The return of the comeback

At least now I'm sure this newsletter's name is accurate 😂

Hi. (Photo by Miriam Pereira on Unsplash)

Talofa (‘Hello’ in Samoan) and welcome to Semi-Online #26.¹

Well… Life happened, I’m still disabled and on work hiatus, and my physical and mental health were burnt several times over by June 2025. So I stopped writing anything online for a while and paused all works-in-progress indefinitely. Makalat pa rin ako on Instagram and Threads, though. 😉

Progress!

I’ve made some positive and not-makalat life decisions this year, so this year wasn’t a total washout.

First: I quit drinking alcohol back in February 2025. Apart from four light craft beers back in May 2025, I’ve stayed sober since. (How can I say no to ube- and mango-flavored beer?) I haven’t been alcohol-free for this long–maybe not since my teens or twenties, and that’s several lifetimes ago!–and I really miss my beloved single-malt whisky sometimes. But my heart, liver, and vestibular system are very thankful for the sobriety. I also marked five years of no cigarettes last June, after 21 years of smoking up to a pack of Marlboro Reds per day. I intend to keep both hot streaks going in 2026 onward!

Second: I’m also reviving the old book blog. Man, I haven’t made an editorial calendar in a long time!

Third: I still haven’t stopped writing for myself. After decades of spotty journaling habits and taking multiple years to finish single notebooks, I surprised myself this year with these books inked from first page to last page and last line:

If I’m going to be obsessed with journaling, affordable fountain pens, inks, nibs, paper, and photo printers, and spend money I really shouldn’t spend on them, I’d better be really productive with it, right? Kailangan ng ROI! 😂

These personal rules helped with my massive brain-to-paper dumps:

1. Don’t worry about who can see these books and how my honesty and memories can be (mis)interpreted. Just get it all down in writing!

2. Use old travel photos and even random photos and screenshots as writing prompts. I was really surprised by what came out and what details and emotions stuck with me through the years and decades, and how some of my older photos can still be relevant to me today. Next year’s mission: to learn how to draw.

3. Go against my tendency to reuse old journals for future articles, newsletters, stories, and essays. Self, alam kong mahirap ang buhay and content is life. But please don’t mine your own material for money!

4. Repeat to infinity: Personal canon can differ from actual, hard facts. Accept the latter, revise the former, and move on.

I’m definitely carrying this habit over to next year onward, too. It was great to hear my voice again instead of being overwhelmed and drowned by everyone else’s. Plus, therapy is fucking expensive. 🤷‍♀️

Not-so-social media

Which brings me to this particular misnomer, something I’ve already discussed before but seems to be even more prevalent now.

I think retreating into my own mind and going back to paper was good for me. Then and now, there are too many platforms, too much scamming and grifting and doxing, too many people making too much noise, too much to raise hell at, too much rage and outrage, too much misinterpretation and misinformed responses, too much private data being stolen and sold and weaponized, too many trends to ride on and forget, too much of being advertised to and being talked at.

I’m exhausted. Aren’t you? Humans were never meant to hear everyone yelling into the abyss at the same time, nor can we instantly comment on and rage at and contest everything to prove to others that we truly care about things, people, and events. At this point, self-preservation is much more important to me than loud and public involvement and others’ opinions. I’m choosing my battles and choosing wisely.

There are now also more reasons for others to yearn for large chunks of offline time. Among them: rampant disinformation and social isolation/disconnection, influencers plagiarizing others’ life stories for clout (the FUCK?), AI slop EVERYWHERE plus using AI for misinformation campaigns and crimes, and governments weaponizing internet access and demanding account access to cross immigration borders.

I know the world has always been this mad, especially for us in the Global South. But I’m also always genuinely surprised when we as a species find new lows to hit.

Some questions + New online habits

In recent months, I’ve read about others taking the same routes I did: disconnecting and taking up ‘old-school’ hobbies, and shifting to private messaging and chats–and decidedly not sharing anything on main social media feeds anymore, whether in public or private mode. This last item, I also see more often now in my own friend groups.

There have been more drastic responses, like trying to disappear from the internet altogether (1, 2). Going 100% offline appeals to me sometimes, along with just decamping and resettling like a person with White privilege and without all the visas and racism and pesky neighbors. Like so:

But I know I can’t fully disappear online or relocate to a better-off colonized land on a whim. And I’m not seeing anything specific I can apply to my own half-in, half-out circumstances. Like:

1. Because I’m disabled and I can’t meet up with friends in person all that often: How can I maintain solid social ties without having those ties feel superficial or lacking because they’re primarily online? Better yet, how can I meet new people and still have control over my physical and sensory SSCD triggers? Isolation is self-protection for me, but my social life’s utterly shot to shit.

2. Because I work online/remotely: How can I (re)build productive work habits and not be sucked back in by inane time-wasters?

3. Because I am in the Philippines, a.k.a. the social media capital of the world: How to ease my usage when literally most of our population is staring at screens all day, every day?

I’m also tweaking my content consumption habits and sources to minimize temptations and disruptions:

• Using dedicated apps (i.e., Meco for email newsletters; Feedly for blogs, RSS feeds and Substacks)

• Silencing all notifications for social media and messaging apps, or deleting them from devices altogether

• Using word and phrase filters–Instagram, Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky all have them

• Unfriending those who aren’t really my friends now, say, elementary/high school/college classmates I haven’t seen since graduation, colleagues former and current whom I don’t really like, random relatives who ask me for money every Christmas season ☠️, and former friends who treated me badly and haven’t apologized for their crap

• Unfollow icky influencers, most sellers/retailers, and celebrities. I mean…

Consider this a call for advice. Let me know what works for you! 😘

Random stuff

I had my decade-old Pilot Kakuno fountain pen painted with a favorite book character! Gotta love Murderbot.

Contact Sisters Studio if you want your own pens painted.

I also said goodbye to Spotify after 11 years and moved to YouTube Music. I think I’ll write about streaming again next year (because this piece deserves an update!), so the full pros and cons of this move will be in that newsletter.

In the meantime, here’s what I love about the latter that the former doesn’t have: NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts.

Apparently, the stuff I grew up with in the ‘90s is now prime horror material—and now called ‘analog horror’. The horror! 🤣 Channel 10 - Manila doesn’t allow embeds, so a link will have to do.

And still on YouTube, its algorithm served me several Live feeds of old Anthony Bourdain shows. This one showing A Cook’s Tour episodes is fun to watch and bittersweet:

And because it’s peak holiday season here–I always say there are only three permanent things in this world: death, taxes, and Ms. Polly’s chocolate cake. I’m so happy to see her get her flowers 💗

Thus ends my proof of life. Happy holidays to those who celebrate, and I’ll see you again next year! Treat yourself and others well, and make good life choices 🎉🎉🎉

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1. For non-Filipinos wondering about the title: here’s the corny reference. It’s also a light jab at my habit of going silent for long periods. You’ll get used to it.