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Being in my jobless era (once again), ang hirap maramdaman yung usefulness ko. Pinupuntirya nya yung ego ko. Lalo na pag nakikita kong nagta-trabaho si Kenneth? Tapos napapadalas pa yung OT nya these days? Nakaka-guilty. Ang pinipilit kong ipaintindi sa sarili ko, mas napapagaan ko yung araw-araw nya kasi mas may time akong ipagluto sya at mas nakakapaglinis ako ng bahay. But most importantly, may income naman akong natatanggap at naco-contribute. Hindi ako useless. Pero kahit it makes sense na ganito yung setup namin these days, naglalaban yung logic at guilty feelings. I blame Industrial Revolution and capitalism. Bakit pa kasi yun nauso.
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1.
I’m super happy with my current reads. So far, I’ve finished 2 books (Born a Crime and The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and both were easy 5-star reads. My goal each year is to read 1 book a month, and I’m pretty much on track.
Yayy available na sa Libby
Right now, I’m switching it up with fiction and I’m currently reading The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. I’m really enjoying it. The kilig is kiliging. People on the internet say that if you love Emily Henry’s books, you’ll probably like Abby Jimenez too—and it looks like they’re right. I’m picky with romance novels so I’m glad to have found another reliable author for my romance fix besides Emily Henry.
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We’re two months into the year, and I think I’ve found a planner system that works for my personality. It’s not overwhelming, it’s simple, but not boring (well, at least for me). Also, I say planner, but it’s really an all-in-one notebook. There’s the planning side of things in there, but it’s also my journal, my commonplace book, and more. Again, I’m using the Hobonichi Day-Free in A6 size, housed in a cover that’s also from Hobonichi. On their website, they described this cover design as cats of different breeds and sizes chatting happily with each other and saying, “Listen, listen!”
My planner’s home on its second yearThe very first page
With the yearly view, it pretty much remained the same as last year. I have my color key and my Zebra Mildliners to mark the dates.
Also marked last year’s travels on the right page
I used to make and sell my own stickers. I no longer operate that small sticker shop, that’s why I have plenty of inventory left—some of them I use so they won’t go to waste. One design is this sticker sheet with pastel-colored mini round stickers that are transparent. Those are what I used here to mark the beginning of each new month:
These stickers have barely visible defects, glad I didn’t throw them out.I don‘t know what the gray for is yet. Last year, I think I used them to mark my sick days.
The next page is my ‘call log’ spread. Speaking of making my own stickers, maybe 2 years ago, I had this idea of creating stickers of my family members for this spread. Thankfully, I printed plenty of extras so I can still use them for this year. But now that we no longer have a printer and I gave away my Cricut machine, I have no idea what to do when I ran out of these. The idea of buying a Cricut machine and a printer just for this seems illogical. But I really like looking at their faces whenever I flip to this spread! 😍
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1.
After learning French on and off for almost 3 years, ramdam ko na talaga yung improvement ko. Ramdam kong tumaas ng ilang levels yung confidence ko na magsalita in French (yung confidence level lang yung tumaas, not my actual speaking skills). But accompanying this sense of pride is doubt. Napatanong ako sa sarili ko, and a few moments later, kay ChatGPT:
Ano bang point ng pagaaral ko ng French kung hindi ko naman sya ginagamit in real life?
Wala akong French-speaking person na kilala, hindi ko sya kelangan sa trabaho, hindi naman ako magta-travel sa France anytime soon. Ginagawa ko lang ‘to for mere pleasure and fun. I’m learning this language for the sake of learning this language. What is the point??
ChatGPT says:
Fun is actually a great reason to learn. If you enjoy the challenge, that’s reason enough.
You’ll never know when it might come in handy—travel, meeting new people, unexpected career opportunities.
Even if you never need it, you’re training your brain, developing patience, and gaining a new way to see the world, which is cool on its own.
Not everything needs a practical purpose (this!)
And with that, I shall continue on.
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Walnut’s health scare is over! Feeling ko hindi naman talaga sya na-poison nung lily kasi naisuka nya naman agad, pero sabi pa rin nung vet, kelangan syang i-monitor for 72 hours to make sure hindi tinamaan yung kidney. Thankfully, normal yung apat nyang blood tests and she’s in the clear. Ang nakakaasar lang ay yung pilay nya caused by the nurses nung tina-try nilang i-restrain si Walnut para kunan ng dugo. Ka-badtrip. Accountable naman sila ang they will cover all expenses related to her limp (dapat lang!), pero nakakainis pa din. I think nag-iimprove naman yung pilay nya and aside from that, she’s healthy and well and back to her old self.
Among the many reasons why I like to write, I think one of them is the desire to be understood. As someone with a resting bothered face, I’ve been misunderstood countless times. Sobrang puzzled ko pag sinasabihan ako ng mga tao—including my relatives, my own mother even—“Bakit ka nakasimangot?” “Itsura mo para kang galit.” When in reality, I’m not mad whatsoever. I’m just existing. I am neutral. I’m a hundred percent sure that my facial muscles are completely relaxed. But to them, I seem to be exuding some kind of negative aura. Nung highschool days napapaaway pa ko. Ang sama ko raw makatingin.
Woke up, shat, wrote on my digital journal about yesterday’s happenings, read a newsletter, saw vomit (probably Walnut’s) and cleaned that up, fed the kitties, and scooped their litter. This is my morning routine nowadays.
8:00 AM
I decided I’ll have the pork ribs from Costco. I can air-fry them from frozen, so it’s a quick prep. I still have some roasted veggies from yesterday that I can pair it with. Kaso ang dry. Wala akong sauce or dip. So I asked ChatGPT for suggestions and settled on an easy sauce using ingredients I already have: garlic butter soy sauce. I can pour it over the crispy ribs to give them a little bit of moisture.
I’m half-listening to Trevor Noah’s podcast while making the sauce. I think they’re talking about the loneliness epidemic.
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I’m currently enjoying Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Hindi ko na ita-try i-explain kung tungkol san yung book at kung bakit sya maganda, kasi hindi ako magaling mag-pitch ng libro. Pero ang gusto kong topic ay kung pano ko sya ina-annotate.
Naaalala ko yung mga times na bawal na bawal sakin magkaron ng crease yung spine ng libro. Hindi rin sya pwedeng masulatan. Pag aksidenteng natupi yung cover o isa sa mga pages, parang katapusan na ng mundo. I’m sure sobrang daming nakaka-relate sa inyo. The book had to remain pristine and unchanged. The only change was one that remains invisible: that it’s been read.
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Today, I decided to round up all the posts I published last year—plus books I’ve read and my favorite podcast episodes. Since I love categorizing things, that’s exactly what I did here. To everyone who took the time to read some or all of my writing, thank you! I deeply appreciate your comments and DMs whenever I put my thoughts and ideas out there. I’ve also marked the paid ones with an asterisk. With all my gratitude, thank you to the paid subscribers. I’m extremely grateful for your support, and I’m curious to know what you think of what I’ve put out so far. Please don’t hesitate to send me a message!
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2023, 2024, 2025
I started using Hobonichi as my planner in 2023. There are different Hobonichi planner variations, but I like the flexibility of the ‘day-free’ because 90% are just blank pages. I have the freedom to do whatever layout I want and skip some weeks, but it’s not too unstructured given that it still has the calendar and yearly pages. It worked well enough for me last year, which is why I’m using it again this year.
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Gleniz da Menace 