Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Welcome to October! I fully intended to make some rambling post about nothing, but somehow ended up adulting instead. Spent time on the phone (yes, really! And I didn’t die.) with an actual person trying to fix something that neither of us can fix. She’s getting help from another place. Maybe. I have no faith in the third party and I don’t think the person I was talking to does either. C’est la vie. Then, Dad and I went on an impromptu trip to the pharmacy to get shot. The new Covid vaccine and the flu shot. Fun. Now, we’re waiting for our salads to be delivered from some place called Salata. And it’s 7:30 for some reason, so you get a cute spooky season picture instead of a post.
Howdy, howdy! I hope everyone is doing okay as February comes to a close. It’s been a strange month where each day bleeds into the next without warning, but at the same time, it feels like the month is dragging. No idea why. Anyway, it’s book review time. I stepped outside my comfort zone a little bit this time with an historical fiction book. The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney was released yesterday (the 22nd) from Moonshine Cove Publishing. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.
Nice cover.
The Cicada Tree follows Analeise Newell, an 11-year-old who is trying to navigate life in 1956 Georgia. Emotions run high as she struggles to figure out how everything she loves fits together: her friendship with Etta Mae, her crush on Abel Darlington, and her newfound obsession with the Mayfields. As Analeise digs into her obsession, she finds more darkness than she bargains for in that Mayfield shine she’s so attracted to. It’s all set against the backdrop of summer in Georgia when the whine of the cicadas can either lull you to sleep or drive you crazy.
I’ll be honest, this book wasn’t for me. I’m all for southern gothic and blending supernatural into regular fiction, but something about this book kept me from getting into it. I think it’s because the ages of the characters just didn’t feel right. Analeise and the rest of the kids all seemed more like teenagers than 11-year-olds. I’d go as young as 14, but honestly I kept thinking they were closer to 16 or so. Yes, I realize that younger kids can be stupidly vicious too, but the vocabulary and most of the actions just felt older. There were a few scenes where I thought “okay, these are younger kids,” but they were few and far between.
The fact that the book was written in first person from Analeise’s perspective didn’t help with the age issue. If we’re that close to a character, I expect the narrative voice to fit the age of the character, but it didn’t. Maybe the story is being told from grown-Analeise’s perspective. If that’s the case, fine. But there was nothing to suggest that in the book. At least not the version I had access to. I saw somewhere that the final version is supposed to have an epilogue, so maybe it becomes clearer in there.
Actually, an epilogue would be really helpful because the ending left things super vague and not even in a “create your own ending” kind of way. It was completely unsatisfying. Like, I might look for it at my library just to see if anything is cleared up in the final version. I’m not tempted enough to buy it, but I’ll definitely check the library system for it.
The writing itself was a little purple for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, just a tad overly descriptive for my tastes. And I normally talk about the characters, but I had zero sympathy for any of them, except maybe Abel. He was an okay kid. Etta Mae was too angelic. Everyone else was too selfish for me to get behind.
Ultimately, I wasn’t a fan of The Cicada Tree. Maybe I’ll like it a little better if I see the epilogue, but I doubt it. There was too much I didn’t care for. If I come across something else by Gwaltney, I’d look at it because the writing was okay, but I won’t be searching for anything.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. If you’re into southern gothic and are interested in the premise, give it a shot. If not, you’re not missing anything.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing today? I’m still struggling with productivity and all of that. And I have no idea what to ramble about in these posts, since I can’t complain about current writing problems. Can’t have problems if you’re avoiding it. But, since it’s November, I guess I should write about things I’m thankful for. Thanksgiving is next week, but so is my book review post. It’s now or never, I guess. I know most people announce one thing a day for the entire month, but I’m too lazy for that. So, in no particular order, here are thirty things I’m thankful for at the moment.
1. Dad. Of course he starts off the list. This should be no surprise to anyone. He takes care of me, annoys me, and cooks me good food. What else do I need?
