November
I wanted to do a November summary post but it's half way into December already... The picture above is how I do my monthly calendar in my diary. I don't subscribe to bullet journaling or a particular format, but I love to make lists so I just stick with a format that's worked for me.
Things I've done
I've been reading some gothic fiction (see the reading section below) and also went to a Gothic Fiction talk with some friends to learn a bit more about the background. We left debating what gothic fiction even is... here are some thoughts:
- A preoccupation with death, mortality and the body
- Castles, billowing gowns, flickering candles.
- Some aspect of progressiveness (or transgressiveness - in science, social boundaries).
Replaced my climbing shoes, which I'm very smitten with. Failed to do much climbing. Feeling weak (in a specific climbing way). Did meet all my climbing friends for a Sunday roast, which was nice.
I also went to a gig and a club night which I've mentioned briefly in previous posts and were a lot of fun. I still have Ciel's album Call Me Silent on a loop - it's the perfect intersection of grunge/female vocals/pop for me.
Films
Waaaay too many to to discuss - so I'll try and find some themes.
First up is Frankenstein (2025) fitting neatly into gothic romance autumn. This was disappointingly heavy-handed for me, although I see how people were able to overlook it if you otherwise got carried away by the Jacob Elordi of it all. People also seem divided on whether it looks beautiful and gothic or flat and lifeless, whether the performances are good or embarrassingly miscast but I came out finding it... just ok. It has bumped the book up my to-read list.
River Of Grass (1994)
A Kelly Reichardt double bill of River of Grass (1994) (her debut, watched on mubi) and The Mastermind (2025) (her latest film, starting Josh O'Connor) lead me to wanting to seek out all the other films of hers I'd missed. She's so good at making quiet films that devastate you afterwards.
Mini Cher, from Moonstruck night
Moonstruck night! Moonstruck (1987), a romantic comedy that's extremely Italian American starring Cher and Nicolas Cage is one of my favourite feel-good films, and I watched in in a cinema with an introduction of cabaret acts, games and subtitles due to pretty intense audience participation. A lot of fun. I got tipsy and a bit cross when my friends were like "how on earth did she win an oscar for this film?!" (don't question it, ok).
A trash 2-parter with Predator 2 (1990) (surprisingly fun, like Predator does Robocop with Danny Glover) and The Running Man (1981) followed by the disappointing new The Running Man (2025). I realised I have a bias towards terrible 80s movies and probably can't be trusted to rate these films. I watched two newer Predator movies as well - Prey and Predator Killer of Killers, which were good but had a Disneyfied air about them. Have yet to see the new one (a 12A! I don't have high hopes).
I've been feeling
Lazy and blue. That's not quite right - I've not been as unhappy as I have been in the past, but I definitely feel stuck in rut. I want to make a change, but the older I get and the more entrenched in my job I become the scarier and scarier it feels.
My friends are having kids and being affected by the cost of living crisis and in my own privileged position with no dependents and a decent salary all I can think about is how fragile everything is. I feel like the root of this is social anxiety and lack of community making the world feel cold and brutal - and I have friends and a supportive family! The fact that they all also seem to be struggling and I don't know how to help them also creates this feeling, though.
I'm trying to grope towards changing my life so it doesn't feel this way but I don't know how.
That got a bit serious for a month notes post, huh?
I've been reading
In book club we were reading The Vampire Chronicles by Darren Shan (the less said about that the better - a childhood book that I shouldn't have revisited). I've also had a parallel book club running to read Wuthering Heights after finishing Jane Eyre in September. It's my first time reading anything by the BrontΓ«s, and I'm really intrigued. It's always interesting to find out why books are classics.
Some photos
Please do not drink outside the pub
Multi-coloured flats
I have a couple of other posts drafted. Drafting isn't my problem... it's writing coherently for an audience π I hope you out there are having a good day and writing the blog posts you want to write ~ π