Let's Do A Year End Tradition Of....

*This post is not to be taken too seriously, it is just my opinions and thoughts. 

We're going to be doing the top five things I dislike and like.

Top 5 Things I Dislike (Mainly Book Related):

1. Poetry (and Proses)

I don't exactly dislike poetry in general, I like reading poems by Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Rudyard Kipling, Roald Dahl, Dante, basically the greats. Unfortunately modern poetry turned me off. I tried reading some but they are all nearly the same. Love, heartbreak, hope, trying too hard to be edgy... It's hard to read through. If you like those poetry, I won't condemn you, they are just not my cup of tea at the moment. 

*Okay, I tried writing poetry (and proses) a few times.. Not that great. Could never seem to get the knack of it. I'll put some up and you can judge it for yourself. Looking back at it now, why did I write it? WHY??? 

2. Voting For Your Own Books  

Please, do not do this. If I ever see a writer voting for their own books, you're excluded from my list, ever. Why? Because it is extremely tacky and unprofessional. Furthermore, which writers wouldn't give themselves five stars rating? No matter how much you dislike or like your own book, it's your baby. You are not going to rip your own baby apart. I do not mind if you use the review section as a summary or as an explanation page, but if I ever see you voting your own books, you're out. I don't do it, neither of the veterans (that I know of) do it, so... Please don't.

3. Poorly Researched Books

This one is a no-brainer. Readers are really good at catching mistakes, making one or two screw-ups is still fine, but when you are going to write about a topic like say, Norse Mythology,  please make sure to do an extensive research to get at least the basic facts right. Writing fantasy is the only time where you can break the rules, you create your own myth and its foundation and you stick to it. I'm looking at you (insert author's name here)

*Grammar, typo and spelling mistakes are still fine for me, but too much can also make me turn away from ever reading your works. I have some best-selling authors' works which have some of these mistakes but I still enjoy them because the story is interesting. It makes up for the tiny mistakes.

4. The Title of Best-Selling Authors (and Five-Star Ratings)

Please bear with me as I try to explain this part. This is a marketing gimmick. Anthony Horowitz once said that he had never wanted to be the title of best-selling author because it gave him tremendous pressure that he have to produce good books. It is an honour which every writers aspire to be, but recently I see young authors getting the titles just by achieving a certain target in sales. The reason why I respect the veterans such as Stephen King, JK Rowling, Anthony Horowitz, Meg Cabot are because they have worked extremely hard to get where they are now, and I have been reading their works for many years now. I don't read them because they are best-selling authors, I read their works because they are interesting and fun, and makes me feel happy when I'm reading them (For Uncle Steve's case, thought-provoking. He is the King of Horrors after all. I cried at the ending of Cujo, still my favourite Stephen King book to this day.) 

Five-star rating is also another marketing gimmick. I used to think five-star ratings are good, then I came across an article saying how some five-star ratings are a sham. This person goes on to explain that if a book has many five-star ratings, you can't trust them. If you go through Harry Potter now, you will see that there's actually a lot of negative ratings besides good ones. Furthermore, I saw a lot of five-star ratings that says something like this:

"I haven't read the book yet, but I love the author so I'm giving it a five-star rating."

"Haven't tried it yet, just ordered it, but I'm sure it will be amazing."

If you are going to give a review, please get the product first, read through, then give your review. This is why I do not like Goodreads. Books that hasn't been published yet are getting five-star ratings because die-hard fans are just eagerly anticipating the books, or they think the book is already good (Spoiler: Before Cassandra Clare's Queen of Air and Darkness was out, I saw plenty of five star reviews. Once I got a copy of the book in hand, I was so disappointed with the book. Furthermore, 900- pages??? Cassie, are you trying to wear me out?) Kind of the reason why I never liked announcing a date for upcoming releases. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that there is no negative reviews at all. So if a book (or a product) has many five-star reviews, I'm wary. That's just me, okay? 

*The highest review (pretty much the only review I got) was a three-star rating which was positive. My next novel, which I didn't expect much, received a five-star rating which surprised me because I never knew this person, and they actually somehow got a hold of a copy of my book and actually enjoyed it, at the same time they gave me a brutal critique, which made me aware of where I needed improving on.  

5. Fanfiction

This one is up for debate. Some writers got their gig from writing fanfiction. What turns out to be fun turns into something that sounds like a warpath. People have been using their fanfiction as an original work to get published, which is terrible because the writers are unable to get profit from their original works. On the other hand, some people use fanfiction as a sort of alternative story, which is fun, and as a way to practice writing before starting their own works. Getting inspiration is fine, but be sure to give credit when credit's due. The incident regarding a fan, Jean Lamb and author Marion Zimmer Bradley is enough to put off fanfiction for life. 

