2021 is...

This post is the final post for this year.

I made it! I've updated this blog daily for the whole year! 372(!) posts in 365 days.

You can see the list of posts with links here.

Since this is a personal blog, my posts were mostly diary/journal-like though. I had fun doing it.

PAST

Let's see... what happened this year...

♛ I started reading books regularly again!

I do have some minor slump-like moments at times but it happened... and it's happening!

Reading Challenges
I have an ambitious aim - to read all the new/unread books in my bookshelf. That also prompted the birth of Pick-A-New-Book Jar and some other reading challenges. So far, I've picked 18 books from that jar and already finished reading 13 of them. Only managed to read two books from my not-rigid list (but no matter! They will be brought to next year :P)
Those Read Unread Books
Finally read:
-- "The Hunger Games" and its sequels.
-- "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen which I [surprisingly] liked.
Finally finished reading:
-- "情定愛琴海" (reread)
-- "The Star-Touched Queen"
-- "Commemorative History of Sabah 1881-1981" (that non-fiction book)
-- "Good Omens"...which honestly, I don't really enjoy reading.
Oh New Books!
Got a lot of those this year. But it makes it easy to refer back when I had posted about their arrival so I liked that. Oh yeah, I also found some rare Chinese novels: 還珠格格's Part 1 and Part 2, with covers that I wished to own.

♛ I knitted that haramaki
Last year, I wanted to learn to knit because of this haramaki pattern. After practising on other projects, I finally started knitting that haramaki and finished it months later. Haven't started any new knitting project as of now though.

♛ I got vaccinated for COVID-19

I posted about having trust issues in August. I want to avoid crowded places as much as possible so I never applied (registered?) to get vaccinated via the MySejahtera app. Fortunately in September, my father found a clinic where I can get the vaccination with peace of mind. *sigh* I don't know what I'll do with the booster one later... probably will be assigned to a place near home. Will there be a crowd? Probably.

♛ I started learning new languages
...Still in very, very early stages though XD. I'm re-learning French from scratch. I'm also learning how to write and read Cyrillic. Oh.. and I'm learning a bit of German (this looks scary at first but I discovered how fun it can be). I don't have a strict plan regarding this, I'm just going to learn according to my mood and pace.

PRESENT

I guess this is referring to me, today. Lol... All I think of now is I just want to finish watching all three seasons of "Fruits Basket".

FUTURE

Daily Blogging

I'm thinking of doing it since I managed to do it for this year. There are so many other ways you can make a post... and I haven't fully explore that haha. But hmmm... let me think more about it.

Piano

This is one of the things that I've thought early on that I must include in my 2022 goals(?). I want to play the piano daily (at least an hour). I seriously need the practice. (Daily blogging on my music blog? I wish!)

Weirdly though, since I started knitting, my hands feel somewhat more comfortable on the piano keys. It's like knitting helps the finger muscles develop or something.

Knitting... or crocheting

Since it helps with playing the piano, I'm thinking of knitting something.. maybe a blanket for next year. I don't know yet, really. I can also focus on wearables like hats (or beanies?) and socks (do I dare?).. Or just learn how to crochet.

Mass Effect 2
Kept repeating it here but I should really, finally, go finish that insanity playthrough...

Learning Languages

It's just a continuation from this year, I guess. Will I finally learn Italian by the end of 2022? :P [Notice anything?]

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Less than an hour before 12am. I guess now is the right time to say goodbye to 2021 before I publish this post.

Goodbye, 2021~

Time: 2021-12-31T23:05:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: # Mass Effect , 2021 posts , Anime , Knit/Crochet Stuff , Learning French Language , Learning German Language , Learning Russian Language , Reading , Reading Challenge

OTDフェス

Posted in: 2021 posts | Anime | On This Day

Didn't plan to do this post at first but I realised I had like five posts in the past that were posted on this same day...

It's an On This Day festival today~ OTDフェス, yay!

Don't mind me, I always act weird(er) when it's near a new year~

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Let's start from this list.

Oh yeah, might not revisit some of the posts though...

~~Not interested in reading about my past exam results lol~~

.';･ゞ(≧ε≦ )ﾌﾞｯ

2008 ♦ "My Own Appreciation Day"

2009 ♦ "Exam S1 : Results." & "I Won’t Miss You, 2009."

2019 ♦ "Last Day of 2019 at random"

2020 ♦ "Goodbye Year 2020"

'08

An appreciation post, huh.

It might be better if I list down my resolutions for 2009... but that ~~never~~ seldom works for me. Whatever I've planned beforehand always get done like.. almost 50% only... shamefully, unplanned things are (most of the time) given full attention, hence they always get done before I even realize it.

These kind of posts always remind me that past-me and me are not that different XD. There are parts of past-me that stay with the present me.

*goes through the rest of the post*

Oh god that was one ~~cringy~~ wholesome post. Not going to quote any of that here *feeling a bit embarrassed*... but that's a nice habit. I used to do something similar monthly. I would write down my goals and wishes for that month and then do a follow-up report on it later. I probably included things to pray for and some notes of appreciation but I'm not sure. But, like I said, that's a nice habit to be doing. Like you have this brief moment twice every month to reflect on yourself. (Hmm, should I try doing it again next year?)

'09

...

I also discovered the hot-tempered/angry side of me. Usually only family and close friends can see my angry side before but university life (minus dorm life) seem to bring out the worst in me.

INTERESTING. That might just be how I react to stressful situations. Because the same thing happened at the place I worked in. Very interesting stuff... totally forgot about this lol. I was savage, let me tell you. I usually don't like getting angry (because it takes efforts and energy - have I ever mentioned that I'm a fan of Houtarou's conserve energy way of life?), but when I do, I either go silent... or go ballistic - I get very sarcastic and sharp-tongued. It's that thing where they say INTPs having outbursts, I think. All the things I saw wrong but kept quiet on will get out of my mouth... and I promise you, it's not going to be a pretty sight.

Haaah... just realised that I had probably hurt so many people when I do this ...but then again whatever I say out loud are things I believe to be based on facts so they are just truths you don't want to hear. ...That unfortunately have made me an unapologetic person.

'19

*phew*

Probably going to spend the moment the clock and date turns 12am, January 1st 2020 doing nothing special.

...lol thought of staying up today (until tomorrow morning) but then do I really want to do that on the first day of a new year? Although, probably it's not going to make any difference anyway for me.

Not really looking forward to year 2020... But I might attempt to list what I want to do for the whole year. Nothing big. The main important thing is to take small steps towards them.

Ooof. "Not really looking forward" huh.

Whatever it is that I posted, I am glad that I made through the end. For me, it's more about committing to doing something everyday which I had lost confidence in doing some time ago.

Oh, right. Today's the last day for 2021. That means I've posted daily for this whole year! ...yeah, definitely going to do a similar summary post for that today.

Will I do this again for next year? Hmmmmm not sure yet. I kinda liked making blogging a daily habit but for real though, sometimes it's really hard to find things to write about XD

'20

Last post to revisit.

I feel like I need to post something today just to summarise what happened since my last post (which was in October. Wow).

Teehee... since I have over 300 posts for this year, this is like...not a significant problem anymore... I don't even remember what I blogged about last month. ~~Ah can't wait for that "summary" post to happen lol~~

But there's one thing I must include in this post today: Despite what happened this year, my year 2020 is a better year than my last year. I feel like an empty shell in 2019. This year, I feel more alive. Even though I spent most of the year at home. Yes.

