Monthly Favorites: September 2015

I love YouTube. In fact I got a postpaid data plan JUST for YouTube. I don't text that much, I don't call that much, so theoretically I would get by with just a prepaid phone number. But I can't be bothered to watch TV, because the shows are too long. I don't really like listening to the radio, because I can't get through two minutes without fiddling with the channels. So I have to pay for YouTube, for my passive entertainment needs.

And I'm a sucker for monthly favorites videos---YouTubers would just sit in front of the camera showing/telling you about their favorites for the month. Most of them would whip out makeup, wearables, whatnot. So soothing to watch, haha.

And since this month has been nothing but a clusterfuck of fuck yous from the universe, I thought, why not take a page off those YouTubers' books and catalog the things that made the month tolerable? Maybe it would prevent me from whipping out an anvil and smashing my own head in. And so here they are. My favorite things/people/events for the month of September:

1. Nadine from that government office I've been bugging for my thesis---I am working on my Master's thesis, and getting the data has been a source of grief. I've expected the back and forth to take about a week or two. Obviously, it's taking MUCH longer. Apparently, I am requesting data that is sensitive in nature, so there needs to be lots of deliberation before the office can decide on whether they'll give me the data or not. I can angst about this right now, but let's not bring that kind of shit on this blog.

Now Nadine answers the phone for that government office, and she is just SO helpful. She can't give me the data, of course, but I appreciate how she gives me updates on who she's bugged on my behalf, and how (e.g. 'I left so-and-so a note and talked to him when he was here, so he won't forget about your case'). It may not be a guarantee of anything, but it eases my emotional suffering.

2. The movie, 'Heneral Luna'---I doubt I have anything new to say about the movie. The goriness of the movie stressed me out, and perhaps there is merit to what detractors say, i.e., that the movie is simplistic. But it is beautifully made; it is filtered enough to present its thesis to the average moviegoer; and it speaks to the issues of my time. And it is inspiring. It is inspiring that a young person made such a movie, and that the producers (businessmen, generally portrayed as opportunists in the movie) backed it up financially. And now it's an entry to the Oscars. What an exciting time for the arts, indeed.

3. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf---Always quiet enough to let me study (or pretend to study), and with the friendliest staff. I really should learn the names of these nice people who ask me how my breakfast is going, and leave me notes with my coffee.

4. My trip to Japan, which is materializing at last---Even as a kid, I've always been fascinated by Japan. And this month, a friend and I scored really really cheap tickets. We're going in March next year, and the day-to-day planning (by my friend, because I mostly just toss in requests and say yes to whatever she proposes) is a high point of my day.

I guess that covers it. And now, I guess life isn't any better just because I blogged about my monthly favorites. But I must admit, I am feeling better. Onward to October.

Wishful Thinking, Thesis Data Edition

There were too many days spent buried under the bed, turned away from the sun outside. I had gone pale, gray, a shadow of my former self.

"Come out and play," my friends would say. "It would make you feel so much better."

"No it won't," I would answer. "I have no reason to go outside." And I stayed in bed, festering like a sore. I had no desire to play, to rise, to open my eyes at the start of every morning. I had stopped dreaming at night, and stopped noting the times I would drift off to an empty sleep.

And then you came along. And it was like opening all of the windows. The sun was shining through at last.