Honestly didn't realize that I haven't posted anything here yet this year. January was both unending and somehow sped by without me really noticing.

The month has mostly been dealing with work stuff and playing Genshin Impact. I've made it pretty far already after only starting a month ago, but I think I've finally hit a stage where it's gonna basically force me to slow down which is probably a good thing. Also been watching (and re-watching) K-Pop survival shows. Boys Planet is fine so far but I'm much more invested in Girl's Re:Verse and Peak Time (which hasn't premiered yet but DKB will be in it so...)

Doctor Who has been more on the back-burner than I had expected in it's anniversary year, but that might be because new episodes are so far away that it's been out of sight out of mind. Kind of bummed that I didn't finish out the Wilderness Years last year but I still have plenty of time. (Honestly Twitter itself might implode before the Specials air at this rate).

The only down side is that my sleeping habits have gotten really bad - either I'm not getting enough or I'm getting too much at the wrong time. It's made it really difficult to do any kind of consistent exercise much less start going to the gym like I've wanted to. I just wish the learning curve for using gym equipment and actually getting some kind of personal training wasn't made so deliberately difficult.
 

I posted a couple of days ago that I haven't been sleeping well the past couple of weeks, mostly because my sleep schedule has been super off the past week especially. Last night I pulled the "in case of emergency" rip chord and took some Tylenol PM in order to force myself to go to sleep at a slightly more reasonable hour, but I still think it's gonna take some work to get fully back on track. With vacation and travel stuff starting on Thursday I need to be in better shape sooner rather than later.

I wish it wasn't so hot out? I normally don't mind the heat but its been so consistently hotter than normal that I haven't really left my apartment at all the past three weeks, and it's starting to feel like how it was during the thick of lockdown which hasn't been spectacular for my mental health (and might explain why my sleep schedule has been so off). Weirdly I'm still doing way better than I was in the winter, and I guess I just have to accept that I get seasonal depression now for the first three months of the year. So yeah... that's fun.

As far as fan stuff goes it's mostly been K-Pop for the past couple of months, but I've been trying to slowly wean myself off of it because as far as fandom goes its not a particularly great environment? Like even with the groups I "stan" being relatively low drama, it's still not great. Now that Queendom 2 is over and I went to my summer concerts, picking my other interests back up is something I'm making a concentrated effort on. If any kind of new Doctor Who news dropped that would certainly help matters a lot.

Overall though I'm excited to get into this last leg of summer and into the fall, which is my favorite time of the year. I woke up this morning actually brainstorming fall activities and I hope I can actually get some of my friends to do some of them with me.

The past month has been pretty uneventful for me personal life-wise (which imo is fine because December was pretty much hell and my dad is mostly past his health issue). Mostly I've kind of been stuck in a holding pattern of wanting to create/not being able to, and running hot and cold with whatever it is I'm watching on TV. I made it through the end of season 9 of RPDR and now I'm back to toggling between The Crown and Leverage with some occasional Classic Who sprinkled in. I thought Quarantine would be easier in winter because I kind of spend this time of year cooped up inside anyway, but at least during the bulk of 2020 I could still go for walks and sit outside as a change of pace.

I've been getting back into Hetalia mostly because I'm back to tracking news/updating the wiki for it. I have some fic drafts for it I'd like to finish but I haven't really had the motivation to write even when putting myself under the pressure of fests or challenges. Even going full caveman horny brain hasn't really moved the needle on the two decidedly nsfw drafts I have (Weirdly both for Glee. I have no idea how I suddenly got re-energized for that fandom of all things this year.) It snowed today and it's supposed to snow again tomorrow, but I'm hopeful this week I can get back in the routine of regularly exercising and that might help jump start me mentally... assuming the hot water in my apartment starts working again and I don't have to drag the landlord down here to fix it.

Other random thoughts:

☆ Best Boys™: I've already fallen behind but I'm still watching a lot of anime this winter season, and it's been a reminder of past best boys and the introduction of new best boys. The fresh roster that's been living rent-free in my brain includes Yuji and Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, Chrome from Dr. Stone, Keiichi from Higurashi When They Cry, and Reki and Langa from SK8 the Infinity. The boys from Jujutsu Kaisen especially are popular enough that I've hopeful there'll be some really fun merch I'll be able to buy of them in the future.

☆ Game Girls: I've been playing a lot of Love Live All Stars to the point I decided to pay for the monthly membership for the next month specifically, for the serotonin. My bias for the Nijigasaki girls aside, I just really like the gameplay style and story mode of this app more than the original (which I've barely touched this past year save for snagging some login bonuses). I just hope I don't overextend myself and end up burning myself out on this too.

☆ Music: If you told me a year ago that the album I'd have listened to the most at the start of 2021 was Miley Cyrus's I wouldn't have believed you. Between that, Machine Gun Kelly's album, everything Aly & AJ have done the past year and the upcoming Waterparks album I've been very happy. I wasn't a fan of the Waterparks live album though which bums me out since I actually have the bluray for that concert (which I haven't gotten around to watching yet oop). I've also been so used to listening to music by people several years older than me (or in the case of Lorde, several years younger), that it's actually kind of nice to listen to stuff by people roughly my own age (pushing 30).