A Refresh

Born to be tidy, 2026

I like to organize, make lists, basically make my blog as tidy as possible. And I like refreshing it now and then, changing or adding something new to sort of give something new to look at.
    As of today, I had updated the hello page, writing page and added a list of the all the books I sort of reviewed but mostly ranted about (titled book index) and even changed the header. Sadly, I was too lazy to update my blogroll or anything else.
    The book index is sort of my way of organizing and listing all the books I read but of course, I don't have the previous books from my previous blogs. This is mostly for me because it's just a list so it's not all that useful unless you are looking to read some book rants about books you may never have heard of know or care to know about. (All page links are below the header).
    I was going to make the above artwork another 'Spot the difference' but decided it wasn't a good idea, too many elements that can be changed and it's kind of hard to spot things. Though I did work on this piece for months. As much as I like an office all to myself, I don't have one but I do like one that is something like that but probably without all the papers scattered around but I do seem to have paper messes every few weeks. Generally, I'm messy unless I had sudden urges to organize and clean again which happens often. Maybe it's why I keep trying to tidy this blog.

Are you a naturally tidy person? Do you like to refresh your blog once in a while? 

Update: Things I like to continue, start or restart

Back in January I made a list of things I may or may not do. I'm going to give some updates because it's the middle of the year and I guess updating this is sort of a reminder. You can read the original list here.

01 - Continue blogging - Succeeded — This I did but not consistently but I haven't been consistent with my blogging for at least ten years so I don't expect that to change but at least I'll keep blogging.

02 - Continue to refuse to join any social media or anywhere else to embarrass myself except in a blog - Succeeded — Yep, still only doing blogging.

03 - Restart commenting more on blogs - Semi-Succeeded — I did comment more sadly not more than I like.

04 - Start practicing procrastinating in my sleep - Semi-Succeeded — While I was sleeping, I forgot what I did so I may have succeeded without knowing.

05 - Restart on finishing my artworks - Failed — I just don't seem to remember to work on them or rather I looked at the long list of (artwork) files, found it too daunting, turned to do something else and then forgot about them.

06 - Continue to not learn any new people skills - Semi-Succeeded — I guess I don't quite know how to be polite anymore when people are rude.

07 - Restart finishing/editing my novels and short stories - Semi-Succeeded — I have tried to finish a few pieces but only made a little progress. I don't know where my motivation went.

08 - Start watching less youtube - Failed — I have a terrible habit of watching youtube when I'm stressed or when I'm unable to motivate myself to do things. Sometimes getting lost in someone else's lives makes you think you have nothing to worry about.

09 - Start exercising every day or at least briefly consider to consider doing it - Failed — why is this so hard?

10 - Continue trying to go wireless - Failed — Even when I'm tripping over them, I seeme unable to keep the wires at bay. I don't think people can go wireless because no matter whatever technology you use, there will be wires.

11 - Continue doing jigsaw puzzles - Failed— I haven't done one puzzle in almost a year. 

12 - Restart reading more fantasies, science fiction, middle grade books and books that are not murder mysteries - Semi-Failed — I shouldn't bother trying to have varieties in my reading. I find most books boring now so it doesn't matter what genre they are in. There's nothing wrong in reading the same types of books.

Did you make goals at the start of the year and if you did, did you succeed? 

Seven Things: Much ado about nothing

01 - I find now I have no good ideas of what to post. When I did the a-z challenge this April, I was full of ideas but now that I'm back to regular blogging, I've got nothing. My purpose for blogging has not changed all these years: To share stuff - artworks, writings, books I read, movies/shows I've seen, anything that I experienced or thought about or any nonsense I thought to share. Now it seems all I post are books or book-related things, some fiction and maybe some art. I guess I'm more of a slacker blogger now as I post very little. 

02 - If anyone knows of any memes, challenges, blog hops, let me know. I'm always looking for new ones. I like memes/challenges because they allow me to post something without me having to think too much on ideas. It might be lazy blogging but blogging is blogging.
    Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies had a long llist of memes/challenges over here which consisted of book-related memes. The memes/challenges I know of are (not listed on Lisa's blog):
- Words for Wednesday - this month's the prompts are hosted at River's blog.
- Thursday 13 -
- Friday Writings - 

03 - I don't know why but I keep procrastinating on my writings (and artworks). I have about maybe twenty or thirty stories/novels I had been working on but do I finish them? No. I am unable to. Sometimes I can eagerly work on them and then suddenly, I lost whatever motivation there was. Most times now I seem to be in a state of pauses. I have no idea what I'm waiting for. Perhaps for someone to club me on the head and demand I must finish them.

04 - I had my kobo ereader for over two years now and so far, it's working well but like everything else, it has its down side. One of the features that keeps driving me crazy is the font/text size setting. For example, book 1 can have normal text size (at least in terms of the size I preferred on my ereader) but if I open book 2, the text size can be huge and if I open book 3, the text size can be back to normal size and then book 4, it can be huge again. There is no individual text size preference for each book as the size is whatever you had set for the previous book which means it's like a surprise whenever I open a new book and there's like a 45% change of having to change the text size again. I guess this is one really great reason to read paper books instead.

05 - I had been using Firefox for many years and had been a decent browser but now it's just a messed-up browser where lots of odd things happens (such as zooming into a webpage for no reason) and all the updates just add new things I hate (such as grouping tabs and then coloring that group?). And every time I update, there again is another new feature I don't use. And after every update, there is another update. Why couldn't it update to the latest version when it updates? Why do have to keep updating every damn week?

06 - Closed my The memory of rain blog - that just means I make invisible all the footer elements and reverted all the post except for the one with the notice about the move. I thought of making it private but decide if people land on this page, they can go to my current blog. This is my way of moving on from that blog. 

