august + september || 2016

hello. it me.

*dances back into your life*

I've been gone. well, not technically gone. just gone on here.

I needed a break. I was tired, I was stressed, and I just didn't have inspiration. every time I sat down to write something that WASN'T the great ones, it felt like trash (and probably was trash). so after I beat my head against the wall one too many times, I decided it was time to take a little breather, before irreversible damage was done. because I didn't want to forever ruin blogging by trying to hard at something that, simply put, was not working.

basically me when this feeling set in 

because I genuinely do love blogging.

thankfully, even if I had managed to put together an august recap post, it would not have been very interesting. anxiety and exhaustion had their way with me for a while, and I'm thankful I can say it's getting a little better, but no matter how hard I tried at the time, everything sucked. I mostly stayed at home, worked ahead on school, and became obsessed with the great ones again. the one good thing.

oh, and I watched a lot of TV.

quizzing has begun again! school has begun again! cool weather is returning! so many good things are starting up again, and I am so happy about that. summer is great and all, but give me this time of year and all the wonderful events that take place during autumn. this season makes everything almost one hundred percent better for me.

this is my quizzing team. they have a special spot in my heart. 

the other day, I went biking for the first time in AGES. I have a stationary bike that I use to work out, but as a kid, biking in parks and such was my favourite thing, and I hadn't realized how much I missed the sensation of the wind in your hair and in your face. definitely going to make that more of a thing in the coming days.

it's tea time!!! bless the weather that lets you drink hot tea comfortably, instead of turning into a hot and sweaty being. not fun. what flavor of tea do you guys drink, or do you even drink tea? *whispers* perhaps...are you coffee people? (I don't mind coffee; I just like it with a lot of milk and a lot of sugar...unlike my tea, which I take with milk and no sugar...) I'm a fan of chai, obviously, but I also really love peppermint and anything with spices. cinnamon is a must (I even put cinnamon on my chamomile tea once; someone needs to stop me).

I haven't been out do much lately--too busy with school--but I have gotten to go up to my old school and hang out with friends, and that was just lovely. I miss them so much during the summer.

I also got to go see Kubo and the Two Strings with my little brother, and I was surprised with how much I liked the movie. the magic was fantastic, the story was sweet, and the claymation/animation was very well done.

I have not been sleeping well lately, and any time that starts up, it's like me and my family are playing a giant of game of "Pin the Tail on the Reason Why Ely Can't Stay Asleep." is it her cat? is it the change in the weather? is it the fact that she's stressed/hormonal/had too many no-bake cookies? all of the above? none of the above? *sighs* I don't care what the reason is, just as long as I start sleeping again. I miss my sleep. and it misses me, I hope.

one of the greatest things about the past two months is how I've had the time/energy to maintain self care of my body. I'm not just talking about making sure I eat healthy or that I work out at least three or four times a week. having the energy to blow-dry my hair is a new novelty to me. my skin is healthy enough that I notice when I need to lotion, or when I need to pull out the coconut oil and attack those little baby break outs. my scars are still there, but they're smaller than ever, and my hair isn't falling out every day. it doesn't seem like much, but to me, it's everything. past me did NOT care about taking care of her body at all, but present me is so happy that I'm healthy enough that these little maintenances can actually happen. I still have bad days, and I'm so far away from that "perfect" girl that young me dreamed of being, but I'm okay with that. I don't want that "perfection." I am so content in my skin right now, and that has never happened before. I love it.

there was no TBR post this month! and there probably won't be in October, because I'm going to TRY and write more book reviews. I liked doing a TBR post, but it made me NOT want to write book reviews, for some strange reason. so look forward to those--and feel free to give recommendations, because I'm always on the hunt for new books. I just finished reading Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Cordova, and I really enjoyed it.

here are a few of my faves from both august and september!

