52 Films By Women Challenge - Summer Blog Update

It's been a while since I blogged my 52 Films By Women Challenge. Since the halfway mark of the year has come and go, I thought it's time to post an update.

I'm happy to say I'm still hanging on. My main roadblock is that I'll watch a movie and fall behind in writing something about it here. Then a few weeks have past, and I just keep watching the movies I need to except for a few Letterboxd posts here and there.

The movies I've watched since my last Spring update include Everything Everything, Beyond the Lights, Mudbound, Across the Universe, Bound, By the Sea, What Happened Nina Simone?, The World to Come, Abominable, Clemency, Atlantics, and will be seeing Black Widow to almost tie things up. None of these were particularly flawed, but Beyond the Lights, Mudbound, Across the Universe, What Happened Nina Simone? and Abominable will stick with me the most from the past quarter.

The biggest change is diverging from my 'set' list. I've felt like watching something in the moment more than picking a title from my list,. It's made the challenge fun but also given me a few hurdles. When I try to find movies that I'm in the mood for, women's work is lacking in so many genres. I often want to watch more comedies, action, and superhero movies, and there are only so many to choose from. Not being able to find more mainstream projects has helped me dig around for more indies, but that also presents a problem when they're not available. 

Other than that, the challenge is still going strong. I'm not quite sure when I'll update except for autumn or end of the year retrospective.

Mostly, I'm burnt out. It takes a lot not to delete The Falcon and The Winter Soldier review as I'm not proud of it, and I'm shocked I even finished my list of LGBTQ+ changes I'd like to see in film post. I don't quite know how to say goodbye to this space, but I feel myself moving further away the less time I spend here. But I might be doing that once this challenge and TMP are over at the end of the year.

2021 New Years "Goals" + Looking Ahead

It's 2021. I don't know what else to say.

2020 New Years Goals + Looking Ahead

A new year is almost here. So it's time to reflect about last year's resolutions and make new ones for the new year. I honestly anticipated to have stopped blogging in 2019. Yet I somehow managed to do more than what I set out to achieve or thought was possible.

The Good

2019 was a wild year of experiences I never expected to happen, and a lot of goals that I happily met. I think turning 30 in December was a big motivator for me. *sobs into the void*

Goals I managed to complete last year: saw Hugh Jackman in concert, finished Game of Thrones before the last season started, won tickets to Florence and the Machine, attended MegaCon Orlando, visited Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and survived Halloween Horror Nights. And I met John Barrowman and David Tennant!!!!! They're still the highlights of the year for me.

I also completed a 30 day Yoga with Adrienne challenge - I missed a few days but instead of giving up, I pushed through. Now I do yoga a few times a week as it helps with anxiety. 

Hit my 20+ book goodreads challenge. This is the first time in forever I met one of my reading goals.

I failed to limit my coffee intake to the weekends, but I managed it more than I thought I would. Drinking tea was helpful as I enjoyed the variety of flavors more, but coffee is still that vice I have when I'm stressed out, which was a lot this year.

Some Ways I Stayed Sane in 2019

Who would've thought 2019 would've been as hectic and lackluster as 2018? The dumpster fire that is politics, cancel culture absurdity, and hopelessness in the news inspired me to highlight some moments that helped me feel like last year wasn't a waste. Similarly, even though this year was still ablaze, I managed to stay sane for the most part. But not without a lot of help. Here are a few reasons why. How did you manage to stay sane this year? Let me know in the comments below!


This post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame - read at your own risk.

2019 New Years Goals + State of the Blog

Last year, I thought we survived the Upside Down. LOL Oh, how everything and absolutely nothing has changed.  The only way I can describe 2018 is: What. The. ****. Was That?!

The fandom side of my life was awesome: I met Jeff Goldlbum and saw a mini X-Files reunion, attended MegaCon as press again, participated in Chicks with Accents podcast, met HerUniverse creator Ashley Eckstein, went to an advanced screening of First Man, saved Will in the Upside Down a million times, cosplayed as Harry Potter at Disney World, survived Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, covered a local library event for my Harry Potter blog, reunited with the boyfriend of my teenage dreams, saw Die Hard in theaters for its 30th anniversary, and some of my favorite characters didn't die.

