Happy April afternoon, dear readers! It has been a minute since I’ve done a personal update so here we go!
Over on my tiktok, I have been posting about reframing activities in my personal life as “sidequests” and, let me tell you, this has increased my enjoyment in regards to the activities significantly. (Except for the taxes sidequest. That one will always suck. I hate it I hate it I hate it).
All that being said, I wanted to update ya’ll on a few “sidequests” I have been up to lately!
1. I watched the new Mario Galaxy Movie
My review? It was cute and kind of chaotic. Like a Mario fever dream. I do wish they had gone a little deeper with some of their characterization, especially when you have Roslina, the absolute queen to write for but, alas, this is too much to ask for in kids’ movies these days. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun watch, but I do think a lot of that was due to the fact that I am a Nintendo kid, and the references were NOT lost on me. Nothing crazy, it was just fun. Plus I went with friends and that always improves the viewing experience. Nothing like a bunch of adults giggling in the back row over Jack Black Bowser…
2. I’ve started growing mushrooms in my basement
So, for Christmas, my mother gifted me a mushroom growing kit, and I have been putting it to good use. It actually took me awhile to get started because I forgot about it on a random shelf in my laundry room (sorry mom) and it started growing OUT of the cardboard box without my permission, so I figured I had better set it up because those mushrooms were gonna grow, whether I liked it or not.
Oyster mushrooms by the way. Quite yummy fried in a pan with butter.
3. I’ve been making more Tiktoks lately…
Forgive me, but I’ve been feeding the shortform content beast. Mostly, I’ve been experimenting with the many fun ways one can engage their audience with very specific opinions on dragon designs in media. TikTok has a very active and opinionated user base so, sometimes, it’s fun to tap into that. I’m having a fun time over there, what can I say. Plus it feels like a much more casual space to share things that I like or have been up to.
4. I’ve started a war with the wasps on the porch
I’m winning by the way.
Spring has brought an onslaught of awful bugs, and wasps are at the top of that awful list. For some reason, my front porch is a piece of highly valued real estate in the wasp world. I took it upon myself to bring the property values down. Like way down.
5. I’ve taken to a more intuitive approach when writing
I do have writing goals I’d love to get to, but I’ve been a lot less likely to sit down and write on something when I don’t feel like it lately. My job has been picking up in busy-ness lately, so I have given myself permission to write a chapter or two on whatever project I feel like and not touch it for a week. This is NOT a great way to have an extensive writing output, let me make that clear. If you want to make writing progress, maybe don’t do this because I hasn’t proven productive for my many WIP’s HOWEVER I’m okay with that right now. I’m learning to be okay with Writing being a hobby and that I don’t have to set large, lofty goals with it. My goal should simply be to enjoy it, first and foremost, and in certain life phases that may look differently than in others.
And that feels like a good note to leave on. I’ve been up to more, I’m sure if I’d sit down and think about it really hard, but I think this is a good place to leave it. If you want more details on what I’ve been up to, you can check out my aforementioned TikTok. Take care, friends! Hope you are treating yourselves kindly this spring!
By the Brooke 