02/16/2026
It's been a while, but that's just how it goes with me lol.
I'm late to the party, but I still wanted to do a techo kaigi post! I'm one of those people with a ton of journals with different purposes. Although some have lasted years serving one purpose so I'm not really going through them fast. So here's my journal collection.
Planner - I'm reusing the Idea booklet and the cover from the Jibun Techo and switching out the planner part with a blank grid notebook I picked up from Daiso. I also printed out some coloring pages and kanji practice into it for a little something to do, but honestly I haven't made much use of it. The blank notebook is where I log daily activities and write down ideas I don't want to forget. The idea book is random notes from games, a list of devices, phone numbers, and to do lists. I experiment with that section to see what I find helpful and what ends up being better elsewhere.
Media Journal - This is new as of 2026. I've been struggling with how to keep track of what I've been reading and playing. I haven't been enjoying using online services like Goodreads because it feels impersonal. I was a Goodread user for years, but I feel like it's not something I visit that often and its always annoying to have to login...plus I basically always reset the password. I did try starting a digital journal with the Goodnotes app last year, but I don't do well staring at my iPad for long. Part of me longs to admire the pages so I feel like I can't just leisurely visit the journal when it strains my eyes. So I figure I'll just print covers of books and games every so often and keep the entries short so it's more of a collection and timeline. This is another small Daiso notebook. I debated including cd albums, but I decided it might be too overwhelming.
Common place book - I've been using this for some years now, its a smart ring binder from Kokuyo. It's the perfect mix of letting me rearrange info and still feeling like a notebook. I dislike metal rings in binders so this has been great. I mainly use it for taking notes from non-fiction books and personal health.
Tea journal - its another one I've used for years but I at times forgot about it. It's a place to stick the teabag packets or labels so I can easily look up what brands I've tried and how much I liked a flavor.
Thinking composition book - It's for thinking in writing, dumping my thoughts, and worries. Last year I had started this in digital but decided to buy a cheap notebook since its not something to really be polished or sentimental. I figure if there's something of interest I'll write it nicer somewhere else.
Hobonichi Cousin - I haven't actually used a cousin in years! I came across this when I was cleaning and I have only partly used it. I used to LOVE journaling and sticking pictures in it, but at some point I fell out of interest in doing that. I still am not too interested in doing that, but I was thinking of doing maybe a monthly entry and printing pictures to add into it for some sort of memory keepsake. I don't have instagram or anything like that so I do need somewhere to be able to look back on memorable life events.
My general preferences : grid paper, journals that lay flat, brown or sepia ink, I don't decorate much
Thank you if you have read this far! My health issues got me down for a while, but I'm bouncing back!
November was utter madness.
12/10/2025
Ugh, looking back at my first post I have done zero writing! To be fair I did start a job, but I only lasted two weeks. Turns out my fibromyalgia had zero intention of cooperating with a retail job. I was worried about that, but the amount of hurt I felt was more than expected since I’ve actually been doing quite well generally! Not to mention the overstimulation as well, its like I continued hearing the chatter of the long customer line and beeps of the scanner even after I leave. So than it plays into the pain issues by effectively reducing my sleep. I felt bad that I finally got a job and then it was just not going to work out. The place seemed okay, but it did suck that there were no real breaks and once I learned the register I was pretty much planted there and….stayed there 5-6 hours with maybe a few minutes to run to the bathroom. Then they basically did everything I had asked them not to do (I don’t want to work more than 5 hrs, not work late at night). I on paper would be there to a certain hour but ended up staying over an hour and a half sometimes because we can’t leave until the store is clean. Initially I did cleaning and stocking and that was much better. My body just feels better when I keep moving rather than standing in place. I FEEL OLD! *cries in millennial + chronic pain* Appreciate your health / youth where you have it. I wish I had more so before I began having fibro issues in 2023. I tell you its weird to have chronic illness and not look ill. At all.
I just got over the flu which pretty much hit me right after I was recovering from working retail. Finally I have my brain back. However, I’m quite drawn to computing subjects at the moment and I’m waiting on an sd card reader so I can try modding my 3DS! For the moment I’m just going to try to feel a bit more normal and I’ll decide what to focus on from there. I have been missing all my hobbies the past 4 weeks. I was studying Japanese, still dabbling in Comptia A+, writing, working on a virtual portfolio for my art, and who knows. This. I will steer away from retail, but I’ll keep looking for something more office-like.
