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Ends the way I expected it to be

Posted in: 2021 posts | Jane Austen | My Fangirl Side | Reading

Finished reading "Mansfield Park"~

I like it. Maybe better than "Sense and Sensibility". Still have to reread three of Jane Austen's novels to confirm my feelings though. I'm glad that I read it when I'm ready. If I've read it in the past during my Austen phase I might not like it as much as now. I like Fanny Prince. She's shy, young and inexperienced but she has a good head on her shoulders. I'm neutral to Edmund.

Also, I'm quite surprised with how scandalous "Mansfield Park" is. I don't think the Crawford siblings are that bad but they really aren't nice people. I keep seeing them as being modern in both acting in a non-traditional way and like modern people (like us now). It's like they are being modern people ahead of their time because people like them are pretty common nowadays. But what do I know about the past? Maybe there are people like that in the past, only not mentioned much in history books (which I confess I don't read much about). Would be interesting to read an annotated version of "Mansfield Park".

I also like Fanny's uncle, Sir Thomas. He made me realise that I don't have many favourite aunties and uncles from Jane Austen books. I love the Gardiners (P&P) of course. Aunt Norris is annoying. I just want her to shut up whenever she's saying Fanny doesn't need nice and proper stuff.

Probably will read "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" that I blogged about in June next. And since it's Sci-Fi and Fantasy week on Goodreads (I just saw last night lol), I will also read a Sci-Fi book. A book purchased in BBW sale event in 2019. Maybe "Flowers for Algernon".

Time: 2021-07-13T15:29:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Jane Austen , My Fangirl Side , Reading

Expected something, but no

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

Nice weather today. Somewhat expected rain but no sign of it (yet). Maybe at night?

Kept sneezing last night until my cheeks hurt. Went to bed with runny nose and that pain in the nose when you feel like sneezing but couldn't. Maybe it's the dust from cleaning the piano area yesterday. Wanted to read "Mansfield Park" originally but couldn't focus and ended up watching "The Nun" on Netflix.

Today, no more sneezing. Was expecting delivery from NinjaVan but I guess it's not happening today. Made progress on "Mansfield Park" in the noon.

New anime season started but I'm not really in mood for anime now. Will check again later.

Time: 2021-07-05T18:33:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Anime , Reading , The Weather Looks...

Me, today: A Mix of Things

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

Woke up early today because my dream was full of snakes. Then spent time on the reddit app, found this post and randomly recalled how I got sick for strep throat years ago. The sore throat was so painful - it hurt when I swallow saliva so drinking water was a torture. I don't remember if the doctor said it was strep specifically but I got red rashes on my chest because I got into habit of coughing inside my shirt in public (the coughs were bad too but not as bad as 2019's). Took me over a month to recover too.

Really, really not a fan of handshakes. And snakes. Or any kind of reptiles.

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'You look tired and fagged, Fanny. You have been walking too far.'
'No, I have not been out at all.'
'Then you have had fatigues within doors, which are worse. You had better have gone out.'
-Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)

Yeah.. it's nothing major but I laughed a bit when I read this conversation between Edmund and Fanny last night. It's like calling me out for staying too long at home.

Anyway. I'm already reading ahead schedule lol. I can't stop reading "Mansfield Park". Very curious. I want to know how it ends.

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I feel a little productive today because I spent the whole evening repairing the handle of one of my bags. And then I kind of got in a bad mood. Maybe because it rained.

Time: 2021-07-10T20:17:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , I Need to Talk About My Dreams , Jane Austen , Reading

3 days ago

A post that I should've posted 3 days ago lol... (at least I added more today)

7/27
WuWa - I finally beat that Level 120 Lightcrusher!
Unfortunately, I didn't take a screenshot of getting the trophy pop-up because I was too excited haha

Yup Jiyan didn't survive XD (had to revive the team several times)

I have a Level 120 Lumiscale Construct & a pair of Lvl 100 Glacio Dreadmanes left... *sigh*

I'm not really good at dodging so my strategy (lol) for this was... Aalto. He saved me when I stumbled upon Scorpion's Nest (my Rover & Jiyan were dead at that point) by killing the remaining Diamondclaws. Started appreciating him more after that lol. At first he was just that convenient gun character :P... I chose him because I kinda like how he looks. Didn't realised until later that he's actually a good fit for the team (I just have to use him first before Jiyan). I did changed his main echo (usually it's Bell-Borne Geochelone) to Lumiscale Construct because it can parry attacks (and actually gave higher Glacio damage, I noticed, although that's not the main point lol). I also waited until I could get Aalto's skills (the important ones, at least) to Level 7 or 8 and his weapon (Static Mist) upgraded to Level 80.

