Tales of A Brown Man

Lo and behold, a follow-up post

2022-08-25T12:21:00.002-07:00

In a turn of events I'm genuinely surprised by, I am making another post as a follow up to my last one. I tried posting a gif here but apparently there's some error which is stopping it from posting properly. Here's an alternative to convey what I was hoping to do with a gif. le gasp. (Edit: As in many things, refreshing the page fixed the issue! See gif below)

I am not into day 3 of my adventures in learning how to code. I'm approaching this by doing one lesson a day. That way (hopefully), I can make sure I don't feel too overburdened and drop it. I found the beginner HTML lessons fun! The basic structures were introduced by slowly building and modifying a webpage on brown bears. Learning a new element, and then applying it to the page I was building was great. It allowed me to see the impact of each new element and gave me a tangible depiction of my new knowledge. Maybe when I feel a little bit more comfy, I'll modify my webpages here with HTML. Who knows!

In other news, I've read a whole book since my last post! I think this is my first whole book read in several years. I was a very prolific reader when I was a kid-reading 1-2 books a week. Once I went to college, that dropped off very quickly. I still read these days, but more often than not I'm reading fanfic or internet articles. Getting lost in reading a book and turning page after page gave me a very real feeling of nostalgia. I hope to do it more!

The book I read is called thrifty green by Priscilla Short. It explores the intersection between being thrifty and more conscientious/conserving of the resources we utilize. I am privileged enough to be able to think about the ways in which I can live a more eco-friendly and non-wasteful lifestyle, with the only limiting factor being my willingness to try. The author talks of her experiences living a very spartan life off-grid for one year. She no longer does so, but she talks about the thoughts and internal calculus of navigating decisions around her lifestyle now that she's back on grid. I found the thoughts and nuance around taking what she'd learned living off-grid and applying the principles to living a less consumeristic, more conservatory lifestyle to be very interesting. The book came out in 2011, and there are definitely things that don't resonate as strongly due to the difference in time- which is a wild thing to consider! How odd that I consider something from the year I graduated high school, dated. Then again, depending on who you ask (myself included), I'm certifiably ancient.

That's all I have for today! Right now, I'm digging the idea of getting some of my thoughts out in writing, so I might do this more often. Posting a link to thrifty green by Priscilla Short below. I'm struggling to think of a sign off that sounds easy and not contrived or like a business email. I took 5 semesters of Italian in college, so I'll shrug off any potential embarrassment and say ciao!

thrifty green by Priscilla Short: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11083175-thrifty-green

Yes, this blog is a thing. Yes, I forgot about it. Yes, I might abandon it again.

2022-08-23T13:40:00.004-07:00

Hi. Hello. It's been many moons. I'm having a bit of a time with my creative energy pulling me in all sorts of directions. As the years have passed, I've started to wonder if that ebb and flow is a result of depression, anxiety, ADHD, or some combination of those and more. I digress, Madhav brain go brrrrrr. I'm coming back to this abandoned spot on the interwebs to have some kind of documentation for my stream of consciousness. So fully expect stream of consciousness here, and maybe not so much in the way of coherence.

In an effort to stave off some of the feelings of inadequacy I have (I know cognitively I am an accomplished human who tries and continues to learn, but Imposter Syndrome and societal expectations are real, evil things), I have decided I want to learn how to code. Maybe someday I can use it in my professional life, maybe it will make me feel smart, maybe it'll help me become Batman.

I have, as of maybe 10 minutes prior to writing this sentence, become a user of Codeacademy. We'll see what, if anything comes from this lmao. I also have become a proud owner of a library card! This brings me more joy than I can begin to explain. I went to the library on my work break yesterday, and I came back with several books on different coding languages. My eyes may have been too big for my learning stomach here, but there's a sense of tactile wonder in picking up a book and reading about something you have no understanding of. I'm a little bit more tempered in my approach today, so I know the books I've procured may be helpful, but also might be a little above my knowledge base at the moment-which brings me back to Codeacademy. I'm starting out with HTML courses there. The books I have are for Javascript, SQL, and C++. I think the Javascript book might be a little too much for me right now, but we'll see (I tried reading it while sleep-deprived, and somehow, that didn't work too well).

