My energy was low this week, and coupled with needing to step up my babysitting duties, I was left with little mental bandwidth for other things. Gotta say, I don’t know how parents are surviving this pandemic, mentally/emotionally. I’m overwhelmed just dealing with my own shit, and I’m single and childless. Hats off to you all, seriously.
I had to drive for some errands on Friday and got caught in rainy Friday rush hour traffic. It was funny-sad that I had missed being in my car so much, LOL. I had so much time to listen to podcasts! It’s the first time I’ve been outside the house in… a month? Time is a blur. It is moving both fast and slow. I’m writing this with a migraine. Will this hell ever end?
General complaints about the pandemic aside, it was actually really nice to spend so much time with my nephew. Look at this video of him ‘playing’ with the BTS members…! Locking this one in my heart. This time, his age, it’s precious and I don’t take it for granted. <3 Hoping for more good days this coming week.
Currently...
Writing for something I can’t disclose yet. It felt good to flex those muscles again! (Writing this newsletter is a different muscle from my professional writing.)
Starting to do intermittent fasting. So far, so good. Learning I could drink miso soup was a gamechanger.
Watching Youn Stay, a Korean reality show where actors ran a traditional Korean B&B together. When I eat while watching, my food tastes better. It is a gentle and soothing show. Here’s the trailer if you want to check it out. I’m watching because I have crushes on both Park Seo Joon and Choi Woo Shik.
Listening to Leni Robredo’s podcast on Spotify. Really enjoyed the first few episodes and looking forward to who she might have on in the coming weeks.
Reading a whole bunch of fanfiction. Enjoying having a fanfic club to gush over stories with. Even when I was a huge fan of Harry Potter in the past, I wasn’t part of ~a community~ like I am now.
Eating the most hilariously packaged bread for Namjoon Day. I laughed so hard at the packaging; I just had to try it. Masarap naman!
Obsessing over BTS 3J’s dance for Megan thee Stallion’s remix and falling down a dance practice rabbit hole yet again.
Crying over the interview Chris Martin did with BTS. It’s sincerely one of their best interviews ever, because Chris gets at the heart of why they do why they do: they’re grateful; they love their fans; they want to leave a positive legacy. I cried watching their faces watching the fans; i cried thinking about how many of them have been Coldplay fanboys for years. I cried knowing that they’re truly at another level of fame, and they take that responsibility seriously. They are the best boys.
Looking forward to watching another concert with my high school barkada who are ARMY. We live all over the world but get together every couple of weeks to watch a BTS concert together. Our next one is a few hours after this newsletter is scheduled to go out.
Longreads…
I have had zero attention span to consume longreads this week but plugging again an article I’d shared in a previous issue:
What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind — Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic.
It’s timely because Bobby McIlvaine died on 9/11, and the essay takes the long view (20 years) of how grief has shaped each of his family members. I read it weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it, this quote in particular: “There are people that need me. And that, in itself, is life. There are people I do not know yet that need me. That is life.”
I’ll reread this article tomorrow; it’s long but it’s worth it, I promise. Just trust me.
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Yours from afar,
Pinky