driver + new zone

i did it!

i passed my driver's test (on the first try!) after having like 8-10 permits & at the ripe old age of 32, i finally actually took and passed the test to get a license <3

i'm very happy that it's over with and now i just need to get my little self and my little car in to work every day. that seems doable. 

and i also have decided to set up a little sci fi shrine and electronic equipment refurbishing zone in my room right next to my new Apothecary Diaries Shrine. I used a stud finder and I got some brackets. Now I'm looking around to see if there's anything I would re-purpose as shelving. 
I think i might try to use this old cabinet that ended up falling down from our garage wall. Then I can reuse the screws too. 
i should explain. the shelving is necessary for the books to decorate my new little zone. 

Here is the location of the zone, or the before image. 

well, i need to go in to work tomorrow, so 

wall plants + spider-man

today we saw Spider-Man: Brand New Day

before that i did a bit of practice backing up

i have been very anxious this weekend waiting for my driving test on Monday

but i did a couple things today that made me feel better. 

I planted up two of these hanging wall vases & then also hung them all up over my new Apothecary Diaries shrine

so here's what the shrine is looking like now. 

The stuff on the wall is unrelated, but I really wanted some cool stuff on the wall. I am happy with it. 

There was a scene in Spider-Man where he gets hurt and someone in the theater went "No, no, no, no, no" and that in itself made me cry. Because even the fictional Spider-Man brings people so much hope. He tries so hard to be good. that alone. That alone is inspiring. 

anyway, i have cramps and now im going to read and go to sleep. and wish me luck on my test tomorrow
(～﹃～)~zZ but also ( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) 

frogs + apothecary diaries + shrine

i'm pretty happy with myself today

(1) i practiced driving some today

(2) i went to my favorite diner

(3) i edited and posted a vlog (https://youtu.be/LsgQhdnCXh0?si=CYL0tdYpDg8SpoNc)

(4) i made an Apothecary Diaries shrine *this was life-changing 

(5) i went to the gym

So, the shrine

I don't know why i've never done this before. sometimes i struggle with caring if my house is taken care of because i don't usually value spending my time doing such things. but now, i was able to put out some trinkets, to arrange some houseplants, and to display my books. 

I'm obsessed. 

life can be so wonderful with what influences do to us. I saw that blog post from monomalo about frogs, i thought about my frogs, then after i saw them all, I thought, i should make a frog + apothecary diaries shrine. and now i have this. 

now, for yesterday (since I neglected to blog then)

I posted this chapter of my Apothecary Diaries x TOTK fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67059565/chapters/239440116

I posted the first chapter of a Hyunlix Twin Peaks fic that I started some months ago after Hyunjin released Lover: https://archiveofourown.org/works/90099056/chapters/239446386

and i got this lovely comment: oh my god??? I’ve ALWAYS been looking for twin peaks x skz crumbs and this is perfect. I love this sm❤️❤️❤️

frogs + paintings

first i'd like to start with some frogs i have since i was reading this post: https://monomalomonomalo.blogspot.com/2026/01/whats-on-my-trinket-shelf-1-frogs.html

Frog 1:

I bought this at a craft fair from the woman who taught me how to spin yarn. I would love to get a spinning wheel but my house is honestly too small with the other things I have currently. Anyway, I love that it's got a big ol' frown

Frog 2: 

This frog i got from my friend's little sister, I think when I was in high school. It was a very kind gesture because she was a kid at the time.

Frog 3:

This frog i got from a thrift store when I was a kid. If you push up on the bottom, he'll collapse. 

Frog 4: 

i need to rummage through the little basket at the bottom of the above photo to find the frog trinket I drew here. A while ago I drew some of my trinkets, and this ceramic frog container that also contains a little ceramic fly is one of them. this frog was a gift from my grandpa back when i was a child.

I might have more, but for now these are them. I think i should make an Apothecary Diaries display with all my frogs too. (✿◠‿◠)

Now, for some paintings. I only wrote a little of my new story today, maybe a few hundred words, but I did do some painting.

This one is a lil guy. he seems pretty nervous.

I was originally going to make this into another robot, but now I'm thinking of adding some moss to it and making them some stacked rocks. 

this is all for now. i must sleep

robot boys + bug boys + chex quest

i might still paint tonight, but last night i felt so inspired by robots that i started writing an original story about two robots. 

i'm so excited about it.

the thing that's hard about original fiction is i don't get the same satisfaction from posting it and getting audience feedback since i want to be able to submit it for publication later. (it also doesn't have an established fandom lol)

it's fun thinking about what it would be like to be a robot. what would i care about? If I had access to so much information at any given time, what would excite me? If my companion and I shared all the same data, how would be different?

if you're worried that I'll care less about bugs since i'm writing a robot fic, don't fret. A small lichen moth is important in the first installment.