On the brighter side, I am very happy with Linux Mint on my laptop. It has some quirks with my 2 monitor set-up, but the performance over Windows 11 is SO much better. I still have some software and games I need to attempt to run, but I’ll get to it when I am feeling up for it. I use a program from Dreamtonics which is akin to Vocaloid, but has no Linux distribution. There seems to be alternative ways to attempt to run Windows programs but it’s sorta wonky as some solutions don’t work for everyone. However if it doesn’t work that’s okay. I’ll just hold on to my stuff until I get a pc in the future that can run it again. The make or break for me was RPG Maker MV as I’m making my virtual museum project in there where my art hangs in a little museum the main character can check out. I’ll make a cool post about that sometime. Maybe someone will have interesting input since I don’t really have anyone to chat with about that. I know I’m mainly making it for myself as I always wanted a way to view my old work that doesn’t feel as lifeless as looking through a digital folder with pngs, but I’m not one to enjoy having my own art hang in my room either. A virtual museum feels like a happy medium that keeps it together and yet the experience of it feels novel in itself.
First Entry!
11/02/2025
--On the topic of creative writing.
So for a while I was wrestling with the idea of writing at Substack, but honestly I am turned off by the part that feels so much like fake networking. The notes on there might as well be tweets. I don't know, I've never enjoyed twitter. I used to like Insta, but it began to roll downhill as I realized it began to be a source of stress instead of being inspiring. It made me feel guilty for not being as productive as everyone else, not living life like everyone else, and I need to post things to prove ...well I don't actually know haha! I'll let you know I've been far more at peace since I deleted the app years ago. Admittedly I was lazy to close my account, but I finally did after running into old friends that asked 'what happened? I haven’t seen you post' or ‘Did you get my message on IG?’ How dare I not post, but it made me realize I should at least close it so people don't assume I'm ignoring them.
Anyway back to Substack.
I did post some short fiction over at Substack, but I haven't bothered going back after a few posts. I had to make sure my writing stays short and promote myself replying to random notes. 'Haha I'm new too!', 'Check out my first post!'. It feels so fake and it has the same follow for follow practice like other platforms. Yeah, thanks random, for pretending to read my blog that one time and I’ll pretend to read your blog. I mainly tried Substack since I'm struggling to find a job right now. Although it seems like the type of platform that will take a long time to actually make any money. I don't have any followers from any other places. I deleted my IG and an old wordpress blog from ages ago. I don't regret IG though. I'll at least make the effort for my short fiction idea. I do like that part and I can post it here if I can't bother with Substack.
However, I'm looking forward to focusing on drafting my novel during November. I finally found a decent strategy to write which has been my hurdle for ages. Not to mention losing my work MULTIPLE TIMES in the past. I was inspired by solo rpgs in my approach to drafting. When I saw that people kept light notes about their game play and when I tried it out it dawned on me 'this the method I need!' My thoughts go too fast so trying to write a novel feels akin to playing a MMO game with tons of lag. The NPCs and your party are leaving me behind because I was too busy trying to describe a scene. So if I use some shorthand and write without worrying so much about it sounding coherent at all to anyone else, I can get into the flow. ADHD is a weird hurdle in front of the most mundane things I swear. I'm doing this with a fountain pen and paper lol. My notes on world-building are digital as initially I thought I would be typing and these notes go back years. I was doing the solo RPG (Iron Valley) with pen and paper and I enjoyed it, so I thought it would suit my drafting.
I had started drafting in this manner earlier this year, July maybe, but I been pretty inconsistent. So I plan to really throw myself into it for November. I joined a challenge that Heart Breathing has since NaNoWriMo (National Novel writing month) disappeared for some reason. I don't know the tea behind that organization, but Heart has some inspiring videos so it makes it feel less alone in the effort. I do have sticky notes on a poster board for plotting, but I find in drafting, I made some turns I didn't foresee!
Hope you visitors are well and thanks for reading! If you wish to leave a message post in the guest book.
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