I don't know if there's going to be any kind of flow to which language I learn first, or if I learn one at a time, or if I will even continue to learn them beyond a few days to weeks. The fact of the matter is, right now, I think it sounds cool. Call it my new fixation. It's not a hyperfixation yet, and I don't know if it will be, but the potential is there. The idea of learning coding languages and somehow gaining the power to bend technology and computers to my will is a not-insignificant (if not fantastical) motivator of mine in this endeavor. I also had to catch myself to spell the word endeavor as "endeavor" not "endeavour"- I told you this would be stream of consciousness. I also think I have a bit of nostalgia for the idea of problem solving. I don't problem solve in a STEAM way these days much, and I kinda miss it. *shrugs*

Anyways. I am here:

I could end up here at anytime:

I guess we'll see which it is! If I keep with this in the way that I'm thinking of, I'll post thoughts, hopes, frustrations, problems, and general feedback on my learning process here. If I don't keep with this in the way I'm thinking of, look out for the next post sometime in the next year or three I guess?

Signing off for now,

The Resident Chaos-Monkey

"Ruh-Roh: Rime Roesn't Ray!"

2019-06-21T17:09:00.003-07:00

Hey!

Been a long time. For my return to blogging, I'm doing something very random that struck me on a whim. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat, you might ask? Prepare for ...

CONTEXT!

*drumroll*

So I love Scooby Doo. I grew up on Scooby Doo. I used to watch it with my mom all the time, and we had a blast together. The show What's New Scooby Doo! came out when my brother was a toddler., and it was great because I got a new way to introduce him to something I loved. We watched it every Saturday morning for a long time. With all that in mind, I bought all 3 seasons over the course of the last year or so because I was feeling nostalgic.

One night, while I was watching an episode with a glass of wine (par for the course), I asked my partner what she thought the crimes the villain would be charged with as well as costs for property damage. We then spent like 20 minutes debating this.

So, inspired by this series of events, I am going to re-watch ALL of What's New Scooby Doo! and do my best to analyze crime charges and property damages from each episode-not just those attributed to the villains, but the Scooby gang as well. I'm gonna call these posts "Ruh-Roh: Rime Roesn't Ray!" (working title).

Full disclosure- this won't be in any kind of episode order, updates might be glacially slow, AND I have little to no legal knowledge. So don't expect anything that will fully hold up in a court of law (seriously-don't). What you CAN expect is a short recap of each episode, a list of the characters, and my not-so-professional analysis of crimes and costs. I'll also have pictures of the characters as well as links to their pages from the Scooby Doo fandom wiki! If I get something woefully wrong, please tell me! So, with all that context provided, let's start this thing!

We're starting with season 3, episode 5: "Farmed and Dangerous." This episode is the 2nd that includes the Secret Six- a litter of golden retriever puppies whose mother is an award-winning show dog. The secret six and their mother, along with their owner, are staying on a farm in the country. The episode starts with the dogs relaxing on the farm before the appearance of a creepy demon farmer with a SCYTHE FOR A HAND.

Here's a breakdown of the characters that are not the Scooby gang:

Demon Farmer- villain obvi: creepy looking zombie dude with a scythe for one of his hands- proclaimed ghost of Farmer Terwilliger (Farmer T)

Mr. B- secretive rich man who is the owner of the Secret Six and their mother

Farmer P- scary looking neighbor farmer

Jonas Sulk- sulky looking farmhand/inventor

Frida Flora- Local animal safety group member

Chrissie- The pups' mom

Secret Six Puppies-the cutest of smol golden pups with hearts of gold and tons of sass

Maize
Flax
Knox
14 Karat
Bling Bling
Jingle

Now we've met everyone, let's get to...

THE PLOT

Now that we've talked characters, let's talk plot. The Scooby gang are on their way to visit the Secret Six puppies when they're almost driven off the road by the Demon Farmer on a tricked out tractor (say that 5 times fast) with afterburners spewing hellfire.

CRIME #1: RECKLESS DRIVING

There we have it folks. There's the first crime of the episode! The kind of driving the Demon Farmer was doing could probably have been worth a charge of reckless driving- a major moving traffic violation which is often characterized as a mental state where an individual is showing a wanton disregard for the rules of the road.

