#8: summer and penguins

helloooo i'm sorrrryyy

Hi again! I feel like I always do this thing where I create a place to post my thoughts and then I get worried that nobody cares about it, so I feel bad about posting. So if you’re not interested just ignore me or unsub and I don’t be offended at all. :^)

Work

This past summer was very upsetting because of current events, and the whole time I found myself spiraling (as I usually do) (but it was different this time). I’ve been thinking about how I can enter journalism without being complicit in a system that has historically harmed a lot of people. But is it realistic to think about that? Or should I focus on how I can incorporate a mentality into everyday opportunities at work? I thought this semi-related article was interesting.

Anyway, yeah. My internship ended a few weeks ago and I’m in school now. These are two of my main projects from the summer. The first was done in my last two weeks, which was a whirlwind of a time but I learned a lot about properly scoping a story. It started out as a long idea about how online fandoms change over time, and Shelly Tan helped me widdle it into something more appropriate for the two-week timeframe. The second taught me a lot about React! It was fun. If these are paywalled for you and you wanna see, let me know:

• The Legend of Korra and queer representation in kids media

• 2020 Election calculator

School-wise, I’m taking an extra class and it is exhausting. But one of them is a Chinese for heritage speakers class, which has been very very satisfying and exciting.

Life

I feel weird about this section today. The truth is, my life is fine. I suppose I have been thinking about how, this summer, I was 21 and didn’t order any drinks; about extistential dread and going somewhere secluded with a blanket, alone, to look at stars; about the people I haven’t seen in a while and want to hold. I’ve been realizing that I’m very content being alone, but that doesn’t mean I want to be. I’ve been watching the leaves turn red while trying, failing to get adequate amounts of sleep. But in comparison to everything else right now, I’m pretty fine.

Anyway.

Play

I’m trying to decide if I should buy Cooking Mama: Cookstar or Hades on switch. thoughts??

I’ve been listening to classical music again because it makes me happy (here’s a playlist if you’re curious). I think I realized that I want to find some sort of chamber music org for adults when I get a full-time job. Playing music alongside other people is really nice and feels like you’re creating something new together.

a while back, I tried laoganma (chili crisp) on vanilla ice cream and it actually.. worked? I recommend giving it a shot.

This is a very cutely designed article about instant noodles.

This is a 2-minute clip from a Werner Herzog documentary. Apparently sometimes penguins will just wander off into the distance with no end in sight. until they die. In other words, I realized I really like penguins:

also, please enjoy this very soft and tender love song:

also also, if you got this far, hello. I’m not that good at responding to… anyone… but if you send me an email I’ll try! for you!