Sunshine Blogger Award

My friend Mariah at Bizarre Brunette nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award! I love her blog (check her out) and was so happy for her to pass this onto my blog. With the Sunshine Blogger award comes a few rules. I'll be answering Mariah's questions and nominate fellow bloggers below to take part in this challenge.

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and links back to their blog.
• Answer the 10 questions the blogger asked you.
• Nominate 10 new blogs to receive the award and write them 10 new questions. Mine will be at the end of this post.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog

Thanks for these awesome questions and for creating such a great blog that I love to follow Mariah! Here are her questions!

2018 New Years Film + Life Goals

Well, we made it through the Upside Down folks. I hope everyone still has their wits about them 'cause 2017 was an onslaught of impossibly-impossible nightmares (and dreams) coming true. It's nice to roll over the date to 2018 and try to make the next year as best as possible.

Looking at my list of goals from last year, I'm pretty proud of the ones that I accomplished: kept up with Walking Dead recaps and Wonder Women series, posting on Instagram, cosplayed as Belle at Disney, and followed a blog calendar.

Some of my favorite moments included attending MegaCon with a press membership, celebrating what Harry Potter means to me and my favorite memories, saying goodbye to The Great Movie Ride at Disney, making it to Platform 9 3/4 nineteen years later, and had some writing collaborations (my first guest blogger and some sponsored posts).

2018 Film + Life Goals

If there's one character I learned the most from in 2017, it would definitely be Wonder Woman. If you've been around the block on my blog recently, you might be familiar with how much she has inspired me. Her confidence and determination gave me ideas about myself that I didn't know about before.

Cause you see: I have anxiety and it sucks. It's an endless, crappy headgame dealing with change, self-doubt, and perfectionism, where you never feel like a winner no matter what. While it took me several years to reach a 'We'll See' moment in life to accept life's twists, I struggle with following other people's ideas of what's best for me instead of taking my own good advice. With scene's like No Man's Land, it's actually settling into my noggin that what I do is not up to others or that asshat called Anxiety telling me I can't or shouldn't do something.

As nervous and apprehensive I feel about the future, hope and optimism is still stirring somewhere. I don't know where life's gonna take me if I don't try, so these are a few things I know I'd like to do:

Geekiness

+ So many books, I'm going to learn to make time. My goodreads goals is 20+books. I've already started with The Happiness Project and the next installment of Velcro The Ninja Kat, so that's a pretty good start.

+ Movies. Every year I hit about 50 movies, mostly tracking them on Letterboxd. This year I'm plugging a lot more reviews in. A few movies I'm looking forward to Proud Mary, Fifty Shades Freed, Annihilation, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Ocean's 8.

+ TV Shows. I plan on writing more season or series reviews like Outlander and Game of Thrones, and a ton of others I haven't quite started or caught up with.

+ Find a candle that smells Ryan Gosling. I already have Chris Evans / Captain America covered, so I gotta one find for Canadian Sugarcube. RIGHT?!

+ DIYs. I have so many ideas for crafts - collages, drawings, pom poms, bookmarks, diys of fandoms like Star Wars and Harry Potter. 2018 is going to artsy.

+ Blog series. I want to continue Wonder Women series, Trailer Reactions, and a variety of lists posts. The Walking Dead recaps past season eight is to be determined. I'm also going to introduce a new fandom series called Fandom Throwback to talk about various fandoms I've loved in the past.

+ Blog Calendars really helped me realize how much I like and need to track projects. Having a place for ideas and upcoming events helped me trail posts I wanted to make, even if I strayed sometimes. I bought a planner before the new years started and it's already helping me.

Social Media

+ Grow My Instagram. I love blogging my adventures and be inspired by other users' feeds. I started a Harry Potter instagram which has been a lot of fun sharing my muggleness and meeting other Potterheads. I'd like to see how far I can take both of them.

