So, it's been ages since I've done one of these posts! Summer is just around the corner and that includes my 10 year blogging anniversary on June 25th. 10 years! 10 years I've been on Blogger! I love this blog and everything that I've written, plus all that I've started to write and are still my WIP. I'm not going to go the usual route and do a 'ask me anything,' but rather just give a shoutout to all the people who have followed me and encouraged and inspired me throughout the years. Even people who have left Blogger for other avenues in life or for different social media platforms. I wouldn't have gotten this far without the comments and support I've received from the Blogger community.
So to recap...
Blog Parties and Posts
The beginning of the blogging year, I hit the ground running with 4 blog parties, all back to back with one another!
This party was so much fun! At first, I was just going to write Carrying a Legacy, but because the party was a month long, it gave me the incentive (as most blog parties do) to watch and review the rest of the MCU! I was on such an MCU high this winter (more on that later)!
I loved being able to really analyze the relationship of Lynda Day and Spike Thomson from the British show Press Gang, a criminally underrated watch. Originally I was only going to do the essay post on Spike and Lynda, but one of the questions in the tag reminded me of little unknown movie, A Walk in the Clouds and I thought it would be excellent to write a post inspired by that one question.
I did two posts for Heidi's Valentine's Period Drama Blog Party:
Notice how my post contributions decrease as the month wears on. Heidi announced her blog party in December and so it gave me ample time to rewatchGuernsey and better understand Dawsey and Juliet and their quiet love story.
By this point I was exhausted with participating in parties, but this one looked like so much fun! And I'm glad I did it too. I wrote two posts forWe 💓 Pirates Week:
Reviewing Muppets Treasure Island really took me down memory lane and I figured that I was done with blog parties...or so I thought.
The Band of Brothers fandom on Tumblr started a Band of Brothers Appreciation Week and I caved and decided to do it not only on Tumblr, but to transfer the posts onto Blogger as well.
Writing on Blogger is infinitely easier than writing on Tumblr, but I enjoyed sharing my love for Band of Brothers and anything WWII.
In April Heidi hosted Of High Stakes & Daring Deeds and as it was a month long, I was comfortable with taking time in the topics. I reviewed two favorite action/adventure films:
These were two films that I've been wanting to review for a long time and they fit perfectly into the category.
And now...if anyone is interested, Katherine and Grace over at The Maidens of Green Gables are hosting The Fortnight of Song. I wasn't going to take part, but the tag looks like a lot of fun. So, I'll be filling that out soon.
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Watched and Reviewed
Back in January/February I said I was on a Marvel high. Well after reviewing all of the films, I decided to finally watch Agent Carter which I loved! I'm so angry that the show ended.
Then I got started on the Disney + Marvel series. I had originally gotten Disney + so I could watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, however, the app was useful when needing to watch the rest of the MCU films.
I caught up with WandaVision just as it was ending and I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed it. They general concept was brilliant and I enjoyed how it ended as well.
And finally, we got to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier! While the show got mixed reviews, I loved it! Seeing Sam and Bucky's relationship develop over the course of the show was excellent. And I was happy that I got to experience the show with other fans as well. I tend to view shows either late in the game or when the series has ended.
And lets not forget that we still have Loki coming in June!!
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Currently Watching
After my initial disappointment with Season 2 (and with certain pointless characters), I was hesitant to watch Season 3. However, after the first few episodes, I was pleasantly surprised at how much better this season is! Amybeth McNulty is still debauching Anne with her over projected performance, yet the storylines improved. They dealt with political issues that actually would have been relevant at that time. By doing so and not trying to incorporate modern day politics, there was a better sense of historical accuracy.
These two...
By the time I finished The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, I was literally all Marveled out. I started watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is very good, but I needed a break from the big three - aliens, androids and wizards. I decided to rewatch the Nolanverse Batman Trilogy (backwards actually), which inspired me to finally review Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, while also cleaning up my previous review of The Dark Knight Rises.
I had Gotham on my Netflix queue for ages, but it never seemed too appealing to me. I was never a big Batman fan. Yet, watching the Nolanverse Batman series, I remembered that Commissioner Jim Gordan was always a favorite character and Gotham was about Jim Gordan. So I decided to shelve Marvel for a while and completely got sucked into the madness and mayhem of Gotham City.
Detective Jim Gordan. I LOVE this man!
Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordan
Gotham is not Smallville. That's for sure. It's dark, gritty, gory and holds out little to no hope for happiness for our characters. Not surprisingly, it ventures into the LGBTQ crowd as well. Batman is darker and caters toward more mature audiences. The villains by far outnumber the heroes, but Batman has always been about the villains. So, if you're going to have a comic book universe story that has no problem with bloody gore and gay characters, then Batman would just make sense.
