Wednesday, July 8th - The Update
Sheeeeeesh. Hi everyone. This heat is crazy, isn't it. It's been like 90 degrees Fahrenheit and it's so humid here, I have been looking forward to going to work just so I can be in a building with central air instead of some struggling window units. Anyway, an absolute ton of crazy stuff has happened, so I figured I'd tell everyone about that, and then go into what I've been doing lately offline, as well as a check-in to my New Years Resolutions!
Where do I even start. This semester of college had me BUSY, but a good busy. Around March of this year there was a major flash flood in my area, and my car was completely totaled, and you might have noticed some radio silence from that. I had to scramble to get a new car (which I did!), and so now I have a 2013 Honda Accord V6. She's very cute and her name is Siobhan. About a week after my car was completely destroyed it was my birthday, so I am now officially 21 years old. The semester ended, and I've been mostly trying to keep myself busy with creative stuff.
At the end of May, I started a new job at a local hardware store, and it honestly makes me feel great. It's a small family business, and since it's a local place that is really part of my community I get to really engage with my community and my city in a way I hadn't gotten to before. Even though it's still retail, at least I feel like I'm actually useful to my community, and not just fueling the capitalist machine like I was at prior jobs. I work full-time right now, but I'll go part-time at the end of August when classes start back up.
As for what I've been doing to keep myself busy, it's been a LOT. I've been trying to draw more regularly again, I do creative writing exercises a few times a week, watch movies and shows to engage myself with art, I journal and write down every thought I have, I create moodboards, and I have been doing SO MUCH READING. Really this summer I've been taking a lot of time to really engage with art, and work on making some of my own. Usually once or twice a week I go with my friend to a local bookstore and cafe and we look around for a little bit at used books before sitting down for an hour (or five) to read and work on things. It's a really fulfilling way to engage with my life and it's basically stopped me from doomscrolling online entirely. I might write a seperate post on what's been working for me and what hasn't just so others can take what might benefit them for their own lives! It's part of why my website has fallen to the wayside, there's just been other creative directions I've been pursuing lol.
As for resolutions, let's take a look-see :)!
1. Learn to play keyboard/piano. Off to a bad start with this one LOL. This kind-of fell to the wayside when my car got flooded because buying a car took precedence over getting a keyboard like I wanted. I think sometime in the future I'd still like to, but that might be closer to the end of the year. Stuff happens, so I'm not upset I haven't been able to meet this goal, and I think sometime in the future I might be able to!
2. Watch one movie a week. This one I've actually been keeping up with! Some weeks I'm just too busy, but generally I've been able to watch one movie every week. As of writing this I'm actually at something like 79 logged movies on Letterboxd, which is more movies watched than there are in an entire year. Now some of these have been repeats (I watched Project Hail Mary (2026) around 10 times so far), but I think that it still counts as I'm above 50 new movies logged on there haha. Watching things with friends has been a great way to watch stuff! I watch some things alone but watching with the people I love has made it a really enjoyable experience.
3. Finish up the JJBA shrine and DBZ shrine. Ahaha. Well. Admittedly I forgot this was a goal of mine. I do still want to get them done, so this was a great reminder to work on them! I hope that once I get them done I'll feel willing to move on to other shrine projects (one dedicated to horror or vampires or something sorta speaks to me)
4. Read 12 books. So far this year, I've read Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall, Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes, On Photography by Susan Sontag, 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, Project Hail Mary by And Weir (twice), Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, and Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon. I am currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, 2010: Odyssey 2 by Arthur C. Clarke, and Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic edited by Daisy Butcher. That puts me at 12 so far! I think I'll definitely be able to read more than 12 by the end of the year :)! This is great!
5. Watch 4 shows. Well... not as strong here. I've been watching Stargate SG-1 lately, but I think I'm going to be restarting that and watching with my friend, so I don't think I will finish it this year. That's okay with me, though. I have also been watching The Disasterous Life of Saiki K with Blue. I think that we might finish this year! That means I still need to watch 3 shows... scary! I believe in myself though :)! I just have to finish 1 and watch 3 more. Maybe I'll find something short to watch.
6. Beat 6 games. This one's also not looking too hot. I beat one game, The Cosmic Wheel of Sisterhood. But in my defense, I've been playing a lot of Darkest Dungeon and Tomodachi Life which aren't really games you "beat" so I think for games like that I will just rate "I have reached the maximum amount of enjoyment for this game". So eventually I'll get to three. Hopefully I can beat 6!
7. Use a planner. This I have been doing! It's been working great! I don't really need it for when I'm not in school, but it's still working very well for me! So it's hard to complain :P. I'll take the win, it made my life way easier during the school year. Hopefully I keep with it the next semester!
And there we have it! One a-little-later-than-halfway check in! It's nice to be reminded of my goals and everything so I can remember to keep them in mind for the future! I hope everyone has a good summer and that you stay hydrated! Much love!
Thursday, January 1st - New Year
Happy New Years everyone! It's now going on my 3rd year having this website! That's so wild to me :)! Thank you everyone who has been there to support me on this journey and who has looked at my website! Your support means leagues to me!
This year was incredibly rough. I had some pretty serious mental health struggles this year, and the classes this semester royally kicked my ass. It wasn't all bad, at least. I moved into a new apartment, finished the entirety of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and made new friends at both the beginning and the end of the year who have helped me a lot! I really appreciate them :). Yay friendship!
Last year I made some resolutions, and while not all of them came to fruition, I want to try to have some for this year too! It's fun to set goals, and they aren't too serious, so even if I don't stick with them, I'm not too mad!
1. Learn to play keyboard/piano. I've been wanting to pick back up an instrument for a while now, and found a nice Yamaha keyboard I'd like to purchase. Eventually I would also like to get an analog drum machine to work with as well. A few friends want to practice music together, and I think it would be fun!
2. Watch one movie a week. A friend and I said we should try this and I think it would be fun! I don't know if we will succeed or for how long, but I am hopeful for us! Watching one movie together a week should be at least a good way to spend time!
3. Finish up the JJBA shrine and the DBZ shrine. They're so cute and I want to get them done! I think I'll definitely be able to do the JJBA one at least, the power of hyperfixation.
4. Read 12 books. This would be roughly one book a month, but it could be 2 in a month or something. Depends on how big the books I'm reading are.
5. Watch 4 shows. I'm not really a show watcher at all, so I want to get better at it. I'm setting myself a goal of finishing the entirety of 4 shows (however many seasons that may be) before the end of the year.
6. Beat 6 games. I didn't beat ANY games last year, so my goal for this year is to beat 6. I play a lot, but I never get to the end game, so my goal is to do that for 6 this year.
7. Use a planner. This one should be easy! I bought a planner to use and it's super cute, so I think I should be set.
I'm not yet sure what my website goals for the new year are, but I'll try and make a list to publish here as well! I know I want to get better at using my blog and microblog, they're here for a reason!
I hope everyone has a great new year!