🧠Most of my brain energy this week was occupied with grief and anger over the current state of Palestine and anxiety over my upcoming recital. Even so I had a fairly eventful week. Trying to reset my mental state as much as possible so I don’t start the new week with overwhelm.

👻As a self-identifying goth and lover of all things spooky, the expenditure on brain energy for the things mentioned above and also a very skinny wallet this month means that I did not make any grand (or petite) Halloween plans. I’m completely okay with this because other things are more important but also keeping my Instagram use to a minimum has really killed the FOMO. The past few years I’d always feel like I failed somehow in not taking the opportunity to fly my spooky flag as aggressively as possible during October but so much of that is based on consumerism. Ironically this is the first year we’ve had actual Halloween decorations and I’m perfectly happy with keeping them to myself than worrying if they’re good enough for social media.

👠Went to my first bingo game as an adult and also my first drag bingo. I love that the queer community here is so active and more importantly I love that events here adhere to what we fondly refer to as “old-people hours”. A big barrier to taking part in queer or queer-centric events back in Tokyo was the focus on nightlife, bars and drinking. All of which I do enjoy but found fairly early that I do not have the mental or physical fortitude for. It’s also nice to know that you’re more likely to make friends who will remember you the next day without a potential drunken haze getting in the way.

🎪While it’s technically not part of week 43 I have to say that my tsugaru shamisen recital was successful! I was but a blip in the many amazing performances and although I was nowhere near “good”, the audience was kind to beginners and I also wasn’t “terrible”. Most importantly though, despite making me physically ill before the show my stage fright did not affect the performance! I felt like I did as well as I was going to do regardless of the circumstances and I finally have proof that I can play an instrument infront of a crowd of complete strangers without choking.

💪🏾I did some aerial hoop for the first time in months and for the first time since my last horrible endometriosis flare up which left me in too much pain to move properly for weeks. My stamina is understandably non-existent and I have to build up a tolerance to the motion sickness once again (worse than I remember if I’m being honest) but my muscle memory stayed intact and I’m stronger than I expected.

💻Trying to stay updated and share information means that I am back on social media (primarily Twitter) for the time being. While I did revive my Tumblr after stepping back from Twitter and Instagram I am considering deleting it (again) since I have a blog for sharing longform thoughts and Tumbr can be just as unproductive. Currently debating what I would like to do with my Wordpress blog which I’ve ben using for book reviews since I also have a Bookstagram. I prefer and genuinely love the bookish community on Instagram but the pressure for pretty pictures (which I do not have) is so intense I don’t share as much as I want to. The workaround is to realize that I’m just doing this for myself anyways so it shouldn’t matter. Will probably work towards doing an account purge at the end of this year.

💸Last week I wrote about caving and reviving my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I have since pivoted hard in the other direction and finally deleted my Amazon account altogether along with the subscription. It’s a bit more work but I can always flip through manga in person at a bookstore or trying the free chapters that other sites have available before deciding to purchase. Similarly, I will have to find alternative ways of supporting the Amazon-only authors that I follow but luckily many of them have Patreons or Ko-fi and more authors have been starting to publish wide so I will keep an eye out. Will think about how this can factor into my no/low buy as well.

🎧In leaving Kindle Unlimited, I rejoined Scribd since they also host a fair amount of indie publications and their audiobook selection so far tends to outstrip the current libraries that I use so I will definitely be spoiled for choice.

📖Halfway through “A Day of Fallen Night” and the plot payoff has been great so far. Like in “The Priory of the Orange Tree”, Samantha Shannon spends a painstaking amount of time building up all corners of the world and trickling bits of the plot in before it all starts to pick up steam. Currently challenging myself to finish before the end of October (💦) as it’s been a while since I’ve started the month with a clean reading slate.

🧶Finished crocheting my first cocoon cardigan and currently working on a wrap top in a gorgeous shade of eggplant purple using this pattern from Madeline Shirley.

📓I’m getting more excited about starting my 2024 Hobonichi planners since they begin around the end of November. That way I have about a month to figure out how best to utilize everything for the new year. I got a decent amount of inspiration from this video by Youtuber JashiiCorrin who has an impressive lineup of notebooks and fun ways of using them.

#weeknotes #personal

The temperature has been fluctuating between warm and suddenly cold and everyone is hurrying to get their flu shots.

