currently trapped in the confines of my apartment due to a cold. i just burnt my throat after taking a generous sip of the hot lemon and honey concoction i made to relieve my coughing.. my tongue too... i've let my manager know i wouldn't be able to do my shifts. so i'm focusing on getting back to full health and energy for next week.

my version of getting better: a big pot of healing soup (tons of potatoes, cabbage, onion, pork, pork cubes, fish sauce), rice, a hoodie, in bed, writing (blog), reading, calling, hot showers, hot honey lemon... always.. generous amount of honey, and my favourite: sleep :>

i like reading slice of life japanese fiction. here's some of my favorites:

• what you are looking for is at the library by michiko aoyama
• days at the morisaki bookshop by satoshi yagisawa
• the convenience store by the sea by sonoko machida

they're easy and fun reads that encourage me to be more present. they're about very mundane moments and also normal occurrences in real life captured through writing. i want to grow this collection more. i plan to buy the 'when the coffee gets cold' series next.

but after reading convenience store by the sea, i was craving for something else. it felt like getting up from a group hangout to go get snacks. to get a breather. i enjoy reading these books, but sometimes, i want to read something deeper. or maybe, i just simply needed a change in genre.

i started to think of what to read next. something different from my usual reads. then i remembered a book that was recommended/mentioned to me by a friend. i have a long tbr list that i haven't properly sorted but one book in particular came to me.

the anthropocene reviewed by john green.

physically holding a book you've been wanting to read is exciting. it gives me that "finally" moment. a relief. finally i can read you.

i've only read the introduction and it made me chuckle and smile. there's a charm to this book already and i'm hooked. i'm excited to read this tomorrow morning when i wake up. i've been doing that lately instead of grabbing my phone, throwing my brain in the trash first thing in the morning, i grab a book instead. and it's been helpful to me. it wakes me up slowly. my morning's have been better now.

off topic. there's actually a continuation of the recent blog i made in connection to my latest finished read. it's in the drafts. and at the time i started writing it, whatever emotion i was feeling, was intense. but it's been a few days and that intensity has faded (reached it's peak now i'm in the decline) so the essence of it is gone. the joys of writing. that's what works for me at least. i think i write best while i'm experiencing an emotion that takes over me.

okay this is too long. and my concoction's finished. ciao!