Let’s Talk About Streaking

I'm a sucker for a good streak. Watching the number grow brings an excellent sense of measurable accomplishment. It's why streak-building is one of the most common forms of advice when chasing goals or building habits.

• Want to lose weight? Build an exercise streak.
• Want to be a better writer? Build a writing streak.
• Want to learn a language? Build a Duolingo streak.

Streaks can be very helpful, and there are seemingly thousands of apps and tools for tracking them.

A few weeks ago, while watching either Tokyo Vice or Shōgun, I got the idea to start learning Japanese. I had a few months of daily crossword puzzle streak at the time. While I enjoyed the daily brain game, I wanted to divert that time to learning something new. So, I downloaded Duolingo and started cranking out lessons.

The thing about streaks is that they work. 56 days of daily Japanese lessons, and I can read most Hiragana characters while stringing together some useful sentences.

Streaks, however, can also have a dark side.

Those of you who have known me for some time know that I used to be a huge advocate for daily writing. My streak was in the form of journaling, and I reached 1,903 days before calling it quits. During that time, I realized that I often found myself writing just for the sake of the streak, which made it far less exciting and completely uninteresting.

You can see this in people who publish daily for the sake of a writing streak. Things can get boring or poorly written really quickly. While I advocated for daily writing, I have never and will never advocate for daily publishing. Just don't do it.

Only 56 days in, I can see how you can force a streak with Duolingo just to maintain the number. Not only can you unlock "streak freeze" items to give yourself a day, but you can also simply do a three-minute lesson, and the streak continues. Does that help with learning or just keeping the streak alive?

I've learned that while I love a good streak, pairing it with a goal is more important. That was the problem with my journaling — I was trying to build a daily streak lasing forever, and that's how the pressure built up.

I downloaded Duolingo with a goal in mind: hit a year-long streak and have a toddler's vocabulary next year when I return to Japan. Oh, by the way, I'm going back to Japan! More on that in the future, I'm sure.

Having a goal removes the pressure of simply maintaining the streak and lets me focus on the output: learning Japanese. Because there's a time limit involved, it also encourages me to really put in the work. As a result, I'm averaging 15 to 30 minutes of daily practice.

If you're considering a streak of any kind, including writing, give yourself a specific goal, and don't be afraid to include an end date. If you like what you're doing, you can always set a new goal and extend your streak. If not, no harm! The only exception to this rule is a streak surrounding general hygiene. Do that every day forever without exception.

A Fun Japanese Word: タコ

タコ (ta ko) uses Katakana characters, indicative of loan words. While some loan words, like ニューヨーク (New York), are pronounced very similarly to the language they are loaned from, タコ (ta ko) threw me off.

Why?

タコ (ta ko) translates to octopus in English!

As soon as I learned this word, I immediately wanted some Japanese-Mexican fusion with a grilled octopus taco. Tell me that doesn't sound amazing right about now!

A Quick Thought About Eurovision

I'm a big fan of Eurovision and wish more Americans were, too. The annual celebration of music, harmony, and pageantry took place in Sweden over the weekend.

For those not familiar, each of the 37 participating countries conducts a national contest to crown their entry. The song must be sung live, have no more than five people on stage, and be no more than three minutes long.

The performance also isn't supposed to be political or controversial, though sometimes the lyrics are intentionally coded or sung in the native language to skirt the rules. There's also typically a little political intrigue when it comes to voting, but I'll leave that for others to describe.

This year, Switzerland took home the crown with an absolute banger from Nemo about being a non-binary person. Not only is The Code a great song, but the performance was amazing.

While not all 25 finalists could win, there were a few other honorable mentions that I would have given points to had I been a judge (each country's jury awards 12 points to its top choice, 10 to its second place, 8 to its third, and so on).

Finland's Windows95man may not have impressed the judges with No Rules!, but I sure did love every bit of this performance. The song is equally quirky and catchy, while the practical effects and camera tricks make the whole thing a lot of fun. Ultimately, this is what I look for in a great Eurovision song.

It's the second year in a row that Finland crushed Eurovision. Sadly, last year's Cha Cha Cha performance by Käärijä did not win either, but it's worth a watch.

While the performance was just fine, I loved Arminia's contribution. LADANIVA's Jako just had a fun beat and musicality. Plus, whenever there is a pan flute solo, you have to give credit where credit is due.

Speaking of sick beats, I've got to mention Croatia's Baby Lasagna selling his cow in the catchy Rim Tim Tagi Dim. Finally, another amazing name and completely unexpected performance came from Ireland with Bambie Thug's Doomsday Blue.

Basically, Eurovision is the Olympics for creativity, and I'm 100% here for it. Peacock has the US broadcast rights, and you can catch the entire four-hour, commercial-free show there. It's so worth it!

Did you watch? Who were you giving votes to?