So, is my 2021 a better year than 2020? Honestly, I barely remember 2019 (which is good - the "healing" power of forgetting!) ... but I think, 2021 is the same? It's neither better nor worse for me. (My positive-pessimistic side wanted to add that next year might just be another repeat of year 2020/2021... but let's hope for the best.)

Not going to go out much yet at this time - my paranoid side yells a solid NO - but I look forward to visiting [botanical] gardens in the far future.

My paranoid side still yells no lol... Occasional outings might be okay but nope.

Planned to learn crocheting too but I underestimated the amount of yarns I need so that is going to happen next year I guess.

Sorry to report that I haven't learn crocheting this year too haha... Next year, maybe?

Watched more anime...

Not sure if I watch more or less this year but recent anime that I watch made me annoyed so I DNF many actually lol. Currently watching the new "Fruits Basket" and it has been a "cleansing" or "purifying" experience so far XD

Still gets annoyed watching horror movies nowadays. I always find something to complain about.

Same. Now I just stop watching halfway.

I actually enjoyed the 2nd season of "Lost in Space" more than the 1st one!

And this year, I also enjoyed watching the 3rd season! In fact, I'm still in that space opera mood that I've been window-shopping for them on Shopee :P

Time: 2021-12-31T12:41:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Anime , On This Day

ﾟ+｡ﾟ(ﾉﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉオォオォﾟ｡+ﾟ

Posted in: 2021 posts | Life: Anecdotes | Online Shopping | Reading

(*ﾟェﾟ*)ﾃﾚ

So... I woke up early today. Went(!) to Karamunsing. Since it was early, there weren't that many people. Did what I have to do there. Then returned home by noon.

｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

I'm near the end of Furuba's S1. I forgot how "mind-cleansing" the story is. Loved every moments of it. Also cried for some episodes.

ｶﾀｶﾀ＼＿ﾍ('ω'o)ﾒﾓﾒﾓ

Thought I could finish "A Vision of Fire" today but I didn't do any reading today XD... Maybe later, after this post.

This isn't exactly an On This Day post but I just want to mention these two posts on Dec 30th published in 2009 and 2019.

2009 was that "About Me, A-Z version" post. Yep, that thing up there (desktop version only lol). My thoughts today: "That was in 2009!?" XD

Status : NOT COMPLETE.
Last edited : Jul 18th, 2021.

LOL that was just me procrastinating... Maybe I should make that one of things to complete(?) for next year.

2019 was a post about my experience buying books on Lazada. How much things had changed in just two years :D... It's Shopee > Lazada for me this year. ... and had more, let's say, varied, experiences with BX/BBW. Didn't mentioned any of them in this blog because I just accepted them. So this part is still true then:

I guess I'm lenient towards online book stores...?

And isn't it funny how I ended up not really liking the way "Frankenstein" was written? ("Too wordy for my taste..."). Whenever I see another copy of the book [with different covers] on BBW's listing, I go "Oof no".

Time: 2021-12-30T23:54:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Life: Anecdotes , Online Shopping , Reading

Dark Grey

Posted in: 2021 posts | Lazy Day Musings | Me. | Reading

I think it's easy to figure me out. If I like or have interest in something, it's very clear by the way I talk about it. I tend to ignore or avoid things I hate (unless when they become problematic and I have to address them). Most of the time, I just pretend those things don't exist. The problem [for others] is, I think differently...? That's why it's hard to predict what my motivations are. But, if you know me well enough, you'll know it's really simple.

I don't like to lie. Because it takes efforts to lie, and I am someone who don't like troublesome things. But... I do still lie when it's necessary to do so. My lies are created from half-truths. White lies? Sometimes. Mainly, lies are for to me to avoid troublesome things.

Yes, I do things by extremes... but I consider myself morally grey. ~~Fine. I'm more like dark grey nowadays, but it's still grey XD.~~

...and that was what I wrote 7.5 hours ago lol. Not sure where I'm getting at with those. Probably had a moment of self-reflection or something.

The rest of my afternoon was spent on reading "A Vision of Fire"... totally didn't do any cleaning or organising *sigh*.

Time: 2021-12-29T22:11:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Lazy Day Musings , Me. , Reading

Last Parcel for this Year

Posted in: 2021 posts | blog images | Online Shopping Bag | Reading

Received these books today.

Yes, more of these short story collections XD

...now I just need "Trickery", "War" and "Fear" to complete this series(?)

Roald Dahl's "Cruelty", "Madness", "Innocence" & "Deception".

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Finished reading "The Color Purple". I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It's engaging from the start to the end. It does have heavy themes like racism, sexism and gender equality... but I was still able to read it until the end. I think it featured some weird (at least to me) and eye-opening relationship dynamics. But it didn't take me long to get used to them (which kind of surprised me lol). I'm also surprised that I could read it smoothly, considering the way it's written (which shows the main character's level of education). I guess that's what good storytelling will do to you.

Time: 2021-12-28T17:08:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , blog images , Online Shopping Bag , Reading

Some Updates

Posted in: 2021 posts | Interest: TV | Reading | Tumblr

On this day... ah. Never mind.

I mean, there's only one post in the past.. which is 2019's. And it's the one where I embedded 5 posts from my Tumblr.

Fine. I'll do one for today.

https://ruyandaplus.tumblr.com/post/126097698283

This one is quite nice :)

...not sure if I embedded it before lol

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"The Romance of Tiger and Rose" ended today. I... don't know what to say. I really did watch it casually so there were so many things that I don't know why they happened haha... Read a review online that this drama is better when you marathon-watch it. I kind of agree with that because that was how I didn't finish watching it last year (when it was still being released in a few episodes weekly). Maybe next time I'll re-watch it if I can find it again anywhere.

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Anyway.. tried to clean my room again today but only managed to do a little bit. Which is still okay! Honestly didn't know where to start.

Made some progress on "The Color Purple". It's now at the part where things are being revealed and [better] things are happening. Might finish it soon.

Time: 2021-12-27T21:49:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Interest: TV , Reading , Tumblr

Is That Oguri Shun?

Posted in: 2021 posts | Forty Winks and More | Interest: TV | Pick-A-New-Book Jar

Slept too early last night. Then got up super early (similar situation to this). Went back to sleep at 6am. Got up at 3pm.

Watched a bit of "Godzilla vs. Kong" on TV before going back to sleep. Finished watching it this afternoon. Hmm... I don't know if I liked it.. but I guess it's better than "Kong: Skull Island". Still did a lot of eye-rolling and some things did annoy me ("Who does these people think they are???"). Also kept thinking how do these titans could even be alive... and yeaaah I know that's probably not the point lol.. I am interested in the lore so will go hunting for info on the internet later. Haaah... I'm really not a fan of the people [characters] on those movies.

Happy to see Oguri Shun there though XD

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So it's that time again...

*shakes plastic jar*

"Agent of Chaos" by Kami Garcia. What.. seriously?? What a coincidence lol

Time: 2021-12-26T18:45:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Forty Winks and More , Interest: TV , Pick-A-New-Book Jar

メリクリ

Posted in: 2021 posts | The Weather Looks...

o<(o'∀')ﾉ☆*:;;;:*☆Merry Christmas☆*:;;;:*☆ヽ('∀'o)>o

Nice sunny day.

