JANUARY 2021 PLAYLIST + WRAP UP

My January started with all the optimism I could muster for a new year. Then my internet died.

FML.

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WONKY INTERNET + BRIDGERTON + SCHEDULE CHANGES

So for almost the entire month, my internet was very intermittent. Sometimes it would go off the entire morning, only to come back a couple of hours in the afternoon, then off again. It was hell getting any kind work-related things done much less on my blog.

The ISP said there were problems with the cable, cabinet, whatever. In case you’re wondering why we didn’t just change providers, it’s because there’s only 2 or 3 ISPs here and all of them problematic. By the second week, I decided to call another company and applied for a wifi installation. I have yet to hear from them.

Meanwhile, my ISP finally fixed the problem. So yay!

To celebrate, I decided to give Bridgerton a try. I heard so many good things about this Regency series. Truth be told, I only watched it because I heard rumors that they’re giving Benedict Bridgerton an LGBT story. But before I knew it, I found myself swept away by its quirky charm, gorgeous anachronistic costumes, engaging characters and most of all, the fast-paced storytelling that left no room for lulls. I completed the entire first season in one day. It was that good!

On the blogging front, this semi-hiatus made me realize I needed to revamp my blogging schedule one more time. I kind of gotten used to a more relaxed pace, which is less taxing on my free time and my weak eyes. I love working on my blog, but after 8 hours of staring into a computer screen, staring into yet another one for the next 4 hours or so is a surefire recipe for visual impairment.

I will be shuffling around some of my usual posts. Typically, I do reviews on Tuesdays and Fridays. I will posting them on Fridays only. Tuesdays will be for tags and miscellaneous posts. I will be moving FLICKer to Thursdays, leaving my weekends free.

OLD SCHEDULE:

MON – Music Monday
TUE – manga and book reviews
WED – Last Year I Was Reading…(featuring past and present books)
THU – First Lines Friday 56 / tags and misc posts
FRI – manga and book reviews
SAT – FLICKer (featuring gay short films)
SUN – chilling

NEW SCHEDULE

MON – Music Monday
TUE – Tags and misc posts
WED – Last Year I Was Reading…(featuring past and present books)
THU – FLICKer (featuring gay short films)
FRI – manga and book reviews
SAT – chilling
SUN – chilling

Here’s hoping these new schedule would work for all of us.

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SONGS OF JANUARY

Not on available on Spotify

The Hands Of A Teacher by Public Affection / Live

Riot Child started the year with a bang followed by new releases from recent discoveries Cabbage, Black Foxxes and Sleaford Mods. Rediscovered 80s megastars A Flock of Seagulls with their funky space age hairstyles and Gary Numan with his industrial sounds and uber cool dystopian aesthetics. He’s wearing my kind of superhero clothes. 90s band Public Affection, better known as Live, and indie darlings Arctic Monkeys and Hozier round out the list. All in all, this was a great month for music.

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JANUARY READS

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• Hitman Vs Hitman – Cari Z & L.A. Witt (3.5 stars) action, suspense, hitman, enemies to lovers, on the run, crime
• To Die For – Davidson King (3 stars) contemporary romance, crime, night club, bartender, dance teacher, suspense, animals
• Earth Fathers Are Weird – Lyn Gala (5 stars) sci fi, alien, space, mpreg, children, forced proximity, tentacles, humor, fluff, interspecie
• Jack: Grime and Punishment – Z.A. Maxfield (3.5 stars) contemporary romance. industrial cleaning, nurse, moving on angst, grief, disability, animals
• Eddie: Grime Doesn’t Pay – Z.A. Maxfield (4 stars) contemporary romance, teacher, industrial cleaning, angst, humor, mental illness, disability

For this month, I read mostly contemporaries ranging from action/suspense to angsty and humorous. But it was the lone sci fi book that bested them all.

Geeky octopus aliens blew my mind in the most unexpected way with this year’s first 5 star book, Earth Fathers Are Weird. Said earth father was the fiercest, most loving human father a bunch of precocious baby aliens could ever ask for. Love Max and Rick!!!

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MANGA

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• Just When I Thought I Came Here to Die – Matsukura Yuuko
• Tonari Ni – Basso
• Machigitsune to Hito no Ko – Nmura
• Kimi ni wa Fureru to Naru Toko ga Atte – Hayane Dento
• Bitter Like Light – Nago Nayuta

Hands down, the hilarious Just When I Thought I Came Here to Die was the best manga for this month, if not for this year. I never reread manga but I love it so much I just had to read it 3 more times!

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ON THE BLOG THIS MONTH

Short Films:

• Out
• SOG
• Marco
• En El Mismo Equipo (On The Same Team)
• Just Ask Him

Misc

• BLOG BIRTHDAY + BEHIND THE BLOGGER TAG
• FAVORITE COVERS: December 2020

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I’ll try to keep the sputtering flames of optimism burning for the coming months. After all, it could be worse. Wrapping this up with that happy thought. Stay safe and take care.

Thanks for reading!