What I Am up to Right Now

This is a now page. It was last updated on 22 November 2022.

Private Life

My name is Fabian A. Scherschel, I was born in 1983 in the town of Duisburg in Germany. Right now, I live pretty much in the centre of Düsseldorf, not leaving my house much as I am working from home almost all of the time. My wife Katy does research in a hospital in town and at the university clinic. She works even more than I do.

I have recently taken up bouldering, which is a lot of fun. I try to go running twice a week, wearing a plate carrier with 10 kg of steel plates in it. I usually run 10 - 12 km, mostly in the evenings. I also try to do kickboxing and some weightlifting exercises at least once a week.

When the weather permits, I ride my motorcycle, a 2013 Moto Guzzi V7 Special as much as I can. Katy and I go on holiday in our Volkswagen T4 camper van whenever we can. Our last camping trip was to Croatia in the summer. We visit Hamburg quite a lot as well.

Work

I work as a freelance journalist, selling stories to several German tech publications and consumer magazines. I also write a weekly column in a regional newspaper in Northern Germany. I try to write a daily newsletter in the mornings and as many posts on my blog as I can (both in English and in German).

Usually on Wednesdays, I record an episode for my weekly podcast. I try to stream on Twitch whenever possible and record a weekly YouTube show with my friend Jonathan.

I also host webinars regularly and once in a while also get to host in-person events.

Art

I am currently in the process of finishing my novel. At the moment, I am transcribing handwritten portions of the manuscript.

Once in a while, I dabble in sketching and drawing. Both using ink in my physical notebook and with the oil and watercolour painting simulation in Rebelle.

Games

My favourite game at the moment is Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and I play it whenever I can. I am also still in the (long) process of trying to finish Elden Ring. Sometimes, mostly when we record YouTube videos, I play Escape from Tarkov with Jonathan. Another game I am playing from time to time right now is Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.

Music, Movies, TV

I am always listening to Sabaton and Powerwolf, but have also become a big fan of The HU recently. A recent discovery has been Danheim, which works well when writing things. Other writing music that works for me at the moment are the soundtracks to Elden Ring, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and The Rings of Power. I also like to listen to jazz when I cook or write, especially John Coltrane, Art Pepper, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins. I am also partial to some Van Morrison and Tom Waits.

When I am in the mood for country, I listen to Cody Jinks, Colter Wall, Paul Cauthen and Corb Lund these days.

Of course, as a fan of over 30 years, there’s always some Bruce Springsteen in the mix and I’ve recently rediscovered Dave Hause, too.

I haven’t watched many movies recently. All the new stuff is pretty dreadful. On the TV, I am currently rewatching Star Trek: Voyager and I’m pretty much in the middle of the show at the moment. It’s much better than I had remembered. Especially compared to the new Star Trek stuff. Janeway is rapidly becoming my favourite captain.

I did watch The Rings of Power and found it okay. House of the Dragon, however, was horrible. The only reason I didn’t stop after three episodes or so was because I got paid to review it.

When I need some mindless entertainment, I turn to my UFC Fight Pass subscription. I’m a big fan of “The Last Stylebender”, Israel Adesanya. And of women absolutely beating the shit out of other women and then hugging and smiling about it together.

Thinking About

I think a lot about how much of a good decision it was to not have kids and how my life is just massively better for it. The more I see people with kids, the more this conviction solidifies in my mind. At this point, I don’t even want pets. I value my freedom too much. The idea that we could just up and move to another country whenever we want holds a lot of appeal to me. Even if it’s only for a short holiday.

I think a lot about journalism, as always, and how little of the “facts” and “truths” people talk and write about actually are as such. I regularly marvel at how uncritical most journalists are. And how little people in general dare to think for themselves. I feel the normal family routine of get a job, get a house, get kids – and keep it all – has a lot to do with it for most people. Again, I am thankful for largely being removed from this whole way of living and able to go through life in my own way. I think a lot about how lucky I am to have a partner who is 100% on the same page with me on this.

The death of my grandmother at 100 years old this year has made me think a lot about mortality. How we are all here for a very short amount of time, even if we should be as lucky as my grandma was and live to such an amazing age. I have been thinking about how it is important to make the best of the time we have. And what that means to me. I think spending every available moment doing things I love and appreciating every second I spent with my partner is a good start.