Despite the hell that we’re currently living at today, we still celebrate this country’s independence from another country. I have to admit that I do get a sense of patriotism whenever July 4 arrives every year, but this year, I begin to question myself with the word independence.

I know that I publicly show my fangirling over a J-Pop group for the last few months, but I also tend to stay in the reality by keeping an eye out more on Twitter¹ and read the current events that shape up the world we’re living in today. Every single day, people are getting killed unjustly, families getting separate to these “internment camps,”² and while we’re supposed to move forward, instead we are going backward.

Before, I used to show my patriotism of being a naturalized American citizen. This year, I question myself whether I’m really out of touch with the word “freedom” or did the meaning of “freedom” suddenly changed. We have a tweet-mongering moron for a leader and a huge group of clowns as the ones supporting him. I’m not a very political person, I’m not even registered to any party (but I am a frequent voter like any other citizen), but I’m pretty much in my own freedom and independence party who actually uses this now the rare thing called common sense. We used to have this in general, but all of a sudden, with this “leadership” that we have “running this country,” a lot of people who are blindly following them are losing it.

Anyway, this should be a somewhat positive blog entry, even though I haven’t been blogging as much as I used to before. Who knows when I’ll be blogging right after this one. 😅

Aftermath of the “Story”

Well, that conflict didn’t take long. He did come to my dad’s birthday party, and it seems that things have calmed down between him and the parents. Even though my sisters and I already know what’s going on, he still would not tell us himself. I think it’s because we are at a party celebrating my father’s birthday, plus he probably thought that the parents told us everything already. I decided to respect his wishes by not bothering him about it and just move forward.

I thank you all for your thoughts and comments on the previous entry. Sorry I haven’t been replying quickly as I used to. 😊

July 4th?

Do people nowadays don’t even remember the reason why there is a Fourth of July holiday? A lot seem to think of gathering at one’s house or at the park and do BBQ grilling and just enjoy the summer sun, while others are waving U.S. flags at a local Fourth of July parade is what this Fourth of July holiday is. I even remember watching a public survey interview at one of the late night shows here in which the interviewer tests average Americans if there is such thing as the Fourth of July around the world outside the U.S. I remember that it took about some 11-12 people to answer the obvious answer to that question until they got to an elderly man who specifically said that “The fourth of July is only a date on the calendar, so of course the fourth of July exists everywhere around the world.”

I think it’s time for these “average Americans” to visit the library and borrow a book about American history or watch some American history epic movies. Don’t ever call yourself a “real American” if you don’t even know general American history. Just saying. 😏

But, July 4th also means something to me as well. In Japan, July 4th is the date that MADKID‘s 2nd major single, Summer Time, will be released. You’ve seen the mv and heard the song from my one and only June entry. I already pre-ordered the CD from CD Japan³ and just waiting for it to arrive at my doorstep probably sometime later this week or next week. In the meantime, I wish that they’d make the singles available for purchase on iTunes and Spotify soon so I can add them on my car bumping playlist. 🏎💨💨💨

The bad news about July 4th? It’s a work day for me, so I don’t have a holiday. 😭

New(-ish) iPad!

No, I am not jumping ship to iOS. I just want an iPad. 😁

I want an iPad because I want to use and check out a lot of iOS-only available apps that I may find useful in my everyday life. I even started downloading a few apps that I already have on my phone, however, not everything’s perfect. I ordered a certified refurbished iPad 5th Generation (2017) from Wish with a really cheap price ($150). If only Amazon Kindle would simply just run Google Play alongside Amazon Apps, I wouldn’t have to revert to this. If you are wondering, there is no Google Play app available on the Amazon App store, even though the Kindle is being operated by the Android-based Kindle OS. Doesn’t make any sense at all.

I started becoming a lot more productive with my #100DaysOfCode challenge on the go with the iPad. I was able to download some apps that would help me guide my coding journey and being able to test out some Japan-only apps for a few tutorials here and there (later on this one). Anyway, I still use my Kindle, now mainly for eBooks and reading, but iPad for more productivity without the bulk of carrying my laptop with me.⁴

The iPad may be an old model, but it works like new and it’s got a good amount of internal space for that cheap price (32GB). I’m already using the following apps that I’ve been enjoying so far.

