Blowing Time

📷 ig This is the final topic for my blog challenge and I must say I am glad I managed to do it all without it taking me way longer than necessary. I am also done with these type of posts for a while because although I enjoyed it a lot, I want to write about other stuff while trying to maintain a similar schedule.  Going right into it, there are some items I wear depending on seasons, so I'm going to keep that in mind while writing about them. These are items I absolutely wear, that I like or that are practical.  I also don't have a lot of clothes right now. I didn't take a lot of stuff with me when I moved and since everything has been closed these couple of months and I don't feel confident enough to order online, I mostly have a few winter clothes, three tops and no summer clothes. That being said, I'll think back to the items I  do have now or that are on my list to buy once things get calmer.

📷 iG At some point during my blogging adventure I thought about making a recipe series, writing easy and fast to make dishes. Of course, being a broke student at the time and with not many options, that idea didn't fly, so now I just write some if I feel like it. What I should probably mention is that I am that type of home cooks who likes to experiment in the kitchen. Except for very few dishes I don't know if my food has the same taste every time I make it. But well, I like to think I'm a pretty good cook so that is not a problem. Usually I like using the oven and if you don't I must ask why? I find it easier to cook things in the oven and they are often so delicious, everything from meats to baked vegetables (and those are so good). This time I won't write an oven recipe, though, I will write something I made a few days ago. I felt like eating fish and for some reason I had bought some surimi and kind prawns so yeah, that's the next best thing. ...

📷 !g I am happy to say I haven't felt lost in a long while. I think that when I typed this challenge I was feeling rather lost, hence this topic. Since this is not the case anymore, I'm going to try and remember what I did do (I'll leave out one particular episode) when I was feeling lost.  This might become a mix  what I did and what I wish I would have done, but, well, aren't most things like that? Same as me, I'm certain you too have some things that you think about and wish you would have done something differently. But don't dwell too much on them, what's done is done. Instead let's type them out and share them so we can inspire others.  I won't go into the seriousness of it because, really, who is to say what is serious and to what degree? Same shit affects us differently. What is serious to me is a breeze to you and vice-versa.  But enough fussing around, let's get to it. 

📷 < 3 I have a complicated relationship with mornings. Everyone who knows me, knows I'm pretty much a night owl. I function best at night, I find it easier to concentrate, I'm basically at my peak in the evening or late at night.  I also love sleeping in. I get the best rest in the early hours of the morning to up until just before noon.  That being said, I am not the biggest fan of mornings, but at the same time I really like them.  Wait, I can explain.

📷 p h o t o No, not really.  I think most of you can relate if I say I had quite big dreams when I was little and as I grew up, before reality hit me like a musty tomato thrown to my face. And I did have quite the dreams, oh, yes. I dreamed about having my own place, about travelling to see the world, about having friends to go out with. Stuff like that. I also dreamed about all the things I would accomplish, not big, but important for me at the time.  Did any of these actually happen? Nope. Not quite But it's not all that bad. 

📷 i m G This is the post I was mostly looking forward to write, and the one that actually helped me decide to pick up this challenge from the drafts and get it going.  I made an Instagram account mainly to be able to follow my favourite artists. One artist. I made it so I can follow Ruki , okay, I admit it! And for a while that and about two others were the only accounts I was following. Then I'm not quite sure what happened, but somewhere along the way I realised I can both follow people that take incredible pictures and can upload my own pictures, and that was it. I started following even more people, I upload sometimes when I remember I have a lot of pictures crammed into a folder and I was actually looking forward to share some of my favourites. Initially I was thinking about splitting this post in two, but I kinda changed my mind. I wanted to link both photography accounts and art accounts, but I think each category deserves it's own post, so instead I...

📷 I G I'm not sure what I was on when I wrote the topics ( by topics I mean this topic ) of this challenge, but since I did put this down, let's see what I can ramble on it. I think this is going to be a fun writing exercise, I'm going to try and view it as an essay of some sort. Or whatever else this might turn out to be. — — — — —   Along with a lot of things I didn't really get to understand, there is also why people badmouth others. It happens everywhere to anyone, from family to friends, schoolmates, co-workers, to even strangers, people that you never met. The last category is the weirdest to me. Why would people badmouth someone they don't even know? What could one possibly say in such a situation? And what's the purpose?

