Friday
Exhausting week! I took on part-time moonlight editing work from an old colleague in Los Angeles.
I haven't accepted extra freelance work in years, mainly because I didn't need the extra money and I was exhausted from doing double duty in 2021-2023 when I was finishing my degree while still working full-time (both were remote).
However, the opportunity now is quite welcome. While it was awesome to be able to get a job in my field in Taiwan, the actual work isn't a boost to my career or for future job prospects, as it's a lot of video supporting my job's website and their online presence. On the other hand, job offers and postings I see online for video editors are usually for editing ads, with experience in UGC and AI.
This is what I did in my last job, and it's something I definitely want to keep one foot in as far as keeping up with ad trends and my portfolio. Additionally, since my main income is from a Taiwanese company, it is pretty complicated to make Roth IRA retirement contributions due to U.S. tax stuff.. However, if I can contribute U.S. earned income, it will be pretty smooth. This will help!
It was great catching up with my old colleague, and we got into the same old groove similar to our previous company. Coincidentally, my day job assigned me ads this week for the first time, as their parent company needed to borrow our video team to help one of their other brands. The universe is weird like that! In a way, all this helped dust off that style of editing I haven't done since January and probably helped my output on both fronts.
Double duty week aside, I was bummed I only got to go to the gym on Monday. On the positive side, I finally finished reading What Matters Most, my first dive into Carl Jung's philosophy. With this book crossed off, a new book highlights post will be up soon.
Other positive things: I was able to let off steam by watching an open mic stand up comedy show on Thursday night. I've become friends with several of the comedians and I joined them for a bar outing afterwards. At the doorway, I saw an elderly and obese British man (I think) passed out on the steps. Yep! After 5 months abroad again, I finally hit up my first expat hookup bar, overpriced drinks and all! It reminded me of Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong or Beijing's Paddy O'Shea's.
But it was nice to let off steam and talk comedy, and I even made it home at a responsible time of around 1am via the city bike share.
Weekend plans: Explore Keelung city, book vacation flights (Beijing and Qingdao!), do a little freelance, and TV catching up on AEW wrestling. If rain ruins my Keelung plan, I'll go watch The Odyssey.