07 - I updated/changed a couple of things on my blog. I have changed my blog header again. A bad habit that I couldn't stop doing. I think changing your blog's header once in a while sort of freshen up the blog without doing too much. I didn't change it too much. Usually, I had my headers in cool hues for the summer and warmer hues for the winter but now I don't bother with that. I just have light but bright hues.
    I have updated all the pages (links below my header.) I removed the a-z posts links into my introduction page (hello page) which I also updated. And I have updated the writing page which is where I listed with links all the fictions/short stories I posted on this blog. I don't think anyone uses that page but I like to update and organized it.
    I have reluctantly removed Elephant's Child link off the bookmarks list (aka my blogroll). I've removed links all that time when someone hadn't updated in years but for someone who had passed away, it seemed odd, different. Why it should be odd to remove it? I don't know. The world always seems different somehow when someone passes away. Certainly, the blogosphere is different now.

What's on your mind these days?

Seven Things: Some Mini Rants

01 - Do you ever have dreams where you go on some trip with a group of people, like to a museum and then for some reason they ditched you or that you somehow ended up alone and then you had to find your way back to the group but you got lost and before anything else happens, you wake up? No? I guess it's just me. I don't analyze my dreams or remember them but this one I remember. I guess it's one of those normal abnormal things because no one likes to be left behind.

02 - I don't have a license so I can't drive but traveling can be expensive even if you're going to the next neighborhood. My only way of transport is the subway, ie, the train. So if I'm somewhere and I couldn't find a train station, I wouldn't know how to get home. People use the subway because it's cheaper but now the train rides are more expensive which makes no sense. I barely know how to ride the bus which I think I rode twice. And taxis? I've only ride in one maybe once with someone. Taking a taxi is probably cheaper but I don't like that because you're alone in the back seat and who knows, maybe the taxi driver had other ideas and take you somewhere you don't want to go. 

03 - Recently I finished watching Soul Detective which is about a soul detective who finds/catches souls that had escaped from hell. It's a somewhat, light drama but with a lot of deaths and people getting possessed by souls and some romance and tiny bits of humor and a couple of sappy moments. The special effects are really well done. I enjoyed watching it. You can watch it here. Make sure to turn on the closed captions/subtitles for the English subtitles.

04 - I really starting to hate the phrase, Spoiler Alert, in fictional books. I find it's especially annoying in fantasy books. I can't give an example because I didn't mark them and don't remember them but it seems to be used to tell readers the obvious things with a slight attitude of annoyance. The ones I read were used in children's books so I find that even more annoying because it's like unless you're a child, you feel like they are trying too hard to sound young - I don't know if that's true but it just seems that way.

05 - I just finished a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle called Snow White and the Seven Gnomes with artwork by Demelsa Houghton. Houghton's artwork is gorgeous. This artwork is fun - one of the gnomes painted a mustache on the queen in the mirror. This was mostly a fun puzzle except I'm annoyed by all the puzzle dust. 

art by Demelsa Houghton

    If you don't know, Ravensburger puzzles pieces have blue backings instead of gray which is nice until you have to deal with it. There seems to be excessive dust so I couldn't completely remove them while putting the puzzle together so I have to accept it. For some reason, they just seems to multiply if you move them around as a group, like pouring them from a box to another box. I use boxes to sort the puzzle pieces so I have to remove the dust after each use. I really don't to figure out why the excessive puzzle dust or why the blue dye seems a bit clingy on smooth surfaces so I'm not buying any more Ravensburger puzzles and besides that, they are quite expensive and they don't even come with a poster.

06 - It just seems like lots of blogging things are ending - memes, challenges, co-ops, hops, blogs. Art challenges are the ones that seem to end more frequently, I think. There are many art challenges at instagram and other social media platforms but I'm more incline to participate if it's run on a blog by a blogger and stays there instead of spreading around to other platforms. 
    Motivations to create art (& do other things) has been very low for me these past few years. I do find with prompts, the creative juice seems to run more often. People crave doing creative things even when the motivation is not there, I know I do. Making art for my blog posts sort of counts as a small creative outlet but it's not quite there. Why have the motivation gone? Why do people stop doing things that make them happy? Who have answers to such things?
    Recently (more like a year ago), Thursday Art and Dinner Date ran by Rain has ended due to Rain wanting some time away from the internet. So now I'm thinking some blogger should make a new art challenge for bloggers who don't care to use social media. I would do it except somehow I just don't think I can. It's easy to come up with prompts but if I can't do, I can't ask other people to do it. I know there still a of art challenges out there but I haven't found one that I like so I'll keep looking.

Unofficial badge, more here.

07 - Anyone up for the Blogging from A-Z Challenge this April? I'm going to do it even if I don't finish. I like the challenge of using the alphabet as a guide to write 26 post. I don't pre-write any of my posts except maybe the first post. I like the extra challenge of writing a post before I publish it which no one have to do. I think even if you pre-write your posts, it's a good challenge for any blogger to sort of test your stamina and your blogging brain. It really is a challenge and not just something to do lightly. More about the A-Z challenge here.

What's on your mind these days?

Seven Things: Little Rants

01 - "I adore complaining. It calms the nerves." — I came across this quote I wrote down from the book Chime by Franny Billingsley and I thought this makes perfect sense. I had done a lot of complaining on this blog and all my previous blogs and I think it's therapeutic. It may not do anything but I think it's better to let out your complaints than to keep them in. I'm not someone who does a lot of talking so writing is my talking out loud. 

02 - Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy is hosting a We Love Fairy Tales Week (February 9-14) — I love fairytales (I prefer the spelling without the space) and used to read any fairytale-like stories/books but these days, I don't read much of those but I'm still adore them. I'm going to post about some of my favorite fairytale retellings which mostly likely featuring some of favorite Beauty and the Beast retellings since that is my favorite fairytale although East of the Sun and West of the Moon is also a favorite and was the inspiration for Beauty and the Beast but with a bear. More about We Love Fairy Tales Week here.
    
