Kia Ora friends. How are you going today?
Melbourne weather today is super windy today but kinda warm and overcast outside. I'm working my very last two weekend shifts this weekend so it feels very bittersweet and sad, but definitely time for a change and to focus more on getting my health back on track. Also looking forward to actually having time to do things. This morning, Luke and I had poached eggs on toast for breakfast and a coffee and then he went off to cricket. I managed to get a small 15 minute walk in before work but I do feel quite dizzy in the mornings. It's making it quite hard to exercise and that's something I've always enjoyed/been able to do quite well. I'm just going to allow myself to ease back into it and try and not let my body image get me down - I just want to be healthy and be able to do all the walks/hikes I love as well as workouts every now and then, because I like being fit. It's just so hard when you're dizzy constantly and feel like you might faint if you walk too far.
With that being said, these last two days with my work equipment, I am trying to make the most of all the access I have to everything on here such as Canva Premium (which is something I want to get myself once my laptop is upgraded) and making lots of cute designs in the quieter periods. I think I'm finally finding my aesthetic with it now and hopefully I can continue to create magical designs and utilise them in my every day life. I'm also seeing lots of people use Procreate online as well. However, I think that's just for ipad and I definitely want something for windows. I may have to start experimenting with Adobe Illustrator as I have a subscription to Creative Cloud with my Photoshop/Lightroom stuff. I really do appreciate how this job has allowed me to find new hobbies and skills. I am definitely going to continue to use them as I go on my next adventure. I feel like I'm kinda being repetitive but hey who cares. I've still got to get back into physical drawing and painting as well. I kinda want to do a social experiment (of myself - so maybe individual experiment) to see how long it takes me to get bored and then what I create out of that boredom, as they say boredom breeds creativity.
Tonight, Luke and I are also heading out to "The Imperfects Tour". I'm not too sure what it'll be like but Luke roped me into going by saying Hamish Blake might be there (from Hamish and Andy). I've send Andy around Richmond before and have felt weird going to say hi so I've just left him but I follow Hamish on social media and think that the cakes he makes for his kids are pretty cool and insane. When Rove was on back in NZ in the 2000s, it was the one adult show mum let me watch as a kid and I just loved the humour that they did, so from that perspective, hopefully it's good. I also use "The Resilient Project's" self-care journal so I might learn a new self-care tip or two tonight. Will see! I'll write about it tomorrow.
Also an update on the ice cream reviews, we haven't had much of a chance to get out to different ice cream shops yet as the weather hasn't been that great, but we definitely plan to over Spring/Summer when the weather is nice. I've got a few lists of places I want to try so far! And there's a few around our neighborhood that look so good! Luke and I have also got a few dinner reservations and foodie places coming up too so keep and eye on here and my socials for when those come!
Another update, I'm thinking I really want to get back into helping people learn sociology. I'm not sure if YouTube is the right place for it, or if my blog would be, but just giving people the basics of Sociology and helping them understand theory (I would have loved to have a resource like that when I was first starting out). Do ya'll think this would be useful? Let me know! I also just love doing research and adding in humour wherever I can so that might be something. In saying all this, I better start reading a lot more again. I feel like I read so much when I was studying (mainly academic work), but more reading is definitely on my list of things to do as people keep lending me books and sometimes I get overwhelmed with having so many books to read so I want to get back into the habit of being able to read 1 book a week. Maybe that can be one of my 2024 goals, read 52 books (usually my goal is only 10). This year, the book's that I've read so far are:
The Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler: I read this one quite early on in 2023 so I don't really remember much of it, but I do remember being able to read it quite fast so it must have been written well. Lots of murder mystery vibes.
The both die at the end - Adam Silvera: This series is you know what's going to happen at the end of the book, yet you get invested into the characters and just cry so much. It's like if Black Mirror had a happy episode.
The Haunted Hotel - Wilkie Collins: As you can imagine, this book is about a ghost, but you may not realise what's beneath the surface.
The first to die at the end - Adam Silvera: As I wrote above. Same thing. Easy to read.
The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells: This book started off quite slow for me and I didn't think much was going to happen but as I got into the last half of the book, I was hooked and wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters.
The rest of the robots - Isaac Asimov: If you're a sci-fi lover, this collection of short stories, is great. The robots are all from the Foundation Universe that Asimov created and is just really interesting. The book also says when he wrote them and what he was thinking about at the time - which I really liked.
Slenderman - Kathleen Hale: If you're interested in true crime, this book is for you. Although, it is really really sad. However, Hale hooks you into the story and you feel for all those involved and just want justice for everyone. It's about two young girls who stabbed one of their friends as they genuinely believed Slenderman was real.
The Atmospherians - Alex McElroy: I started reading this book and didn't realise it was satire until about 2 chapters in and then a lot more things started making sense. It's a really gripping read and exploration of toxic masculinity from a satirical perspective. If you've ever been slightly interested in sociology, this ones for you.
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides: Absolutely heartbreaking, and you're still left hanging at the end of the book, but definitely a great read if you're into more of the darker fiction.
Do androids dream of electric sheep - Philip K. Dick: I didn't like this book as much as I thought I was going to. I think I may have also read it when I was younger but for some reason I found myself just wanting to watch Blade Runner instead of reading the book (I don't know if that's a good thing OR a bad thing).
100 Tales from Australia's Most Haunted Places - Ben Pobjie: I'm currently still reading this one. I picked it up in a bookshop in Tanunda, South Australia and the bookkeeper said that the book had been more popular than he thought it was going to be. Anyway, it's pretty scary at times so I have to put it down a lot, but the journalist who wrote it puts his own opinions in silly footnotes throughout the book so you feel like you're actually talking to someone - maybe this was his way of creating parasocial relationships? Hehe. Anyway, it's good some good locations - maybe Luke and I will go to some of them and go ghost hunting hahaha.
I'm about to have plenty of time to read so if you've got any good book recommendations, let me know! Or any ideas on what I should write a book on, also let me know LOL. Apparently there's a way you can self-publish ebooks on Amazon and ways that you can make content paid for on blogs, so I'm definitely going to look into all that from next week. I did not expect to write about all the books I've read so far this year but here we are!
I might end it there! But for today's question, I want to know do you have any allergies? Let me know in the comments below. I have hayfever so I guess that's an allergy being allergic to spring hahaha and I also can't eat apricots (because they upset my IBS a lot), but I don't think that's considered an allergy either. I also get itchy if wool touches my skin directly.
See you later alligator! Much love,
Ash xx
Apparently I am allergic to horses but haven't been around enough of them to really test this out!