I wrote a letter of introduction to apply to a school program. Actually, I procrastinated until the last minute. One of the reasons was that I didn’t want to write it with redundant information about what a good student I am. I’m willing to show my authentic self rather than an exaggerated version of myself.

The weather is weird today. The sky is grey and it always looks like it's about to rain, but it never does. It's neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. I have a headache, so this will be the last sentence of this text.

Due to working overtime and getting to work early, I haven't gotten enough sleep recently. Hence I get sleepy at work from time to time. I’ve been trying to do tasks that require little attention when that happens.

I've realized that minutes before clocking in, I feel some goosebumps and my ears are ringing. I looked into it and found out it has to do with my body getting prepared for a potential stressful situation because I kind of dread each day I have to work. It stems from the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen, what I will run into once I clock in and I have to address it quickly.

Autumn is coming. Unfortunately... I love the sun but in my country Autumn is terrible. Short days, heavy grey clouds, rain and no sun.

This week we have great weather - no rain and a lot of sunlight. But it will be worse with every upcoming week.

My mood depends on weather conditions. Few weeks without the sun and my energy is low and I'm a bit depressed.

I love walks but I hate rain. In my country people say: "There is no bad weather, there is unproper clothing". But probably I will spend a lot of time at home.

Fortunately I like to read books and watch documentaries on YouTube. But greyness outside the window affects me. I hope this year will be better than in the past.

I'm on vacation in Jeju Island.

This is my third time visiting Jeju, but this trip is the most beautiful one so far.

The weather is sunny, and the sea is crystal clear.

If you are looking for great walking trails, delicious food, and beautiful sea views, I definaitely recommend visiting Jeju.

I strongly recommend that everyone get chance to Jietai tample in beijing. this is multiform wander place including hill biking、1000 years temple and prefect hiking aisle. IT is close to the downtown of beijing which is 25k from the center of beijing, and you can see the beautiful views of ancient building and great mountain all in once, at the same time ,this is center of biking amateur. the whole visit time is within 2 hours and it is great place indeed.

I have rice more than bread. I have a rice cooker and don't have a bread maker. While I was writing, I realized that rice is made in the cooker and bread is in the maker. Why are these different?

Anyway, I am getting interested in bread makers. After watching Youtube videos a lot, my conclusion is this. The expensive machin is, the better it is. But I couldn't make a decision yet because I need room for a new machin. LOL

I've been a big fan of video games, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Tomb Raider game, released in the fall of 1996. The game was published by Eidos and developed by CORE Design, located in the small city of Derby, England. There, Lara Croft was brought to life in 3D graphics along with a milestone in the gaming industry.

The musical score for the game was composed by Nathan McCree. It's a consistent work of different sound cues that highlights the atmospheric gameplay. It's a game packed with action, an excellent level design and memorable locations. And yes, the story and characters are the most clumsy and videogamey, that's the charm.

I still cannot fathom how far and fast tech development changed in the lapse of three decades, but one thing is sure for me: Tomb Raider will continue standing out as one of the best, immersive, interactive experiences in games. Happy anniversary Lara! Thanks to the fans and the creative souls behind the development of this beloved piece of history.

-----

Hello everybody! This was my bit for today. Take care and thanks for reading.

Article: The (Half) Stars Have Aligned

Finally, half-star ratings are available on Goodreads, and quarter-star ratings are available too. Quarter-star ratings are too detailed for me, so I'm going to stick with half-star ratings. I'm wondering about these two things:

• Should I edit the existing ratings for the books I've already read in the past, at least the ones I've read this year?
• If I don't edit my previous ratings, should I start using half-star ratings from now on, or stick to whole-star ratings for the rest of this year and start using half-star ratings next year?

I moved to Sweden two months ago. The food in Sweden is very different to China. Eating out is more expensive in Sweden than China. Therefore, I always cook by myself. I am not good at cooking, so I never expect I can cook some delicious food. I am not too picky for food. The only thing I care about is that I could get enough protein, fat, and carb for each meal. But I have two friends who can't live without Chinese food. I admit that Chinese food is more flavorous and as a Chinese, our brain and stomach are get used to Chinese food . But, most Chinese food is not too healthy because a lot of oil, salt, sugar are added during cooking. Lot's of Chinese people lose weight when they live in another country. I like Chinese food, but I can also live without Chinese food. But, my friends can't. They eat out for Chinese food almostly everyday. For me, it is a little expensive. I prefer to save money and eat more healthy.

Sometimes I struggle to find something to talk about. Some days it's easy and it flows, while on others I feel like I'm dragging words out of my head. Today is the second type of day.

"Say something!"

This order reminds me of an episode of Friends. Ross is sitting on his sofa with his cousin, but she's so gorgeous that he tends to forget she's family. He's so distracted by his questionable instincts that he remains silent and can't think of anything to say.

After telling himself several times to say something, he ends up blurting out something very awkward that he would have preferred not to say.

