Monday, July 4, 2016

Life Update #3 // Wherein I am Significantly More Positive


One of my goals for this year was to keep better track of time, and apparently that is not going to happen. So with that said, if you have messaged me and waited for months with no response, just nudge me or something, because I probably still think you messaged me yesterday. I promise I’m not snubbing you. I just have no clue what’s going on. 

Now that we have that established, let’s talk about all that's happened in my little corner over the past two days months. 


Reading News


As of the end of June, I have read 101 books this year (I’ve finished another one since, but we’re not counting that in this update, because reasons). In May, I read 20 books, and then in June I slacked off and read only 6. However, before you rush to console me on my reading slump, don’t worry. In this case, it hasn’t been a reading slump, per se. After the busyness of moving and unpacking that bled over from May into June, I needed a lot of time to relax and calm myself and get my brain in order again (moving is extremely hard for me), so I listened to music all month. (Sometimes music helps even more than coffee.) I got a lot of other things done, but I don’t enjoy reading fiction as much when I’m listening to music, so books had to take back burner. 


Bookish Ratings Breakdown

Five stars

10

Four stars

4

Three stars

8

Two stars

3

One Star

1


Other Stats

Rereads

3

Rereads so far this year

11 

(My plan is to reread 88 books out of my overall goal of 175 for this year. I may not be bright when it comes to math, but I’m clever enough to see that the numbers aren’t lining up and that I will have to up my overall reading goal if I’m to reach my rereading goal, considering the fact that I have a bunch more new books to tackle as well. Not a problem. *distant sobbing*) 

Bookish Highlights

See what I did there? 


Life News


My sister and I are very happy with our new apartment. We’re still in a basement setup with our landlords living above us, but we have a lot more space this time around. Another bonus to this place is the animal life—our landlords own a flock of chickens, a cat, a dog, and two goats. There’s also a porch swing. On top of that, the neighborhood is great—everything is more open and safer feeling, and there’s a train station nearby. 

For whatever reason, I’ve found that the sound of young children playing makes me feel like I’m in danger. In our old apartment, the noise of the children living upstairs slowly drained my energy, and I ended up closing in on myself because I couldn’t escape it, so I’m glad to be in a place that is more compatible with my strange mind. 

As you could probably tell from my Five Reasons to Love Summer post (in which I am not at all sarcastic), I’m not a huge fan of summer. I love spring, and I love autumn, but I don’t love that sneaky little season in between. Already I have found three ticks on my person (no bites yet, fortunately). Pretty much the biggest highlight of previous summers was working at a camp in Maine, but obviously I won’t be doing that this year. Which means, while I’m enjoying the sunlight, I’m really looking forward to autumn and better writing weather. Overall though, I’ve been much happier over the past two months, and at the risk of sounding melodramatic and ungrateful, I don’t necessarily feel happy a lot. So I take what I can get. 

I’ve started catching up on journaling (which is a really great sign, because I haven’t felt well enough to journal regularly for almost two years now). Sister-Mine bought me a coloring book, and I've been focusing more on various forms of art, which is something I’ve neglected and missed. Eventually I might show you some of my work (no promises, though). 


Writing News


For almost a year, my brain has felt drained of creative energy, with varying degrees of severity, and I don’t want to hold out too much hope, but it does seem like I’ve succeeded in decluttering my head a little. I’ve started getting story ideas again, and I’ve started wanting to write for the happiness of it, which is huge. I still haven’t made as much progress on my novel as I would have liked, and I doubt I’ll accomplish all my grandiose writing goals for the year. But hey, I still have six months, so we’ll see what I manage. 


Blogging News


I don’t have much to report on this front. Hopefully my mental vacation, slack-off session is at a close. I don’t want to push myself too hard and make it worse, but I do want to be more involved in the blogosphere. I really appreciate all of you who have stuck with me and commented on my blog even though I’ve been nonexistent aside from my regular posts. 

Speaking of posts, here are my top three most popular posts of May and June: 






Now I’m going to hunker down for the rest of Independence Day, but I hope you enjoy your cookouts, fireworks shows, and whatnot. Stay safe! 



What about you, my little coffee beans? What have you been up to over the past couple months? What are your plans for the summer? What is your favorite animal? 