03 - I seem to be reading a lot of books where the bad guy/villain/serial killer gets more page time than the main characters and I really hated that — I don't want to know how these people became these asshats, I don't want to sympathize with them, I don't want to know how they kill people. If I want to read such books, there are books solely with these bad guys as main characters. For books that centers on good guys, I would prefer more page time for the good guys. I suppose the question is why do we need to understand the bad guy when the reasons they did those awful things are sometimes just inhumane so I just prefer not to know more than necessary.

04 - Do people think about the noises around them? — It's the level of the noise that we probably don't consider. I didn't until recently with a new vacuum cleaner - why are vacuum cleaners so loud? Sure you hear something earsplitting once in a while which is fine but constant louder than loud noise is probably not good for your ears. The subway trains (where I am anyway) for an example, is really loud and sometimes there are these awful shrieking when a train must hit some metal parts or something while you're inside the train. And hair dryers - those can be loud - I've reduced to using the lowest setting but it's still loud. I've looked for low or no noise ones but they don't exist. So if anyone know of any good noise cancelling headphones, let me know.

05 - Whenever I commented on a Wordpress blog, there is a popup box asking me to subscribe but it wasn't like that before — I have turned on block pop-ups and third-party redirects in Firefox but it doesn't effect these wordpress blogs. It's not a horrible thing but when it does it every time I try to leave a comment, it does get a bit annoying. If I wanted to subscribe to a blog, I would have done so - I don't need constant reminders from the same blogs. 

06 - Music I've been listening to lately — I don't listen to new music often but when I do, they are usually released years ago so they are new to me music. I listen to a lot of Cantonese music  (specifically pop music that may have touches of rock, jazz, dance and others plus some lyrics in English) even though I don't understand the language, I just simply gravitate toward them. Here are the albums I have added to my playlist recently:

EMO (released in 2024) & Lifeline EP (released in 2021) by Jay Fung - Listen at youtube here >

Galaxy Within (released in 2023) & Bloom (released in 2025) by Pandora - Listen at youtube here >

Myself (我本人) (released in 2011), Across (released in 2014) & State of Mind (released in 2013) by Kary Ng - Listen at youtube here >

07 - Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2026 — I know it's a bit early but I like to make a note of this challenge to remind myself. If you don't know, the A-Z Challenge is when you post every day (except Sundays) for the month of April using the alphabets as a sort of guide (this means exactly 26 posts). For example, day 1, you would post something that starts with the letter A like apples or apes who dance and then day 2 would be letter B for butter or beastly jokes - anything you can think of and you can even do themes.
    For me, I mostly post random stuff with some short fiction. I usually call this challenge '26 days of mild entertainment' since most of my posts aren't exciting things but they can sort of entertain. It's a good challenge for any bloggers who wants to add some stress to their blogging routine for a month or simply to have fun posting random things that may or may not have a theme. I enjoyed the challenge and I always finished it every year and I always seemed to vow not to do it again but fickle me always going see-saw about it but I'll probably do it. For more about the A-Z Challenge, go here.

What's on your mind these days?

Things I like to continue, start or restart

These are not new year resolutions - I don't do those. These are things I may or may not do and I may or may not take some of them seriously but I put them here more as reminders than mandatory tasks I have to do. I think if you force yourself, the results may be satisfactory but the struggle to get them done is probably worst than not doing. Anyway, here is a list of things I may continue, start or restart.

01 - Continue blogging — I don't have to say it but I like to just to remind myself just in case I go mad and quit blogging. 

02 - Continue to refuse to join any social media or anywhere else to embarrass myself except in a blog.

03 - Restart commenting more on blogs — I may have slacked in this since last year and I have no excuses for it. I just don't seem to have things to say like I used to. Sometimes I re-read a post a dozen times trying to find something to say but just end up with something brief or not leave any comment. It probably doesn't matter what I say but I like to say something worth reading however brief they may be.

04 - Start practicing procrastinating in my sleep.

05 - Restart on finishing my artworks that may have been piling up for years — I have no idea how many unfinished artworks I have but I'm sure it would take a couple of years to finish them all but no one would really finish everything in their lifetime so trying for a couple is at least something.

06 - Continue to not learn any new people skills — I don't know why but my people skills aren't getting better. I always try to be polite but sometimes people are not polite and I can't help but treat them the same way they treat me. I can only tolerate so much crap.

07 - Restart finishing/editing my novels and short stories — I keep working at them and keep not finishing them and even after many tries, I still fail to finish. But I persist anyway. Because I have a need to finish. There is a growing number like my artworks and I may never get to them but I hope I can finish a couple.

08 - Start watching less youtube — This is probably not something I can do too well but I can try. I think less screen time would do me good. At least I'm not watching youtube on a phone.

09 - Start exercising every day or at least briefly consider to consider doing it.

10 - Continue trying to go wireless even though there is no such thing when you have to charge everything with wires.

11 - Continue doing jigsaw puzzles — I haven't done one in a long while but I like doing them and they help me to spend less time staring at screens.

12 - Restart reading more fantasies, science fiction, middle grade books and books that are not murder mysteries — These few years, I had been reading nothing but murder mysteries so now I think it's time to add back the books I used to read. I don't want to say reading too much murders is bad for me but having more varieties in my reading is better.

What do you plan to continue, start or restart doing this year?

Things I Quit

Just because I quit something, it doesn't mean I won't restart them but for now, today, these are the things I quit and will likely continue to do so.

