WE’RE BACK.

Hi :).

Man has it been a minute. I was hoping to post on Tuesday, but I ended up getting sidetracked with having to finish some assignments. Then I was gonna do it Wednesday, and realized I needed to make food, then STILL had assignments to do.

THEEEEN there was yesterday, where I was just lazy :v.

Either way, this post has been running around in my head for a while now, so its good to be here. To start, lets tie some loose ends…

Remember those spotify playlists I was making? You know, the one I said id make art for, like 6 posts ago?

THEYRE ALL OUT NOW >:))).

Last week I was sort of thinking about them, since I still hadnt yet drawn anything past pokoyo, and realized it probably wouldnt be reasonable to hold those playlists and whether or not they get put on my profile solely to whether or not I drew cover art for them, especially since there are so many. Besides, I wasnt even all that happy about the pokoyo cover anyways. Dont get me wrong, its not THAT bad, but it is noticeably not as good as the dancing dogs imo.

Also, these are just me drawing things that I like, which is fine (I dont claim to own ANY of the stuff that ive drawn, I just try to draw them by observation) but the solution that id came up with while thinking about this sort of eliminated that problem anyways. Its an easier way to make all the playlists, and still gives me room to experiment. Plus, I think they suit me :0.

Im talking about EMOTICONS (n_n).

So yea, I decided id give all the playlist covers emoticons, since that’d be fun for a bunch of different reasons. Still, I did have to update the contents of all the playlists since it had been so long, specifically for hodgepodge (the playlists with almost ALL my songs), so that I could listen to them whenever I wanted, and so that they had songs that id just recently listened to but still wanted to indulge in.

By last friday, id decided thats what I wanted to do, update the playlists, then make and add the cover art, upload them, and add a widget for you guys to click on the website. If I did my job right (and your viewing this post directly on the website), there should now be a spotify icon on the page alongside my discord and instagram that’ll take you to my profile, where you can find the playlists.

Little did I know HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE.

by the time i’d started adding songs to each playlists, it was already pretty late (something like 9 pm) since I was on call with family for a while, but the whole ordeal took me 5 to 6 hours.

Yes, you read that right, 5 to 6 hours of going through every, song, in, my liked songs (928 songs as of writing), and placing them in each playlist.

To be honest though, I had the time of my life. Listening to songs, blowing up bombs on minesweeper, and then eventually getting on call and chilling with a friend by the latter half of the ordeal, it was genuinely such a fun time.

(admittedly I REALLY should’ve spaced this out over several days, but I was impatient (-_-;))

Of course, tons of fun, but I would never in a million years unless its on a summer vacation do it again, because the aftermath was brutal.

Given the fact that I already started late, and then finished adding the songs by around 2 to 3 (not to mention I still had to make the cover art, implement the widget on the site AND write the post), there was clearly no way in hell my sleep schedule was salvage-able. So of course, like any rational person would, I took a longing and loving gaze at my last white monster, said my goodbyes to any crumb of sanity that I had left at that point and took the plunge. We were staying up all night.

And how’d that turn out? Well, I got everything I wanted done (except the post), and did a little extra. For example, these posters:

Ive been meaning to put these up for a while now, and I finally got the chance to do it after I got off call with some friends n_n.

The poster on the bottom left is from a kickstarter for a game called mindwave, which ive mentioned on previous posts. Its a cool game with cool art, so I couldnt help myself from getting their posters when pledging on the kickstarter.

It was also the one that gave me the most hassle while putting it on the wall put we can ignore that :p.

The other three posters are from a poster sale that was being done by the union that week. The history of gaming controllers was neat, so I figured that’d be cute to have alongside the rest (and sorta contrasts the mindwave poster), but I was honestly FAR more livid about the other two. I mean come on, CLAUDE MONET and GORILLAZ????

ITS SICK :0.

