May/June 2019 Recap [part two, blogging/life] || aka my hiatus recap. because I was on a hiatus

In case you didn’t know, me splitting my recap into two parts was also because of the fact that I forgot EVERYTHING from May and June. 

Also, I can’t even do my favorite post / most popular post of May or June because did I post?? I guess not! That’s really interesting that I didn’t post anything how did that happen lmao

I’m literally frantically looking through my camera roll and all I have is like, ONE life-related update I can tell you.

edit: I’m updating this post because apparently the AESTHETIC and BEAUTIFUL pictures I thought I uploaded did not work 😦

{recap part one: reading}

things i changed

• My recap formatting………. I split it into two parts……….

posts i loved

• Taasia wrote a post shouting out a ton of teenager bookish influencers and… oh???? ??? ? I’m in the post?? ?? ? ? INTERESTING
• Olivia posted about having a blogging niche and the pros and cons of having one! (also, I tried to comment on this when the post came out but the mobile WordPress app failed me I guess) (nice)
• Kelly discussed tropes and how people can often criticize them harshly!
• Melanie posted her BookCon/BookExpo photos and it’s honestly so sad that I didn’t go to BookCon and meet her (but next time!!!!!!) and go look at them and her cute peace signs. right now
• Tiffany taught us how to make pretty moodboards (hers are ALWAYS so nice!!!!) and also she went self-hosted which is SO COOL.
• Shealea shouts out sixteen queer books (which are mostly under-the-radar!!)
• Lily returned from her hiatus!!!!!!! * not clickbait *
• Ilsa ALSO returned from her hiatus!!! * also not clickbait * (Ilsa, Lily, and me are TWINNING. (tripletting))
• Amena *ALSO* returned from her hiatus!!!!! *also, also not clickbait * (SHE’S LITERALLY BEEN GONE FOR LIKE. OVER A YEAR SO I’M SCREAMING.
• May listed ten pieces of blogging advice they would give to themselves and ALSO us!!!! Kind of gnarly!

other things

• United By Pop created a compilation of different blogger inputs where we all recommended a book centering on mental health!! (and I was in it!)

bookish news

The cover for Harley in the Sky was revealed and I’m pretty sure most people have seen it, but if you haven’t!!!!! GO LOOK AT IT.

Eric Smith’s Don’t Read the Comments had its cover revealed and it’s cute!!! Also I love Eric Smith.

blogging goals

(Oh my god this post is only like, 385 words so far abort abort abort this entire recap-splitting thing)

• post 5 or 6 times this month!!!! (please)
• write 3 goodreads reviews
• blog hop enough

media consumed

 

I don’t know if any of you all watch Chinese dramas/care about them, but.. 3/5 of these medias listed are Chinese dramas, so I’m SORRY if you just skip over this.

The Princess Weiyoung— Y’all, this is over fifty episodes long and I LITERALLY consumed all of the first twenty-thirty episodes in like… four days. (It was a four-day weekend.) And each episode is about an hour, so???? This is just a really addicting drama and the acting was a little better than mediocre !!!! which is lowkey hard to find in Chinese dramas (yes I’ll roast my own country) so I was elated !!!! (Also, the ending was lowkey unnecessary but like… whatever.)

It also makes me sad how Mandarin Chinese dramas are always dubbed in the Beijing dialect because??? I feel like it’s hard for me to interpret emotion from their voices? And it would be pretty cool if there was ever a drama with the same rural dialect as me :’)

Strong Girl Bong-Soon— Technically, I didn’t even finish this but this was like, my third rewatch and I already know what happens so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  (but if anyone has any recommendations for Korean dramas similar to this or Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo……… slide into my emails. My dms. My mailbox. Bless me with this information, I beg of you. Also, I’m exaggerating about the mailbox.

   

Just a warning: I didn’t even fully watch all three of these. I watched like… one or two episodes but I have enough opinions to talk about it.

Round Planet— This is supposed to be a documentary, but hilarious. And… it’s really not. I mean, I guess it could be funny for someone who isn’t a millennial/Gen-Z person, but so many of the jokes were way too predictable for me? I only watched the first episode (about Antarctica) and the opening joke was “Welcome to this place where there is… ice… ice… and more ice.”

This statement might at first, seem hilarious to you, but I promise you that it’s only because of my NATURAL HILARITY and if you heard the British narrator say it, you would not laugh.

Well-Intended Love— Wow, the acting was just not good.

