Whenever I finish a good book (it was Ready Player One this time), I find myself in a reading slump. So, I’m going to keep a list of resources to refer to when I’m looking for a new book to check out from the library. This article from the New York Times has a list of 22 of the funniest novels since Catch 22 (which I should probably finish at some point). ...

Just finished reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown. For me this was a very “front loaded” self-help book (one of my least favorite kinds). Most of the advice that the book has to offer is revealed in the introductory chapters. What fallows, then, is just a bunch of examples of how the advice can be applied and the different little tweaks you might need to make to your life to apply the practice of essentialism. ...

I was not excited when Andrew Huang announced that he would be writing a book. I’ve been online long enough to be weary of “books written by YouTubers”. But that was unfair of me. Andrew Huang has been a goldmine of awesome and entertaining videos, helpful and useful advice, as well as a very large discography interesting and groovy music. So, when a few excerpts started coming out and when Andrew made a few videos talking about some of the things he writes about in the book — I was sold. This was one of very few books that I pre-ordered. ...

I was sick the past week and that means that I was dehydrated. I usually don’t drink coffee when I’m dehydrated, so I had a week-long break. I still drank lots of tea, but the effect is different; we all know that. Anyway, yesterday I woke up feeling exhausted so I had a cheeky little cappucino with a tripple shot of espresso. Big mistake. Anxiety through the roof! I learned my lesson and just had a regular filter coffee. Anxiety still through the roof! Making coffee has been my equivalent of “morning meditation” for, like, almost three years now. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to handle it if I have to quit the daily ritual. So, yeah… I’m hoping that it’s just a small side-effect of being sick and that in a few days (maybe a week at most?) I’ll be able to go back to drinking coffee without dying of anxiety attacks any time I drink the brown dirt drink. ...

I generally only get my news from official resources or resources that have done so well with providing accurate information so consistently that I choose to trust them (though, with a grain of salt). One of those resources posted (this morning) that tonight there will likely be another attack with rockets from russia. I know that any forecast like this is essentially meaningless and has a 50/50 chance of being true or false. I know that no matter what, I still have to go on living my life, doing my silly little job, eating my silly little meals, etc. etc. etc. But Imma be real with you — it’s difficult to do all these things and expend any energy on them when you know that it is quite likely that you’re not going to get any good sleep tonight because the country that neighbors yours is a fucking imperialist cancer. And yet, here we are. ...

I follow these blogs! You might want to as well! At the very least, you should at least check them out. https://winnielim.org https://sanlive.com https://maya.land https://maggieappleton.com https://az.id.au https://www.sheafitz.com https://evy.garden/notebook/ https://satyrs.eu/garden/ https://mayaontheinter.net In the future I’ll categorize the blogs based on what they’re about. Right now there’s not enough of them to warrant that.

I’ve had to stop drinking coffee because it was adding fuel to the fire of my anxiety. I hate doing these “responsible” things because while they make my overall life better (less anxiety is always good) they steal little moments of joy from me. Making a V60 coffee when I get up has been my “morning meditation” for several years, and having that yanked out of my life is unpleasant. Even if you press me for an answer now I wouldn’t be able to tell you whether the slight decrease in anxiety is worth the daily decrease in joy. Maybe? ...

You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan And the next five years trying to be with your friends again First of all — we’re bringing back using lyrics as status messages, cryptic posts, etc. We’ve cowered under the pressure of “what if it’s cringe” for many years, and now it seems like emo is back and so are cryptic lyric posts! Second of all — I spent the past 10 years focused on my career. Well, it wasn’t so much “focus” as “holding on for dear life, terrified of what would happen if I relaxed for even a split second and let it all slip.” Many things have come from this; good things and bad things. Good things: ...

A couple of people are moving out of the apartment building I live in and it’s stressing me out. It means nothing. It means their landlord sucks or it means they found a better place or it means the apartment is too small for them now that they have a kid AND two dogs. But to me it immediately brings back anxious flashbacks of February 2022 when you could kinda tell who was traveling for business and who was traveling because they watch the news and know what’s coming. ...

I’ve been slowly chipping away at a post about how journaling has helped me and the various little “journaling activities” that are actually helpful instead of time-sucking trash. Now I’ve had to throw that draft away because this video covers nearly all of my tips and adds some that I haven’t considered but that I know will for sure work out (for me). Check it out: youtube.com/watch