I'm using Jonas Sulk's vaguely southern accent and "farmhand" attire of overalls and a collared shirt (we meet him later in the episode-spoilers I guess?) to guess this episode happens in the South U.S. Given that charges and crime classifications can vary by state, I am arbitrarily stating that this episode happens in Alabama for charge and consequence classification.

Code of Alabama 1975, Title 32 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic), Section 32-5A-190 (Reckless driving):

(a) Any person who drives any vehicle carelessly and heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard for the rights or safety of persons or property, or without due caution and circumspection and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property, shall be guilty of reckless driving.

(b) Every person convicted of reckless driving shall be punished upon a first conviction by imprisonment for a period of not less than five days nor more than 90 days, or by fine of not less than $25.00 nor more than $500.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and on a second or subsequent conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 10 days nor more than six months, or by a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and the court may prohibit the person so convicted from driving a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state for a period not exceeding six months, and the license of the person shall be suspended for such period by the Director of Public Safety pursuant to Section 32-5A-195.

Given that this was probably a first offense, and it was pretty severe, I'd say that the Demon Farmer upon being captured would be charged with reckless driving and be convicted and imprisoned for the full 90 days wit the accompanying $500 fine (I'll have a handy table at the end with crime, cost, and jail time/other penalties).

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

Following that harrowing experience, the gang mean Farmer P, a really creepy looking man. He seems to be doing his damnedest to creep them all out by warning them to stay away from Mr. B's farm because bad things happen there (not ominous at allllll...). The Scooby gang arrive on the farm and meet the Secret Six, Chrissie, and Mr. B-who is being cagey about the events (hauntings?) of late. We also meet Jonas Sulk, the only remaining farmhand on the farm and creepy-coded character. Given that there's a shortage of workers on the farm, the Scooby gang offer to help. However, they are WOEFULLY inept. Farmhand Jonas comes in and offers to help and reveals himself to be quite the inventor (chicken-massager, fancy plow, and a fancy tractor which was stolen-hmmmmmmmmmmmm).

CRIME #2: THEFT OF PROPERTY IN THE FIRST DEGREE

That's right folks. The stolen tractor is crime number 2. Based on an estimate from Costowl.com, some of the largest and most powerful farming models of tractors can go up to several hundreds thousand dollars (which we're presuming rich man Mr. B can easily afford). Given that the stolen model was a tricked out prototype made with Jonas's inventing talents, I'm going to estimate that this tractor is worth 5-600,000 dollars. Since we went with Alabama for the setting, any theft of a motor vehicle is a theft of property in the first degree- a class B felony. In Alabama, Class B felonies can carry a jail sentence of anywhere from 2-20 years as well as fines up to $30,000.

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby are playing hide and seek with the Secret Six. Scooby jumps out of a hay bale and scares the crap out of Shaggy (if this were the original Scooby Doo series, there would've been a laugh track). The REAL scare comes a second later, when the Demon Farmer pokes his head out and attempts to slice through them all with his scythe/hand-which incidentally is...

CRIME #3: ATTEMPTED MURDER

BOOM! This one is our first instance of attempted murder. Let's be real. If you're slicing a sharp scythe at someone, it's probably not with the intent to just scare them shitless. I'm calling this attempted murder, which in Alabama is a CLASS A FELONY. That carries with it the potential for at least 10 years to life in prison and fines up to $60,000. Given that the only human threatened was Shaggy (freaking speciest), that's currently one count for attempted murder. Given the nature of how Scooby Doo villains work, the number of attempted murder charges will increase throughout the episode (I'll make note of what I think the total is in the table below). That covers Shaggy, but what about the poor pups? They fall under...

CRIME #4: ANIMAL CRUELTY

Under Alabama law, a person who "...subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment, neglect (as long as he or she have custody of the animal, or kills or injures without good cause any animal belonging to another..." has committed a class A misdemeanor. Given that there were 7 pups in danger of death by scythe (I'd argue that this qualifies as cruel mistreatment), that's 7 charges of a class A misdemeanor in Alabama. Each charge carries with it up to 1 year in jail and up to a $6,000 fine, which means a whopping 7 years and most likely $42,000. PHEW.