• Source: Jackson, Gita (16th May 2018) It Used To Be Perilous To Write Fanfiction  

https://kotaku.com/it-used-to-be-perilous-to-write-fanfiction-1826083509 

Retrieved on 28th December 2020 

• Source: Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy

Author unknown, last edited 4 months ago 

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley_Fanfiction_Controversy 

Retrieved on 28th December 2020

*Notable mention: Paying to get published. Due to the internet, there is now such thing as called vanity publishing, or hybrid publishing. Basically, you pay a certain amount of fee to get yourself published, or pay to use the publishing label for the spine of your book. I went for the self-publishing route, which means I do everything on my own, my friend help me with the book covers. The only thing I have to pay was for my printing guy to use his service, which is fair enough. There is something you need to know, new authors, don't be desperate to pay to get yourself published, because at the end of the day, you will be giving away your rights. It's one of the reasons why I sought for traditional publishing, yes, although I do give up certain rights, at least I don't have to fork out an arm and a leg to get published. Furthermore, if you fork over your money and the party screwed you over, it's worse. Beatrix Potter actually went through the self-publishing route, and look how well she turned out. 

**On non-book related subjects, I'm going to say spicy food (the irony), makeup and earrings, the things that I really dislike the most... 

Top 5 Things I Like

1. Tokusatsu (特撮)

AKA Special Filming .When you talk about tokusatsu, people tend to think of the Godzilla, Power Rangers or in Japanese, the Super Sentai era. Tokusatsu doesn't just apply to Power Rangers, Kamen Riders and all those. Steven Spielberg actually considered Godzilla (A Kaiju film) to be the inspiration for Jurassic Park, which is why films like Jurassic Park fascinated me, because no matter how much digging I done, no one can tell how they managed to make the dinosaurs so realistic. I know Titanic is not considered tokusatsu, but James Cameron actually somehow managed to build the whole ship back to life, not to mention destroying it for the epic sinking scene. No CGI or special effects involved, just set construction builders and the original ship blueprints plan from White Star Line.   

2. Psychiatrists 

You're probably thinking, what??? I like psychiatrists because I think their job is one of the noblest, besides being a doctor. Because with the rise of mental health issues such as depression and suicide, psychiatrists are the one who try to intervene to help those who are in dire situation. Furthermore, they are working hard to try to abolish the stigma surrounding mental health issues. It's very sad that till this day, people tend to call those who have mental issues 'crazy'. This is the reason why people could never open up about their mental health in feat of being called crazy. As far as I'm concerned, only a mass psychopath or sociopath is considered crazy. For those with depression issues, they need help. 

3. Fish and Chips

It is hard to find good fish and chips, they are either too soggy, or the food is not fresh at all. There's a place near by that prides itself on serving authentic, British-style Fish and Chips, which I absolutely adore, and make it a point to go to the place once a month to avoid burning a hole in my pocket. An alternative to this dish would be lemon grilled fish and chips, which is yummy. Unfortunately, ever since a shop closed down, I'm unable to find a place that sells good lemon grilled fish and chips.

Lemon and herb batter ocean perch with triple cooked chunky chips and house made coleslaw @ Cor Blimey

*Food to die for: French fries, sushi, noodles and chocolate

4. Chess

I'm not a good chess player, just an amateur, but I find that chess helps calms me. Furthermore, it's almost like an extinct sports, because nowadays people don't really play much chess anymore, but due to my work, I never had time to practice the game, just play it for fun.

5. My job

If you have been following my blog for a long time, you will know that the bad tends to outweighs the good. You will often hear me complain or at my wit's end trying to convince people to get proper health care, but just like the doctors, no matter how much we feel frustrated and complain about our jobs, we love helping people, otherwise why would we be in this job for years? It's the same going for my writing. It's tiring, draining, and it doesn't pay (much), but it's something that I love. I hope I could write many more stories for years to come. And for everyone, it doesn't matter what you are working as, as long as you love your job, you will tend to see the good that comes out of it.

**Things that I also like: The smell of fresh paper, for some reason science says it tends to soothe your mind.

Since you came this far, it's time for you to roast my poetry (or proses). Keep in mind that I do not follow the traditional format of aa bb/ ab ab. I tend to freestyle. 

Source: Citrine Value, Price, and Jewelry Information

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/citrine-jewelry-gemstone-information/

CITRINE YELLOW

Citrine yellow

The many shades of sunlight

The serpentine eyes of the Goddess Tiamat

The luminous surface of a citrine quartz

Yellow had resembled of old gold

The light radiating in the sky

The dancing petals of a lone sunflower

Yellow, like drops of sweetened honey on a cool sunny day

The bitter juice of fresh lemon

Or the salty sweet taste of freshly baked corn puffs

Soft strands of angel's hair in shimmering golden yellow

Whispering in your ear with promise of desires

Like molten gold in a blazing fire 

Citrine had been known for its brimming prosperity

But even a plain quartz had its own magic properties

By the blessing of the Jupiter star

Evil, dispel into the light

~© ElayneCapahony, 9th November 2012

UNTITLED 

In the dark of the night,

The flutterings of wings could be heard.

