Currently Nerding August
Another month, another list of nerdy things I’ve been into! It’s interesting to me how the things I’m interested in change up. This will be a neat series to look back on come December!
Custom Doll Videos
I always seem to stumble onto interesting things on YouTube. I’m not sure how, but I do. This month, I stumbled upon the custom doll community. I’ve only really started watching videos from two folks (both the woman in the video, and the person she did the collab with), but look forward to checking out more folks as I work my way through these two collections. Much like planner videos, there’s something calming about them, and the artistic talent of the creators is also not to be ignored. They’re just good, wholesome, fun videos to watch.
Library Books Galore
This month I’ve taken off on reading. I’ve finished seven books in August alone, which is more books combined than I’ve read in the past seven years. I’ve mentioned a bit before how reading was something that waned out of my life for quite a while. I knew in January that I wanted to start reading again. I set myself a goal to read 10 new-to-me books (or comic volumes, which I count as books), and I think I’ve surpassed that at this point.
What I didn’t know is that I’d get back into the public library as much as I have. Typically, I’d buy myself books and grow my book collection, but after doing some KonMari at the end of 2019 and start of 2020, I noticed that I only kept the books that truly made me happy. And most of them were not books that I purchased just to read because I could afford not to use the library.
I think I’ve realized that it’s not about the cost of being able to use the library or not. For me, it’s more about the shared experience with folks. Being able to borrow well-worn books from others reading them is just as joyful as owning a copy myself, if not more so. Does that mean that I’ve stopped purchasing books? No. I’ve just become more mindful of what I pick up.
Outlander
There’s not much to say about this other than I’m loving this show, but I’m trying to savor it. I’m also trying not to get too far ahead of the books. I currently have the first book (Outlander) in my TBR pile I’ve borrowed from the library, but I’ve halted on the show because they mentioned a Dragonfly in Amber, which is the title of the second book. So it’s just sitting there, waiting for me to watch it, and that’s okay.
And Obviously…
Planner stickers. August has been the month when a majority of non-alternative sticker shops have started coming out with “Halloween” stickers. I’ve been very interested in picking these up for day-to-day use rather than just for use during October. I’ve also found some more alternative sticker stores during this time, which has been awesome because that means I have more options during the year. As someone who doesn’t particularly care for the winter holidays, I know I’m not going to bend over backwards for a bunch of kits that’ll come out the next few months. So I’m more than happy to spend some money stocking up on the stickers that make me happy.