2. Little sis (Jenae). Chosen family is the best. You’re always there to listen and commiserate and just be random together. Love you, sis.
3. Danielle. For much the same reasons as Jen. Hugs!
4. Stonecoasters. We might not talk often, but they’re there when I need them.
5. Old Interwebz (Yahoo chat) friends. I still can’t believe I’ve known most of you like 15 years and you still keep me around. You’re weirdos and I love it.
6. Borden’s eggnog. Because eggnog. What else is there to explain?
7. Ghirardelli peppermint bark. See above.
8. Books. I just like reading, but I can also say they’re for work and not be lying. They don’t even have to be boring books. I can read all the genres and say I’m studying tropes and character development and all that jazz.
9. Medical technology. Wheelchairs and ventilators and patient lifts and suctions and pretty much everything that makes my life possible. They’re all great. It’s a pain in the ass to get them through the government (or absurdly expensive out of pocket), but life would suck without them.
10. Music. What would life be without it?
11. Anime. I liked it before it was cool.
12. X-men. Just heard Disney’s rebooting the ’90s cartoon and I’m cautiously excited. If it comes to fruition, I guess we have to get Disney+ in 2023.
13. Bats. They’re adorable.
14. Wombats. They’re adorable and poop cubes.
15. Octopuses. They’re just awesome in general.
16. Let’s make this easy and say most animals. I just like animals.
17. Computers. I wouldn’t have most of my friends without computers.
18. Grocery deliveries. Sure, it’s not ideal, especially when the packer doesn’t read your requests or has zero idea how to pick produce, but it’s made pandemic life easier. It means Dad doesn’t have to go to the store as often.
19. Doctor visits via webcam. I despise the trip to UT Southwestern, so these “telehealth” visits have been awesome. I don’t get to go to a restaurant afterwards, but with Covid, I don’t know if I’d want to stop anywhere anyway. I also like not having to get up early just to get there on time.
20. Pretty people. I know I’m not supposed to objectify people and all that, but whatever. I don’t harass people or make inappropriate comments to strangers. But I can still look. Cripples can be creepers too! I’m only creepy sometimes. I swear.
21. The fact that my friends accept my creepy side. You know who you are.
22. Spiked coffee. I haven’t had one in a while, but like knowing it’s an option.
23. British murder mysteries. They can be weird, but tend to be enjoyable.
24. All things rainbow. Contrary to popular opinion, my love of rainbow stuff has nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ scene (that’s just a happy bonus). I just like ridiculously colorful things.
25. Notebooks. I don’t use them, but love having them. It’s weird.
26. Boxes and baskets. Decorative storage. It’s another one of my weird likes because I don’t actually need them.
27. Cheese. That needs no explanation.
28. Pasta, bread, carbs. Again, no explanation needed.
29. Seafood. Actually, food in general.
30. That November only has 30 days, because I’m totally out of things I’m thankful for at the moment. I’m sure there are things hiding in the back of my brain, but they aren’t helping me out.
What are you thankful for? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or comments here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! It’s Tuesday (March 2nd) as I’m writing this and I have to say that governor Abbott is a fucking idiot who has no idea what he’s doing or he just doesn’t care what he’s doing as long as he’s doing it for the highest bidder. Personally, I think it’s both of those things, but what do I know? Sane people wouldn’t reelect corrupt imbeciles over and over again. Oh, wait. My bad. They do it all the time. Anyway, in case you haven’t figured it out, I’m feeling a little ranty at the moment. I try not to blog when I’m in this mood because there are enough angry people on the Interwebz, but I don’t currently have anything else to talk about. So, feel free to come back next week when I’m in a better mood. Or read on. Your choice.
Me reading the executive order.