Again, I'm surprised by a parcel delivery done by J&T today. On a public holiday. Thank you for your hard work, sir! ♪(´･∀･`)ゞ

It's a pretty much a normal day for me which suits me just fine... (considering how I'm not really a fan of these events).

Organised my notes on Evernote again. Took me a few hours to do it. Surprised again by the amount of notes I have. *sigh*

Time: 2021-12-25T20:44:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , The Weather Looks...

Deader

Posted in: 2021 posts | Me. | Reminiscences

Today I've been reading... my old diary of *let me check again* five years. There weren't that many entries but.. whoa.. I really poured out my thoughts in those entries, huh. I was surprisingly very, erm, perky in them. Past-me was trying hard to be positive(?). I called it false positivity this year when I roughly recall those years but... actually it wasn't really that. I think at that time, I thought that was the only way to "fix" the stuff I was going through. If not, I might've shut down. (There were mentions of suicidal thoughts but they were more of the "This is so bad but not that bad bad that I would do that" kind). There was also an entry about me getting an appointment with the uni's counselling officer... but I didn't mention the meetings in detail. Which just shows how much help I thought I was getting from that (-.-).

*sigh*

Probably shouldn't go reread the entries too much (or too long).. but the parts where I distract myself with happy things were just too ~~funny~~ cringey XD.. Once an escapist, forever an escapist. *claps*

I'm only through year 2013-2014 so far but I kind of know that I couldn't write like that anymore. If past-me was livelier, I'm like... deader nowadays. Which is not really a bad thing. I have tougher skin, very calculative, sharp-tongued when needed (or unneeded :P)... and I care less and less about many things. Which means what...?

...lol this ended up being a weird self-reflection(?) blog post. ~~I'm sorry if you got this far :P~~

Time: 2021-12-24T22:25:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Me. , Reminiscences

Note to Self

Posted in: 2021 posts | Lazy Day Musings

I always look for... inspiration (lol) and guides whenever I want to clean or organise my room. Of course, I rarely follow them but I still do it. I think it's just me wanting to avoid doing the real thing XD. Anyway, so I was doing that again on Pinterest and I kept going back to this "That's all nice and good but how much does this method collect dust?"

I can already imagine someone saying "Just clean/dust more often"... like I know I'm not the kind of person who would do that, tried several times already and I always forget - it's not an option anymore at this moment. I need a low-maintenance organisation method. (There's also the "Don't buy more" way but I'm still trying to manage that area :P)

So, some notes for myself:

- No or less mesh-patterned materials esp metal ones (collect dust oh so secretly. You think it's clean... it's not).

- Textured materials collect dust.

- Things meant to be used [frequently] have to be seen, not hidden.

- If hidden, must be placed in a labelled place. Don't mix.

- Need an inbox place where I can put anything yet to be organised there.

- Use things that are meant to be used.

...and I'm off to do the thing :P

Time: 2021-12-23T12:53:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Lazy Day Musings

FuruBa

Posted in: 2021 posts | Anime | Interest: Games | Interest: TV

Oooh I'm finally watching the new "Fruits Basket" anime. I'm only two years late XD. I saw the 2001 version before. Also have read the manga (except the sequels). I don't really consider myself a die-hard fan [I do want to own physical copies of the manga so there's that] but... I'm excited to be in this world again (lol). I've always loved how they reveal who is who gradually. I think this was one of the reasons I got interested in playing "Star-Crossed Myth" (in which we get to ~~date~~ meet the western zodiacs gods). The little things that lead to other things, right?

Time: 2021-12-22T22:25:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Anime , Interest: Games , Interest: TV

Some Anime

Posted in: 2021 posts | Anime | blog images | Online Shopping | Online Shopping Bag

Rewatched "The Saint's Magic is Omnipotent" last night while sewing the other half of the zip on my jacket. It was better when you watch it in one sitting lol.. Oh.. but I skipped that Aira episode, because I only want to see Sei (and Albert). Yeah, I know Aira isn't bad (not as bad as the one in "The Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World") but I'm really not interested with her character. Also realised how much I loved Yuri Drewes (I'm all for strange, eccentric characters that are potentially dark inside XD).

Saw the last episode of "Mushoku Tensei" which I surprisingly liked.. even though it's kind of sad? Maybe bittersweet is a better description. I am also watching another isekai-themed anime at the same time that's similar to that - this one started okay but I got annoyed halfway (I think). I can't wait for it to finish (seriously).

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Received some books via mail today.

Language-related books and a fiction book. Again, I'm still kind of afraid of getting jinxed (T_T) so only going to include the fiction book in this post.

It's "The Piano Man Project" by Kat French. Romance. Lol this is so random. I actually saw this on Bookxcess (pre-pandemic I think?) and wanted to get it because it involved piano. That was years ago and I never actually proceed with getting it because it's so low on my priority list XD.

Saw a seller on Shopee with this book and I decided to get it together with a pair of German A1 reference books in their listing. They are in Sabah too so shipping fee was a lovely RM4.50 - yes, I was out of free shipping vouchers haha.

The reference books are completely in German and I liked that! Now I just need a good beginner-level German dictionary...

Time: 2021-12-21T16:21:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Anime , blog images , Online Shopping , Online Shopping Bag

Great Monday

Posted in: 2021 posts | The Weather Looks...

I was sewing a new zip for an old jacket today when I realised the zip was on the wrong side (>_<)... had to remove the stitches and start again.

This is a such a great Monday~

Seriously though. It was. It was sunny and windy. I knew it's windy because one of the drying ~~underclothing~~ small laundry items fell on the floor. Didn't do any reading though because I was busy with that jacket. Got my Youtube Watch Later playlist to under ten videos... DNF some videos.

Haaah what I really need to do is clean and organise stuff in my room... but I'm feeling so unmotivated to do that now. We have less than two weeks more until year 2022! Let's hope I'll find the motivation (or mood?) before the year ends~

Time: 2021-12-20T22:18:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , The Weather Looks...

Still Irritable

Posted in: 2021 posts | Interest: TV | Pick-A-New-Book Jar | Reading

It's Sunday - time to pick a new book to read!

I'm just going to jump straight to it.

*shake shake*

O-kay. I got "A Vision of Fire" by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin. It's one of the books purchased in June this year.

This surprised me. Caught me off guard. Like, "Oh yeah, I have this..." :P

Anyway.. I look forward to reading this book this week.

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I blogged about feeling irritable or easily annoyed last week - still feeling that way - and that somewhat pushed me back to reading books... since watching certain stuff continues to annoy me in some ways. Like last night, I started watching "Dune" on TV. Enjoyed it but... got my eyes rolling hard near the end (continued watching today) because it felt like something important is happening but it dragged. I find that annoying, for some reason. I guess it's to make you excited for the sequel so everything needs to end artistically or something.

....like I said, I'm still in this irritable mode and reading books seems to help lessen that feeling.

Time: 2021-12-19T17:46:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Interest: TV , Pick-A-New-Book Jar , Reading

I Finished a Book

Posted in: 2021 posts | Reading | The Weather Looks...

