Tag: Life

December 2021 Wrap-Up / The Year in Review

Kat Impossible12 Comments

I finished the final month of 2021 strong by reading 6 books. This may not seem like a lot to some people, but if I take back a look at the past year, that was a really solid month for me in terms of books. I’m really happy with that and it made me finish my Goodreads challenge with a neat 50 books in total. Let’s take a look!

One Hundred Years of Solitude Daisy Jones & The Six Saga, Vol. 1 Where the Crawdads Sing Taste: My Life through Food Weather Girl

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! OR find me on Storygraph, where I’m trying to find my footing as well. My own reviews you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

As is tradition, I’ll share parts of my reading year. As I’m still struggling with the desktop interface of Storygraph a little bit (I hear the app works better), I have to forego their stats for now, even though they’re magnificent. They even show you what kinds of moods and pacing you were most drawn to, but I’ll just stick to the simpler one curated by Goodreads for now (you can find the full post here).

I originally set the goal to read 35 books (yes, I aim for achievable), but managed to read a total of 50 books (as mentioned above already), which in this particular case translated to 17,255 pages. My reading experiments really motivated me, but I also started a new job that involved a lengthy commute for the first couple of months, which allowed for way more reading time. My shortest book was actually a novella called Galatea by the ever magnificent Madeline Miller. I’m not surprised to find that the longest one was Anna Karenina. It did feel like forever.

The average book I read was about 345 pages long. Honestly, that tracks with previous years, because around 300 pages is the length I feel most comfortable with. I do plan to try and read some lengthier books in 2022 though … we shall see if I actually manage to go through with it. As for my average rating, it’s exactly the same as last year with 3.7 stars! I have gotten more critical over the years and hardly ever give 5 star ratings, if I don’t absolutely adore and love the book, but at the same time, I do know what I like and tend to find books that fit into what I enjoy.

2021 was … something.

I remember clearly, the hope I harbored for 2021 to be better than 2020 and in some regards it really was. I found a great place to work at with colleagues I absolutely love to be around, I found an apartment for myself and finally moved out from my parent’s place. I should not complain and yet … 2021 was hard! Maybe one of the hardest years I had to face ever with a lot of personal dreams getting crushed (goodbye, my beloved Canada) and devastating events that drained my spirits. I don’t want to get into it, but for a time there, it was just one blow after the other. The fact that we’re now going into the third year of the panini isn’t helping either … BUT, and this is just my sunny disposition coming through, I refuse to let that drag me down in 2022. I’ll dust myself off and just get right back to it. I’d like to think that things happen for a reason, that you’re always right where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be. And when it doesn’t feel like it, just fake it until it does *shrug*.

So, on to more pleasant things! I was really consistent with my blogging in 2021. With a few exceptions, I always managed to post at least 3-4 times a week, which would have been unimaginable in some of the past years. I’m still not back to the crazy posting schedule from 2016, where I double and triple posted some days, but I have found my groove and would like to continue that into the new year. I want to thank each and every one who has visited my corner of the internet and especially those that stuck around! My gratitude for your support knows no bounds!
Here are some updated blog stats for you:

  • The blog currently has 2,871 WordPress followers and a couple people via mail as well. I’ve made the decision to wait until the 3K mark for another giveaway on the blog. Money is tight, but I definitely want to celebrate that milestone once we hit it!
  • There have been 20% more views in 2021 than in the previous year, which I know is vague, but has me thrilled!
  • While I’ve written about 1,490 posts for this blog, I don’t want you to go digging too far into the past. I’ve started to tidy up a little and removed some of the older postings. Sometimes I just changed my opinion on them, other times I don’t feel like it fits the content on here anymore. Either way, I’m hoping to not have too many dead links, but I’m working on it.
  • Once again, I’d also like to give a huge thanks and shout-out to my top commenters! The fact that people keep showing up makes my heart sing and my day better. Please feel free to show them some love in return: Brittani, Caro, Marie, Rami and The Orang-Utan Librarian.

MOST POPULAR POSTS OF 2021

I’m going to start with the posts that I wrote in 2021 and that were most popular and list some of the most viewed archive posts below! If you want to know more about a post, simply click on the title!

Are Tom Hiddleston and I compatible (readers)? – Genuinely ALL my reading experiments (I’ve also done this with Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal so far) were so well received. I did time this one particularly well with the release of the Loki series, so I get why it had the absolute most clicks, but you guys were here for the celeb book club and I love that! I don’t have too many original features on here, so I’m happy that my one original idea took off so well.