In short, Demon Farmer is a huge asshole.

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

Shaggy, Scooby, and the pups manage to escape and catch up with the rest of the gang. After they do, animal rights activist Frida Flora appears, claiming to have heard about the mistreatment of animals happening on the farm. She wants to take the puppies to a safe place, and she doesn't care if she doesn't have a warrant to do so. She doesn't actually take the pups- which is good because that would be listed as Crime #5. She leaves and warns she'll come back with a warrant. A potential motive is given that might indicate that Frida is the villain- whoever has the pups has the farm because the farm is in the pups' name.

*sidebar

THIS IS THE MOST QUESTIONABLE OF CHOICES. I did not question this as a child, but I found this to be plain wild and hella amusing as a grown-ass adult.*

Mr. B reveals he might have camera footage of the person who stole Jonas's tractor, which the gang believe to be the one the Demon Farmer is using. They settle down to watch the footage on the side of the barn and Mr, B gets weirdly and suspiciously cagey about there not being any popcorn available (he offered a pretzel as an alternative, and like Shaggy and Scooby, I was thoroughly offended). As the thief's face is about to appear in the footage, the Demon Farmer busts out the side of the barn on his tractor and destroys the footage!

*Reenactment of the Demon Farmer's breaking the side of the barn*

CRIME #5: DESTRUCTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY

Disclaimer: not sure if I have the right charge here. From what I understand, any person who destroys private property and causes imminent danger to the public will be charged with a class B felony. Again, not sure if this is the accurate charge. The language was not clear as to whether homes/barn were included in this description, so if you have any insight let me know! Class B felonies carry anywhere from 2-20 years in prison as well as fines up to $30,000.

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

What follows is this episode's first chase scene. The gang appear to suspect Jonas as his handiwork appears dropped from the Demon Farmer's tractor. Freddie suggest the gang split up to look for clues ( because of course he does). Fred, Daphne, and Velma run into Farmer P, who in continuing on his theme, tells a scary ghost back story for the Demon Farmer and scares them all shitless. Scooby and Shaggy check out the farm silo. When they open it, they're buried under a mountain of rainbow-colored popcorn which (for whatever reason) has every flavor imaginable (think only the good flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans meets popcorn). Jonas finds them chowing down and angrily claims the popcorn is his, but Shaggy and Scooby pull out convenient bags and make off with some of their treasure. In character for them certainly, but they committed...

CRIME #6: PETTY THEFT (THIRD DEGREE THEFT IN ALABAMA)

Scooby and Shaggy each stole roughly a microwave popcorn bag's amount of popcorn. I'm going to assume that even though the popcorn is proprietary and experimental, the cost of 2 bags worth is less than $500. Alabama is not about petty theft. Petty theft or shoplifting is charged as Third Degree Theft if the value of the stolen items is under $500. That is a class A misdemeanor and carries with it up to a year in jail and/or a fine up to $6,000.

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

Mr. B continues to be suspicious about popcorn and Fred is about to lose it with how many suspects there are, so he suggests the one thing that helps to center him...TRAPS! However, before Fred can set it up, animal rights person Frida comes back with a court order for the pups (le gasp). Velma "tells" Frida where the pups are and sends her off on a wild goose chase.

CRIME?: NOT SURE WHAT THIS IS BUT IT SEEMS SKETCH

So this situation seems sketchy. I'll explain why I think so.

1. Can Frida as a public individual, obtain a warrant to gain access to another person's private property (pups). I am not very familiar with how warrants work, but the fact that she has the authority to do this seems very questionable to me.

2. IF Frida's warrant is valid, does Velma lying about the location of the pups count as obstruction of justice? Again, this goes back to me not being sure about how warrants work.

Ultimately, I feel like some sort of crime is being committed here, but I'm not sure who is committing one, what it is, and what the consequences would be.