Underneath the darkest hour,

The moon turn a bloody crimson hue.

The warmth of the heart beating with rhythm,

Sealed with a cold embrace and a vampire's cold kiss.

As I awake in the pit black dark,

All I see is a tall cloaked figure vanishing in front of my eyes...

And thus the nightsong ends.

~ © Saya Heartnet, 10th May 2012

Oh, the cringe. 

Source: FFVI - Opera House scene

Good thing I steered away from writing poetry and proses. Again, I would like to stress I do not dislike the whole thing in general, it's just not my thing. Who knows? Maybe somewhere along the line I'll come to love it again, till then, I'll just put those works aside. A friend suggested to me to collect all my rejected works and compile them into a book, I don't know, most of the things I wrote were really cringey. Some people write great screenplays, some people write great stories, some people write poetry, you know your strength.  

*Today's case: 1,594

Merry Christmas and the Graveyard Shift

Oh come ye old faithful.

After working consecutive nights, it's time for me to share my experience. Actually, I think I sprinkled it in between in a few posts but ah well, I'll put it up here properly.

        Working in the ward, you don't feel scared because the whole place is bright and you have your work colleagues with you, not to mention your patients. I'm not sure about now, but I heard that the current night shifts make the beds and do the bed sponging to avoid the morning shifts being overwhelmed by their duties, I don't know. That's what I heard. During my time, we update the night reports, check on our patients every 2 hours, check the DDA cabinet, update the inventory if needed... 

        The first few days, I'm not going to lie, was hellish. People claimed I was being paranoid, or worst, as a writer you are over imaginative. I wish, but this is the one time I was rightfully pissed off. The place was located in an isolated area, where it is tucked in a little isolated corner, where no one can hear you scream or hear you call for help. When the place was announced, to be honest, I was pretty freaked out. If we are talking about office hours, it's fine, but 24 hours, Good God in heaven. 

        Look, Miss Rona had impacted all of our lives, like it or not, she is here to stay for the next two years, according to most medical experts. Who knows? Regarding the vaccines, we have plenty of phone calls regarding it, but seriously, let's just be honest here. Even if it comes, you can't even get it because the Ministry of Health said it is to be given to those with the highest priorities. You can't just waltz in and demand for it, furthermore, there is no further news from the Ministry of Health or the WHO, so until then, stop speculating. When it comes, it comes. You're probably thinking what does the previous statement is all about. Well, everyone is struggling to keep their jobs, and some were unfortunate. Humans being humans, we do what we can to survive. A wise doctor once told me there are two ways to survive: Legally or illegally. The first option is we do things by the law and work hard, the second option needs no explanation. People will do what they can to survive, and this is a fact.               Working alone is never a good thing. The main issue as I pointed out was, should anything happen to me, no one will know till the next morning. I did a morbid joke on how I may be gone the next day and got an earful from my family for being insensitive. Yeah, it is pretty morbid. The simple short fact is you need backups in the event of an emergency, or say you need to go somewhere for a while. At least someone is aware of where you went. There is an event where I nearly got stuck in a washroom during the graveyard hours because, naïve fool I was, I assumed the washroom is just next door so I just went there. I didn't realized the lock had a problem to the point where I spent nearly fifteen minutes twisting and turning the lock till I'm able to unlock. By the way, at that time, my battery was nearly dying (I finished my power bank battery at that time, so from that day on, I made sure to carry a cable and adapter, along with an extra power bank with me). And I didn't know who to call, and there's no point hammering the door because I don't think anyone could hear me, so....Note to self, never assume. 

            Being a horror writer, people poked fun at me for being scared of ghosts. I am NOT scared of ghosts. I'm scared of someone sneaking up on me from behind and knocking me out cold, or garrote me, I don't know. Worse scenario, the R word. So stop saying I'm scared of ghosts. Of course people will often make light of the subject because it has never happened, but didn't we all learn by now: Better to prevent the things from happening before it happen. Once it happens, are you going to blame the victim for the thing that happened? It really made me furious to think that my safety was being played like a deck of cards. I had to fight to make sure that there are lights on 24 hours and a guard to occasionally check on us because at least I will feel a little safer than being isolated in a pitch dark isolated area. I was the first person among us to do night shift, if I don't fight now, what would happen to my colleagues who will be taking over? It's not fair to them. Don't endanger our lives just because things haven't happen yet. And as I have often stressed, it doesn't matter who you are: young or old, male or female, the moment you are an easy target, people will attack you when you least expect it. My friend was a victim of a snatch theft this year even though she wasn't dressed up for a dinner party. She was wearing T-shirt, shorts, slippers and carried those typical sling bags that isn't a designer label, but because she let her guard down momentarily, her bag got snatched. Of course she made light of the situation saying she didn't had a lot of money on hand but it is traumatizing. Who wouldn't be? I'll probably be in shock or something. This is why we need to stay vigilant at all times, and don't go out alone. Go with a partner at least.