📷 ... Oh boy! Childhood songs. Now that's a topic. I have a feeling I'm going to do quite a bit of youtube digging to find some of the songs. It's going to be fun. Yes, let the nostalgia come all over me.  First of all, let's see who my favourites were. I had three favourites that I recall, there might have been more. 

📷 I M G I don't know about you guys, but I was always bad at describing myself. Ever since the days of forums when your first post had to be an introductory post. Or at school when the teacher asked us what we did all summer, or in other settings where we have to introduce ourselves, when you make an account on a dating app ( those of us who are hopeless and helpless ) or even as simple as introducing yourself when learning a new language. I always, always sucked at it. I don't even know why. I've known myself since ever, how can I not be able to describe myself?  I'm going to try and do it, and for that I'm going to pick three words that I feel best characterize me, and I'm also going to go into a bit of detail on each of those three words because I think most of the time just one word is not enough. I'll start with a positive word, then a negative word, and then a neutral word. 

📷 ✿ We certainly live in a time when it's hard to focus. There are so many distractions: the TV, the phone on which we can see and learn about whatever interested us for so long (yet we tend to not do that) and so many sites and apps that we often open just by habit.  I, for one, find myself opening a tab or an app, spend some time on it, get bored, close it and then open it again. I won't believe you if you tell me this never happened to you. Sometimes I have a certain site open in a tab on my browser and I open a new tab with the same site because I'm looking for something entertaining or fun. It's ridiculous! But the first step was made, I acknowledged it and now I'm working on it. So how do I focus with all these distractions that I allowed to claim a big portion of my online activity?  Focusing is really easy for me (motivation is something I struggle with) and it usually goes like this:

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Dear coffee , Thank you for helping me not fall asleep during the day and for keeping my headaches away. Thank you for keeping me warm in winters, for helping me deal with whatever the day might have in store for me, and for your delightful taste. Gratefully, J. P.S.: See you tomorrow morning. ( ๑ ˘▿˘ ๑ )＿ 日 ____________________ So yeah, my thank you note goes to coffee, the bitter liquor I am addicted to. I might follow up on this, will see. Not gonna make any promises. I am glad I managed to complete this challenge somehow, it was pretty fun. And since I haven't said anything since quite a long time ago, I hope you guys had fun on the holidays, that the new year is treating you well, and I wish you all (and myself) a nice, warm, cold-free spring. 🏵️

Due to work, and other random things I didn't get to continue this challenge. I have two more posts left of it, and I'm just now getting back. I'm sorry for the long absence. I'm not going to go into detail, so let the challenge continue. ///@ig/// So, what hopes do I have for my blog? Now that's something I really have to think about. What do I want to accomplish by writing on this blog?  Firstly, I want to gain a bit more confidence when it comes to making my opinions publicly. I think this will help me grow as a person too, and I also want to learn from the reactions I get to my posts (even if there is no reaction at all). As I said here , I changed quite a lot in the past years, but there are still so many things I struggle with. Writing on this blog helps me greatly, even if I don't write that often. Secondly, I want to assure people that everyday struggles can be overcome, that we can get better at whatever we want to do, and a fail is not...

/@ig/ I have to say the worse film I ever watched was Tusk . Some people might find this film to be amazing, but not for me. Tusk is supposed to be a horror/dark comedy, but I couldn't see the comedy in it and it was just bad. It's been a while since I watched it so I might not remember every detail. Still, I am going to spare myself the horror of watching it again.  Although I must admit the film is indeed original, it feels like the screenplay lacks a bit, and the characters, apart from the main character, but just a bit, are left underdeveloped.      Spoilers ahead. In the 2014 film Tusk we have this podcaster, Wallace, travel to Canada to interview someone. He meets Howard Howe, an old seafarer that has quite some stories to tell. And some surgical, and metal changes to make in order to turn Wallace into a walrus. Howe takes Wallace to his home and keeps him hostage while starting to change him. At some point Wallace manages to send a message...