In case you haven’t been following things down here in Texas, after the atrocity that was Snowvidpocalypse a couple of weeks ago and the horrible handling of that by everyone involved, governor Abbott has hit a new low. Just because we’ve been in a slight downward trend of new Covid cases (which I believe has at least stalled if it hasn’t already turned upward again), he issued an executive order lifting all of the restrictions on businesses and getting rid of the mask mandate. If you don’t believe me, you can read about it for yourself here. There’s a link to the actual order at the bottom of that page. But anyway… His reasoning? Covid numbers have dropped, the vaccine rollout is going so well, and so many Texans have been adhering to the protocols for social distancing/mask wearing/etc. And that’s just a few of the ridiculous things he says. I don’t know what the guy’s been smoking, but he should probably share it with the rest of us.
Sure, let’s say the numbers are dropping. I’m too lazy to look it up, so I’ll ignore the fact that the US has surpassed half a million deaths due to Covid and I’ll take his word for it. But the vaccine rollout going well? That’s a joke. There were 29 million people in Texas as of 2019. Apparently there have been 5.7 million shots administered in Texas. Each vaccine requires two shots (at least until J&J’s vaccine comes out). We’re no where close to vaccinating everyone. I haven’t even tried to get the vaccine myself yet, but judging by the fact that I can’t even get my 92-year-old neighbor an appointment, I don’t have high hopes for me and Dad. Is Texas doing better than some other places? Yes, but it’s not doing well enough to brag about it. And it certainly isn’t doing well enough to tell people that the worst is behind us and that we can all burn our masks (I’m being dramatic, but you know that’s exactly what a lot of people are thinking now).
Feels like a good place for a dramatic sigh.
Also, I want to know where Abbott has been going in Texas that makes him think so many people are adhering to social distancing and wearing masks properly and all that jazz. I haven’t left the house much in a year, but videos and pictures and the rare occasion I watched people from parking lots while waiting for curbside deliveries have proven that to be a lie. Most people try, but they don’t seem to realize masks go over the nose. And lately, fewer people are even trying it seems. Of course, Abbott strongly suggests keeping masks and social distancing and all that, but without repercussions, most people aren’t going to do anything that slightly inconveniences them. I feel bad for the stores who keep mask policies, because a ton more asshats are going to throw fits when they run into those kinds of places. If Abbott really encourages masks, why is he ending the mandate? Who are these expert medical people he’s supposedly listening to that say everything is fine? I don’t get it. Show me proof that this crap is a good idea?
Basically
I think I’ll stop ranting and go eat. If you made it this far, you must really like me. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments here or on my social media pages.
Howdy, howdy! How is everyone doing? What kinds of things have you found to help you pass the time during the quarantine? I’ve been listening to a lot of older music. Stuff from my teen years. I hate to call it old, but late ’90s to 2004ish is 16+ years ago. I’m getting old. I know. It’s before I got into Japanese and Korean music. It’s before I even got into Lifehouse and James Blunt and other groups that lean more towards the soft and sappy. These are my depressed and angry teenage anthems. The songs that made me feel less alone. And they still make me feel better. I think they always will. Anyway, I don’t have much to talk about on the writing front, so I thought I’d share some music with you.
1. “I Feel Fine” by the Riddlin’ Kids. It was released in 2001. I never really got into any of their other music, but I really liked this particular song. Maybe it’s because I felt alone a lot.
2. “Sympathetic” by Seether. I first heard it when I bought Disclaimer (2002). It quickly became one of my favorites. A lot of Seether songs still rank among my favorites. “Fine Again” and “Broken” from the same album. “The Gift” and “Truth” from Karma And Effect. “Like Suicide” and “Walk Away from the Sun” from Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces. I could go on, but I think that’s enough of them.
3. “Unwell” by Matchbox Twenty from More Than You Think You Are (2002). They’re one of the more poppy bands I liked back then and a lot of their songs just made me happy. “Disease” from the same album. “Mad Season” and “Bent” from Mad Season. “Long Day” and “Push” from Yourself Or Someone Like You. But “Unwell” will always be number one.