Two weeks later, I've managed to finish two books from the five books mentioned in this post. "The Professor"... and "Lust", which I just finished an hour ago. It was surprisingly easy to read. Feels like I can like short stories again (almost!). I mean... I guess I like the writing style. I was worried at first, since the theme is about lust, but just as the subtitle says, they were "Tales of Craving and Desire". Some made me laugh, some of the endings surprised me ("WHAT?!", "WTF", "OMG").. there were one or two that I feel neutral to. No explicit erm.. sexy times (lol), as least not like what you see in romance books, but they are still there, implied or briefly mentioned. It is for mature readers, mind you.

So it seems like I might get the other short stories collections after all because I enjoyed reading this one.

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It has been raining on and off since yesterday. Not raining at this moment but I can imagine how humid it would be outside. Yes, I didn't go out of the house today. Whenever there is rain, I always leave the [hopefully] drying laundry outside until tomorrow.

Time: 2021-12-18T17:46:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Reading , The Weather Looks...

A Different Kind of White

Posted in: 2021 posts | blog images | On This Day | Photo Stories

On this day, I posted twice in the past.

One post was in 2009, and it's about my trip to Tawau by car. That post looks kind of messy now because I used Windows Live Writer at that time. It's bound to happen, I guess... with some new updates made by Blogger many years later. I could tidy it up at least to make it more readable...

Nothing much to say on that post. Surely the roads are different now... Oh but I did go to Tawau again twice after that. By plane, if I remember correctly. One time was for my aunt's funeral. The other was for another cousin's wedding. My father rented a car (during the wedding one) and we got around Tawau using Waze. That was quite the experience, really. Navigating the road using a map isn't that easy. The voice helps but you still have to look ahead the map beforehand to make sure you don't miss any turns and U-turns.

The other post was from 2019 (10 years later! lol). It's about blog stuff.

I have a draft post created in Dec 29th, 2012 about my last class of the semester.

Oh, this post. It's already published, in case you're wondering XD

Not much progress on my labels at this moment.

OMG.. I haven't made any progress on that too, two years later haha

I also started embedding tumblr posts (it's convenient nowadays because Tumblr got it ready)... I feel like whatever I posted or reblogged on Tumblr gets buried down in my Tumblr so embedding some of the memorable ones here might bring light to them again.

I still use that feature occasionally but since there are some legal issues related to that months ago (although it's on a different platform), I'm trying to use less of it. Don't want any trouble in the future.

Probably going to edit my "About Me" section to something that reflects the current me.

Yikes. Haven't edited this one since then. Don't really want to think about that at this moment.

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I found this old diary of mine again when I cleaned my room yesterday.

Yes, I'm going with the term diary... because that's how I see it from the beginning (I started with an AIA diary planner). Even though I've been doing a mix of diary and journal entries these recent years, I'll still call mine diary.

Anyway... I just want to say that this diary is still usable! Do I want to use it next year? But I also have that 2018-current diary that's also not filled yet. *sigh*

I'm tired of the fabric cover getting dusty so I wrapped it with plastic cover just now. I also added these years thing to make it convenient to refer old entries again.

Look, it's still filled less than a half of the diary...

Not sure if it can be seen here but I really love the paper's colour.

I've been looking for foolscap paper set in this colour and haven't found any on Shopee. I had purchased one before in local stationery store so I know it exists somewhere.

Probably should check the store again (but I think they don't have it anymore the last time I was there).

Time: 2021-12-17T16:21:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , blog images , On This Day , Photo Stories

How's Your Day?

Posted in: 2021 posts | blog images | Forty Winks and More | In Zombie Mode | My Paranoid Side

I was browsing reddit before I fall asleep. Yes, it doesn't help lol because I was there for like an hour before I decide to shut off the screen and just close my eyes. Then... this thought came to me: "What if I'm getting all these sneezes - those morning headaches - because of dust in my room?"

...That thought kept me up until 5++ am.

Never got tested for it but I do have an unpleasant relationship with dust. I used to have cold symptoms every time I cleaned a room at home. I had sore throats but no fevers. I sneezed like crazy but not all the time (which is puzzling, maybe it was one of the days I wear a face mask while cleaning) - when that happens, I might even have pain in my cheeks. It sounds like sinusitis but since my father and sister have that, I think what I'm experiencing is different.

So.. it got me thinking of all the sources of dust in my room. Yes, of course, my lack of cleaning regularly might contribute to that... but, you know, I also sleep with a stuffed 100cm teddy bear (don't ask XD). That could be one source? My google search near 4am confirmed it.

Anyway so that's how the start of my day went. How's your day so far?

I'm going to wait for parcels to arrive for the rest of the day. When that's done, I'll be in my room... attempting to clean it.

P.S. In case you're wondering:

-Did get to sleep at 5++am (or maybe 6am)

-I've put Teddy(lol) outside my room for the time being

Time: 2021-12-16T11:19:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , blog images , Forty Winks and More , In Zombie Mode , My Paranoid Side

Monitor-Shopping

Posted in: 2021 posts | Online Shopping

Window-shopping day on Shopee lol

...or should it be called monitor-shopping? :P

It's actually therapeutic. Just looking. No buying, hopefully.

One of the things I'm looking at is coasters. I use them. Although not as much as I did these past couple of years because my desk is always full of things *sigh*. Found this one shop in Penang that's made to order and I'm seriously consider getting them (even though there's no free shipping).

Then there's dinosaur-themed items. Clear storage boxes (for organising small stuff, not the big ones). Label makers. Language-related books...👀. More language-related books.

...and that's when I stop looking. Because it's getting dangerous.

Time: 2021-12-15T14:49:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Online Shopping

Pretty Normal Tuesday

Posted in: 2021 posts | Lazy Day Musings | No Mood

Last night, I had this one moment where I feel nauseous out of nowhere. ~~Nothing was purged. I don't know why I need to tell that but yeah XD.~~ I'm thinking this must be due to hormones again. Hormones are so weird.

Other than that... I'm having a pretty normal day.

Read one of the books with short stories and I kept checking if I'm near the end of the story... I don't feel like being patient today it seems.

Time: 2021-12-14T22:22:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Lazy Day Musings , No Mood

「...」

Posted in: 2021 posts | Interest: TV | Lazy Day Musings

Currently, I'm feeling annoyed. Easily irritable. Randomly, by anything. Hearing some voices (of course on TV or Youtube, not product of hallucination) makes me annoyed and I want to punch or slap that voice.

I'm guessing this is hormone-related... Or maybe it's lack of sleep (still don't have a normal sleep cycle). Or just purely caffeine. Every time this happens, I never knew what to do. It manifests in different ways. This time, I'm also annoyed by the stuff I watch. Just yesterday I suddenly crave watching something educational and/or documentary. Although I ended up with Shang-Chi :P - haven't finished watching yet but this is so cool! People might rave about the fighting scenes (oh I love them too) but I'm loving the main characters' expressions so much because they remind me of familiar acting styles(?) that I like.

...maybe I can try new ~~positive~~ things to distract me from this state of annoyingness?

Time: 2021-12-13T13:28:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Interest: TV , Lazy Day Musings

12.12 Shopping Day

Posted in: 2021 posts | On This Day | Online Shopping

Online shopping day, of course.

No comment :P

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As usual, on this day, I posted once on the same day and month in 2019.