remember all that TV watching I did? yeah. I have some new shows that I am obsessed with. first of all, we have Cleverman, which I totally just watched on a whim? and then I loved it? and was very sad because there are only six episodes, and while those six episodes were fantastic, it was a rather slow start/felt like the beginning of something huge. basically, it's set in Australia (with a 85% Aboriginal cast!!!!!) where the country is divided between the "regular people" and the "Hairies." it's full of racial tension, family tension, and magic in every day life, with one of the greatest anti-heroes I've seen (seriously...I loved Koen, but I hated him, because he was a brat about being the Cleverman). it was especially interesting and almost hard to watch in the midst of the tension we have going on in the states right now (especially in the book writing community), because it depicts a lot of things without pulling any punches. it does have two or three sex scenes, but I found them extremely easy to skip over without missing much of the story. I definitely recommend it if you enjoy unique, diverse almost horror, because I haven't seen many people talking about it, and I would love company as I wait anxiously for season 2.

this scene. :((((((((

Hunter Page-Lochard is the first Aboriginal superhero and he's doing a fantastic job of it.

I almost died of laughing when I saw this review...some people do not get it AT ALL.

secondly, we have Call the Midwife. I started watching this show my freshman year of college, and in my freshman year of a different college, I finished the available episodes on Netflix. I LOVE IT. it makes me laugh, it made me hard cry, and it made me think. I've had people tell me that watching a show about midwifery is "gross"/"weird"/makes them uncomfortable, but it is an extremely beautiful show, with a lot of good messages and history, and even the delivery scenes aren't very explicit/"gross" in any way.

I also really love Chummy. and all the characters. but especially Chummy.

I REALLY LOVE HER

finally, I became OBSESSED with D-Day, a 2015 kdrama about what would happen if a severe earthquake hit Seoul. a lot of kdramas are chock-full of man vs. man conflict or man vs. self conflict, but this one was one of the best man vs. nature shows I've ever seen--both in kdrama world and in other TV. the behind the scenes is very interesting to watch, because they obviously couldn't shoot the devastation of a real earthquake in Seoul. lots of hospital corruption, so if you're not a fan of grumpy old men being stupid jerks, be forewarned. I lowkey wanted to punch Park Gun the entire duration of the show, and every time he clenched his fist and shouted something along the lines of "I'll get you, Lee Hye-sung, and your little dog too!!!" I rolled my eyes so hard they felt like they would fall out. but it's such a good story, and it has a lot of sadness/family love.

writing-wise...I've gotten a lot done with the great ones. right now I'm in a little bit of a lull, but that's mostly because I'm unsure where to take the plot from here--do I follow my original plan, or do I branch off and do something new? but so far the characters are working so much better, and I'm not sick and tired of Matt being a whiny brat, which is usually what happens right around now, so I'm content. will continue to work hard on it until November, which is when everything will change.

ehehehehe

I wasn't going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I didn't have a good November last year, and this year, since I'll be taking two more involved classes, I thought I wouldn't be able to take part. however, since I am so ahead in my classes for this quarter, I've been working ahead (online school is so nice like that...it's basically like homeschooling yourself). and hopefully I will have most of one class done by November. I'm also a lot better at moderating how I use my time now, so that should help. so right now I'm working on prep and getting super pumped for November to be here already. and I actually have a complete plot. wonders never cease.

my NaNo project is one that I've been holding off on writing for about four months--I wrote the prologue and the first two chapters, then realized that if I went on, the great ones would not be happening. so I'm super excited to actually get to focus on it. *crosses fingers that all will go well* I am so pumped to write about Neil and Cora and ghosts and hospitals. it's gonna be great fun.

I also spent a loooooooot of time on Pinterest. don't judge.

I have had this song stuck in my head all day someone save me.

me

this makes me want to write something centered around that statement...

what have you all been up to? tell me about your lives--and what you would like to see in the coming blogposts! I have a loose plan, but i would love input from y'all! (be prepared for some great ones snippets within the near future hopefully).

love you all!!!!!!

byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee