Designing my site has been slow going and there's a lot of stuff I'm excited to make. One of those things is a media diary. I'm doing my best to try and not rush through the process, for enjoyment's sake, but given my impatience I thought I'd try a pilot run of it in my blog. I'm sure it will help me figure out how I'd like to format it once it's on the site, or what I'd like to include, etc.

Before I go into my first run, I got the inspiration to do this from two sites in particular:

• anhvn's media diary - I like how it acts as a homepage with links to the larger lists of books and films she's enjoying. It's really fun to scroll through and read her bite-sized opinions on them, and that's something I think I'd have fun writing too.
• The Digital Diarist - Admittedly I haven't explored this one as much because there's a lot to explore, but I like that about it. Also love that there's digital media - like, actual clickable links - that I can look at right away, which isn't the case with TV and books. That's become a lot of my media diet now too.

okay the real diary

No pics because formatting is tough!

watching:

🍔 Bob's Burgers: Finally took my sister's recommendation and started watching it in the background while I draw. It's a lot of fun! She mentioned Tina reminds her of me because of the bob and the glasses (which I no longer wear, but I guess remains part of my brand) and anxiety. I see it. The animation is weirdly good and fluid, and the angles go beyond what I'm used to expecting of an adult cartoon. Maybe I should just watch more adult cartoons besides Bojack.

🦉 The Owl House: I started watching this because Willow and Hunter came up on my timeline. My best friend Bee has already been watching it, and warned me that the characters are wonderful but the story is Just Okay. So far they're right (I wasn't expecting to love the main characters going into it, but they're more likable than I expected!). It's not pulled me in just yet, but to be fair I'm still pre-Lumity FRIENDSHIP so I think I need to wait it out. Though if it never pulls me in, that's fine! I was just here for the Huntlow anyway.

playing:

🧣 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX: A coworker lent me his game card after he found out I wanted to play it (thank you, Miggy!). I played the original PMD but forgot everything about it, so playing this again is like playing it for the first time! A few things I remember, like the Alakazam team and the Gengar team, and Shiftry being a bit of a dick, but a lot of it I don't. The gameplay I had to totally relearn. I remember being confused as a kid about how to proceed or get better at the game but now that I'm playing it at the ripe old age of 24, it's laughably simple, so it's funny I couldn't figure it out before.

👘 Pokemon Legends Arceus: I am done with the story but have yet to capture every Pokemon and report back to God himself so he will let me capture him. Pokemon isekais are the only isekais I indulge in.

👔 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All: I'm partway through Farewell, My Turnabout. I am no master sleuth and I fuck up a lot in games like AA and Professor Layton but god do I love a story and some fun characters! I'm determined to play all the games but have to figure out how to get the Apollo Justice ones. Farewell, My Turnabout is not as fun as the other cases so it's taking me a while to get through but I'll get there.

🧛 Thousand-year-old Vampire: This is my first TTRPG, and it's a solo journaling game. It's singlehandedly sold me on TTRPGs. I space out my runs simply because I want to savor the story I'm telling and put it together with intention, but I'm already thinking about future characters I want to put through the memory loss ringer. You can get the PDF of TYOV here.

listening to:

💘 Cupid by FIFTY FIFTY: I hate that I had to hear this first on TikTok but it's become my latest obsession. I do not like the shitty rap in the original version, but the Twin version slaps. English versions of k-pop songs have gotten so good! I'm impressed!

👮‍♂️ Gee, Officer Krupke from West Side Story (2021): FINE. I AM STILL INTO WEST SIDE STORY. Gee, Officer Krupke is just so much fun... I especially like the dynamic that they have with Baby John in this new movie. The song's lyrics are also really good - paints the troubled youth as playful and nihilistic at once in their decision to give up on "getting better" but also explains why they are this way, painting a picture of a system that sets them up to fail. AND THE SONG IS JUST FUCKING FUN.

reading:

👑 The Children of the King: This is I think a kids book I picked up YEARS ago (probably in high school? before high school?) that I'm only getting around to reading now. I sat down one afternoon clearing out some books and cracked open this one to see if it was worth keeping. In the middle they tell a long story about power and violence, and while I know kids can handle big subjects, it impresses me still when I see media aimed at kids tackle them so bravely.

💍 Emma: I'm using an app called Serial Reader to deliver me Emma in pieces every day. I wanted to read this book when I was in high school because - I can't recall if it was me or someone else who said this - I felt I'd relate to Emma. I never got around to it because I don't think I would have been able to parse the text back then without getting bored, but now that I've read P&P and enjoyed it, I thought I'd tackle Emma. She's so silly. This whole story is silly so far. I want to see the 2020 movie after I finish it!

💩 Bullshit Jobs: It's taking me a while to read this because it's so long and in the form of a giant webpage. I've got mixed feelings about my current job, but mostly because I never thought I'd work in corporate, and so reading this is validating.

mini things:

🍷 Drunk History: I love Sugar Lyn Beard and recently watched her narrated episode of Drunk History. Love that Vanessa Hudgens played the subject (Mata Hari) too! I also always love stories of women just doing shit so it was a good watch.

🎤 Aggretsuko: I finished S5 last week and I have so many feelings about it.

Some spoilers:

• I didn't expect to love Shikabane as much as I did.
• I don't mind Retsuko and Haida together, but I just felt they could have done more with building them up together as a couple.
• Don't love how Retsuko still didn't have much agency up until the end, being pushed by everyone around her to pursue this out of left field thing. I was sad that Manaka and pals were part of that persuading.
• Enjoyed Director Ton's growth!
• Liked Retsuko's dad.

👩‍👦 ODG: My Korean is getting rusty and it's been years since I've been into k-pop, so I'm trying to watch more... secular? normie? (lmfao) videos in Korean to brush up. This channel does a lot of wholesome, thoughtful videos with kids, and I really enjoyed this interview with the mom of one of their most well-loved kids.

want to start

Thought this would be a cute section!

• Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui: A very silly anime about a cringe fail guy.
• The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague: Bee told me it was kind of a bland anime but I want to give it a shot.
• Danganronpa: I was on the SA forums even before I was in high school, binging this game as a story. I really only know the first one intimately, then fell off after that, so I'd like to play the trilogy now that it's on the Switch.

OKAY OKAY

I think that's it. I tend to do a bunch of things all at once, I notice. I tell myself it's so I have something to do in case I get bored, but honestly, I feel like I'd be much less stressed if I focused on doing one thing at a time. I'm a completionist too so I hate leaving things undone, and will keep them on my to-do list until they are. I have got to finish a couple of these soon or I will explode.

But that's a problem for tomorrow's me!