+ Be a Conscious Instagrammer. As much as I love Instagram, it's very easy to slip into the mindset of playing catch-up with trends, especially with new books coming out all the time or some of the beautiful feeds out there in different communities. Sometimes I think about the impact on the environment with what people are constantly buying and where does it go - which is their choices to make (not judging). But I want to be conscious about what I buy for props or if it's just for Instagram, if I'm actually reading the books I post, and making sure that if my style grows, it's still me.

+ Cosplay. It all started with Matt the Radar Technician, and then Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I'll be heading to A Celebration of Harry Potter cosplaying as Harry Potter (Sorcerer's Stone style). For Halloween, I'm thinking about Dana S. Pumpkins, the long-lost cousin of David S. Pumpkins.

General

+ I hope to move out of Florida this summer...Ironically, before I leave I want to go to Madame Tussaud's (and meet Ryan Gosling), the Titanic Museum, and Kennedy Space Center.

+ 5000 Sales. It took me a long time to hit 3100 sales on my Etsy store. This year I'm expanding to bookmarks and instant downloads with a lot of fun geeky ideas up my sleeve. I'd like to hit 5000.

+ Continue #28Lessons. When I turned twenty-seven in 2016, I started #27Lessons, which I filled with thoughts and quotes. After having semi-quarter-life-crises once I turned 28 last December, I want to keep it going as #28Lessons.

+ Figure Out Something with the 1940s. I don't know what this means yet, but I'd love to find a space for my interest in Classic Hollywood and the 1940s.

What do you have planned for 2018? Movies, books, or events you're looking forward to?

“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” ― Carrie Fisher

2017 New Years Film + Life Goals

2016 was one hell of a year - a spectacle we couldn't help but watch in slow motion no matter how much we tried to avoid it. Many events will make it memorable: cinematic disappointments (Suicide Squad), nostalgic surprises (Stranger Things), political train wrecks, protests, the loss of icons - to name a few. If I ever have kids and they ask me what 2016 was like, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have enough words to describe it - confusing, bombastic, heated, inspiring, one for the ages.

To keep the chaos a little controllable and sobering, I had a wee list of things to do: matched my reading goal, committed to daily walking routine, drank more water, post more on instagram, survived the Captain America marathon, and perhaps the big one of all - dress up as Matt the Radar Technician for Halloween.

Like all good, bad, and the ugly things the world endured, they have to come to an end. Or at least roll over into a new start. 2016 put us through a lot and we were all ready to wave Bon Voyage.

But pointing fingers or throwing my hands up at a set of numbers also made me realize the kind of power I want to give 2017. And that's to see how much I can throw at it and see what it can withstand rather than the other way around. Create, read, watch, write, speak up, donate, work harder, relax better, wrangle my anxiety, try new things. If there's one impression the past twelve months and a bad-ass woman left on the world, it's not to have time for bull. There's no better time like the present.

+ Start A Bullet Journal. *hopping on the bandwagon* My journals are a bit messy, they have a rushed collection of lists and thoughts - but they are also too disorganized. Bullet journals looks like fun and might help me organize a few notebooks.

+ Read 17 books. My next goodreads challenge.

+ Keep up with Walking Dead recaps and Wonder Women series.

+ More Instagram. I just really like it.

+ Cosplay/dress-up for Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Wonder Woman (2017)

+ Complete my to-watch list. So many movies I desperately wanted to see ended up with limited releases, so I missed a lot of 2016 movies. And, the other half of the list are movies I always felt like watching but forgot. Can't wait for a time in the future when I think of those same movies and go "Hey, I saw that! FINALLY."

+ Write more movie reviews. I fell a little behind with this last year, failing to put into words what I thought about a movie or not feeling they were terrible enough to warn people against or inspire to take a chance on. So I'm gonna try to do both a little more.

+ Follow a Blog Calendar. Ideas are great to have, but I'd like for them to do more than pile up on each other in the draft section.

+ Health skidded sideways out of nowhere halfway through December, so hoping with some diet changes I can get back on track.

+ Continue #27Lessons. Turning 27 was strangely monumental. So many light-bulb moments went off at once of things I struggled to understand or put into practice. It inspired me to tweet a little hashtag of musings and will be sure to add more.

+ Get a new laptop. This one's going.

These are some things I have in mind for the next year. What are yours? What do hope to have done a year from today? Good luck on all your dreams and ideas!

