Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
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Roma
I’m feeling a bit meh at the moment. I’ve been staring at this screen and I am struggling to get some words out. You know? Like my brain is blank and there is really nothing in my head but blank space? This bothers me. Since my brain is pretty active. Always running. May it be full of nonsensical stuff like thinking about fried chicken or chocolate, or thinking about starting a project and practicing my data science skills so it can remain sharp.
But today, it’s just blank.
I am not going to say how I felt when I woke up, I’m pretty sure you can deduce how my waking hour went. I’m just feeling off today. Way off. I’m also very irritable. I was annoyed at anyone who talked to me. And I had to force some friendliness out of me. Normally, that is pretty easy for me since I had to pretend to be friendly and approachable all the time. But today, that was very difficult.
Right now, I have the movie She’s All That playing in the background. I think the next movie I will play is Austenland. When I’m feeling like this, I tend to turn to the familiars. My go-to’s. Something I know that I will enjoy, even if I do not put my full attention to it. Hoping that it will make mood slightly better.
Tomorrow, I will have to go to the store to get some stuff for the potluck on Friday. Thinking of just getting the frozen lasagna and cooking it. I highly debated if I wanted to cook spaghetti but I just didn’t feel like putting that much effort into it. So frozen lasagna it is.
Tomorrow is blue day in the lab. Not sure what to wear since my wardrobe consisted of mainly black…and maybe some gray. So I will have to rummage my closet to see. I’m pretty sure I have a blue somewhere.
Haven’t been able to pick up a book and just read too. Not sure what is wrong with me. I do not like forcing myself either. I tend to not enjoy a book if I force myself to read. I just want to lie down and drown myself with YouTube videos. You know, reading vlogs and reading journal videos. I’m not sure really. Even that feels like a chore today.
Hopefully tomorrow is better. Yeah right – I would need to make a quick presentation about PPE (personal protective equipment) for lab people. Yay. Forced again to do something that I do not feel like doing. So pointless. They can read that in our SOP. Oh well.
The sadness that I felt when I realized that it’s only Tuesday was not pretty. Well today was not pretty. I woke up this morning with no energy. Sluggish. Dragging. At that moment, I knew that today will be rough. I mean, for the most part, I have low energy on weekdays but today was definitely a struggle. My energy depleted even more the moment I scanned my fob to enter the office. Yeah, today was rough.
Management had some cupcakes delivered in the office to celebrate lab week. They ordered a dozen of Baker’s choice cupcakes, 3 gluten-free cupcakes, and 2 vegan cupcakes. I started laughing when I saw the selection because if they combined the gluten-free cupcakes with vegan frosting then it would have been perfectly me-proof! But of course, it’s the thought that counts. So what did I do? Ate one of the gluten-free ones, and one of the vegan ones.
Had some more QT with my love today after work. Watched some Yuri on Ice – well, finished the the anime. And yes, I cried again. As my hun would say, my allergies were acting up big time. That anime was just so well made. The story, the ice skating animation, the love story. That anime was just so perfect to me.
Watched some Trigun and met Eriks. My first thought was that, is that Vash? With long hair? Meryl was pretty glad and they were reunited with Vash. Yeah, this girl really has a huge boner for this tall ass blond humanoid. And I’m also glad that I got to see Wolfwood again. He should really be in more episodes.
I started reading My Friend Anna last night. And one thing I can say right now, I think the Netflix show did the author of this book dirty. That’s all I’m going to say right now since I am only 50 pages in. My opinion might change later on.
I think that’s it for now. At least tomorrow is hump day. Hopefully, time won’t drag as much. As I type that, I remembered that I have meetings tomorrow. Great.
What am I talking about? Well, today is the start of lab week! Well, technically, it started yesterday but since I did not work yesterday, I will count today as the start of lab week. And you know what else today is? DNA day! And it’s appropriate, since today is also our lab director’s birthday. And I work in a genetics lab.
Normally, I would be complaining right now. I do not have fun at work anymore. It seems like everyday being at work is a chore now. But today is different. Slightly. Well, that’s a lie. I did have fun at work today – at least for an hour.
To kick of lab week, and today being DNA day, we decided to extract DNA from strawberries! We had Teams on, so whoever working remotely who wanted to join can join. There were only a few people onsite but it was still fun. Actually, come to think of it, I do prefer not having that much people in the office so yeah, it was definitely fun.
