The Recently I

Lately, I have been delivering longer posts more than ever, and I think that I’m doing a decent job of that. Not great; decent. But anyway, the reason behind the mini-surge of lengthy posts is that, after a few years of working in my current day job, I found the right balance between doing what I have to do (e.g., my day job, relearning my skills) and doing what I want to do (e.g., enjoying my fandoms, writing here on The Diary). That balance gives me more time to plan and contemplate, and then put them all to writing here in The Diary.

That being said, I miss writing quick posts, and I haven’t made a new blog series in a long time, so it’s time for the debut of a new one: The Recently. Think of it as a page from a slumbook where I write the recent things I have watched, listened to, eaten, or whatever I have done recently.

Now, let’s begin the first edition of The Recently.

Continue reading The Recently I

Notes to Self XIII

This post is a part of 14 Days of The Deranged Writer (2024 edition).


Last night, after a stressful but productive day at work, I started watching the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold on Max (formerly HBO Max). I’m so happy to have a Max account now, and it is refreshing to see a not-so-dark knight fighting evil with his fellow heroes such as Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, and Aquaman.

And then I stumbled upon the Christmas episode “Invasion of the Secret Santas!” This is perfect because it’s already the holiday season, and after reading the synopsis, I got excited about the team-up. So, I watched the episode, and in the middle of it, Batman (my favorite superhero) said something that went straight through my heart.

This is my 13th Notes to Self.

Spoiler warning if you have not seen the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode “Invasion of the Secret Santas!”

Continue reading Notes to Self XIII

Song of the Moment LIII: Coheed and Cambria’s “The Suffering”

I still have not reached my monthly blog count, and October will end tomorrow. Damn it, Deranged Writer. You need to force yourself sometimes.

Anyway, I’m still on a Coheed and Cambria sound trip, and I finally reached their third studio album and arguably their magnum opus: Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. It’s the first Coheed album I listened to in full and it’s still my top favorite Coheed album because of the entire record’s perfectly dark and epic rock and orchestral arrangements. I can also say that Good Apollo One (both the album and the graphic novel that ties into The Amory Wars story) is a major inspiration to my Deranged Writer persona.

Oh, man. I enjoyed listening to Good Apollo One again so much that I already listened to the album twice. I already listened to the Coheed albums Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow and Year of the Black Rainbow, but I’m going back and listen to Good Apollo One tonight.

As for my Song of the Moment tonight, let me share arguably Good Apollo One’s catchiest song and my second all-time favorite Coheed and Cambria song, “The Suffering”. If I were to introduce Coheed and Cambria to a friend, I would recommend “The Suffering” first and then “Welcome Home”, my number one favorite Coheed song ever. Or I would recommend “Welcome Home” first and then “The Suffering”, whichever comes to mind.

(Speaking of “Welcome Home”, I will definitely blog about it soon.)

The music video of Coheed and Cambria’s “The Suffering”.

That is all for now.

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