Hello, lovely people on various parts of the planet! I’ve been posting nothing but episode reviews recently, but I realized that there are a couple of things I’d like to bring up this morning.
#1 Happy Canada Day!
Happy 151th birthday to Canada. I regret to say that I don’t have any fancy plans for today. Adding maple syrup to my matcha this morning was about the only Canadian thing I did. Here’s my favourite Canadian recipe though, for those of you into baking: beaver tails! I can’t advertise it enough – it’s super easy to make. Also, you can make it a mealtime staple if you take out the sugar and cinnamon. I eat it like naan sometimes.
#2 Jon’s Creator Showcase
Yup, I’ll be your host for the month! For those of you who don’t know, this showcase was created by Jon Spencer @ Jon Spencer Reviews, and its goal is to feature the works of bloggers/creators/artists every month. More details: here. I made a Tweet today for those of you with Twitter to submit your works and tag some others (you can check out my Twitter here).
I do know that a lot of you don’t have Twitter, so if you still wish to submit a blog post from last month (June), you may link it in a comment below. It can be a post on anything as long as you’re proud of it! It definitely doesn’t have to be on anime.
#3 Small Update, In Case You Wonder Where I’ve Been
I’ve been posting 1-2 episode reviews a week these days, which is a lot less than I’d like to. I’m also very behind on any nominations/tags and on seasonal anime. The reason is mainly that I’ve taken four literature courses at the same time to meet my requirements when I thought it would be two courses per term. And since summer courses tend to be intensive, that boils down to 3-4 novels a week, not including supplementary articles (a lot of them…). And of course, I’ll have to write papers on about half of them (mildly panicking).
The classes I’m taking are fun: Victorian lit, children’s fiction, YA fiction, Canadian lit. Perhaps not at the same time next time though.

On top of that, I’ve started working part-time for my internship as an editor for an e-zine and a book project. I’ve been doing that for a while already, as I’ve mentioned once, but the difference is that I’ll be paid for doing work over the summer. My supervisor is really nice and is willing to pay me for distant work hours too, provided that I do work at home and keep a record of it, but anyhow, I’ll be a lot busier starting this month than I’ve ever been previously. I won’t be surprised if I have to go on a short hiatus at some point.
#4 Speaking of that Book Project…
The book is going to feature a local salon in Vancouver – not the hairdressing type – think Enlightenment and French Revolution type of thing. Apart from documenting the particular Salon’s growth and interviewing the people who participate in it, the book can perhaps be considered a study of how community works, and is an attempt to explore different potentials for it especially in its final chapter/section. And what’s more exciting is that I’ll be contributing a piece to it!
I’ll be writing about online communities, based on my own experiences and hopefully yours as well. Having introduced my supervisor to the world of blogging, I am now responsible for gathering thoughts from anyone who is willing to contribute. There is rather little commitment to your participation in this – I’ll be making a full post explaining it shortly, but all I really need from you are any of your thoughts on being a part of the aniblogging (or any corner of WordPress) community.
Potential prompts:
- How do people bond through blogging (and what is the nature of this sort of bond)?
- How does being a part of an online community impact you?
- How do virtual interactions compare to real life ones? Advantages of either?
- If you have the chance to meet your blogger friends, would you prefer to share the things you normally talk to them about with them in person? (Are online exchanges a second-best option to real life conversations?)
These are questions many of us already muse about on our blogs, but while we may each have some of our own answers, the online community we’re so familiar with is something that anyone outside of this niche can’t quite relate to as readily. Because I’ve heard many opinions in favour of real-life interactions over virtual ones (which are even said to be dangerous) in the process of putting together this book, I would really like to collect some of your thoughts on the matter and learn something about the nature of an online community myself.
I’ll probably come up with more questions later on, and make a Google Doc or something. Expect a post containing more details soon. Please do let me know if you have any thoughts on this (or suggestions on how to make this mini field study work best)!
Been on vacation…
Maybe I can try my hand at writing this? The computer I’m using doesn’t transfer pictures to WordPress so well, so I’ve been trying to figure out a good post that doesn’t use pictures. 🙁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very much welcomed! I have yet to figure out the specifics of it all, but I’ll let you (and anyone else) know with a post to come. You won’t have to write formal pieces or anything – small chunks of input would be fine.
And yikes, not having pictures lessens the fun in blogging…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Whoops…
I just cranked out a quick post over the course of a king size chocolate bar. (It melted, of course)
So I should delete that then?
XD
LikeLiked by 1 person
Woah, that is kind of impressive. Now that you gave it such an attractive description, I think I must check it out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in a writing mood anyway…
Unusually high amounts of sun have left me unusually aching for any chance to write.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, sounds like you have a lot going on! Best of luck, and congrats on what you have accomplished!
How do people bond through blogging is an interesting one. Personally for me, I started blogging due to a lack of real life friends who are interested in anime – so I thought, why not make a blog and just throw my thoughts online for all to see? I feel like blogging, while more anonymous & virtual, is more intimate in many ways because we can “plaster our thoughts” on the internet. I’ve written about things I went through on my blog that my own family doesn’t even know!
And I think that because we are able to basically write whatever we want blogs can actually convey a lot more than ordinary conversation may be capable of in many situations. As for bonds through blogging, for me, I feel like the bonds are built through mutual respect. I respect other people’s willingness to post their thoughts online, and I also feel as if I receive respect in the same way. A sort of give-and-take, we all provide and enjoy great anime content through each other’s blogs. When I read great posts, I hope that I can also provide enjoyment and value to other’s in my own way through my own posts.
Anyways hope that helps a bit and makes sense!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Yomu! It’s very nice hearing your thoughts. ☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
You really have a busy month ahead of you. Hopefully it’s all going to work out for you, and if you need to take some time of blogging that’s perfectly understandable. As for the project you are planning to do about the blogging community: I will definitely help. I will be waiting for the full post and then answer all the questions you have. All I can say is that blogging so far has pretty much been only a postive experience and the people that I have met are nothing short of awesome 😊😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Michel!! 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Blogs (and bloggers that run them) find connections through shared interests. The nature of this bond is sort of paradoxical in that we may not know the people behind the screen, but since the audience knows the person’s interests (and then possibly some other stuff, depending on how much the blogger is willing to share), there’s a special sort of trust between a blogger and their audience. Sometimes people share an intimate (possibly unfiltered) “self” online they don’t share with others in real life – I think that might be part of why the trust is so special.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I think that’s about accurate. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
Sounds like you have been busy Moya 🙂 Glad things have been going well for you and thank you so much for hosting the showcase!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still amazed that you’re taking so many courses during the summer… How do you do it, superhuman? Congrats on getting paid now, btw! Woooooooo~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you~
I’m managing all those readings thanks to the existence of audiobooks, haha… Can’t waste those bus rides!
LikeLiked by 1 person
OO SMART!!! I used to do that but just for fun hahaha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your field study sounds really cool! I’d love to contribute if I can. I spent years desiring these types of relationships and so id enjoy discussing them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I’ll post about it in a few days (maybe), and I’ll make sure to let you know!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes! Sounds like you have a busy time ahead!! I’m completely jealous of your courses, although I completely agree all at the same time is a bit much! I can’t wait to see your features on John Spencer reviews!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Courses are fun so far, but won’t be so fun once those deadlines start to hit, haha. I’ll be hosting Jon’s showcase on my own blog, and you’re free to link in your comment a post you’re proud of from last month!
LikeLiked by 1 person