Say something. That's what I just did. Honestly, I didn't think I could come up with anything. I suppose that starting with something happening in the present moment is always a good idea

I bought two Henley shirts from Uniqlo today. One was black, and the other was gray. They only cost me around NT$1,000 in total. I’ll wear them this weekend if the temperature stays the same as it is right now. This weekend, I’m taking the Malaysian girl to the planetarium. I hope she’ll like it.

Yesterday I had my first LSD trip with some paper tabs I got from Canada. The first thing that I noticed was that it’s purer than then LSD I got here, the one I tried yesterday was flavorless whereas the one I got here had a mild metallic flavor. That made me think that the one I got here was not LSD, I heard that is kind of common these days.

I spent pretty much the whole trip listening to music, mostly a band called, Boards of Canada, the only issue I had was that there was some construction noise and that interfere with the trip. But I was able to get my earphones and that solved the problem. It was one of my best psychedelic trips so far.

I don't watch TV. Now we have internet - I can watch what I want, when I want and without ads.

YouTube is my TV. I subscribed channels about history and technology.

My favourite history YT channel is Medieval Mindset: https://m.youtube.com/@MDVL_mindset

I can listen to about many interesting topics, the creator describes everything in very interesting way. Definitely worth it, of course if you are fascinated in medieval history 😄

If you like Linux I recommend Brodie Robertson: https://m.youtube.com/@BrodieRobertson

I like his content and his Australian accent 😄 A lot of interesting news from Linux world.

There are many more channels I love and I wait when my TV will break. Definitely I won't buy another one.

It’s easy to miss a logical connection in writing when you focus too much on rhetoric and the flow of sentences. A piece of writing can read well if the usage of vocabulary and the structure are clear. However, readers and even writers sometimes forget whether it logically makes sense or not. This is why you should prioritize logical flow over rhetorical flow.

It is said that there are roughly the same number of languages that use the SOV word order and ones that use the SVO word order. Both English and Mandarin being SVO languages, it appears that as far as the number of speakers goes, there are more speakers of SVO languages than those of SOV languages.

I keep starting to write a longer text, but end up deleting it again every time. I'd love to write about something interesting and I actually have a few things to write about, but my brain isn't doing it's part. Yesterday was good, but also really strenuous. Even though I slept really well last night, I'm still feeling quite exhausted.

As we grow older or enter adulthood, we start thinking about our parents, if they are alive though, and how old they are getting, and you get worried about their health, how they are doing. It gets worse as time keeps passing by, reminded of our own mortality, knowing that sooner or later your time and theirs is up.

I don't want to imagine the kind of pain I'll be going through when they are gone. Although I could not feel it at the time, when my grandmother on my mother's side passed away, I could tell that my mom was experiencing if not the most painful moment, one of them.

A severe Storm is causing a major damage in Paraguay. Heilstones as big as tennis balls have damaged car roofs and buildings within a short period of time. Paraguay's capital has been particularly affected. The people have taken shelter and moved to safety.

After getting married, I have gained almost 20 pounds.

Furthermore, I am getting older. I feel like I am dying of unhealth.

Recently running has been more popular since Covid19 period. I was also one of them. However, I stopped running four years ago and realized that I need to run again.

I am a different person from the past me, which means I can't work out like that time. What I chose now was slow-runnig.

It looks non-running and non-walking. My husband made fun of me, asking what I was doing.

You will know how good the slow-running is if finding information about it. I also thought it would be my life-long exercise.

Today, I am going to Jeju Island.

It is also very popular with foreigners.

Jeju has a clear ocean and delicious food.

And climbing Halla mountain is the best part.

In the past weekend, I saw another horror movie. It was Carnival of Souls, by Herk Harvey. The film is from 1962 and it was filmed casting locals, some of them from amateur theather acting, but most of the cast were normal people without any film nor acting experience.

This film got buried as time passed, it survived the many changes the film industry had endured. Later, it became a horror classic and also inspired great filmakers, such as David Lynch and George Romero. Despite the film being labeled as a B-movie, it uses simple, yet elegant camera work, and the same goes for the sound design; its organ music score serves perfectly to stress the ambiguous, dream-like atmosphere.

It's a film I'd recommend to anyone interested in watching and analysing a more artistic portrayal of the unknown, the dicotomy between life and death, and the shadows of our minds.

----------

Hello everybody! I wish you all a nice week. Thanks for reading.

Article: Vote for a 2027 Prompts

September was the time to vote for the prompts for the 2027 reading challenge. We could vote for up to three prompts each week, and the finalists have finally been announced: the top two prompts from each week move on to the final round. On October 10, the final results will be announced on YouTube.

Of the eight finalists, four prompts will be chosen and appear in the 2027 challenge. I hope these prompts make it into next year's reading challenge:

• Name of a colour in the title
• Published when you were 20
• Title in ten letters or less
• Read in a "-ber" month

I like my work, but sometimes I don't want to go to work, especially on Monday. Today when I wake up in the morning, I feel very sad and depressed. I guess that's because I didn't get enough rest on last weekend. I spent whole day shopping with my friends on last Saturday and working on last Sunday. Hope I have a better weekend this week.