Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
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Roma
Nothing to note today. Just that my boyfriend and I apparently were in movie watching mood. We were able to watch three movies before we called it quits for today.
Scream VI (2023). We definitely liked this better than the 5th installment. I should’ve known the objective of GF in this installment, I mean this was a “re-re-quel” after all. The acting was on point for each character, especially GF. One of the things that I actually enjoyed in this franchise was the big reveal, and the actors chosen to be GF did not shy away to show how unhinged they were. Especially for this installment. I also appreciated the fact that these newer installments were not scared to be stab happy. Even Sam, whose weapon of choice was a knife. I would watch the next installment hands down – if we ever get a next installment.
Halloween (2018). Despite knowing of The Shape, I actually only watched one movie from this franchise. Don’t ask me which one, I would not remember. It could be the first one. Maybe. Regardless, I do not remember much of it. My hun decided that he wanted to watch this one. Boy, I was on the edge of my seat. To say that I was stressed was an understatement. I had my dog on my lap for most of the movie because I needed comforting apparently. If Ghostface was stab happy, The Shape was the one-and-done kind of deal. His purpose was to kill, and that he did. He went on a rampage for one night. Pretty much killing on anyone he got his hands on, well, seemed like as long as they were alone. He didn’t really touch the little kids. Teens or preteens seemed to be fair game. And of course, Laurie. I liked it though. I am considering watching the other movies in this franchise.
Cabin in the Woods (2012). This one fell on the campier side of the horror genre. It did its job. It definitely was full of cliche but you know what, I enjoyed it. There were some parts where we were laughing, there were some parts where I just muttered “what the fuck”, and questions on what if they had chosen a different killer. Like the mermaid for example. Would it just crawl to the cabin? Who knows. I hoped my boyfriend appreciated this move more now that we watched it together. Hopefully, he enjoyed it more compared to the first time he watched it since he now knew that this was considered a horror comedy.
My hun and I were actually debating if we should have a movie day where we just watch movies since we tend to watch anime more on a daily basis. Not going to lie, this was nice. I mean, I still gravitate towards anime and 30-min episode series compared to 2 hr long movies but I liked the break in our routine. I wouldn’t mind having this kind of hangout.
- Title: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
- Author: John Carreyrou
- Genre: True Crime, Nonfiction
- Pages: 352
- Publisher: Knopf
- Published: 2018
I’m pretty sure everyone is familiar with Elizabeth Holmes and her fall from grace because of some unethical and questionable practices. I had a phase where I was consuming a lot of true crime content, fraud included. I consumed pretty much all the documentaries about Theranos available to me on all the streaming services and I almost finished the Hulu series, The Dropout. So it was really just a matter of time before I would also consume this book. And consumed I did.
The book read like fiction and I was enamored from the beginning. This was very compellingly written and I found myself glued to my seat or found myself saying “one more chapter” while reading in bed. This book definitely chronicles the ins and outs of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. From being the darling of Silicon Valley to her downfall. The book exposed how the CEO ignored the many issues the employees raised and focused on her branding and legacy.
“We can change people in and out. The company is all that matters.” I don’t know what shit this girl was smoking back in the day, but I don’t know why she did not realize that the people in the company – the people who were actually working – made the company run. From engineers to lab personnel. These people that she considered replaceable were the talents. The company was also working on a diagnostic technology. However, these talents were not allowed to collaborate with each other. This huge project required heavy collaboration in order to see that the flow was working. Again, what was the CEO smoking?
I am not a stranger to toxic work environments, but Theranos brought it to a whole new level. The employees were micromanaged and overworked. For what? A catered dinner? Give me a break, this reminded me too much about pizza parties. If you appreciated my work, let me see it on my paycheck and we’ll call it even. Also, Elizabeth did not like being said no to. Employees who disagreed with her or voiced a differing opinion got fired or got forced to quit or got demoted. Theranos definitely fostered fear in their employees. I was annoyed reading these parts for sure. Being a people leader, I was aggravated and disgusted by this.
No one on the board has a medical background whatsoever. Let’s just say that they were out of their depths on this one. I won’t touch the white woman blue-eyed charmer and the older white men who basically put her on the pedestal. Regardless, Elizabeth was able to get these men on board in itself was talent in marketing and sales. I mean, Elizabeth was charming and that in itself was a skill. They got sold on a dream, an impossible one at that. And that stupid FOMO (fear of missing out) mentality from these commercial places that Theranos had a contract with was sickening. The leaders in charge of these places were so blinded by this new technology that they were so scared their competitors would pick it up before they did which lead to them ignoring the red flags.