//@ig// There are actually two things I find really difficult, and it's not even funny anymore. The first one is staying committed to writing on the blog. I sometimes get a lot of ideas, open Notepad and write these ideas down, but when it comes to develop them on the blog, it takes months. I deleted some of those notes, but I still have enough that I could write about. Somehow I always find a reason not to. They are reasons like, "oh, I have work", "oh, there is this other thing I have to do", "oh, I spent hours watching videos on yt."  The second most difficult thing is my critic side. I write something, and if there is even a word, a way I phrased, or if I don't find the post length appropriate, I'm not posting. And then a few months pass and I delete whatever I previously wrote and start all over with different subjects, same issues.  When I write it's really great, but when I get to correcting I am the worse. I feel like s...

/ @instagram / I was a really shy and sensitive kid growing up. I could cry because of literally anything. I bumped into a table? Yups, I would cry. You raised your tone just a notch higher that normal when talking to me? Yups, crying again. I accidentally broke a tree branch? Better hide and cry some more.  I am really glad to say that my younger crying self is way behind me. Now I am more of a "don't give a fuck" kind of person, definitely not shy anymore, but I would, at any time, avoid talking to people unless I reaaally have to. I don't know how I come across to other people, but I am the kind that values the time spent alone, and at the same time I become paranoid and a bit lonely when there's no one around.  Going to college roughly five years ago had the biggest impact on me. I met a lot of new people and it felt refreshing talking openly about not having money, share opinions, and talk about just whatever crossed my mind. Growing u...

///instagram/// There are quite some films I rewatched, some because I couldn't remember much of what happened, and some because they are simply awesome. One of these films is Life of Pi which is beautifully made. I rewatched this one quite recently, I just had to see again the amazing sceneries (CGI or not). Along with the stunning views, Life of Pi is an adventure, we get to see a young boy cast away at sea in the company of a Bengal tiger, we get to see them trying to survive together in the middle of the ocean, and trying to get back to civilization. The first time I watched Life of Pi I was amazed by everything that was going on. I enjoyed it tremendously. This is the kind of film that after a while you (or me) just have to watch it again, and be amazed again. Another film that I really enjoyed rewatching is Kung Fu Hustle . The first time I watched it it was kinda by mistake. It was on TV and I guess I didn't have anything better to do so I said why not. I...

// @instagram // I'm afraid my blog name doesn't have any hidden significance, and it's nothing out of ordinary. Blowing time means exactly that, blowing time. Plain and simple.  I might have been a tad bit bored when I changed the name of my blog from whatever it was called at first (I'm not sure I remember, but I don't really want to remember either), and just thought about blowing time the same way you blow dandelions, only that I was planning on blowing time with words on top of words because sometimes when I'm writing time seems to just fly away.  For me the title is pretty straight forward and doesn't really need an explanation, although at one point someone told me they are rather confused by it. When I came up with the title it felt natural and it fits so well that I had no doubt about it. From the start I planned for my blog to be some place where I can fill my free time, where I can go when I get bored or when I want to do somethi...

// instagram // I think this might be one of the hardest topics of this challenge. Yeah, it seems simple enough, clearly I didn't think too much about it when I wrote the challenge, but there are so many characteristics that I appreciate that I just don't know which ones to pick. I'm gonna try and make a list of the top five characteristics I admire and also say why I admire them. I hope it won't take me too long to write this. 01. Being open-minded. With all that's happening around us I'm surprised to see how many people seem to live in some sort of bubble, kind of like a world of their own where everyone has to agree their opinions, where all the things they don't like don't exist, or are not happening near them. It's really not that hard being open minded, accepting that we are all different, that we feel, act and love differently. I admire open-minded people perhaps the most because even if they don't understand why you did or sa...

//instagram// I don't think I ever was a big fan of TV shows, but there are some that are simply awesome. I'm not a patient person, so when I'm watching a TV show I often lose interest and completely forget about the new episode coming out so I usually watch already completed series. Still, there are some I could wait months for and I'd still be interested.    American Gods Since this is the latest TV show I watched, I'm starting with American Gods . As someone who didn't previously read the book, everything is a mystery and I have to wait for every new episode to maybe find out a bit of what's going on or who everyone really is. At this point I know everything is going to connect in a way or another, but I can't really make the connections myself. Still, it is fun trying to do so. Now that the first season already ended, I am left waiting some more to find out what on earth is going on exactly. Round two of fun is on when the sec...