Hello everyone! Today, I wanted to share the updates on my hobbies with you from this past month!

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I ended up taking last week off from my blog randomly. It was the strangest thing. I had a post written, I had photos for the other post, and just needed to take photos for the first and write the second to complete both. But I really didn’t feel like doing that and I decided it was best to take the week off. I’m going to be honest, I did consider taking a longer break but in the end decided to pick it back up with my recap posts!

This month was super fun and full of activities so I’ll get right into it!

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My Lively

Creative Fun

DIYs

In-person DIYs at the library are back! I’m so excited! We are still not allowed to be in the library, as there isn’t a room big enough for us although the library is finally open for browsing. My librarian friend invited me in to see the changes in decor in the adult section and it does look updated and so spacious as they took out some giant bookshelves from a certain area.

Anyway, we did painting with bubbles art for one session. It didn’t really work so I just mostly splattered paint on the paper. We had a bunch of new-comers to the group and it’s always really important to me and to the other regulars to make sure they feel welcome and want to come back. Two of the new people were a couple and they didn’t really seem to vibe with us, as they sat a little farther apart and kept to themselves. The other two new people were friends who came together. One had moved to town from a neighboring state a few years ago but hadn’t been to a library event yet. The other was originally from the area and moved back recently. We had a good time getting to know them and making sure they knew about other events at the library they could join.

The other session was painting with plastic cling wrap. It was so much fun! This time I saw some others who were regulars prior to the pandemic but I hadn’t seen yet or at least not recently. These sessions are tough to get into most of the time because they’re so popular! We did have some newcomers this time, a woman and her two daughters. One of the daughters was over 18 so she was going to join the activity, which was nice. But the other daughter wasn’t, so she was just going to sit and read but ended up being able to join the activity because the librarian is so nice and found a way to include her. I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of annoying when people bring their young kids because there aren’t as many adult programs as there are children, or even family programs. But we still had a good time anyway!

Bujo

I feel bad because I’ve been spending less time on my bullet journal since I started working, so my June pages are so simple and plain! I still struggle with finding new ideas since there isn’t a ton that I’m doing but I do like still documenting my day to day. This month I did end up doing some fun things later so I was able to get the pages more full, but overall, they are plain! Hopefully I can fit some adventures into July to share. I am highly tempted to buy one of those polaroid photo printer things that can connect to my phone to be able to use my bujo more like a photo album since I don’t share on insta as much anymore.

Entertainment

Books

As always, I’m listing all the books I’ve finished since the previous Lively post below with their star ratings. All thoughts on them are saved for future (or even past!) Mini Book Review posts but those will be linked below if so. I won’t include any books that I didn’t finish although I’ll be sure to add them into the review posts.

This month I read 9 books. Well, technically 10 because the last one is my book club book and book club is on the 29th, so I have to read it by then. But I haven’t finished it at the time of posting so I’ll still write it on the list and then the rating is pending!

• The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard, 3.25*
• Madam Secretary by Madeline K. Albright, 4.25*
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, 3.5*
• In Five Years by Rebecca Serle, 3*
• Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton, 4.75*
• City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, 2.0
• Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper, 3.5
• I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was by Barbara Sher, 3.75
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, 3.75
• Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford, rating pending

* Indicates this book was reviewed in Ten Mini Book Reviews Pt. 12

Movies

So I continued my Marvel movie watching journey! I picked up again with Guardians of the Galaxy. I did like it but it was around this movie where I remember starting to get superhero fatigue back when the movies were being released and same thing occurred here. It is just so much of the same thing, you know? But this movie is very enjoyable and super fun, especially because of the humor of Star Lord. I do prefer the Avengers to the Guardians of the Galaxy group but they’re both still fun. I watched this film on Disney+ (not sponsored, just letting you know!).

I then took a break from the MCU to watch Surviving the Dust Bowl, a PBS documentary. Since reading a book on the dust bowl I decided to watch this one to see if there was any new information. There really wasn’t, as the book was pretty informative already. Oh, I checked out this documentary as a DVD from my library.

Back to the MCU, I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is where the Avengers really start to fall apart again as a group, and eventually do (oh, spoilers if you didn’t watch this yet). I really like how that was approached in the film, as the schism of the group does feel so natural and inevitable. I also really like how this film doesn’t drag, even through the non-action scenes. Everything just feels so well balanced and well done. Again, this was on Disney+.

Also on Disney+, I watched Ant-Man. I really enjoyed the film! The story is interesting and so is the Ant-Man suit, along with the characters. I also really liked where it was placed in the release schedule. It was so nice to take a break from the group dynamic of the previous films and the one that follows.

Next from Disney+ was Captain America: Civil War. This one is always tough to watch for me because it just feels so real and the consequences are so high for Cap and his part of the schism. Plus, Tony is always my favorite up until this film so it’s sad to see him fighting so hard to keep the Avengers together and realize that he’s failed in his goal. I do think that Cap’s insistence on helping Bucky is a bit over the top in the film. Even Cap doesn’t seem sure why he’s risking so much to help Bucky out at some points but I do think Cap is in the right on the whole accords business, even though everyone seems against him. I do love how Peggy is a big part of Cap’s reason for making the decision once he hears her words through Sharon at Peggy’s funeral (although I find his thing with Sharon weird).

And more from Disney+, I watched Doctor Strange. I do like this film too. Again, there is something to be said about the solo hero films sprinkled in the larger group lineup. I found it super interesting and such a cool story for this character. Even though Doctor Strange isn’t my favorite MCU character (by a long shot, he just seems pretty boring in comparison to some of the others), I do really like what this film adds to the universe.