8 Years of Blogging – Reintroducing Myself! – Yes, I have been doing this for a very long time and since my readership is constantly changing, I thought it was time to reintroduce myself. The feedback and support was absolutley lovely.

WandaVision: Episode 1 & 2 Review – So many people were here for this show, but also really, really confused. I hope my reviews and recaps shed some light and didn’t just confuse people further. I did stray into theories like so many others from time to time.

credit: Marvel Studios

Book to Screen Adaptations 2021 – This post was SO much work and a lot of the release dates got changed up again, but it was too on brand for the blog not to do it. Since it was so well received, would you be interested in me having another go at this for 2022? 

MOST POPULAR POSTS FROM THE ARCHIVES:

MY 2021 RANKINGS

As you may or may not have noticed, I’ve waited to publish this post until I had all my yearly rankings up! There’s a lot on there, but the chances that I forgot something are still pretty high. Anyway, this should be an accurate representation of my favorite movies, TV shows and books from the last year.

MY OTHER DECEMBER POSTS

MARVEL REVIEWS

VARIOUS TAGS AND POSTS

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

TRAILER POSTS

Now, I hope you’ve already had a brilliant start into the year 2022 and that it will be kind to you! Please let me know which content you liked on the blog last year, so I can work and plan for everything that comes next! THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THE LIFE AND OTHER DISASTERS COMMUNITY!!!

 

November 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible14 Comments

Can you believe we are about to head into the final month of 2021? In part, this year really dragged on but simultaneously, it also just wooshed by. However, we’re still in November now and I’d like to start wrapping up the month by talking about some books I read!

  • Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia/Gabriel Picolo (4 stars)
    This is the third installment of this particular run of Teen Titans and I’m still enjoying myself. The art style is sweet, but not too cutesy. There’s honestly not *that* much happening in the story, but I like the characters, although some might argue that they aren’t always portrayed how we might know them. The next comic will be about Robin and I’m looking forward to that change.
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (3 stars)
    Honestly, I’m just not that much of a fan of the story. More about that in an upcoming post!
  • Love, Lists & Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz (4 stars)

Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven Jane Eyre Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

Again, I would also like to mention that I have created a Storygraph profile and try to link to the books on that platform as well when I do my reviews. Feel free to add me as well here, but know that I’m struggling with the navigation on the web version a little bit. I can’t use the app on my phone (I have zero storage left), but I’m not vibing with the desktop version as much. Still, the stats are very cool and I want to support the site!

So, I have a couple things to confess. First of all, I did not end up participating in NaNoWriMo after all. I was really excited at the beginning of the month, but then I just got busy and distracted by other things, dropping my writing entirely. It’s sad, because I even did an outline for the most important plot points and am generally passionate about the story, but I’m really not happy with my writing and the quality I put out there. So, I didn’t want to be dissatisfied and just stopped. I’ll write and edit a whole book eventually … I think … here’s how I spent my time instead:

However, I did spend some time getting back into drawing. While Eternals is not my favorite Marvel movie, I fell head over heels in love with Druig and Makkari and I couldn’t stop myself from creating some art. It’s been half a year of me not picking up a brush and if I had more time, I’d love to get into this more regularly again. It’s just that it takes roughly 8 hours to complete a piece and that means there’s little else I can do on that day, so I often don’t want to spend my weekends or days off just with that.

I’m forever happy to have Lauren Ridloff be Makkari and therefore giving us the first deaf superhero in the MCU, paving the way for better representation in the genre. I’m also very glad to have a hard of hearing Hawkeye now and that Echo is getting her own show soon.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Aside from Drukkari having stolen my heart, I really truly earnestly am obsessed with the Amazon adaptation of Wheel of Time! The show is absolutely fantastic, it even has me out here considering if I should read 14 books with 700+ pages each, because I cannot stand the one week wait between episodes. (But let’s be real for a moment, I’m not actually going to do it. I don’t have time for this!)

There’s so many characters I already love, but I’m particularly sad to have learned that Barney Harris, who is portraying Mat, was recast for Season 2. I know that no one owes me or us an explanation, but the secrecy around the departure has me worried and a bit sad. He is really the perfect Mat and his successor has big shoes to fill, but most of all, I just hope Harris is alright? I’m definitely overthinking this, but I get so easily attached sometimes.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

I’m still not the best at blog-hopping, but I’m trying! Please go and show some love to these amazing blogs and bloggers!