Quoting this part to remind myself again:

If you ever want to buy something, especially expensive stuff, make sure you or someone WILL use it. Gift it to someone else if that's possible. Or it will end up as unused waste in the future. A character said this before in a game I play, "If you won't be using a thing in a year in the future, then you don't need the thing."

Ah. This post. Regarding this, I think I'm still at that "trying" part. Hmm.. I think my problem now is more about having too many ~~distractions~~ hobbies. I have no problem using something expensive, as long as I know how to use it. Gel pens, I've been using them whenever I can, especially now that I'm using them again to write notes.

I guess, if I really need to pick something that need to be used now for this post, it would be my art supplies. I mentioned about wanting to compile and organise them but I've yet done that. Oooh.. maybe I can do that when I organise my bookshelf...

Time: 2021-12-12T21:10:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , On This Day , Online Shopping

Lost in Space

Posted in: # Mass Effect | 2021 posts | Interest: TV | Netflix | Pick-A-New-Book Jar

I'm fresh from watching the end of "Lost in Space"... Oh gosh this show...

Remember when I say I "sympathise with a lot of robot/cyborg/half-robot/AI/anything-similar characters"? While watching this, I kept wishing that the robot(s) will be okay (~~screw the humans!, right?)~~. Yeah, fine, my impression on the humans do improve in the latest season (they are just acting like humans after all) but haaah... Robot was giving me "Mass Effect 3" vibes and when it did happen, I cried. *big sigh*

I don't want to think too deep on the themes but if you think of how certain humans did their colonisation... activities in the past, it can go negatively... and I was really hoping they don't go that way. The robots race(species?) really grew on me... like I don't want to see them serve under the humans. That would just be repeating history, no? Fortunately, it - I guess this is a minor spoiler - went okay.

Wow... now I'm itching to continue playing Mass Effect 2 again... and Mass Effect Andromeda, for a similar theme. Then maybe read some space opera books that I have in my bookshelf now.

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Woke up early today. It rained few hours later. The coldness made it a perfect day to watch some TV. Spent the whole morning watching "Lost in Space" until the end. Yes, my eyes will not feel good today (due to those tears) but I think it's a nice enough day to pick another new book to read. I haven't started "The Color Purple" yet but that's okay.

No hopes or wishes etc.. I'm just going to pull one title from the jar.

*pulls*

Lol how am I getting these recently purchased ones? So.. it's one of the books I received last month. Kurt Vonnegut's "Hocus Pocus". I hope this is good as the first book I'm reading from him because... I never read his works before.

Time: 2021-12-11T13:42:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: # Mass Effect , 2021 posts , Interest: TV , Netflix , Pick-A-New-Book Jar

White Sky

Posted in: 2021 posts | Lazy Day Musings | Life: Anecdotes | No Mood | The Weather Looks...

White, cloudy sky.

It has been a strange day so far.

Suddenly recalled how it was so hard when one get sick during shift work. You're basically able to work if you still can walk. Since we were short of staff, we should keep in mind that there's no one who can take over your shift (okay, technically we had candidates... like me who once worked the night shift the day before who had to go down to the office in the afternoon, the same day. Yeah, yeah, the benefits of screwed-up sleep cycle... there's also Kakak, who will take care of things when she could). Also recalled that one time our boss got complaints that one of us sounded angry on the phone, which might be the other senior who had a coarse, deep voice due to cold (but it could have also been me #oops).

Oh wow.. I don't know why I suddenly recall all these details from the past. It's just making me remember unhappy things and I don't like that.

Time: 2021-12-10T15:57:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Lazy Day Musings , Life: Anecdotes , No Mood , The Weather Looks...

Watch Later

Posted in: 2021 posts | Interest: TV | Life: Anecdotes | Youtube

Wow. I'm in a cleaning mood today... somewhat. It's too late at this time so maybe tomorrow, if I'm still in the mood. For now, I'll just do some very minor cleaning. Will do while some videos playing in the background. I'm trying to go through my Watch Later playlist that currently has over 40 videos (!). I usually try to keep it under 20 videos (under 10 is best) but since I'm watching other stuff recently, I haven't had the time to watch them.

One of my cats suddenly decided to climb on my lap today. That never happened before! He probably mistook me for someone else (my father XD).

Haven't been reading much these few days. Not sure if I'm going to finish another book before the end of the week.

Time: 2021-12-09T15:13:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Interest: TV , Life: Anecdotes , Youtube

It Happened

Posted in: 2021 posts | Goodreads | Reading

I finally did it.

I have moved "Something Happened" out of my currently-reading shelf. I was planning to read the end, maybe by skipping paragraphs and reading online summaries, and just read the last chapter as usual. Tried that few days ago, couldn't do it.

Realised there's a way to add it to an exclusive shelf (like the read, to-read and currently-reading shelves) on GR. So I changed the setting for my semi-dnf shelf to that. BTW, I might change the name later because it's not semi DNF for me anymore. To avoid it from appearing in the my Years in Books page, I had to remove the "read" date (which is just the date I stopped reading, in my case). I just put those info in the notes which only I can see.

Time: 2021-12-08T13:38:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Goodreads , Reading

Alone Time

Something has been bothering me lately.

It's nothing big. But still bothersome.

I've been watching "My Bargain Queen" with my mother. One of my unsaid rules with drama series is "I don't have to watch all in one sitting". I'll be roughly planning things like "5 episodes is the max for today" and "I'm going to continue tomorrow". While it might not happen all the time, I've always been that person who could stop half-way an arc... just to go do something else.

Of course, it hasn't always been that way. I was also that person who binge-watched MFP1 until 3am (or was it 4am?). Sometimes, in the past, I would wait for everyone to go to sleep before I watch Alec Su's drama series. It's not because of anything scandalous lol just that I was embarrassed to watch something I barely have understanding of (I still learning the basics of Chinese at that time) in front of other people. At that time, my mother was the person who will scold me to go to sleep.

How our roles have changed decades later. Now I'm the one who said no to "One more episode..." It's not like I could sleep early anyway. I seem to need that time alone with myself even after I spend time with my family. I wonder if other introverts feel the same or maybe this is just me..?

[Also wondering why my mother has more energy to watch drama than me at this time lol... she did say she couldn't sleep if she goes to bed early ~~but mum, I'm trying to sleep early here T_~~T]

This is a problem to me because I have to accompany her downstairs. So even if I said I'm done with the series for tonight, I still have to stay back while she continued watching. (I would catch up with the latest episode the next day)

Lol didn't expect this to go long... just want to get this out. Not really a major problem but it made me think about it for a few days.

Time: 2021-12-07T15:45:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Dorama , Family , Forty Winks and More , Interest: TV , Just Blowing Off Steam , Need to Get This Out of My Chest

FF to Save Time

Posted in: 2021 posts | Dorama | Interest: TV | Netflix | Reading

Finished "The Professor" today. It's not as engaging as "Jane Eyre" but still an okay read. Was going to give it 4 stars on GR but took away a star at the end... haaah if only that part is not included *sigh*...

Also, I'm finally starting the 3rd season of "Lost in Space" today. Why it took me this long? Well... at the end of November, I started re-watching the 2nd season (skipped the 1st one on purpose) so I thought I'll just finish that first before going to the newer episodes. Watching space opera shows is making me crave for other TV shows again... and maybe some games and books too.

