📖 monthly round-up: august
Sep. 2nd, 2021 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
9ofcupsi definitely didn't consume that much media this month. so i'll take this post as a chance to reflect on everything that went wrong and well over the course of august, as well as writing plans and general ways i want to keep myself organized because... yes it's virgo szn, yes i'm a virgo venus. what about it.
august was definitely a strange month for me? absolutely got thrown into a limbo of writer's block / social media anxiety / stress from school (which has been a constant in my life for a year and a half now... thanks pandemic❤️) and that resulted in the entire month feeling like a vortex that i was thrown into before being spit out at the end of the month. essentially it felt like 31 days were squeezed down into one week. like what the fuck
that being said i don't think this month was particularly bad for me! started my new job (sept 4-5 will be my first weekend on my own... nervous!), finished up all of my summer classes, did well on the exam i've been studying for throughout the summer, started posting a fic, took some time off of social media and was legitimately productive throughout it... i guess it doesn't get any better than this when you spent the previous month rotting away and being depressed as fuck. so truly i will take the W lmfao.
school is starting in less than a week and i'd be excited but it's kind of hard to when you're stuck in a gray area of knowing you only have one year left but also having anxiety so bad that you're freaked out at the fact that your stupid fucking gym professor STILL hasn't put in your final grade, meaning you can't receive your textbooks or know For Sure One Hundred Percent that you have the green light to finish nursing school next year... can you tell this has been killing me for the past few months. and yes i've complained about it on the timeline constantly but i just want to knowwww like... come on now y'all. [+ tfw you emailed your advisor and he hasn't answered yet either... i'm sick and tired]
so that's definitely been a looming storm cloud over my head as i've progressed through this month and into the next. and i think as i sit down and write this post the storm cloud is completely preventing me from finding positive things lmao so i'm going to force myself to make a list of good things that have happened this month (that i can remember!):
of course it's natural that after a strenuous month i'm experiencing burnout on a ridiculous level but yknow what can you do...! i'm just trying to rest and relax and focus on myself for a bit before school starts and i'm inevitably thrown into a period of constant stress... again lol... :') i hate it here
i also think i'm going to start trying to do martial arts again soon... i'll figure out if i want to do boxing or another form but honestly i just want to get out of the house and have it not be related to school or work. like i'm sick of it❤️ but it's FINE i'm fine i'm doing objectively okay despite everything that's gone down this year. it's whatever
[cw: weight and food mention] i'm going to try to pay attention to my self-care a lot more because i kind of just let the days pass me by. and i'm going to try to set up a little mini reward system within my bullet journal so that i can both track and reward myself for doing things that mental illness and adhd makes extremely difficult (i.e. cleaning my room :/ which sucks but i'm not going to beat myself up for this lol) — i'm also going to focus on what intuitive eating means for me! i just want to be happy with myself lmao. also with regard to writing i'm going to try to focus on solar return and my festfic for hyunfest, but we'll see how that goes now that school is staring. i'm a little annoyed that i've been so slow with writing so i'll have to keep track of how it goes throughout the semester.
i read one (1) book and watched one (1) drama. humiliating but true!
clearly this is a byproduct of how stressed and burnt out i've been because i really was expecting august to be a better month overall for allowing me to wind down and actually consume content? but... i guess not. which is sad because it isn't like i'm going to have much time to read/watch/ENJOY things during fall semester but honestly it's fine. i definitely want to get in some more books before the year ends though!
1. A Chorus Rises (Bethany C. Morrow) - ★★★★ (book)
> this was the sequel to A Song Below Water, which i read last month! i really love the fusion of black power and urban fantasy elements alongside the fact that this book is from the pov of the "villain" in ASBW, which is... definitely something i'm not used to seeing? it's super refreshing though! i think it's a good reminder that black girls are constantly villainized when in reality each one has their own story. the magic added onto everything was just a good bonus but i think the author could've put a little more effort into the worldbuilding occurring within the story itself as it progressed because it felt too simplistic at time. also side note the cover of this book is GORGEOUS.
