Just Blogging

Update to My 2022 Goodreads Challenge (9/27/22)

September 27, 2022 — Leave a comment

I finally finished The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler. It was a really good read, but other books kept jumping ahead of it. For instance: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw, which is a story from the world created by Tim Burton in The Nightmare Before Christmas (and is thoroughly enjoyable).

I also finished Rachel Caine’s Bitter Blood and read Fall of Night. I think I only have two books left in the Morganville vampires series and that breaks my heart. I love the world and the characters she created, and I’m going to hate to see it end.

Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly was at the top of my to-be-read pile last time I posted, and y’all…that was one fucked up novel. I couldn’t put it down. I certainly didn’t see the twist coming. And that was Vandelly’s first book! I look forward to more from her.

I have now read 18 of my 25 book goal for the year. Here are the books I’m currently reading.

The Fear (Natasha Preston)

Survive the Night (Danielle Vega)

My want-to-read list is sitting at 65 books and I’m adding more basically every day. I don’t think I’m going to run out of options. Lol.

As always, if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them! Happy reading!

Positive Vibes!

September 9, 2022 — Leave a comment

The last two weeks have been really good.

Five days after seeing Shinedown in Knoxville, I went to the Spiritbox, Mastodon, and Ghost show in Huntsville. Ghost had been on my bucket list for a while, and they did not disappoint! It was fun and a little cheesy and I loved every minute of it (especially The Nameless Ghouls wrapping up their guitar duel with the instantly recognizable riff to “Sweet Home Alabama”).

And now, the days are shortening, the temperature is dropping, horror movies are starting to come on…fall is returning. Last Saturday, the college football season kicked off (ha!) and my favorite team – the Crimson Tide, of course – annihilated Utah State. We play Texas this weekend. I hope we stomp them into the ground!

Mom and I ventured out on our first quest for Halloween things on Monday. We already have our The Nightmare Before Christmas pajamas from Wal-Mart. (We buy a set every year.) I found some cute sweats that say “HalloQueen” and socks with Jack Skellington and Zero on them. Oh, and my parents got me some Hocus Pocus sleep pants for my birthday. Now I just need the Spirit of Halloween near here to open. Actually, on second thought, maybe not. Lol. I always spend too much money in there.

I’ll update y’all on my reading challenge soon, and I’m aiming to post a “3 Bands/Artists You Should Be Following” next week. I don’t have any big plans, so I should have time to sit down and put it all together.

I hope this blog finds all of you well, and Roll Tide!

Didn’t Want To Lose My Streak

August 28, 2022 — Leave a comment

So I’m not doing my usual concert announcement and/or song of the day because I am in Knoxville, anxiously awaiting the Shinedown show tonight, but I will be back tomorrow!

It’s Friday, I’m in…a Funk

August 12, 2022 — Leave a comment

Not the best blog title, but it matches my mood.

A little over two weeks ago, I went to Atlanta for the Freaks on Parade Tour. The show was my early birthday gift from one of my best friends, and it was everything I could have hoped for. I had waited 20 years to see Powerman 5000, Static-X, and Mudvayne – and though Rob Zombie wasn’t who I was there for, his set was fun. (John 5 stole the show, in my opinion, but I’m biased: I’ve loved him since he was with Manson.)

I even have an entire sob story about my past attempt to see Mudvayne. I won tickets to the Summer Sanitarium Tour that featured them, Deftones, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and, of course, Metallica. Well, we arrived late and missed all of Mudvayne’s set. Then they broke up and I never thought I’d see them live. But I got to see them on their first tour back together!

After the show, I took a chance and messaged one of the guitarists from Powerman 5000 on Facebook. I just made the simple statement that I would have liked to have met him, but maybe next time. He replied “Have you left yet?” and after a short exchange, he made his way to the entrance of the Live Nation Lounge to say hi. I was over the moon. Yeah, he’s not an original member of the band, but who cares? I still met a member of PM5K 🙂

I put a filter on him and he said he didn’t even care that it made him “girl pretty.” Lol.

But since then… I dunno. I’ve been depressed. I’m not super happy at work, my love life is non-existent, my best friend of 20 (almost 21) years is all the way in Kentucky, my brother is in Colorado. And maybe some of it has to do with my birthday being this week. I didn’t bat an eyelash when I turned 30, but for some reason, 35 is bothering me more than it should.

So I’m posting this blog in the hopes that writing it all out will help, or perhaps one of my readers will have some sage advice on how to deal with getting older. Just don’t say “you’re still young!” I’ve heard that a lot recently and it doesn’t make me feel any better.

I hope everyone else is having a fantastic August! The next thing I have to look forward to is jury duty. Woohoo…

Unproductive Week

July 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

I feel like I didn’t achieve much this week. I worked a lot, and attempted to discuss some issues with my superiors but got absolutely nowhere. I did laundry – even folded it and put it away within 24 hours! Lol.

My biggest achievement was probably getting my dad’s birthday gift taken care of. See, whenever possible, I like to take my parents to concerts for things such as birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s/Father’s Day, etc. Well, Brother Cane is coming to town two days before my dad’s birthday, and Dad has been a big fan of them for years. He and my brother have seen Damon Johnson, but Dad has never had the chance to see the full band. I’m not sure how many original members remain; however, now that they’ve reunited and decided to tour, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. So Mom and I are taking him to the show.