& i've been reading Bug Boys and this is literally everything i've ever wanted. I also just got my rhino beetle phone charm in the mail yesterday, so all day I looked at it and thought of Rhino-B. 

My cat just bit through a soda can. it was still in the case. He bit through the plastic and the aluminum. WHAT?

i've been listening to robot music too, obviously

but also this song, which i don't know if it samples Chex Quest, but i got such a sense memory for Chex Quest while listening to this

painting + robots + robyn

working on some little arts.

idk really wanted to make something new and low stakes.

im thinking robots

i got to use some electrical drafting stencils that i got from an antiques store a couple weeks ago. 

So i think this is the background and i'm not sure yet if i will do the robot digitally or with paint.

sometimes i think learning to oil paint would be lovely, because of how glowy oil paint can be. it's so smooth and tasty looking. 

But that would be a lot to commit to, for a passing fancy. 

So, robots. i've been listening to Robyn recently and thinking a lot about robots.

(1) Fembot - i'm critically obsessed with this song rn.

(2) Robotboy - i love how simple and sad the lyrics are

and now i just want to think about robots living their robot lives. 

there is so much sympathy i have for the robots in both those songs.

i'm feeling The Wild Robot. I'm feeling Klara and the Sun

thrifted hats + sci fi mags

 i took some photos of my thrifted items today so i will share them now

(1) a white hat that says bouliste and is from a men's pétanque club

(2) a bright orange Aperol Spritz hat - my preferred alcoholic beverage in every universe

(3) a black and white butterfly bag with the text of the first line of The Butterfly Obtains by Emily Dickinson

The butterfly obtains

by Emily Dickinson

The butterfly obtains

But little sympathy

Though favorably mentioned

In Entomology —

Because he travels freely

And wears a proper coat

The circumspect are certain

That he is dissolute —

Had he the homely scutcheon

Of modest Industry

'Twere fitter certifying

For Immortality —

as for books i got three issues of sci fi magazines. One Analog Science Fiction and Fact and two Fantasy & Science Fiction. There were a whole bunch but because of my recent acquisition of someone's entire Andre Norton collection, i limited myself to the ones with the covers that called out to me the most. Judge me as you will.

fire update - it stopped growing so crazy rapidly and they've started to get a handle on it. 

plumbing update - my husband didn't sleep much because of said fire so he fixed our plumbing issue before i even woke up

reading update - reading The Witches by Roald Dahl (for the first time); reading The Girl from the Sea by Lee Knox Ostertag from the library; a Jennifer's Body-inspired Hyunlix fanfic; & an IT guy Hyunjin office romance Hyunlix fic.

this morning we went to one of our favorite cafes and one of the women working there mentioned my Singapore GP hat & then we talked to her about her favorite drivers and such. She had nothing but good takes: rooting for Hamilton for the championship this year (i'm rooting for Kimi b/c who doesn't love a wunderkind); Oscar was robbed last year (and some Lando smack talk, which i'm always down for); & Russel smack talk, which i'm also always down for.

smoke + earthquakes + evangelion

well today didn't quite go as planned.

i did some dishes & we donated some things & got stuff to repair our plumbing issue.

but then a wildfire grew and grew and darkened the sky.

There is such an unease with the sight and smell of smoke. 

also last night i guess there was also an earthquake. idk like a  3.8 or something. i didn't notice it. 

There was another one during the week that was noticeable, like a 4.2. Anyway, i was focused on pulling my ramen out of the microwave and i didn't even notice. I thought i heard something, but my noise-cancelling headphones were on. my husband came running into the kitchen and was like "did you feel it?" and i looked at him blankly. 

There was a lot of ash falling as i watered my garden. 

so we didn't clean as much as we'd hoped 

& we didn't go to the gym

But i did drive us to the grocery store (first time driving at night!) and we picked up snacks and finished watching The End of Evangelion.

i picked up some stuff from the thrift store too. some books, some hats, a bag. 

I really wanted sunglasses & some old walkman or other electronic devices that i could repair, but the electronics they had weren't very interesting.

you are alive, so you will always have the chance to be happy.

as apocalyptic as today felt and looked, this line resonated with me to some extent.