2. Law School - ★★★★★ (drama)
> i finished this over my social media break! it's really fucking good (like one of my favorite things i've watched... Ever) even if it gets confusing sometimes and a lot of time i could've spent progressing through the episodes was spent trying to properly piece things together because this drama does TOO good of a job with subtlety lmao. i loved it though i'm probably going to try rewatching it soon!
i think my music taste was a little more diverse this month lmao... there's an entire range of genres in here. i do find it funny that you can tell i only listened to a select few songs from specific artists, but listened to those songs so much that they made it onto the list and therefore the artists did too—like i promise i'm not a vance joy fan i SWEAR.
i made a car playlist for the upcoming school year that i'm just adding onto as i go and yes the songs are objectively bad but have we considered the possibility that i am literally just someone with a shit music taste. it's true i am no thoughts head empty on spotify 24/7! the songs are good to ME though and honestly i just wanted stuff i could sing along to so... yeah... anyone else worried that billie eilish is going to make it onto their top ten for september because hit song Happier Than Ever IS ACTUALLY GOOD? i'm so scared.
albums i need to listen to that i can hopefully review during september's monthly round-up:
oh yeah and here's the technical leo szn playlist, but honestly a lot of songs that i actually listened to aren't on here lmao.
well first of all... extremely saddened by the enhypen news ☹️ i truly hope that they just get a month straight of rest but honestly this is hybe we're talking about so. lol. they'd better postpone the comeback though i really don't care i just want them to have a fucking BREAK because it truly feels like they've been going nonstop since drunk-dazed promotions finished and like... obviously that's to be expected when you're one of the biggest rookie idol groups in the scene right now but it's still exhausting and mentally draining and they deserve a lot of time off, especially right now.
i also need hybe to do something about this one-room situation i don't understand how they didn't learn from their mistake when they shoved txt into a tiny dorm and immediately dealt with the whole pink eye situation... and the fact that five members tested positive is just terrifying.
i don't really want to focus on all the negativity going on though and i hope they get better soon :') i also hope sunki stay safe cause idk how they managed to dodge it like that omfg. it definitely makes the newest episode of en-o'clock a little bittersweet but i'm still excited to watch it because!!! they look like they had SO much fun. sorry to sap like the little engine i am but en-o'clock has really been the cutest show ever so far and it feels like they're enjoying themselves and the games they play more and more with every single episode which is so sweet to me :]
anyway, comebacks i'm looking forward to:
the vibes
august was definitely a strange month for me? absolutely got thrown into a limbo of writer's block / social media anxiety / stress from school (which has been a constant in my life for a year and a half now... thanks pandemic❤️) and that resulted in the entire month feeling like a vortex that i was thrown into before being spit out at the end of the month. essentially it felt like 31 days were squeezed down into one week. like what the fuck
that being said i don't think this month was particularly bad for me! started my new job (sept 4-5 will be my first weekend on my own... nervous!), finished up all of my summer classes, did well on the exam i've been studying for throughout the summer, started posting a fic, took some time off of social media and was legitimately productive throughout it... i guess it doesn't get any better than this when you spent the previous month rotting away and being depressed as fuck. so truly i will take the W lmfao.
school is starting in less than a week and i'd be excited but it's kind of hard to when you're stuck in a gray area of knowing you only have one year left but also having anxiety so bad that you're freaked out at the fact that your stupid fucking gym professor STILL hasn't put in your final grade, meaning you can't receive your textbooks or know For Sure One Hundred Percent that you have the green light to finish nursing school next year... can you tell this has been killing me for the past few months. and yes i've complained about it on the timeline constantly but i just want to knowwww like... come on now y'all. [+ tfw you emailed your advisor and he hasn't answered yet either... i'm sick and tired]
so that's definitely been a looming storm cloud over my head as i've progressed through this month and into the next. and i think as i sit down and write this post the storm cloud is completely preventing me from finding positive things lmao so i'm going to force myself to make a list of good things that have happened this month (that i can remember!):
- my birthday obviously... it was nice to actually spend a couple days beforehand with family and friends to celebrate because that isn't something we normally do? somali culture kinda just glances over birthdays as unimportant (insert memes about how all somalis are born on january 1st...) but i guess this summer my family's picked up on how stressed and depressed i've been because of shit and wanted to Take Some Time to Acknowledge My Existence. it was a good week<3
- quit my hell job which is most definitely something worth celebrating!