All you really need are strawberries, water, salt, dish soap, cup, coffee filter, and rubbing alcohol. Here is the link for the instructions. Such a good exercise to be honest. I have done labs in school, I took biology classes in school – high school and college, and I have not seen this done.
Being my true self, as I was filtering the concoction of mashed strawberries, water, salt, and dish soap, I lost my hold of the ziploc bag and the filter. Yeah…mess. No surprise there. The strawberry DNA photo is below. Yes, that white floating thing. That’s the strawberry DNA. I heard you can do it with other fruits as well, but the experiment just works so well with strawberry because of the high DNA content.
I finished Bad Blood: Secret and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. Yeah, the book annoyed me. Well, not the book. The book was well written and definitely covered all the points that needed to be covered. And I loved it. But my annoyance stems from the actions of the CEO and COO to make this science fiction of a machine to be available commercially. The lies. The cover ups. The embellishment. The exaggeration. It was horrible. And being in healthcare since I started working, I can’t believe how far this company got. They were testing patients for crying out loud! I do have opinions about this of course. But I think I want to make a separate post about it.
I am now in a hunt for my next read. I do have Forrest Gump by my side. I might continue that. But since I do read multiple books at a time, I might start reading My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams. I am kind of drawn to it right now. I might also give The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood another try. I had to stop reading this one just because of how many times how tall this guy is was mentioned. Yes, I stopped reading at Chapter 3 or 4. We’ll see.
Tomorrow is another day. I think we’re having cupcakes delivered for the onsite team. It’s sports gear day on Wednesday. Wear blue day on Thursday. And a potluck on Friday (which I still have no idea what to bring).
I think that’s it for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Sleep in? I wish. Honestly, I do not to get sleep in anymore. I did however woke up a lot later than normal. But then again – I was up super late last night. Super late to the point that I even decided to just not sleep anymore, but I guess I ended up passing out anyway.
What was the first thing I did when I woke up? Yes. Made espresso. And while that was doing its thing, I fed the doggos. I won’t lie, I was definitely dragging the whole morning – well, the whole day. I was feeling a bit off. My eyes were itchy – well still are. I was definitely feeling unmotivated to move. Yeah, one of those days.
I just made some white rice and fried some lumpia. And while doing that – I was also reading. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. I am finally almost done with the book. The curse of reading multiple books. The book is about Theranos and the fraudulent practices that company did. The book definitely annoys me. Well, not the book itself, but more really on the extent of what the CEO and COO did to get this commercially available to patients despite not having a working machine. It was crazy.
I did spend some more quality time with my hun. We did watch some episodes of Trigun. We are getting more background now about Vash, and the big reveals on those episodes had me at the edge of my seat. Meryl definitely has thing for Vash. I’m calling it now. Do not ever get personally invested in a subject.
Of course, we did watch some Yuri on Ice. And yes, my emotional self cried again. Not my fault! That anime is just sooo good! Showing the journey of this Japanese ice skater name Yuri Katsuki. The improvements on his routine or should I say program every single time he competes…CHEF’S KISS. We are in that episode where they introduced JJ. Or as he calls himself, King JJ. I cannot. I think he is the only character in the anime that I do not really care for. The few times I had watched the anime alone, I skipped his performances to be honest. His inner monologue just kills it for me every single time.
My hun decided to introduce me to another anime called Another. That one I think is a pass for me. I am not a big fan of supernatural stuff to be honest. I even paused in the middle of the second episode just to ask my hun what the heck am I walking into. Two episodes in and I still have no idea what the anime is about, yeah, no. Third episode in and I still did not have the answers I wanted. It’s like me reading a book, if I’m on the third chapter and I still have no idea where the heck the story is going, I will DNF that shit.
However, I am not going to lie, the premise is fine. And the only reason I know of the premise is because my hun decided to just tell me. And after hearing that, it really bothered me that the protagonist, Kouichi, has been looking for answers and no one seems to want to give it to him especially on the fact that his actions has serious consequences. No one had briefed him on what the fuck is going on. He was thrown in this situation without a disclaimer. Can you tell I’m annoyed? Because I am.
