gotta catch em all

So, as you know, I am a nerd lol... and I do love Pokemon.  I finished Pokemon Shield a while ago and eventually completed the Pokedex.  Like many people my age, I grew up with Pokemon and was a kid during the height of Pokemania in the late 90s/early 2000s.  I started watching the anime in the mornings before school when I was in 5th grade, and that Christmas my dad got me Pokemon Red on Game Boy.  I ended up playing Red, Blue, and Yellow... stood in line with my mom to get Silver the day it and Gold launched.  But I fell off before Crystal launched, and I don't really know or remember why.  I did get a Game Boy Advance (two actually -- the original model and then later the SP, the classic Nintendo special edition one), but I never Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald or even FireRed or LeafGreen.  I feel like a lot of people had a similar experience... Pokemon never stopped being popular, of course, but that was truly the point where Pokemania was kind of over.  I guess I just thought I'd grown out of Pokemon.  That was kind of it until 2013.  I was on Tumblr at that point, and everyone was talking about X and Y, and it looked so good!  I didn't have a DS or 3DS at that point, but I decided that I really wanted to.  I really wanted to play Pokemon again.  I even bought a probably fake copy of FireRed to tide me over and I really enjoyed that (until the cartridge deleted my save file lol)... but I needed to get back into it for real.  I didn't know why I needed it, but I just felt like I did.  I got my 3DS for Christmas that year... there was a Black Friday sales bundle on the system and two games available on the walmart website, and my mom and I made it happen.  I had to defend the fact that, poor as we were, I owned that system... people made so many comments and asked so many questions because poor people are apparently not allowed to own anything or have fun ever.  But I put up with it, because I had Pokemon again, and it was fun and it was good.  It made me happy.  Depression made me lose interest in the game a few times, so it took me forever to finish it... but I did eventually, and I even completed my Pokedex.  I was truly proud of that accomplishment!  Since that point, I've know that I had no desire to give up Pokemon again... I've played Y, Omega Ruby, SoulSilver, Sun, and Ultra Moon on my 3DS (as well Animal Crossing -- a franchise I am fairly new to but ended up falling in love with... expect a post about that after the new game comes out next month, lol).  When I started working, my first BIG purchase was a Nintendo Switch with Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu.  I enjoyed that game a lot, but haven't yet finished it.  Pokemon Shield, for all it's detractors and admitted imperfections, really captured me... and I can't wait for the expansion pass later this year.  I'm just so glad I got back into this franchise!  One of the good things in life.

musings, part ???

It's been just over a year since my mom had her stroke and had to go to the hospital.  She's doing about the same -- she's mostly bed bound, and she responds at times.  Still has a feeding tube.  She's not worse, and that's a good thing to be thankful for.  I still wish I had realized sooner that she was on the verge of this medical crisis.  I wish the situation here was different, and she could be at home.  I feel like an asshole because she's not, and I don't know how much she understands but I hope that she gets that I didn't want to just leave her there.  I don't get to see her often, and I feel horrible about that too.  She's not gone, but the person she was is just not available for medical reasons... and she's someplace different now, so I miss her.  Before she had the stroke, sometimes our relationship was complicated.  Like, I love her and always have, but we'd argue and she would drive me crazy for just... reasons that aren't even worth talking about (but were valid).  And it's sad now to think... our relationship can never be better than it was.  Life is just so mean... she deserved better health and a better home situation.  I blame myself a lot still for not realizing sooner that something was going on with her health wise.  I wish I had done more and done better.  I guess she also deserved a better daughter, lol.  Though my life now, over a year later, has more creature comfort ( running water is a big deal, lol), it's lonelier.  And part of me misses how things were -- not the extreme poverty (as opposed to my current paycheck to paycheck existence) but the fact that I used to have someone to watch TV with and have dinner with.  I didn't panic every time an unknown number called me, thinking it might be a nurse with bad news.  And just... you don't want to see anyone have to go through a medical crisis that changes them.  Life is just really mean and it sucks that we all have to deal with that.

Merry Misfits Book Club (Year Two): February: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

For February, the book club had the choice of a couple of different fairy tale retellings: Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.  Although I like Shannon Hale as an author, I chose Cinder simply because it was available as an audiobook from the library through the overdrive app, lol.

I really enjoyed this book.  I do enjoy retellings of the Cinderella story, and this was a really innovative one.  It has this whole sci-fi thing going on that was really cool.  I don't want to sound shady, but I didn't know it was AS sci-fi as it was, so if I had read a summary of the book beforehand I probably wouldn't have read it... which I'm definitely glad I did, because I enjoyed it.  So even if the story doesn't SOUND like it would appeal to you, it just might.  You could still enjoy it.  Like last month's book, this one is the first of a series and I'm considering eventually reading later books in the series.  I'd recommend it!

Merry Misfits Book Club (Year Two): January: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This year, I'm not doing a traditional reading challenge like I have done these last couple of years... I feel bad about that, because I kind of enjoyed having a theme and picking a book to fit it, but it's just been so stressful as I have not had the time.  I hate not having enough time to read enough, but... you know.  Capitalism, lol.  Anyways... I am still doing the book club I joined last year, but it's been kind of revamped.  Last year, it was similar to the reading challenges in that we'd have a theme and then pick a book to fit it.  This year it's a more traditional book club -- we all read one of a couple of different books and are free to discuss.

January's book was Howls' Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.  I listened to the audiobook of it.

I picked this over the other selection because of the Ghibli movie.  Even though the book is quite different than the movie, I really enjoyed it.  The characterization and world building will really draw you in.  The narrator of the audiobook (I forget her name) had a really enchanting voice that fit the story so perfectly.  I might eventually go back and check out the sequels.  I don't have a lot to say about the book other than the fact that I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.  Makes me want to re-watch the movie, lol.

I'm going to be doing a more casual format with these book posts and try to make more formal reviews on Goodreads.  Follow me there for more incoherent thoughts, lol.

smh

someone (me) hasn't been feeling so hot mentally and has been Going Through It, and thus not keeping up with arbitrary goals she set for herself, such as posting on this blog once a week.  I kinda hate that, because I do enjoy posting on this blog... I can just kind of write about books and stories and my feelings and my life and it doesn't have to have a structure or anything like that.  It's freeing, kind of like a diary.  Anyways, I'm here to work on a couple book posts and maybe something else, so hopefully something will come of it, lol.