Just for Fun

After mixing up a jug of apple juice and tossing in some strawberries, now I’m just chillin’, drink in hand, reading Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in Latin to play around with pronunciation. Classical Latin’s just been on and off for me, more of a light interest than serious study.

I’ve pretty much forgotten all the languages I tried learning on my own, but I don’t regret any of it. My brain does, but I don’t. So yeah, deleting half my memory was step one in finding my brain’s favorite flavor.

This Is What I Live For

My best friend’s like a walking library, basically a know-it-all, but I mean that in the nicest way. But flip the coin, and I’m the noisy recorder in the corner, throwing out “why, what, who, when, where” like it pays the bills. Just felt like scribbling down some thoughts today. Just brain burps, I guess. Probably because I’ve been bingeing all these rapid-fire street interviews online. I’ve watched way too many, I’m answering fake questions in the shower. 😂

Dearest lil’ genius, I Used to Avoid Math Like Veggies

Ugh okay, you win. You lit my math brain on fire. Well, guess what? I’ve got something fun brewing for you. Watch me flip science, especially physics, into a “bet you didn’t know that” kind of game, and we’ll race through geography, from countries to languages to cultures, like kids on a gummy bear hunt. Oh, and thanks for the chocolate cookies. I guess you’re my favorite again. Mwahaha!

The Versions I’ve Been

I: We barely talk. Whatever that’s supposed to mean these days. You know what I think now? Maybe I stopped writing because being alone didn’t drain me like opening up did. Maybe I’ll write again, maybe just so the noise inside has somewhere else to go. We shift just to keep going. Or to stop breaking, I guess. Some days I don’t even know if I’m drained or just at peace with the heaviness.

II: There was a time I got scolded for not knowing how to tell time. Now I can’t just say what time it is, because I end up explaining how the whole clock works. That’s how I process the world now. I didn’t exactly sit down one day and decide on a passion. It started with a simple question, “Why?” Then came “How?” And the more I asked, the less content I found in the answers given. So I filled in the gaps myself. I’d always thought that way, but I didn’t realize it until later.

 

III: Every now and then, I catch myself laughing, like why did I even like half the stuff I used to? Back then, I must’ve been picking things blindfolded. I mean, come on, who was I trying to be? A lost cast member from Romeo and Juliet?

The Happy Mess

Just in a Curious Headspace Tonight
Treated myself to some Chinese food earlier, then grabbed a waffle and dunked it straight into vanilla ice cream. Now I’m casually diving into the quirks of the human mind. And because I clearly don’t sleep on time… I’ll be playing around with a late-night Mandarin sesh, just enough to sauté my brain cells before I turn into a sleepy potato.

The Brainiac and The Goofball
Once or twice, I entertain the notion that someday someone will read my scribbles and be like, ‘Yo, smarty pants, I think we’re kindred spirits!’ Funny thing is, I actually found one in Harvard Law School. 

Maybe I wrote for someone to find me, but surprise, surprise, I ended up finding someone else instead. : )

Not Today, Sweetheart

I had the urge to write today, but my to-do list just laughed and waved at the 1,135 folders begging for attention. Each one’s a love letter to my inner nerd: educational content in science, math, and geography, general knowledge interviews, and whatever’s happening on Earth today. But my favorite? Observing the human psyche.

More next time. : )

My Brain Speaks in Symbols

This Is Pretty Much What My Brain Sounded Like as a Kid

You know, I never really had a favorite teacher. Teachers tried to teach me, but I had more questions than answers.

Books are kind of my default when something sparks my curiosity. Still, answers aren’t served on a silver platter, so I usually have to dig through a bunch of pages before it really clicks. Seems like I’m all about that brainstorming and puzzle-solving vibe.

Sometimes I feel like there’s a whole archive in my head, and I’m just wandering around with a flashlight.

Here’s the quirky twist: there’s a tiny brat of a guard inside my brain. It ditches logic and chases after whatever’s fun. The bratty brain’s motto: ‘Fun first, info later.’ Remembering stuff is like negotiating with a brat who’s just not in the mood.

There's also a watchful guard with a built-in drama radar, zapping the nonsense before it even shows up. It’s a pretty simple system: if it’s fun, the brat’s all in; if it’s heavy, the watchdog slams the gate.

The Evolved Pokémon Version of Me 🧬⚡

And now, decades later, with slightly better taste and the same curiosity…
let me tell you what I see.

You speak of teachers, but I see you were never looking for answers. You kinda dreamed of someone who’d geek out over space and trivia with you. You say books are your go-to. But I don’t think it’s books you love. You like the no-noise part, don’t you? You get to wonder, wander, and figure things out on your own terms.

If your mind feels like a maze, it’s ‘cause you weren’t made for shallow thinking. That flashlight? That’s your attention filter. A mental bouncer in shades going, ‘You? In. You? Nope.’