The biggest sin was the fact that this lady stretched the truth about the capability of Theranos’ technology. This resulted in having said service available to the public – to actual patients! Thus endangering them by providing wrong results that could lead to incorrect diagnoses that heavily affect patient treatments. Who in their right mind would do this? Well, I guess someone could. Someone could blatantly ignore patient welfare just for the brand and legacy and oh, to fulfill a dream of being a billionaire.
Honestly though, despite the aggravation I felt reading this book, I was glad that I read it. The author was able to convey a clear picture of what happened in this fiasco of a company. The downfall was the most satisfying part. I mean, that was deserved. Granted it took a while, but I was glad that there were people brave enough to be whistleblowers for this company. This was a good page-turner that kept me engaged starting from the beginning till the end.
The nap was great. I loved the nap. That was greatly appreciated. What was not acceptable was the fact that I still felt tired despite the nap. I’ve been yawning nonstop. Maybe the nap was not long enough. You know what, I just gonna go with that. The nap was not long enough to recharge my energy. Coffee did not help either. I drank a second mug of coffee when I woke up from the nap and it did not work. Oh well.
I finished reading Lord of the Flies last night. That was a thought-provoking ride. This was my first classic of the year, and I was glad that my roommate suggested this to me. Sure, for the most part, I was aggravated with what was happening. But then again, I should be aggravated. I was meant to be aggravated reading about the fall of society. I was meant to be aggravated reading about the antagonism and anarchism that Jack represented. I should be sad and brokenhearted about the loss of logic and civility. Anyway, this was a worthy read. Now I need to find my next classic. The most logical would be 1984. I have not committed yet though. Currently, I have a desire to read The Catcher in the Rye. Again, I have not decided yet.
Aside from reading two classics this year, I also wanted to read two nonfiction books. I have started reading Know My Name. So I might just continue with that. And I need to find another nonfiction once I finish this one. I have a few nonfiction on my shelf right now. So I have choices. It’s just a matter of deciding on which one. It would really depend on my mood when the time comes.
No big plans tonight. I would most likely read. But I also want to decide on what to video play while I’m reading. I felt like I already consumed all the bookish content on YT that I want to watch or listen to. So I might need to look at other streaming services. Maybe some movies or series? Who knows? Or maybe Twitch. It would just depend on who would be streaming tonight.
I always find myself in this state. The state of not wanting to do anything. I will call it laziness because it might be that. Or it could be my depression. Either way, I don’t want to do anything. However, I often find myself being forced to do shit. And I hate it. I just want not to move sometimes. Just be in bed and sleep. Or not. Whatever. As long as it results in me not doing anything.
With that rant out of the way, I did have to do some stuff today. I threw away the trash. Did laundry. Washed dishes. Applied for a job. Yeah. You know, adult things. And now, I’m exhausted. And I barely even did anything at all. I actually do need to go back to reorganizing the apartment again. So maybe tomorrow, I could squeeze in reorganizing the shoe rack and my reusable bags. I mean, the dogs are feeling a lot better, not 100% but they are getting there so I should be able to make little noises here and there in the apartment without disturbing them too much, especially the grouchy Phoebe.
Something adorable: she fell asleep while sitting on the pads that I laid out for them in the apartment. I heard her walking around and around the pads and suddenly I heard silence. I found her sleeping! Obviously, I moved her to the bed. And like the feisty one that she is, she was upset with me for waking her up.
Damn, I just felt like shit the whole day. I was falling asleep on my chair. Of course, that was not anything new, but I just don’t like it. Coffee really didn’t do anything at all. Which was unfortunate. I mean, sure, I didn’t really want to do anything today but I also did not sign up to be tired enough to fall asleep on my chair.
Anyway, I got to read a little bit before hanging out with my boyfriend. I have two chapters left on Lord of the Flies. Well, this book just got crazier. I mean, yeah. I am still wrapping my head around what just happened. However, my boyfriend and I got to watch some episodes of High Card and Bungo Stray Dogs.
Bungo Stray Dogs. This anime got dark. Finally got to see more of Akiko Yosano and her ability “Thou Shall Not Die”. I mean, I love her. I love crazy characters. Atsushi finally was able to tap into his ability. I guess a little bit of character development for him, considering finding his drive (proving that he is worthy to live) enabled him to touch that uncontrolled ability of his. I love that he was able to transform into a white tiger in segments and not go full weretiger. And we also met Kyoka Izumi! That last panel of her showing emotion and tearing up saying she does not want to kill anymore was heartbreaking.