• 📖
  • I’m still chugging along at A Day of Fallen Night. Finally familiar with the characters so my reading should be picking up from now.
  • Also trying to wrap up my reading of 和菓子のアン which I started in February! To be fair to myself, my Japanese reading pace has only recently improved so I feel like I’m finally in a good rhythm but I also desperately want to read something new.
• 🎧
  • Listening to the audiobook for The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna read by Samara MacLanen which is one of the cozier books I’ve read in a while. I always appreciate when narrators go all in on different voices and the entire cast of characters are delightful.
  • Relistening to The Magnus Archives in preparation for The Magnus Protocol which I’m very excited for 👻
• 📺
  • Finished Castlevania: Nocturne. The pacing got much better towards the end and I am now fully invested and excited for season 2.
  • Started and finished Bocchi the Rock! which was incredibly heartwarming, relatable and funny. Currently recommending it to anyone who appreciates indie rock bands, live houses and friendships 💖.
  • Started the new Goosebumps series on Disney+. A bit disappointed in the direction of aging up the characters and making it serialized instead of an anthology. Goosebumps is such a good intro to horror for younger demographics that they could have gone with a Stranger Things direction as opposed to something closer to Riverdale. While on my soapbox I also dislike the trend of making every remake incredibly visually dark in the sense that the blue filter makes it hard to see what’s going on. Horror can be bright! with colors! Leaning into a more campy, physical horror effects is also perfect for Goosebumps. However it does seem to have a fairly positive reception so far and I am not the demographic so I will keep watching to see where it goes.
• 📚
  • Trying to balance getting informed about what’s happening with Palestine and how I can help without getting sucked into doomscrolling. Being overly anxious or nihilistic about humanity is not going to be helpful right now.
• 🎪
  • Currently practicing for my first tsugaru shamisen performance. I have immense stage fright and I’ve never worked up the courage to play an instrument infront of people due to the way my hands shake so this will be a crazy big challenge. I suppose that even if it’s a disaster, it’s something that I can say I tried.
• 💸
  • Still sticking to my no/low buy trial leading up to 2024 and will be doing a write up soon. I did cave and resubscribe to Kindle Unlimited again since lots of indie authors I follow publish there and there are a good few manga series available for free. I prefer to buy and read manga physically for ease and to support the authors but it’s good to be able to try a few volumes of a series beforehand.
• 🔗
  • Free Ebooks for a Free Palestine! 🔗 https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/495-free-ebooks-for-a-free-palestine Haymarket Books has a great collection of books on Palestine and are currently offering 3 of those ebooks for free. The last free ebook bundle I received from them was during the BLM protests and those were also incredibly informative.

#weeknotes #languagelearning #books #reading #media #links

Decided to switch the Week Links into a Weeknotes post inspired by others that I’ve seen people doing.

📖 What I’m Reading:

• Still making my way through “A Day of Fallen Night” by Samantha Shannon. The book is so large I end up saving my reading for before bed and first thing in the morning. The hardest part of any fantasy for me is learning all the names and terminology so I’m using copious amounts of sticky tabs (the blue is for every time a new character shows up 😅). Enjoying it so far though 🐉

🎧 What I’m Listening to:

• The HALIDONMUSIC classical playlist for villains has been my go-to playlist for work followed by the trusty Lo-fi Girl (Halloween Edition 🎃) for seasonally appropriate ambience.

📺 What I’m Watching:

• Finished “The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting” which was okay but probably had the most toothless iteration of yakuza that I’ve seen in a while. For a similar storyline I definitely preferred “Buddy Daddies”.
• Started “Castlevania: Nocturne” and I am excited for the story but I already feel like it’s a bit rushed. I hope they are able to get more seasons going because the cast of characters are pretty interesting.

📚What I’m Studying:

• I am learning about web3 and the resulting terminology since my current part-time job requires knowledge of that field. It’s a bit tedious but I’m trying to enjoy the experience of simply learning something new.
• Lots and lots of vocabulary flashcards in preparation for JLPT N1 in December.

🎪 Miscellany:

• Went to my first themed cafe in a while, the Black Butler cafe since there will be a new season. Black Butler events usually go all-in on the aesthetic but this one was a bit lacking. The official art was still plenty cute though.

* Got my copy of Percy Jackson – The Chalice of the Gods and I’m excited to read this one. I am still a couple books behind with the final Trials of Apollo and The Sun and The Star left before this one to avoid any spoilers.

💻 Interesting Links:

• Largehearted Boy 🔗 https://largeheartedboy.com A blog that combines books and music. I particularly love looking through the author-curated playlists for books that I’ve read or are interested in reading.

• 🪦 The London Dead 🔗 https://thelondondead.blogspot.com/ A blog about various cemeteries and the histories behind their graves and monuments.

#weeknotes