MY OTHER POSTS

MARVEL REVIEWS

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS (HALLOWEEN EDITION)

TRAILER POSTS

I hope you had a good November and wish you all the best for this upcoming December! Let’s talk some more in the comments!

October 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible4 Comments

Welcome to this little wrap-up, which we’re going to do a little different. I see no point in starting it off with what I’ve been reading, because it was literally just one book and it’s part of the reading experiment, so there won’t be a separate review anyway. I know I said I’d post a new reading experiment in October, but there was just no way I could have finished it on time, so I stopped trying at some point. My hopes are still up for November, but I make no promises at this point. However, to make the wait a little bit more fun, I’m telling you who the reading experiment is with this time around – Pedro Pascal! I think you’re going to enjoy that post! (or at least I hope so)

As bad as a reading month as October was for me, I really got a lot done in terms of moving to my new flat! I have all my furniture, pretty much all my books, clothes, toiletries, kitchen gadgets, drawing and writing gear – so, in less words, I’m all settled in! I’ve been living at the new place pretty much the entire month already, just staying at my parents to grab more boxes etc. on the weekends. I was really fortunate to not have to move *everything* all at once, but the vastly diminished commute to work meant that I just didn’t schedule in as much reading time as I used to. I have to find my groove again.

So, what else is new? I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo again this year! I know many of you are well aware that I only finished NaNo once before and often stopped doing it somewhere midway through it. I don’t think participation is a must and that there really can be circumstances that prevent you from fully being able to commit. Having said that, in case you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it’s a yearly event where writers try to write an entire 50K word-novel in the span of the month. It’s not about perfection or a brilliant first draft, but rather to have a rough draft ready to work with by the end of it all. I spent quite a lot of time plotting and creating a character arc, which means this is legit the most prepared I’ve ever been. I won’t talk about the plot or any details, but if you are interested, I will do weekly updates? Either way, feel free to add me as a writing buddy on the site, if you want to be able to keep track or send messages! You can find my profile here.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

My favorite thing all month, and the show I was looking forward to the most, remained The Big Leap! Every single week, I cannot wait to watch what happens next. All the relationships and the story move so fast, but I can’t get enough of them and I’d really like to see more still. I hope it will be available somewhere to binge and attract a bigger audience once the season is out in full.

Gabby from the Big Leap
Gabby is my favorite character! She is amazing!

MY OTHER POSTS

Usually, I’d preface this section of the post with a little look at what was going on elsewhere in the blogosphere, but just like reading, I haven’t had much time to go blog-hopping. Feel free to link to your favorite posts (of yourself or someone else) in the comments and I’ll happily take a look. Here’s to hoping I’ll get around to more in Novemeber, although I have to say I’m proud I kept up a blogging schedule of a minimum of three posts per week.

PREVIOUSLY ON WHAT IF …

BOOKISH CONTENT

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS (HALLOWEEN EDITION)

TRAILER POSTS

I hope you had a great time at Halloween and that November will be a fun and busy and kind to you! Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo as well? Let’s talk!

September 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible25 Comments

September was the month that I chose to take a break from my reading experiments, not so much because I don’t like them, but mostly because I wanted to pick the books I was reading myself. This all started very well, but I fell in love with the first book so hard, it almost put me in a reading slump. I still managed to get to four stories though!

The Atlas Six (The Atlas, #1)  Ace of Spades  Beasts of Prey  Franny and Zooey

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

I have also recently created a Storygraph profile and try to link to the books on that platform as well when I do my reviews. However, I haven’t had the time to fully delve into it. Feel free to add me as well here, but know that I’ve mostly just looked at the way they portray stats (very cool) but have struggled a bit with the navigation on site otherwise (my phone has no storage for further apps, so I’m using the desktop version). I’d like to support it though!

September was a really good month for me! I switched department at my job and am really enjoying it. I found a flat that I will move in during October, which is lovely and nice and without roommates for once. In addition to that, I’ve felt far more comfortable in my own skin, lighter in general, and that has made me really happy. I even found a new goal to work towards. As silly as it sounds, I feel like I’m adulting quite alright over here, I even contemplated to go on dating apps, but a brief Twitter poll crushed that idea fast.

If anyone has some ideas on how to meet people (to potentially date, to be clear) offline, I’d be all ears!

