3 years of maipenquynh

Mai Quynh on 14. October 2023

So my blog has reached kindergarten age – it’s turning 3!

3 years. Somehow not much, but somehow also something. By the way, I missed the 2nd birthday 😀

In the last two years I have published 38 posts, 16 of them in the second year and 22 in the third year. In comparison: In the first year alone there were 33 posts.

My topics

Not quite half of the posts in year 3 went for the monthly reviews. I have changed the structure of this category back and forth more than once. Sometimes including a review of my topics (photography, handcraft), sometimes excluding them.

On the one hand, these monthly reviews were a very good anchor for me to write, especially to write on a regular base. Besides, it’s a lot of fun to review the month at the end of the month. On the other hand, I miss writing stand-alone posts that revolve around a specific topic.

If it’s not a monthly review, then it’s usually about something related to photography or my photos that I want to present. Is the focus of the blog going towards photography slowly? I don’t know. I don’t plan to but if it’s the topic I want to write about the most, then that would be it. But honestly, I’m still hoping that other topics will also (re)emerge ^^

Time will tell.

My life as a blogger

I still don’t have a flow/routine in my daily life to create blogposts. Do I need one? No. But it would make things easier. There are steps I like and others I do not. And then I move the those I don’t like to a later timepoint but this also means that the go-live of the post has to wait until then. And then I huddle. Coordinating the different steps in a sensible way certainly makes it easier to create, that’s my opinion at least.

But I have a little bit of flow – I have a digital tool that helps me collecting notes and thoughts. In the meantime, I have changed my tool. It was Evernote before and currently I work mainly in OneNote. OneNote feels more intuitive and I really like working with it for the blog. In between, Notion was also a topic but I didn’t pursue that any further.

And every now and then the question arises again …

Why and for what purpose do I have a blog?

It still is a mix of self-expression, thinking out loud and being proud in public, and the desire for sharing is caring. A blog post helps me work things out. It helps me to take time to think about things in peace and quiet or to deal with the subject matter or to prepare things. Writing a blog also means creating at leisure.

Getting around in the blogosphere

This year I asked myself how I can network with others. How do I get to know other blogging people? How do I find them? The problem I have is actually time. The lack of time to browse and click through. And then to become active.

Vice versa, I also don’t know how many people read my blog. I do have a statistics plugin but it is very rudimentary (I can read the number of clicks and the pages clicked on, there is no info on the visitor). I’ve recently been thinking about lookng for a low-threshold „like“ tool because I know that writing comments is exhausting and sometimes you don’t have anything to say.

We’ll see what the new year has in store for me and for us!

At the end of this post, there is one small, fine and also very important thing I have to say: I am very happy that you are here and that you visit and read me. So a big and heartfelt thank you to you! 🙂

Here’s to another year of blogging!

Little life things. September 2023

Mai Quynh on 8. October 2023

September was golden. For the 5 km run which I had been preparing myself for, I had the best weather I could wish for. It was pleasantly warm, not too hot. I am very happy with the result: I was faster than my last 5 km run a few years ago. So the training paid off!

I also remember many other warm and sunny days. We went for walks in the vineyards with friends and enjoyed wine and white grape juice with the best view. Nevertheless, I notice that winter is coming. Even though the temperatures were pleasant, the sun sets earlier every day, announcing winter. Once I decided against the planned run because the route was too long for the late hour and I wouldn’t have made it back home before dark. But since I didn’t go running at all, one might think I was a bit lazy that day 😛

In September, I took part in a tea ceremony – or rather enjoyed it. The tea master prepared the matcha tea and we just watched and drank very consciously. In everyday life, tea unfortunately remains a quick hot drink but I like to be reminded that tea is much more than that.

Otherwise, September also comprised: a whiteboard finally hanging on the wall, writing a letter to a friend about favourite places in Dresden, getting to know mushrooms. September was full of big and small memories. September was good to me. Nevertheless, now I’m glad that the quieter October has arrived and I have a bit more time. And can do some preparations for the big holiday.

Since I’m posting my monthly review a bit late again, I had the opportunity to read from others‘ monthly review that their autumn was also very golden. Maybe October will just continue where September left off for another while? I hope so!

From my life. August 2023

Mai Quynh on 3. September 2023

For a very long time, August meant to me: 6 weeks of school summer holidays begin.

The other day, colleagues and I, now in our working lives, asked ourselves what we had actually done in those 6 weeks? Quite clearly: we dallied away the time. But how? We can’t remember and somehow it amused us that we can’t remember how we filled those incredibly long 6 weeks. And what would it be like to have off for such a long time at a stretch today?

My August was the extension of July, with weekends full of plans and enduring and enjoying the heat.

Two days in a row at the lake, with ice cream, reading, snoozing, a bag of sweets from the kiosk, chatting, cooling off in the water and a portion of chips with ketchup and mayo, tasted so much like summer holidays back then.

After more than 3/4 of a year, I finally managed to see Dresden again with all the familiar faces and corners. As in July, when I visited Ulm again, it was somehow strangely alien and pleasant at the same time to visit a place which had been the centre of one’s life for quite a while.

What my mobile phone photos also tell me:

I was at the DIY superstore and thought of a friend. We had talked about wanting to do things by ourselves to close small construction sites in our homes and at the same time we are still hesitant and afraid of doing things wrong. Whenever I stand in the main aisle at the DIY superstore, I always feel overwhelmed and feel lost. But I am stunned by the sheer possibilities, too. So, I’m still interested in getting to know one or another corner better step by step.

I harvested edamame beans and froze them. And while we’re talking of food and drinks: We went to a café at the end of the workday and started into the early evening with cake and cold drinks. By now, I feel more serene. Beautiful August.

How was your August? And do you remember how you filled your summer holidays?