- got a new job that i think i'll be able to enjoy 🥰
- took my brothers to the mall of america and enjoyed it a lot more than when i went with the friends that i've now cut off... sometimes all you need is a pair of virgo twins and a 16yo aquarius rising to have fun or whatever! seriously though i love my little bros i think they're everything.
- finally got around to a quick social media break wherein i spent a ton of time meditating, writing, drawing, studying korean and generally keeping to myself... and i think i've realized why my social media anxiety has been so bad. hopefully once again moving to a small priv acc will help me out here lol
- finished my nursing class as well as my exercise science class (the latter of which is keeping me up at night as i wait for the final grade to be submitted but STILL.) an A- in nursing and an A in exersci i think i'm valid
- started posting a fic that i genuinely enjoy writing lmao
of course it's natural that after a strenuous month i'm experiencing burnout on a ridiculous level but yknow what can you do...! i'm just trying to rest and relax and focus on myself for a bit before school starts and i'm inevitably thrown into a period of constant stress... again lol... :') i hate it here
i also think i'm going to start trying to do martial arts again soon... i'll figure out if i want to do boxing or another form but honestly i just want to get out of the house and have it not be related to school or work. like i'm sick of it❤️ but it's FINE i'm fine i'm doing objectively okay despite everything that's gone down this year. it's whatever
[cw: weight and food mention] i'm going to try to pay attention to my self-care a lot more because i kind of just let the days pass me by. and i'm going to try to set up a little mini reward system within my bullet journal so that i can both track and reward myself for doing things that mental illness and adhd makes extremely difficult (i.e. cleaning my room :/ which sucks but i'm not going to beat myself up for this lol) — i'm also going to focus on what intuitive eating means for me! i just want to be happy with myself lmao. also with regard to writing i'm going to try to focus on solar return and my festfic for hyunfest, but we'll see how that goes now that school is staring. i'm a little annoyed that i've been so slow with writing so i'll have to keep track of how it goes throughout the semester.
📚🎥📺 media consumption (or lack thereof...)
i read one (1) book and watched one (1) drama. humiliating but true!
clearly this is a byproduct of how stressed and burnt out i've been because i really was expecting august to be a better month overall for allowing me to wind down and actually consume content? but... i guess not. which is sad because it isn't like i'm going to have much time to read/watch/ENJOY things during fall semester but honestly it's fine. i definitely want to get in some more books before the year ends though!
1. A Chorus Rises (Bethany C. Morrow) - ★★★★ (book)
> this was the sequel to A Song Below Water, which i read last month! i really love the fusion of black power and urban fantasy elements alongside the fact that this book is from the pov of the "villain" in ASBW, which is... definitely something i'm not used to seeing? it's super refreshing though! i think it's a good reminder that black girls are constantly villainized when in reality each one has their own story. the magic added onto everything was just a good bonus but i think the author could've put a little more effort into the worldbuilding occurring within the story itself as it progressed because it felt too simplistic at time. also side note the cover of this book is GORGEOUS.
2. Law School - ★★★★★ (drama)
> i finished this over my social media break! it's really fucking good (like one of my favorite things i've watched... Ever) even if it gets confusing sometimes and a lot of time i could've spent progressing through the episodes was spent trying to properly piece things together because this drama does TOO good of a job with subtlety lmao. i loved it though i'm probably going to try rewatching it soon!