M3GAN

Oh hey, finally finished watching this last night (3 days ago so... 7/26)... Oof. It's not good. I find the main characters annoying and unlikable. The true villain is the aunt really... Also, it's kind of annoying how the characters kept asking questions (I sound like I'm nit-picking at this point lol)... I guess they really don't want to tell why M3GAN is like that (content for the sequel, maybe?). [Anyway.. saw a review on Letterboxd that mentioned about the Asimov's First Law of Robotics... Unfortunately, the programming of the robot in this one totally didn't follow that XD which is... fine(?), I guess, if they want to do it their rules. But it still feels dirty for some reason.. which brings us back again to the aunt being the villain for not thinking far enough]

Today

How Long to Read
I stumbled upon this site few nights ago. It's interesting to compare my records with their estimated time of finishing a book. I did their reading test and got 227/232 WPM (honestly it's not the kind that is easy for me to read so I'm not surprised I got that). I think it really depends on the genre and writing style really. In my case, at least. When I'm obsessed with the book/series, it's like I read faster than usual lol

Mystery/Thriller/Horror

Six Four

232 WPM | Average 300 WPM | My record (from Read More app)
15h 51m | 12h 15m | 9h 22m

Death Notice

6h 12m | 4h 48m | 6h 2m

Battle Royale

12h 44m | 9h 50m | 8h 42m

Malice (Higashino Keigo's)
5h 4m | 3h 55m | 3h 36m

Interestingly, I read faster in this genre...? Except for "Death Notice" which I think I read more carefully because they explain things a lot. I do need to read more horror books though to see if it's still true for that genre.

Sci-Fi

Leviathan Wakes

12h 31m | 9h 41m | 9h 52m

The Hunger Games

7h 2m | 5h 26m | 5h 50m

Almost reach the average lol

Romance

To Have and to Hoax

7h 9m | 5h 32m | 7h 32m

Eligible

8h 48m | 6h 48m | 6h 15m

Yeah... I don't know about this one... maybe "Eligible" was faster because it's Contemporary Romance?

Translated Japanese light novels (Romance Fantasy)
7th Time Loop LN #1

8h 18m | 6h 25m | 4h 32m

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent LN #8

3h 20m | 2h 35m | 2h 45m

Another contrasting one XD

Classics/Modern Classics
Mansfield Park

11h 2m | 8h 32m | 13h 25m

Catch-22

13h 37m | 10h 32m | 9h 0m

And more contrasting one..! But this one is probably due to the writing styles. Although I did read "Mansfield Park" for the first time... "Catch-22" was a reread.

Non-Fiction

Videocracy

7h 33m | 5h 50m | 7h 14m

The Last Lecture

3h 12m | 2h 29m | 2h 27m

I guess because "Videocracy" has more information stuff so I read slower? "The Last Lecture" was more of a memoir/self-help book... and it was also a reread.

Time: 2024-07-30T22:33:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: # 7th Time Loop , # Sei and Albert , # Wuthering Waves , 2024 posts , blog images , Interest: Games , Interest: TV , My Fangirl Side , Reading

July's Rainy Friday

Posted in: 2021 posts | Jane Austen | Qiong Yao 瓊瑤 | Reading | The Weather Looks...

It was raining heavily when I woke up in the morning at a quarter to nine. Then it stopped. The sun was out bright, making it hot and humid because of the rainwater. Then it rains again.

Still raining at this moment.

Wait... why does my weather report sounds like the start of a long fictional story lol

So it has been raining a lot recently. I usually like rain but it's been making me feel down for some reason. Like I can't do stuff because it's raining. BUT I don't even go out that much so I shouldn't feel that way. Hmmm.

Didn't finish "Prey" last night/early morning, unsurprisingly. Maybe today.

Been browsing the web (and most online shops I frequent) for Qiong Yao's books in the middle of the night. Saw some listings in Carousell so I'll have to check there more often from now on. I only hope they don't test my rusty Chinese... *nervous smile*

Also, I found this Jane Austen group last night (I was busy XD). I want to do this, I think? And they're reading "Mansfield Park", which I never read before. The challenges sound fun too.

