A Blog Without a Topic

(This blog is the English translation of this week’s primary blog, which was originally written in Spanish.)

Well, it’s been a while since I wrote a post in Spanish. Last month I was studying another language, Toki Pona, a very simple constructed language (or ‘conlang’). It was a mini challenge that took me four weeks, and in the meantime, I didn’t do a lot of work in this language.

After that challenge, I’ve returned to Spanish, and now I really want to keep going. In truth, I got a little burned out with Spanish. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the language or anything, but this project was getting monotonous. A week goes by, I read some books, I watch some videos, I write a blog but I don’t say anything, and I wait for the next week to repeat it.

Toki Pona was a refreshing break, and I’m feeling so much better this month, but with that said … those issues with this blog haven’t gone away. I still feel a bit burned out when trying to write a blog, and I still feel like there;s nothing to say. Another week passed, the same as last week.

But, well, that doesn’t mean I don’t like this particular project, it’s just that I’m not sure what to do. Should I keep going, reminding myself of the fun stuff and ignoring the boring stuff? Or, on the other hand, should I change everything? I can cut out elements from this project and just write every two weeks or every month, maybe there’d be more to discuss if I did that. Or I can stop writing this section of the blog most of the time and just post the numbers. I’ve thought both options from time to time, but any sort of change makes me feel disappointed, especially when it comes to these blogs. I think this practice is good for me, and I don’t want to quit simply because I don’t have much to say each month. And on the other hand, I don’t want to just write Spanish posts and nothing else.

All of this leads me to a compromise of sorts. Next week, I’ll start a new schedule, maybe permanent or maybe temporary, to ease some of the stress I feel from weekly blog writing. I’ll write only the numbers and the recap. The following week would be a complete blog, with a topic, numbers, and the recap for the month, so I won’t be dropping this project, but I will have less work to do. The week of September 8 will only have the numbers and recap again, and then a Spanish entry. Two full entries, and two without topics. Sounds like a plan? Great.

This plan may change between now and then, and if something fascinating happens, I’ll write about it, but it already makes me feel less nervous and stressed, and I haven’t even started it yet. I think I need the break.

Well, let’s see the numbers for this week.

Tuesday 8/11

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 2% of El Ojo del Mundo, various subreddit posts, ~90 minutes + 10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, 1 episode of La Zona Cero, 1 episode of Arte Divierte, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Wednesday 8/12

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 2% of El Ojo del Mundo, various subreddit posts, ~90 minutes + 10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Thursday 8/13

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 1% of El Ojo del Mundo, various subreddit posts, ~60 minutes + 10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, 1 episode of Alfrely, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Friday 8/14

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 2% of El Ojo del Mundo, various subreddit posts, ~60 minutes + 10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwllius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Saturday 8/15

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: akesi seli lili, ~10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, ~150 minutes

Sunday 8/16

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: akesi seli lili, ~10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Writing: ~1000 words written, ~90 minutes

Monday 8/17

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 1% of El Ojo del Mundo, akesi seli lili, ~60 minutes + 10 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Gravity Falls, 1 episode of Daniel San GMR, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

• Total Duolingo: 140 XP, 0 minutes
• Total reading: 1/10 books read, 360 minutes + 70 minutes (Toki Pona)
• Total watching/listening: 8 YouTube episodes and 1 television episode watched, 450 minutes
• Total Writing: 1000 words written, 90 minutes
• Total speaking: reading out loud, 150 minutes
• Total Time: 16 hours 10 minutes

A normal week. El Ojo del Mundo is treating me well and I think I’ll like the Wheel of Time series. It is a long book, however, and it’s taken me a long time. I might take a break to read a different book before reading El Despertar de los Héroes. On the other hand, maybe not, because I do like this first one.

I finished a very long stream by Kiwillius and went back to Gravity Falls. There’s a new season of Aggretsuko coming out soon, so I’m probably going to leave Gravity Falls again, but I already know I’m fickle. What can I say? Retsuko is my spirit animal.

I kept working at Toki Pona for a few minutes each day, and this week I bought a book, akesi seli lili. I wish I had found it last month, because it’s a bit simplistic for my current level. If one day I decide to put together a guide on how to easily learn Toki Pona, I’d include akesi seli lili.

Well, I think that’s it for now. I’m going to work hard, but not too hard. My birthday’s this week, after all. I’m out, TTFN.