Markus + Micah

What brushing my teeth like a retard has taught me

Last month, I spontaneously decided to start brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand. Not just because, but to teach myself a new skill. It may not create more connections in my brain like that if I just ate magic mushrooms or my chosen task as impressive as learning how to play Clair de Lune on the piano, but believe me, it could very well be just as involved.

The first day I brushed not only my teeth but also my forehead and had foam running up to my elbow – don’t ask why. I honestly did not expect it to be that hard. But I am one for trying.

Have you ever died in your dreams?

I often wonder why we dream. Is it our subconscious? Memories? Repressions? What about desires? Do we dream only as a side effect of the electric impulses in our brains? It is altogether a fascinating subject. Markus has read a book on why we sleep, but why do we dream?

It gets more interesting when we talk about bad dreams. Nightmares. Sometimes I can have five nightmares on the same evening and remember them all. Talk about an adventure.

How about some dung to cure COVID-19?

Clearly needs medical attention, or any available attention.

Many times, I get frustrated with how the pandemic is handled in my neck of the woods but after I stumbled upon an interesting article on ancient remedies that truly existed, my disposition lightened up a little. Let me explain.

11 of my blog friends reimagined as plants

When you sit around with plants all day, you start to get ideas. Like how there are many ways to be a person and there are many ways to be a plant, too. I hope you don’t mind me speculating what happens to my blog friends in case they get reclassified into the wonderful Kingdom Plantae. Just harmless fun for the weekend.

What we do outside of the shadows

I brought the squad to the beach today…

What I eat in a day – healthy or naughty?

I love food. I am like Winnie The Pooh in this regard. If I am not eating it, I am thinking about it. Sharing food also gives me a lot of joy. Today, I thought I would share what I usually eat in a day – just simple homecooked meals from our small kitchen.

Breakfast

I like crepes and granola with fruit and yogurt, but lately, breakfast is a lot of bread since my youngest sister taught me how to bake bread. The Philippines is not known for its bread culture, unlike in Germany where access to good bread is a birthright.

In fact, you will be hard-pressed here to find bread with a crust or anything that does not contain sugar. Yes, even pandesal has sweet tones to it. I am still practicing my bread making skills but already it is infinitely nicer to have crispy, yeasty home-baked bread.

Lunch

We are in the thick of summer. It is so warm that anything other than a light lunch is impossible to eat. Because we have a tomato harvest, I often cook a fragrant 10-minute garden pasta. Another favorite is my banana blossoms vegetarian sandwich that has gone to the next level with the addition of home-baked bread.

I normally have my fruit with lunch, too. Sometimes it is just straightforward fruit but I also enjoy making my three ingredient mango frozen yogurt, especially because luscious mangoes are currently in season.

Dinner

I eat rice for dinner because I am Asian. It is so comforting and the following food coma helps with a good night’s sleep.

I have tofu in a slew of creative preparations, sometimes seafood caught by the small boats of the fishermen in our community (I can eat wild, sustainably caught seafood) and even cheesy nachos when I feel like snack for dinner because why not?

Dessert is always a treat – cakes, cookies, and all sorts of nice things. I am particularly in love with egg tarts, even if they take sometime to make, and some mornings I even eat a few for breakfast!

What do you usually eat in a day?

Touring my backyard, literally

Over the weekend, I managed to put in some work in further greening our backyard. Most of it is already teeming with plants but the wrought iron plant structure attached to the back of the tiny house has yet to receive some love.

It took three tries until I finally settled on a grouping that looked natural, lush, and textured. The color is mainly green and white and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Of course, it will become prettier in time as the plants grow more, assuming they enjoy their location. It should not be a problem – morning light floods the backyard and it is shaded for the rest of the day.

The wooden table and bench were built from reclaimed wood. We want another bench to complete it but we are still waiting for some material to magically come out of nowhere, as they usually do.

What do you think of our set up? It has become a favorite breakfast nook. Nothing like communing with nature to start a good day. Maybe one day we can sit with you here, too!

How are you going with your New Year’s resolutions?

Resolutions are not really my thing but reading all of your New Year’s resolutions in the beginning of the year made me think of what I wanted to do more of this 2021: to read more and eat more fruit.

Compared to my lofty aspirations the year before, which included have a property to potentially AirBnB and learn German, I was glad that my honest intentions for this year were simple but equally meaningful.

Time to evaluate progress after the first quarter of the year.

Tell me I am wrong

In a recent post on handling arguments, Ed mentioned that nobody likes being told they are wrong. I thought it was an interesting perspective because I do not mind others pointing out my mistakes. In fact, I welcome it, if not actively seek it.

The input helps me improve whatever it is I am trying to do. Maybe there is a better way or maybe I missed something. Often, I ask Markus what he thinks of my idea because I am pretty sure he has a better one.

On putting in the work.

You’ve gotta put in the work. We’ve all heard that phrase one time or another. You want nice things? Put in the work. You want a good life? Put in the work. You want things to change? Well, you guessed it – put in the work. Rarely have I seen a phrase so deeply misunderstood.

Show up to your thankless job every day, it seems to say. Work yourself to the bone, never complain, always do what you’re told. Sorry, but if this is what it means to put in the work, then I will choose oblivion every time.