4. “A Quiet Mind” by Blue October from History For Sale (2003). I don’t even know where to begin with them. Their music got me through a lot. Aside from “A Quiet Mind” there’s also “Inner Glow” from the same album. “She’s My Ride Home” and “Into the Ocean” from Foiled. “Picking up Pieces” and “Jump Rope” from Approaching Normal. The list goes on, but I’ll stop here.
5. “Pieces” by Sum 41 from Chuck (2004). I enjoy a lot of their music, but this song is by far my favorite. They didn’t exactly play my favorite genre, so I never got attached to them the same way I did other bands. Mostly I got attached to specific songs from similar bands. “Adam’s Song” by Blink182 for example. But I won’t dive too far into those songs.
So, yeah. I’m spending a lot of time doing the same stuff I did as a teenager: listening to music and reading. It might not be productive, but it makes me feel better and that’s all that really matters. What makes you feel better these days? What are some of your teenage anthems or songs that got you through those years? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or comments here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! Is everyone ready for the holidays? I hope so. Anyway, I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to come up with a topic for this week’s post and I keep coming up blank. Since I’m doing a book review on Christmas instead of taking a break, I figured I would take this week off. So, here are some festive photos of my chair that Dad decorated and a couple from the MDA Holiday Party in lieu of an actual post!
Howdy, howdy! Last week was a series of unfortunate events. On Sunday (the 20th), I had a mishap and injured my knee. Spent Monday in bed to baby it. Got sick on Tuesday with one of those illnesses no one wants to know about and have been struggling to recover ever since. This past Monday, I got a shot and some amoxicillin. I’m slowly on the mend. But! I haven’t been productive and I haven’t even finished reading my book that I was supposed to review this week. Hopefully, I’ll be back next week to review that and get on track! I think I’m going to go rest now.
Hello, hello! It’s the last Wednesday of the month already. Time flies when you’re having fun (or just going about daily life), I suppose. Anyway, you all know what happens today: a book review! This week, I’ll be talking about The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw. It was published back in March of this year by Simon and Schuster. I read it with the reading group I’m in and decided that I have too many thoughts about it to not write a post. I usually try to keep my posts as close to spoiler free as possible (sometimes a couple will slip through), but that’s going to be impossible here. Spoilers this way lie. You’ve been warned.
I absolutely love the cover.
The Wicked Deep is the story of a small town called Sparrow and the curse that has plagued it every summer for two centuries. Why is there a curse? Because the town sentenced three sisters to death by drowning for acts of witchcraft, of course. What is the curse? The three sisters possess the bodies of three girls from the town and lure boys to their death in the harbor. Poor Penny, a seventeen-year-old who lives on an island with her not-quite-all-there mother, has accepted that it’s the town’s fate to suffer the wrath of the witches every year. That is until Bo, an unwitting outsider, shows up and she decides it’s her mission to protect him. Things go all kinds of wrong from there.
I have to admit that I was totally in love with this book as I was reading it. The setting was wonderful and the writing pulled me along. Even after I finished it, I was prepared to give it five stars. Then, I took a breath and started thinking about it. Really thinking about it. That was when things got super dark, and not in a good way.
It really did.
*spoilers ahead*
I ended up feeling sooooo bad for Penny. First, she’s possessed by Hazel (violation much?), but then there’s the whole Bo thing. I mean, there’s sex. That means Penny is basically ghost roofied and forced into sex without any say. To be fair, Bo doesn’t know about Penny being Hazel at first. But after everything is over, he keeps dating Penny like everything is normal and he was in love with her all along. At the same time, he keeps pining over Hazel. So, he’s not in love with Penny, which means she’s stuck in a relationship with some guy who’s not really into her. It all just got very rapey the more I thought about it. By itself that’s fine (not every story has to be a happy one), but there will be people who think this is a great love story and that’s what really makes me sad.
Me after really thinking about things.
Aside from that, I also expected more from Penny’s mom. She supposedly has some kind of psychic powers and knows when people are on her island and all that, but she doesn’t kick Hazel’s ghostly ass? She doesn’t really do much at all. It’s apparent during her conversation with Hazel that she knows things, but she doesn’t act. It was just a little disappointing.
