nookish guest #1

this is incredibly brand new! but this is the very beginning of a monthly series in which i invite a guest to the newsletter for a few questions. this cast of guests are people who i truly admire and love to death.

for our debut, i’ve chosen my dear friend, hajin, someone i trust with all the books i’ve read because we are honestly the two sexiest readers in all of korea. no one else lit fics like we do! below is our interview:

1. Describe the view outside your window.

M Train tracks, a Mexican restaurant (“Zefe’s”) I’ve never seen open, and the faintest reflection of myself.

2. What’s your food of the month?

This salad.

3. What’s your elevator pitch?

   1. “I met her on Goodreads and her brain is as sexy as her ass.”

   2. “Well read but knows how to get silly. She’s almost an Online Person but has worldly experience that stops her a bit. And glasses.”

   3. “Hajin is the girl with a streak in her hair, all grown up, with the soul of a pubescent boy. She is fiercely observant, everyone’s friend crush, and many a male’s romantic crush. She reads and annotates the world as a book. She may be sweet, but she goes for the kill. Banter is her God.”

4. What are you reading now?

I’ve been slowly nibbling through Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Robert Bolano’s 2666 is up next!

5. Current obsession?

The NY Times crossword (just the Monday one), bangles (scanning eBay for the perfect one has become my go-to infinite scroll), and playing Fishbowl with five to seven friends.

6. What have you been dreaming about?

I can hardly remember my dream dreams anymore, but I can tell you the content is always really boring. No flying dreams, no exotic fantasy worlds, no nothing! I know my brain is trying to organize the day’s events but geez can’t I at least get a celebrity cameo in here? In terms of daydreamy fantasies, I’ve had a vision of myself alone on a beach at night à la Hong I have yet to fulfill!

7. What song(s) has best represented your mood for the month?

As a dog returns to its vomit, so I return to Everything But The Girl’s Night and Day at the end of each summer. It’s subtly sad in the same way the fall is; the sun sets a bit earlier every day and then BAM! It’s suddenly October and you realize that’s what 6 pm looks like now - a lurid expanse of deep blue that fills you with an indescribable sort of sadness only a language like Japanese or German could precisely capture. (See also: Saudade, Mono no Aware, and Weltschmerz).

8. What’s something you’ve learned this month? Or what’s a mantra that you’ve implemented into your days?

Every(ish) day I wake up with the existential realization that “I am 26.” It’s not meant to be self-pitying, more of a koan that propels me to be the best version of myself. Like say I’m pushing off an email, I think to myself: “What would my idea of a 26-year-old do” and then I try to do that. It’s so dumb but it actually works.

you can find hajin at:

also, please check out her articles here:

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