No fooling
Apr. 3rd, 2021 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nrgburstIt never rains but it pours? We've been moving for the past eight days so I'm pretty worn out since my husband has only been around for 3 days of that. We did all the heavy, big stuff on those days, but it's been me and the kiddos hauling our stuff over to our new place several times a day otherwise. It's in the same neighborhood so the kids can stay at their school, so it was totally doable! But there were definitely days in the middle there where I was regretting having to adult while they were stretched out on the floor with the iPads like slugs and giving me these furtive looks like, Mommy, do we haaave to move today? (Ugh. Yes, yes we do.) So we are super glad it is over and we can just chill out with wi-fi and a working fridge again. :DDDD Plus now we have a backyard! It is teensy but an actual yard with grass and space to grow stuff! (Sadly we are now also minus a dishwasher, but we figure it is worth the $300/month savings to be the dishwasher(s) ourselves.)
On the first day of the move, my tumblr also tripped over 1000 followers, which is pretty neat, even if most of them are probably in-actives and/or bots. I waited a couple of days but the count has continued to climb so I made a celebratory set: The Queen's Gambit, Beth in white/Benny in black 2.0. I think this is probably the most technically demanding set I've ever made and I'm glad I had so many days just to plan it out in my head while stevedoring!
Also: books! Now that I'm no longer modding the B^2 discord I have time to read again, so:
Dash & Lily series by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Okay, so I read these because I watched the Netflix Dash & Lily series and found it charming - I just can't resist epistolary and bookworm-type characters. Such a fun premise with the dares and the red moleskin journal passing between them and I loooove Dash's POV especially because he's soooooo articulate but he's still TERRIBLE at communicating in person and grumpy af. XD The books are slightly more realistic than the TV series, and they characterize Lily much less quirkily weird than the show did, too. (But also much less Asian than the show.) Sweet and heartwarming, although the plot in the last really meanders. I especially liked the second one - it actually asks a couple of harder questions that you don't see a lot in YA: how much of your life is it okay to give up when your family member gets sick? (The other question is about love and it being requited, and I loved the way they handled it.)
Brave Enough and tiny beautiful things by Cheryl Strayed
tiny beautiful things is a re-read, but it always resonates with so much love and truth and I reaaallly needed that this month? These books are like hugs/sternly empathetic pep talks. As an aside, my copy of Brave Enough is a hardcover that I bought used from amazon, and had sat on my bookshelf unread until I finally cracked it open. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a signed copy! Which !!! :DDD Cheryl Strayed signed her book which I own!
I must have ordered it with a bunch of other stuff but I am face palming HARD. (Yes, my bought-but-not-read pile is embarrassing. I should really resolve to read one per month or something from now onso I can buy more books with less guilt.)
Concrete Rose and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Maverick's story in Concrete Rose was so good that it made me go back and revisit The Hate U Give again. Like, I didn't expect to love Maverick, who starts out in the book as a drug dealer flunking out of high school and then gets not one, but two girls knocked up before the age of 18. The power of solid POV work and good writing. Lovelovelove and absolutely recommend.
Rule of Wolves is next on my to read and I am DYYYYING to find out what happens but I am also tempted to just spoil myself and flip to the back and find out if Nikolai and Zoya get together already (or, you know, die) before wading through the book. Like do I actually trust Leigh Bardugo not to break my heart. (Not really, nope, nuh uh.)
On the first day of the move, my tumblr also tripped over 1000 followers, which is pretty neat, even if most of them are probably in-actives and/or bots. I waited a couple of days but the count has continued to climb so I made a celebratory set: The Queen's Gambit, Beth in white/Benny in black 2.0. I think this is probably the most technically demanding set I've ever made and I'm glad I had so many days just to plan it out in my head while stevedoring!
Also: books! Now that I'm no longer modding the B^2 discord I have time to read again, so:
Dash & Lily series by Rachel Cohn & David LevithanOkay, so I read these because I watched the Netflix Dash & Lily series and found it charming - I just can't resist epistolary and bookworm-type characters. Such a fun premise with the dares and the red moleskin journal passing between them and I loooove Dash's POV especially because he's soooooo articulate but he's still TERRIBLE at communicating in person and grumpy af. XD The books are slightly more realistic than the TV series, and they characterize Lily much less quirkily weird than the show did, too. (But also much less Asian than the show.) Sweet and heartwarming, although the plot in the last really meanders. I especially liked the second one - it actually asks a couple of harder questions that you don't see a lot in YA: how much of your life is it okay to give up when your family member gets sick? (The other question is about love and it being requited, and I loved the way they handled it.)
Brave Enough and tiny beautiful things by Cheryl Strayedtiny beautiful things is a re-read, but it always resonates with so much love and truth and I reaaallly needed that this month? These books are like hugs/sternly empathetic pep talks. As an aside, my copy of Brave Enough is a hardcover that I bought used from amazon, and had sat on my bookshelf unread until I finally cracked it open. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a signed copy! Which !!! :DDD Cheryl Strayed signed her book which I own!
I must have ordered it with a bunch of other stuff but I am face palming HARD. (Yes, my bought-but-not-read pile is embarrassing. I should really resolve to read one per month or something from now on
Concrete Rose and The Hate U Give by Angie ThomasMaverick's story in Concrete Rose was so good that it made me go back and revisit The Hate U Give again. Like, I didn't expect to love Maverick, who starts out in the book as a drug dealer flunking out of high school and then gets not one, but two girls knocked up before the age of 18. The power of solid POV work and good writing. Lovelovelove and absolutely recommend.
Rule of Wolves is next on my to read and I am DYYYYING to find out what happens but I am also tempted to just spoil myself and flip to the back and find out if Nikolai and Zoya get together already (or, you know, die) before wading through the book. Like do I actually trust Leigh Bardugo not to break my heart. (Not really, nope, nuh uh.)
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Date: 2021-04-03 03:56 pm (UTC)Depending on your dishwasher needs, they have small, portable ones that sit on your counter and hook to your sink, kind of like those portable washing machines for apartments.
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Date: 2021-04-04 02:19 am (UTC)We have considered one of those! Sadly we have very little counter space to work with, so it's not very feasible. :(
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Date: 2021-04-03 05:23 pm (UTC)That GIFset is amazing! I don't know how you did that, but it's so cool!
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Date: 2021-04-04 02:22 am (UTC)And I'm thrilled you liked it! Math was involved, and more than 700 layers, but I do think it was worth it. LOL
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Date: 2021-04-03 08:11 pm (UTC)Cheryl Strayed is an author new on my radar, but I got curious about her books after listening to a talk she did not too long ago. She's on my mental reading-list, but I most add her to my goodreads toread list as well.
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Date: 2021-04-04 02:26 am (UTC)Ooh, was it a TED talk? I'm going to have to search Youtube!
tiny beautiful things is wonderful, as is wild, her travel memoir. Brave Enough is just a collection of quotes, really, and more of a daily inspiration kind of book? I have torch as well, her debut, but I haven't read it yet.
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Date: 2021-04-04 09:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-04 01:51 am (UTC)I love that Queen's Gambit gifset! That looks really complicated to execute well, and it's absolutely gorgeous.
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Date: 2021-04-04 02:28 am (UTC)And thanks! It was complicated, but I'm proud of how it turned out -- absolutely worth all the effort! <3