2016 New Years Film + Life Goals

Happy 2016, everyone!

What does your 2015 bucket list look like? Mine is sadly incomplete. I've always been someone whose made new years' resolutions, but I'm not a perfectionist about completing every single item. I did, however, like to finish at least more than half. But. . . .last year - I failed.

My inability to get things done is not from a lack of ambition, at least I don't think so. Exhaustion seemed to be at the heart of my lack of determination. There were some hard times that left me in an emotional fog - one that I hope not to let happen again in 2016.

2015 wasn't an entire letdown. I managed to accomplish a little: enjoying long walks around my neighborhood; worldbuilt and plotted more stories; drank less coffee; started a personal writing blog; graduated college; watched nine years of The X-Files in nine months before the revival; covered GeekyCon; stuck to a posting schedule; completed every Walking Dead recap for the latest season so far; kept my Letterboxd account updated.

"Failure" can happen for many reasons. I may not have done all that I wanted to, but I keep trying. Last year taught me that there are goals that just don't fit me; ones I've tried to complete multiple times but nevertheless lose my passion. And, there are right goals too; ones that just need a little bit more inspiration and determination to pull me through.

From 2014 I put into practice what I learned about time management. I figured out more along the way where I really value my time (less social media + less internet + more writing + more blogging). But I also had a major wake-up call: if my bucket list was so empty, where I did spend all of my time? I'm sure there's more I did, I just can't remember it all - which makes me want to create and fulfill more memorable goals for the next 365 days.

BLOG GOALS:
Stick to a Daily/Weekly/Monthly Schedule: I enjoyed little series I started like Stars I Love, Hidden Gems, and Fancasting that I would like to keep active. There are some blog challenges I have in mind too. I also would like to do more seasonal and timely posts; topics that fall in line with a holiday, month, or season.

Netflix Watchlist: Almost 50 movies are on my Netflix watchlist, and they've been there for a while. I'm going to be active in actually watching them.

Empty out my draft queue: Let's not get crazy here. There are like 96 posts in my draft queue! On top of my other blog ideas, I doubt know if I'll make a dent. I would like to lessen this amount but am not deluding myself to hit zero.

PERSONAL GOALS:
drink more water;
commit to daily walking routine;
read 16 books;
reach fictional writing word count goals;
handle time management better;
make more geeky crafts;
post more on instagram;
cosplay/dress up for movies like Captain America/Independence Day;
get more Walking Dead actors to tweet me.

Eat, Drink, and Answer Halloween Questions!

I'm a huge nerd for questionaires. On a little old website called LiveJournal, friends could send each other questions and memes about their favorite fandoms and life in general. Mostly these days "ask box" challenges are passed around on tumblr. Grabbing a Halloween-themed ask over on tumblr, I thought it'd be fun to answer some of them here. I tag anyone who wants to do the same thing here or on tumblr, and feel free to leave a comment of your answers!

Bat: If you could transform into any kind of animal, what animal would you be?

As a swimmer, and someone who loves to travel, I'd transform into a bird - probably a duck. A lame choice probably but they are so cute and have the best of both worlds: land, water and people at parks feed them all the time. They have it made!

Black Cat: Are you superstitious? If so, what are you superstitious about?

I'm not superstitious but I'm a little stitious.

Broomstick: If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?

London, London, London. I would flee across the pond in a heartbeat to explore the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio and Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. The rain and trains would be more than welcoming after dwelling in Florida heat for ten years and driving two hours anywhere to find something exciting to do.

Candy Corn:What food disgusts you the most?

Not sure why candy corn is used as a food to disgust 'cause I love it. I'm not sure there is a food that disgusts me.

Cauldron: What is your favorite thing to cook?
I'm not too bad at cooking anything pasta. I seem to have an automatic mental timer on getting every kind of noodle the right consistency.

Cobwebs:One place you would never want to get lost in in the dark?

Anywhere alongside a highway or back road. NOPE. No, thanks.

Coffin:Are you claustrophobic?