Especially because the gorillaz art is from phase 3 (plastic beach), which out of all the phases of gorrilaz easily has some of the coolest art, with its pure style being unmatched. The only thing that even comes close for me is phase 1, which I adore, and phase two coming in at a close third.

But to be clear, these three are all awesome, and THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS close to each other in terms of favorite. I love them all <3.

As for claude monet, im just a really big fan of his art :). I think his paintings are nice, and I still think fondly of the virtual exhibition I went to displaying his art in jeddah all those years back. Its awesome that I get to have a painting from his water lilies series now, right by my bed!!!!!

Really wish I couldve gotten a poster of woman with a parasol too, to be honest. Ill have to be on the lookout for that. Or maybe ill make them myself? I hear you can just have things printed and fedex’ed to you without having to buy them, not sure what thats about but ill look into that sometime.

Anygoop, I did that, made the art for each playlist, and got ready to submit them when I noticed that one of them had been flagged (for apparently “dangerous content”). I appealed it, and it got rectified the next day, but that sort of threw me off making the playlists public and adding them to my profile. By the next day id just decided id upload them when the next post was made. I also got the widget done too.

At that point though, It was nearing 9 pm and I was, to be frank, EXHAUSTED. The only reason I could even stay up till that point was the sheer will NOT to wake up at midnight and actually wake up at a reasonable time, but given that I was only running on that and some indomie that I had a couple of hours before then,

(it was delicious, im never too tired to make indomie>:))

I couldnt really make the post. I just didnt have the energy for it honestly.

So I made the buffer post, and hit my bed, HARD.

It was a good nights rest but also the first time in years id successfully pulled off an all-nighter, and it showed. The next day or two were far more sluggish than id like to admit, was definitely harder to keep up on work. But hey, that’s what foresight’s for right? Why else do you think I took the week off posting?

And now badabing badabop here we are. Its been a fun week. After recovering from the slog i managed the work, and ive set my eyes on a new meal I wanna try making — chicken and lentil curry.

I realized the last time I made it that lentils and veggies on their own arent really cutting it, its not really a standalone meal yknow? I put a TON of vegetables, and a cup of lentils each time, but it only ever comes out to just a few portions each time.

Admittedly it’s practically worse for the chickpeas and veg, but with those I can have them with greek yoghurt to make for a complete meal, or just on their own as a snack.

But think about it. One’s a snack, and one is trying its best to be made into a fully fledged meal, why not combine them? Feels perfect, honestly. Havent gotten around to making it yet, but ive got the main ingredients already (the chickpeas and lentils ofc). Ill look up some recipes and let you know how it goes.

Been rounding off my diet as a whole this week too, and I think thats neat. Ive been buying tinned mackarel and sardines, which cover the “oily fish” category at a much cheaper cost than salmon, and taossing them in with rice and vegetables as an easy meal. Whats nice about it too is that the rice and vegetables are cooked beforehand and can be had with plenty of other stuff, sort of substitutes indomie in that way, but its still nice to have indomie around as a cheat meal every now and again ;).

Will probably also start implementing more leafy greens, in the form of frozen spinach and the like too, but thats for next week’s grocery list.

What im really excited to see the results of though, is my switch from energy drinks to coffee. Ive been meaning to do it for a while now, but since I finished my first (and maybe last idk) 9 pack of monster last week, I figured I might as well switch to a healthier (and maybe cheaper?) alternative. For now, the plan is to start making cold brew, which’ll give me a much nicer (and longer) kick than energy drinks, but we’ll have to wait and see.

And yea, anyone who knows me at all is probably pretty confused. Baha, and cold brew???? Its a weird combination since im known for my deadly obsession with sweets, and I still AM OBSESSED WITH SWEETS, even if im cutting them down for the sake of my health. But think f it this way,

the more I abstain from sugary foods and drinks for my health, the tastier they’ll be when I have them. As well as that, Ive been told that over time ill come to enjoy the finer tastes of a cold brew, as I come off the highs of all the sugary drinks im used to having as opposed to a straight cold brew, and im excited to see if thats true.