On a personal high note: my employees gave me an award this week for “building strong relationships” and “always putting my employees first.” Normally the awards come from upper management, but two of my employees asked if they could personally present me with one. It’s the most meaningful thing I have received since I started working there a little over two years ago ❤️

I hope this post finds all of you well, and that your weeks are going better than mine. Surely next week will be an improvement. After all, I am going to stay with a friend in Georgia and we’re going to see Powerman 5000, Static-X, Mudvayne, and Rob Zombie!

Update To My 2022 Goodreads Challenge (7/3/22)

July 3, 2022 — Leave a comment

Hello! It’s time for another update to my 2022 reading challenge!

Since my last post regarding this subject, I finished Afraid (a collaborative effort among Lisa Jackson, Lisa Childs, and Alexandra Ivy), My Pretties (Jeff Strand), and – yes – His Final Girl (Brooklyn Ann).

I also read Stephanie Perkins’ The Woods Are Always Watching and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun. These were two unplanned purchases that jumped ahead on my list.

I have now read 13 of my 25 book goal. And my to-be-read list is now as follows.

1. Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine

2. Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly

3. The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (I actually started this one a couple of months ago, but I stalled out on it. Trying again.)

As always, I would love to hear what y’all are reading, and feel free to leave me recommendations!

My Kentucky Vacation (June 2022)

June 17, 2022 — Leave a comment

I spent four days in Kentucky with my best friends this week. They moved up there just over a year ago, and it’s been really hard. I miss them like crazy!

It was nice to get away, if only for a short while. We went out and explored some areas of interest, including the historical community of West Point and a pet cemetery that was on the way to Shepherdsville. But our big adventure was a trip to Bernheim Forest.

If you don’t know about this forest, it is located in Clermont and covers more than 16,000 acres. It is a wildlife sanctuary, an arboretum, a campsite. There are miles and miles of trails to hike and things to see. What Bernheim Forest has become known for, though, is the giants.

Created by Thomas Dambo, the trio of giants are made from local recycled wood and are positioned throughout the area. It was an absolute delight discovering each one, though the map we were given at the entrance left something to be desired – it took us much longer to find the last two giants than it should have. Still, there was plenty to do along the way.

If you’re ever in the area, I would highly recommend a visit to Bernheim Forest. We had a lot of fun, and my friends’ kids loved the giants!

James Young Family Cemetery
A marker showing the water levels of past floods. Check out 1937!
Little Nis, the son
Mama Loumari
Little Elina, the daughter
The view at the end of the Canopy Walk
The Spirit Nest
The memorial for Bernheim

Resting Beach Face

May 30, 2022 — Leave a comment

The level to which I need a beach vacation is getting alarming. I have some time off in June and I was gonna visit my friends in Kentucky, but the palm trees, white sand, and blue water are all calling my name. I might have to drive south…

In the meantime, here are a few pictures that are making my longing for the beach even worse. Clearly I like to torture myself by looking at these. Lol. I really do think I was a mermaid in a past life.

These two are actually from the last time I went to a beach. The others are finds from a Google search.

Today Was My Monday

May 19, 2022 — Leave a comment

And I felt it, starting at 4:15 a.m.

I woke up with my alarm, rolled out of bed, and stepped just beyond my bedroom door, straight onto a hairball. I guess Marceline was leaving me a message, but I have no clue what I did to piss her off. (She’s shedding terribly at the moment, and she tends to pull out hair, so I know the cause of the hairball itself, just not the location.)

Marceline, otherwise known as Queen of the Hair Ball

By the time I cleaned up and got ready, I was running late. I’m responsible for opening and it was a near miss, yet I had everything done on time.

The first half of my shift wasn’t that bad. Then I went on my lunch break and managed to dump half of my five cheese ziti down my front. -face palm- So then I had to clean that up and finish my day with tomato sauce on my shirt, pants, and shoes (yeah, I made a mess).

Luckily, some of my favorite coworkers were there and spared me from an even worse day. I came home, took a short nap, and fixed dinner. Now I have showered and am half-asleep and I get to do it all over again tomorrow…hopefully minus the hair ball and the loss of most of my lunch to the floor. Lol.

On the bright side: I bought tickets to see Ghost, Mastodon, and Spiritbox, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

I hope this post finds all of you well, and that your Wednesday was just a Wednesday. Oh, and because I know he’d hate to be left out: here is my other baby, Vlad.

He’s a furry jerk, but at least he doesn’t hack up hairballs right outside my door.

Update To My 2022 Goodreads Challenge (5/9/22)

May 9, 2022 — Leave a comment

So you may remember this post about my progress on this year’s reading challenge, the book I was currently reading, and my (ever-growing) to-be-read pile. Well, I’m here for another update because I am determined to complete the challenge this year and I feel that blogging about it might keep me on track.

I have now read 8 books in 2022. My goal is 25. Since that last post, I’ve finished Black Dawn (Rachel Caine), The Thicket (Noelle W. Ihli), and The Invitation (Lucy Foley).

I am still working on Afraid (a collection of three offerings from Lisa Jackson, Alexandra Ivy, and Lisa Childs). And the next two on the TBR list? My Pretties by Jeff Strand and – for real this time – His Final Girl by Brooklyn Ann. I’m also going to finish The Morganville Vampires series this year…hopefully. I just keep sidetracking myself every time I walk into a bookstore. Lol.

What are you guys reading? Any recommendations for me? As you can see, I like the horror/thriller/suspense genres, and slashers are my faves. So if you’ve read anything that you think I would enjoy, I’d love to hear about it!