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

Meanwhile the demon farmer fins Scooby and the pups and starts chasing them. Fred's ingenious trap is just a roll of chicken wire that' s hard to see in the night. Mr. B is the one that gets caught though. He gets cagey again about the gang going underground to help the pups (why you gotta be so suspicious man?). They find all the pups who are thankfully safe. They run off like they've got someone to show the gang. Strangely, they find a metal door underground with a passcode lock. Turns out, the pups' collars have numbers on them and they represent the code! The smart little pups order themselves into passcode order and the gang goes inside to discover a secret lab! They find more parts from Jonas's invention. We also find out he's low-key genetically engineering EVERY FLAVOR POPCORN. Mr. B comes clean about the lab (which is his) which is a business venture that he's partnering with Jonas for to make the world's best popcorn. The Demon Farmer then burst out of Mr. B's house on the tractor!

Before we get to the crime that just occurred- here's a sidebar... HOW THE HELL DID HE GET THE TRACTOR INSIDE THE HOUSE. Did he use his ghostly powers to ghost it inside? Did he burrow underground and bring it up? DID HE METICULOUSLY BRING IT WITHOUT DAMAGING ANYTHING? These are the real questions folks- the ones nobody is asking. Anyways...

CRIME #7: DESTRUCTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY (AGAIN)

Same dealio as the last situation. From what I understand, any person who destroys private property and causes imminent danger to the public will be charged with a class B felony. Class B felonies carry anywhere from 2-20 years in prison as well as fines up to $30,000.

*the Demon Farmer probably*

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

Fred has had it with the Demon Farmer. So he decides to go mano a mano (said in the WHITEST way) which leads too...

THE CHASE SCENE!

(The song of this episode's chase scene is "Something's Going On" by A!)

Fred and the Demon Farmer proceed to joust (?) with their respective vehicles and crash.

NOT A CRIME (maybe) BUT CAR REPAIRS COST MONEY

Hopefully, Fred has insurance for the Mystery Machine, but tbh I don't think insurance would cover this. Given that he and the Demon Farmer willfully drove at each other, they're both at fault.

sidebar: wasn't sure if this would be a charge against reckless driving against either the Demon Farmer or both Fred and the Demon Farmer. It COULD be a crime, but I have no idea how to even begin to parse this situation out legally. Let me know if you think or know this is a crime!

I'd say Fred is looking at easily 3-4000 dollars. Thankfully, the gang seems loaded (how else do they afford all their shenanigans other than white privilege money?). The tractor on the other hand...

CRIME #8: DESTRUCTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY (ONCE MORE)

Again, any person who destroys private property and causes imminent danger to the public will be charged with a class B felony. Class B felonies carry anywhere from 2-20 years in prison as well as fines up to $30,000.

MOVING ON IN THE PLOT

The Demon Farmer is revealed to be... FARMER P. However, Farmer P is actually... NEVILLE POPPENBACHER- a rival in the popcorn business who was looking to take the recipe for the best popcorn for his own given that his own formula is apparently the worst thing since the New York Times published a recipe for guacamole with green peas (I'M STILL FURIOUS). Next up:

*Neville Poppenbacher- the most villainous of villains (one who can't make good popcorn)*

CRIME #9: CORPORATE ESPIONAGE

Okay, look. Neville Poppenbacher is clearly a part of the Big Popcorn industry. He's attempting to steal a novel formula for his own corporate gain like the dirty capitalist he is. That aside, I believe he's conducting corporate espionage n violation of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. If the theft/ attempted theft is domestic (which it is in this case), individuals face up to 10 years in prison and a fine and an organization faces a fine of up to $5,000,000.

WRAPPING UP THE PLOT

He would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids (and pups)! Neville Poppenbacher is taken away by the police, and Frida is lured and trapped in the silo by the pups. As the episode closes out, Shaggy and Scooby are nowhere to be found! Suddenly, they burst out of the silo (along with Frida) riding a rainbow popcorn wave, eating it all the while. There's a cute "Scooby-Dooby Doo!" with the pups, but...

CRIME #10: PETTY THEFT (SHAGGY AND SCOOBY YOU MONSTERS)

We get that you're always hungry because of really overactive metabolisms, BUT COME ON. THIEVING SCOUNDRELS. The amount we see consumed is still probably under $500, so it still counts as Third Degree Theft: class A misdemeanor and carries with it up to a year in jail and/or a fine up to $6,000. That being said, it's entirely possible they demolished all of the popcorn in the silo jacking up their overall cost of popcorn eaten AND their crime charges.

