A Quick Sherb I Drew For A Friend 📖🥀

When I joined Engineering, for the first time, I found myself to be, academically, just an average person. Below average, in fact. With no other talent, academic prowess was my only source of pride - now even that was gone.

Predictably, when my first semester grades came, I rationalized that since the grades were not outstanding, it did not matter if they were decent or absolutely horrible. I call this an ‘all or nothing’ mindset.

As a result, I stopped caring and my grades kept slipping.

And all my sins are catching up when I'm having to apply for an internship or job interview. I'm having constant anxiety.

This all or nothing mindset is pure evil. This is why, when things are not going well, we totally give up instead of fighting to redeem whatever is possible. It is why we wait for the New Year to make resolutions instead of getting started the next day - ‘After all, since this year is imperfect, why bother at all?’

This is why we give up on our dreams when we suffer a setback. This mindset is just an excuse for procrastination.

Life is not a black and white choice between ‘perfect’ and ‘imperfect’; most of life is grayscale. We don’t have to be perfect - we just have to do the best we can, under the circumstances.

Spotlighting another campaign this week.

@mahmoudkhalafff reached out to me on my personal blog to spread awareness for his fundraiser to get his eight family members out of Gaza. The need €30,000 and their fundraiser is currently at €24,590 as of August 23.

They are #151 on nabulsi and el-shab-hussein's Vetted Evacuation Fundraiser spreadsheet.

There's only €5,410 left to raise, let's get them there!

Taking a breather

Sometimes I feel weird identifying as aromantic AND polyamorous, because people act like it's somehow impossible, but, like...I really love the label aromantic, because I don't feel like I experience romantic attraction the same way as allos.

I don't consider romantic attraction important in a relationship at all, because I just don't really seem to feel it very strongly? Like, for me, an intimate partnership is grounded in being extremely good friends, being willing to care for each other emotionally, and building a life together. Romance doesn't have to be a part of it at all, but I'm not, like, repulsed by romance most of the time, so sometimes I'm cool with romancey-type stuff.

But, like, it's just not vital to me. But I like having multiple intimate partnerships because it feels comforting and stable not to rely solely on one partner for everything, y'know?

So anyway, shout-out to all the other aromantic polyamorous people!!! We exist, damn it!!!

writer’s block

Start watching The Eighth Sense, you won’t regret it I bet. I know if there’s color shenanigans yet bc I’ve been too lost in the sauce regarding everything else in the show (the direction, acting, chemistry, BGM, cinematography, story, VIBES) to pay attention. So far there’s only 2 episodes out, and it looks ridiculously promising!!

@mineonmain, you wanted me to watch the show that begins with this scene accompanied by a heartbeat

Only to slowly disintegrate into this scene with an ambulance siren?

You want me to watch the show that then cuts to Jae Won clearly sitting in a therapist's office next to the fish tank which is going to represent the ocean he probably hasn't been back to since his HEART WAS BROKEN AT THE BEACH?

Cool. Cool cool cool.

Super excited to find out how Jae Won's brother died or disowned him. Even more excited to observe how Jae Won's emotions continue to get masked by different elements in the shot, or how much dark clothing they can put on him compared to Ji Hyun's lighter colors (blue) because everyone needs balance

Glad the baby gay is flexing a little gay muscle with his rainbow light

And super glad this is going to hurt me in a very particular way

Because a show sponsored by IKEA and energy drinks can only cause me unimaginable mental damage, no?

And a show produced by a company with "moonlight" in its name will hurt me regardless if it has a happy ending or not because historically, queer media associated with moonlight, like 2016's Moonlight and 2023's Moonlight Chicken, will always strive for maximum emotional angst.

Thrilled that you recommended this.

Ecstatic.

[puts several things in my coat pockets] inventory