SEPTEMBER NOTES
September has been quite a hectic month on my end. During the free moments, I look out and see the first signs of autumn. I used to love when the temperatures would drop and the coziness would set in, however over the past few years, I have wished for summer to linger a little bit longer. To enjoy the dry, warm and lighter days. Nevertheless, I will take what I get and make the most out of it. That means wearing cozy knits, chunky boots and drinking more hot beverages.
PEACHTOBER
I have been following FurryLittlePeach (Sha’an d’Anthes) for quite some time now. Loving her videos on YouTube and her other social media posts. She brings so much joy, her art style is so full of colour and I love how she approaches her artworks. Sha’an shares a lot of useful insight into the creative world next to her fun bits and pieces from her studio vlogs. For the past years she has hosted Peachtober, which has only grown from year to year. After wrapping up last year’s Inktober with prompts created by myself, I was thinking of giving Peachtober a try. I was not 100% sure I would manage to get all 31 days, but I wanted to try it out.
Started doing some brainstorming after Sha’an shared the prompt list and then drawing some small thumbnails. The idea was to keep the artworks as simple as possible. Depending on each piece, I would choose the medium as I went and whatever would have felt more suited.
However, after coming up with an idea and thumbnail for almost all of the prompts, I stopped and took a step back. As much fun as this event would have been, the timing is not the best for me and I would most probably end up burning myself out. By participating in this event, I wanted to push myself to create more regularly and be more out there. Looking more closely at it and taking everything into account I did something I wouldn’t usually do. In the end, I decided not to participate this year.
Taking care of myself and following my actual needs has come to the foreground. That means, instead of doing something I wouldn’t necessarily want to do and/or doing it for the wrong reasons, I actively choose to work on something else that resonates better with me. It might sound like nothing, but for the long run, taking these kind of decisions can help with growth.
MISC.
BOOKS: On a more fun note, I am still trying to go strong with my reading habits. So far I managed to read 25 books this year and there are still a few months left. There weren’t many books that I really loved, but there were a few interesting and charming ones, like The Little Wartime Library. I found this book by accident on goodreads and even with the heavy main subject, seeing how the underground library worked and how it helped people, made me warm inside. Loved the different characters, the political aspect behind the library, the background stories of each character, all of these things and many more made me really attached to the story and how it was developing. There was one aspect that felt a bit odd, more specifically the relationship between the main character and the love interest. It started off strong and interesting, however as it kept evolving it felt foreign or pushed. Regardless, I enjoyed myself and would love more similar books.
Giving Neil Gaiman another try with The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I will start off by saying that I did enjoy it more than Stardust, however it still did have a certain atmosphere of quirkiness, which is right up my lane. I had a hard time connecting with both the story and characters. The action itself was interesting to follow and it kept you on the edge at times. I am most probably in the minority here, as I’ve seen there are a lot of people loving Neil Gaiman’s work.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has been on my TBR for quite a while, but I remember being really excited about the plot and eager to finally get to read it. Two years later, I am reading the book...
I felt utterly lost and confused when I was only a few pages in. It took me a quarter of the book to actually feel myself grounded enough to follow everything that was happening. I grasped the concept, which is really interesting, but the writing style didn't help me have a smooth ride. There were so many names to remember, so many scenes to take into account, the timeline wasn't continuous. Feeling so overwhelmed, when things would be unveiled, I would feel like a dummie because most probably it was rather obvious, however I just wasn't able to follow the thread and put the pieces next to each other.
I think the book could have been a tad shorter and maybe told a bit differently in order to be more easily digested. It's such an interesting idea and it was twisted nicely, but landed flat. Some characters were better than others, as it would be normal, sadly, I couldn't get to care that much for them.
MOVIES/SERIES: The movie of this month was The Nun II, which was full of tense moments and spooks. There were a few moments when I had trouble looking at the screen, which made it even more frightening. Always love a good spooky movie once in a while.
MUSIC: It’s always such a satisfying feeling when you find good music and mixes on YouTube. I have found Future Funk Nonstop Mix and it has been on repeat for multiple days, because it makes me feel so good and relaxed. Give it a shot when you are feeling blue, it might put a smile on your face or even make you dance.
VIDEO GAMES: After having played all of the other games in the Dark Anthology, The Devil in Me was up next. A few good jumpscares, a cliche story and cast and weird decision making process. It can be a bit frustrating as you can kill the characters so easily, even if you think it logically. Even though they are not the most polished games, will still continue playing them as it can be fun doing the co-op version.
That’s a wrap! September is finally over and I am more than happy to enjoy a cozy and spooky October. Looking forward to be back on track and to work on personal projects. Until next month, take care everyone ✨🌿