01 - Quit buying ebooks — I find no value in ebooks. You buy it, read it, leave it on your device and then nothing - yes, the value of a book is something but if you've read a crappy book, where's the value or where can I sell it without committing a crime? If you don't know, when you purchase an ebook, you purchase the right to read it but you don't own it so selling an ebook, even if you brought it, is not legal.
    So maybe reading borrowed ebooks from my public library is not a great solution either because they have to purchase rights to the ebooks and those rights do get expired which often is fine unless you're reading a book series and then it's either you read audio books (instead of ebooks), skip a book or two in a series, start a series with the third or tenth book because the first couple of books are no longer available, place a hold on an expired rights book and wait for it to be available in about a year or never or not read the last book of a series. I think it would be better if publishers/authors allow libraries to have perpetual or permanent rights to ebooks they purchase so they can have it in their permanent collection like they do with paper books. But that will never happen because that means they make less money and we all know they wouldn't agree to that.

02 - Quit reading books I'm not enjoying — I used to finish every book I started unless I only read two pages which don't really count. I think after reading more than 20%, you will have read enough to judge a book and whether to quit or to continue. Some people might think 20% is not enough to judge a book and to that I say, keep that thought to yourself.
    Also, I quit reading series I'm not enjoying. I think now I will never finish any series I start because 99% of books (I read) are series so the chances of finishing them all is zero. And those who say you shouldn't judge a series by the first book, I say, shut up. People like what they like and people can quit what they like.

03 - Quit chocolate — I only like to each chocolate during the cold season. I find eating them while I'm sweating not that great. Before this year, I might had been eating them every winter but now, I don't seem to care for them. But I've never been addicted to chocolate, I don't think, I didn't like them until much later in life so not eating them doesn't affect me much. Except for those times when I crave sweets and think of chocolate.

04 - Quit watching Korean dramas — It used be Korean shows are only one season and the series is complete and you don't have to slug through 5 or 7 seasons to get the answer but now with multiple seasoned shows, I just don't care to watch. The one-season was why I watched these shows. There is such thing as too much of a good thing. And besides, I rarely seen any second season being as good as the first. But mostly, the service I use to watch Korean shows keep offering romance shows and I don't like to watch those. 

05 - Quit buying digital tv shows and movies — unless I really love a show/movie, there is no chance of buying a series or movie in digital form. Like ebooks, you are purchasing the rights to see the show/movie so you don't own it even if you actually purchase it.

06 - Quit paying for subscriptions to anything most especially tv streaming — Just like ebooks, tv/movie streaming also purchases rights to allow viewers/subscribers to watch shows/movies and when the rights are expired and if the provider does not renew them, viewers have no luck in watching or rewatching them. (This is true for the service I had used so I don't know if this is true for all streaming services). This is one of the main reasons that I find annoying - you can't rewatch your favorite shows because their rights have expired. Some of which does not make sense when the provider is also the owner but I don't want to waste time talking about that.
    I also quit (more like never started) on becoming members of any youtube channels and pay to watch early video releases or exclusive members-only videos. I don't want to be a member of anything that involves having to pay to be a member. I think the benefits does not outweighed the cost. 

07 - Quit shopping online at new places — I still do buy things online now and then and only at a few places but I'm never going to shop (or open a new account) at new web places. With almost all my favorite brick and mortar stores closed, I'm reduced to shopping online for most things. I used to love shopping online but somehow that love had faded away when I keep getting badly damaged packages/products, mixed up orders that took too much time and patience to get right but mostly they are closed - some of the web places I used to shop just closed down their website without notice which is annoying because they still have my information and who knows if they might get hacked but I choose to believe they did the right thing and erase all their customer's data. And if not...

08 - Quit multi-tasking — I only maybe half quit doing this but it's better to quit half than nothing. I had been multi-tasking because of time constrain but now it's become a habit so it's not easy to quit. I've experienced stress from multi-tasking so I try  not to do it often. Naturally the lazy side of me likes multi-tasking because if I finish a couple of things all at once, I'll have time to procrastinate.

09 - Quit blogging consistently — It used to be I post at least five times a week, then it's down to three or four times a week, then it's twice a week and now it's whenever I feel like it. Even when I have posts written and finished with finished artwork, I still somehow managed not to post anything. I like bloggers who can be consistent even if I can't but that didn't mean they have to post on a schedule or all the time. I think blogging is a post-whenever-you-want vocation. If you're a blogger, you don't have to post all the time but you should do it enough so people know you're still alive and kicking. 

What have you quit that you are glad or not glad about?

Some end of the year thoughts

01 - Time is just speeding by - It has been an unproductive year but maybe this is due to my procrastination but it really feels as if time went way faster than last year. In the beginning of every year, I thought, I'm going to finish this or that project or do this or that but I never got around to it and the year is almost over and I have done only maybe 50% of what I thought I would do. My procrastination isn't easing up and I have no excuse, no cure. Maybe it's better to give up some of those things I couldn't do and move on. Getting stuck is probably worst than not doing.
    So what have I done this year? I couldn't remember half of it but I read a lot of books, listened to some new music, watched a lot of shows (mostly repeats) and movies, did a lot of work, wrote some fiction, made some art, and did a lot of forgettable things. I think if you can accomplish at least one thing, like cleaning a tiny area in your closet, you're good. It's all good.

02 - A great loss to the blogging community – We had a great loss with Elephant's Child passing a few months ago (aka Sue though I've only known her as Elephant's Child). She was our coordinator/mc for the Words for Wednesday writing challenge and we shall all miss her. I didn't meet Elephant's Child in person but she was a very supportive, steady, presence in a lot of blogger's life including mine. May Elephant's Child rest in a kind and serene paradise.

