E is for "Effervescent"

journal

Three days ago, I was finally able to roll credits in Animal Crossing New Horizons, and therefore unlocking the terraforming feature of the game. As you can tell, I haven't written anything since then precisely because I have been busy in-game trying to figure out how to craft and hone my island the way I'd like it to look like. (I am writing this midday as opposed to a nightly writing sesh because I know that if I pushed any of this back further, I wouldn't be able to write at all!)

Let me get this out of the way first – the hype of the game slightly ruins your perception of how you think you should be playing. Besides the time-traveling issue, I admit I jumped in the bandwagon two weeks late, so as we speak, everyone else who had the first dibs on the game since day one has had the terraforming option for a while now; everyone else's island looks perfect. They, my friends included, have so much more stuff, are able to freely hunt for dreamies now that housekeeping is out of the way, and their game screenshots feel like an unattainable dream. So when I unlocked this limitless potential, I was stuck and totally overwhelmed. So many possibilities! What to do first? But the thought that struck me the most is – how was I going to make it look like everyone else's, perfect?

It took me a few hours running around in-game and scrolling through endless images on the net to realize that 1) there was no way I could make it look like that with the limited amount of bells I had in my purse, and 2) did I want my island to look like that anyway? My brother, who also plays the game, got fed up with me ranting and said, “Do whatever feels right. Like gut-instinct right”.

So I abandon all previous ideas I had and just went with the flow – I kept my natural river path and just added a bit of cliff, following the original curve. I didn't start with my house, but with my villagers instead – like a victor's village in a sense. Three days down, and I've added a tiny hidden path to an eventual spot for the museum, a bamboo grove at the very top, and slowly working on a private little beach at the back of my island. It looks all very basic and less modern (think of a tiny rural village with more grass than pavement), but this feels just right for me.

It won't be picture-perfect, but I'll still be posting my progress on Twitter! All that effort and time I put should still be up there.

6/100

I'm currently doing a challenge called “100 Days to Offload” – you can join in the fun too by visiting https://100daystooffload.com

If you'd like, drop me a message here – I would be absolutely thrilled to hear from you!

#100DaysToOffload #Journal

I started out writing a piece about the eco-minimalist changes I've tried to do over the course of a year, but I've deleted all that in favor of talking about how we also need proper representation and realistic approaches to the issue – because, in all honesty, I'm tired of consuming ad and product heavy posts that advocate buying A or B (or C) to help the problem. True, we can argue that these influencers and change-makers rely heavily on their sponsors to earn their keep, but I am done watching a 5-minute video where every 30 seconds you name drop a brand. To be honest, all this really does is to further promote the false notion that zero-waste and sustainability are all about buying certain items, a certain aesthetic, to fit the lifestyle. That is entirely false!

A few weeks ago, I happened to stumble on a YT video that detailed a few key examples of why she thought the sustainability and zero-waste movement were elitist. To a certain point, I agree with most of what she says – the majority of us can't continuously afford to live the “recommended” sustainable lifestyle because of our current social and fiscal limits. The YTers we watch are speaking from their own experiences, and no one can really blame them for it, but those experiences are not necessarily our own experiences and realities. To me, there is a gap between what is considered “ideal” and what one can actually do.

My hope is that one day, more and more people from diverse backgrounds get to share their own ideas about how to live a sustainable life. It doesn't need to be glamorous or well-edited, as we've been spoiled to expect from content creators, but it has to be real and relatable. Sponsors be damned.

5/100

I'm currently doing a challenge called “100 Days to Offload” – you can join in the fun too by visiting https://100daystooffload.com

If you'd like, drop me a message here – I would be absolutely thrilled to hear from you!

#100DaysToOffload #Journal

True enough, I've finally missed a day of writing, but for good reason – I was able to finally step out and appreciate spring! I've been cooped up inside my house ever since shelter-in-place started in the bay area (roughly a little over a month now), and besides the usual grocery-laundry run, I've never really gone out to admire the scenery and the weather as much as I used to.

Along with the change in temperature, one thing I love about the switch in season is finally being able to hide my bulky sweaters and make way for my thin cotton shirts! Summer has always been my favorite season, coming from a tropical country where you really just play between “hot” and “raining” year-round, so being able to start shaking off the winter cold feels amazing! The sun helps a lot with my mood too.

Other things I've been thinking of doing:

  • I feel like I've read so much on De-Googling through other people's post that I've been inspired to do some minimal changes, such as switching to Firefox and DuckDuckGo
  • My brother's friend finally surrendered control of his Switch's main account, so Just Dance might be happening these next few days – some exercise!
  • Digital decluttering? We shall see!

4/100

I'm currently doing a challenge called “100 Days to Offload” – you can join in the fun too by visiting https://100daystooffload.com

Welcome to the weekend! If you'd like, drop me a message here – I would be absolutely thrilled to hear from you!

#100DaysToOffload #Journal

Why is it that when you start out doing challenges, you feel so invincible on the first two days, but then on the third or fourth day, you feel like the fantasy of being able to keep up slowly slips away from your fingers. Reality sets in, and you're left with the choice of continuing (albeit a bit meh) or abandoning ship? Is it just me? But anyhow, I'm trying not to break my current streak, so this will probably sound like a filler post than anything.

I woke up to two of my friends from home frantically getting ready for a turnip run on Animal's Crossing – one had time-traveled to the recent Sunday for 99 Bell turnips from Daisy Mae and the other had an ongoing 489 Bell selling price back on their island. Who couldn't resist the temptation? Definitely not me! After an hour or repeatedly hopping from one island to another to purchase and sell, I've finally hit Bellionaire status.

I don't time travel myself, and I play the game as casually as I can (that is to say, Miles streak and fossil run in the morning, greeting neighbors and harvesting fruits in the evening before in-game and physically going to bed) – but this is a personal choice. I can't condone any of my friends (or my own brother) for trying to grind as much as possible in the least amount of time, because it's how they like to play their games. Simple. If they'd like to invite me, of course, I'm not going to say no, but it's another thing if they ask me to alter my Switch's date and time.

I do admit to getting sort of a weird high from being so rich, in-game (think of all the possibilities!), and it leaked over when I was in a catch-up call with my manager; at the end of at least five minutes of me prattling on and describing turnips and saying how it landed a spot on the Financial Time's front page, I had to stop myself from further embarrassment. Turnips! Work! Sometimes I wish I didn't project too much on the game, but I find myself doing just that.

3/100

I'm currently doing a challenge called “100 Days to Offload” – you can join in the fun too by visiting https://100daystooffload.com

If you're secretly into #ACNH, high five! My island is still shit (pre-terraforming), but if you have tips, drop me a message here – I would be absolutely thrilled to hear from you!

#100DaysToOffload #Journal

Let me say this first – what a title. It feels so heavy that I almost don't want to write anything about it, but it has bothered me for a while, so I might as well trudge on.

When I started coming back to writing two days (posts) back, I was quickly falling in love with write.as, not just for the minimalistic feel it had but also because it was so refreshingly “old” in some sense. There was no like button, and besides the “X views” on the upper left of each pos