            So yes, I sounded frustrated and furious, but there's nothing I could do but wander to a place where I could be safe. Don't worry, when you work in the hospital, you will be able to find places that will have people. I avoid the wards because I do not want to get mistaken for a ward staff and end up running all over the place for no reason. That's just me, but some people are so brave to sit up there alone. Oh, in case you're wondering, yes I am working the graveyard shift on a Christmas day, so no Christmas dinner for me. It's okay though, Christmas for me has always been the same. Rest, read, write. I usually listen to modern versions of Christmas songs such as Aly and AJ's Jingle Bells Rock, Jesse McCartney's One Way or Another, Hilary Duff's Santa Claus Lane and Last Christmas, notable mention goes to Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem's Jingle Bells medley, oh and throw in Jeff Dunham's Jingle Bombs and maybe a couple of commentary channels roasting Christmas stuff (I'm old school). I would've love to go out with my friend, but we are working adults now, and I do not want to give my friends whatever I may have. Hospital colleagues are fine with me, but for my outside friends, I'm scared for them, because I don't know if I may have Miss Rona because it is asymptomatic. The doctors said they may have it, I may have it, the only way to be sure is to do a swab test. None of that rapid test please. I've seen some people claiming that the rapid test is efficient, but most hospitals agreed that a proper Covid test results should take up at least 24 hours minimum to 48 hours.  

        On that note, God bless ye, Merry Hippogriff.  

*Today's case: 1,247 (Please, let next year be a good year)

Interesting Phone Calls I Received #2

4 consecutive nights, nothing. I'll just share my thoughts anyway. The first two nights was awful. Because even though I was promised that there would be lights and at least a guard to accompany me throughout the night, I got nothing. The department area was in an isolated place, where even I if scream for help, no one would come running, because you couldn't even hear me running. The department is located in a huge hall, tucked in a tiny corner right at the very back. Before the renovation, you could see us 'cause it's an open area. Now, you can't. I had to call the guards a few time because there was literally no lights. I can't tell you how scared I was, my heart was thudding so hard, and every little sound made me turn my head around. I didn't dare to sleep throughout the graveyard shift (The irony) in case something happens and I wouldn't be able to react. So I head over to the Operators' Room and the ICU MO Room to standby, because it is literally scary.

        "You're just being paranoid..." "You're being over-imaginative because you're a writer..." No, if my safety is being concerned, it is not paranoia, and it's not being over-imaginative. I even got a joke that says, "You're a horror genre writer, yet you are scared of ghosts?" For God's sake, I'm not scared of ghosts!!! I'm more scared that if I doze off (So far I haven't, thank God for that.) someone would attack me from behind and I wouldn't be able to escape, because I am at the fourth floor, in an isolated area. No one would come to rescue me, and I wouldn't be able to escape cause the place is pitch dark, and because there is only one way in an out. The department is basically a glass cube, when someone bangs on it, it's loud. I guess the only option would be for me to open the window and jump to safety, except it wouldn't work. You are working in a healthcare facility, they lock all their windows to prevent people from jumping. So I can't exactly jump to safety. The doctor made a morbid joke on whether you may die from jumping from the fourth floor. I recalled myself where I asked the same question to my lecturer few years back when we learnt about suicide as part of our class. According to the lecturer who taught me, the answer: "It depends how you fall..." I guess you could, seeing that the surface beneath us is concrete, just a little up is grass. If you land on the grass, you wouldn't get hurt that bad, because it is soft. I remembered a case where someone jumped out of a burning house and landed on their garden. They didn't get broken bones, just a few lacerations from the sharp stones. 

        "I worked alone in the wards/ ICU/ CCU. Nothing ever happened to me." Let me point out when you are in the areas mentioned, even if you are alone, the place is bright, and because you have two staffs minimum, or an assistant nurse. Don't give me that nonsense that you were alone. Wards are mostly split into two ends, so that even if you are alone, you will at least have another partner at the other end. My side, I have nobody. I was alone in a place where if I step out, it's total darkness. I couldn't see my fingers in front of me. I had to use a torchlight to navigate, which is straight up terrifying. So don't tell me you worked alone in those areas and you feel safe. 

        "But, you're in a hospital. No one would ever hurt you." I beg your pardon. Due to the pandemic, people are getting desperate. They wouldn't care who you are. If they see that you are an easy target, they will attack you. Everyone are now attacking you because they want to survive. It doesn't matter you're a guy or a girl. Once people set you on their sights, look out. Maybe I should get a katana and put it next to me...? It wouldn't work anyway. Forget it.

