This is M‪.‬ Monomyth Media

Our first of many entries from Taiwan! Recounting a whirlwind week of delicious food, a great date, a close encounter with two vicious dogs, a day trip to Shifen for the Lantern Festival, and launching a new YouTube channel for my video content: Bland Companion. Life in Taipei is good!

One last entry before leaving for Taiwan, the various strengths of cinema and video games as a creative medium, the storytelling of the recent Celine Song film "Past Lives", comparing the storytelling of Ruben Östlund's film "Force Majeure" and Jonathan Blow's "The Witness", a hiccup in my plans to travel to Shanghai, and a final summary of my excitement for traveling to Taiwan.

Technical troubles upon launch, the profundity of Jonathan Blow's "The Witness", the rarefied air of creative insight, and the gatekeepers who shape the narrative of who gets to be labeled a genius.

Operating under the weather, a survey of the Safdie Brothers' films including Benny Safdie's co-creation of the television show "The Curse", planning to vlog in Taiwan, and Tolkien's lasting creative accomplishment despite "The Lord of the Rings" not being great literature.

Thinking through how to continue this personal journal while in Taiwan, possibly starting a vlog, needing to find a sustainable creative outlet, recommendation letters, a survey of the late films of Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, and Paul Thomas Anderson, the potential miscasting therein, and needing to stand up for myself in therapy.

Gratitude for finding a place in the world like Taiwan to return to, a discussion of Tarantino's late films and how they benefit from repeat viewings, an enthusiastic recommendation of "The Woman King" with Viola Davis, and Tolkien as world creator rather than literary genius.