03 - Blogging still means something – I posted a lot less than last year and I'm a little disappointed in myself but that's fine. I don't seem to be commenting on blogs as much as before and which should matter more. Commenting is like the central part of blogging and if I'm not commenting on other people's blogs, it just seems like I don't deserve comments on my blog. It can't all be one-sided. But I do read and appreciate every comment  left on my blog and I always try to return a comment but sometimes I get lazy. But I still reply to comments left on my blog though they are mostly a month or two behind. I still love blogging and I'll never give it up unless I'm force to do so.

04 - Blogging is therapy – I was very unmotivated this year. Unmotivated to write, draw, do every day chores, work, move. Having a blog helps to motivate me a bit. I think having to contemplate about what to post, what artwork to make with those posts, gives me a push to do stuff. I'm starting to think my blog is like therapy - without it, it feels like I can give up on everything and be lazy. With it, it feels like I can do a whole lot of everything. But the motivation comes and goes but I think my blog, this blog (or any blog I might create in the future), will always give me some motivation whether I post once every couple of weeks or a few times a week. I don't mind being an erratic blogger if I'm still blogging.

05 - When no means yes? – I was paying for an item at Barnes and Noble and the lady cashier asked if I want a shopping bag (you have to pay for shopping bags which are paper bags as all the shops no longer use plastic bags and yet, those had been free), I said no but then she asked again and again, I said no. When I checked the receipt, she had charged me for the bag but I was already out the door so I didn't go back and make a fuss but I was a bit miffed and mystified especially since nothing was complicating the matter - how can they get it wrong? I had a lot of bad shopping experiences with retail people so my expectations of them is very low but what the hell is this? I see no real explanation other than a brain fog but still rather annoying.

06 - Reading preferences can be a bit singular – One of the annoying thing about reading that I had come across lately was the four-letter F word used as a verb - my prudish side really hated this. (Using it as a curse is perfectly fine.) The previous months and this month, I started a lot of books that used this verb and I just dropped them. I would end up thinking of what I had read with that verb so basically, I couldn't really enjoy the book even if I had continued. So this is a dumb reason not to continue/read a book but I don't care. And please don't tell me how many amazing books I'll be missing for not reading them - I don't care. Someone (on youtube) had said how people who don't read books with explicit sex scenes meant they're missing out on amazing books and I would say the same thing - I don't care - I don't read books with explicit sex scenes either. Everyone have their reading preferences so don't encourage people to read what they don't want.
    
07 - Keep calm and read a book – I read a lot this year and I count quantity as good reading because not reading means means a bad year. One needs to get lost in a book once in a while or else real life will seem like hell. Now if only I can find books to read that don't make me give up on them after 20%.  

Do you have any thoughts about this year? What's on your mind these days?

Seven Things: Some little rants

I'm not complaining, I just have things to say...

01 - I don't know why I keep procrastinating. I just keep putting things off. My brain tells me go ahead and do that thing I need to do but then my other brain (or part of it) tells me to put it off, I have plenty of time and maybe sometimes that's true but most of the time, I end up doing everything at the last minute. I don't know, there is no solution.

previous header

new header

02 - Slightly new blog header -  I have changed my header again because the previous felt a bit gloomy so I changed to this lighter one - not a lot of difference, just slightly newish elements added/altered.

03 - My blog's feed or whatever is called isn't working as usual. I subscribe to my blog through the Blogger dashboard so I can see how blog posts looks in the Reading list dashboard. Usually when I published a post, it would show up right away but now it seems to take awhile or sometimes a day to show up - what's up with that? I can see the post is posted because it's there on my blog but not the reading list. No idea why it suddenly become buggy.

04 - Stupid or Not? For years, I have been using the three Affinity apps (Publisher, Designer, Photo) and I've been liking them. I had decided to use the apps because they didn't require a subscription just a one-time payment and because the apps are similar to Adobe's apps (subscription-based Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop). (I still use adobe apps for work pay for by employer but never for any personal work.)
    The Affinity apps were created/owned by Serif but Canva brought them out in 2024. The Serif people claimed they won't change anything with the new ownership. Then came this October, they began offering their app (now a combination of the three apps into one) simply called Affinity or Affinity Studio (supposedly version 3) for free. I was all ready to upgrade but I didn't. To download and use the Affinity app, you have to sign up for a Canva account which I am not willing to do. 
    I paid for the apps but now I can't use the new version because I refuse to open a Canva account [insert all the cursing here.] I'm actually willing to pay NOT to be involved with Canva. It might be stupid to refuse to use an app for this reason but I just couldn't do it.
    So signing up for a Canva account didn't mean you have to use Canva but that's exactly what it means, doesn't it? You become a customer of Canva the moment you sign up for an account and even if they don't force you to use Canva or make you pay to use the Affinity app, things will not be that way because no big company swallows up a smaller company and that let everything be. I won't speculate how things will change but companies don't give out things for free for nothing. Affinity is free but you pay for it by being involved with Canva.   
    Canva is meant for non-designers, offering pre-made templates and other tools like fonts and images. I'm not saying Canva is bad but I simply prefer to never use them.
    In conclusion, there is no conclusion because one day, I'll probably sign up for Canva account just to use Affinity when I could no longer use the old apps (Serif people aren't going to update the old versions anymore) because technology kept being upgraded and sometimes you are forced to upgrade even when you are reluctant to do so. (Here's the link to Affinity if you want to check it out: https://www.affinity.studio/get-affinity)

05 - Why are so many reviews with hidden spoilers at Goodreads are cut off and sometimes in mid-sentence? Where are the rest of it? This is rather disappointing when I wanted to find out the ending. All these cut-off reviews keep appearing or maybe I keep finding them and they are seemed to be one-star reviews. Do they get cut off because they are spoilers, too long or because they are one-star, two-star reviews? There seems to be an option to blur spoiler text so this hidden spoiler box method is not even needed unless it's super long.
    And also, those hidden because of spoilers didn't have spoilers - why? I don't use Goodreads anymore so I don't know how it's done but I guess people could accidentally mark their review as hidden but so many people did this it must be too easy to do it.
    Goodreads still have no translations for reviews in foreign languages even though it's owned by amazon who had their foreign language reviews with the option to translate them. Goodreads have tons of foreign languages reviews so it didn't make sense not to have the translation option.
    I used to read amazon reviews but then they changed it so all you can read are top reviews and if you want to read the other reviews such as the one-star reviews, you have to sign into your amazon account or create one. I don't get this change. Why do you have to sign in to see all the reviews?