The characters of Jim Gordan, Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne, plus Jim's partner, outspoken Harvey Bullock are all excellent. Young Bruce who loses his parents in the first episode is so fragile and broken, but you really begin to see Batman beginning to emerge.
Oh dear Ed Nygma. What a sad road you walk.
Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne
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Reading
I have done so much reading! I work a desk job that requires me to be up very early in the morning. So, for the first several hours, I can read with little to no interruption. It's usually the only thing that can keep me going that early in the day.
Unicorns: The Myths, Legends and Lore by Skye Alexander
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Currently Reading
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Tyranny of Big Tech by Josh Hawley
Watching Anne With an E inspired me to finally by the entire book series! I've only read the first two books, but I've been wanting to read the whole series for years.
Also, if you're on Instagram check Haleigh @sweetsequels. Haleigh is a homeschooling mom and artist and has started on online group on both Instagram and Discord, The Society Against Book Banning. Every month the group reads a book that has either been banned or censored. Last month we started with reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and in June we're reading The Tyranny of Big Tech by Josh Hawley.
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Listening to
Spotify finally brought back Celtic Thunder! For some reason the Spotify app completely got rid of almost all of Celtic Thunders albums. Why I'm not sure, but Celtic Thunder's complete discography has finally returned.
Heartland
Hail the Hero (Mo Ghile Mear)
Now We Are Free
I've also come across some other great songs as well.
High Hopes - Panic! At the Disco
The Rose - Westlife
What Have I Done - Dermot Kennedy
Kissing You - Des'Ree
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There's the general recap of what my activities have been for the last 5 (almost 6) months. Life itself is fine, I have my good days and my bad days. Breakdowns at night or on the way to work have become the norm for me, but I usually recover fairly quickly. Work has gotten better since the COVID restrictions have lifted and we can relax somewhat.
Oh! Before I sign off, I just love my Hobbiton inspired summer layout! Green is the in color for 2021 and I've been using it frequently in my layouts. It's been ages since I've done a graphic header and this one came out beautifully!
I'm glad that you decided to do another one of these posts because they are so fun to read! Your header is so lovely. It says May and June perfectly. High Hopes is one of my favorite songs!
Your summer layout is lovely. Congrats on 10 years, I think this is my 10 years on regular blogging too, maybe July?
I'm sort of looking forward to Loki, sort of fearing. I was disinterested at the prospect of Wandavision and then ended up trying and liking it, and I was looking forward to The Falcon and Winter Soldier and found it cringe/boring on multiple fronts, I let my Disney+ expire (I just only get it every once in a while, same with the other streaming, I'm very picky and a mood watch so doesn't make sense to just pay without watching). So I'm not sure what to expect from Loki. I did enjoy watching Tom Hiddleston's interviews about it on Youtube.
I was surprised at how good WandaVision was. Elizabeth Oleson and Paul Bettany are fantastic together. My problem with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the constant 'issue' that no one was going to accept a black Captain America. I was kind of lost on that. And it wasn't really explained. The audience was just made to go along with it.
I think Loki is going to b crazy, but Tom Hiddleston is also going to be awesome.
Congratulations on 10 years, that's amazing!! I very much enjoy your posts!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you decided to do another one of these posts because they are so fun to read! Your header is so lovely. It says May and June perfectly. High Hopes is one of my favorite songs!
ReplyDeleteI love writing them. Thank you! I just love the brown/green combo as well. It just fits the season.
DeleteYour summer layout is lovely. Congrats on 10 years, I think this is my 10 years on regular blogging too, maybe July?
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of looking forward to Loki, sort of fearing. I was disinterested at the prospect of Wandavision and then ended up trying and liking it, and I was looking forward to The Falcon and Winter Soldier and found it cringe/boring on multiple fronts, I let my Disney+ expire (I just only get it every once in a while, same with the other streaming, I'm very picky and a mood watch so doesn't make sense to just pay without watching). So I'm not sure what to expect from Loki. I did enjoy watching Tom Hiddleston's interviews about it on Youtube.
Thank you! Congrats on 10 years to you too!
DeleteI was surprised at how good WandaVision was. Elizabeth Oleson and Paul Bettany are fantastic together. My problem with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the constant 'issue' that no one was going to accept a black Captain America. I was kind of lost on that. And it wasn't really explained. The audience was just made to go along with it.
I think Loki is going to b crazy, but Tom Hiddleston is also going to be awesome.