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Heartbeat Monthly [43]: June-August 2024

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on September 8, 2024 | 0 Comments

3 month haul

Bought

Red Rising by Pierce Brown, signed & personalized
Golden Son by Pierce Brown, signed & personalized
Morning Star by Pierce Brown, signed & personalized
RR “I would have lived in peace” tote
RR bookmarks
Empire of the Vampire/Damned page overlays (I don’t even remember ordering these lol)
Kamigoroshi candle (Flick the Wick, from Owlcrate)
Dinar coin (Owlcrate)
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross (Fairyloot)
When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker (Waterstones)

From subs

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (Owlcrate, August)
Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen (Illumicrate, June)
The Phoenix Keeper by S.J. MacLean (Illumicrate, July)
Evocation by S.T. Gibson (Owlcrate, May)

Gifted

Aurora Rising ARC

A HUGE THANK YOU to @fromthelibraryofalexis on Insta, she reached out to me and asked if I wanted this! Thank you so much Alexis, I’m thrilled to add this to my Kristoff collection!

June Wrap Up

Books I read

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (audio) – ★★★½
Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver (audio) – ★★★★
Morning Star by Pierce Brown (Graphic Audio) – ★★★★★
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown (audio) – ★★★★★

Pages read: 1,824
Average rating: 4.4
Favorite book read in June: Iron Gold
Least favorite book read in June: Travelling Cat Chronicles

July Wrap Up

Books I read

Pet Sematary by Stephen King (audio) – ★★½
Dark Age by Pierce Brown (audio) – ★★★★★
Light Bringer by Pierce Brown (audio) – ★★★★★

Pages read: 1,814
Average rating: 4.2
Favorite book read in July: Dark Age
Least favorite book read in July: Pet Sematary

August Wrap Up

Books I read

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair (audio)

This is just sad. *cries*

Posts

I haven’t reviewed any books or made any posts in months :(

What I’ve been up to this month

June

Let’s see, a few random things:

I broke my bowling PR again with a 199 (ONE point away from 200, gah!!)
I went to the grad party of a friend’s daughter at a really cool park I’d never been to (the guy I mentioned in my last HB monthly wasn’t there)
I went to Cedar Point with two of my besties
I went to a bachelorette party in Nashville, which was my first time in Nashville – it was super fun but I’m not in a hurry to do it again, lol
Also, I got a new betta!

His name is Jinx :) I call him my little goth fish. I was a bit obsessed after getting him, and it was SO hard not to go get another 5 gallon tank and buy a 3rd male betta because there were so many gorgeous ones when I got Jinx! I ended up setting my old 20 gallon back up again (I already had everything but the heater) and got a female and some mollies instead! I named the female betta Aura. She’s SOOO pretty!

July

The highlight of July was my birthday weekend! I turned 36, and I spent the weekend rocking out with 25 thousand strangers at Inkcarceration! It was my first year going (also my first ever true music festival), and it was utter chaos but I loved every minute of it! It was miserably hot, I had a migraine on Friday and felt sick on Saturday, and I felt like I was dying by the end of it, but it was worth it. I learned exactly how old I am, lmao! I legitimately got sick with flu-like symptoms after we got back and had to call off my first day back to work (something I never do, I felt that terrible). I almost never get sick unless I push my body too hard and don’t get enough sleep, and that’s definitely what happened.

A few highlights of the weekend:

I wore a crown and sash for my birthday Friday, I got tons of birthday wishes and one gal even sent me $20 on Venmo for a drink!
I got my hair braided by Braiding for Beer on Friday and I would 10/10 NEVER do it again. She did a great job, and it looked bomb AF, but it was SO TIGHT and I was fucking miserable. (Probably why I got a migraine, tbh) I have a really sensitive scalp so I was in tears when she was braiding it, and my scalp was legit swollen by the end of the day.
My top bands I wanted to see were Bad Omens and Hollywood Undead. They were both AMAZING!! However, both of those shows were straight up chaos because I wanted to be up front, and it was insane. We had to watch our backs the whole show and missed a lot because of the constant crowdsurfers. Bad Omens was particularly stressful because we were smashed in like sardines – and when I say smashed, I mean full body pressed up against the people around us so tight that I could not lift my arms. And on top of that, we were overwhelmed with constant crowd surfers, sometimes several all at once. I had to embrace the chaos so I wouldn’t go into an anxiety attack! It was still super fun, but I would never do that again, either. I’ll stay off to the side away from crowdsurfers, thanks.
I got to meet the lead singer of Hannan! He was super friendly (the whole band was) and great with fans. Highly recommend checking those guys out!
We were RIGHT on the front rail for Halestorm and it was probably the best performance enjoyment-wise of the whole weekend! What a serotonin boost! I actually started to get a little emotional during that show because it was so great.
I was blindsided by how awesome Parkway Drive was live. I liked some of their songs already, and wanted to see them, but DAYUM they blew me away! I didn’t expect to love them so much, and I couldn’t stop thinking about their show for the rest of the day!
I was also obsessed with From Ashes to New after seeing them live, they have become a new favorite band!

