I have really been neglecting writing on here, but seeing as I just got my computer fixed, I feel like I now have no excuse!
A lot has happened over the past few months since I last wrote on here. The main one being that I got into grad school!!!!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world. So that’s been life change number one. I’ll be moving mid-June to San Diego to start grad school and hopefully in about 5 years, I’ll have a PhD in Linguistics.
Where I’ve Been
Mostly home and San Diego. Here’s a few pictures from my trips to San Diego:
What I’ve Been Reading:
An Edited Life by Anna Newton – I’ve been reading Anna’s blog for a few years. I really like her posts about capsule wardrobes and moderate minimalism. She’s also very organized in the same way that I am/aspire to be. This book was interesting. I know her goal was to write a self-improvement book that covered all areas of life, but I think my issue with it is that it doesn’t go in-depth on any one aspect nor does it really say anything I didn’t already know. It would be a better resource for people who really aren’t organized and wanted to get in control of their lives.
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – I read her book of poetry The Sun and Her Flowers last year and it really started this interest in reading poetry that I have never had before. I knew I was going to read her first book Milk and Honey, but I wanted to spread it out a little bit.
Normal People by Sally Rooney – I picked this book up on a whim at the airport on the way to San Diego in April. I then proceeded to do something I’ve never done before: start a book on a plane and read that book pretty much non-stop until landing. I read 90% of the book on the plane. It was such an interesting, simple, and different story. I know it’s one of those books that everyone is reading at the moment, which can put me off, but I really enjoyed this one.
The Professor is In by Dr. Karen Kelsey – My supervisor gave me this book, which I hope to re-read a bit closer to the end of grad school, but it’s got some interesting nuggets I hope to keep in mind throughout my time in grad school.
China Dream by Ma Jian – I read Ma Jian’s The Noodle Maker last year, so I was keen to read more of his work. This is his most recent book – with cover artwork designed by Ai Weiwei! Ma’s writing is really strange in such an intriguing and psychological way. He also writes about very average people but the stories themselves are really quite extraordinary. I devoured this one in a couple days – helped by the fact that it’s a compact novel. I didn’t want to put it down.
I read this article back in October, I think – and I’ve probably written about it, but I have recently stalked Fan Jiayang via podcast (NvVoices), Twitter, and by reading her articles (courtesy of my new subscription to the New Yorker). She wrote an amazing article about the writer Yan Lianke, and since I have been trying to ready The Four Books by Yan – I didn’t do myself any favors when I left the book in DC at my cousin’s house. I recommend the podcast, any of Jiayang’s work, and Yan’s novels as well!
Currently Reading: In the Distance by Hernan Diaz, The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, and The Four Books by Yan Lianke.
What I’ve Been Listening To
The Daily by the New York Times – I have become very loyal to this podcast over the past few months. It’s one of the most enjoyable ways to engage with the news. They focus on one story every day and go more in-depth on a story, and they often interview some sort of expert or witness relevant to the story. At the end of the episode, they recap a few other ongoing stories in the news. I listen to it every day and occasionally listen to a couple in a day if I’m behind.
Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend – for the first time since I was in high school, Vampire Weekend released a new album! I was a little disappointed by the last one. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t go back and listen to any of those songs. I really, really, really like this album. I’ve been listening to it a lot. I’m glad they released it at this time of year, because it feels very summer-y.
Music from Netflix’s Street Food – I started watching Street Food, and one of the best parts of the show is the music. They put really cool music from whatever country they’re profiling it, and I’ve saved some of those songs and have been really enjoying them. In particular:
From Thailand:
From Korea:
From Taiwan:
From India:
I don’t normally like country music, but this came up on a Spotify playlist I was listening to and I just really like it.
Two of my favorite Chinese-language artists Khalil Fong and Diana Wang released music recently! I really like these singles.
I don’t necessarily like Joe Rogan and I don’t listen to his podcast ever, really, but I was really interested in a 2-hour interview with Andrew Yang. In the interview, he talked through his platform and his plan for Universal Basic Income.
From a podcast I do follow closely, the China in Africa Podcast did an episode recently about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or One Belt One Road 一带一路. I thought they did a really good job at getting at the question most people want an answer to: what exactly *is* the Belt and Road Initiative?
What I’ve been watching
I’ve really been taking advantage of this pre-grad-school period to watch stuff that I’ve always wanted to watch and enjoy some things that are hot off the press. In no particular order:
Fleabag – this is my most recent obsession. This show made me laugh out loud and cry. I love Phoebe Waller-Bridge and I’m so impressed that she created this character in a play and then made it into a show – playing the main character both on the West End and Broadway and on screen in the Amazon series. Also, it apparently started at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is so cool!
Easy – I can’t really think of any show like this in format. It is like a short story anthology in the form of a Netflix series. Each episode focuses on the various issues related to the life/lives of a person/couple/family. Each episode is pretty much a standalone episode (especially in the first season). The characters are only tangentially related and the whole series takes place in Chicago. It’s a very interesting concept.
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj – I’ve been into this show since it started and I think I’ve written about it several times on here. It comes out in little seasons of about 10 weeks and it comes out every week. It’s such a great discussion of our society and ongoing issues around the world – not always the big headline stories, which is interesting. I always learn a lot.