TV Shows

I ended up restarting Madam Secretary! I can’t remember if I shared this update in last month’s update as I can’t recall exactly when I restarted it but I really enjoyed the series so much I wanted to go back and watch the start of it. Even though the characters stay true to themselves throughout the series, I really liked watching them as they started out this journey. The kids are so much younger and learning to deal with their mom’s crazy and cool job while the State Department employees learn to work for a new boss. I like the dynamic here. I’m currently in season 1.

I also restarted Gilmore GIrls. I couldn’t help it! I missed it too much and I’m still obsessed! I’d completely forgotten how early some of these stories happened in the series honestly. I’m in season 1 and I honestly can’t remember what ended up happening that Lorelei didn’t end up with Max. Honestly, he’s great!

And another show I restarted was Cheer. I was so upset when a second season didn’t come through as that season was interrupted by the pandemic while filming. I totally think that they should have done a limited sort of series with the footage they did have and then wrapped it up with zoom interviews like how the Disney+ On Pointe show did. But the cheer season was just getting started probably when the pandemic hit so maybe there just wasn’t enough footage. Anyway, back to the rewatch. The series is pretty short so I’m already a few weeks away from Daytona in the series. I know what happens and the injuries and all that but It’s still so scary to watch things go so wrong. The part where Sherbs was launched across the pyramid and there was no one there to catch her was terrifying! It’s also so sad to think of the fact that none of those cheerleaders will be in the new seasons as Navarro is a two year community college so they’ll all have transferred out by now. Oh, and then there’s the issue of Jerry, who was the underdog that everyone loved to root for and then he ended up being a disgusting human who was preying on young girls. Ugh! I really hope the show eventually comes back, especially since Monica and Gabi have revealed that filming has been going on!

I also started a new show! Well, new to me anyway. I started watching Schitt’s Creek. This show is so funny and before I knew it, I’d gone through the first half of the first season in one night! The episodes and seasons are short from what I can tell. I love all the characters for such different reasons and I find Alexis and David to be beyond hilarious so they’re my favorites of the Roses. Stevie is great too though so she’s my favorite non-Rose. I’m almost done with season 4, since the episodes and seasons are so short, and I love it!

Musicals & Concerts

I watched the online live versions of The Show Must Go On Live concert on the YouTube channel “The Shows Must Go On”. The show was meant to drum up support and excitement for the West End as they prepare to open theatres in London again. For the most part, the shows and songs that were promoted are shows that one can expect to go see at the West End as they were either running at the time the pandemic started or were about to open and thus were pushed back. I really enjoyed the show and the talent of the West End performers is incredible.

Music

I’ve really been into Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) this month. I’ve stated a few times that I did always love Taylor’s hits but didn’t before a real fan of hers until her 1989 album so a lot of her older music is new to me. I have wanted to go back and listen to her older music for so long, but decided to hold off until she released her rerecordings.

YouTube

This month I’ve been watching a lot of videos on financial health. Namely, Roth IRA’s (as I’m 30 and still don’t have one, I’m embarrassed to say) and investing in general.

I’m also watching more about birth charts, focusing on my own placements. I’m having trouble with this one because I got my birth chart from two different places online. Some of my planets are on the cusp of some of my houses so my chart varies from the two and I’m just not sure what to do about that.

Podcasts

I’ve been listening to the usual podcasts that I enjoy! Short rundown here:

• Ladies & Tangents – two cousins who are beyond funny and go on a ton of tangents!
• MusicalSplaining – two friends, one who loves musicals and one who hates them with a passion, watch musicals and discuss them together
• The Readheads – four gals who take turns picking books to read and then discuss them
• This Might Get Weird – two friends who discuss what’s going on in their lives

I do listen to a ton of different podcasts but the rest aren’t regular podcast picks for me so I just put the top ones here.

Video Games

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons this month, of course! I’ve since discovered that “cozy games” are a whole thing in gaming and I’m loving that term. As for ACNH, it’s wedding season so I got all four of my characters to participate and ended with so many heart crystals I didn’t know what to do with them all. I love the wedding items though and I love that they can be customized! I’m also getting so close to getting all the KK albums, all the fish (I get so lazy with fishing but I could have gotten the last two this month if I really tried), and I’ll be able to complete all the bugs tomorrow. I didn’t start playing until August last year so I’m almost at my one year anniversary of playing ACNH!

I also played some more of Shadow of the Tomb Raider! I have to admit, I only played a tiny bit more and it was mostly running around Paititi trying to do little side quests in that area and challenges. I really did not want to keep going in the main story line! I did eventually complete one tiny portion of the story line when Lara goes to get some artifact that she needs but I didn’t go further than that. I have to admit, the game made me a bit nauseous too! I think I’m just not used to the video game motion of open world games anymore? That’s actually why I don’t reach for my Far Cry games (I have Far Cry 3 for PS3 and Far Cry 5 for PS4) even though I love those games. They make me feel sick when I play more than an hour or two and that’s hardly enough time to make any progress! But I have been playing in smaller chunks so maybe it’ll work out after all.

Baking

I did some baking! I made my usual M&M cookies for my ballet class this month and they loved them!

Active Life

walk

I’ve had to give up my midday walk because it’s just been too hot out at that time! Instead, I will go for an evening walk most days. During my training at my new job I started later in the day so I used to go in the mornings, which I prefer because my neighbors either are at work or sleeping in but evenings are good too!

ballet

The new session of ballet started this month! We are all vaccinated in the class so we are allowed to do class without masks, which is so nice! I feel like I’m doing better in the class too, especially in terms of balance which is great after years of taking classes haha!

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So that’s what I’ve been up to this month! Let me know what fun hobbies you’ve done this month.

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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