20-Minute Warning III

Start time: 6:18pm.

I’ve gotten used to observing the Monday ritual for months, and not even rain can stop me. (Unless flooding stops me from stepping an inch away from my home.) And tonight, as usual, I didn’t skip the ritual—affogato, Novamachina, and all.

Before that, though, I needed to buy acne toner for my face. A few years back, during one of my mentally roughest periods, I also had the worst breakout. I was proud of being pimple-free before that, and the breakout didn’t help my mental health at all. But because I was also a stubborn piece of work, I continued my skincare routine, hoping that it would work over time. It took some convincing from my Younger Brother and feeling awful while looking in our 20-year-old mirror for me to finally ask the dermatologist for help, and she gave me the best arsenal against those pesky pimples that I still use to this day. Nowadays, when my face is attacked by the occasional zit, I just sparingly use the benzoyl peroxide lotion, while I regularly use the rest—acne toner included. Thank goodness for my dermatologist; she is heaven-sent.

Moving on, I’m back at Oversight with my favorite affogato in the whole world, and I’ve been contemplating one of my plans for December. As of now, a part of that plan is truly feasible, but the rest seems like a long shot. Unfortunately, sometimes things don’t go according to plan… but like I said, I’m a stubborn piece of work, so I will work around the feasible part of the plan. Sometimes, we just have to play with the cards we’re dealt.

I only have one minute left, and frankly, I’d like to work on a few drafts, so this is it for now. See you in the next post.

End time: 6:37pm.


Header image: Raka Miftah.

20-Minute Warning I

Start time: 6:35pm.

So, what can I share in under 20 minutes?

Heavy rain has almost reigned in the metro for the past several days, and that makes me nervous because it reminds me of Typhoon Ondoy and the monstrous flood it brought to our country. The flood control situation improved somewhat when a new, better administration took over the city, but our place is a bit lower than the main street, so the heavy rain still brings foot-level floods at worst. It also doesn’t help that people keep throwing garbage everywhere, especially in the drainage. Come on.

Because of the intense weather, I had to cancel a hangout with a friend I haven’t seen since our high school graduation. While the cancellation hurts a bit, I don’t want my friend and me to get stranded outside our homes. We can just reschedule on any other day this month.

Speaking of schedules, I’m pretty excited about my December plan because the most crucial part of it is about to start, and it’s only August! I just need to clear out one important detail before my cohort on that plan can get the ball rolling.

I’m pretty ominous about December, huh? That’s the point.

And my 20 minutes are almost up. See you in the next post.

End time: 6:54pm.


Header image: Animesh Srivastava.