Woo Young-woo, New Sketchbook and Summer Skincare

Picnic Journal Issue #22

Aug 22, 2022

Hello! How are you? Happy today, it’s going to be a good one. Totally better than that boring old yesterday.

It’s 6:30 am and I’m sitting at my desk with a hot cup of tea, reeking of soju. I drank last night for the first time in about 5 weeks… and oh boy do I regret it. Drinking is gross, why did I think I needed to drink? Now that I don’t work at a chaotic startup spending itself into the ground, I don’t really have a need to drink alcohol. I think I’ll stick to pouring grape juice and sparkling water into a wine glass.

Anyway, I hope you’re doing well. Even if you’re not doing well, it’s okay because you’ll feel better soon. It’s okay to just be, like, fine. I’m fine most of the time. It would be really freaky if you felt amazing every day. That’s just not sustainable. Please go and bore someone else with your daily positivity and turmeric shots, I’m going to go cry randomly in the middle of the day after seeing a video of a little kid getting a pet dog for his birthday. Thank you.

Park Eun Bin, Kang Tae Oh, Kang Ki Young, And More Are Co-Workers At A Law Firm In Posters For Upcoming Drama | Soompi

What I’m Watching

The theme of my TV binge-watching at the moment is ‘Strong Autistic Leads’…

Extraordinary Attorney Woo (이상한 변호사 우영우)

The final episode of Attorney Woo was released on Netflix this week which meant that I could finally start watching the show (I don’t like to be left hanging because I am a selfish child of the internet generation). As soon as the intro started playing I knew I was in love with this show. Excuse me, the whales need to STOP being so cute.

However… While I’m really happy to see more ‘inclusivity’ in K-Dramas, I do acknowledge that Woo Young-woo’s character kind of glamourises autism. She faces very little adversity in the show and at times her autism seems like an afterthought.

Don’t get me wrong though, I really love the show, the cases, the characters, the set, everything. It has all of the elements of a great K-Drama and will probably be rewatched by people for years to come. I just don’t think this is a show that is going to shift people’s prejudices in the workplace…

… but that’s not really why we watch K-Dramas, is it? We watch them to escape from our own realities and admire the poreless skin of perfect humans who have neatly ironed clothes and exceed their hot boss’ expectations and socialise on a regular basis despite having autism. So, relative to the other K-Dramas in this world, Woo Young-woo is groundbreaking and we love her.

The Good Doctor

I also started watching The Good Doctor but I don’t really want to write about it because I put all of my energy into Woo Young-woo. I like the show and I’m really glad I failed high school biology and don’t have to work in a hospital.

What I’m Reading

Crime Scene Asia: When Forensic Evidence Becomes the Silent Witness by Liz Porter

I picked this book up earlier in the week at Kyobo for ₩3,000 (~$3). It was on the sale table and when I saw it I thought, ‘Can I become a crime reader, is that who I want to be?’ I’ve never read a crime book before, I wasn’t sure if I would like it. So the $3 price tag convinced me maybe I could try, maybe I could be that person. My grandma was the biggest crime junkie ever. She had a poster that pictured every illicit drug in Victoria above her breakfast table. Oh, yes, I like crime books now. It was ₩3,000 well spent.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

This book is really boring and I will never finish it and that’s okay. It is a good time killer though so I have been carrying it around in my backpack.

What I’m Making

I bought a new sketchbook recently and have been filling it to the brim with random shit. I’m going wild guys. I forgot that sketchbooks should be hideous. They should be full of scribbles and mistakes and nightmares with a few cute things sprinkled here and there. That’s how you find the good stuff but I think Instagram made me forget this. The purpose of sketchbooks is for them to be garbage. That’s it. If I finish the sketchbook and I don’t hate myself after flicking through it, then I haven’t learned anything. Woah, am I being too negative in this newsletter? I don’t really have a lot of friends so I don’t know how much existential dread is socially appropriate. Follow me on Instagram!

I totally went on about how my sketchbook is trash and then added pictures of really cute paintings because I’m not going to share my trash doodles with you yet, I’m too frightened.

What is Saving my Skin this Summer

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

My skin was feeling a little bit blah this summer and I felt like I needed an extra step in my very simple skincare routine. I started using The Ordinary’s Niacinamide after my cleanser and noticed a big difference in my skin almost immediately. I feel like my skin is more glowy and bright but that could just be because I am unemployed and thriving. Side note, I bought this from Olive Young!

The 60 Second Cleansing Rule

I first heard James Welsh talk about this but I think it has been circling the skinternet for a while now. Cleansing my face for 60 seconds makes my face feel instantly reborn and it is such an easy and cheap thing to do. My skin feels really soft and clean and if I get lazy and cleanse for 15 seconds, I notice a difference. Imagine travelling on planes for 36 hours and then washing your body with a makeup remover wipe in an airport bathroom. That’s kind of what it feels like when I don’t use the 60-second cleansing rule.

What I’m Doing

Last week we went to see the new and improved Gwangwhamun Square. The area has been closed off since 2020? I think? and is finally open again. To celebrate the opening, the changing of the guard ceremony extended out onto the new square. Typically, the changing of the guard ceremony just happens within the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was an amazing thing to witness and I even got interviewed by SBS and got my big break into Korean television.