That brat and that guard? The brat is your Id. The guard is your Super-Ego. Psychiatrically, that’s your emotional regulation showing off with metaphors.

Beta Iya Talking to Her Upgraded Software

👧Hey, so… are we still obsessed with space stuff, or did we move on to overanalyzing human behavior?

🤖Both. We just learned the stars are easier to understand than people. The stars operate on predictable laws, like physics, chemistry, and astronomy. People, though? They believe things they’ve never bothered to question.

Because Life Is Never Just Serious

Random Arm-Chomp Attack by My Little Sister 🤪
In the middle of our deep talk about her high school goals (she’s just a sixth grader, by the way), she just bit me without a second thought. No heads-up. Just chomp—right in the arm hahaha

 

I’m Basically Her Human Google for “How to Screw Up”
I kinda wonder if I missed my chance to be a child psychologist, or maybe I was meant to be the teacher who made kids laugh so hard they forgot they were learning. I don’t regret how I spent my younger years. I like to call them life lessons, cleverly disguised as screw-ups. Basically, I made my awkward moments into bedtime stories, me playing the fool, and my little sis as the giggling crowd.

 

Flexibility Is the New Superpower
So I’ve been sharpening my brain with puzzles for the past few months. Some days, I’m just having a good time, other days it feels like quiet training for the mind-twisting novel I want to write.

Lately I’ve been watching tons of Chinese whodunnits. They’re clever, a little twisty, and somehow calming. Chinese feels like the final boss of languages I want to master. Saving that for another time. Right now it’s all about getting ready for Cambodia. There was a time I thought I might end up in Thailand. Turns out, I like being the adaptable type.

Meet Elyza Vinz

I still remember you fighting back tears
when your ‘trusted’ friends ditched you like it was nothing.

Honestly, you didn’t lose them.
No, they lost a once-in-a-lifetime find.

Trust is handing them your whole heart.

The right friends treat it like gold,
not toss it around for fun.

No one I know carries innocence like you do. When your little bunny passed away, you talked about him as if he still sat right beside you. I still remember you watering his resting place like you were checking in on an old friend. That’s not something you’re taught, it’s just how you are.

The moment your teacher asked for help, you gave up all your cash without a second thought, and that’s some serious cash that’d have everyday earners straight-up shook. Me and your grandma just about fell outta our chairs, hahaha.

Oh, and when I told you the housekeeper snagged mangoes from the neighbor’s tree, you just blurted, ‘Isn’t that stealing?’ like you were ready to bring out the handcuffs. You’re super good at figuring out what’s okay and what’s not.

And I swear, when your classmate tried to hit you, I was like, ‘For real?’ Striking a black belt on the head? That’s like challenging a calculator to a math contest. He just wrote his own embarrassment.

Still, even with how much smarter you are in every subject, you don’t look down on him when the teacher roasts his grades.

Not only that, you were the only one who stood up for him when your friends joked about his skin color.

Elyza Vinz, you’re exactly the friend everyone’s lucky to have.

Just Our Everyday Vibe

About a month ago, my 11-year-old sister popped into my room and said, “What do you think about me starting a business?” and I’m like, “Cool, I’m building a chip for my brain.” We both laughed. Totally normal sibling conversation. We tell each other the crazy stuff we keep zipped around everyone else.

We ain’t blood-related, but trust? That’s what feels like home. I told her if I screw it up, she doesn’t need to stick around and fake it. I threw this example her way, “How many sips of poison before it does its damage?” She looked at me like, ‘Dang, makes sense.’

Unless, of course, she messed with the trust line... I’d roll over, nap, and then ask if she wants ice cream. Have I ever lost my cool with my little sister? That’d be the same day pigs fly.

World Talk Over Boiled Eggs

So I was watching this intense story about Gaza and Israel, all serious world-issue mode, when I noticed, oh, it’s lunchtime, time to boil eggs.

I headed upstairs and sure enough, Tatay was already halfway through lunch. Right on the dot like always. While waiting for the eggs to do their little hot tub session, he casually starts dropping knowledge about Israel, Iraq, and Iran. And I listened, really listened. I love these moments. I really admire how smart he is. The way he talks, you know he’s done the research. Tatay dismisses hearsay, preferring sources, and insists on double-checking everything.

Funny how much I’ve picked up just by hanging around him.

And here’s the plot twist: yesterday, I had a chat with my little sister’s Taekwondo coach. He name-dropped a Chinese businessman and spoke highly of him. I nodded, then casually added a different take, pointing out some of the man’s flaws too.

He popped another question, “Why teach in Asia? Why not just Europe?” I didn’t hold back. I simply shared what I knew, backed by solid research. I wasn’t the type to speak up before. I usually avoid debates unless there’s ice cream involved. Tatay’s the reason I learned to back up what I say, not just guess.

So yeah, watched a bit of global matters, boiled some eggs, took Tatay’s wisdom straight to heart. Not bad for a lunch break, eh?