        I sounded angry from the above mentioned paragraphs. I am, because I am committed to work for you, and I will, but DO NOT EVER PUT MY SAFETY IN JEAPORDY. I do not mind the overtime and such, but if my safety is on the line, that is when I'm going to fight. Do not expect me to sit down and take it quietly. Safety is a basic thing, and it's free. So take it seriously. 

(After many complaints and requests, at least on my fourth night it was bright and the guard came to check on me twice in between hours. It's an improvement, but I heard from some of the other staffs that the lights sometimes get turned off. My advice: Call the Control Room (aka Security) and let them know. Please don't put your safety on the line.)

        Alright, enough morbid talk. Let's go.

Insurance

I don't know how this came about. This makes my toes curl in anger. Insurance had always been a sensitive topic to me because everyone's insurance is different. Furthermore, we are not allowed to handle insurance. The only one who has access are the staffs in admission and discharge. Callers and patients alike are now treating us like an insurance centre because they said we give advice. Yes we do, health advice. NOT INSURANCE. There was an incident where a man came and made a ruckus because he said we did not inform him about his insurance. I'm going to say this, your insurance is between you and your agent. The policy is also handled by your agent. I only know the general process. For outpatient visits, most insurance policies requires you to go to a GP/ Panel Clinic outside, get a referral letter and then only you are covered by the insurance. Most medical cards are only allowed when you are admitted. Some policy is on a pay-and-claim basis. Some even went as far as to push us to handle their insurance, sorry, we are not trained to handle insurance. Should anything happen to it, we can be held liable.  

DNA Testing 

This one sounds like we're in a soap opera. I didn't handle this call. My friend did in the morning. A caller called up to request for DNA testing for their children. My friend asked why, and she gotten some...shifty answers. Okay, fine. It's fine. It's a sensitive topic, so okay. My friend prodded the caller to try get some history. This person is calling up on behalf of a friend. Okay, who is the friend? The father of the children. Okay, does the mother requested for it as well? Immediately my friend got the answer from the caller saying that the spouse doesn't know. Oh no...My friend handled it well. She made few phone calls to the appropriate party and yes, we do DNA Testing, but we are going to need consents from both parents. Immediately the caller hung up the phone. Hoo-boy.

Special Orders

I took this one. A caller called up requesting for a vaccine. O...kay. I asked what for, they said it's because of an infectious disease. Who is the one has this? The father. When I tried to query further to get some background, I got an aggressive answer in return. "Why are you talking about my father? I'm talking about me." Alright, alright, alright (Say it in Matthew McConaughey's voice). I shifted topic quickly and because I wasn't sure if we do provide this vaccine or not, I informed the caller that I'll get back to them. I went to the wellness side and asked them do we provide this service. Yes, we do, but because we do not keep this vaccine in stock, we are going to need to caller to come in twice. First for the consultation and payment. Once the payment is confirmed, we're going to need to special order the item from outside. Once it comes in, only then we can special order the vaccine. Once I got my answers, I went back to call the guy. His answer: "Why can't I just buy the vaccine right now and jab it myself?" !!!!!! Do you think it's an insulin? I felt like asking him, but it wouldn't do me any favours. So I just explained to him that because it is a special order item, he can only get it through the hospital and the doctor will help give him the jab. Good grief, if it was that easy, I think most of us would be out a job by now.

Who Do I Go To?

Two calls are related to this, and I took them both. Both of the callers are nearly the same. One has symptoms of nausea, dizziness and neck pain. The other has nausea, dizziness and headache. The difference, the first one was willing to listen to my advice, that they may need to go to the emergency department because I couldn't pinpoint which is the root cause. The second one was unwilling. They refused to go to the emergency department because they said they felt fine, currently. Look, when it comes to symptoms like this and you can't find the main cause, two options: Caller A (aka Case A) did the right thing. They went to the GP and got a proper referral letter to a specialist so that they may avoid the Emergency. Fantastic. Caller B kept asking for a specialist, so I asked which one is worse among the three, they said it is the headache, so I offered the neurologist. They asked if they go to Emergency, will they be able to get the specialist? Yes, you can, ask the MO in charge to page him.

I Want A Chinese-speaking Doctor 

This requests comes in a lot. Don't be surprised. Refer back to my old blog post A Rant: Are We Going Backwards? because you know how I feel about this. I'm tired of people asking the same thing over and over again, not to mention some were talking to me just fine in English but still insisted on a Chinese-speaking doctor. I'll let you know right now: I do not care which doctor I see, provided: A) They are experienced B) They are respectful (meaning polite and friendly, not rude) C) We have chemistry. I can recommend you to the best of the best, but at the end of the day, if there is no chemistry, then there is no point.