06 - My iphone (an old model) kept giving out notifications to finish setting it up but the thing is I don't want to set up those stupid features that are useless to me. Why should I waste time setting up things that I'm not going to use? It used to be you get to choose but now they just bug you to death until you do things their way. Well, I'm going to keeping ignoring all the notifications until I feel like finish setting up which should be in about ten years or when the phone dies.

07 - I don't like subscriptions - streaming tv/movies, streaming music, apps by subscription, etc. So I don't have any subscription, at least for now. Recently, I found that you have to pay by subscription to read the BBC News articles which had been free to read with advertisements for years. (And during those times, it kept asking you to sign up for an account which I never did.) I think you are allowed to read two articles for free and when you tried to read a third article, a popup screen would show up and ask you to sign up for a subscription to read the rest.
    As a freeloader (which I loath to admit but it's true) of most internet websites, this is extremely disappointing. I know they and almost everybody who runs such websites needs to make a living but I just thought online news should be free. There are other places for news that are free (with advertisements - they all have advertisements) but I'm a creature of habit, so it's hard to change. So now I just read headlines.

What's on your mind these days?

Seven Things: Thoughts & Complaints

Greetings From Brooklyn

Today is September 7th so I thought it is appropriate to post another Seven Things which I haven't done in awhile. Basically, these are just random thoughts, complaints, rants – stuff that annoys me enough to think about them a bit longer. (I created this new art (above) as a digital postcard for a pal so I thought I shared it. It said Free Cupcake on the little poster on the right.)

01 - A recent author was maybe considered a scammer because her book turned out to be crappy. She hyped up her book so readers were expecting something amazing and they didn't get it. Any book no matter how well is written or how great the author is, still have a chance to be crappy so why are people complaining? I can understand the disappointment of spending money on a book and then getting something crappy. But she is not completely to blame. I think it's your fault if you believe in the hype, right? I mean, a lot of books were hyped/marketed to be amazing and never delivered so why focus on this particular author? 

02 - Technology is a bit problematic if you can't get online. For example, once when I searched my computer for why I can't get online, the answer my computer showed me is to tell me I have to be online to see the answers - why is the help on your computer not on your computer but online? The problem is everything is online so if you can't get online, than you're screwed. But I suppose you can call someone instead...

03 - Some bloggers have made their blog to allow only members of the blog to leave comments which I thought is a form of exclusivity. This is saying 'you can only participate if you're a member' which irks me but it shouldn't because everyone have the rights to have their blog read only by the people they want. 
    When new readers comes along, how are they to comment? Supposedly, would-be readers can email the blogger but for me, I'm a bit of a shy reader when it comes to new blogs (or even blogs I have read for years) so I don't go about asking permissions to comment on blogs. A while back, when some bloggers closed a blog and started a new one, they left a post about sending them emails to get their new blog's url but I never did that either. I don't know why but I feel a bit awkward asking for permission or their new url when I didn't need it before. I guess on a personal level, I'm not good at asking such things when I don't know if those bloggers even remember me as one of their readers. 

04 - Recently, I saw a video about tips to living a better life and the first thing is to clean your toilet - does it sound like your life would be better if you clean your toilet? It might be true but it's not the kind of advice I care for. I think if you're a clean freak, that might actually be your first choice but I don't know. I think they probably should have listed it lower on the list because I didn't want to watch the rest after that advice.

05 - Last month, I had to sign out of my kobo ereader and then when I signed back in, all my preferences are gone. What happened was I accidentally removed a library book while trying to remove a different book and somehow hit on the wrong book. Then I tried to retrieve it but it wouldn't work. Even when I returned and re-borrowed the book, it wouldn't re-upload when I synced the device. So I signed out of Kobo and then re-signed in but damm, all my preferences (text sizes, margin width, brightness settings, words I saved when I looked up their definition, etc.) are all gone. I have to reset every preference I had ever changed. I used the same kobo account and everything but it was as it was treating me like a new user. Why aren't my preferences saved to my device or account? It didn't make sense. Supposedly signing out of something can fix problems because when there is no other option and I wasn't going to reset the whole device but I might as well have done it since I had to reset every preference anyway.
    I was dumb not to try to sign out of Overdrive first which might have saved me some headaches which hadn't occurred to me. Maybe my brain isn't working too well these days but not being able to have your saved preferences when you signed out of the device is just  stupid. 

06 - Sadly, I have exceeded my holds at the library because some of the books I had placed are taking a really long time. The longest one will take 20 weeks until it is my turn to borrow it which makes me wonder how I have the patience to wait for books. The longest time I had waited for a library book is a little over half a year and that book was such a disappointment but I still continue to wait. I don't know where I get the patience but I have plenty of it when it comes to waiting for library books. (Note: I read only borrowed library ebooks.)

07 - Do you ever hit the wrong keys on your computer and your screen or app or window that are opened does some crazy or inexplicable things you can't undo or fix? That's me most daily now. It's especially annoying when I'm using Firefox because they added features I didn't want and can't turn off because some of them have no turn off option and some makes no sense to me. 
    I hate it when users have to adapt to do things in new ways instead of doing it their way. Sometimes I think app creators or technology-related creators likes to annoy users by forcing them to do things their way or how else to explain why updates and upgrades are always so annoyingly dumber or worst?