I don’t know how October will look like for me, as I’m sure I will be busy moving and still getting adjusted at work, I’m looking forward to it. Especially having a space that is all my own will be exciting! I get to decorate and do things just the way *I* want to. Even the mere idea of that makes me giddy!
Aside from that, I’m looking forward to working on the latest reading experiment. I already hinted at who it might be in the Sebastian Stan post, so you can check that one out for a clue. I don’t want to make promises that I’ll post it in the new month for sure, as I’m guessing I will be quite busy, but I’m sure going to try. I might, however, get sidetracked by having Nancy Drew (and therefore Ace, one of my all time favorite characters) back on my screen.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

As I said earlier, I really fell in love with one of the books I read – namely, The Atlas Six – and even got art prints of the characters from the person who also illustrated them for the book. They are now in my childhood bedroom and I’ll have to somehow get them off my wall safely and bring them to the new flat. Wish me luck!

Other than that, I’ve been enjoying getting back into more TV shows again. The new season of Lower Decks has me invested in the characters again, while offering light entertainment. I can’t wait for the new episode of Ted Lasso each week and I’ve surprisingly really taken to Midnight Mass. Apparently horror is no longer a no go for me, at least not when Mike Flanagan is involved. Something I haven’t really talked about on here though is The Big Leap, which has only aired two episodes so far, but which I’m really enjoying. I just adore shows that are set in the world of TV. Feels meta to me, but in a good way. I’m only worried, because it is on FOX and we all know their track record of keeping shows I like … (still bitter about Pitch!)

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

This part of the wrap-up where I usually dedicate some space to the amazing work other bloggers do in the community. I hope you give them a visit and show some appreciation for their contributions! I unfortunately didn’t have that much time to blog hop and comment, but I always try!

MY OTHER POSTS

PREVIOUSLY ON WHAT IF …

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

TRAILER POSTS

I hope you will have a spooky and nice October! I like getting to wear more layers again, which is usually possible around this season where I live, but hope it won’t get too cold yet. I still am gunning to wear my Scoops Ahoy uniform from Stranger Things at least once on Halloween!

August 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible13 Comments

I don’t know where this summer went, but it sure went by quick! I’m well aware I’ve said the same thing the past couple of months, but it’s still true. I blink and suddenly the month has gone by, but apparently I had a lot of time to read, because I somehow managed to finish my Goodreads Reading Challenge! I know I could adjust the goal, but I kind of like that there’s now zero pressure for the remainder of the year.

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2021

But let’s take a closer look at all the books I had the chance to check out during August!

The Green Knight (Movie Tie-In) In the Wild Light Still Life With Woodpecker The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts Take Me with You When You Go Dark and Shallow Lies

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

So, August was alright? It was my birthday month, but I’m not much of a birthday person, so I didn’t really celebrate. I told all my friends and family that I didn’t want anything, except to maybe spend some time with them. Therefore, I went on some nice walks in town, got good food and even went hiking. I’m not a super athletic person and I need new hiking gear, but I still love the feeling of accomplishment once you get to the top (or your designated spot). That was hard, but nice! (And I’m completely going to ignore that I forgot to put on sun screen and had the worst sun burn afterwards.)

Not really sure if this constitutes as news, but I’m currently looking for an apartment in Vienna for myself. This is momentous due to a couple reasons for me, because 1) living with my parents has always been my safety net and a great way to save money during tough times, 2) I never really intended to stay in Vienna and therefore never went looking for a place of my own, so this is like admitting defeat in my pursuit of moving abroad? Kind of? and 3) as I’m getting over my crushed dreams, I’m developing new ones and I’m really looking forward to making some of them come true (this is not necessarily referring to a flat).

MY FAVORITE THINGS

I hope you’re not getting tired of hearing this, but I’m once again going to talk about my reader compatibility series! I put a lot of work into these posts and I know the topic is kind of silly and fun, but I’m really, really proud of the outcome. The latest installment was me checking to see if Sebastian Stan and I are compatible readers and the result was genuinely surprising to me! This series will continue to be a regular feature on the blog, however, I decided to take a break during September and possibly focus a little more on books that I just want to read for my own sake. Still, I have a list of names ready to go!

Sebastian Stan compatibility

Another thing I completely adored and simply cannot get out of my head is the movie CODA! It’s about the only hearing child of deaf adults and her passion for music. It was honestly one of the most beautiful and emotional movies I had the pleasure of watching this year and I’m really not surprised audiences love it so much. If you haven’t yet, I hope you’re going to check out this masterpiece!!

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

This part of the wrap-up is always dedicated to the amazing work other bloggers do in the community. I hope you give them a visit and show some appreciation for their contributions!

