So this video is kind of long and wonky, but that’s what happens when you’re rusty. I have since fixed the problem with my video editor. It took a tech team. No, I don’t know why. Let’s move on.
I cry near the end here. Whatever the quality, the content is important to me. Listen, I’ve been keeping it real this long and I might as well keep it that way. This is the story of the impact of depression and money struggles–with a happy ending!
I thought I could do a little book haul for this week, but it turns out I’ve acquired a looooot more books than I originally thought. Also, at the end there is a little life update for you guys about my most recent crazy life adventures and why I’ve got a new background to my videos. Remember to leave a comment and tell me what to read next!
Okay, so, it’s not THAT much of a secret that Michaela and I have been working on moving in with each other for a while. HOWEVER, in case this is the first you’re hearing about it, it finally happened last Tuesday! I’ve been focused on getting moved in, but we’re getting ready to get this show on the road! My computer is still without some essential parts, so editing is difficult, but hopefully the piece (my battery) should be here by the end of this week! Here’s to moving on up!
Instead of a From the Notebook video, you get a wrap up a few days early! Even early, May was a MUCH better reading month to me than April. I’ve gone from 10/40 in the PopSugar Reading Challenge to 15/40 AND I’m almost halfway there in my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books this year. Go me!
Posts mentioned in video:
The hiatus is OVER! This isn’t a very bookish From the Notebook, but I am talking about where I’ve been, where I’m going … and I’m announcing an upcoming giveaway that’ll hit the blogosphere later this week. The giveaway includes a signed book and swag, and will be attached to an exclusive interview with the author, Kristen-Paige Madonia. I got to meet her last week, and she is amazing! Anyways, for more info … here’s the video!
Hey guys! Technically I got back in on Tuesday, but I spent all of Wednesday trying to get back into school and readjust to this time zone. I have accomplished neither of these things so far, but I’m swimming.
Since I don’t have anything for a Thesis Thursday this week, I thought I’d do some life blogging and show you guys some pictures of where I went. This was not a normal trip out west. Rachel and I–you know, Rachel from the first couple seasons of Bibliomancy for Beginners–went on a road trip.
I have never had so much fun and whil
e having so many moments convinced I was going to die.
Day 1: LA to San Francisco
This day was a beautiful one. Once we got out of the city, we got onto the Pacific Coast 
Highway and took that up to San Fran. This is NOT the way that your GPS will ever tell you to go. It winds around the edge of the coast–literally, the edge–but it is SO PRETTY. So pretty.
San Francisco itself was kind of annoying, and the place that we were staying wasn’t so great. But we went out that night and found the most delicious Thai food I ever tasted, and Rachel and I decided that things could only go up from there! We were wrong.
I know, I know, it’s the second Wednesday in a row without a Worth It Wednesdays post. I haven’t run out of worthwhile reads.
Though I’ve been doing my best to keep up with Nostalgia Junkie, the return to school has basically wiped out everything else. For now, anyways.
I’m about to start up a couple of projects very near and dear to my heart, and hopefully you guys will be able to follow them here. One is my thesis. The reading list for this has a list on my Goodreads, and I’m really excited about it. If I get my stuff together, hopefully I’ll find a fun way to incorporate all the books I’m reading for that into this blog.
The second is my senior project for my Creative Writing major. This is my first novel attempt in years–damn you, college!–and it promises to be a wild ride. Again, if I can find a witty way to incorporate that here, I plan to.
Last but CERTAINLY NOT LEAST is a project hopefully coming to you soon from me and
my Bibliomancer gang. It has several facets. One is that me and Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls want to start doing some shorter videos to entertain y’all. Second is that me, Michaela, Taylor and maybe even Casey from The Drunk Librarian are thinking of doing one book a month while school is in session. Except sitting around the SAME TABLE and imbibing alcohol. Because we’re 21 and we can do that now.
All this amounts to some more blogging that will hopefully be going on! I know, I’ve promised that before. But this time I’ve got teachers and friends all looking at me to git’r’done so maybe–just maybe–I’ll actually do it. Fingers crossed!
One thing that you know going into my college’s semester abroad program – well, know but
don’t really know – is that you have to find your own apartment. I say that you know, but not really, because you are told that it’s stressful and are told that it’s crazy and yet you really don’t understand the meaning of all those words in context until you do it.
The first problem is that no one in London wants to let to students only stay for four months, and leaving right before Christmas. The second is that they want to charge more than my group was willing to pay. The third is that with any kind of group of people, what you’re looking for is always going to be different.
I’m proud of my group of sticking it out and working together. It was a rough couple of days. Some groups didn’t make it. Some groups ended up paying a crazy amount of money. (The conversion right now is almost two American dollars to one British pound.)
We ended up finding a place, for all our troubles. It’s tiny and it’s nowhere near as fancy as all the other flats I’ve seen. But you know what? I can pay for it. I can pay the rent and also eat and travel and maybe buy a few more pairs of shoes. What it doesn’t have in space it makes up for in the bit of relief it gives my budgeting.
Better yet, the one thing I’m not worried about is my group killing each other in the small space. At least we have got that going for us.
Plus, we like our arts and crafts. These white walls won’t stay that way for long. Most importantly, it’s ours. No more moving big bags around and living out of suitcases.
We have a London home.
These Four Walls
These four walls
Have held me up forever
Kept me safe all my life
And even when the colors dimmed
They stood so tall I never wondered
If they’d ever fall
These four walls
When did they start cracking?
How did I miss all the signs?
Now the chipping, the peeling,
The cracking, the holes
Are too far gone to repair
These four walls
Can’t stand on their own now
Can’t keep supporting the ceiling
From crashing down on us all
Their screams fill the air
But I’m too afraid to cover my ears
These four walls
I’m holding them up now
I won’t let them crash on the only life I’ve ever known
There’s nothing else for me to do
Even though I know
One day they’ll smother me
Take Away
Take away my things
Take away my pride
Take away my smile
Take away my laugh
Take away my self-respect
Take away my courage
Take away my love
Take away my happiness
Take away my tears
Take away my truth
Take away my friends
Take away my sanctuary
Take away my sanity
Take away my music
Take away my breath
Take away my soul
Take away my life
Take away everything I am but that only
Takes away my love for you
My Life is a Notebook 