A Day in the Life (25) (Sorry if you read this yesterday when this accidentally posted, but I added some stuff!)

Wow, I haven't done one of these for like...almost a whole month!  So, here's an update on things that have happened in the past month:

1.  I had a tough couple weeks, but I've been holding up pretty well.  Thanks again to all of you who reached out to me - it really meant a lot to me, and I promise it made a difference.

2. My Halloween gig got cancelled (and therefore I had no Halloween plans, despite it being my favourite holiday. When the costume was going to be the three oboists as the "three blind mice", it's a bit hard to go out as the "one blind mouse". Also I didn't have half of my costume as one of the other oboists had it), but it was a surprisingly nice night in instead of dressing up and having adult fun times.  And my mom sent me a care package chock full of candy so yay for chill Halloween fun times!

3. Sejoon is a DANGER to my mugs!  Remember when I talked about my favourite mugs? He's one of (admittedly three) reasons why I ended up with only one Winnie the Pooh mug instead of 4.  And now he's broken my Jane Austen mug!!!! WHY?!?!?!?  I suppose 2 mugs in 6 years is a pretty good track record. Plus a sake cup. (In any case, it's a better track record than I have, seeing as I broke ALL of the champagne glasses. And a regular glass).  But did it have to be those mugs?

4. I dyed my hair purple! Well part of it, and it's more like a tint - you can't even tell it's purple unless you're close to me (For those of you would be concerned about this *cough* family *cough. *Ahem* I expect I'll probably get a phone call about this one lol)

 (See? Nothing too drastic)

5. A couple weeks ago, my boyfriend and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary!!!  It feels so crazy - like 6 years sounds so long, but at the same time it does kind of feel like we've been together forever.  We had a really frelling delicious meal.  My boyfriend was pleased to discover that he makes a better bolognese than the fancy restaurant was, but disappointed he didn't have better food. My food, on the other hand, was delicious. I think I had some sort of gnocchi? And they had cheeeeeeeese. Gooooood cheeeeeeese. *Sighs dreamily*. Also like some sort of fig/orange sorbet and it was UHmazing.  Basically, we had delicious food. And free prosecco and a free dessert. Yay for anniversaries!

(Don't ask. He's on KakaoTalk and loves their emoticons so this is how he sent it to me haha. We forgot to ask someone to take a picture of us, so we had to do a selfie. Which means you can't see our smoking hot outfits, alas)

6. I listened to Holly Black's Coldest Girl in Coldtown and hoooly mother of god.

• It was my first American (sounding at least) narrator, and she was just perfect for this story.  I wasn't sure I'd love it at first, but her style was just a perfect fit for the story.
• I think narration might make things even more intensely intense and gory.  There were definitely parts I thought I was going to have to switch to the radio because it was grossing me out so much I was getting light headed!
• Speaking of light headed...can we talk about Gavriel?  Because he's delicious. There were definitely some...distracted moments there too.
• I ended up LOVING this book, which I wasn't expecting since most of the reviews were pretty l         lackluster.  Maybe it's because I listened to it?  I think I'd read that someone didn't think this was as     gritty as Black's usual stuff, and I'd definitely have to disagree.  This is right up there with the fae books for me (although not quite, because they are the best ever), but above The Curseworkers, which I didn't love as much as a whole as I'd thought I would.  Although, it's Holly Black, so it's not like they weren't great books.
 

That pretty much sums up the past month (minus my ranting about classic literature and breasts. Turns out one of my friends here is reading it too, so he conned me into finishing the book with him. In case you were wondering), so now you're all caught up!

Bookish Links

Discussions

In Theory I Like Rereading - Jamie talks about the issues of rereading in actuality when you're a book blogger!

Snow White: The Blankest Slate of Them All - A really interesting look into how Snow White doesn't have much base personality, so retelling her is easy (and can be really awesome).  The article looks into a lot of popular retellings/reinterpretations of her character (and they're all badass)

Where Are All the Disabled Characters in Children's Books? - I've mentioned this before, but Megan Quibell really hits home as to why this is important.

YA 2015 Trend Predictions - Cait and other bloggers talk about trend predictions, and holy cow am I excited if they turn out to be true!

None Of This Is New: An Oral History Of Fanfiction - My obligatory FANFICTION IS AWESOME post.

Shop Around: YA Characters with Romantic Pasts - Yes. Just yes, yes, yes.

The Most Popular Passages in Books, According to Kindle Data - Some of these are a given (I'm looking at you Deathly Hallows and P&P), but others are a surprise!

Specific Books and Authors

A Court of Thrones and Roses - Sarah J. Maas news on her blog!!!

Queer Representation in The Raven Cycle - This article is freaking fantastic. Go read it.

11 YA Fantasy Fandoms Before Fandoms Were Fandoms - Holy smokes guys - I literally belonged to ALL OF THESE FANDOMS.  Growing up this was pretty much my life. My life was awesome.

Happily Remixed and Mashed-Up Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales! - Leah Schnelbach at Tor.com has compiled a great list of modern fairy tales/retellings worth checking out.

Life Lessons from Tamora Pierce’s Books  - I've mentioned on the blog before that I credit Tamora Pierce for shaping a lot of my values growing up, and I'm actually planning a post this week about books that were influential in my life as a whole, not just as a reader - expect to see Tamora Pierce on that list too.  It's wonderful to know that I wasn't the only one whose life she changed, and this post just had me nodding in agreement the whole time!

The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe: Gail Carriger - The pop quiz strikes again! Gail Carriger is as fun and kooky as I thought she'd be! (Guys she knows what her signature Doctor Who outfit would be if she was regenerated as the Doctor.)
Literary Love Connection: The Brooding and The Obsessive - This post features Scarlett O'Hara and Heathcliff! Is it true love, or will it end in tears? Read on to find out...

Blogging

A Personal Response To A Shocking THING That Happened - Jamie talks about internet safety in response to..well, we all know what in response to.

Not A Slump But A SOMETHING. - Until a few days ago, I was definitely in this place! (Well on the reading front I suppose I sort of still am?)

CONDESCENDING SH*T TO SAY TO BOOK READERS - We've definitely all been there.

DAMN NINJAS CUTTING ONIONS.

Nonbookish News

Hey, Marvel! Here’s 19 Actors You Should Seriously Consider Casting For Your Captain Marvel Movie - Holy cow, I have never seen a more perfect list in my life. Ever. Yes! All of these! Any of these! Like, I seriously don't even know who on this list I would want the most.
Geeky Celebs Dressing Up As Each Other For Halloween Is Our New Favorite Thing - Holy crap the Supernatural cast is perfect!

How Sleeping Beauty is Accidentally the Most Feminist Animated Movie Disney Ever Made - It took me a while to warm up to this theory, but as the author points out one doesn't have to intentionally set out to make it a feminist film for it to be feminist.  It feels a bit tenuous to me, but the author definitely has a point.

YES!! It looks like Fall Out Boy is going to make another movie out of their entire album! If you didn't catch The Youngblood Chronicles last time I posted, the whole album/movie has been finished and you can check it out all in one go here. And if you need more convincing, it features Elton John and is like watching Supernatural!