The temperature dropped sharply earlier last month. Through a bad episode of calf muscle stiffness due to my historic lumbar disc issue, I learned to wear thicker sweatpants even indoors, to help maintain good circulation in my calves. What I realized during this process: I have been wearing one more layer on my arms than on my legs. Our legs need more warmth as we grow older, and prolonged sitting does worsen the circulation. At the same time, a sudden episode of rhinitis, which led to a one-day-long headache, helped me realize that I had let my face be exposed to cold air during my night walk, despite protecting every other place on my body (except the hands).
All these things make sense. There’s a cause behind it. The trigger was usually ignored because we were overconfident or because we were negligent. Now I have developed the habit of taking a look at the outdoor temperature on my phone before I go out. I recommend installing a mini thermometer inside your vehicle if you drive one. Additionally, you can carry one with you in your backpack, wherever you go. The cheap ones may not be sensitive and accurate enough.
This year, I have been reading (or say, deciphering) a psychology nonfiction book called Noise by Professor Daniel Kahneman et al. He mentioned this type of retrospective analysis for what’s going on in our lives. It’s different from statistical analyses for large datasets collected from a group of people. I think both are important skills to understand this world around us. However, before you go academic, you have to learn to protect yourself as an individual, and nobody else can substitute that role.
In the past few months, I have learned a little bit about running social media ads. Through this trial-and-error process, after watching a couple of YouTubers’ insightful videos, I kind of saw through the business model behind these tech giants. No details to offer here for my conjecture, as I don’t want to sound cynical without much quantitative evidence to provide.
My book ad has reached a lot of people from several countries, mostly in the US, and my website got more traffic as a result. Running social media does not lead to sales directly, as I have read about other people’s experiences. Marketing requires a huge investment of mental work, no less than the cost and effort of production and publishing. That being said, I don’t regret this learning process. I once had a landlord who said this to me, “The best way to learn something is to put your hands on it.” I put my hands on my mouse and keyboard after watching tutorials. That’s how I learned the new skill, which college and graduate school cannot teach. With so many other tasks to finish each month, I chose to practice advertising advertising stage by stage ( as opposed to letting it run constantly as some Youtube guru advised us to), and use AI to help me automate a lot of tasks. One cannot outsource all the mental work, not for marketing.
The playlist of audiobook excerpts is still expanding. Link. Unlike my true video content, this playlist is only on YouTube, which I deem the most serious platform for the general public.
Now, take a look at my creative work published recently on my blog and social media channels. I am talking about the Medical Ninjas series. This series really has transformed into a better shape, episode by episode, despite the limits of AI generation and the constraints of different apps provided by the same platform.
I finished a fork (learned this concept from blockchain) of the storyline: N1, N2, N3. It’s based on my experience of seeking healthcare in a city with better healthcare resources.
Episode N1 [ Dr. Cold and his white guns ]
N2 [ Getting a chakragraphy and encountering the soul reapers ]
Episode N3 [ Dr. Warm: the Quincy defendant who activates the Cosmo ]
In contrast,
Episode 07 [ Kokoro Superior and her puppies ] has a higher percentage of fiction, based on previous episodes.
I call this genre “medical fantasy”, analogous to “science fiction”. Medicine is about practice, so it’s more than rigorous science. I get to incorporate alternative medicine and personal philosophy into it. Besides, my understanding of human psychology is manifested in the dynamics of human interactions. My story takes form in both writing and manga (or graphic novel). Why don’t I create something in a fancier form? That requires a huge investment and a big team and may not be intrinsically rewarding for me. My brain generates new content faster than my hands can produce.
Below is the list of the posts. Yes, I’m using a new format, like those graphic books. Bloopers are only available on my YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok channels (universal handle @stanthefeline ). Yes, I am posting the videos on TikTok again — The younger generations are into anime, like we once were. That being said, the adult-oriented part is always in the writing. I didn’t create this series just for fun. It is my life experience in fantasy form.
Because of how this series was developed, there was no text form (or written story) for the first few episodes. I’m not sure whether or not I will have time to write them down. The best way to know the beginning of the plot is to go to my YouTube playlist.
Finally, I just want to announce to the world that I have completely got rid of orthotic inserts. I’ve been getting shockwave therapy for the plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinitis caused by this erroneous prescription. Long process, and real incremental progress. I can wear winter sandals from now on. What a bless. It’s a big life lesson for me: these things that are pleasing you can hurt you somehow. These inserts didn’t address the cause of my condition, and did more harm than good over the years. The sellers are not podiatrists. They won’t tell you the potential risks of their products, either.
Stay tuned for updates in the winter. Enjoy the holiday season.