High Card. Damn, I thought there would not be a character in here that could potentially annoy me. And yes there was! I cannot believe it. Her name is Sugar. Just the name makes me cringe. Not sure if she would have redemption, but I’m okay without it. I just don’t want to see her face anymore. She messed up her first assignment because she just had to investigate the Pinochle group or else she would lose sleep. Really? Now the person that you were supposed to be protecting died. And you didn’t even realize that he was missing until the next day. Like seriously. Bleh.
Plans tonight? Most likely read more. Like I said, I have two more chapters left on Lord of the Flies, so I kind of want to get finish that tonight.
I felt so bad for her. She was walking around the apartment all night. Restless. That meant that I was also restless. I was up with her. Monitoring her every time she made her rounds. To be honest, she had been a trooper in all this. I wished I could do more for her. Right now, I just wanted to observe her first. So far, her condition has not worsened. She was acting like her normal self. And diarrhea was the only thing that was not normal.
Of course, with my attention glued to Phoebe, Paco decided that he would be a jealous one. He has been a handful to handle since yesterday. We were struggling last night. He was always on Phoebe’s way, crowding her. And I honestly did not like that. So, when Phoebe was awake and about, I had to make sure that this mofo was on a chair. This boy could be a handful at times.
I was also not productive today. I was not able to reorganize today. I wanted to let Phoebe rest a little since she was having such a hard time last night. I did not want to make unnecessary noise in the apartment if I could help it. I did not want to disturb what little sleep she could get. So what did I choose to do the whole day while monitoring Phoebe? I marathon’d The Hunger Games movies. I was having issues deciding on what to play in the background, so I just picked this series because I really just needed the background noise. I did not want to sit in silence. It could be deafening sometimes.
Since my brain was occupied by other things, my focus was definitely not good. I had issues reading yesterday, much less today. No reading happened today or would be happening tonight. It would just be a waste of time if I tried when I’m like this.
I did however find solace in journaling again. I managed to figure out how to journal with the minimal writing space I have available to me. It was definitely helping with my anxiety. I always said that this activity was therapeutic for me. And it was. I thought it was just something that I needed to do to brain dump. But honestly, it helped a lot with my anxiety and my restlessness. It kept my brain and hands busy for a good amount of time. And by that logic, I saw myself more and more drawn to pick up my sketchbook and practice drawing again. I mean it was not a bad idea. I enjoyed that activity as well. So I might just go ahead and pick it back up. What harm could it do really?
Yeah. I had a massive brain fart there for a second. I searched for a specific kind of reusable bag. You know, those blue ikea bags? Apparently, I have a shiton of those and they were taking up some valuable storage space. And by a shiton, I meant eight. Eight of them. But they still took up two drawers, I needed to consolidate them. And that I did! I was able to at least create a semblance of organization in the genkan of the apartment. Tomorrow, I would be doing the other part of the genkan – the shoe rack and a bag of reusable bags that I use for groceries.
My hun and I decided to hang out earlier today. He has a double shift today, tomorrow, and Friday. We were able to watch three episodes of anime.
High Card. We got introduced to LAP. And damn, I love her. So unhinged. The perfect partner for her? Chirs. I feel like the reason that this Wendy alter ego goes haywire when let out was because of how repressed she is. I mean, Wendy herself does not want to unsheathe the katana. I felt like she was scared of it and for the most part, understandable. But the only way that she would be able to control that alter ego and use it properly was for her to actually try and do it. That won’t happen if that katana remains unused and unsheathed.
Naruto. Well, the Third Hokage used the Fourth Hokage’s sealing jutsu. And yes, I teared up because we already knew what would happen next. Of course, we still saw Pakkun, Naruto, and Sakura in pursuit of Sasuke. And my hun had an insightful question, what was Sakura’s shtick? Sasuke at this point has his Sharingan, fire release, and now chidori, Naruto has his shadow clone jutsu, Ino has her Yamanaka clan mind technique, Shikamura has his shadow possession technique, I could go on. And I said, well, Sakura has great control over her chakra flow. Yeah, his reaction was priceless.
I rewatched Easy A because I needed something light and something that I really did not need to pay attention to. No big plans tonight. Maybe read since I wasn’t able to read this morning. I had more important things do. But mostly, I planned on just taking it easy. My allergies were all over the place – damn dust-revealing organization project.