Hey friends!
It’s the extra crunchy leaf you stepped on today, Sam Cote, and it’s time for Weekly Favorites #17!
What I’m Reading: I finished the Two Towers! I really enjoyed it, and I’m also glad to be past it. Gonna read some other things before I hop into another really long book. I’m currently reading We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, and listening to The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan on audiobook (via Libby).
What I’m Listening To: Like everyone and their mother, I’m listening to Midnights by Taylor Swift. I’d like to highlight some other albums that aren’t getting as much attention: I’m also enjoying MOSS by Maya Hawke, Undiscovered by Ludovico Einaudi, and Here Goes Nothing! by Adam Melchor.
What I’m Watching: I finished House of the Dragon! I am very impressed with how it wrapped up. I’m both satisfied with season one and eagerly awaiting season two. (Spoilers now!) The dragon chase between Aemond and Lucerys was wild. I’m a big fan of the choice to have the dragons stop listening to their riders, and let the situation escalate from bad to irreparable– it shows the immaturity of their riders, and just how little control over the dragons they (and maybe their parents) really have. The fact that the stakes were so high surrounding the impending succession war and such an unfortunate murder tipped the balance felt like a masterful story beat. The lack of audible dialogue in the scene where Rhaenyra is told what happened was the icing on the cake for me. My criticisms from previous blog posts still stand, but in general I’m very impressed by episode ten! (End spoilers).
What I’m Making: Two big things! We’ve had a cappella rehearsal every night this week in preparation for our annual Spooktacular tomorrow, so I’ve been making quite a bit of music. Things are coming together nicely, and I’m really excited to perform! I’m also working on preparations for NaNoWriMo! I’ve had a few ideas simmering in the background for a while, and I’m finally getting around to plotting and planning. I’m hoping that the preparation is enough to get me started on the challenge! I’m both excited and terrified.
How I Slow Down & Unplug: I’ve been quite bad about it this week– I’ve gotten home from rehearsal exhausted every night, and proceeded to lay on my bed and scroll through TikTok until 1AM. Here’s to fixing my sleep schedule next week!
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