What I'm Reading: January 2017 #2

This is my  bi-weekly series to share with you whatever I’m reading that has either interested, entertained, or angered me.  I’ll talk about the book I’m reading, articles I’ve read, blog posts I’ve liked, interesting videos, ect.  This is one of my favorite type of posts to read on other people’s blog, so I hope you will find some links you enjoy!
Want to know what else I’m reading? Be my friend on Medium and Bloglovin’ and Goodreads for more!

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Books:

All Over the Place: by Geraldine DeRuiter.  I finished this the day after I published my last What I'm Reading post.  God, this book is so good.  I know DeRuiter is good in general since I love her blog, but book writing is different from blogging so I wasn't sure what to expect.  As always, she didn't disappoint.  I've never re-read a memoir before, but I'm definitely going to buy a physical copy when it comes out and go through it again.

The Yellow Wallpaper, a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Incredibly creepy and an incredibly quick read.  Not sure if I should include this as a part of my 50 books of the year, since it's a short story, but Goodreads has it as a stand alone option.  I'm currently reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith and that's a long one, so that will balance out my conscience.

In these past two weeks I also started and finished How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell, which is out in America today.  It's an addiction memoir and it's easy to read, but it was very tedious.  She seemed to be praising her addicted lifestyle with minimal self-reflection.  Her book really shows you how much you can get away with when you're rich.

2017 Reading Challenge: 5 out of 50

Articles:

Caroline Calloway did an interview with Girls at Library and it filled me with so much hope for the future of publishing and my own future.

Cheryl Strayed was $85,000 in debt when Wild was published.  An interesting look into the finances of a writer.

Obama on his love and importance of books.  Similarly, 79 books Obama recommended while in office.

Ayahuasca and sexual assault in the Amazon.  I first heard about ayahuasca in an episode of Chelsea Does.  She makes it look interesting, but for the love of god (and your own safety) please do not do drugs while travelling.

Women making art in response to Trump is my favorite thing.

In response to Nocturnal Animals: "If you make everything stylish, don’t make a film about rape and murder".  Adding this movie to my list of "if a man tells you this is his favorite movie/book/tv series, get the fuck outta there". (Maybe I'll make a post about that list someday; Fight Club and Game of Thrones are on it.)

Roxane Gay: By the Book.  I just really love it when authors talk about their love of books.

I think about time and aging a lot.  I feel like life is rushing by me at 21.  I don't have enough time in my life to do all that I want to do.  So I'm trying to listen to advice from a 30 year old: The Most Important Thing About Your 20's

If you need to laugh at a frustrating phenomenom: if women wrote men the way men write women

Blogs:

The Only Blogging Tip You Need to Know: "I was actively trying to create content that I thought people would like. I honestly believe this is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. You shouldn’t be creating content for other people, you should be creating content for you. You should be creating content that you find interesting, content that you’re proud of, content that if you saw it on somebody else’s feed, you’d stop and want to engage."

This Battered Suitcase's last installment in her "My Month Without Alcohol...and Men" was brilliant.  I've been a longtime fan of Brenna and posts like this remind me of why.  She opens up about her past relationships and how even though she is an independent women, men have still treated her like shit in the past.

Life:

I'm going to add a "Life" section on What I'm Reading posts from here on out.  Just to give you a little insight into the things I'm thinking about that don't require full blog posts of their own!

I'm thinking about seeing a chiropractor once I get home.  My shoulders hurt so bad on the daily.  It's probably because of poor posture but something still feels off.  Can I go see a GP here in Scotland just to talk about it?  We have a doctor on campus that does drop-ins.  That would be free, right?  I'm not sure how socialized medicine works, guys.

Quote:

I'm also going to leave you with a quote, because I think that'll be cute.  Look at me making changes and finding my groove! 

"I'm still asking you to believe - not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours. I believe in change because I believe in you." -Barack Obama

Thanks, Obama.

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What were your favorite things in January?

Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

Glasgow Week 3: St. Andrews and the Women's March

Three weeks already!  It feels like my time here is flying by and there is still so much left to do!

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Gallery of Modern Art

On Wednesday I went to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and was mildly disappointed, since only three exhibits were open.  I'll definitely need to go back once the fourth exhibit is finished.

Kelvingrove Museum

Thursday I went to the Kelvingrove again and walked around the ground floor.  I accidentally snuck into the only exhibit that you're supposed to pay for.  I just walked into this gift shop and started walking around but the gift shop just kept on going and suddenly I'm walking through the entire exhibit for free.  Oops.  Sometimes it pays to be a clueless American.

a bird got in my coastline shot

On Friday I woke up way too early to take a bus ride to St. Andrews with some friends.  It's a cute town but I don't think it has enough to do to there to warrant an overnight trip.  One day is enough (unless you're into golfing).  I'll try to go back when the weather is warmer and the sun sets later.  I ignored the fact that the inauguration was happening while I tried to track down all the Prince William and Kate Middleton hotspots (no shame).  I don't feel bad about not watching the inauguration.  It's going to be a long 3 years and 11 months and 3 weeks until Trump is out of office, I'll have plenty of time to consume media then.

sadly I don't have a picture of the haggis

Saturday was spent sleeping and chilling and getting ready for a Burn's night party.  My entire group was way too under-dressed but there was free wine and haggis and I danced with cute Scottish guys and ended the night at McDonald's.  As you do.