What's on your mind these days? 

4th Blog Anniversary

In one of my anniversary posts, I had said I had actively blogged with 33 blogs (not at the same time of course) and that is true. But if you do the math, which I hate doing, it's like I had two blogs per year. I have no idea why I keep changing blogs. There is the usual need for newness but I could have stayed at my first blog and keep renaming it but it wouldn't be the same as getting a new url. Maybe it's foolish to want to match url with the name of your blog but it makes sense to do that right?
    Blogging is not my life but it's part of my life. It's always joyful (and occasionally stressful) for me to keep blogging because I find no other platform that suits me. Social medias such as twitter or facebook is just not my cup of tea. I think I'm at the slow lane when it comes to being social. I'm slow to keep up with trends, slow to find anything out, slow to process my thoughts on anything and when I do settle on something, the moment would have passed and there would be no need to post about that something. It's not terrible to be on the slow lane because I have company (other bloggers) and I enjoy their company.
    I started this blog you're reading on July 17, 2021 and this year makes it 4 years old today. I like to make a note of this phenomenon of staying in the same url for a bit longer than some of my other blogs but that's due to my laziness because setting up a new blog takes work and I can be lazy about such things.
    Postcards from the Bookstore is exactly what it states as I do buy postcards from bookstores. Reading and scribbling or scribbling and reading remains what I do on this blog – reading books and scribbling stories or artworks and maybe a new thought now and then.  I wish I can say I added something new idea or new kind of posts to this blog but I didn't. I guess I have not changed my blogging ways even after all these years. I suppose what keeps me blogging is all the challenges (like the a-z challenge in April) or the memes or prompts (like Words for Wednesday) because my blog is dull without them.
    But blogging, yes, I believe I'll keep doing it because what else I'm going to do with my pitiful thoughts and ideas and stories? Can't store them in my computer forever. Can't eat them either. Let's hope I don't quit this blog and start a new one. Happy 4th blog anniversary! May we all stick together in this slow lane for a long while.

How long have you been blogging? And what keeps you blogging?

To celebrate this milestone, here's a giveaway – go here to check it out.

Do you sign out?

I know it's not just me who have dozens of online accounts (with some I even forgot I had opened) because for some reason you have to sign up for an account for every little thing. Even online news sites, browsers (such as firefox, chrome) and almost every website you go to, you can sign up for an account and some you have to sign up or else you can't use their service.
    Signing up for an account means you have to make up a password which I never seem to follow the rule about having a number, a capital letter, a symbol in the password to make it harder for other people to guess and get into your account. But with all the ways a hacker can get into your accounts through the websites/web services you use, does complicated passwords do anything? Still, with so many accounts, there would be so many passwords to remember. I don't remember most passwords to most of my online accounts. I put some of them on paper which is foolish but I can't remember them so what else to do?
   For safety, when you use other people's computer or whatever gadget to get into any of your online accounts, it's a good idea to sign out but with your own computer, most people don't bother. I usually stay signed out of all my online accounts because I don't use them often. For email, I sort of keep signed in but once in a while, I sign out so I can use the password so I wouldn't forget it because I forget easily. But overall, I think it's better to sign out after every use. But it really is so much easier to just stay signed in.

How about you? Do you stay signed in into your online accounts or do you sign out after every use?

A semi-organized digital life

I am, more or less, digital with my artworks and writings and my blog and previous blogs and various other things so I have thousands of digital files. They accumulate even when I try to delete and sort them. You might think if you can see everything at once, files on your screen and not physical boxes surrounding you, it would be easy to organize them but nope. But at least I'm semi-organized.
    I usually make folders and name them with numbers at the beginning in order of importance and sometimes if I want a folder at the top I use zeros so my folders look like this:

Example A

    I sort them by name so the numbered folders are in the order I want. And then there are sub folders within these folders so I have folders like these:

Example B

Example C

For my artwork, I organize them by years (see example B) so that's pretty simple. For my blogs, I also organized by years and then by months (see example C). For my writing, I mostly end up with folders such as finished, in progress or maybe finished. And for other things, it's whatever I thought makes most sense.
    I have two main folders - one for archived files (files I'm done with) and one for recent files (things I'm still working on) so I know where to put files. Having two main folders helps to keep clutter down although I'm more organized with my finished files than my recent files. It's gotten easier to find the files I want ever since I got organized with my files.
    Of course there is no single, perfect solution to organizing files because files (and folders) get changed, renamed or even sometimes corrupted but mostly I get messy and end up with loose files (sometimes with temporary names) not in folders. So I'll keep re-re-re-organizing my files until, well, who knows when. (Note: I use Macs only but I imagine you can organize files pretty much the same on any type of computer systems.)

How do you organize your digital files?

Are you a Luddite?

One of the meaning of Luddite according to Merriam-Webster is, one who is opposed to especially technological change. I may not be a Luddite but sometimes I seem to be. I don't update/upgrade my apps or my computer's operating system (OS) or even get a new computer often because every time I do, there is a lot of work involved. I only ever get a new computer when my current one goes kaput. Or when I really need one. (Note: Update and upgrade are two different things. Upgrade is a major change while update is a minor change. For easier reference, I'll just use update only. Note 2: I use Macs.)
    It's impossible to be always up to date when it comes to technology so I often I don't even try to be up to date unless necessity requires it. Even if you buy a new computer and get all new apps and new devices and new everything related to that new computer, there might still be problems. A glitch here, a glitch there. A file won't open. A file open in the wrong way. Lots of things can go wrong. I only ever had one or two glitch-free updates. Most of the time, there are issues.
    I was going to list those issues I encountered when updating but they all led to the same two things: (1) updates requires more updates which my computer may not have the required technology (such as memory or power) to make it possible and (2) any improvements that the computer and app makers made aren't always an improvement and that creates problems. Also, I have to think of the cost as new apps might cost more and new computers definitely cost more. If possible, I would use the same computer, the same OS, the same apps but it's not practical. So I'm willing to update but I just might be stubborn about it.