I Already Have An Insurance With Another Hospital But...

We are getting this quite frequently now. First and foremost, do you ever consider all of your options before thinking: I want to travel to Singapore but now I changed my mind and want to see a doctor here? I know that people often think that our local healthcare is not great. Just stop right there, because it's the same old song and dance everytime. People never appreciate their local healthcare until they go out and realized how they miss things back home.

24-Hour Service -

I feel like when you have things that are 24 hour service, people tends to misuse things. It's how human nature works. I had a call on someone who is really testing the waters. They called at 5.30pm, after clinics are all closed. When they asked me what time do we open, I answered them honestly: 24 hours. That's when they went, "Oh, this means I can call you at midnight and you'll answer the phone?" I didn't want to be rude, but I had to put my foot down. I told the caller, in a way, yes, you can call us at midnight. But if you're going to call us at midnight regarding an appointment, don't you think it's super weird? Furthermore, the reason why we had night shifts is to attend to emergency calls. Please do not misuse the service just for something mundane, or as I call it, peanuts.

Fake Names and Numbers

I never understood this. The amount of people that called up and refuse to give their names and identity, even going as far as to give us wrong numbers and emails. Like why? What do you hope to gain? We are bound by our professional ethic code, and without your proper details, we are unable to key in your record into our system. Furthermore, what would happen if something will happen to you? Who do we contact? What do we do? 

Sorry if it sounds ranty but I'm mentally drained, not to mention busy working on a project. If you don't see me posting a lot, you know why...

*Today's case: 2,018 TTwTT

As the Year Ends...

 2020, it has been one hell of a ride.  Let's just admit it, this year had not been a good year. It was like a warzone. Miss Rona had really tested our ability to endure. Economy went crashing, people losing jobs...Not a good year. People were being unreasonable and impatient, shouting and cursing at us, saying that we carried the diseases on our uniform just because we work in the healthcare line, or that we are making big bucks because the healthcare industry is booming. I beg your pardon, everyone, including the healthcare industry is also suffering. Just because you see us still working doesn't mean we are doing well. We are mentally stressed and drained, some to the point of even being burnt out due to some stubborn people not taking isolation seriously. It's tiring, exhausting and once again draining. At times I have even felt like screaming and tearing my hair out, if it wasn't for my co-workers, doctors and friends who are keeping me sane throughout the whole pandemic. 

        I won't be posting as often because starting onwards, I'll be doing a 24 hour shift work. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I no longer have a fixed office hour job. Like it or not, we humans need to survive and persevere. I do love my job, but I haven't done night shifts in a long time so it will be quite interesting to see how things goes. Speaking of which, I noticed my post sounds quite depressing, so let me sprinkle a little bit of good things that did happen.

        As mentioned before, I want to thank my co-workers and doctors. Sure we do sometimes tend to make morbid jokes, but it's one way to keep us from breaking down from bad things that kept happening around us. If it sounds offensive to some people, I deeply apologize. My friends, who are not in the medical line, they check on me once in a while to make sure I am safe, some of them throwing encouragement on my work, whether it's nursing or writing. Here's a confession: I nearly gave up on my long overdue book because it's horror themed, because no one was interested in it, and I was accused of being in a Satanic cult (Do horror writers ever get accused of being in a cult?). I can see why some people might dislike it, especially during in a pandemic, but a good friend of mine whom I had known for many years slapped some sense into me. I confessed to her that I wondered if I should shelf the whole manuscript aside, and she told me straight in the face, "Don't think about what others think. Take your time, and just finish that manuscript. You owe it to yourself to finish the story." After pondering about, she is right. I am a superstitious person in a way that I sometimes don't like announcing on a book that I'm working on, because I feel like it could be jinxed. 

        I also finally did something that I should've done a long time ago. I finally plucked up the courage to block, unfriend and delete toxic people in my life (not just in social media, but in real life). Some people said I was being a coward, but you know what, I feel much better, as though a weight has been thrown off my shoulders. I know some people keep them in their friend list to show off that they are doing well as one way of coping, but for me, if you are being toxic in my life, arigatou and sayonara. I used to get really riled up whenever I'm talking about them, and a friend told me one of the best advice in my life: "If you don't like something or someone, you don't need to think about it or talk about it. Get it out of your life." It wasn't easy, but I eventually did it, bit by bit. I originally wanted to do a book review online, so my friend recommended me to read some truly awful books written by equally awful writers, which turned me off for life. At one point I wanted to write an essay regarding books that you should avoid or authors who are just looking for a way to make quick bucks, or cash-grabbing, but I feel like if I do talk about it, it feels like I'm giving them attention (If you want me to write about it, I don't mind, but I'll warn you that there are some prominent authors in the list)  

        I've been going onto Youtube and listening to a lot of podcasts lately, especially commentary and beauty channels. I don't wear makeup at all in real life, but I enjoy some of the beauty guru/ make-up artists talk because their voice is so soothing and relaxing. I do not enjoy watching influencers because some of them tend to suddenly start shrieking and screaming that it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Podcasts are usually fun because usually I'll get onto Spotify, let the whole thing run while I'm writing. Music is another which I need in my life, I can't bear losing my mp3 player which I desperately needed in my life. Thank you mainly to the J-Pop industry and Muse, and especially Gorillaz. I actually stopped listening to them at one point, but their latest songs from Sound Machine is really catchy so I'm back to listening to them. (I'll later make a list of artists I listen to...)

