Cheat Work Thursday

For someone who prefers to see absolutely no one unless I want to, I think living on an island of 3,000 people is not sustainable – let alone one with no mobile coverage, reliable electricity or my must-have shops. Possibly, it’s more about mobile coverage and stuff than people. Even worse for those who were born on the island, the lore says they can’t leave. What if they want to go to uni or learn something new that the small, isolated town cannot provide, or work in a despicable AI company in another part of the country – all of which I'm either not keen on or hate, btw. So, thinking about it, this place is actually almost perfect for me. Widow’s Bay is a fictional New England island town with over 300 years of history, which is mostly the horror kind. The current mayor, Tom Loftis (Matthew Ryhs), is determined to bring tourists to the island to boost its struggling economy, even when it feels like at least 78% of the universe is working against him. The backstory is, t...

Nobody’s Girl will enrage you. If it hasn’t occurred to you yet that there are evil, rich, powerful people out there who are right now being idolized behind their masks, I don’t know what fantasy world you are living in. The book was written by a ghostwriter, Amy Wallace, and published six months after Giuffre’s death. It tells her life story from growing up in Florida to the aftermath of suing some of these rich, powerful men who abused her, including her work advocating for abuse victims. She suffered abuse by multiple people since she was seven before Epstein, and it’s a heartbreaking read. But I’m not going to dissect each one of them. Her abuse with Epstein started at 16 when she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell, who bumped into her while she was working at Mar-a-Lago. It may be easy to say that even at 16 you should have the judgment to know if it’s a good idea to go to a private house, alone, to give someone a massage. Or to realize that you are being sexually abuse...

I wish the stock market had no impact on my life or my job. And the f-up thing is I’m actually too poor to concern myself with the stock market. Besides my sad retirement funds, I don’t own any actual stocks. It takes me one full day to decide if I can afford a $2 SHEIN necklace! But whatever’s happening there is affecting my job and subsequently my mental health. For example, this year, it involves a body of water. There won't be enough pages to talk about the atrocities the zionists and their friends are committing in the Middle East, but I want to zero in on one area Iran is defending itself right now: the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which disrupts 20% of the global oil supply. Despite one brilliant idea on Twitter to dig another strait across the UAE desert to transport oil — and I'm sure someone is already on it — I can’t go through another round of this. I know, what is a job that has long lost its appeal compared to living under the occupation for decad...

"How does it feel reading a book that you cannot stand?" I asked myself as I continued reading two books that I could not stand. Yesteryear People who are so itchy for the tradwife lifestyle can read this. I shouldn’t have. But the internet made me read it, and the verdict is no. The story is about Natalie, an online tradwife influencer, a modern-day conservative woman who also marries rich, cosplaying the farm life. One day she wakes up in 1855, without electricity or an army of staff, and is forced to live an actual tradwife life that is not hers. I thought it was going to be a comedy, and it was going to be hilarious (remember chick lit, from 20 years ago?). Nothing was hilarious about it. I get that this is still a satire. The story wants to mock the cosplaying. But it turns dark. And the twist at the end turns even darker. Darker and illogical. I’m so serious about the illogical part. But even before that, finishing the book was a dread. I didn’t have t...

Photo by Ben Kolde on Unsplash I have several emails. A few for official stuff and work, and a few for blogging, social media, shopping and whatever random online garbage and subscriptions. I don’t put my phone number on most of them. My policy with privacy is, I’d share my details – name, email, phone number, photo and address – only when it is absolutely necessary. I'm not even on WhatsApp or Facebook. And as if I were some kind of a secret agent, I don’t keep my browsing history either. Uploading government IDs? It better be because of a life-or-death situation. Then in January, in the middle of registering for an H&M account because my broke ass needed the 10% discount, right in the store, my Yahoo email account asked me to get a code from its recovery email, which was a Gmail. They did this all the time, and it was never a problem. I’d enter the password on Gmail, and I’d be in. But that day, the Gmail account asked for a recovery code from that Yahoo! Fuck. That, m...

