September favorites
"So I walk in hot, oh, great, nobody noticed
'Til I hit that strike, then everybody noticed me, uh-huh
Everybody loves a winner
Who's gonna tell 'em I'm a lucky beginner?"
There's no optimism like that first breath of fresh air after a week of being sick. It's like the world has opened back up and I must vow never to take advantage of mother nature's gifts again! I've been trying to get into Audrey Hobert's Who's the Clown? all week, but it took a new perspective and another listen to appreciate the whimsy of this "weird girl pop". With this new gratefulness in mind, I thought I'd share some of what I've been enjoying lately, from music to new hobbies I've picked up to de-stress.
Who's the Clown? Favorites
Drive "Drive" sticks out to me for it's layered vocals and harmonies. It's very pleasing to the ear, but still has that characteristically Hobert weirdness.
Bowling alley My absolute favorite track on the album. Though its production or instrumentals are pretty tame compared to the rest of the album, the witty lyricism of this song got me hooked. Coupled with the catchy chorus, I've been playing this song all week (and singing it to myself when I'm not actively listening to it).
Shooting Star Trying to sing this song out loud makes you realize that Audrey Hobert could probably make a relatively easy switch into rap music with how much breath control she has.
Silver Jubilee "Silver Jubilee" is definitely the best produced song on the album. It's not one that I gravitate towards to listen to over and over, but when I do hear it, I enjoy it a lot!
Overall, while I didn't vibe with every single track on the album, four favorites is enough for me to want to pick up a CD and listen to it some more! I didn't like any of the songs on a first listen because I thought Hobert sounded a little too much like Taylor Swift, but after Swift dropped that absolute dumpster fire of an album this week, I came back to Hobert's music with fresh ears and new appreciation. Weird girl pop is back!
Audrey Hobert's Who's the Clown? totally awesome album cover.
30 Minute Sisters (Bandai)
In the category of "I Don't Care That I'm In My Twenties I'm Playing With Toys", I recently picked up and had a lot of fun building Bandai's 30 Minute Sisters gunpla (build-it-yourself) figures! They come in approximately a million tiny pieces that you can have fun popping out of their trays and angrily fitting together for hours on end! Jokes aside, the instructions are pretty clear and though it definitely took WAY more than 30 minutes to build, I had a great time making and posing my little figure! Be warned, they're pretty tiny, but I don't really mind. For reference, they're about an inch shorter than a typical Pop Up Parade figure.
This is one of the 30MS kits that I built!
Cross Stitching
Because I clearly enjoy making myself angry, I decided to take up yet another time-consuming and tedious hobby! I don't have a ton to say about this one yet, as I've had a busy week and haven't had a lot of time to get super into it, but I've enjoyed looking for patterns and getting supplies (a.k.a. the fun part). Once I actually make something, I'll upload a picture here.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Therapy is expensive, but fishing in Animal Crossing: New Leaf is free (and rewarding). Since modding my 3DS, I've had lots of fun getting back into my childhood games, though I didn't revisit Animal Crossing until about three weeks ago. In the time since, I've spent just about every night before bed building up my town (since I had to start on a new save file), fishing, catching bugs, and donating to the museum. I go to bed late, so I made sure to enact the Night Bird Ordinance so my villagers and shopkeepers are awake when I am.
For those who have played both New Leaf and New Horizons (and I feel qualified to say this because I have over 500 hours on each game…), isn't the handling on New Leaf just so much better? Taking equipment out of my inventory on the Switch with that stupid scroll wheel takes like five minutes, meanwhile I can grab my shovel and change it back to my fishing rod within thirty seconds on the 3DS without issue. Playing so much New Horizons for the last few years only to circle back to New Leaf is showing me just how goated of a console the 3DS really is.
Conclusion
So, even though I've been coughing up a lung every two seconds for the last five days, I've still had plenty of fun things to enjoy! And my sickness is going away now (I think), so I can revel in my newfound optimism and go play some games and fiddle with some toys like I'm five years old because I want to. I hope this was helpful somehow…