30-Minute Warning XLII

Hello, Diary. What can I share here in under 30 minutes?

On the previous Minute Warning post, I wrote that many of my moments of 2025 have been happily memorable. After I wrote that post, I had more happy moments that happened in chilly Seoul. I had so many joyful moments there with my family… and there was a surreal yet happy point with someone. I have vaguely mentioned that on my previous Song of the Moment. Still, no Seoul trip details because I only have 30 minutes to write this post, Minute Warning posts don’t really have a proper flow, and, frankly speaking, I wanted to ramble on topics other than Seoul. For now.

Anyway, a few days after arriving home, there was a moment that led me to overthink with full force, and that spiked my anxiety levels. I wanted to elaborate on what was going on in my mind for people who were concerned for me… but I couldn’t. I had to deal with it alone. To solve this, I went to my safe space, sat in my favorite seat, drank some Earl Grey tea, and wrote more in my journal. Thankfully, that calmed me down, and I needed calm nerves for the next mission that would take place that weekend… a mission that would lead to happiness.

And then that calm turned into overexcitement, so I didn’t get proper sleep, and I ran on caffeine and adrenaline. But I completed my weekend mission, I accomplished everything on my checklist, and my heart and soul were on cloud nine after all that. (Though I admit that fragments of my heart and soul are still in Seoul because of someone.) Last weekend may be one of my happiest ones ever.

So, there… that’s why I have not been writing in The Diary lately: I was that happy recently. But don’t worry. The 2025 edition of 14 Days of The Deranged Writer will start this Saturday, November 22 (The Undertaker’s 35th anniversary, take note!), and I will blog for 14 days straight until December 5, my birthday. I’m pretty stoked about that!

And my 30 minutes are up. See you in the next post.

Ω


Header image: Alexandro David of Pexels. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

Updated November 19, 2025.

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 in a slambook where I write the recent things I have watched, listened to, eaten, or done.

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

Continue reading The Recently I

30-Minute Warning XL

It’s been a while since I had a 30-Minute Warning post, and I’m already drunk from an upgraded version of The Devil’s Cup, The Devil’s Float. And I quote “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, “What do you wanna talk about?”

Firstly, I want to talk about my recent trips to Satchmi, my favorite cafe. The past few weeks, I tasted my beloved affogato plus a different drink. I drank their house blend iced tea (my second go-to drink) and their iced chocolate, and both are refreshingly sweet. I might order the iced chocolate more often if I need a break from their caffeinated drinks.

I also tried their seasonal drinks (if I may call it that), a raspberry mocha latte and a sakura matcha. Both piqued my curiosity, so I tried them. (Not all in one night though.) The raspberry mocha latte is… let’s just say, interesting. (Sorry, I’m terrible at describing my food and drink experiences down to the tiniest detail. I should work on that.) Anyway, as for the sakura matcha, I’m not much of a matcha drinker, but… imagine a transparent cup with matcha on top and a sakura pink liquid below. Lovely, right? And the greater thing is that it tastes just as lovely. I applaud the barista who made this!

Speaking of pink, after so many visits to the nearest Converse store, I saw a pair of pink Chuck Taylors, and they’re also on sale! Yes, I know, I’m a man who covers himself in monochrome, but I also mentioned in the post “XVII: The Deranged Writers’ Favorite Outfits of The Undertaker” (my most-viewed Diary post so far), that “I love a pop of color on any dominantly dark or light design”. There’s nothing wrong with color in my life every once in a while, and I also need to update my wardrobe. Also, I collected Chuck Taylors before, but now the only Chuck Taylor pair I have is all black (which I adore). I want a new pair.

Crap, my 30 minutes are almost up, and I want to enjoy The Devil’s Float more, so I’m ending this post now. See you in the next post, and have a nice weekend, everyone!

Ω


Header image: Aidan Carney of Pexels.

Updated on August 28, 2025 at 1:52pm. Edits were made since I updated an old post’s title mentioned in this post.