I am always struggling! to find! a good modern contemporary Chinese drama! I have literally not found one. (Help me?????)

Accidentally in Love— The acting was also not good again, and I was just lowkey in pain the entire time I watched the first episode… GOODBYE.

thoughts on summer

Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about summer because I always end up being excessively lazy, without doing any sort of proper work and it makes me upset that I’m not being productive. However, I’m extremely weak at forcing myself to take courses/study to prepare for the incoming school year.

Like, I have SO MUCH TIME, it’s just that without any semblance of routine, my life falls to shambles. And I’m bad at forcing myself to be orderly, especially when I wake up at such late times. (If I wake up before 12:00 pm, I’m proud of myself. Once… I woke up at 2 pm. The feeling that you’ve wasted the day away is terrible.)

Basically, my ideal day would probably actually be having school but no homework. I’m so excited for graduating college/university and then going off to work to have job where I don’t need to do homework for my job!!! And then I can just do whatever and pursue my passions outside of work!!!! And I’ll actually be able to pursue those passions because I’ll have a routine!!!

this life hack I learned

If you are drinking a really, really sugary beverage… I recommend diluting it a little bit (not too much) with water. Even though it might not be as strong as before, it still tastes good (as long as you’re careful about the amount of water you’re adding)!!! And it’s also probably healthier???

I don’t even use this hack anymore except for beverages that are WAY too sweet (like pomegranate flavored aloe).

this groundhog story

Okay, so my land (property???) used to have a lot of groundhogs who would just dig up our plants (tbh, I don’t know why this was a problem because we hardly have a garden) and so we caught a bunch of them and re-released them a street away, at someplace that may or may not be a local high school. (Is that illegal??????) (not saying I *did* it but like… asking 4 a friend)

That was just some ~context~ that’s not even necessary for the story, but I just wanted to share it.

Anyways, we were walking back from the high school (since my family lives super close to this high school, we just take walks on its track some evenings) and we see a freaking GROUNDHOG on top of the tree in our yard.

Like. We did not know that groundhogs could even climb trees??? And my younger sister wanted to call the fire department?? (And I, naturally, was smart and said NO because obviously, do we care that much? we should just let this groundhog be.)

Also, I’m pretty sure you only have 2 strikes when calling the fire department for non-emergency related reasons, and I did not want them to yell at us.

my trip to Maryland !!!

This was underwhelming. In all seriousness, I forgot how terrible road trips were.

They are boring, especially when the car you’re in literally doesn’t have any backseat vents (??????? what is up with that ????) and it’s way! too hot!

I’m usually able to just sleep the entire car ride away but unfortunately, somehow I wasn’t able to fall asleep for the first four hours and it gets cramped.

(Also look! I’m actually using photos for once.) Look at this gorgeous, gorgeous photo on the left of some unique and outstanding bridge beams. They’re blue! But they’re not actually that shade, because I used a filter. 😎

However, one of the highlights of the trip was getting to go to a mall!!!

Apparently, Auntie Anne’s DID NOT DIE, and apparently if a business isn’t open near me, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s completely shut down? Wow, truly interesting.

We didn’t get Auntie Anne’s ( 😡 ) but we just walked around.

Also, I drank coconut water, which is pretty cool.

sims 4

Have you heard of this underhyped game called Sims 4? It’s so so so fun and just, really addicting?

I created Sims based off of my older sister and her significant other and my younger brother, who are all just living together (which I think is hilarious, but probably isn’t) and I think I’ve spent at least twenty hours total on that game.

Surprisingly, I haven’t played as much as I thought I would, but the first couple of days after I downloaded that game? Sims 4 All Day 24/7.

Also, my older sister is making 321 SimCoins per hour (she’s a Wardrobe Wiz) and her S.O. is making like, 151 SimCoins (he’s a Pro Gamer).

The house is really, really ugly (the roof is just completely flat) but I didn’t want to spend that much money on fixing it, so… it’s just gonna stay that way. Oh well.

life goals

• Start seriously studying for future coursework (because I’ll probably need it)
• Start practicing languages on Duolingo + other platforms
• Don’t sleep myself to death?
• Practice my artwork!!! Why is my skill level just terrible!
• Stay healthy and be good about nutrition. Also, I need to try not to stress eat.

Do you have any recommendations for Chinese or Korean dramas? If you’re a student, how do you feel about summer / how are you spending it? Do you hate road trips? Have you played Sims & what did you do with your Sims? Do you like warm pretzels? What did you watch in May/June and what do you recommend?