HANDY CRIME AND COST CHART

Note: For any crime/cost that says "up to" as opposed to an actual number for a lower limit, I utilized the upper bound in my calculation of totals. For example, "Up to $6,000" is counted as $6,000 for the calculation.

Final Thoughts

This was a lot of fun for me! It also took way longer than I thought it would (so updates might be slower than anticipated). I learned a fair bit too!

I know I'm making our country's legal system of charging individuals with crimes and administering of consequences way more straightforward than it is. I'm well aware that our legal system does not really work this way. In all honesty, Neville Poppenbacher as a seemingly affluent, white owner of a company would probably have gotten much less significant sentencing (if any). Scooby and Shaggy's petty theft would probably not even be charged. We could also have a discussion about micro-aggressions and how harmful narratives are propagated- but that's a different post.

With all that said, let me know what you think! This is my first time doing anything like this, and I would love the feedback! See you next time!

Election Day!

2018-11-06T14:52:00.002-08:00

Hello!

Today's election day. It's a super important day. Why? Because if you're eligible to vote, doing so has a direct impact on outcomes for our country. You can argue that your vote is insignificant, but that's not true. It's important that we raise our voices to advocate for the change we wish to see in our country. Our vote holds those we put in power accountable. Vote to give voice to yourself, and more importantly, to those whose voices are diminished by the society and systems we live in.

PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT

Coming from a public health background, I find even more importance in voting. I feel that the health of our nation can be measured by the proportion of individuals who give their voice towards creating the system that is our democracy. Through voting we decide on important initiatives that have ramifications at all levels. Here's a map of a social-ecological model of society.

Let me break down how voting can directly impact at each of these levels:

1) Individual: Voting can impact you directly as an individual. Whether this is through putting your voice towards policy that impacts you or the empowerment and agency you gain by utilizing your voice and knowing that it is heard.

2) Interpersonal: Voting is important at an interpersonal level. Most of us talk and share experiences and viewpoints with those closest to us. This sharing of ideas, discussion, and even debates that happens is important towards developing our own view of things. This also includes our own various cultural contexts. When we vote, we vote with these contexts in mind.

3) Organizational: Voting impacts organizations. This can be on a business end, with voting directly impacting businesses both large and small on their processes, or with something like a school board election, changing the layout and decisions made for an entire school district. Various other institutions such as faith-based organizations and healthcare administrations are also affected.

4) Community: Communities are affected by voting. On many of our ballots this year, we have local measures, propositions, and candidates to vote on. Voting on land use ordinances, who we want on city council, or local taxes has a direct impact on our lives, the lives of other community members, and of businesses in the area to name a few. When we vote on local things, we are directly buying into our communities, and in general, that improves community health.

5) Public Policy: As mentioned before, voting on public policy has implications for yourself and for others. We vote on policy at many levels- local, state, national. At each of these levels, policy can have an impact at all levels of the Social-Ecological model. By buying in to voting on measures and candidates at each level, you are directly involving yourself in local, state, and national processes. While a local vote may seem like it has more immediate effects whereas a national vote may have more of a downstream effect, voting at all levels is important and meaningful.

That's my breakdown. This was simply my quick and dirty analysis and viewpoints. I don't believe it's perfect, and it may not be entirely accurate. I would appreciate comments on how you feel that voting can have an impact at all levels of the Social-Ecological Model. My experiences and viewpoints might be different than yours, and I would love to have a discussion with you about this topic! If you're interested in having that discussion, please comment! Regardless, I feel that voting is a public health issue, and it's an especially important one to buy into.