MY OTHER POSTS

PREVIOUSLY ON WHAT IF …

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

VARIOUS POSTS AND TAGS

TRAILER POSTS

I hope your August went well and that you are safe and healthy! Wishing you all the best for September and hope we can chat a bit in the comments!

July 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible13 Comments

July went by super fast for me! It almost feels like I blinked and suddenly the month was over and I’m well aware I pretty much said the same thing last month. Somehow times just accelerated and I hope the rest of the year won’t fly by as quickly. Where even is time going? But … before this all gets too deep, let’s take a look at the books I read during the past month.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind  The Taking of Jake Livingston  God Pharm  Like a Love Song  The Course of Love

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

July was good? There’s really nothing in particular that stood out as either amazing or bad. I DID finally get my vaccination and while I felt a bit tired and sore, it went over pretty decently. Other than that, I’m really struggling to think of anything noteworthy to mention. I may have returned to social media a bit more, but am still not spending nearly as much time on it as I previously did. I just feel calmer not thinking about it too much and mostly focusing on my DMs. So, if you need me, that’s where you can still easily contact me.

However, one thing I did appreciate this past month is that my lengthy commute to and from work gives me the perfect excuse to read more again. Since I’m not glued to my phone to check various timelines, I can just read and/or enjoy the landscape going by. I’ve really managed to get through quite a lot of books compared to the past, where I just got distracted by other devices or things I could do instead.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

As excited as I was about last month’s reading experiment, I was just as pumped to share another one in July. Comparing my reading taste with that of Chris Evans was once again super fun and also surprising in many ways. I’m so very glad this is a whole series now, because it forces me to read outside of my comfort zone, while simultaneously wetting my appetite to go back to books that I want to read. I’m not sure I’ll manage to post one every single month, just because it’s very time and labor extensive, but you can definitely expect another reading experiment post in August! Feel free to guess who the next person will be!!

I have to admit that the Loki finale didn’t blow me away as much as I had hoped it would. While I loved so many of the new characters, I felt a bit torn about quite a few other aspects. The show felt a bit like an emotional downer, not portraying that spirit of mischief at all, but I did like how it really changed the entire MCU to come. However, something I did obsess over was this Loki fic with a reader insert that made you feel like you were part of the show. If you are ever bored and/or interested check it out here!

dang, I’m the one that needed a hug after the finale …

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

Once again, I’d like to point you all to some awesome posts on my fellow bloggers’ pages. I hope you’ll give them a visit, because they deserve some love as well!

MY OTHER POSTS

LOKI REVIEWS

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

VARIOUS POSTS AND TAGS

TRAILER POSTS

I hope you had a pleasant July as well! Here’s to a great and relaxing August for all of us!

June 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible6 Comments

June was a whirlwind of a month for me and I can’t really explain why. Somehow it just went by in the blink of an eye, but I can’t complain. I even think I got some decent reading in, even though I think you’ll find the books quite a departure from what you can usually see on the blog. So, let’s check that out right away:

  • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (3 stars)
  • Any Human Heart by William Boyd (4 stars)
  • No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh (3 stars)
    This book was full of Buddhist teachings and very interesting to read, although a tad repetitive.
  • Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (4 stars)
    Siddhartha was a reread for me, which I rarely ever do, but you’ll find out why soon enough!

Anna Karenina Any Human Heart No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life Siddhartha

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

I FINALLY got my appointment for the vaccine! I know that there’s still many countries that don’t have a wide access to it and my heart goes out to them. I felt very annoyed at how long it took for my own city to open up bookings for my age group, so I don’t want to imagine the frustrations others feel. At the same time, I’m very glad to finally have my appointment this weekend.

As my social media break continues in a light version (I do check up on my accounts from time to time, but it doesn’t even equate to an hour a day anymore), I found I had a lot of time for other things. I read more, I wrote more and I felt more creative urges coming back to me. I still haven’t drawn anything in months, but if I have the time (which is a rare good these days), I know a portrait I’d really like to do. I’d also like to think that I was very consistent with my blogging, which makes me happy, because in June, I celebrated my 8-year-blogiversary! Can you believe how long it’s been!? Thank you so, so very much for sticking around – it means the world to me!