Time: 2021-07-02T15:32:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Jane Austen , Qiong Yao 瓊瑤 , Reading , The Weather Looks...

Things are meh today

Posted in: 2021 posts | Jane Austen | Library | Manga | No Mood

"Ossan Idol!". Saw this available for borrowing and spent a small portion of the evening reading it. A pity that the national library doesn't have that much manga on their overdrive library.

Kinda a meh day to me... until I read the manga lol. But still meh after that. I don't even know why it's meh.

Meh.

Might finish reading "Mansfield Park" soon. Definitely this week. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Time: 2021-07-11T20:13:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Jane Austen , Library , Manga , No Mood

This is a Personal Blog

Posted in: 2021 posts | About Blogging | Jane Austen | Reading

Almost forgot to post something today.

Finished reading "Salvation of a Saint". I like it more than "A Midsummer's Equation". Was planning to reread "Emma" after that but decided to pick Michael Crichton's "Prey" instead.

So far, my rereading list is like this:

Emma

Jane Eyre

Prey

The Lost World

Castle in the Air

House of Many Ways

New books I want to ~~attempt-~~read: Austen's "Mansfield Park", Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" [edit 2021/07/25: I misremembered the title of the book I have with the one I also want to read lol] and one of Charlotte Brontë's book that I never read before (I think it's "Shirley"? Need to dig my bookshelf to make sure).

And... no, this is not a rigid 3-month reading list like the one I made in February. I might decide not to read any of them later. I might change them according to my mood (lol).

It's funny that I mentioned about reading in many posts but... this blog is not a reading or book review blog. Just a personal blog that posts about reading occasionally. The problem is.. I just have too many hobbies.

Time: 2021-06-22T20:25:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , About Blogging , Jane Austen , Reading

Forbidden Thoughts

ON THIS DAY...

As mentioned in last year's post, I only have a post on May 4th (pre-2020) which is in year 2010.

2021 was an OTD-ish post. This post will be like an update to that with some extra stuff added in.

>> TSGS #12

Amazingly, even though I went to Popular in November last year, I didn't manage to purchase this again. Might buy what I don't have later on Shopee (saw some pre-loved ones there too).

Recently, I don't really feel like reading this series(?) so I'm not in a hurry to get them. They are pretty short books (less than 200 pages) but it feels like forever to finish them lol...

>> Jane Austen

The 2010 & 2021 posts mentioned "Pride and Prejudice" & "Emma". Not talking about that again but...

I have "Emma" and "Jane Eyre" left to read from my not-rigid list from last year. I've decided to read "Jane Eyre" last so I should be reading "Emma" soon. Not sure if it's this month or other months, but that will be next. Also somehow planned(?) to reread "Northanger Abbey" and "Sense and Sensibility" in the future because I want to see where they rank in my favourite JA novels.

So far, it's like this:
① Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion
② n/a
③ Mansfield Park

⓸ Northanger Abbey

⓹ Emma

⓺ Sense and Sensibility

Probably will change again later after I reread those three.

>> Record

...it's like I'm making some kind of record [about my life]. -"Accidental Record"

I've been thinking... I might [also] be easily annoyed recently because I don't have a place to channel my tsukkomi [remarks]. Which is, on second thought, actually a good thing, because that means I don't throw out words carelessly... but I'm dying to make some sharp-tongued, rude, mean & insensitive comments inside. They're definitely not something I can post here. Are they forbidden thoughts? I don't think so... I let them roam free in my head without restraint. I guess they are considered forbidden because I forbid them to be materialized here.

Anyway... so I decided to write them in my 2018-now diary. "Shouldn't you've done that earlier?" The thing is that diary isn't supposed to be something as dark as this. Now, I'm allowing it to be that. It will be hurtful... but since I should be the only person who sees it, I'll be fine~

Also, I want to fill the diary until the end, if possible.

Hopefully, it will be 2018-2022 diary by the end of the year.

Time: 2022-05-04T22:21:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2022 posts , Books , Jane Austen , My Dark Side , On This Day , Reading

Better Than Expected

Posted in: 2021 posts | Happy Sunday | Online Shopping

Did some clean-up near the piano area today... so I feel a bit accomplished today.