Lastly, I read something a while ago that stuck with me in message if not in exact quotes. For the life of me, I can't find it again (which is the most annoying feeling), but the general idea is this:

When you vote, think about how those who might not be as privileged or are disenfranchised in various ways might vote, and endeavor to vote in a way that matches. We exercise a lot of power when we vote. Too often, those with the most power and influence face the least barriers to exercising this power. This can be seen in voter ID laws that target those who are poor or racial minorities, or targeted disenfranchisement through policy or practice as we've seen some of in Georgia (https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/georgia-settles-federal-lawsuit-alleging-blocked-thousands-minority-voters/4M2dMAHDRvC8fLYoV01fxN/) or Alabama(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHFOwlMCdto). These are only a few of the places and ways less-privileged voters have been disenfranchised. So when you vote, try and vote in a way that gives power and agency back to folks who don't have it.

If you face trouble while voting, you can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683). This is the number for an election protection hotline staffed with folks who can help you through any difficulties you might face with voting, and they are well versed in various state laws.

#thisispublichealth

Back at it again?

2018-10-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

So I was told somewhat explicitly from a friend that I hadn't posted here in a while. Which I knew. But it was kinda funny to have it pointed out to me. SO. Here is my first post in a while.

Life and grad school and a new job have really been keeping me busy recently. So I apologize to my friend who pointed out I haven't posted that I haven't posted recently. Quack (He'll know what this means).

Regardless, hello! Coming at you barely alive and sleep-deprived. Sleep has been hard to come by recently. I've had to stay awake to study for some big exams I've had recently. They're done now, but I still am not really getting good sleep. Part of that is just I stay up later than I should, and the other part is my dog is affronted that I don't let him sleep on our bed in the night. He'll start pacing and huffing at me and random points in the middle of the night like the angsty teenager that he is. He doesn't understand that he's allowed on the bed only when I say it's okay.

(My dog, probably)

This sleep deprived state has left me consuming way more coffee than I normally do and making quick swings between slap-happy, caffeinated highs, and bone-tired, caffeine-has-worn-out lows. I don't think it's helped that I haven't been eating well either. Slowly starting to get back on the healthy eating and exercise train, because that really does seem to help me.

However, I don't know how well I'll keep with these goals of mine. I sometimes will describe myself as an unfavorable chemical reaction. My activation energy is just too damn high. How do you all motivate yourselves to keep doing things? I tend to do really well for 1-2 month spurts of general healthiness before slipping back for 3-4 months. What seems to work for you all to keep going and make things routine? (Don't feel like you have to answer, but I would appreciate the input if you're willing)

Other than the general tiredness, I am genuinely happy with what I'm learning in and out of school. I've made an effort to be more involved with my friends recently and make new connections. I just finished up a 6-week book club for "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" by Becky Chambers.

Love, love, LOVE this book. It's a wonderfully constructed universe that shifts entirely away from the general toxic masculinity, colonialism, and endless fight scenes that is unfortunately so common in sci-fi. I loved the development of the characters and their relationships. Very character-driven, and it included so many analogies towards real life. I honestly think that this book has become my favorite sci-fi novel, if not my favorite work of fiction.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I loved discussing it in community with both people I know and new people I met through the club. The members of the group were all lovely people from a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds. I think some of the most powerful moments of reading this book for me were hearing and sharing that so often, we saw ourselves in the characters and their experiences. A big concept in the book was that of a "Found Family." I'm so thankful that I have been able to find family in the friends that I have here.

Also, I made a ton of chili this last weekend! A bunch of other food as well, but the chili definitely stood out for a few reasons.

1. I love chili, and I don't really ever have chili often enough
2. This was my first time making chili
3. The chili was vegan chili
4. This is the most important reason. I made this chili with a very close friend of mine.

I'm so thankful for the friends I've made after moving back to my hometown after college. This friend I made chili with is one of the most caring, kind, and empathetic people I know. I feel completely at ease being super goofy and ridiculous with them one minute, and being able to have a deep, meaningful conversation with them the next. They make me feel incredibly accepted, and heard, and loved. I am of the firm belief now that chili should not be made by yourself. The best way to make chili is with those close to you right there with you.

Back to School Excitement (?)

