Cats, good books, AI, and religious walking in the city of Sofia
Happy to report that the simple and strong goal to make 1 pull-up by the end of the year seems to be sticking. I created a plan. First step is re-learning how to hang from a bar. I already did 6 hanging exercises, which is about 6 more than I did last year. I realize that there’s a big difference between hanging and being able to actually move in the upward direction. Wish me luck.
I had a walk today and according to some of the photos, the sky was actually visible. It felt sad and gloomy.
This is from my neighborhood, I want to go to that place and just paint over. However, there’s a school nearby, so it’s a lost cause.
Essentially me.
Moskva means Moscow in Bulgarian. The owners didn’t dare to remove these socialist signs. This was once a cinema. However, when I first went to a cinema in the mid-80s, I think it had already closed. There used to be another cinema on the opposite side of the street, which functioned until the early 90s, and was fine. It’s now a supermarket.
Overall, had a nice walk of almost 15K steps. Couldn’t capture any optimistic photos but I think these are pretty in their own way.
ChatGPT roasted my draft post for today and even cutting half of it didn’t help much. A few cats came to the rescue. The temperatures today were above zero and they crawled out of their shelters, giving me plenty to share.
I’ve been having trouble taking photos of cats this January. They hide from the cold, and so do people.
Here’s a European Green Woodpecker instead, taking a snow bath. It was the first time I’d ever seen this bird in my neighborhood. I had no idea we even had woodpeckers.
Climate change has brought softer winters to Sofia. It is the first time we’ve had two days with snow this season, and the snow barely hides the grass. It was, however, very windy, so the few snowflakes and the modest -2°C felt quite unpleasant. We could call it a snowstorm, in the absence of a real one.
I also managed to see a protest against our mayor. Equal parts protesters, journalists, and police stared at a tiny pile of trash. I walked by piles larger than this on my way to the center.
From left to right:
And in all the photos, the sky, wondering why anyone would go outside on this dark day.