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Honestly, and I imagine you are all quite tired of hearing about it by now, but my favorite thing this past month was finally releasing my reading experiment, where I tried to see if Tom Hiddleston are compatible readers! As much as I enjoy doing other people’s tags and features on my blog, I wanted something that felt very me and fit on this site. This was like the perfect combination of things I love and I put so much work into it. I want everyone to know that I appreciated the responses to the post so much and am happy to announce that it’s now officially a series/feature on here! The next installment should be up in a couple weeks – feel free to guess which actor I’m matching with this time!

All of this was obviously fueled by my love for the currently airing Loki show! I ended up deciding on weekly reviews again, just because I love talking about all things Marvel way too much to not post about it at all. I noticed that there weren’t as many views on these reviews as there were on previous shows, but I’m past the point of caring. I just want to fangirl on my corner of the interwebs however much I please.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

Sorry for this part of the wrap-up being so irregular, but here are some awesome posts from amazing bloggers!

MY OTHER POSTS

LOKI REVIEWS

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

VARIOUS POSTS AND TAGS

TRAILER POSTS

I hope you had a great June and will have a great July as well! Don’t let the heatwave get to you!! Let’s chat!

8 Years of Blogging – Reintroducing Myself!

Kat Impossible28 Comments

Can you believe it? I certainly can’t, which is why I once again forgot this blogiversary was coming up. I always vaguely remember that it’s sometime in early June, but when the WordPress notification tells me “You registered 8 years ago. Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.”, I am always, always, always surprised and caught off guard.

After blogging for such a long time (really, who would have thought?), it’s tricky to come up with something new for these kind of celebratory posts. I’ve done countless Q&A’s, giveaways, challenges … it’s starting to repeat too much. But, my friend The Orang-utan Librarian has thankfully given me a great idea for what I could do. My style, the content of the blog, me as a person, have all changed over the years and so has the audience here. Some of you have been along for the ride from pretty much the beginning and others have only joined our little community recently. I cherish all of you and thought it was time (and hopefully also fun) to reintroduce myself!

ME, MYSELF AND I

all of the other portraits were drawn by yours truly!

To get some of the basics out of the way: I’m a girl in her late 20s, currently living in Austria. It’s where I’m from originally, but I’ve also lived in Germany, France, the US and Canada before, which is why I always put the “currently” in front of whatever place I’m at. You never truly know where you’ll end up … or at least I don’t.

This blog has gone through several changes since I’ve started it. I’ve purchased the lifeandotherdisasters.com domain a couple years back and haven’t regretted it yet. It somehow made everything more real, confirmed that this was my place and mine alone! There comes a certain freedom with that. Now, when we talk about the content though, I’ve always heavily focused on TV shows, movies and books. Sometimes I will sprinkle in some insights on writing or life or whatever comes to mind, but those topics I mentioned before are definitely the pillars.

But back to talking about myself (couldn’t sound more narcissistic if I tried) – here are a couple things I love:

  • I adore drawing portraits of people! As you can see above (or on my art insta), it’s really all I do. Landscapes, animals, abstract creative musings – none of that has ever really interested me. I love figuring out the shadows and proportions of faces and have found my favorite medium in watercolors. If you ever want to read more about my process, I wrote a handy post, which you can find here!
  • My friends have called me the Queen of TV for ages now, mostly because I’m great at giving show recommendations tailored to people’s specific taste, maybe because I’ve been on TV like four times already, but also because it’s actually my field of work … kinda. I’ve studied film-, TV- and media-production (which couldn’t sound more vague), but that gave me a great foundation regarding the economic side of the film biz. I’ve since worked in film distribution, casting, event management, marketing, PR, press and much more. I feel so at home in this area and am forever grateful that I get to make it a career, even if it’s still a work in process and has been halted due to the pandemic.

Actual quote from a previous employer: The fact that [Ms Katja] follows the world of film and TV outside of the workplace makes her an inspiring interlocutor.

  • My most favorite place in the whole world is Vancouver (in British Columbia, although I’ve been to the one in Washington State as well). It has the ocean, mountains, forests and a downtown area with skyscrapers. It’s on the bigger side in terms of people who live there (at least for Canada), but super easy to get around. I’ve made such great friends there and just had the best of times. It also helped that it’s considered Hollywood North, which means there were loads of film and television sets to visit.

