weeknotes 14/26 - rainy week with lots of blogging
I'm trying out the weeknotes format for the first time! I love reading the weeknotes on other blogs, so I thought I'd give it a try.
General happenings
Weather was shitty all week: Gray and rainy throughout, except for Friday and Sunday. I also didn't feel super good health-wise, but getting more sleep helped. The high point of the week definitely was today (Sunday) - Hanami with friends in a nice, not-too-crowded park.
In line with getting more sleep, I also started to shift towards going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier again (somewhat inspired by Herman's recent post, but also based on personal experience from the past). Whether it's blogging, drawing or reading, I'm a lot more motivated in the morning. In the evening (especially after work), I'm either mindlessly watching YouTube or getting frustrated overthinking my posts / sketches too much.
The blog
- Had a lot of fun tinkering with and writing for the blog this week and implemented some new stuff (custom toast button, on-hover image preview feature)
- Randomly decided to do a "daily blogging challenge" this month (after learning about Inkhaven via Scholarch's post)
I keep adding to my list of post ideas. It's been around three weeks since I restarted the blog, but so far the juices are still flowing. Daily posting throughout April shouldn't be a problem, unless I get into a really long demotivation stretch. I want to use this month to just write whatever I want, fling shit against the wall and see what sticks. In May, I'll look back at the mess, self-reflect, and then maybe sort out and organize things a bit more.
Listened to (non-music)
- First episode of the Secrets of Strixhaven story
- DLF podcast / lecture on the History of Greenland (in German, Part 1 / Part 2)
- DLF podcast / lecture on Religious Freedom (in German, here)
DLF is great, one of my most-used podcast / radio apps. I'd recommend it to you, but you can't really use it unless you understand German, and if you do, you probably already know it exists.
Listened to (music)
- Flower Children of the Apocalypse - Volume II (album - Soundcloud
- Steve Gunn - Music for Writers (album - YouTube)
- Rod Modell - Grotto of the Sun (album - Bandcamp)
- Phloe - Les Idees (album - Bandcamp)
Mostly ambient, with a bit of folk rock. "Grotto of the Sun" is probably one of my favourite ambient soundscapes in a while. The Phloe album was a random commute listen, but I ended up really enjoying it. Song of the Week is 1999 by Hitsujibungaku though. I love it's warm, fuzzy feeling, it helped lighten my mood a bit.
Read
- Kaho Nashiki - In Spring, We Pick Strawberries (continued)
- Natsuo Kirino - Pearls and Diamonds (started)
The first one is a collection of essays, the second one a novel set in Japan's Bubble Era. These are both library books, so I have a deadline! I'm thinking about pausing "Strawberries" and maybe taking it out one more time later. Apparently "Pearls and Diamonds" is relatively popular right now (I had the option to either get the hardcover or wait one month or more for the pocket paperback version...), so I might not be able to extend it.
Saw
- The Čiurlionis exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art
The exhibition was smaller than expected, but that's not surprising considering that the artist was only active for seven years or so. The art was right up my alley. Symbolist, kind of mystical, dreamlike ... great source of inspiration. Out of all the exhibits, "The Altar" (1909) and "Rex" (1909) were my favourites.
Misc / Other
Saw a toad on the street
on my way back from home this Monday (Japanese common toad). It felt so out of place on the asphalt. Where did it come from? As far as I know, there are no parks with ponds nearby. It must've overwintered in someone's backyard or garden. I nudged it off the road onto the sidewalk, I hope it didn't end up getting squished after all.