If you come to my house for coffee, you’ll probably find me all covered in paint from head to toe but that’s because I’ve been painting my kid’s room. I know I paid someone to paint Lana’s room a couple of weeks ago, but there’s this one wall in Lana’s room that was not painted and it’s a plywood wall that scream the 1950s. This house was all built in 1953 after all. I was not sure if I wanted to keep the plywood wall or replace it with drywall. The painter said if I were to put drywall, he can come back another time to paint that wall for free. But after much thought, I decided to keep it but I’m going to paint it myself. Over the past week, I’ve cleaned, repaired some of the panels, spackled, filled gaps, and sanded. Today is the day for priming and painting. Working on the plywood wall is more work than painting the drywall. I can’t imagine how much more the painter would have charged me.
My husband asked me what do I write on my blog? Well…lots of things. It’s a loaded question that requires a loaded answer. On my personal blog I get to openly critique and keep original thought alive — something I no longer find on any social media feed. When I go on my social media feed, I’ve noticed thought has been co-opted by memes and copy-and-paste posts — no one writes their own thoughts anymore. Can anybody write anymore? Ok…that’s a little too far. I know people out there can write, I just can’t find it in social media. I find it in blogs, books, articles, etc. Back to original thought, when it comes to making conversation with some people, it’s always “I saw it on (name of social media).” They don’t make their own conclusions, they tell me to just watch this video and believe. Like I can believe on command.
There was a time where I thought about monetizing my blog but that requires one to choose a niche and I don’t want to. A lifestyle could be a niche I guess but I refuse to be boxed in writing about only about organic beauty products, technology products and phone apps, fitness, etc. I could have stuck with travel blogging, but that’s not my full-time job. I don’t know if anyone can relate to someone who appears to be vacationing like it is their full-time job. I prefer to show people I work a full-time job at a public hospital, so other people feel this sense of relief that I am not a full-time vacationer. I work a full-time job to fund my travels, hobbies, and other things I enjoy.
If I were to give a short answer to why I write well, it’s an extension of my brain. How would you describe your blog in one sentence?
Current reads: Bold indicates a new read.
- A Promised Land by Barack Obama (in audiobook and from the library) – I was so lucky to get this audiobook renewed immediately. I usually wait several weeks until I am able to renew.
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson
- From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding by Jesse Thistle (borrowed from the library) -I heard about this book from another book club. It is a memoir and so far there are quite a bit of parallels between this and Firekeeper’s Daughter.
Finished:
- The House by the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (borrowed from the library)
- Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Hong Park – I’d be happy to lend this book too. I enjoyed this book for several reasons — it was written by an Asian creative and apparently in her world, there are plenty. I found that refreshing and inspiring. But then again, she does work in the creative space after all. I want to read more from Cathy Hong Park. Also, it made me reflect my Asian-American experience.
- Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (for the book club) – I’m happy to lend this out to someone.
Speaking of reading, today is the last day of Bout of Books!
Eat, Play, Live 
I have this sentence on my About Me page: My blog reflects my interests in wellness, nature, arts, blogging, books, learning foreign languages, movies, music, travel, and trying new things.
I choose not to use social media such as Fb, IG, Twitter, etc. so that time can go to something else that brings me joy. I’m not anti-social media tools. They serve many people well. They don’t give me a good return on my time investment atm. Thank you for your contribution to #weekendcoffeeshare.
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Hi Julie.
I so appreciate you calling out the tone of most social media sites. I don’t see much in the way of creative or even thoughtful words being shared and way too much of what’s there is reflective meme mentality which is really crunching the already short attention spans of its users.
I only use Facebook and rarely post anything except for new story announcements to a few groups I’ve been part of for year because a few of them, depending on what I write, attracts lots (for me) readers.
Even those are getting pretty picky about reading anything longer than a few minutes.
I’m trying to carve out a market for short, clean and thoughtful fiction. Please stop by and sample some the next time you are looking for a fresh voice in a variety of lengths. Here’s a sample short read I’m proud of.
But as far as trying to pull value from social media, it does have a few things to offer, but not much in terms of solid literary value. It’s mostly good for distant friends and family updates or heavily biased political group-think.
Thanks for the visit and reminding me that I’m not alone in my regards for social media.
Blessings.
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I feel social media is a good product. I work in public health and it’s great for reaching out to many people. But at the same time, I try not to spend too much time on it because it’s not good for my health.
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