Sunday is all about homework (and procrastinating by writing blog posts).  My most reading-intense class is on Monday, so instead of gradually doing work throughout the week I think I'm going to cram everything in on Sunday.  At least I get to try out a new coffee shop each week!

you KNOW Carrie would've been there

I do feel bad about missing the Women's March, though.  If I wasn't studying abroad then I would 100% have been at the march in D.C., since it's not too far from where I live.  I know living in Glasgow for five months is a once in a lifetime chance and I shouldn't take it for granted, but I have this nagging feeling that I'm missing out on history.  I won't be able to tell my (adopted) kids that their mother was a part of the biggest presidential protest in history.  

I'm sure there will be plenty of protests to take part in when I get home.  You bet your ass I'll be at those.

I am so, so proud of my country and all the other countries that support our resistance.  Trump lost by almost 3 million votes, not even counting the votes that went to third parties.  He and his supporters are in the minority.  We have to remember that.

Glasgow's free museums are the best

windows in the Gallery of Modern Art

I've spent a lot of time these past two weeks either a) at museums, b) walking to and from museums, and c) trying to find WiFi because "I swear there's a museum around here somewhere I just can't find it".

Glasgow has such a great free museum system and they're all incredibly walk-able.
The past two days I've been to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

the GoMA at night is the most beautiful

a beautiful way of looking at photographs. you're capturing the universe with each picture.

hands down (or should I say...hands titty) the best sculpture I'm ever going to see

I definitely prefer the Kelvingrove over the GoMA.  Partially because it's A LOT closer to where I live and also because I'm more into landscape portraits and history than I am modern art.  One of the GoMA's exhibitions is currently under maintenance and two of the three opened exhibitions were video focused.  I'm more of a sculpture and oil-on-canvas type of gal.

I've also been to the Riverside Museum and the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.  Next on my list is The Hunterian, which should be easy to get to since it's literally inside my university.

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What are your favorite museums?  Which ones do you want to visit?

Glasgow Week 2: I love graveyards

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash

Voltaire & Rousseau

On Wednesday, the day after my overly emotional post, I went in search of the infamous bookstore seen above and ended up finding two bookstores on the same street!

the sun is prettier in Scotland

The next day I walked to city center by myself and bought a better pair of walking shoes.

Eve's buttcrack in the Botanic Gardens

The day after that I went to Waterstones to buy a guidebook to help me make the most of my days here.  After a lot of page comparisons, I decided that Rough Guides has a lot more relevant information than Lonely Planet guidebooks (at least for Scotland).  I've been using washi tape to mark the pages of places I want to go and highlighting the entries of places I've already been.  Hopefully all the white pages will be covered in highlighter by the time I get home!



On Saturday I watched the sunset from the top of the Necropolis and honestly it changed me as a person.



I saw a man on the Necropolis with his luggage so he either came there straight from the airport or wanted it to be the last thing he saw.  Either way, he had the right idea.  I'm going to make it my goal to see as many sunsets from this viewpoint as possible.

What I'm Reading: January 2017 #1

This is my  bi-weekly series to share with you whatever I’m reading that has either interested, entertained, or angered me.  I’ll talk about the book I’m reading, articles I’ve read, blog posts I’ve liked, interesting videos, ect.  This is one of my favorite type of posts to read on other people’s blog, so I hope you will find some links you enjoy!
Want to know what else I’m reading? Be my friend on Medium and Bloglovin’ and Goodreads for more!

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Books:

The plane ride from D.C. to Glasgow was pretty rough, reading-wise.  I started reading two books I received from NetGalley, but they were so horrible that I couldn't get past a few chapters.  Then I started reading This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was better than I expected but still not interesting enough to hold my attention.

I had Verisimo on my Kindle because it was was a part of a free book deal and the description sounded interesting. It was absolutely horrible.  I'm now scared of ever reading free Kindle books again.
I also started reading All Over the Place by Geraldine DeRuiter of Everywhereist fame.  I'm a little more than halfway through and I've already cried three times.  Not because it's particularly sad (you will also laugh a lot), I'm just an easy crier and love makes me cry.  Geraldine and her husband are in a lot of love.  Full review will be posted when I'm done/closer to the release date.  (I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

2017 reading challenge: 2 down, 48 more to go. 

Articles:

There's rumor that Hillary Clinton might run for NYC's mayor.

Lindy West leaves twitter, for good reasons.  I probably would too if it wasn't the only place I consistently promote my blog and interact with other bloggers!

Victoria Beckham wrote a letter to her younger self in Vogue and of course I cried at that, too.
 Probably because the letter was addressed "Dear Victoria" so it felt like she was talking to me.

Blogs:

Get Some 'Yes' in Your Life

We all have our dark periods, but in good news Emily is getting her life back on track (!!!!)

Jaime from Angloyankophile blogged about budgeting and how to quit spending all your money on pointless stuff.  I consider myself pretty frugal but I still don't keep a strict budget.  I'll need to fix this within the next few months because next year I'm graduating and will need to act like a real adult.

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I'm off to do some reading for class and hopefully finish All Over the Place, happy Sunday everyone!