Photo by Alexandr Popadin on Unsplash By June 2024, I’d been having problems with quality sleep for years. By that time, I’d long forgotten what having an eight-hour, good, uninterrupted sleep felt like. Then I was prescribed with a two-week of Tramadol for a pain that month. Those green and yellow capsules became my best friends. I took three capsules a day on the first couple of days, until I felt nauseous on the second day. It was bad. I almost threw up in a supermarket (I ended up throwing up at home). I learned that two capsules a day were just right for me. But several good things happened. One – The Tramadol helped me with the pain so much. Two – Although there was still a little pain, I suddenly felt active and motivated to do things that sick people would usually put off doing until they get better: house chores, cooking and more. I’d usually need an hour for it to kick in. Then by hour number three, the house would be clean, the laundry all done, and the ceiling ...

I’ve been a fan of the books for a long time, but I didn't know they were making the show, not until a day before it aired. So that was the best surprise. And boy, was it so good. Thank universe for Jacob Tierney for his craft and vision and care for the series. Rachel Reid, and the entire cast and crew are inspiring. Post-season 1, I saw on Twitter, apparently Rachel had said that Shane is autistic. It’s fine if Shane is autistic, and representation matters, but  I wish we didn't have this need to diagnose everything. I think it’s also ok to be messy, awkward, chaotic, nervous, quirky, super-organized or focused (or total opposite), and stubborn as a reaction or personality trait. Since when does everyone have to be smooth and have things all figured out all the time if they are not neurodivergent? Why would we want the same, predictable, non-complex, non-nuanced, cookie-cutter characters across all the stories we consume? How is that interesting? Not everything has t...

I could cry reading this article, What a Fear of Maths Does to Children . Growing up, I had to be good in Maths. I had to be good in all subjects actually, but Maths was always at the forefront. It was a life requirement. It was for the scholarship in the future. It was for the “good jobs” in medicine, accounting, engineering and law (yes, even law). There were no scholarships for writing, arts or languages. We wouldn’t be able to afford tertiary education without scholarships. So, that was the path – excel in school, get the scholarship (or not even a scholarship, mine was a convertible loan) and get the good job to change your life. Even if your heart is not in it. Just get the job, you can do art as a hobby. Even if I was better in languages, history, arts or subjects that required a lot of reading, I felt like I could never be proud of it. And most of my friends were good in Maths! There was no room to think that you could get away without Maths. So, because I knew I could ne...

Part of growing is untangling hard conversations and navigating the messiness of change. And if you are lucky, it doesn't stop at 16. I know, it can sound exhausting. My favourite coping mechanism is avoidance. But don't listen to me. And good thing these kids are too well-adjusted for that. Let's recap season 3: “Is that what you wanted to talk about as well?” It’s the summer holiday, and the gang is having a beach day. Charlie has been practicing saying “I love you” to Nick in front of the mirror, but he’s anxious it might not be the right time yet. While in the water, he and Nick say they have something to tell the other. Nick starts and says he thinks Charlie has an eating disorder. Enter record scratch. Charlie denies it and pulls away 💔. At Nick’s house later that evening, when Nick’s in the shower, Charlie confesses through the door that he actually wanted to say he loved Nick earlier at the beach. He leaves before Nick gets to respond. Nick chases afte...

"I have a boyfriend!" We start the season by picking up where we left off in season 1, and life is good. Charlie tells his friends and family about him and Nick. His parents are cautious, and Tori is worried about Charlie getting bullied again. Charlie tells Tori that he’ll be ok, and he’ll protect Nick. At Tara and Darcy’s encouragement, Elle tries to flirt with Tao, but it seems to be slow-working. Year 11 GCSE study session starts, and Nick is seated next to Ben in the hall. Ben says if Nick wants to keep his relationship with Charlie quiet, Nick “should probably stop acting so gay” for Charlie. On another day, he says he doesn’t think Nick wants to ever come out, and as a boyfriend, Nick is just as bad as him. Now that they’re not spending much time together during class — as all tragic star-crossed lovers are — Charlie rejoins the rugby team. Charlie invites his friends, including Nick and Imogen, for a sleepover, during which Nick comes out to Imogen. Imo...

Ahh… Heartstopper is so cute. I haven’t been watching it earlier because I’m a busy adult. Definitely not because I’m too old for it. But the fact that the TV series is adapted from a webcomic just makes it even more charming. I love the fun drawings that pop up on the screen every time something important is happening: the butterflies, the flying leaves, the buzzing electricity. This story was created to make people happy. The series aired its third and latest season last October. Instead of a fourth season, it will conclude with a movie, which will start filming in June, I heard. I’m blogging the series by season — it’s my study notes — because, as usual, I'd have forgotten most of this by the time the movie rolls out. So, let’s recap what happens in season 1. The kids The schools are Truham (for boys) and Higgs (for girls). The original friend group consists of Charlie Spring, Tao Xu, Isaac Henderson (and his books) and Elle Argent. And there’s also Tori, Charlie’s...

