This is how the first month of 2019 went!
Where I Went:
Raleigh and Durham, NC
Some of the highlights were trying restaurants and bars. I went to Fiction Kitchen and got vegan chicken and biscuits, tried espresso at lucettegrace, and also went to Brewery Bhavana which was DIVINE.
What I Read:
Burning the Sun’s Braids: New Poetry from Tibet translated by Bhuchung D. Sonam. – This is a continuation of last month’s discover that I really like reading poetry books now. I put this on my Christmas wishlist because you have to order it from FreeTibet.org – and actually it’s sold out now! This was kind of inspired by the book of Tibetan short stories I read last year. I think I found out about them at the same time. The poetry is unsurprisingly very political. It was less about the language for me, and more about the content. I really liked some of the poets – and others I liked less. It was nice that there were a mix of authors.
Words on the Move: Why English Won’t – and Can’t – Sit Still (Like, Literally) by John McWhorter. I love John McWhorter. His book What Language Is is one of the reasons I did Linguistics at university. This book was solidly a continuation of the kinds of things he talks about on Lexicon Valley (a podcast which I have also been following for many years). I didn’t find anything to be earth shattering, since I have heard him talk about it a lot, but I do find language change interesting. This would be a very good thing to give to people who don’t know anything about linguistics or people who always complain about what people say ‘these days.’
The Wasteland and Other Poems by T.S. Eliot – I was talking with my boyfriend about T.S. Eliot, so I decided to read Eliot as part of my exploration of poetry. The language was really interesting and aesthetic, but, man, is this stuff pretentious. It really puts me off. It was good experience as part of my education on poetry, but I was really over it by the time I finished the book.
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Dispair by Pablo Neruda – This stood in contrast to Eliot. The language was beautiful, but accessible. Not to mention really, really beautiful. I hope to come back to this volume again.
The Seaward Sparrow by Peter Deligdisch. I read Peter’s most recent graphic novel/zine called Dayfever and thought it was really interesting. I bought this to further support a local artist and to see more of his zine/graphic stuff. This one was short and sweet and made me smile.
Self-Care for the Real World by Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips. After reading all that poetry, I really wanted to read some self-improvement books. This was one I had heard about, and I got it used on Amazon. I think this book perpetuates pressure to make your self care Instagram-worthy, but I also think there are some good tips.
What I’ve Been Watching
Luther – Luther came back with season 5 at the beginning of the month and I immediately watched the 4 episodes. They were even better than the last season, but that show genuinely scares me!
Brooklyn 99 also came back this month! I’ve only seen one episode, but that show is just so nice to watch. I’m glad they didn’t get cancelled.
Fyre – this is the documentary about the Fyre Festival that came out on Netflix this month. The content was really interesting, but I wish it had focused more on the legal repercussions of the whole thing. I think it focused too much on the lead-up to the festival date.
The Financial Diet – I saw this video and it resonated with me because I’ve been working at restaurants for the past few months and there is a lot that people who have never worked at restaurants don’t know. I think every American should see this video.
What I’ve Been Listening To
I made a few good musical discoveries this month. The first were Chinese hip-hop. I had one song from this album saved, but I read a few interviews with Bohan Phoenix and watched some music videos. I think he’s an interesting guy. I quite like this song.
I also discovered a hip-hop artist called “Ty.”. He actually appears in this song, which I discovered early last year and also appeared in the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack. Ty. sings in a really thick Chengdu accent, which is kind of cool.
But I also discovered his song called “Real Life” last year and recently decided to learn the lyrics to practice my Chinese and be able to sing along. In the process I also discovered more of his music.
While “Real Life” is a more classic hip hop song that talks about money, two songs in particular seemed to have really political messages. The first makes some strong claims about all the ethnicities in China all being brothers and, above all else, all being Chinese.
The second is about the US, so you can imagine that it discourages fascination and interest in the US and discourages the listener from visiting or moving to the US. It was pretty surprising – both were – and interesting. I haven’t really figured out the context of these songs yet.
I’ve also been listening to an audiobook, but I haven’t really gotten into it.
Finally, Weyes Blood released a new song called Andromeda and it’s really great. It makes me feel like I’m floating – that’s the only way I can describe it.
Highlights
I started off the year/month working at a new restaurant. At the end of last year, the restaurant I was working at closed permanently. I found a job at an Italian restaurant without too much difficulty. I really like the other servers. It’s a bigger team, but I actually feel closer to my coworkers even after only working there a month.
I also got a promotion and a raise at my office job. I’m taking on more responsibility and more hours, which is great. I will also be making more money – enough to save up for grad school or the next step as well as being able to plan a big trip this summer.
Another big thing is that my boyfriend, James, visited my hometown for a long weekend this month. It was good to expose him to North Carolina – and the South – for the first time. It was also good to see him, obviously!
I heard this month that I have been invited to the Open House for one of my grad school options! I’ll be going mid- to late-February. I’m pretty excited. Fingers crossed!
I have been working pretty hard this month on writing up my conference presentation into a paper to be published. I completed a solid draft, which is pretty good, considering the deadline is at the end of March.
More mundane, I did a really thorough clean of all my stuff. I still have a few areas I really need to organize, but I re-organized my closet and my dresser. It has really made my room feel a lot better. I rearranged some furniture, too, and I have a nice reading nook, which has been great!
I also managed to finalize plans for our first Book Club meeting, which will be early next month. I have about 10 days to get through the book, which is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston.
This month, I have also been eating mostly plant-based. I still eat eggs, but I’ve been mostly cutting out meat and dairy except for one meal a week. It’s been really good and I feel like it pulled me out of the holiday fog of heavy meat and dairy dishes. Since I’m lactose intolerant, even when I take a lactase enzyme, I still don’t feel great after having dairy. I was taking the enzymes 2-3 times a day for weeks. I feel so much better now! I’ve also been doing a gym program, which has also helped me feel healthier and more energetic.
Challenges
The main challenge has been balancing work with rest and personal time. I started out the month feeling really unmotivated and sad. Making time do things for fun like exercise, reading, crocheting, or whatever has helped a lot, but I’m working a lot more hours than I was in the past two months, so I’m working on balancing work and my health and wellbeing.
What’s Next?
Next month I have my grad school interviews! I will be flying out for those for 5 days. I will be preparing for that over the next few weeks.
I also will be making some time to do something a bit different. I’m hoping to start a pottery class at the end of next month!
