Roaring Twenties

Coming into the 2020s and hopefully its a roaring one with lots of good jazz and dancing and lovely lovely dresses hahah who am i kidding.

Anyway, I realised that I didn't make any resolutions last year because I was too heartbroken to care and then I forgot all about it. And with my grandma moving in with us, and a lot of frustration with my family on my part, it was a really emotionally tumultuous year. So 2019's done and dusted, and not sure how to move into 2020.

But also there were so many highlights in 2019. I learned how to swim!! I went to Italy which was like a 5 years dream in a making and I still can't believe I went!! I came to terms with a lot of things about myself, and still working on smoothening out the rough edges, but ya know diamonds in the rough are actually like suuper dope.

Craft

In craft terms, I made a lot of earrings HAHA and finally put rusty beading skills into practice. And started using instagram more so I had a lot of inspiration from the coolest people. Also made a moodboard on one of my favourite things read this year (The End of the Affair - which is torrid and almost overwrought but really elegant and beautiful). Baked a lot a lot - FELL IN LOVE WITH ZUCCHINI BREAD it's just like the tastiest thing ever. Anddd finally got around to playing with imovie and making a music video to lana del rey's "happiness is a butterfly" cut with bits of one of my fave movies Rebecca (1940) HAHAHA. The video so cringy but it was kinda fun HAHAHA.

Travel

Travelled to Italy and Vietnam, for the first time in my life, and both of which took me quite out of my comfort zone, but I guess that's what makes travelling so fun? i like being able to figure things out and new experiences, so all's good. Also played the most pretentious game of I Spy cuz our train in Salerno was delayed for 4h. "I spy something... gestural" HAHA fun.

Music

In music terms ohmygah it was amazing. Went for John Mayer!!! And Deathcab!! And Lany!! And Mumford and Sons!! and The Beths!! (which was also interesting for the sorta-shady-but-not-really venue in a small warehouse club in geylang). And Lana del Rey put out like the most most amazing and beautiful album, and Kanye went gospel, and fka twigs came back all delicate and cool and Billie Eilish became huuge (!!) What a crazy wonderful year for music. Also honourable shoutouts to Bon Iver and The National for dropping really good new music too HAHA OMG and can't beliEve I forgot but Ariana's Thank U Next came out this year tooo. It was a really good year for music.

Books

Fresh off the excitement of music, I read like a lot this year HAHA Top of my list is LOCKWOOD & CO. by Jonathan Stroud which is a middle-grade horror series and I gobbled 4 books down over 3 days and tried to drag out the last book because I love love the series and I never wanted it to end. It's got creepy supernatural horror and excitement and laugh out loud humour and angst and amazing friendships and figuring out love, and it's so cute and gross and scary at the same time. Best series I've ever read yo. Beats Harry Potter hands down.

Next up is The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. I loved it cuz it's about the end of an affair but along the way it discusses such themes as time and death, love and desire, pain and sacrifice, and also Catholicism vs a love affair, and it's just so thoughtful and selfish at the same time. I really enjoyed it.

The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E. Jensen really helped me to understand how brains can develop at different ages, but more specifically teenager brains which are a lil more plastic than adult brains but also feed them with sensory overload. I liked it cuz it helped me to understand my own brain HAHA and also past decisions.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes because it's perfectly cute and lighthearted. If you just wanna read about adults being normal and cute (cuz luurve).

Read a lot of other things, but these really stood out for me so yay.


OK RESOLUTIONS:

1. Swim at least once if not 2x a week. And swim the deep end more regularly

2. Finish beaded earringss.

3. Finally bought myself a bundt pan for $11.40 (! ikr) cuz it was on sale!!!! So make a bundt cake

4. Make more literary moodboards (ok at least 2)

5. Make more bad music videos HAAH (to familiarise myself more with imovie)

6. Be braver and kinder and less procrastinator

7. Say the *whole* rosary 2x a week

I think I can.