Earlier today, we went to the hospital for Rey’s doctor appointment. For the past week, Rey has been having cough, sneezes, and mild fever. We usually let the illness on its own for three days along with some paracetamol and vitamins since that’s how virus usually works. The illness, however, stuck for more than three days, so we decided to check it with the doctor.
What we didn’t predict was Rey seeing the doctor appointment as an opportunity to dress up.
There are good books, and there are books that made you react like this.
From what I can remember, there were two books that I have read in my life which make me react exactly like how I illustrated above.
“Maus” (Art Spiegelman) and “The Handmaid’s Tales” (Margaret Atwood).
And now, it comes down to three books: “If Anything Happens I Love You” (Will McCormack, Michael Govier, Youngran Nho)
And no, the books are not not good. The books are fantastic, emotional, and they exude such strength which pulled you in and you are left with uneasiness on your gut because you know, you know, how the stories are not that far from our reality. You are faced with letters and pictures in front of you telling the truth and the horror, and you feel nothing but the immense urge to throw and slam the book down because you know the words inside it stepped a little bit too close for comfort.
I was in Kinokuniya Suria KLCC when I saw the book “If Anything Happens I Love You” at the lower shelf in Young Adult section. Children’s and Young Adult’s book section are my favorite area. “When the story is too difficult and too much for adults, make it for children,” some said that. Well, actually Guillermo del Toro said that in an interview with a Tiktok user. I forgot the link, and Tiktok UI/UX is a nightmare.
The book started with death.
Everyone talks about the day I died, which is a shame.
I love how the book does not glossed over life and death, and it just — wham — straight to the point. The book, however, celebrates life in all its glory through the eyes of death and talks about grief. At least that’s what I can take as a summary between me trying not to do ugly crying at the bookstore and having my eyes blurred from the tears.
It’s a story about a little girl named Rose. Rose had a wonderful family — her mother, her father, and her cat named Arnold. Math was her least favorite subject but her Math teacher, Ms. Rivera, was her favorite teacher.
Then one day, Rose died.
I was hoping they were fireworks, and then we realized what they were.
That’s when… … All the curses popped out inside my mind, you know. All the expletives went like a flood. Something bubbled, and I almost threw up.
I want to throw this book because it’s that good. 10000000/10. Must read.
So, what’s new? I had my birthday, that’s a start. Nothing super fancy, though. The four of us — my husband, me, and our kids — rarely celebrate our birthdays with parties. It’s always a 6 AM birthday song with a cake and our sleepy faces and bedheads. Sometimes, we had a day trip to amusement parks or a nice lunch or dinner at an upscale restaurant, but most of the times, it’s always us looking for noodles because noodles represent longevity.
We also have another Animal Crossing player in the house. It used to be me and my son, then my son decided to delete the game because “it’s too boring.” My daughter got her brother’s Nintendo Switch Lite, while my son got my Nintendo Switch — a pretext and an excuse for me to buy a new Nintendo Switch. And no, not the OLED version. I am still preferring Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing design.
My daughter got hooked up on Animal Crossing in no time. She always watching me play, and she’s really happy she can finally play the same game like I do. My son, looking at his sister and his mom playing Animal Crossing, decided that “it’s high time for me to return to Animal Crossing” ?
The kids visited my island, and we had a blast. We took a visit to Brewster cafe to chill and drink coffee.
The year 2022 is coming to an end, and 2023 seems like another episode of uncertainty. I’m leaving you with some digital wisdom from Kapp’n and Pascal.
Nindya’s quick blurbs
Saw this site mentioned the other day on Slack: neocities.org.
Scroll down and you will see “Featured Sites”. Never knew it brings back early 2000s, and it makes me so, so happy.
