2024 Week 32: Romantasy

This week I've been going to the gym in addition to yoga. The 4th visit I got bored of slow jogging so I switched to incline walking. It's not bad! I'm going to try reading the next time I do that

Of the many things I've been buying lately, the highlight has got to be this Kobo Libra 2, which I got to replace my worn-out Kobo Clara (bought during 2020 lockdown!). The Libra 2 has been discontinued so I got a used one for $200 on Carousell. The seller took the time to show me how to use Send to Kobo too. 

This toy has been fabulous for stealth-reading spicy romantasy books I would normally be too embarrassed to carry around. Currently reading Kushiel's Dart and From Blood and Ash. (Kushiel's Dart isn't really what I expected. It's quite interesting and subversive actually. However, I still have trouble keeping track of Terre d'Ange politics and I'm upset about Hyacinthe's fate.) I also have a copy of War and Peace on it in case I have someone to impress.

Apart from exercising and reading I have been working moderately hard on the book project. My task is to read through 19 years worth of Beyond's weekly newsletters (nearly a thousand write-ups in total) and select the best stories from there. Then divide them into topic categories for the book.

My method as follows:

1. Go through each year's stack and pull out the better stories. I have a rough guideline mapped out with Gerard, but I also follow my editor instincts and pull out ones that jump out irregardless.

2. Sort the huge pile of stories into categories (already chosen by Braema and Gerard).

3. Read through the stories in each category and pull out the ones that are strongest. (2nd round of "curation")

4. There were some stories I really wanted to include but didn't fit the existing categories, so I created an additional one for consideration.

This is an interesting collaboration to me because each person brings very different experiences to the project. Gerard comes from social service so he thinks about the content in terms of the people he serves - children, youth, families etc. Braema comes from journalism and human rights advocacy so she has her own lens. And while I am just a "lowly" editorial assistant on this project, my bookselling and editorial experience have given me pretty good instincts about what people want to read.

I will be meeting Gerard and Braema (editor) tomorrow and will have more to report in next week's blog post.

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MON: gym, change bedsheets, receive Redmart order & put groceries away, yoga, buy Kobo

TUE: lunch w/ parents, work, yoga

WED: JB solo outing to get dental fillings & buy IKEA stuff

THU: gym, work, yoga

FRI: work, yoga, watch NDP and eat hotpot at home

SAT: gym, Mos Burger, work, dinner with dad, bring mum & friends to watch concert

SUN: gym, lunch, work, dinner (MLXG lol)

It's been a quiet and studious week with no exciting events unless you count my JB dentist visit. I've been feeling a bit blah/down - continuation of the Pets Hideout crisis - I guess it's one of those lying fallow periods. The downtime seems to be recharging my creative energy a little though. I have created a new portfolio website and started a food Instagram account (@microwavediaries) so it might be the beginning of a renewal period. We'll see! 

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It's quite scary that we're so close to the end of the year. This year turned out so differently from what I had planned at the start. I set out to do GrabFood, read Proust, and do some backpacking around SEA... and I ended up doing none of those things. Haha life is strange.

As usual I will end with some photos of the guest bunnies. Triple H: Hanna, Hana and Haybeon.