2018-08-29T09:08:00.002-07:00

What's hopefully my last year of school started yesterday (cue fanfare and celebration). Though I have to admit, starting my final year of graduate school is by far the least novel school start that I've ever had. Every year of grade school starting was a huge thing. Between the mad scramble for school supplies and whining about summer break being over, it seemed like a fairly busy time. Starting a new year at college meant traveling up to Wisconsin again and seeing all my friends again- which was a big deal. The first year of grad school was novel. I worked for 2 years after college, so going back to school felt new and exciting. Starting this 2nd year of grad school- one day I didn't have school, the next day I did. I think part of it is I live in the same city as my program, and I drive to it on my own. The other part is I'm just ready to be done. Grad school is expensive. I miss making a full-time salary.

Plus, in general, I don't like people. Going to a place where I have to engage with people, some of whom I thoroughly dislike, fills my people quota up seemingly instantaneously. All I want when I get home is to hide away from everyone, maybe with a drink, and cuddle with my dog.

Also, I'm very much not a morning person. Most mornings, I am not at my most productive until 10:00 or 10:30 am. Sometimes, some of my best work is done between 10:00 pm and midnight. So here I am, in my morning class, failing to find energy in my dwindling reservoir of morning coffee, and writing this blog post.

With all that being said, I do enjoy learning. I'm happy to be back in school in the sense that I'm back learning what I need to do what I want for a career. What exactly that will be after I graduate is something I'm still figuring out. In the mean time, I'm going to keep shambling my groggy, sleep-deprived, sassy ass to class. Cranky-maybe. Tired-almost definitely. Excited to learn? Always.

My Brain is Ridiculous

2018-07-20T11:50:00.003-07:00

I swear I don't understand why my brain does the things it does half the time. One second I'll be thinking about something I need to focus in, and then I look up and 20 minutes have passed after I thought about how I might reboot the Harry Potter series as a TV show. While these derailments can be interesting (and TBH I think a TV series would allow for a lot more and better character development), they pretty much always occur when I least need them to. I would've said, "when I least want them to," but most of my derailments are pretty enjoyable. I spent a good deal of time the other day thinking about how I would make an aloo paratha pizza. Aloo Paratha is an Indian stuffed bread dish that has a potato filling. It's super tasty. The idea of using it as a base for a Pizza sounds delicious. Bread, potato, spices, and cheese on top of that?- sinful. Though I had this thought process when I probably could've been cleaning, and my partner was very confused as to what I was diagramming on a sketch pad. But this kind of shit happens to me all the time! My ability to self-control my extraneous and random thought processes is middling to poor at any given time.

Beyond the derailments, I sometimes will just randomly forget how to spell a word. I was writing an email, and I wanted to use the word "witch". My brain convinced me that was the wrong way to spell that word. I eventually had to Google it and my brain still was suspicious that "which" is the wrong way.

Sigh. For all the processing power that brains supposedly have, I feel like mine just jumps ship or does its thing more often than not. And of course, as I write this, I just started thinking about what the song of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz would be if he found out that the brain he got doesn't work when he wants it to. There's my illogical idea for a musical TV show spinoff of The Wizard of Oz. Sigh.

First Post!

2018-07-16T19:12:00.001-07:00

Hello internet! This is my first engagement (of hopefully many) with you in which I am not just googling random facts I want to know (most recently about the song with the lyrics "secret, secret, I've got a secret"-Mr. Roboto) and watching YouTube compilations of funny TV show moments (I'm very into My Hero Academia right now).

My name is Madhav Narayan. I struggle a lot describing myself, but I think I'll give a general breakdown in a style I picked up from watching Naruto. Some of my likes are my family and friends, social justice, and cooking food for those I care about. Some of my dislikes are racists, sexists, and those who claim they aren't when they really are. My dream, is to help make the world a better place (as cliche as that sounds). Expanding a little on that, I'm a twenty-something Master of Public Health student. I also am active in Black Lives Matter work around school discipline reform.

I started this blog with no real goal in mind. A good friend told me that that was okay. She also told me to start broad and post about anything and everything, and then narrow my focus if I want to. So as I said before, this is my first post of what will hopefully be many! Some posts might be about some food I made or recipe I want to try, while others might be about systemic inequities that are present in access to care. I love the chance to have discussions with folks and hear about their experiences, so feedback and conversation are much appreciated! While I don't claim to be an expert on anything, I have lots of opinions and I don't mind sharing them. Ultimately, I'm just a brown man living life- one random thought at a time :)