Such an adorable start! I’ll post the reviews when I’m done. But so far, it is such a beautiful and lighthearted read.
books
Chronicles: Volume 1 – Bob Dylan
Read if you’re:
– hoping to delve into a mind of a musician
– wondering how genius happens
When Art Really Works – Andy Pankhurst, Lucinda Hawksley
Read if you’re:
– unsure how beauty expresses itself through art
– in need of a crash course on masterpieces
– in love with art but don’t know where to begin
Escapism, Privilege, and Reading
Hello! How’s everybody doing? Hope you’re all doing well… or at least coping enough to get by.
I went to the grocery store to get supplies because I’ve been thinking of making Japanese Cotton Cheesecake for weeks now. Anyway, when I did get the ingredients, I decided not to bake. Looks like the cream cheese will end up on my toast instead. Hehe.
Metro Manila dramatically changed over the past few months. It’s unsettling. Poverty is unsettling. Privilege makes me feel guilty. I’ve been working remotely since January, I quit my job in the academe because of my ‘promotion’ (or lack thereof). I started working in a startup and saw how an employee deserves to be treated. Not everyone can leave a dead end job. I‘m in a constant state of guilt and paranoia – oscillating between toxic positivity and impending doom.

So why didn’t I bake? Because I picked up a book and read. I’m still reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. I think it’s been a month since I started reading it and I’m still at chapter 4. The pandemic didn’t help my reading habits. It completely ruined it. I guess, it’s just one of the small things that went down the drain. But I’m trying. I’m listening to the audiobooks while arranging my island in Animal Crossing. Which reminds me: you might want to add me. Here’s my friend code: SW-0443-0198-5228.

After a few paragraphs of Le Guin, I picked up my Switch and played again. It’s one of the few things that make sense right now. I mean, I know that it’s starting to become unhealthy. It’s the purest form of escapism right now that has the least potential to harm. But still escapism nonetheless. But you can escape with your friends. Hihi. That’s the best part.
Let’s pretend the pandemic isn’t happening as long as we have adorable background music.
Reading gives me the same feeling. Or at least, it used to. My reading habit went downhill when I started looking at it from an academic point of view. During my undergrad in Physics, there was a clear demarcation line between leisure and study. I love literature but I’m also working hard for my MFA degree, where does leisure begin and academics end? I can’t read anything without thinking in terms of ‘how can I write like this?’ or something like ‘how can I use this structure in my work?’
So there, what used to be an escape for me became something I am escaping from.

Please take care of yourselves! Love, Dyne 💜🥺
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Read if you’re:
– ready to go into the rabbit hole
– tired but willing to escape.
The Ideas Book by Kevin Duncan
Read if you’re
– working on your next big project
– part of a team that needs a creativity boost
The Secret Life of Equations by Rich Cochrane
Read if you’re
– ready to dive in the fun side of math
– looking for truth in the simplest terms
Rainier Maria Rilke and Mario Vargas Llosa
Read if you’re
– tired of yourself making excuses
– not pushing yourself hard enough
Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings
Read if you’re:
– up for a visual and literary journey
– desperate to find the light at the end of the tunnel
Accidents of Composition by Merlinda Bobis
Read if you’re:
– aiming for beauty after the storm
– looking for poetry in science
– looking for science in poetry