Be Careful What You Wish For (2014) It is Sebastian who survives the car accident. He skips Cambridge and starts working as a personal assistant to Cedric Hardcastle, the chairman of Farthings Bank, and starts dating Samantha Sullivan. Harry’s novels climb the bestseller lists, and Emma becomes the Barrington Shipping's chairman. Meanwhile, Giles gets remarried to Gwyneth Hughes. His plan to be the Labour Party's leader, however, is sabotaged. Jessica gets engaged to Clive Bingham and is offered a postgraduate place at the Royal Academy Schools. But she's also struggling with her mental health. When Don Pedro destroys her art and uses Virginia to reveal her parentage, she commits suicide. The family gains new friends in the Binghams and Hardcastles, but old enemies and new -- Don Pedro, Alex Fisher and Virginia -- unite. Don Pedro plots to sabotage Barrington's new MV Buckingham, and the book ends with a bomb going off. Mightier than the Sword (2015) Ha...

As if Jeffrey Archer needed the introduction or promotion. But it is my responsibility to tell you that I read 14 of his books in the past two and a half years. Four. Teen. Archer’s books are like 20 seasons of reality TV. People always say how great a storyteller he is. The baffling thing is, the stories are almost of the same formula: there would be two friends, a number of nemeses, close voting, years of a chronicle, and language that feels like it’s from the 1920s, probably. But familiarity and routine are easy and comforting, I guess. So there I was, reading one book after another in the Harry Clifton and William Warwick series as if I'd never heard of this storyline before. I’m done with Archer for now. I need a new genre recommendation, please -- every couple of years, I’d have this problem. That said, I'm posting the summary for each of the books in the two series. I think blogging them makes me remember these stories. Is it important, though, that we remembe...

4 January, 2024.  By now I'd done five days of the antibiotics. The coughing seemed to reduce, but it was still strong especially at night and in the morning. I did the scan at the first private hospital I went to last week. And it was an emotional experience. My mother had her surgery, scans and early rounds of doctor appointments there. As if I'd gone one day since her passing not thinking about her, but being in the room, thinking how she had also been there for her scans, was rough. This was probably the same machine that she used. How scared was she? But she was strong. She was probably not as scared as I was. Also, I'm scared of needles. Every time needles are involved, I'd be emotional. The report was out within two hours. I read and googled it but didn't understand a thing. So I requested to see a doctor there. I couldn't wait 19 January for Public Hospital A for this. I'd go crazy by then. So, the doctor explained it to me. There was atelec...

So, this was me, four months after losing my mother to uterine cancer. At about the same time, we also lost two uncles (one of them not blood-related) to cancer. It was three funerals to the same disease in a span of five weeks. In 2020, we lost an aunt (not blood-related) to lung cancer. 29 December, 2023. Friday, 4PM. Still at the GP. The doctor couldn't tell what the white spot was and said they needed to send the x-ray to Public Hospital A for investigation, which would take three weeks. Three weeks. While my coughing was getting worse. I asked to bring it to the hospital myself, but she said, no. If this was something bad, what good would waiting for three weeks do for me?? But this was a Friday before the long New Year's weekend. I ran to two private hospitals' EDs, trying to find a specialist who could give me an answer, and there was none. But the staff at the second hospital suggested that I go to Public Hospital A's ED; there's always a specialis...

This time last year, at 1AM, I just came back from the ED (don't worry, it was a green zone) on one of the many doctor visits and health scares that I've had in the past 14 months. It started with a cold in early November, which came with a low-grade fever but seemed to take more days than usual to go away. Surprisingly, I had another one in early December. And the second one was a doozy. 6 December, 2023. I had severe diarrhea and vomiting late at night that I couldn't pinpoint the cause of, except that I had KFC for dinner that night. I don't think that was it. But it was bad. Probably one of the worst that I've ever experienced in my life. Luckily, it was only for a few hours. After a few trips to the bathroom, I was ok. The next morning, the coughing started, which was also bad. It was dry and strong, and it wouldn't stop. It got worse in the next five days. Eventually, it felt like I was coughing every five minutes. And I started to have a chest p...