Day 22: Home Alone Activities! | Make it a Good Day

Hey! I have a Calculus test tomorrow! And I'm currently writing up a new blog post. :D It's official; I can't sort out my priorities.
But hey! I'm happy to be updating again, and I hope whoever is reading this right now is too (or not, you probably don't care but that's okay.)

I want to start off by asking: How was your day?
I know some people might hate that question, including me, but I think it's very important to express interest in what's happening to others. I personally don't like that question because my weekdays are generally boring since they're school days so I really don't have much to say other than, "it was okay; it's just school," etc, etc. But I have been improving and becoming more optimistic, which is a good sign!

I hope anyone who reads this just sends me a message telling me about their day, or even about themselves because I am a sad, sad girl with a lot of time on her hands, and I'm always willing to hear what people have to say.

Sometimes bad days just happen and you can't prevent it; but always try to make the best out of every day. :) You will feel a lot better, whether it's a small step like complimenting someone and seeing their face light up, or getting out of bed in 5 minutes instead of 15, etc.

Day 22: My Home Alone Activities

Something you may or may not know about me already if you've read my other blog posts, but I am a bit of a hermit. I don't talk much, I'm pretty shy, and I'm almost always reluctant to get out of the house if there's not a purpose to it (e.g. going to a kungfu class, going to play tennis, going shopping, going to hang out with friends (which I rarely have), and yeah you get the gist of it). Like, I'm so shy that I don't even want to talk a walk around the neighborhood for fear of seeing people (unless I'm with someone else though).

But anyway, enough about my anti-social-ness, let's get on with my activities!
I have quite a few, since of course, I do stay home often.

• Watch a show/movie: Very relaxing. I love movie-time!
• Eat: Food is good. Food is nutritious.
• Work on homework/projects: Because you have to. Yeah. Sucks.
• Surf the Web: Sometimes I get really bored and I don't feel like doing anything. This mainly means scrolling through tumblr and searching something interesting that I've heard about before.
• Work on Fanfictions: I'm currently working on two fanfictions; one from Diabolik Lovers and one from Hikaru no Go. If you like either of those series check out my page!
• Read manga/watch anime: YAAAAAS.
• Exercise (take out those dumbbells and that yoga mat!): For me, this would probably mean practicing kungfu/stretching/conditioning)
• Draw: either on paper or tablet!
• Creative Projects: I like to take things I've used or just tossed to the side and refurbish them (e.g. cardboard boxes, paper scraps, etc.)
• Sleep: Self-explanatory. 

There's plenty more that I've forgotten, but these are my usual go-to activities when I'm home (it doesn't really matter if I'm alone.)

Make your day a good one. :)
Happy Reading/Watching/whatever it is that you do!

Day 21: Biggest Fear | Blog Challenge

Hey, lookie at what we have here. I haven't abandoned this challenge yet! I was SO close to finishing this challenge (only about 10 days to go) when I thought I should take a break and focus on posting other things. You know, the thing is, sometimes I spend a lot of time on these blog challenge, sometimes I don't.
But regardless, here I am! I'm totally not back to updating regularly on this blog; I have SO much homework from school, plus I have to go to after-school activities PLUS I have to study for the PSAT aka prepping for the SAT, which I loathe the day I will have to take it.
So yeah, I have a lot on my schedule. Am I managing my time wisely? NOPE.
And to be honest, these first 3 weeks of school, I haven't been doing to good in my classes. I know what you're thinking; I should be studying. But hey, a little blog post never hurt anybody, right?

Also, check out my blog challenge tag to see my previous blog challenge posts.
My Previous BC post: Day 19&20

So enough about that. Let's get with today's blog challenge!

Day 21-Your Biggest Fear
So, this topic could get really personal, and I will apologize if anyone gets uncomfortable, or disgusted with me.

Like most people's fear, I do fear pain and heights and stuff like that.
But one of my biggest fears? Probably something like being alone. Which is literally the state I live in. Alone. In solitary. I know, you're thinking I'm pretty weird.
Why would I choose to live a way that I fear of? That needs to my next biggest fear. Change. And I'm not talking about suddenly-winning-the-lottery-change, but a change that forces me out of my shell; forces me to be put into a situation where I am uncomfortable. That's why I prefer to be alone, although I hate being alone. I'm just so freaking afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm realizing that this makes no sense at all. I realize that most of the things I do make close to no sense at all. I was never diagnosed with it, but I near 100% sure that I have some sort of anxiety. I have these weird quirks that I do to keep my breathing even, and to calm down my heartbeat when I'm panicking. And I hate my weird quirks. And I hate when I panic.
Saying this would probably generate hate, but an example of me stepping out of my shell lately was volunteering. I had no qualms with helping people but it was the fact I was interacting with people, the fact I had to put up this cheerful facade did not settle well with me.
That initial thought was what disgusted me with myself.
So I told myself, "Cheerful facade? Come on, Julie, if you have to put up a mask, why the f*ck (excuse my language) are you even volunteering anyway? The volunteer youth group certainly doesn't need your poor attitude." I pulled myself together, and actually started to enjoy my time volunteering, and to genuinely want to help others. I definitely do think that it has made me more comfortable with social situations and working with people too. And there is such a great feeling afterwards from all the people thanking you for what you've done, which is absolutely crazy because I felt like I hadn't done much at all. So if you do have the time, I would recommend volunteering in your community. It's great, and others definitely do need your help.

So yeah, I somehow managed to end this on a positive note. We all have fears that will possibly never be cured but I hope you all continue to challenge yourself. My advice is, always aim to be a better person, and try to do something that forces you out of your shell once in a while.
And when you want to cry, just cry. It hurts holding it back in more, trust me.