        Regarding writing, this year had really made me put my skills to the test because nowadays people are setting a limit on how much words I could write. You all know that I did a fifty-word challenge regarding the pandemic, which didn't work out, but surprisingly, my hundred and fifty word challenge for Halloween was picked up by an online media publishing company which was an honour, because I did not expect to win. I just wrote the whole thing in five minutes, spellchecked it, made sure it made the word count and just submit it without even thinking. Thank you Cilisos media, it was a blast writing it and having that email in my inbox. I feel like drawing once again, but writing takes up so much of my time till I don't even have time to draw, when this long overdue novel is done, I hope I'll be able to pick up on drawing again. Oh, I also want to give a huge thank you to Nichol for letting me edit her manuscript even though I have zero experience in editing other's manuscript. Doing for your own manuscript is one thing, but doing for others is a huge responsibility. I'm not sure if I did a good job on it, but I tried to keep it simple and to a minimum, because as an editor for an another author, I do not want to change the whole context of the story. My role is to just polish it and give it a few tweaks, because it is not my story to tell. Note to all editors, including manga-ka editors: Do not change the whole story drastically from the author please. This nearly drove Watase Yuu from creating mangas, so please don't. 

        In case you haven't known by now, I'm an otaku, so yes, I still do watch anime, read mangas, play the occasional video games and enjoy Japanese drama, especially Tokusatsu. Unfortunately there aren't many good mangas recently so I tend to stick to old school. Without further ado, dear readers, I present to you, the list:  

ARTISTS WHOM I LISTEN TO (WITH SOME RECOMMENDED SONGS):

*due to the extensive list, I only listed out the ones on top of my head, but I listen to a large variety

• ABBA (Chiquita, Does Your Mother Know?, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), I Have A Dream, Lay Your Love on Me, Money, Money, Money)  
• AIMER (Brave Shine, I Beg You, Last Stardust) 
• AiM (Ashita wa Atashi no Kaze ga Fuku, Days: Aijou to Nichijou, Itsumo Itsudemo, Keep On, My Tomorrow)
• Amalee (Indie artist who covers anime English dubbed songs) (Blue Bird, Brave Shine, Colours, Come My Way, Don't Think Twice, Every Heart and Fukai Mori (mashup), Face My Fears, Gotta Catch 'em All (feat. Natewantstobattle), Last Stardust, Moonlight Densetsu, Oath Sign, Synchronicity)
• David Bowie (As the World Falls Down, Chilly Down, Dancing in the Street (with Mick Jagger), Underground, Within You)
• Fall Out Boy (Beat It (cover), My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'em Up), Thnks fr th Mmrs)
• Hayashibara Megumi (Brave Heart, Northern Lights, Oversoul)
• Hiroyuki Takami (Believer, Justice, Wish in the Dark)
• Gorillaz (Aries, Clint Eastwood, Demon Days, Desole, Feel Good Inc., Last Living Souls, Pac-man, Punk, O Green World, The Pink Phantom, Tranz, White Light)
• KIMERU (Overlap, Starry Heaven, Timeless, You Got Game?)
• Kalafina (Ring Your Bell, To the Beginning)
• Kylie Minogue (Can't Get You Out of My Head, Come Into My World, Higher (feat. Taio Cruz), I Believe in You, Love At First Sight, Please Stay)
• Linkin Park (Bleed It Out, Breaking the Habit, Easier to Run, Faint, Hit the Floor, New Divide, Numb, Shadow of the Day, What I've Done)
• Michael Jackson (Bad, Beat It, Ben, Billie Jean, Earth Song, Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), Things I Do For You, Thriller, Working Day and Night)
• Miyazaki Ayumi (Brave Heart, Break Up, The Last Evolution)
• Muse (Assassin, Butterflies and Hurricane, City of Delusion, Hyper Music, Mercy, Newborn, Psycho, Resistance, Save Me, Stockholm Syndrome, Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, Time is Running Out, Uprising)
• Powerman 5000 (Bombshell, Show Me What You Got, Supernova Goes Pop, Supervillain, When Worlds Collide)
• Ruelle (Fire Meets Fate, I Get to Love You, Live Like Legends, This is the Hunt)
• S Club 7 (Alive, Do It Till We Drop, Gangsta Love, Never Had a Dream Come True, You)
• TETRA-FANG (Destiny's Play, Roots of the King)
• Taylor Swift (Blank Space, Look What You Made Me Do, Love Story, Shake It Off, Sparks Fly, The Man, You Belong With Me, You Need to Calm Down)
• The Cranberries (Salvation, Zombies)
• Utada Hikaru (Don't Think Twice (Chikai), Face My Fears, Flavour of Life, Hikari, Passion (Sanctuary) Prisoner of Love, Sakura Drops, Simple and Clean)
• Wada Koji (Butter-fly, The Biggest Dreamer, Target~akai Shogeki)
• Wagakki Band (Ignite, Senbonzakura)