14 comments:

  1. Ahhh, I feel like I haven't been on your blog FOREVER. SHAME ON ME. *appears with coffee cake* So that's great about your apartment and wanting to write again! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU. Honestly last year was a horrendous writing year for me...but Idek, something clicked?? And I just started writing because I purely love creating and this year writing has been SO addictive for me. I've had a different project going for the last 3 months. 0_0 So I'm taking July off to catch up on my TBR. xD So I hope your writing enthusiasm lasts and gets stronger!! *cheers for you*
    I also hope July 4th isn't too bad for you and not too noisy.
    (Also I do like summer, but I also like winter. XD I'm such an insomniac in summer, omg, so I'm catching up on all my hibernation this winter hehe.)

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    1. No worries! You're always welcome whenever, and it's not like I've been active on yours lately, so I totally can't judge you. :P *accepts your coffee cake anyway* I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU TOO. It's so wonderful to be on a roll. *nods sagely* Thank you! I hope your enthusiasm lasts too! *cheers for you as well*
      Aww, thank you. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as bad as other July 4ths have been.
      (Ah yes, the heat does make it more difficult to sleep. I'm the same. :P)

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  2. YOU DID ALPHABETIZATION IS WHAT YOU DID!

    I'm glad that a couple of things are starting to look up, at least on the apartment and writing fronts. I'm slightly struggling myself over there. I just finished a WIP draft and now I don't really know what project to move onto. :P Blah.

    (You know I agree with you on your summer thoughts.)

    Be sure to take care of yourself, but also, I hope to see you out and about in the blogosphere as soon as you are well enough to do so!

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    1. I did indeed! And also, simultaneously, they were red, white, and blue! :D

      Me too. :P I hope you're able to get out of your slump soon. *gives you coffee beans* But congratulations on finishing a draft! :)

      (We are probably telepathically linked or something. *nods sagely*)

      Thank you, and the same to you! I look forward to rejoining the blogosphere. :)

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  3. I'm so glad you feel inspired to write again. I've had dry spells myself, but nothing feels better then getting back into the swing of things.
    My favourite animal? Hmmm...I like a lot of animals, but snow leopards are super cool, so I'll go with them. What's yours? XD

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    1. Aww, thank you! Dry spells are no fun, but at least they make the better times feel so much more wonderful. :)
      Oooh, snow leopards are cool! I don't know a ton about them, but they're certainly attractive and mysterious. I know it sounds weird, but rats are my favorite animals. No joke. They're super cute, social, friendly, and intelligent (also devious). XD Thanks for asking! :)

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  4. I'm glad things are going better!

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    1. Thank you! Me too! :P

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  5. I'm glad someone else doesn't like summer like I do. XD I skipped your summer post because I thought it was going to be another post ranting about how much they love summer, but it's honestly my least favorite season of the year. I'll definitely read your post now. I feel the most creatively drained in summer which is why I like editing then because I don't like being burned by the sun, always being hot, and worrying about the varying species of bugs. The heat always sucks the life out of me. I hate shorts. I hate always having to keep my hair up because it's too hot to do other wise. I hate that summer hours for my work require me to wake up an hour earlier than any other time of the year. XD The only things I like about summer is my friends are out of school and the food. I was looking forward to fall by the middle of June. XD When fall comes, I always get a rush of creative flow. I can't wait until September. I'm counting down the days! XD Best wishes to surviving the summer!

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. :P I wondered if it would be misleading to most, but I couldn't resist.

      It's probably because of the heat and humidity, but yeah, it sucks all my mental energy a lot of the time. Grr, summer hours are no fun. Fortunately, fall is getting closer every day. *gets binoculars* *sets up lookout point* I shall be watching for it. Fall is great for writing, especially when they roll out the seasonal coffee creamers, like pumpkin flavored. :) Thank you, and the same to you! :)

      Thank you for commenting! :)

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  6. 101 books? *faints* I would be lucky to read ten. Woah... and I'm glad you did a lot more writing!

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    1. *swiftly creates a pile of pillows to cushion your fall* Ten is great too! :) I'm glad to have been able to do more writing too. Thank you! :)

      Thank you for commenting! :)

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  7. 101 books???!! NICE. I... have no idea how many books I've read this year, but I am certain it is not that many.

    Thanks for the update! And hope writing and everything continues to get better for you! :D


    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbosityreviews.com

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    1. Thank you! :) Hey, you're reading, and that's the point! :)

      You're welcome, and thank you! :D

      Thank you for commenting! :)

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