Netflix released both a TV show and a movie about Ted Bundy this year. I watched the movie first. I knew nothing about Ted Bundy, so I didn’t know if I wanted to get invested in the show at first. The movie was a good overview of the story. I do really like true crime, though, so I also watched the docuseries. Both are really good if you’re into that kind of thing.
Street Food – I knew I was going to like this show. What’s not to like? Yummy food? Cinematic shots? I’m in. This season toured several Asian countries (but not PR China, much to my dismay). The main thing that stood out to me – other than the music, which I already talked about – is how personal it is. The people running these stalls have incredible backstories and personalities. I was very surprised at how emotional it was to watch this show. It will also make you want to go to all these places and eat the yummy food.
Selling Sunset – I still don’t know what possessed me to get into a reality show. I have always liked HGTV-like content. This is basically House Hunters: Millionaire Edition with a lot of personal drama from the real estate agents. It’s an interesting glimpse into the Hollywood lifestyle. It’s also cool to see inside some of those amazing homes you would never be able to see inside otherwise.
Sex Education – This is a dynamic high school show that was impossible not to enjoy. I watched it a while ago, so I can’t say too much about it, but I was very happy to come across this when I was sick for a few days and did not stop watching it until it was over.
You – This show has one takeaway (similar to that of the Ted Bundy story): an attractive white man can get away with a lot. It really critiques many people’s behaviors on social media. It’s pretty scary to think about how information from the internet and social media can be used.
Turn Up Charlie – I love Idris Elba. Ever since becoming obsessed with Luther at the end of last year, I will watch anything with him in it. This is a funny, sad, and gritty show about a washed-up forty-something DJ trying to make it and survive.
Broadchurch – I can’t believe I had never seen Broadchurch before. David Tennant played my favorite Doctor in Doctor Who. I am obsessed with Olivia Colman, who is great in this but also in The Favourite and in Fleabag! Again, I love crime shows. I also like British shows that show the more realistic and grimy side of the UK. It’s really not like Downton Abbey and the Crown.
Booksmart – I just saw this on Memorial Day. This is a great, fun movie. Some of the feedback I’ve heard praises the fact that it’s a very realistic portrayal of an LGBT+ person in high school, but without making that the entire plot of the movie. I have also seen Olivia Wilde speak about how she wanted to make a movie about two friends, who love and support each other. There’s no cattiness. The two main friends build each other up and it’s just a really great story.
Howl’s Moving Castle – James and I are slowly working our way through all the Studio Ghibli films. We’ve seen most of them – I think My Neighbor Totoro is the only one we haven’t seen. This is one of my favorite films of Miyazaki’s I’ve seen.
On the Basis of Sex – I saw this movie when it came out back in February, maybe. I really enjoyed this one. Such an empowering movie, but it shows just how horrific the situation was for women just a generation or two ago. It’s amazing she managed to break through so many of those barriers at the time.
What I’ve been Doing
Pottery – Back in February, I started a pottery class at the cultural arts center downtown. I’ve been really enjoying it. I’ve made some really cool pieces I’m very happy with.
Crocheting – I taught myself to crochet back in January, but I took a bit of a break to focus on pottery for a while. I have recently been working on crocheting more and am really happy with some of the things I have made – mostly without patterns or any guide!
Research – I have been doing a lot of reading and programming an experiment to run using HTML, which was interesting.
Film photography – polaroid and 35mm. I bought a film camera for $10 at my local used tech/book store. I already used a roll of film and I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out when I get the pictures back.
Highlights
Generally, preparing mentally and physically for grad school has been a highlight and a challenge. So let’s say the highlight has been looking forward to living in San Diego, studying again, making friends, etc. I’m very excited!
Part of preparing has included running an experiment which I will hopefully be analyzing and writing up over the summer. This has been a good experience to dip my toe in the waters of research again. It also means I can jump right in this summer and hopefully set myself up well for the academic year. I’m super excited about the premise of the experiment and I’m looking forward to seeing the results.
Another highlight/challenge has been finishing up my jobs here at home. I already had my last day at my office job and I have three shifts left at the restaurant. This is obviously great because I am working less (so I can pack more). It also feels like an important milestone that means I’m actually leaving soon.
Challenges
For all of February and March, we were moving at my office job. I was in charge of finding a new space, moving over the utilities, finding a moving company, physicially packing up the office, etc. It was really overwhelming and stressful. I had very little free time around that time, especially the two weeks around the actual move days. I feel accomplished, but it was a lot more responsibility than I bargained for from a part-time job.
Generally, I have been working a lot and not spending a lot of time doing interesting things, hence the lack of blogging. I went to San Diego twice – mostly for work-related reasons, with some nice free time with James. Other than that, I’ve been mostly working six days a week, trying to save as much money as possible. So it’s been pretty boring.
More recently, packing has been a challenge. I’ve only really started to pack up my room and stuff this week. I moved two suitcases worth of stuff back in April, so I’m hoping pretty much everything else will fit in my car. Deciding what to take and how to pack everything is a little overwhelming, but I’m hoping to tackle it a little bit every day.
Coming Up
MOVING! I’m moving in less than two weeks. My mom and I are driving across the country with a few fun stops planned!
