119. Low on time, high on inspiration
I have been pretty low on time, but pretty high on inspiration. I've been traveling often and enjoying life a bit more. I haven't put a lot words down, especially on the blog, but I don't regret it at all. Right now, I'm using this time to catch up with things and also eat all the leftovers from the holidays. I feel like I've gained a couple of kilos over the last few months. I don't really mind it. I can always lose the weight, but will my childhood meals be within an arm's length distance from me again?
I'll return home in a week and hit the climbing gym when I get back. I'll get back to serenity and a high level of fitness soon. Vacation mode has been taking the front seat of my life lately.
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Currently, I'm at my cousins' house and we have been experiencing electricity outages this entire week. I was told that regional-wide blackouts in the past couple of days are very rare. Today, there has been some problems with the water pressure, due to the lack of electricity in the area, so bath time is limited. We have been stinky, sweaty, and in the dark for about 3 days. Hopefully the power comes back on by Friday.
Fortunately, there have been some businesses in the city that have back-up generators. A lot of residents have hit up the local coffee shops and shopping centers so that they could use the power. Yesterday, my family just went to my cousin's workplace and used the electricity there to charge up our devices. It's a pretty small office, with only 3 employees present at the time. My other cousin had his work laptop and computer stand. We just shared the big desk together. I had lunch with the workplace boss and it was a pleasant time.
These past couple of days, I've been conserving some battery on my electronic devices. I've also been taking long naps, eating a lot, and playing with the puppies that my cousins have. The puppies have been such darlings, but they just piss everywhere. I guess they can't help themselves they're just little babies. They're so giddy and fun to play with.
In fact, the 9 month old by the name of "Precious" is so fond of me, that she waits by my bedroom door for me to come out. She follows me everywhere. Whenever we arrive home when we go somewhere, I am always the first one she greets. She would always herself at me and bribe me with such cute eyes in order to give her belly rubs . She reminds me of my dog, back home, who is currently residing at my aunt's house. I snapped some photos for my friends to look at all of the puppies I live with now.
Matcha sitting on my lap with Precious sleeping
Precious was interested in my holiday wine
I spent my New Year's Eve with my family this year! It was very fun. I had a lot of soju and gin to drink and braced for a gnarly hangover in the morning. As I get older, I've been trying to think of better remedies to shake off the bad morning-after-drinking-too-much sickness. My very own "doctor's orders" consists of a nice greasy meal and chugging a liter of water after waking up. This hangover concoction is kinda weakening though. I've built up my drinking tolerance over the years since I was 20, so I've gotten better constitution, but the headaches hit harder than ever.
Walking around my old hometown is actually pretty cool. I visited in 2022, but only for less than a week, which didn't give me a lot of time to feel the nostalgia. So far, I've gotten to see all of my relatives, hang out at the mall, see my childhood home where the first several years of my life took place, take many photos, and eat all of the childhood meals I remember having when I was very small. My heart is full, and so is my stomach.
A hometown sunset <3 a photo of my cousin
When I finally find some time (and Internet), I have a couple of stories under my belt and a lot of unpublished posts I've yet to share. I'll probably publish them all at once and then adjust the dates the numbers when all is settled. I have so much to show you all.
The Discover page was filled with a lot of hopeful and cool blog posts. I was very inspired by them. I've looked back at my last year of writing. It seems like I have grown more as a writer. It makes me pretty happy to see me log my thoughts and experiences in this personal digital diary. I made a couple of good friends on Bear as well. I love reading their thoughts, days, and dreams on here.
I was really glad when I read a post by Just Jeff , talking about the tiny web. We've gotten so used to the template-driven, content-pushing, algorithm-listing social media frenzy that's been overrun by the Influencers, that we forgotten what a personal connection is like. I've found myself being lost in the sea of doom-scrolling and staring at posts all day long. I think it's a rather human thing to get caught up in all of that. Sometimes it's alright to be swept in, but only if you can take your ostrich head out of the damn hole on the ground.
I haven't formulated my thoughts on what my resolutions are going to be. My head is still spinning and my packed schedule has been taking over my life right now. I am very content at the moment, but I really would like to have a couple of days to unwind with a cup of tea and a computer. I haven't really touched my laptop at all. I think it's pretty cool.
I really want to reformat some of my blog stuff and change up some of the things I post. I have a lot of things to tackle on the backlog. For example, some housekeeping items on my list to do for the blog- I've decided that I want to schedule a weekly email to the people that have been subscribed to me via email. This task is inspired by my friend, aco, who has been sending some short and sweet emails with some links to posts and short descriptions about each one. I love how it's done. I would like to do something weekly like that.
If you are interested in joining the list- don't be shy and leave your email address with me (I also like to write email threads!). Additionally, I have a couple of penpal back-and-forth messages that I haven't written up yet. I understand a lot of people are super busy! Feel free to write to me about your day. Also, I think it would be cool to be some kind of "Ask Alice", but just for a little bit. I think I'd get overwhelmed, haha.
I'll try to send an email subscription message every Sunday morning. On that email, it will lists posts that I've published in that week. I really hope I could keep it going.
~ a forgotten 90s soap opera actress,
<3 K