I apologize for the audio quality of this particular recording, it didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped, but I believe it was still worth sharing an update.

Things have been a bit difficult lately because I majorly injured my foot over a week ago. I clumsily dropped a 45lb plate on it while unloading a leg press machine. It seems I am to endure weeks of of pain for a moment of exhausted carelessness. Quite a painful lesson in diligent and careful moving of weights. Despite that, I have finished the first iteration of my 2026 exercise plan. I am already beginning to ramp up towards being able to stick to it and I am excited for the gains to come.

The first mini-rant of this recording I talk about how I think many things that are often discussed as ‘genetics’ in health and fitness circles seem to cover what I would call “external lifestyle factors”. This navel-gazing hair-split is about recognizing the distinction between inherited constraints on health that are not explicitly encoded in genes but rather inherited socially. This would include things like ACE (adverse childhood events) and other direct impacts on quality of life.

The second mini-rant is a sappy one about the importance of cultivating skill as individuals and as a society. As covered in my Digital Autonomy & The Arts Series I touch on how I am concerned that generative AI may undermine people’s desire to develop important skills, and for people to generally devalue human ingenuity as a whole.

Lastly I finish up talking about a great experience I had at a ‘meet & greet’ lately. I had the thrilling opportunity to talk to one of my personal heroes. After a very nice back-and-forth I was encouraged to explicitly talk about how the Canadian response to the Covid Crisis played a role in making my dire health situation get a great deal worse.