Amy Do Nguyet Anh

 Can't say that I was surprised to get Covid, considering how many flights and trains I've been on. It still sucks that the very last leg of the journey was not according to plan. oh well! Thank you rapid tests from Germany.  Technically the first day of quarantine was yesterday when I did the rapid test. It was stressful as I mis-read the results initially and thought I was negative. Then when the faint red line started to appear I had to rush to a clinic to confirm the results. Poor my sister had to see me while I was unmasked.  Anyway today I woke up early because I was still somewhat jet lagged. I emailed people at the office that I have Covid and will be staying away for a while. Then I binged the entire 2.5 hours of this Japanese show called "My beautiful man". The lead actor is indeed very beautiful. Then I did my finance updates to see how much money I have left after my shopping spree in Sweden, and I un-packed and re-packed my loot so that I have more space ...

 Wong Kar Wai's  2000 movie touched me deeply. Even though I am not in the mood for love now, I feel a sense of closeness to the characters that I can't explain. I have never been in their situation, and I don't know how I would act if I were them, but the way they are portrayed, the mixing of emotion and daily mundane chores, their emotional intelligence and refrain, all come together in harmony. Perhaps the aspect I love the most of the movie is its ability to make small spaces look beautiful. I grew up in an aging city where people cram into small apartments, small houses. The alleys that we see in the movie are also there in my childhood. I still have dreams of navigating the winding, dark, unattended alleys. But Wong Kar Wai uses these unappealing places as a setting for the beautiful emotions that arise between the leads. Suddenly the memories of my childhood that I consider to be ugly and abandoned, come to life with vibrant colours, dazzling patterns. I also loved t...

Virginia Woolf's classic feminist text has been such a great motivation for women in the past century. I am so glad that I live in a time that benefits directly from the struggles of previous generations of women's rights activists. I get to freely read works by so many female writers since then who have been given their own room to produce work. Some of my recent favourites are by Patricia Collin Hills, Jean Rhys, Elena Ferrante, Madeleine Thien, Souvankham Thammavongsa etc. to name a few. I can also vote, rent an apartment in my own name without needing a husband, earn my own money, have my own bank account, travel by myself freely whether it's walking, biking, taking the bus or plane or driving unsupervised, have multiple blogs, buy my own jewelry, be single without criticism etc. There's still so much that oppresses women in our society, but I feel much freer than those in Little Women or Middlemarch.  For me in the last year or so, the most liberating experience ha...