Are you a Luddite? Do you update your computers and apps often?

Cooler hues for the summer

I've changed my header and background color on my blog for a cooler hue for summer. As I look at my blog often when previewing posts, I prefer to have cool tones in the summer (and warm tones in the winter). It helps with the hot weather. Of course I can't help but tweaked the design slightly though just the main name.

previous header

new header

I also change my curtains to greens and blues at home and also some artworks. I think it did help to keep cool. Just like having a bright yellow curtains makes a room seems warmer but it may all be an illusion but I do believe colors create certain moods so why not change what you can.

Do you change your environment to cooler or warmer hues for seasonal changes?

Some ramblings about last month (April 2025)

spring blooms, 2025

As a blogger, I sometimes have a need to share and I guess this is why I blog. Anyway, I'm sure I did other things other than the three things listed below but now I can't remember but I do remember doing some not-very-stressful work. (I work as a graphic designer.) Here are some ramblings about April.

01 - I finished the April Blogging from A-Z challenge and I think I did pretty well. It's a bit of a challenge to write a post a day but I think it's a good challenge to test my patience and endurance. You can read about my thoughts about it here.

02 - For two stressful days in April, I went to jury duty. If it didn't involve speaking in front of an audience (as the potential jurors are all gathered in the same room and talk in front of various people), it wouldn't be so bad. Public speaking to me is torture. Public speaking about myself (which each juror had to do) is pure torture. At least we get a questionnaire to answer so I don't have to think up what to say but I was panicking internally every moment. I can't even remember what I had said. Then there were discussions between lawyers and the potential jurors that really seemed to be repeating the same: Can you be trusted to judge without prejudices or bias? So the judge said there are no wrong or right answers but it's like being back in school where you would be embarrassed no matter what you say. There was a lot of waiting around. If I didn't have a word search puzzle book to distract me, I might had gone a little mad.
    I didn't get picked for service which I am extremely grateful for as the trial was likely to last for weeks. And it was a murder trial and I read murder mysterious which made it quite unreal.
    During security check, they confiscated my tiny Swiss army knife - it's about 3 inch by 1 inch. And my shoes set off the metal detector for no reason. They were plain dress shoes so I doubt there were metal in them but who knows.
    Anyway, it was an anxious two days I'll never get back but it wasn't entirely horrible but I wish to never to do it again but sadly, the government keeps finding me because I've never moved.

03 - The whole month, I was doing New York Times' Wordle (link here) and sometimes Quordle (link here) which is the same but sort of like four Wordle instead of one but they have different challenge levels. I think I'll be doing Wordle for a long while. Still haven't created an account at New York Times but I'm fine with just playing without keeping score/record.

How was your April? I hope May is being good to you.

Zine

The choices for today are: (1) zippy, (2) zoo, (3) zine. The chosen word is zine.

Zine (according to Merriam-Webster) is another word for magazine and especially a noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter.
    Zines are a tactile creation experience (according to Arts Midwest link here). They can be made by anyone and you don't even have to have experience. I like those made by hand and copies made by xeroxing. I think of them as DIY magazines in mini sizes. I had thought of making zines (but digitally) with short stories and artworks and all sorts of creative outlets, much like my blog but on paper but I've never done it. But if I am to make one, I thought of some names for it: Moon Cakes (I like moon and cake), Seven (my favorite number), The Mighty Wallflower (as I'm quite an introvert). I made an example of a cover and inside spread - see below. (The cover art is one of my pieces over here and the inside artwork you can see it here.)

example

Do you think about making your own zine?

This is the last of the alphabets and the last post of the A-Z challenge. Later, there will be a reflection post.

Click above or go here to find out more about the Blogging From A-Z Challenge.

Yatter

The choices for today are: (1) yawn, (2) yatter, (3) yeah. The chosen word is yatter.

Yatter according to Merriam-Webster means (as a noun) idle talk or chatter and (as a verb) to make idle chatter or prattle.
    I don't like idle talk as I like to make my point in as few words as possible. But no matter how well I am at being concise, my mouth doesn't always follow my brain's directions so sometimes I say things that are outside the point I'm making - frivolous bits that just appear and I can't control them. But yatters are fillers and I need them, that is, we need them. They fill in the spaces in between points. They give a break in conversation. Since no one pre-writes what they say, they can't edit out the yatter but I guess if you're a habitual, concise talker, you can.

Do you yatter much? Are you a concise talker?

For tomorrow, the letter Z, the last letter, the choices are (1) zippy, (2) zoo, (3) zine. Choose which word I might ramble about.

Click above or go here to find out more about the Blogging From A-Z Challenge.

XOXO

The choices for today are:  (1) XS (extra small), (2) XCIX (99), (3) XOXO (hugs and kisses). The chosen word is XOXO (hugs and kisses).

I don't write letters a lot but I do like snail mail - it's nice to read or write a letter on paper. I usually end a letter with sincerely or something tame. I guess if I ever write a letter to a love one such as a boyfriend or husband, I might use X's and O's but I doubt it. Even though I like the idea of X's and O's, I find it seems rather intimate and I doubt I would express such things on paper. If I can't mean something, I can't write it.

Are you a letter writer? Do you use X's and O's in your letter writing?

For tomorrow, the letter Y, the choices are (1) yawn, (2) yatter, (3) yeah. Choose which word I might ramble about or tell a story.

Click above or go here to find out more about the Blogging From A-Z Challenge.