things i think about while powerwashing 155

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A few years ago, I participated in my first real fantasy football season with some people I didn’t really know at work. Weeks went by. I forgot about my lineup. December rolled around. I was in last place.

I was really hoping they would forget about the punishment (which was not really set in stone) but very soon, it was revealed that these people remembered. I cannot run — so my punishment was deemed to be pushups by the card.

The basic gist of the punishment was to have one deck of cards and do as many pushups as the number on the card. Face cards would count as 10. The catch was that I also had to drink 1 beer for every joker card I came across. And if I threw up? It would be over.

So against all odds I actually did probably 320 pushups but was not able to complete the challenge. I will leave it up to you all to figure out why that was.

For people unaware fantasy football is where you get a group of people together and select real players playing in the NFL, and week by week these players will accumulate points based on their real-life performance in the game. Kind of betting that they will have a good performance week by week. It was actually created by a co-owner of the Oakland Raiders back in 1962 — just another great thing coming out of the Bay Area!

I didn’t touch fantasy for a bit after that. March Madness I could stomach (no punishment and you only have to set your bracket once!) but fantasy? Too much to handle. But this year I knew it was the year. I drafted a decent team (despite esteemed subscriber Akshay Pawar stealing my beloved 49ers) and before I knew it, I was in the playoffs. Then the championship. And finally, victory. I had done it. From last in my previous league to first in this one. All off the backs of one of the greatest running backs of all time Derrick Henry.

There’s not really a takeaway here — just a few funny thoughts about fantasy. A few weeks after I did my grueling last-place punishment a Taiwanese coworker of mine worriedly asked me about some type of gambling game Americans were doing involving sports and very intense punishments. It was soon determined that he was in fact describing fantasy football.

So maybe the takeaway is don’t lose? It’s also a fun way to keep connected with your friends and learn more about football! And if the drama on the field isn’t enough to keep you hooked, there’s always the drama off the field.

museum of the week

I went to the Peranakan Museum in Singapore. But what does Peranakan mean? The museum defines it as the cultural result of Chinese immigrants who immigrated to Singapore a long time ago and have been influenced by Malay, Indian and other cultures of Singapore. And the Peranakan Museum has things pertaining to Peranakan culture in it.

But what does that mean? What do they do differently?

I think I have a lot of trouble trying to discern this because I grew up in something similar — a marriage of Chinese and local customs. The Peranakan people started when male Chinese settlers started colonizing Southeast Asia and brought their Chinese traditions with them when marrying local women, resulting in a blend of cultures. As I walked through the museum I saw the special cloth patterns they wove, large collections of peacock jewelry. Photos of an Indian man taking part in a Chinese wedding, wearing traditional Chinese garb while his Chinese-looking wife wears a Chinese dress.

To see this type of interracial marriage but in an historical and Asian context was honestly quite cool to see. I think the more conservative Asian populations are often quite touchy (to put it lightly) about the intermixing of races, but here it was — the thing they supposedly fear for the future happened already over 100 years ago.

The result is a beautiful culture that takes the best of both worlds. Without it there would be no inspiration for dish like nasi lemak and laksa, which combine local ingredients with Chinese cooking styles. It’s a new tradition with roots in ancient times but with its own twist. Which makes me wonder about America and how the Asian-American culture will change over the years. Maybe once we get a few more Asian people in the NFL we will finally schedule the Super Bowl on the Lunar New Year, or maybe we’ll create our own spin on fries or create some other type of noodle soup! The possibilities are endless! History is being written as we speak.

anonymous subscriber news

So what does a geological issue mean? An earthquake?

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• anon greets: hi sim sim
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• anon has goals: My 2025 resolution got me back into reading for fun, and in 2026 I've resolved to read even more
• anon …???: Due to geological conflicts I had to cancel my flight back to the US.
• anon announces big life event: I got engaged and immediately after my home country started a geopolitical conflict

animal of the week

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Esteemed subscriber Kevin Tian went to the wilderness of the world (Beijing China) and found a cute little monkey that he has decided to name.

Chinese Monkey, I name it randy

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