"My Bargain Queen" continues to do the unexpected [while still being predictable]... although now I'm at that part where I'm super annoyed by the antagonistic characters. OHMYGOSH I'm so tempted to fast-forward all the scenes with Zhening's sister and her friend - I don't need these shameless characters wasting my time. Please just let me watch Zhening and Xia Qian in peace!

...other than those updates, it has been a nice day so far. It got very windy before it rains. Still raining lightly at this moment...

Time: 2021-12-06T16:52:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Dorama , Interest: TV , Netflix , Reading

The Grave Gets Deeper and Deeper

Posted in: 2021 posts | Forty Winks and More | Pick-A-New-Book Jar

OOF I should really consider not picking out a new book every weekend until I'm done reading these books...

I actually woke up early today. Then I went back to sleep after I brushed my teeth and washed my face. The blue sky was so beautiful in the morning. That's the last scene I saw before I fall asleep again.

...↑↑ I'm writing weird again XD

Yeah, so that happened. No blocked nose today but I do have a lingering headache upon waking up. Very mild. Maybe I slept too long...

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Hopes for today! Hmmm... I just want an easy read. Nothing classics. Hopefully not short stories collection again. I have a feeling the opposite will happen.

*shake shake*

Okay. It's a book I received in July this year... I got "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.

See, what did I tell you? The opposite has happened.

Okay.. at least it's not short stories but this is definitely not an easy read (judging from the GR reviews).

Time: 2021-12-05T14:40:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Forty Winks and More , Pick-A-New-Book Jar

Tomorrow!

Posted in: 2021 posts | I Need to Talk About My Dreams | Reading

Woke up with a stuffy nose. Not due to flu or cold. I think it's time to clean the dust on wall again. Ahhh so troublesome...

Also, I dreamt about secondary school again (why is it always school-themed???). A new semester started. Even though the classroom used was the one I had in Form 1. And we had a room (I dunno where, maybe near the school hall) that connects to the space...? It was actually quite normal but those ridiculous details reminded me that I'm having a weird dream again.

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Should I do the jar thing today too? I don't think there's any difference if I do it today or tomorrow... hmmm.

To date, I have five(!) books I've chosen from the jar that I haven't finished reading:

Miss Darcy Falls in Love - Somewhat a slow start in the beginning. I could just barely keep up with the addition of new characters (fanfiction-ish, duh), new names and stuff. Although it's a different story, I feel like I've enough of Miss Darcy fanfics when I finished "Old Friends & New Fancies". Will finish it eventually but it will take time.
Sophie's World - This one is interesting so far! Although I haven't made much progress since the last time I read it.
The Professor - Might finish it before the end of month. I thought it would bore me but surprisingly I'm very engaged with the main character's story.
Lust - I'm slowly getting through the short stories...
Selected Short Stories and The Rover - Just started reading this yesterday night :P... Ah but the book is more than 400 pages, half of it are the short stories while the other half is the novel "The Rover". I think this one will be until next year lol

Hmmm I feel like I should not pick a new book at this moment... but I'll do it anyway!

Tomorrow!

Time: 2021-12-04T14:25:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , I Need to Talk About My Dreams , Reading

Escape

Posted in: 2021 posts | Dorama | Interest: TV | On This Day | Online Shopping

Been watching "My Bargain Queen" since early this week. The only reason that made me watch it: Lin Gengxin. Only up to #17 for now but I like it so far. Every time I predict that it's going to go that way, it turns the other way... I like that it defies my expectations in its small ways but it is still mainly predictable, IMO, and that is okay with me.

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I posted about "Reading Slump" on this same day and month, two years ago.

Oh wow... two years already.

I went to the first ever Big Bad Wolf Sale in Kota Kinabalu months ago and that kind of jumpstart my wish to get back to reading physical books.

Well. This is awkward. I think since they started selling on Shopee end of 2020, it's like I go to one every month lol ~~Yay for online shopping!~~ But it's nice to know that you can get books little by little instead of getting 20 books at once during their offline sale. So again, yeah, I think buying more books help me want to read more (in my case). If I remember correctly, I did start reading regularly after that post... maybe not as often as this year.

During my SPM year, I was so thirsty for books (which probably was just me running away from the stress) that I started reading classic novels.

I want to be that person again.

I do read more this year. I even read books I never thought I would this year. I've also finished books that I've been reading for years. But even after all that, I don't think I'm that person again. Maybe I'll never be like that person again. I noticed some new reading habits now that I don't think I have in the past. Used to be okay with reading short stories but now I both like and hate them. I kept getting worried when it doesn't look like I'm making any progress at any books I read. I also get picky on the writing styles.

In the end, I think it's okay if I don't read the same as past-me... as long as I still read. I read mainly to escape reality. (Ooh.. suddenly it makes sense why I read more this year...)

Time: 2021-12-03T15:29:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Dorama , Interest: TV , On This Day , Online Shopping

A Slow Journey

On This Day post!

Only one post from the past and it's from the year 2019. Quite recent. And it's about art.

And... I'm bringing that quote back here (from my Tumblr):

"Getting ‘stuck’ is a sign that you are trying to improve yourself. If you don’t struggle, you won’t find inspiration." -Yoshitomo Nara (answer to Ohno’s question on being ‘stuck’ in creating art)

It's actually from an article on musicjapanplus.jp but the site doesn't seem to exist anymore. There's an arama LJ post on that.

I still love that quote! It can apply to other things too, if you really think about it.

So it was kind of scary that some time in the middle of the year I suddenly had the urge to create art.

Yeah.. this was in 2019. I don't experience that urge that much this year but it's there. I still don't do it as often as I want.

I had that one moment where a voice inside me said, "I want to paint something." I didn't respond to that urge immediately though.

Didn't "hear" this "voice" much either. I think it's because I've allowed myself to go do it if I want? I don't know.

I'm...slowly getting there.

It's definitely a very slow journey :P

Time: 2021-12-02T16:10:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Art Stuff , Ohno Satoshi 大野智 , On This Day , Quotes , Tumblr

Books for the jar

Posted in: 1st post | 2021 posts | blog images | Books | Online Shopping Bag

More Sci-Fi books~~~

Asimov's "The Naked Sun", "The Robots of Dawn" & "Robots and Empire"・Liu's "The Wandering Earth" & "Supernova Era"

No wonder I picked out more SciFi books from my Pick-A-New-Book Jar :D

I'm still exploring this genre. In my own pace.

I borrowed a book by Liu online before. Didn't finish because long ebooks scare me.. or rather, stresses me out, because I don't like reading too long on my phone. It's weird because I'm usually okay with watching videos or playing games on the phone but reading [ebooks] is a different story.

I have interest in the Robot series so that explains those books. Again, probably going to read them out of order (which is fine by me)...

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So it's December already. And since I did blog daily in December 2019, I might (or might not) revisit some of those posts this month.

What do I want to do with this little time left in 2021?

Finish the books I'm currently reading.
Focus more on that not-rigid reading list... I'm currently reading "The Professor" & "The Lost World".. most probably will leave out the longer ones for later/next year ("Jane Eyre" & "Emma"). It's not supposed to be rigid though.. so it's fine if I only finished two books from the list...
Might want to do that organising thing I thought of few days ago... or maybe just general organising and cleaning... I don't know yet.

