A Look At The Week (7/31-8/7)

       Let's get right into it.

                                 













What I've Been up To:

      I've taken to drawing stripes on my face. This may or may not be the direct result of watching too many Black Veil Brides videos. Regardless, I think it looks cool.

       This post is going to be completely full of pictures. Let's just make that clear right now.

       Since this was the last week before my partner arrives (tomorrow!) I spent some time with friends and family. We went out for a day in Berkeley, got some amazing clam chowder in San Francisco, and went to Alameda beach. I'm going to miss all these things so much when I go away for college.

                                










       Above are my parents when we went out to San Francisco. Apparently they used to go to this restaurant, The Clam House all of the time. It's historical too. They had a plaque saying it had been open in the same location since 1861.

       This week I also started a new series, Goth Reviews, which you can see in my previous post. Besides that I have just been cleaning and organizing my stuff, getting ready to pack. I have finally gotten to see the course catalog for Amherst, so I've been thinking about what classes I want to take too./

What I've Been Listening To:

       I'm still on quite a Black Veil Brides kick, but I have also been listening to O.Children and Shayfer James as part of my Goth Reviews series.

Some Posts I've Liked:

       Devin Faye at Alternative Enby wrote a great post on goth hair colors other than black. It's a good post and I love the amount of diversity included in the pictures. Check it out here.

A Look at the Week (7/24-7-30)

       Hey, I'm finally writing one of these when I am supposed to be.

What I've Been Up To:

       I have a week until my partner arrives. After that I have a week until I officially move for college. Because of that, this week has been a transition time. It was time to shift from looking at the move as though it were far away to actually getting ready. I picked up some luggage, organized my belongings, and stopped looking for freelance gigs in the bay area. I also planned the last few things I want to make sure I do before I leave.

       In other news, the coven I work with finally has a name: Cornix Silhouette. That is exciting.

       And of course I am still overly enthusiastic about Black Veil Brides and Andy Black. That leads us nicely into the next section.

What I've Been Listening To;

       I am still listening to Andy Black's The Shadow Side, but this week I expanded my selection to more music by Black Veil Brides as well, specifically We Stitch These Wounds, Set the World on Fire, and Wretched and Divine....which I know is most of their albums. I haven't listened to everything on their self-titled album Black Veil Brides yet, but that is probably coming soon.

What I've Been Watching:

       I don't think you are going to be surprised when I tell you I have been watching Legion of The Black multiple times as well as band interviews.

Some Posts I've Loved:

       The Everyday Goth's discussion of blogging vs vlogging made me consider why I do both and the different purposes they serve. Spooky Loop's reveal of the music they listened to as a babybat was an interesting read, and may cause me to write a similar post soon. Sam Sanity's new Halloween skirt is very cute and makes me think I need to find all the circle skirts I made last year, and of course Karoliina's beautiful nails and demon outfit look absolutely excellent. I also love Sary Walrus's casual outfit and excellent haircut.

A Look at the...Screw it, You Know I've Been Gone Longer Than a Week

         I have been gone for a long time. A very long time. Many months. As no one reads this, that does not matter. However, if you follow my vlogs, then you know some of what I've been up to.

       So, I'm kind of back. What have I been up to recently? As always let's go over it point by point.

What I've Been Up To:

       I've started a blog for my photography. I also have a blog for reblogging other people's art, so anyone who posts their work on Tumblr and wants me to take a look at it should let me know. Besides that I've been working on my professional website, trying to pick up freelance work, and preparing for college. Woo.

       I also got to attend the Sacramento Love Horror Film Festival. That was excellent. The films were great and the live entertainment was just wonderful. Some of it might have been a bit crude for some people's tastes (*ahem* my grandmother whom I went with) but I absolutely loved it. I'm am just sad that I won't be in the area in October, when Voltaire will be performing at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival. I would love to get to see that. Someday I'll get to see him live.
     
       Have some photos.

What I've Been Listening To:

       I ended up revisiting Black Veil Brides, a band I haven't listened to regularly since middle school. I found that Andy has released his own solo album, The Shadow Side (and is apparently going by a different last name again?). Let me just say that I am absolutely in love. The music is great, and the video for We Don't Have to Dance is absolute perfection. As a videographer I am jealous. Those night shots are so crisp. As far as the music itself is concerned, I am particularly fond of Ribcage, though the message of Stay Alive is definitely a worthy one.

Some Posts I've Loved:

       I have been too busy to be super involved in the blog scene lately, but I do know that Spooky Loop was sporting some awesome nose jewelry that I am truthfully jealous of. Additionally, Crypt Tips wrote a nice post on dealing with baby bats.

Other Things of Interest:

       I haven't gotten to watch it yet, but I am really eager to watch this documentary featuring beloved goth YouTuber It's Black Friday.