My top 5 bands of the weekend were:
1. Bad Omens
2. Halestorm
3. Hollywood Undead
4. Parkway Drive
5. From Ashes to New

I posted some recap videos publicly on FB if anyone is interested:
Day 1 recap
Day 2 recap
Day 3 recap

August

I had a bit of a scare with my albino African clawed frog, Gleek, the first week of August. I woke up one morning and went out into the kitchen, and Tater was messing with a strange pink glob on the kitchen floor. I was absolutely horrified when I realized it was Gleek. He had somehow got out of his tank, made it under my bedroom door, and was laying in the middle of the kitchen lookin’ like a beat up raw piece of chicken. I had a little bit of a meltdown before I went to pick him up with a paper towel and realized he was somehow still alive. I honestly have NO idea how that fucker survived, but it’s been a month and he’s doing just fine now! I put some salt and melafix in the water to heal him, because he was all scratched up (and covered in bruises and cat hair). It was just so crazy, because I’ve had him 2 years and he’s never done anything like that before. I was crying when it happened – I didn’t know how much he meant to me until then! I’ve never cried over any of my fish before, so he’s definitely my favorite tank critter.

August was basically 95% fish obsession, tbh. Since setting up Aura’s tank, I have been pretty much non-stop with fish stuff. I’ve done something new with tanks and/or bought new fish literally every week in August. One of those things was switching my 55 gallon community tank over from gravel to sand. I’m OBSESSED!

(The big plants in the before picture – hornwort – are no longer there because they are messy AF and shed little needles EVERYWHERE and I threw them away in a fit of rage.)

I also set up a tank for a potato puffer – a fish I’ve been wanting for a while. Got the darn thing cycled and ready to go…and I impulse bought a baby blue polar cichlid instead because I couldn’t resist how cute it was. So no potato puffer for me, not for a while anyway. Whomp, whomp.

Isn’t she cute AF, though?! Her name is Gemini! Don’t mind my heater, it came un-suctioned from the glass and I couldn’t get a better photo of her after fixing it.

I might not have been able to get the puffer of my dreams yet, but I’m currently in the process of setting up another tank for a different kind of puffer. It will be a figure 8, which is brackish instead of freshwater, so this will be a new adventure for me! That will make 7 tanks. I think I have a problem. XD

Current obsessions

Movies: DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE!! I literally could not stop thinking about this movie after I saw it. It’s fucking brilliant, and hilarious, and I loved every minute of it. The opening scene was PURE JOY! I feel like it was *made* for millennials, lmao! I ended up seeing it twice more in theater because I loved it so much!

Also, I finally saw Dune part 2 and I really enjoyed it!! The visuals in those movies are just incredible. I enjoy the story SO much more as a movie (I hated the book). I actually didn’t realize it was incomplete, so I was a little salty that the second still ended unfinished! I don’t know why I thought 2 parts would finish it. Womp, womp.

TV: I really haven’t watched any. I started re-watching the Shannara Chronicles but only made it a couple episodes in.

Music: The Motionless in White obsession continues! I find myself craving their music on a regular basis. Also, I’m maybe a little obsessed with Chris Motionless. I also am really loving Welcome to Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2 by INK and Autumn Kings’ new song Hellbound (which was my hyperfixation song for about a week in the middle of June). I had a HUGE hangover after Inkcarceration, too, which also sent me into a major From Ashes to New obsession after seeing them live.

Recent albums I’ve been binging:

Blackout by From Ashes to New
Panic by From Ashes to New
Scoring the End of the World by Motionless in White
Remade in Misery by Memphis May Fire
Deadly Fun by Dark Divine
Elsewhere by Set it Off
Midnight by Set it Off
Rain City Drive ST
Hotel Kalifornia by Hollywood Undead
True Power by I Prevail
The Death of Peace of Mind by Bad Omens
Coming Home by Falling in Reverse

Literally all of these I can listen to straight through without skipping anything. LOOK THEM UP.

Food: I had deep fried cookie dough for the first time at the fair and it was AMAZING!

Games: Secret Cat Forest. I’m ashamed by how much time I spend on that game, lmao.

Crafts: The only craft I’ve really been doing lately is diamond painting.

Other: Fish! I have been majorly hyperfixated on fish lately.

Things I’m looking forward to

I GET TO SEE FALLING IN REVERSE IN SEPTEMBER! AHHHHH!!! I missed them at Sonic Temple back in May (I had no one to go with and went to Florida instead, which I talk about in my last HB monthly) and was suuuper salty about it. I am PUMPED that I was able to get another chance!

I also get to see From Ashes to New again and I can’t wait! They put on a fucking awesome live show!

I’m excited for fall, too. I am not made for this 90 degree bullshit! I’m ready for cooler (sweater!!) weather and pumpkin everything. I’m a pumpkin and fall whore, no shame here.