Time: 2021-12-01T15:06:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 1st post , 2021 posts , blog images , Books , Online Shopping Bag

Imaginary Questions (2021 version)

Started knitting again yesterday. Wow, I missed knitting while watching stuff on TV/Youtube! Surprisingly, I can still focus on what I watch while I knit. As long as I'm not knitting something complicated... I think. My sister wanted more of the knitted scrunchies I did for her (very simple pattern). I like the idea of keeping my hands busy knitting while catching up with the latest episodes (there are a lot of shows I left unfinished *sigh*)

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I just realised 8TV is showing "The Romance of Tiger and Rose" in the 6pm slot. Didn't finish that one last year. Maybe I'll watch it casually. Because it's quite interesting. Loved the theme song.

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On this day, I posted once on the same day and month in 2009. Ah. The year I did NaBloPoMo XD

It's a post about imaginary questions...? I think it was meant to be something like an F.A.Q corner or similar. Okay. Might be interesting to answer those questions again today, twelve years later.

The questions (and excerpts of my 2009 answers):

-Should I use my full name in Twitter?

Will consider this again later.

-Should I read Twilight and the rest of the series?

Sometimes when it comes to reading books… I tend to avoid the popular/bestseller ones

-Why do you not include your personal photos in your blog? Your photo on Twitter is too small, is that really you?

I choose privacy!

-What about the photos in this post?

Oh, that. That was from over 10 years ago! No one will recognise me!

-Why are you not on facebook?

I tend to avoid things that are popular.

-Then what’s the deal with Jonas Brothers and Twitter? They’re popular too!

I guess when I decide which is popular and need to be avoided, I also have an exception list to consider.

The random ones are making me laugh and embarrassed now :P

-No. Not going to to use my full name. No need to consider again.

-Ooh. Twilight, huh. At this moment, I don't really want to read the series...? Maybe the first book only if I really (really, really) have to. But hmmm not interested...

-LOOOL my twitter photo haven't changed in over a decade OMG

-Lol I think I've posted some photos of Chibi-me since then XD.. well you still can't recognise me I guess.

-Still not on Facebook. I have an Instagram account though (but private and not active XD). I think it's troublesome to maintain them.

-Yep. There will always be exceptions XD (but I still mainly avoid the popular ones)

Hmmm I'll edit this post later if I can think of more questions to add...

Added on 2021-12-01

Why do you keep buying books? Will you even read them?

I keep books that I like to call "Just in case" books.. Not exactly TBR books. Also, most of the books were purchased on Bookxcess and BBW (super cheap because they're [mostly] remaindered books).. if you want books from there, you have to act fast because they might not be in stock anymore in the future.

Definitely going to read them... slowly. I have an ambitious aim regarding that.

Are you still a fan of Arashi?

I am. I call myself more of a backseat fan (I still don't know what that means but that's what came to mind when I'm asked this question) now. I'm just not... as active as before. Like, I don't think I even have that stamina to keep up anymore. I listen to their songs regularly because I love them!

They're on Spotify! My all-time favourite song of theirs is "truth". My favourite Ohno Satoshi [my ichiban hehe] solo song is "Song for me". Current songs that are on repeat this year: "Miles Away" & "Bang Bang"...

*fangirling mode* Lol.. Like I said, I'm still a fan.

Not taking any recommendations for artists similar to them!

Are you still on Twitter?

My twitter account is still up. And public. I do miss tweeting though. I used to be that kind of person who will tweet "Good Morning" (sometimes lol) on Twitter. I don't know.. not really in the mood to do that now. I used to complain about work before I started tweeting less... I do have an alter-ego account for my erm.. otome/dating sim games adventures (lol). Which I also don't update that frequently anymore. Speaking of otome games, I think these games has ruined romance books for me (it's so funny it's like that because usually people will say real life relationships :P).

Are you single or married?

~~My imaginary questions are roasting me jk~~ Well, erm, I don't know who needs to know this (probably no one hahaha) but I'll answer it anyway. I am single. Most of my close friends are married, so no pressure *smiles awkwardly*. For some reason, one of my ex-colleagues believed I have a boyfriend (back in 2017) and they didn't believe me when I said I don't (okay, another was convinced I'm Chinese - I'm not. We just have serious trust [& stereotyping?] issues at work XD). Never been in a relationship. Did have a mild "crush" *pfft* on someone in the past 5 years but fortunately it didn't go the serious way because that man was engaged (and now married).

I'm convinced no one could stand being with me & my eccentric personality (it's a fair observation made by me) and... it's okay. Getting to know someone is hard and troublesome.

Time: 2021-11-30T21:50:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Dorama , Interest: Games , Interest: TV , Knit/Crochet Stuff , My Fangirl Side , On This Day , Youtube

Take Care sigh

Posted in: 2021 posts | No Mood

Since it's near the end of the year, I'm kind of in the mood to do some organising... Did some for my notes on Evernote today. It surprised me that it can take so many hours... Why do I have so many notes???

*sigh*

Probably will feel better organising my bookshelf again. I think it's like the third time this year? I'm also interested in adding books from the family bookshelf to my LibraryThing. It's so nice to be able to search through my books online. I haven't add my manga collection though - this one is a bit tricky *sigh*.

Also, I dread looking at my Google News feed again. Omicron. *sigh* Just when I think it's okay to like.. go out. Back to ~~cave life~~ hikikomori life, I guess. (Although I'm already here lol) Can one forget how to drive a car? Because not using the car for more than a year seems to make me forget how to drive.

Let's hope that it won't get worse. Of course, being a positive pessimist, I also expect the worst to happen... just me getting myself mentally-prepared for all kind of outcomes.

...Take care.

Time: 2021-11-29T15:37:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , No Mood

Diary, Journal... or Both?

Posted in: 2021 posts | On This Day | The Weather Looks... | Weekend Musings

Been looking at the differences between these two again while I did this post (because I always forget)... It's been a while since I last look at my old diaries (journals?) but I'm pretty sure they are diaries at the beginning... they [probably] transformed to journals later on.. or maybe a mix of those two.

Sunny Sunday.

On this day in the past, I posted once in 2009... and it was about keeping a diary.

Sounds familiar? I did a similar post this year in January. Honestly, I totally forgot that I blogged about it before. I think I found it some months later and laughed because of the similar theme XD

The 2009 post had a more detailed story of how I started.

At that time, I used the organizer book given (or bought? I don’t know) by AIA as my diary (now I prefer thick, without-dates journal)

I still prefer a blank, without-dates version now.

Also the part where I write my diary in English:

I also started writing those entries in English. Broken English at first… haha. Wrong choice of words and wrong tenses, all that problems but I kept writing in English. I think it did helped improved my English essays, or if not… at least the experience gave me more confidence to write English essays.

You know what? That's actually a useful writing exercise when you're learning a new language. Imagine writing my diary entries in Japanese.. *daydreams*... oh but if I don't want to bother with writing kanji characters.. maybe French, in the future...? OMG imagine a diary with entries in multiple languages - sounds fun!

One weird reason why I insist on keeping a diary is to assist me when I unexpectedly have amnesia (I thought of this BEFORE watching “Samantha Who?”) due to yet-to-be-known accidents in the future. Not that I’m asking for an amnesia (or want it…).. duh. Nothing wrong with getting ready, right? Anyway, if it does happen… I thought my past diaries will help me remember or help me “get to know” myself again.