Dont get me wrong, the way I see it im still basically drinking dirt, BUT GOOD DIRT >:/.

(also, the fact that I get to add milk helps)

So yea, cool stuff planned, and im excited to see if adding cold brew to my routine will make me a boneified university student.

Anywho, I know we already went over this but id like to talk more about the spotify playlists. I dont even know what about exactly, just share what I thought about them while making, ive still got a decent bit to share.

For one, lets get this out of the way. Its night wander. Thats my favorite playlist out of them all (~_~).

When I first made all of these playlists, id always been debating whether or not I should add songs based off of mood, genre, or what I felt like, and I think night wander from the start had gotten it right. It was whatever the hell I felt like + how well it fit the particular mood I was going for.

It does this really well, and to do it, the playlist borrows quite heavily from other playlists, more than any other ive made (other than sweet and sour which doesnt really count). Its sort of the original encapsulation of a lot of cool stuff, meshed into one really REALLY cool thing.

To me, night wander represents exactly what its named after, walking alone outside, alone at night, listening to music and dreaming away to your hearts content. Its sort of liminal, but also has a very distinct retro vibe to it that I think captures my identity quite well.

Part of this is sort of just because night wander was a playlist that id already made in spirit before moving back to spotify on youtube music, called concatenate. Its everything that ive just explained, with a bit more of an emphasis on the “retro” bit.

The rest of why its so good, and why like I feel like I nailed it compared to any other playlist, is because it fits me to a T. Energetic, forgetful, sometimes methodical, but despite whatever the mood is, still dreamy. Still, wandering past the street lights, finding things to throw and places to hide. The whole playlist encapsulates something thats greater than the sum of its parts, this sort of aesthetic that leaves a mark on my soul. Or more accurately to what it feels like, is a glimpse into my soul.

Concatenate was made at a bit of a low-point. I was dealing with a lot of emotions, and a lot of problems causing those emotions. Whether it was family drama, my future and the university that id be attending, the nagging feeling that I was HORRIBLY creatively stunted and good for nothing, or the several headaches id had with friends from my group at the time, I was having a bit of a hard time juggling it all.

But every few night, id always find the time to go out and wander outside of the compound that I lived in. The compound itself is pretty far from the city center, and was built practically in the middle of nowhere, with thankfully a few essential stores nearby (many of which ran 24/7). Even so, it was quiet, and practically deserted.

But every time id venture out, any sense of isolation you could imagine always felt more and more like solace. With every busted up building I passed, heaps of sediment that id skipped across, or countless empty apartments id sit next to, and all the endless sand to run across, I felt relieved to be away from it all.

To, instead of worry, to dream. Dream of all the things that could be. Dream in such vivid, colorful detail, to music that put a spotlight on everything that I wanted to feel.

It was cathartic, and after each trip it felt like id taken a piece of that space with me back home. Each time it was as though id freed a part of myself, to enjoy the vast expanse of that space. Even if at times it were for just a few minutes, id enjoy every last second of it, and till the very last moment that id have to head home, soak in the night in all of its dreamlike, retro glory.

In the end, I didnt get everything that id dreamt of at that time. Some of it slipped away, The rest im still working on. But those moments grew to mean something in their own right. Something unforgettable, genuinely etched into my psyche.

That’s what this playlist is to me. A projection of that experience. A sort of dreamlike, digital vibrancy, and what I feel encapsulates a huge part of me and my style quite well, with all its quirks included. I hope that you get some semblance of that when you listen to it, dear reader.

(also, I hope you enjoy the playlist too :))

Now, id talk about the rest of the playlists, but this post is getting long, and im going to have to get ready for my classes tomorrow. I hope the wait was worth it for this post. Thanks for sticking till the end, I really appreciate it.

Next time, hopefully ill get to let you know how the cold brew and chickpea + lentils went, and ramble on about the other playlists too. Look out for that.

Alright, goodnight now. Have a great rest of your week <3.