Ultimately, I had a love/hate relationship with The Wicked Deep. I’ll still keep a look out for other books by Shea Ernshaw, though. It was good enough that I was swept along, which makes it worth looking into other stories by her.
Overall, my issues with it dropped my rating down to a 3 out of 5. I definitely suggest picking it up if you’re into stuff like that, but really think about the story. Maybe I’m making too much out of something small. Maybe you’ll find it creepy too. Who knows?
Happy new year, everyone! I hope the year has started off pleasantly for you. I’ve just been working on revisions to G&G and relaxing. I have a tendency to play mindless games when I relax. You know the ones. Candy Crush, Diner Dash, Papa’s Pizzeria. Pretty much anything with an alliterative name is bound to be mindless. Match three games or hidden objects games or time management games. The types of games that give you something to do with your hands and pretty images to stare at, but require little to no deep thinking. However, some people don’t really understand why I play them and even pick on me for it (in a funny haha way, not a mean one), so I thought I would explain a little bit.
May your year be filled with love and light!
Mindless games are simply a way for me to shut down my brain and stop overthinking things, especially when I’m dwelling on something. They allow me to focus on something mundane and ignore the voices in my head for a while. When I’m upset at life or stuck on a story or whatever, the games help to clear my thoughts. It’s kind of like when you get sucked into a TV show or a movie or a book and everything else fades away for that hour or however long. It’s a way to bring peace into my head, like my own little meditation. When your brain is constantly on high speed over the stupidest things, it’s a really nice feeling to just relax.
I can stop whenever I want. I just don’t want to.
There’s also this weird side effect of mindless games that I don’t get from TV or books: I find solutions to plot problems when I play. With TV and books, I have to focus on their plots and follow along. Mindless games don’t require that much interaction, so my subconscious is free to roam wild. In its roaming, it finds solutions to problems organically. It finds things I would never come up with even after hours or days of plotting. I know a lot of people who have these revelations in the shower, and others who keep dream journals for this type of stuff, but not me. Mindless games are where it’s at for me.
So, laugh at my stupid games all you want, but there’s a method to my madness. Plus, and this is important, I enjoy the games. I like matching games. I like the games that simulate tasks like waiting tables and cooking and all the other stuff I can’t do. It’s fun and stupid and makes me a huge nerd. I fully accept that.
I’m right here!
Do you play any mindless games? How do you go about clearing your mind? Do you find your aha moments in the shower or driving down the road or in your dreams? Thoughts, comments, questions, and everything in between are welcome in the comment section here or on my social media pages.
Merry (almost) Christmas! I don’t have much to talk about this week, so I thought I would share some of my favorite songs to listen to around this time of year. They’re not all Christmas songs, some just feel right about now. Are there any songs you can’t go without during the holiday season?
First up, Gayla Peevey’s I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.
I don’t really know why, but it’s been one of my favorites since I was a kid. For a while, I even wanted a hippopotamus, but they’re actually pretty deadly, so I changed my mind.
Next isNakashima Mika’s Yuki no Hana (Snow Flower).
It’s not a Christmas song or anything, just a pretty wintry song.It’s been so long since I’ve looked up the lyrics that I can’t even tell you what it’s about anymore. Shame on me. I chose a live version because it’s what I like, no other reason.
Sinatra’s Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Okay, maybe it doesn’t have to be this particular song, butyou know those iconic Christmas songs sung by Frankie and Dean Martin and the like? Yeah, those kinds of songs.
And, of course no Christmas is complete without the Royal Guardsmen’s Snoopy’s Christmas.
Who doesn’t love that song? It’s impossible not to like it.
I left out tons of songs, I know, but this is a start. There’s the music from How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol and a bunch of others I’m surely forgetting. What are your favorites? Go ahead and send me a link!
Have a merry Christmas! I’ll be back once more before the new year. See you then.
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