Started reading "Mansfield Park" and I need to do some catching up if I'm still joining the GR group's readalong schedule I mentioned previously. So far, it's actually interesting...? I don't really know what I was expecting but it's been nice. For now. Quite refreshing because this is something written by Jane Austen that I haven't read before. I don't know what will happen later. Haven't felt suspense like that with her works for so long.

*sigh* Been looking at BBW's shopee listing again. Already found 3 books I might (MIGHT!) want for 7.7 sale. Let's hope that I will change my mind later.

Time: 2021-07-04T22:04:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Happy Sunday , Online Shopping

Today, it ends.

Posted in: 2021 posts | Jane Austen | Reading

I have 100++ pages left until the end of "Mansfield Park". There's this certain scene where I cringed (and went "OMG" & "No no") while going through it. At the same time, I couldn't help comparing it to a similar scene in "Pride and Prejudice". This character is more proud and forceful (the Japanese word gouin 強引 came to mind) which doesn't help in making the character likeable to the main character. Also, I find it interesting that there weren't even conversations (just sentences and paragraphs to show what happened) which made me think, "It doesn't really matter."

Well, it might end up differently from what I have in mind (I've been reading while composing this post haha)...

Time: 2021-07-12T18:03:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Jane Austen , Reading

No Mistaking It

Posted in: 2021 posts | blog images | Books | Jane Austen | Online Shopping Bag

NinjaVan parcel arrived today. It contained mostly of my sister's books (who recently just realised how inexpensive BBW books are). Of course, three of them are mine ~~muahaha~~...

"Silence" - I have a soft spot for Japanese books that are translated into English. This book had been in my cart/wishlist for almost two years and this year I finally got it. This cover looks like the movie cover version (which I don't really mind).

"The Austen Escape" - Another Jane Austen-ish book. They had one copy left so that kind of motivated me to get this one.

"Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life" - A biography (I think) of one of Charlotte Brontë's sisters written by Samantha Ellis. Haven't read Anne Brontë's books but I'm kind of curious about this one.

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Rewatched "Bridget Jones's Diary" movie. I enjoyed it more after reading the book. I didn't realised how much Mark Darcy was looking at Bridget whenever they are in the same room/place. He's so smitten by her!

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Finally caught up with the readalong schedule of "Mansfield Park". I took a bit over 4 hours just to read 100 pages of it. Well, I don't really care about the amount of time but that just shows I take more time when I'm reading a classic novel. Interesting. I might have been distracted at times so maybe it should've been 3.5-4 hours..? But that's still a large number of hours for 100 pages.

Time: 2021-07-06T17:35:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , blog images , Books , Jane Austen , Online Shopping Bag

Last Day of August

Posted in: 2021 posts | Jane Austen | Reading

I've finally finished "Old Friends & New Fancies" last night. Took me over a month to get to the end. *relieved sigh* Having so many of Jane Austen characters meet took some time to get used to. I wouldn't say that it had a slow start, only... I don't get the fussing over Miss Crawford in the beginning. Maybe because I'm fresh (a-month-over fresh) off reading "Mansfield Park" - I don't care about this character at all! I don't necessarily hate her, just indifferent. Anyway, I loved the second half of the book... and that helped speed up my reading a bit. Even I'm surprised by myself with my sudden fondness for the book near the end.

I consider this a high quality fan fiction, seeing how it's written similar to Jane Austen's style (although not that alike). But at the same time, I also think it might not be the fan fiction you need. It focused more on the side characters of the original novels while the paired couples play the matchmakers. It's fortunate that one of the characters is a character I do wish to know more about (I'm just going to pretend Miss Crawford is not there grrh).

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So here we are. The last day of August. Actually felt that the month went by so fast. Just like July. Hmm.

"Palace" is at a weird... place-... I mean arc, now that I couldn't watch a whole episode without rolling my eyes. Most of the time I'm like "Seriously?" Probably partly my problem because I started not paying attention but huh... It escalated to something else after that tender moments with fourth prince. So awkward.

Time: 2021-08-31T19:14:00+08:00
Posted by RuYanda
Labels: 2021 posts , Jane Austen , Reading

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

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

2005–2026

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Ends the way I expected it to be

Expected something, but no

Me, today: A Mix of Things

3 days ago

July's Rainy Friday

Things are meh today

This is a Personal Blog

Forbidden Thoughts

Better Than Expected

Today, it ends.

No Mistaking It

Last Day of August

2021 is...

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