  • I’ve always loved to devour and tell stories. Those two things just sort of go hand in hand for me and I would never want to miss either from my life. I don’t know if I’d want to pursue a life as a published author, but there has never been a time where I didn’t want to share my stories with the world. So, we shall see where my road leads to here. I think I have a couple really good tales still in me.
  • I’ve done about three workshops for acting and I love it. It’s truly a craft in my eyes and I enjoy it a lot, despite not being great at it. There’s people who can just let go, but I always hold back. There’s emotions I have a really hard time letting roam, but I learned (despite usually being very camera shy) that I adore camera acting. Many people love being on stage and I’m the complete opposite. I love the intricacies and detail that goes into camera acting. Your smallest movements get detected, you can do the same scene over and over in a million different ways, it’s entirely different than when you have to project to a large audience in a room and you only get one shot to do it right. But still, I could never do this as a job.

me at one of my workshops several years ago

  • I’ve gone to several comedy and improv shows and there are few things that bring me more joy, but I always find them funnier when I’m in the room than when I watch a taping or recording of it. There’s definitely times when I think I have a terrible sense of humor, but when you’re in a room full of laughter, it’s just the best and such an infectious atmosphere!

I hope you now feel like you’ve learned something new or know more about me than you did before. It’s a very personal post, but so is this freaking milestone I still can’t believe is true. The fact that I already (accidentally) paid for the domain for next year means I’ll also be sticking around. Sorry, hope you’re not getting tired of me yet!

So, that’s it! All of this is me and I would love for you to (re)introduce yourself in the comments! Let’s start a little discourse here!

May 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible14 Comments

Time’s just flying by and I have lost all track of what’s happening. I did, however, read an astonishing amount of books this past month, which was only possible because some of those were no more than 40 pages and included a lot of poetry collections, but still … I read a bunch! I love that for me. Let’s check out what was on my list:

  • The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin (3 stars)
  • On the Shortness of Life by Seneca (3 stars)
    It is astonishing to me that, after 2,000 years, we still struggle with similar problems. This series of short essays wasn’t always something I agreed with, but it raised some very interesting points.
  • Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav (4 stars)
    This poetry collection was so easy to get into. I found a lot of passages I could identify with, while others were so specific that it almost felt like intruding on someone’s personal life.
  • The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman (5 stars)
    This is “just” a printed version of the inaugural poem Amanda Gorman wrote, with a foreword by Oprah Winfrey. Nothing beats watching her perform it though.
  • Where Hope Comes From by Nikita Gill (5 stars)
    Another poetry collection, this one with a focus on the year 2020. I found it very emotional to read and do not recommend it if you don’t want to be reminded of the pain of the pandemic (which we’re still in).
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4 stars)
  • Galatea by Madeline Miller (3 stars)
    Miller’s short story – Galatea – is bound to break your heart, like most of her writing will.

The Nature of Witches  On The Shortness Of Life: De Brevitate Vitae (A New Translation with Image Gallery and Seneca Biography) (Stoics In Their Own Words Book 4)  Love Looks Pretty on You  The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem  Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing and Light  Malibu Rising  Galatea

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

So, what’s new? I have further reduced my time on social media (although it’s still easy to reach me via DMs if there’s ever something I need to know or you want to talk about) and it has been very freeing. I barely check my timeline, I tweet something every other day and then log off again and just enjoy not giving my opinion on all things? It’s not that I have nothing to say or talk about, but … does the whole world need to know? The answer is likely “no”, so I reduce my interactions mostly to brief reactions about what I’ve watched recently. It honestly works for me.

I haven’t drawn or done much creatively once more and I’m not sure June will be the month for that either. It’s going to hold a lot of changes for me and we shall see how that might also affect my blogging schedule (been going “strong” with at least 2 posts each week minimum). For now, it looks like the Canada thing needs to be buried, which saddens me but is something I’ll just have to deal with. I think a lot of lives have been interrupted/disrupted/changed during the past year and if letting go of that dream is what it means for me, then it could have been much worse I suppose.

During the past months, my blogging friend Stephanie @Adventures of a Bibliophile has really inspired me with her reading experiments. Be it about books she read based on her zodiac sign or letting Buzzfeed decide her next reads, it is always sure to be fun and a unique to her experience. Now, I’m not saying I’m going to copy her, but I have started my very own reading experiment. I wanted it to be something that felt very true to me and that you would all hopefully enjoy as well. I’m not ready to disclose what exactly my post will entail, but having written about it here will give me that accountability to go through with it! I’M SO EXCITED!

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Since I spent less time on social media apps, you might think I spent less time in front of screens, but that’s not entirely true. I still watched a whole lot, for example also the TV adaptation of Panic by Lauren Oliver. Fair warning, I forgot everything there was about the plot, except for random details, but I had a good time. The concept of the game within the story is pretty reckless and stupid, all of it is a very teen angst filled show, but I was entertained.