*Honorable mention to composers Uematsu Nobuo (ojiisan), Shimomura Yoko, Kajiura Yuki, Hans Zimmer, Mark Mothersbaugh, James Horner and John Williams

AUTHORS (AND THEIR NOTABLE WORKS): 

• Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider series, Power of Five series)
• Benedict Jacka (Ninja duology, Alex Verus series*)
• Chris Bradford (Young Samurai series, Bodyguard series)
• Cornelia Funke (Inkheart trilogy and other notable standalones)
• Dante Alighieri (The Divine Comedy)
• Enid Blyton (I can't seem to find the name of the series, but I have the whole hardcover series. I Googled it and apparently it is called the Popular Rewards series...)
• J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter series, Wizarding World contents and spin-offs)
• James Dashner (Maze Runner series)
• Kathryn Fox (Anna Critchton series)
• L.J. Smith (Dark Vision trilogy, Forbidden Game trilogy, Night World series, Vampire Diaries series)
• Meg Cabot (Abandon Trilogy, Heather Wells Mysteries series, Little Bridge Island series, Queen of Babble Trilogy, The Mediator series, The Princess Diaries series and many other standalones)
• Michael Critchton (Jurassic Park duology)
• Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta series)
• Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike series)
• Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic series and other standalones)
• *Stephen King (Carrie, Cujo, IT, Salem's Lot, The Shining and other notable standalones)
• Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games series, Underland series) 

*Really want to read this series so badly but it is only available in the UK :(

** Uncle Steve has plenty of wonderful works, but some are downright depressing, so I won't recommend them all (If you do plan to read them, read them in the daylight). Cujo is my favourite out of his works, but it made me cry. It's about a sweet, friendly Saint Bernard who became rabid. I won't say more but give it a chance.

***Honorable mention to William Shakespeare, Nichol and Jenny Trout (The Boss series). Jenny, thank you for introducing me that not all erotica are awful. Nichol, I look forward to seeing what else you will come up with.

MANGA-KA (AND THEIR NOTABLE WORKS):

• *Higuchi Tachibana (Gakuen Alice)
• *Kishimoto Masashi (Naruto)
• *Kubo Tite (Bleach)
• Kure Yuki (Kin'iro no Corda)
• Takahashi Rumiko (Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2)
• *Takeuchi Naoko (Sailor Moon)
• *Toriyama Akira (Dragon Ball)
• Watase Yuu (Ayashi no Ceres, Fushigi Yuugi series)
• *Watsuki Nobuhiro (Rurouni Kenshin)
• Yabuki Kentaro (Black Cat)
• Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hakusho)

*Honestly, I have stopped reading their works a long, long time ago, but nevertheless, they did influence me early on.

**Honorable mention to Nomura Tetsuya, Nasu Kinoko (with Takeuchi Takashi), and Urobuchi Gen

If you have any recommendation, please drop it in the comments (This will be the one time I will leave the comment section, so fire away.)

BONUS CONTENT: 

*Nichol, this one is for you

FAVOURITE TV SERIES:

• Alex Rider 
• Angel
• Buffy 
• Charmed
• (Cormoran) Strike 
• Grimm 
• Shadowhunters
• The Rookie
• The Vampire Diaries  

FAVOURITE TV FILMS:

• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Jurassic World trilogy
• Marvel Cinematic Universe 
• Star Wars (original trilogy)
• Titanic (1997)

FAVOURITE GAME(S):

*mainly RPG games

• Chrono Cross
• Chrono Trigger
• Dark Cloud 2
• Dragonfable (online RPG)
• Final Fantasy (V, VI, VII, Crisis Core, VII Remake, VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII, Brave Exvius, Dissidia series, Record Keeper)
• Legend of the Dragoon

*Haven't been playing games a lot lately due to constantly writing

NOTE: Please do not recommend me any horror/slasher/ thriller films. Yes, it's an irony that I write in the horror genre but I can't watch the above mentioned at all. Believe me, I tried, ended up having nightmares and panic attacks after that.  

*Today's cases: 1,123 (Sigh...)