the outstanding blogger award

Heyo, my friends!

(That intro feels a bit awkward. I’m trying it out. We’ll see if it sticks around.)

I’ve been tagged by Evelyn Brooks to do this award, and I’m super excited because her questions are amazing.

the Hamilton book tag + the outstanding blogger award II // ft. mini book reviews and random appearances by my WIPs

Tag posts are fun to write, but I have an (irrational?) fear that people don’t like them as much as my other posts.

Since you’re one of these “people,” do you mind telling me? I’d like to know the truth instead of clinging to an assumption that may or may not be true.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are the tags I’ve been tagged for.

the Hamilton book tag

I found this tag at J Long Books; Jaedyn said anyone who loves Hamilton could do it. Since I am doing it, you’ve probably (correctly) assumed that I love Hamilton.

This post is not supposed to be a Hamilton review, but… I have a hard time stopping myself from reviewing things. I’ll be brief.

• THEATRE // I love all things musical theatre, and have seen quite a few shows (live and recorded) and participated in dance, acting, and singing lessons. Thus, I know (a little) how hard it is to perform well, and Hamilton is performed very well. The second time I watched it I watched mostly the ensemble, which I encourage everyone to do on their second time through!
• WRITING // I also (surprise!) love to write. I consider myself to be fairly good at it (twelve years of practice, six of which were spent consciously trying to improve, helped in that regard). So I advise you to trust me when I say that the writing is marvelous. For example:
  I’m in the cabinet. I am complicit in
  Watching him grabbin’ at power and kiss it
  If Washington isn’t gon’ listen
  To disciplined dissidents, this is the difference:
  This kid is out!
  Read that aloud. Can you rhyme as well? I doubt it. (I can’t.)
• HISTORY // Hamilton is not completely historically accurate. Basic knowledge of the Revolution/early American history, and access to accurate historical information, is important if you want to fully understand the context and reality of the time period and events portrayed in the musical.
• CONTENT // The movie is rated PG-13. It has more profanity than almost any other PG-13 movie I’ve seen. The sexual content is about what you’d expect from that rating. All violence is portrayed via dancing and acting (no blood is actually shown, and gun duels are dramatized). I personally recommend it for ages 15 and up, but please read reviews, talk to your parents (if you live with them), and think carefully before viewing.
• That being said, I could easily squeal about this movie all day, and I highly recommend watching it.

Mini review done. Let’s do the tag.

flotsam and jetsam | 7

Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,
We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door!

And though the world be messed-up and broken, I go, I go, I go to write this blog post. (See the last flotsam + jetsam here.)

Note: I’m writing this on August 2, but I’m going to schedule it for the 15th 😌 and expect plenty of random emojis because I just discovered how to use them on WordPress. After 1.25 years of blogging. 😂

ALSO! I didn’t post any island living this week, and I might not next week. We’ll see. I absolutely intend to finish it, and to continue to post it on Wednesdays (and other posts on Saturdays), because the schedule has been super helpful, but it won’t be every week. 

I spent most of June and July listening to new music. I discovered a lot of songs and artists I never thought I’d like. Here’s a short(ish) list:

• turning out // ajr
• he is not safe // ross king
• addict with a pen // twenty one pilots (content: “addict” + “suicidal”)
• homeward // future of forestry
• in case you don’t live forever // ben platt
• the girl i mean to be // daisy egan
• i love betsy // andrew barth feldman (youtube)
• dear me // nichole nordman
• all you wanna do // aimie atkinson (content: sexual references)
• hiding in your hands // mallory bechtel
• wander. wonder. // the arcadian wild
• forgive us our trespasses // audiomachine
• never be alone // shawn mendes
• sound + fury // ella mine
• grace & mercy // jess ray
• peace // taylor swift (content: profanity)

But then I started listening to old playlists. (I was tired of my July playlist.) And remembering all the music I used to love.

• correspondence: a fiction // levi the poet (some mature content)
• the passing of the elves // howard shore
• too good // jess ray (content: mention of drugs + self-harm)
• empty chairs at empty tables // gareth gates
• this my soul // the gray havens
• everything ever 🤣 // andrew peterson
• wait for me (reprise) // hadestown
• hamilton // lin-manuel miranda (content: profanity, sexual references)

I guess what I’m saying here is, listen to old songs sometimes. Don’t forget the music you used to love. You’ll probably still love it, and even if you don’t, it helped to make you who you are.