I’ve also started to delve into fan fiction a bit, just because I think it’s such an amazing outlet for all the creative people out there. I love reading my friends’ takes on Charmed (which are often better than canon) such as katasstropheee‘s or amandapanda425‘s works (to just name a few). But also all things Marvel related, where I’m especially excited to see the Why Me? fic continued once the Loki show will air. Reimagining already existing worlds can be so satisfying and I might try my own hand at it while my motivation for my original novels is lacking.

MY OTHER POSTS

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

VARIOUS BOOKISH STUFF

TRAILER POSTS

What are some things that shaped your May? What are you looking forward to in June? Let’s chat a little bit and I hope you are all happy and healthy!

April 2021 Wrap-Up

Kat Impossible17 Comments

I can’t believe April is over already. I’ve had all these plans and ideas for the year, but once again, little of that is going according to said plans. Anyway, I managed to read/listen to three books and that’s what we will start this post with. It’s not a huge amount of reads, but my motivation in the reading department is a continuous flow and ebb.

  • Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin (4 stars)
  • The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
    This book not having a rating has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, but simply with my decision not to rate and review books by friends and people I know. Elena is an old blogging buddy and I was so happy to see her dream of releasing her own romance novel come true. I HAD to support that and had a really good time reading The Spanish Love Deception. Romance isn’t my usual genre, so I don’t feel super qualified to comment on it anyway, but the banter between Lina and Aaron was so much fun.
  • The Sandman by Neil Gaiman/audiobook (3 stars)
    I still don’t know how people sit through audiobooks, because I’m apparently a very visual reader and completely space out after a while. The fact that The Sandman had a fantastic voice cast (with the likes of James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Michael Sheen, Riz Ahmed and many more) and thus making it more of an audioplay than audiobook helped immensely. Still, I struggled with paying attention a lot … I keep trying this medium, but apparently it’s just not for me (as I’ve talked about before in this post)

Hana Khan Carries On The Spanish Love Deception The Sandman (Sandman Audible Original, #1)

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews (where there is one) you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

At the end of April, I took a little social media break and I’m basically still on it and it feels quite nice. It’s not that anything in particular happened that drove me away, but I did not enjoy being constantly glued to my phone and putting my entire energy into that thing. After a while, it also spiked my anxiety to voice my opinions, despite no one ever coming for me and I just decided to dip out for a while. I’m not completely gone and if anyone needs me, it’s fairly easy to contact me, but I just thought I’d let you know why my timeline is a little bit more quiet. It definitely helped in eliminating one of the many excuses I had created for myself in order to not pursue any of my creative ideas (be that writing, drawing or something else entirely).

For those of you who are interested in the status of my Canada-move, it’s still very much looking grim. I have decided to apply for another extension of the visa once that is possible (you can only do so 30 days before yours expires), but that I cannot put my life on hold for this any longer. I’m currently taking steps to figure out what I might be able to do instead and how I could move on, but it’s all a process. This really still is my biggest dream and giving up on it is soul crushing to even contemplate.

My creativity still isn’t at a peak, but I can feel some of it returning. I may or may not have splurged on some new materials that I’m excited to work with, even though I still have to get acquainted with a lot of them. I don’t think I will post any portraits or other drawings in the near future, but rather just try to get a feel back for myself without having to put anything of it out into the world yet.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

As much as I struggled with the fact that the finale of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiered on the same day and at the same time as Shadow and Bone, I loved doing those weekly reviews. They may not have sparked as much engagement and views as some of the WandaVision content, but it was nice to dig deep on content I feel so passionate about. I’m still unsure whether to go through the trouble for Loki, but at the same time, I felt a big hole this past Friday without anything to review. Please, let me know in the comments which other shows (besides Loki) you could imagine me doing weekly or in depth seasonal reviews for! I obviously can’t promise anything, because I don’t know if I will always have the time for it, but I enjoyed the routine and if you *want* me to talk about something in particular, I’d really like to know what, so I can at least think about it!

I’m all ears for your ideas!

MY OTHER POSTS

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER REVIEWS/CONTENT

TV SHOW/MOVIE RELATED

THURSDAY MOVIE PICKS

VARIOUS TAGS AND POSTS

TRAILER POSTS

Hope your April went well! What are some posts you enjoyed reading this past month? Did you encounter some great books and TV shows? Let’s talk!