My posts always sound so choppy... Sorry about that! xP
I hope you all have a great day!

September 2014 | Monthly TBR

Hello once again! I hope to keep this post fairly short, but I am determined to try to do this thing again! And with success!
If you're not sure what I mean by Monthly TBRs (which probably you do), it's basically just a list I make for myself at the beginning of each month on what books I plan to read. This month I picked out 5 physical books for myself out of my TBR jar, and I'll just list them down below! As far as ebooks go, I don't know if I'll read anymore other than Da Mo Yao (Ballad of the Desert) by Tong Hua this month, which I started near the end of August. 

September TBR Goodreads shelf

My September TBR...GO! 

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• One-Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden

 (covers below in order)

That's the end of my September TBR! I tried to put a variety of books in there. I think these are the perfect books to start off my school year. What books will you be reading? 

 Have a great day! :) 

Updates & Dramas | All that lovely stuff

Anyone notice the change to my blog? Yes, I will be changing the backgrounds/color themes according to season. Hopefully I'll be able to find some pics with wisteria in the different seasons (because you know, ardentwisteria.)

I have recently made a GoodReads account! (Be my friend please!) So, I just kind of wanted to put it out there first.

Hello, lovely (but cruel) world, I have been absent from this blog for, what, the last half of August, but FEAR NOT. I will be more active this month even though school is starting, I promise. :)
If you're wondering what I was doing during my absence, such as maybe going on a cruise or going out of state, PFFFT noooo, I was staying home trying to cram my summer homework. Yeah. Take a shot every time I mention my summer homework on my blog. I...actually don't recommend doing that...nevermind.

Anywho, while I was gone, I picked up a few shows. It seems that during my desperate cramming, I still found the time to watch some dramas. #procrastinationatbest
I used to like watching a lot of asian dramas a while back, but for some reason, I kind of fell out of touch with them and started to focus more on anime. Interestingly enough, it's the opposite right now.
I think I watched too much anime over the summer that I'm now in a slump and sick of anime. (GASP who can be sick of anime??? Apparently me.) 
SOOOO, I found new obsessions guys. OH. MY. GOD. Emphasis on Running Man, please. Korean variety shows on another level, man. Variety show game too strong, too strong.

***Expect reviews for some of the dramas I picked up!

But going back to the first drama I picked up:
Nodame Cantabile (2006). 

I'm just going to type down a few thoughts that I need to get out about this drama and the rest will go in a separate post.
Nodame Cantabile is a j-drama that revolves around orchestral music, and classical music in general. Lovely melodies throughout the drama, and I wished that there were more than 11 episodes. And this drama had such a great cast of actors/actresses, and just. Perfection. That's all I can say.
Watch it for quirky characters, beautiful music, comedy, and fluff romance. That is actually probably the only thing I want to complain about, and it's the romance. I really wanted more interaction between the both of them!

The second and third drama I picked up was Palace or Gong, and it's a fairly popular time-travel period drama, along with Bu Bu Jing Xin, that has a similar premise as well, because they both aired at around the same time (haha did they plan that or something?)
I watched around 20 or so episodes of Palace but then it just way too overdramatic and unbearable so I had to drop it. Well, to be fair, it was pretty ridiculous in the beginning too, but I thought it was funny, and I also thought that since the heroine was a history buff, meaning she knew what events were going to happen but she didn't really use that to her advantage that often. In the beginning, yes, a little, but she was really careless about it.

I prefer Bu Bu Jing Xin by a LOOOOONG RUN. Oh my god, this drama. It makes you fall deeply in love with it after just a couple of episodes, but as you continue watching, your heart is slowly torn apart. I have not finished this drama yet because finishing it means that the whole journey would end. And I don't want that. So I put it on hold for now. xD
BUT WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN'T. I think most people have heard of/watched BBJX already because it's really popular, or, at least 3 years ago it was really popular. 

And lastly, I am currently watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal, which has that reverse harem aspect that those two time-travel period dramas ^ above have. It's basically about a girl who cross-dresses and goes into this all-male school called Sungkyunkwan. Hence the title. I am loving it so far! It has romance, political intrigue, awesome characters, great cinematography and acting! Korean dramas always impress me so much with their quality. Although, I don't like the look of female actresses that get plastic surgery. I don't have anything against plastic surgery, I just don't like the look of when it's fairly obvious that you got something done. Example: Park Min-young, the main female lead of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. If this drama happened IRL, her features would definitely not pass as a boy, even though I think she did a fantastic job acting as one. Maybe it was the lighting in some of the scenes but it always looked as if her face was uneven, and that one side of her face was puffier than the other.
One thing that bothers me about this drama (I'm on episode 14), is that a lot of the actors/actresses eyes look really watery sometimes, so I get really confused because it seems that the character is always on the verge of tears (again, Park Min-young as Kim Yoon-hee.)

Plus Lizzy and Joong-ki--Miss you guys!

Now for a special mention, the one show that I'm HEAD-OVER-HEELS OBSSESSED about: that's right, ladies and gentleman, the popular game variety show, SBS's Running Man!
Good lord, I've only watched about 10 episodes, and this is like, my new religion.
Running Man is HILARIOUS, sometimes over-the-top, but regardless, I love it! I love the whole cast, and love their interaction with each other and also the guests.
Props to Song Ji-hyo for kicking ass as the only female cast member. Her relationship with Gary as the Monday Couple never fails to crack me up. I'm so sad that Joong-ki had to leave though. He was awesome on the show. 

That's it for me right now! Whew! I feel like I don't know how to blog anymore after not blogging for a few weeks.
Have a good one! :)