🎶 music
total scrobbles: 2380
average scrobbles per day: 77
average scrobbles per day: 77
top artists:
1. tinashe - 346
2. taylor swift - 293
3. sza - 156
4. day6 - 143
5. stray kids - 129
6. itzy - 116
7. niki - 101
8. enhypen - 98
9. nancy ajram - 84
10. vance joy - 81
1. tinashe - 346
2. taylor swift - 293
3. sza - 156
4. day6 - 143
5. stray kids - 129
6. itzy - 116
7. niki - 101
8. enhypen - 98
9. nancy ajram - 84
10. vance joy - 81
top songs:
1. pasadena - tinashe (201)
2. good days - sza (156)
3. x - tinashe (144)
4. sparks fly - taylor swift (125)
5. i'm serious - day6 (103)
6. switchblade - niki (96)
7. wannabe - itzy (87)
8. riptide - vance joy (81)
9. easy - stray kids (60)
10. salamat - nancy ajram (58)
1. pasadena - tinashe (201)
2. good days - sza (156)
3. x - tinashe (144)
4. sparks fly - taylor swift (125)
5. i'm serious - day6 (103)
6. switchblade - niki (96)
7. wannabe - itzy (87)
8. riptide - vance joy (81)
9. easy - stray kids (60)
10. salamat - nancy ajram (58)
i think my music taste was a little more diverse this month lmao... there's an entire range of genres in here. i do find it funny that you can tell i only listened to a select few songs from specific artists, but listened to those songs so much that they made it onto the list and therefore the artists did too—like i promise i'm not a vance joy fan i SWEAR.
i made a car playlist for the upcoming school year that i'm just adding onto as i go and yes the songs are objectively bad but have we considered the possibility that i am literally just someone with a shit music taste. it's true i am no thoughts head empty on spotify 24/7! the songs are good to ME though and honestly i just wanted stuff i could sing along to so... yeah... anyone else worried that billie eilish is going to make it onto their top ten for september because hit song Happier Than Ever IS ACTUALLY GOOD? i'm so scared.
albums i need to listen to that i can hopefully review during september's monthly round-up:
- stray kids - noeasy
- sunmi - 1/6
- lorde - solar power
- billie eilish - happier than ever
oh yeah and here's the technical leo szn playlist, but honestly a lot of songs that i actually listened to aren't on here lmao.
💿 k-pop
well first of all... extremely saddened by the enhypen news ☹️ i truly hope that they just get a month straight of rest but honestly this is hybe we're talking about so. lol. they'd better postpone the comeback though i really don't care i just want them to have a fucking BREAK because it truly feels like they've been going nonstop since drunk-dazed promotions finished and like... obviously that's to be expected when you're one of the biggest rookie idol groups in the scene right now but it's still exhausting and mentally draining and they deserve a lot of time off, especially right now.
i also need hybe to do something about this one-room situation i don't understand how they didn't learn from their mistake when they shoved txt into a tiny dorm and immediately dealt with the whole pink eye situation... and the fact that five members tested positive is just terrifying.
i don't really want to focus on all the negativity going on though and i hope they get better soon :') i also hope sunki stay safe cause idk how they managed to dodge it like that omfg. it definitely makes the newest episode of en-o'clock a little bittersweet but i'm still excited to watch it because!!! they look like they had SO much fun. sorry to sap like the little engine i am but en-o'clock has really been the cutest show ever so far and it feels like they're enjoying themselves and the games they play more and more with every single episode which is so sweet to me :]
anyway, comebacks i'm looking forward to:
- purple kiss
- stayc
- itzy
- enhypen, eventually
- ateez
- fromis_9 and stray kids just had their respective comebacks and i need to focus on them more (yes i'm giving up on ignoring skz... listen i just think hyunjin looks so FUCKING GOOD. but anyway.)
no subject
Date: 2021-09-02 07:02 pm (UTC)i need to watch law school really bad since ive heard such good things about it 😭 and i enjoyed enoclock theyre SO cute and fun little guys
i hope september is wonderful for you 🌼
no subject
Date: 2021-09-02 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-03 01:35 pm (UTC)