Recently-ish

7 min read

Planted: 9 months ago

Last tended to: 8 months ago

It’s been a real busy few months since I’ve written one of these. Many things have happened since:

Deaths in the family
An amicable (and warm) break-up
Continuing to work in perpetual burnout mode

Work

My adventure with OneFootball is drawing to a close. It’s been nothing short of a rollercoaster – dodging the axe in three rounds of layoffs, juggling hats, and somehow keeping the spirit alive. Ah, capitalism. Taking our bodies and minds for at least 40 hours a week, so we can enjoy revenge bedtime procrastination. In an ideal world, I’d hit pause and retreat to a sanctuary of peace to mend from burnout. But alas, the harsh drumbeat of reality echoes louder, chaining me to the grindstone – a slave to the almighty Euro and the somewhat insatiable needs of Maslow’s pyramid. Hello, revenge bedtime procrastination.

OneFootball’s journey, from a unicorn galloping high to one nursing its wounds, has been a blend of triumphs and tears, of moments that had us pumping fists in the air and others that left us scratching our heads in disbelief and dumbfoundedness at some of the users behind the screens. I parted with these words for my team:

“The maps of our lives beckon us to explore new places while urging us to take along those things that have shaped us and made us who we are: the memories, the people, the ideas, the beliefs, the virtues, and values we hold most dear. Stability keeps all this intact when the world of matter outside wants to make us think it is more important than it really is.” - K.E. Colombini

Reading

By sheer coincidence, I began reading “Afropean” during Black History Month. I found the section on Berlin disappointingly brief, possibly because Johny Pitts faced challenges connecting in the city as deeply as he did elsewhere, or perhaps due to the historically smaller Black population here. One line from the book particularly resonated with me, essentially stating that while America (and Africa) are prolific in sharing their black culture, Europe seems less so, explaining my limited knowledge of Black communities in Europe and the difficulties in engaging with them here.

Additionally, I’m keen on brushing up on product management concepts and practices before embarking on my new job. I’m looking forward to dedicating time to reading and learning as much as possible.

looks at backlog of 300+ books on the shelf

History

I recently took part in a Black history museum tour that shed light on the nation’s dark and often neglected history regarding slavery and colonization. While many are familiar with events like the Berlin Conference and Germany’s involvement in Namibia, the roots of this history extend even deeper, dating back to the 17th century with the creation of the Brandenburg African Company. This entity traded in gold, ivory, and enslaved Africans, establishing trading posts and forts along the West African coast, notably in what is now Ghana, such as Fort Groß Friedrichsburg. Through these bases, Brandenburg-Prussia participated in the slave trade, shipping Africans to their Caribbean colonies, like the island of Saint Thomas, before it transferred to Danish control.

The German colonial footprint also covered territories in Togo, Tanzania, Cameroon, and parts of Burundi, Rwanda, and Nigeria. Alarmingly (and somehow unsurprisingly), human zoos were present in Berlin as recently as the 1940s, a stark reminder of the grotesque aspects of colonial history.

Listening

I’ve been jamming to ScHoolboy Q’s Blue Lips an awful lot. I know it’s a great album, though I’m finding it hard to articulate exactly what makes it so compelling. Perhaps I’ll revisit this and expand on my thoughts later.

Also here is my Best of 2023 playlist:

Live Events

I experienced So Far Sounds for the first time, and had a pretty nice experience (and won their first ever raffle!). I do recommend going if you can, they are in around 450+ cities and it makes for an excellent date idea.

On the other hand, I walked out of DJ Krush’s set at Lido. I grew up listening to him, and greatly enjoyed his set at Gretchen last year…but this time he decided to surprise us with some sort of glitch techno. I actually have no problems with this, but it’s not what I signed up for. I couldn’t do it. You can’t ever get your time back, and I took control of the little time I did have that night. It doesn’t help the Lido’s sound system was not calibrated at all and sounded less than stellar..

I also went to Amaarae’s show: the atmosphere was great, the people were very attractive…but why did they (Amaarae) lip sync 95% of the songs? 😭

Playing

I’m currently juggling several games: Alan Wake II, Paradise Killer, Ghost Trick, Yakuza 7, and Final Fantasy VII Remake (second time). This isn’t going to end well.

What did end well is Suzerain, a lovely gem I found on sale. It’s a game where you run a country, and is better described as a political simulator. It’s actually given me a ton of ideas for a spiritual sequel where one runs an African country from the middle of the Cold War (and wave of African independence).

Other games I have played since the last update:

Red Dead Redemption II - which I finished after 5 years. Well worth the journey, but holy shit those controls are agonizing.
Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 - Feels like a brand-new game post-update, though its portrayal of transpeople leaves much to be desired.
Spider-Man 2 - Really, well done game but they did Miles Morales dirty. Don’t get me started on the Killmonger cut. I am really excited for Ms. Moon 🤩
Unpacking - Lovely, lovely gem of a game where the story is told in its environment over 8 levels.
Starfield - Got the collector’s edition on launch day and the gameplay loop is fun, particularly when you’re just exploring (sometimes). But a lot of the design choices are baffling. They may have worked with a fantasy setting, but not in space. Nothing irritates me more than schlepping halfway across the galaxy to give someone an update on the mission. Humanity invented starflight, but forgot to invent phones. Jesus wept.
Pentiment - I have many, many mixed feelings about this but I am glad I played it.

Games I hope to play and finish: Yakuza 7, Ghost of Tsushima, FFVII Remake and Rebirth. That is a lot of hopium.

Watching

God, I love that Arkham scene in Matt Reeves’ Batman. And the Batmobile, the intro, Pattison’s eyes, the social and racial commentary, that last flare scene.

I absolutely adore the Arkham scene in Matt Reeves’ “Batman.” The Batmobile’s introduction, Pattison’s expressive eyes, the nuanced social and racial commentary, and that incredible final flare scene—just phenomenal. Plus he’s the only Batman on screen that DOES 👏 NOT 👏 KILL 👏. God, I love this movie.

I also watched Zone of Interest. And that completely fucked me up.

”Shogun” is next on my watchlist, although I’m slightly apprehensive about the Anglicization of the Dutch and Portuguese characters. Still, I’ve heard promising things and am really intrigued to see if they’ll adapt “Tai Pan” / “Noble House” (set in Hong Kong) and “Whirlwind” (set in Iran).

Website

I have been working on designing some components for photo galleries and travelogues. These are being done in Sketch, and I should learn Figma some day. Some day. In any case, here’s a quick preview:

Elsewhere

I had plans to make my video about the last two years. I had a burst of inspiration, and then decided against making it. Maybe I’ll actually finish it one day.
My friends managed to pull off an incredible birthday surprise for me, which is no small feat given how hard I am to surprise. I found myself feeling quite bashful and self-effacing throughout the celebration.
I’m in the process of setting up a local backup system for my photos using a NAS. While I appreciate the simplicity of Google Photos and iCloud Photos, I’m frustrated with former’s constant meddling of the dates and times on my pictures.