Hmm. As I understand, I have three sisters (all younger), the youngest two identical twins. With events surrounding my parents ongoing (ugly) divorce, I haven't spoken to my father for .. probably over two years now. I recently came to the understanding that I almost certainly have at least one half-sibling who predates the divorce. Apart from a moderate anger combined with disgust at my father's actions/dishonesty, sufficient for me to no longer consider him kin, I haven't felt much about the disintegration of my family - I'm too distant from any of them to really feel engaged, and I've been engaged with my own difficulties. Now that I practically know I have at least one half-brother or half-sister, it makes things a bit stranger. For a number of reasons, I suspect I won't ever have to deal with the potential complications/awkwardness tied to the matter though.
My next birthday is vaguely nearby - it's a decent time to reflect on what another year has brought me...
- On the job front, things are still going decently well. Not much has changed - I have a nice office, a very high amount of autonomy, am doing work that helps the world in a sense, have decent variety in work tasks, and generally like the people I'm working with. I'm kind of bored with it though... some change would be nice.
- On the intellectual front, things are continuing reasonably well. I haven't been as motivated as I'd like to put time into writing my thoughts out systematically. I've found some rather good reading material too. I have enough water flowing by my gills to keep new ideas and insights coming though...
- On the interpersonal front, things have regressed a bit. I've had trouble maintaining my social energy, and that combined with other trends/events have caused some of my friendships to weaken and a few to disintegrate. A few have gotten better, but by and large things have gone the other way.
- On a hobbies level, things keep shuffling around, but seem to be getting better. The accordion is a good source of occasional fun, the rollerblades are occasional entertainment, and DnD/gaming is good.
- On a romance level, things are pretty much a bust. I'm just about out of hope that this will ever change.
- On a health level, things are getting better. Migraines have recently mostly left my life, going from intense and frequent to medium and once-every-two-weeks-or-so. I'm more physically active with soccer and getting back into jogging, and my work on cardiovascular health is beginning to pay off. I have a long way to go, but this is a decent start. I'm still thinking about getting the heart surgery - not being able to productively use adrenaline seems like it might be a limiting factor for my life
- Emotionally - stumbling, not doing that well. Exhaustion that's been in the making for years. Attempts to mask it not that successful.
The rapid swapping of hot rain and hot sun in Pittsburgh weather has been kind of nice. Today, Dmitriy, Eric, and I went to the Beehive to hang out for a bit, which was also nice. They have pretty decent soup (surprising for a coffeeshop, their menu is pretty broad and their food is cheap and not bad).