That reason... oh how it made me smile today. I kind of still believe in keeping a diary for that moment but I'm also like "My diaries won't be that helpful" haha.. I don't really write in detail what I did that day or anything similar. More on my thoughts that day...? I guess I can get to know my personality again? Wouldn't it be better to embrace the memory loss and just restart from zero, take it like a reset button for life - this is how I see it today.

Since I started studying in university, I seldom write into my diary anymore. Recalling the “memory loss” reason now, I think I really should get back to daily diary writing.

In that post, I wanted to get back to that habit. In this year's post, I'm more vague about it (I think)... Since I blog daily, this blog has become a [public] diary. The diary I kept from 2018 is used for random stuff I don't include in this blog. I rarely write in it though.

Random tidbits
Look at that, I used the full term "university" :P
Nowadays, I shortened it to just uni as a symbol not completing my undergraduate degree. Just stating that as a fact here. Learnt one of the big lessons in life there: Sometimes, you have to walk away.

It doesn't really bother me but if you feel like looking down at me for that, well, I'm glad I can boost your big ego today ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Recently, since I started learning some of the languages I said I want to learn, I've been having flashbacks of moments in uni. (Oohh maybe this is why I've been having weird dreams hmmm...) I'm... just not meant for a formal tertiary education system. I even thought maybe I should've been homeschooled during secondary school (up to sitting for SPM, which is somewhat-equivalent to O-Level). I just believe that I could've learned more and better by myself (or with minimal guidance).

...ooof this post went somewhat gloomy at the end. I hope you have a nice day today.

Time: 2021-11-28T15:30:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , On This Day , The Weather Looks... , Weekend Musings

Whatever Saturday

Posted in: 2021 posts | Pick-A-New-Book Jar

It's a nice sunny morning and... I think I'm going use the jar today, instead of tomorrow.

Just feeling like doing it today. ...Yes, I haven't finished the four books from this challenge. I can't estimate when I'll finish them. But I'm still doing it! I want to get mentally-prepared for it or something.

Okay, wishes... I wish... erm... Why do I think it will not be something I'm in favour with? What if it's a collection of short stories again? Hmmm. Oh well. I wish for something easy to read. And short. Something less than 200 pages.

*shakes*

*more shaking*

...so another book I purchased in September. In fact, it's in the same batch with "Lust".

It's Joseph Conrad's "Selected Short Stories & The Rover".

*3-minute silence*

I'll just go get my mental prepared for this...

Time: 2021-11-27T11:08:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Pick-A-New-Book Jar

OMGIF

Posted in: 2021 posts | Reading

(O)h (M)y (G)od (I)t's (F)riday! :P

Made some progress on "The Professor" today. Also read a bit of the book I'm doing the experimental reading with. Tried three languages for the prologue & first chapter. Two languages for the second chapter. And I'm going to just read in English for the rest... My slow reading pace was making me nervous. I guess it's still long for me after all even if it's a short book (less than 200 pages). It was a good experiment. Although I can't manage to do it until the end... oh well. So there's that for today.

I've also been reading "The Lost World" on the side :P.. Erm... actually I was trying to finish it in one day (remember that one optional reading challenge thing?) more than a week ago but didn't. Been thinking if I could finish it this week...

Time: 2021-11-26T21:20:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Reading

Yellow-Spined Books

Received these two books yesterday. Very glad that it reached here safely... despite one of them arrived "opened" (I think the glue used lost its stickiness) and a bit bent (or slanted? it's like when you put heavy stuff on a book and it lost its shape) - they are in good condition!

Coincidentally, both have yellow spines :P

I always worry about getting.. expecting BD books (What if they get lost on the way here? What if they arrive in a bad shape?) so I was literally crying with joy when I see these envelopes yesterday.

Also, here are the bookmarks that came with each book...

So, I received these yesterday, right... Nov 24th. Higashino's "Journey Under the Midnight Sun" was sent out on Oct 14th. Dade's "All the Feels" was on Oct 25th. They arrived on the same day (I think it's delivered by the usual default mail system, the same ones who deliver letters). Took at least a month to get here.

Time: 2021-11-25T15:37:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , blog images , Bookmark Collection , Books , Online Shopping , Online Shopping Bag

24

Posted in: # Hyouka | 2021 posts | I Need to Talk About My Dreams | Reading | Youtube

What a coincidence that today is Nov the 24th! XD I just realised the 24 thing at the end of this post...

I actually finished "Anggaran Jarak Kita" after midnight, I think? Fell asleep with the book beside me. Woke up around 4am... went to sleep again few hours later. I think I dreamt something weird again but couldn't remember anything about it.

Saw Jack Edwards' latest video before the 2nd sleep...erm, session, and it got me thinking how does one spend 24 hours reading? (I guess this is what people also call 24-hour readathon ...?). From what I saw on Youtube, thankfully, it doesn't look rigid(?)... you still eat and stuff. If I'm thinking of doing it, in my case, it would be no watching stuff on Youtube/TV/Netflix/etc and no game-playing - maybe - and a whole day spent mostly on reading. I might be able to do this if I'm the younger version of me but now... maybe not. I always worry about not getting enough sleep... & I see this like going the opposite way of remedying that. You can still sleep though when doing that 24-hour thing, one might say... Yeah, sure. I just don't want to encourage late-night reading (for me anyway) although I keep doing it when I said I want to do less of it *sigh*... Anyway, this is just me throwing out the idea here.

I might do or have done it unknowingly. Which is... yeah, I don't really have a point here, do I? It's an interesting idea, I'm not keen on doing it [consciously]... and that's all. End of post.

Time: 2021-11-24T16:07:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: # Hyouka , 2021 posts , I Need to Talk About My Dreams , Reading , Youtube

Tsugaru Takaomi

The title of this post is dedicated to one of the weirdest man Voltage Inc. had ever created...and I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH!

Almost pull an all-nighter this [early] morning. I'm near the end of "Anggaran Jarak Kita" (lol so weird to type that out here)... & I'm really curious about the ending!... but in the end, I put it down and made myself go to sleep.

Not finished with it as of now. Maybe tonight.

Also... been window-shopping bookmarks again :P (what else, huh). I told myself "I don't need these!" and then add them into my cart...

...that's how shopping is now, damn it! It really doesn't help that the prices are really cheap. "I'm just gonna add this to cart to see how much the shipping is..." *sigh* Yeah, right...

I've been thinking of Tsugaru again. Who tf is Tsugaru, you say? You don't need to know who that is. Just another fictional character I'm enamoured with recently. He's one of the reasons I went window-shopping for bookmarks (he loves his Little Hare@Usa-chan XD). I'm also thinking of painting one of his CG images as a bookmark just because I want to.

OH YEAH. Had a super weird dream again. With school or uni people again, but this time someone or something is (are) killing us. I think I survived in the end (with some people) but I recalled feeling so stressed because that thing just randomly do their deeds. You never know what triggers them.

Time: 2021-11-23T18:07:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: # Hyouka , 2021 posts , Forty Winks and More , I Need to Talk About My Dreams , Interest: Games , My Fangirl Side , Online Shopping , Reading

Fighting for Life

About Me

I'm predictably unpredictable, inconsistent, random & eccentric. Sometimes arrogant and silly. Always curious. Read that again without the snobbish tone.

「　Fighting For Life　」
Blogging since February 2005
RuYanda @ Ruth

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