s a success already. 

But today, surprise, the DNA stuff did take off for me. All it took was finding a website that has the kind of stuff I want to read about. I think I was being too strict about learning about how DNA works. Since I’m not wanting to be a geneticist, watching video after video about the nuts and bolts of how DNA works was less than inspiring. While I’m glad I know the gist of how it works again, I’m not cramming for finals.

So I’m going to drop some of my favorite links below, but my favorite was probably learning that some renegade biologists raided a conference of world leaders to harvest their DNA. Trump, Merkel, Teresa May. Anyone who was anyone in world leadership in 2018. And their DNA samples are up for auction in this beautifully produced auction booklet. 

Ethics

‘Human Nature’ Review: We Can Now Alter Our DNA. But Should We?

Stephen Hawking feared race of ‘superhumans’ able to manipulate their own DNA

Crime-Solving

‘Old School’ Technique Helps Identify Victim in 50-Year-Old Killing

The Genealogy Website That Helped Crack The Golden State Killer Case Has Been Bought By A Forensic Genetics Firm

Boston Strangler Case: How Long Does DNA Last?

Combatting Disease

Folding@Home

Haunted by a Gene

Why Does Covid-19 Make Some People So Sick? Ask Their DNA

SCIENTISTS: SALAMANDER DNA COULD REGENERATE HUMAN BODY PARTS

Phylo

Charting DNA Through Time

Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA

World's oldest human DNA found in 800,000-year-old tooth of a cannibal

DNA analysis reveals just how intertwined ancient human lineages are

Privacy

EXPERTS: CORPORATIONS COULD DO TERRIBLE THINGS WITH YOUR DNA

APPLE’S EMPLOYEE “WELLNESS” PROGRAM INCLUDES FREE DNA TESTS

Misc.