Yes. It's not an extreme case of claustrophobia, but it kicks in at times. Watching films with isolated locations doesn't scare me as much, but in real life, I have to be aware of where the exits are. I need to know a way out in order to keep my cool. Visiting houses with low ceilings, or at Disney World sometimes you can be herded into a crowded room with little to no queue to the actual line for thirty minutes - I can feel dizzy or trapped.

Demon:What is your worst flaw?

Jumping to conclusions. A writer can bounce all over the place and exaggerate something small  to the inth degree in seconds, usually playing a real-life scenario into something fantastical- at least in my own mind. 

Eerie: One thing that always creeps you out?

Frogs. Frogs, and Frogs. Florida has helped me confront every creepy crawly there is - including surviving a poisonous spider bite. But I will NEVER get over frogs.

Fright: What is your biggest fear?
With phobias, it's frogs and heights. In life, maybe finishing life with things left that I wanted to do or see and was capable of achieving but didn't feel confident enough to do it.

Ghost: If you could be reincarnated, would you come back as another human or an animal? If an animal, what kind?
I don't know if I'd like to come back as anything or anyone else at all. If I did come back, I think I'd want to be myself - a polite ghost....I also think I just figured out what I'm superstitious about - talking about becoming a ghost in my afterlife....

Haunted House: If you could be roommates with anyone of your choice, who would you pick?
Veronica Roth, Emma Watson, and perhaps the 10th Doctor who drops in every once and while to take me on a grand adventure.

Hocus Pocus: What is the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?

This isn't a sassy answer, but anything human nature is capable of doing to each other. On a lighter note, also somethings that my sister and I have joked with each other because we're pretty freaking crazy together.

Jack-o'-lantern: Do you have any scars? If so, how many?

I have one on my leg but I have no idea where it came from. Woopsies!

Monster: What is your favorite scary movie to watch in the dark?
The Birds. It's my favorite Hitchcock movie and has just the right amount of thrills.

Potion: What is your favorite thing to drink? Alcoholic and non alcoholic?

Java Chip Frappacino - nice blend of coffee, chocolate, and whip cream. Also, Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer - they're both wonderfully sweet but not overly sugary.

Pumpkin: What is your favorite food around the holidays?
I'm not sure if it's a "holiday" food but mash potatoes poured with butter or gravy. It's such a yummy comfort food.

Spooky: What was your last nightmare about?

Not sure it was a nightmare but I had some wicked dreams of joining Scully and Mulder on solving some of their cases. The dreams were awesome but also creeped me out with encounters of strangers with supernatural powers.

Vampire: Which one are you? Early bird or night owl?
For insomnia's sake, I'm a night owl. I can stay up very late, get up in the same morning on a few hours of sleep and keep going - but that's not very healthy. If I could get on a good schedule (which is my newest goal), I'd be an early bird.

Witch: If could have the power to cast any kind of spell, what kind of spell would you cast?

My first instinct was to pick Accio from Harry Potter, but then I thought that I wouldn't want to get lazy over time from always beckoning things to me. I'd like to go with something doing with flying or bringing light into my life when I needed it, like Lumos or Expecto Patronus.

Zombie: What is one food you always overeat?
Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream. Yep. Just can't have one scoop, gotta have the kitchen sink sundae too.

I was nominated for a Liebster Award

This past week welcomed a wonderful surprise when I was nominated for a Liebster award by both Katie at Ever So Ethically Confused and Rebecca at Almost Ginger. I was reminded how fast time flies - it's been three years since starting this blog and I can't believe I missed celebrating a blogaversary. Now seems like the best time - thank you Rebecca and Katie!

This Is How I Work Blogathon

Fellow blogger Mariah at a A Space Blogdessey changed things up a bit by starting a blogathon about her process and asking us some questions about ours. Inspired by other bloggers, she asked us to join in a challenge to show us how we work. Thank you to Mariah for hosting this blogathon. Enjoy the look behind the scenes about how this blog survives staying active every month.

What apps can my not live without? Netflix seems like a pretty obvious one to give a shout-out to. I also really love WPS Office, which allows me to write and edit documents. Sometimes writing is much easier on my tablet punching in every letter one by one rather than facing my keyboard and a blank screen. Google Keep is also easy for creating small notes and ideas in one place.