First, shout out to Pauline for introducing some of these physical and mental health apps from months before.

• Moodnotes – I love Moodnotes! Personally, even though I don’t have any form of mental distress and other mental-related issues, but it does help to release out the stress. I’m not committed to it every day, but I do take a few minutes off just to write out my mood and guide me to identifying what was making me feel so moody on that particular day.

  It’s like, when you start jotting down your mood and then go through all the guided steps, in the end, I begin to ask myself, “what the heck was I thinking all this time?” And then from there, I’m back to normal again and proceed with the things I need to do. It really is a good app.

  

• 7M Workout for Women – My current part-time job has a lot of physical work, so practically I’m working out at the same time. But I would like to start having a safe and easy workout routine at home when I get home from work (and after I have my lunch of course). I spotted this app from the App Store and decided to download it. I haven’t really started with it but I am planning to soon. I really want to shed a lot of the “extras” that have been stuck inside me for who knows how long, especially with my abs. Summer is my second to the least favorite out of the four seasons because I never felt comfortable and confident about myself whenever we’d have to go to the pool or the beach. I also want to keep track of what I eat too, and I started doing that as of late by eating lighter lunches after work. Another reason why I want to do this so that I can avoid myself ending up napping/sleeping right after work and then not wake up until in the middle of the night. It’s a very bad habit, I know. 😅

The rest of the apps are all for productivity, from coding to coding education to creating digital art (I don’t need Apple Pencil, I’m fine with a regular tablet stylus) to writing and blogging, as well as Apple Music and other iOS-only apps. I had to download Chrome in there even though there’s Safari. And of course, my fangirling essentials too (though I use my cheap Android phone on this one more).

I used to stay away from anything Apple before, but I finally took the gamble by investing on an iPad. It hasn’t disappointed me one bit. I can’t wait to see what other adventures I can go through with the iPad. 😊

Axcel Style (possible name/URL change soon…)

If you haven’t noticed, I built a quick informational guide site for new and current global/non-Japan-based MADKID fans (Axcels/AXLs) called Axcel Style. It’s linked on the sidebar menu just above my long-abandoned Symmetry health and beauty site. Oh wait… maybe I may revive Symmetry after all, once I started my 7m Workout for Women routine soon. Maybe.

The reason why I mentioned possible name/URL change is because in the MADKID Official Fan Club website⁵ finally revealed the English/romaji stylized spelling of アクセル. A lot have been spelling it as Axcel, some have been spelling it as Accel (from the word accelerate), and others, but the fan club revealed it to be AXL on the members-only portal.

I only opened Axcel Style for only a week and now I’m already pondering for a name/URL change so that it stays in sync with the fan club spelling. Some (Japanese) fans I’ve met thought that I should leave it as is, but I don’t know…

I made a poll for it on my Twitter. What do you guys think? The URLs I listed are the ones I can actually afford. Apparently, axl.style is a premium URL and it costs over $40/yr if I purchase it. No way I’m purchasing that URL that costs so much. But, what do you guys think?

And that’s all I’ve got for a “recap” of June. 😅 Happy Independence Day⁶ to all my fellow Americans there!

Till next time! 😁

On the sidenote...

1. I do follow local and international news Twitter accounts…. [↩]
2. what the hell is this, the 1940s?! [↩]
3. … only because I wanted the DVD that comes along with it— the Summer Time mv and the BTS/behind the scenes video to that mv. As a long-time J-Pop fan, I remember how Japan used to call “music videos” as “PVs” (promotional videos). They no longer call them PVs anymore. [↩]
4. I still love my laptop though… [↩]
5. I actually joined the fan club early June and everything’s digital including the membership card. That means, I have a URL to use for future live events that’s strictly mine… [↩]
6. refuses to just say “Fourth of July”… [↩]