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What do you listen to while you work?
I got so overjoyed this morning when I picked up my smartphone & saw this topic prompt light up my notification screen. My mind went into overdrive, thinking of all the ways I could approach this prompt, but stopped short when I tried to think of a way to write without word vomiting a whole bunch of things that would turn into tangents only myself would understand, & that you probably wouldn’t give two shits about. (See what I mean? A stupid tangent.)
So let me get straight to the answer. The things I listen to while I am working totally depends on my mood, but also my current obsession. I have a couple of pinned Spotify playlists that I have personally curated that I will rotate through. I will listen to ambient background sounds on YouTube as well. However, in the most recent weeks, I have been predominantly listening to a couple of select artists on repeat: Fuji Kaze, imase, that Polish guitarist I want to interview, Lucky Kilimanjaro & Arctic Monkeys. I’m going to an Arctic Monkeys concert in September, so I am trying to brush up on their discography at the moment. My mommy brain has forgotten a lot of the lyrics that used to be easy for me to memorize.
As of today, I am totally obsessed with Fuji Kaze‘s music. I have been listening to his album LOVE ALL SERVE ALL on repeat for the past several days. Fuji Kaze‘s music is super catchy & the lyrics are so thoughtful & full of meaning/intention/purpose. I think I am slowly becoming a, as he would put it, Kazetarian. I don’t think I would become a devout vegetarian like he is, but I absolutely would follow his philosophies & world views. This artist has such a pure & open heart. It’s hard not to fall in love with his melodic tunes. Listening to Fuji Kaze’s music totally puts me in a good mood, & helps improve my productivity. I get all excited listening to his music, & continuously work without stopping, which is rare because I very, very easily get distracted by anything & everything around me.
That’s all for now. I am going to continue working on this blog, & listening to some killer jams. Until the next beat, cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
What’s your go-to comfort food?
My absolute comfort food is kind of boring, but actually isn’t. It’s a sandwich; just a sandwich. It’s not my family staples of Chinese or Japanese food. It’s just a good old fashioned sandwich.
I won’t get into all the details of which sandwiches are my favorite, or which condiments I like to put in those sandwiches. That topic would take way too long for me to explain. Also, I won’t get into the whole debate on whether or not a hot dog is considered a sandwich, which by association, that should mean that a hamburger is also a sandwich. Lots of American eateries even use sandwich bread to make their own hamburger recipes.
I have been eating sandwiches ever since I started going to school, even in pre-school & summer school where we were asked to bring our own brown bag lunches. My mom would make me a ham & cheese sandwich with mayonnaise on white bread (until I found out I was supposed to be allergic to white bread). That was my earliest memory of eating sandwiches. Ever since then, I have grown very fond of eating sandwiches.
Sandwiches are easy to throw together when you can’t think of anything to actually cook. They are versatile; I mean, you can put just about anything you want in a sandwich, savory or sweet, & you can use any kind of bread you want. Sandwiches are also very portable & easy to eat when you’re on the go rushing out the door, or having a leisurely picnic.
I just very much enjoy eating sandwiches. That’s why I would say a sandwich is my go-to comfort food. It’s something I have always eaten since childhood, & besides, who would actually say that duck a l’orange or coq a vin served with a side of haricots vert is their comfort food? That’s ridiculous. I want to eat something quick, easy, & delicious. Sandwiches. Boo-ya! Cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life?
I have a few game-time strategies to increase the comfort(s) in my life. My strategies revolve around a daily schedule that I have built up over the course of this past year. My daily schedule is not rigid, however, I am quite firm on staying as close to it as possible. It also depends on how my little one is behaving on any given day.Mine & Jian‘s best friends have a set schedule with time frames written out clearly on a dry erase board they keep in their living room. They are extremely diligent on staying true to their strict schedule, except on weekends.
When I am taking care of my little one by myself (without the extra help from my mom & Jian), I try to stick to my daily routine as much as possible. I don’t give myself strict time frames, but I at least have a general timeline of when to accomplish target tasks.
First thing early in the morning, I head to the kitchen to grab my kid a cup of milk. I pour myself a cup of leftover coffee (lately I have been really into drinking iced coffee). My little one & I will lounge about in bed for a little bit. She will play toddler games on my iPad while I watch the morning news on TV. She drinks her morning milk, & I drink my coffee. This is one part of our daily routine that is definitely a luxury. It starts our day on a happy, positive note.
After breakfast, I clean up the kitchen. This is when I will play some music on Spotify or play a movie to run in the background while I am washing dishes & such. I will also take some time to top up my coffee cup, check my Instagram feed, or watch a few YouTube shorts. This is my equivalent of a 15-minute smoke break in a corporate office. However, at least one to two times per week, I will use this in-between breakfast & lunch time to wash my hair. I cannot wash it at night when I shower because it takes too long.
During my little one’s nap time, which I call “quiet time”, is where the fun starts for me because it is now my do-whatever-I-want time, or more accurately, the do-the-things-she-won’t-let-me-do-while-she’s-awake time. I will use this time to grab my 2nd full cup of coffee for the day. Also, right now, I am currently in the process of building 4 toy brick sets from CaDA Bricks. I use my little one’s nap time to work on my brick sets. If she were awake, she would want to grab all of the pieces & scatter them all over the house. Just a few minutes before the little one wakes up from her nap, I will carefully put away my bricks.
Carving out this 2-hour window each day to work on my brick sets or read up on trashy celebrity gossip is one of my day’s comforts. It allows me some real time to relax & not have to think about chores or daily work. This time when my little one is extremely precious to me & I make sure I set aside an allotted amount of time each day to do something I enjoy, like writing this blog. That pretty much sums it all up. There’s not much strategy other than setting aside some uninterrupted time to do things I need to or want to do. That’s all. Until the next one, cheers!
Rabbits & Foxes 
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