We also decided to watch Persona5. And my hun started nerding out since he played the game before. Adorable. So far, I like it. I am enjoying the pacing of the story, the art style and the animation. The premise is also interesting. One of the characters is a talking cat! Which is also my hun’s favorite character. This one is a yes for me.
Hmmm, you know I hate Sundays? Just because I know that tomorrow I would have to be back to work. It’s not a good feeling to be honest. No wonder I’m always so unmotivated on Sundays. It sets the tone for my week, meaning I know that I will be dragging my ass out of bed just to go to a place that I really do not want to be in.
Here’s to tomorrow.
What is the first thing I did when I woke up this morning? I made some espresso. I have been pretty caffeine deprived lately so I decided to just go for it. Added some french vanilla syrup and oat milk creamer – oh yeah, that was heaven. I honestly do not understand why I keep choosing caffeine withdrawals on a daily basis instead of just giving in. I just feel like a human when I get my caffeine fix.
Like a normal Saturday, I did my laundry – or what my boyfriend calls “sexy laundry”. I still do not get it after almost two years but I just go with it. The morning was pretty much spent watching this new show in Netflix, “The Ultimatum”. I watched it with my a friend all morning. Oh boy that show is definitely trashy…But we cannot stop watching it. The only thing that I appreciated about it – damn, youngins can talk about their feelings. They are more open about it and can freely show their emotions. Pretty refreshing to be honest. This new generation can definitely communicate. Wish, my generation is that comfortable.
Afternoon was spent with my love. Our date nights. I recently introduced him to Yuri on Ice. And from what I can see, he seems to be enjoying it. Granted, he has his “OMG”, “Why” moments. But I appreciate it. Yuri on Ice is one of my favorite animes and I am glad that I can enjoy the anime with him. And yes, I cried during Yuri’s free skate event and that first kiss with Victor…Oh yeah, I swooned. I fangirl’d so much.
We also watched some episodes of Trigun. And yes, Vash the Stampede is swoon worthy. The anime is engaging and it’s just so interesting to me. I cannot stop watching it. I normally hate a character in an anime, and I still have to discover that someone in this anime. My hun thought that it would be Milly, but I cannot seem to find it in my heart to hate such a ditsy character. She is just so pure hearted. It seems so wrong to hate her. I just cannot.
We watched the movie Turning Red as well. And oh boy, the pressure of being an Asian kid and always wanting that approval from your parents. I felt that. My parents were not as bad but the expectations were still there. It was instilled in me that I always have to be the good girl, I always have to be good in school. Growing up being compared to your peers, to your cousins, definitely was not a good feeling. It was nice when I broke the mold. And it was satisfying that Meilin was able to that as well.
We did end our date night early. And that was totally fine. Gave me the chance to look at this blog again and figure out what needs to change. My hun has been pretty supportive and gave me a few ideas on how to start over with this blog. See if that formula works. Just free writing you know? I was not sure why I decided to make this blog so restrictive when I like free writing the best. So let’s find out together where this format takes me.
Damn, it’s good to say that. For the past year and a half, I have been juggling school and work. Difficult was an understatement.
My routine was consisted of going to work in the morning on weekdays and doing school work when I get home seven days a week. There had been a lot of sleepless nights. Barely had time to do anything fun. And my social life went from barely existing to nada.
Last week was the last week of the program. But I am still currently waiting for an approval signature from my thesis sponsor, so I still have my brain in school mode. My body is currently adjusting to not having to do school work anymore. At least for now – I am deciding if I want to continue on with a PhD. But that is for another time.
My routine is definitely out of whack currently. Since I have been on a tight schedule for a while, I do not quite know what to do on the time that freed up. So I am rebuilding my routine now. Slowly. Like I said, my brain is still in school mode, and my body is catching up on all the sleep that I missed.
One thing that I need to get back on is reading. I had to sacrifice the main form of my escapism. This year, I only read four books and each book took months to finish. But my brain is currently on school mode still so I haven’t been able to pick up a book yet.
I want to get back into cooking as well. My diet took a huge hit. I ate every allergen. I ate a lot of instant ramen noodles. I relied on food deliveries.
I also want to go back to exercising. My health in general took a hit, I gained a lot of weight because I was eating unhealthy, I wasn’t moving around, and practically not sleeping. So I’d like to go back to cardio and lifting weights like I used to.
For now, these are the things that I want to go back to and incorporate back to my routine. Hoping that everything should balance out.