A Look at the "Week" (Ehh...the past few months)

       So I took quite the leave of absence there once school started up. I'd apologize but really I've been too swamped to feel too bad about it.

Some posts I've loved:

Now I haven't had a chance to really catch up, but from what I've seen The Everyday Goth has not failed to impress during my absence. This post on the benefits of being a lone goth is absolutely a must read. Additionally, The Spooky Vegan has an excellent post on keeping the Halloween spirit alive all year long.

What I've been up to:

Most recently, applying to college! That's been taking up so much of my time. Now that it's over things might (hopefully) settle down a bit.

Even besides that my senior year has been hectic. I'm the co-president of my school's GSA, I'm volunteering before school, I'm taking AP English, and a media class that requires me to spend immense amounts of time outside of class filming and working on projects. It's a lot to do!

I've also started a studyblr. Anyone who is interested is welcome to check it out. In related news I recently finished my first bullet journal and had to start a second one.

What else? I bought myself a bike using some of my back to school money. I found it on craigslist and it only ended up costing me $40. That was definitely an accomplishment I was very proud of.

What I've been listening to:

My friend showed me this amazing music video for Breezeblocks by alt-J. I've been listening to it over an over, really admiring the video. It is amazingly filmed. I want to film something that beautiful.

Things I'm grateful for:

My psychology teacher has asked us to make a point of being grateful, so I thought I'd share my list of things for today here.

1. Plush animals
2. The fact I started blogging
3. Coffee
4. My date-person
5. Notebooks
6. My bike
7. Outrageously colored lipstick
8. The fact I can come back to this after an absence without feeling pressured to do so
9. Beautifully shot film
10. Excitement

Since I'm still a bit stuck for time, I'm not going to describe my life with a tarot card today. That is something I hope to pick up doing again at some point though.

A Look at the Week (7/22-7/29)

Once school starts up, posts like these will probably end up happening on the weekends. Until then, who knows. Either way, I want to make a point of taking some time each week to share what I've been up to, highlight posts I've enjoyed, and share interesting links.

Some posts I've loved:

Not all of these fall within the last week, but I've been doing a bit of catching up since I've been away for so long.

The Everyday Goth and Catacombxkitten have written some very helpful guides on surviving the goth scene and avoiding in-scene drama, respectively.

I've been absolutely blown away by outfits by The HouseCat of Domesticated and Karoliina of Bones and Lilies. The HouseCat rocked two different beautiful androgynous outfits that I truly envy. Meanwhile Karoliina looked absolutely out of this world in a shiny silver and purple outfit.

Sary of the Walrus Room offers some great tips on how to build both your own witchy style and a cabinet of curiosities.

Lastly, getting away from the goth side of things, Aine O'Brien of The Tarot and Other Curious Things suggests picking a tarot card to illustrate your current situation. I like this idea because it encourages you to be thoughtful and reflect on both the cards and your life. I believe I may take part, not necessarily in all of my posts, but at least in these weekly reflection posts.

What I've been up to:

I've spent a lot of this week just trying to finish my summer homework for AP English. I had to read and take notes on Crime and Punishment, Mythology, and the Bible. It's taken a ton of work, but I've managed to finish! Now I finally get some free time before school starts.

Additionally, I've spent time with my friend Jamie. We've been filming some short films, which I'll share with you if we ever post them online. We've also been watching tons of episodes of Goosebumps and The Haunting Hour since there's a Goosebumps movie coming out in October. So excited!

This week has also been dedicated to DIY. I made myself this lovely black and white striped circle skirt with little pumpkin bows. This is the first time I've ever made anything using a pattern and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. If you want to make one of your own, I highly suggest this tutorial.

I wanted to take a picture of my entire outfit, but the lighting in my house is awful. Maybe another time.

What I've been listening to:

Way more post-punk than usual. Goth points for me I guess. I blame YouTube.

Other interesting things:

Anyone who is both darkly inclined and queer is bound to absolutely love these queer flag bats from xxcookievampiressxxladyofart on Tumblr. I know I do!

Every picture tells a story:

This week would be aptly represented by the seven of pentacles. It was all about plodding along and devoting a lot of my time to reaching my goals. In my case, my main goal was to finally finish my reading. I've been working on my reading homework since the beginning of summer. Well, before that actually. I've been working on it since the day my school gave me the books. It's been difficult and at some points endlessly boring, but I just had to buckle down and continue. I knew if I kept working I would get there eventually. I just needed to keep up with the dedicated work ethic the seven of pentacles represents.

And now I've finally-- finally!--finished. The hours spent pouring over those books and checking SparkNotes every ten minutes to make sure I understood what was happening has finally paid off.