Hello, I’m in Dublin! I’m on the ground floor of my new digs. There’s squirrels or maybe chipmunks (I haven’t researched yet), this black bird with a white tummy and a royal blue tail, and this chunky maya-looking bird with the red-orange chest. And there’s trees and shrubs and a walkway people from the other wing pass through every now and then, freaking me out sometimes, but it’s been great overall. I only get the afternoon sun directly, but since this is Ireland, that means several hours into the night as well. It is very trippy to come out of the cave of a pub having talked your buddies’ ears off, squinting at the tired sunlight.

But also, it’s often cold, that’s nothing new, yet the idea of hanging out at the back of the compound in an outdoor chair reading a book in the cold breeze is shaping up. I got a lot of other comfort creature things to buy, so we’ll see when we actually get around to living that fantasy.

My book is coming along well! I’ve always loved Rombutan‘s art, had known the artist for months and months it seems, before I actually even considered it an actual possibility to invite Rom to make art for the book! Unang-una because I didn’t even think inside art was an option until Mother Dragon Nida Ramirez of Avenida Books (excuse me, official title yan char) brought the idea of it up. The inside illustrations are gorgeous!

Iyang featured image sa taas ay isa lamang sa magiging laman ng libro ko. ANG GANDA DI BA! Also, yes, yes, that’s my name on the jeep, nagkataon lang, okey. hahahaha That’s Rom’s creative interpretation of the inciting incident, and let’s just say, hindi ko first time makita ang Macky sa nameplate ng mga byaheng Marikina.

I’m so excited to get this out in the world, never mind the pressure of producing the next thing. I’m trying not to feel any pressure. Sa sobrang relaxed ko about it, iba ang na-achieve ko:

It’s kind of weird seeing this now, kasi mga two months kaming nahiwalay ng Hollow Knight to the point na sa sobrang miss ko maglaro (I left my Legion sa Marikina, under the assumption that I’m buying a desktop once maka-settle down), I have been watching and listening to other people play the game.

And kahapon, trying to make some progress on the 111% mark, I die at the Hive Boss! Hindi ko alam kung dahil hindi na uli ako sanay sa controls kasi na-takeover ng Dead Cells (na less than a week ko palang nilalaro since I got the gaming rig) ang muscle memory ko, or dahil lang super tagal ko lang talagang hindi naglaro, pero that was surprising to me.

In other news, I’ve been listening to Levar Burton Reads and may kakaiba talagang allure kapag kinukwentuhan ka versus binabasa mo lang. Nag-start ako nung medyo malayo lagi ang lakbayin from the temporary housing to work, kasi that’s mga say 20 minutes sa tram, then 15 minutes or so na lakad (through a gorgeous forest naman, so kereh), pero now that I live 2 stops away from work (and this week actually I didn’t even go to the office), medyo interrupted yung routine na yon, but so far I think I’ve gone through like 10 stories na?

Ang dami ko nang napuntahan sa Dublin, hindi ko alam kung paano ko iipunin ang experience at ikukwento sa’yo, kasi to be honest, gusto ko talaga i-share, pero at the same time, ang pinaka-convenient way to do that is through Instagram, e medyo iwas ako sa Instagram kasi mahina ang disiplina ko pagdating sa mindless scrolling.

Kanina dito kami pumunta:

Ivy sila ng Ivy pero ang spelling Iveagh. Though on brand naman sa mga proper names dito. Remember, dito nanggaling si Saoirse, at dito, ang Caoimhe ay pronounced as Kweeva, and Niamh ay Neev, at Tadgh ay Taig. Which is again, on brand na galing ako sa bansa kung saan kung ano ang basa ay siyang bigkas, bilang ang Ireland ay almost literally on the other side of the world from the Philippines.

Finally, I’m still writing, just not very consistent at it, I did get a form rejection for my drone short that included, “Your writing is interesting,” which now for me actually kind of means I’m still hustling. When I started watching Black Knight (Woo-bin, Esom, and this kid who looks like a young Cha Tae-hyun), I realized somebody’s already written that world (of course not the specifics, but the broad strokes) so I’m struggling a bit with my style and what I’m really trying to say with a story I’ve already submitted to maybe 5 venues and got rejections for. That’s where I’m at, but yeah, we keep plugging on.