Hey friends 👋🏽,

It's been a slow week for me. I've just begun my clinical rounds in the anaesthesiology wards, which means I'm rotating in the operating theatre every other day. This leaves me plenty of free days to finally catch up with my endless To-Watch list and some old friends. I did not publish an article this week, so I thought I'd review some of my latest entertainment consumption. Don't worry, there are NO SPOILERS in these reviews.

👻 Show: The Haunting of Bly Manor

I don't watch a lot of horror shows, mostly because I think they're not very entertaining, so when I invest in one, I often require proper convincing and have unreasonably high expectations in them. Even then, I often resort to minimising the screen and curbing the volume way down (If you can't already tell, I am a little bit of a scaredy cat).

I absolutely loved this series' predecessor (The Haunting of Hill House), whose cast was majorly rolled over from. Something about the brilliant plot and breathtaking storytelling captivated me, and guided me to see the genre from a completely different light. I entered this show with high expectations, which was partly why I found it quite underwhelming.

I thought Bly Manor boasted a plot that was much harder to follow and decipher, which greatly reduced the culminating 'aha moment' in the series' final twist. And apparently I wasn't the only person not to get it the first time around. Nevertheless, I thought it was still a fantastic representation of the Horror genre, rocking a solid plot in the grand scheme of things that didn't rely so much on jump scares and sinister crescendos — a plight most Horror films struggle with.

👩‍❤️‍👨 Film: 500 Days of Summer

I've been really itching to scratch this one out! A nice and easy film to follow that did not involve the conventional romantic drama framework. Tragic and beautiful at the same time, it encapsulates the concept of love in all its naked truth.

📕 Book: Catcher In The Rye

A very slow-paced book that I found somewhat annoying. I thought the plot was intentionally made rather flat in the beginning to accelerate mid-book to evoke contrasting moods, but it stayed flat to the very last page. I appreciate Salinger's work, though. I always appreciate work, but I can't say I liked this one.

🎶 Other things I've been enjoying:

1. Series: Inside Bill's Brain on Netflix
2. Song: I Love You Baby, I Love You Doll, by Parekh & Singh.
3. Book: Where Does It Hurt by Jonathan Bush
4. Article: 15 Reasons Why I Will Get a Covid-19 Vaccine by Andy Slavitt

📖 Quote of the Week

"When there is a problem, take it up with the person who is responsible. If you address it in a roundabout way, through other people, out of fear of upsetting the person and your relationship, then the problem becomes more complicated. Go straight to the source and deal with the person directly, even if this makes you uncomfortable"

From The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim. Resurfaced via Readwise.

🐦 Tweet of the Week

@adrnjonathan

I just discovered that I have a very real problem with inactivity, which disables me to properly write a day off for fear of unproductiveness. This idea may sound completely stranger & preposterous to some, but it’s something I really struggle with.

7:12 AM · Dec 12, 2020

Connect with me on Twitter 🐦

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Have a blast of a week! 🥸

John