Sunday 7 June 2015

Things that made me happy this week

Hello and happy Sunday! This week I've decided to borrow Ellie Lit Nerd's blogging idea. I'll start by being honest and say that I've been struggling a bit this week. Not entirely unhappy, but work has been getting me down, bringing a return of anxiety and that sinking feeling when I wake up which I'd been glad to leave behind after high school. But I've still been able to focus on the little things that bring me joy, and that's what I'm going to write about today.



  1. Uncovering my first "novels" stashed away in a box. When I was ten years old I wrote a book heavily influenced by ripped off from Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series, about a girl called Alice Thomas who goes away to boarding school. This was written in pencil in a Lion King notebook, and followed up by two or three sequels, before I abandoned the series for good. I plan to type the stories up before the pencil fades away completely.
  2. Late starts, early finishes. True, a six-hour working day doesn't feel that much shorter than an eight-hour one, so despite working more days than usual, I won't get paid any more, but it's been very pleasant being able to sleep in until 8AM (much more civilised than 7) and read a few chapters over a leisurely breakfast. 
  3. Summer is here at last! And thanks to the aforementioned shorter days, I'm not missing all the sun from being at work; I've been able to sit outside in the garden with a book in the evenings. Time for beach trips and barbecues, I think.
  4. Chatting about books. Customers, don't expect to be able to sneak a Neil Gaiman book past me without me pouncing on you and fangirling wildly. It won't happen! And on Friday I didn't have time to eat all of my lunch as my favourite colleague Simon was in the staffroom reading The Silkworm, and we ended up having a long conversation about J. K. Rowling, Game of Thrones, Terry Pratchett and adaptations of all of the above. 
  5. The MixRadio app on my phone. You select a couple of musicians, and it plays a load of suggestions based on your choices. My playlist came up with quite a variety; lots of Bob Dylan, Amanda Palmer, David Bowie, Evanescence (which brought back a lot of memories from my angsty high school days) as well as songs from Spamalot and Rocky Horror and much more. And all from just a couple of suggestions.
What has made you happy this week?

4 comments:

  1. I totally identify with this post, I've had a stressful week at work and was feeling down, I nearly canceled meeting up with friends, but I'm glad I didn't as I had a good time and have been trying to focus on the good things I've got going in my life.

    I also wrote a story about a young girl going to boarding school.... no idea where it went to though.

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    1. Sometimes you do need to know when to say no to doing things or going out, but so often, even when it's a struggle, I find I feel better for getting out there, seeing people to lift me out of my blues.

      I had a whole load of boarding school stories that I started writing, including Malory Towers fanfiction, but most of them stopped after the first page or so (usually when I'd finished describing the uniform!)

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  2. I'm on the same boat as you, regarding the work stuff. There's nothing wrong exactly, but just the thought of it is making me very tense when I'm at home. I don't seem able to relax properly. I'll just be glad when I can breathe again.

    I ALSO wrote a few 'books' based on Mallory Towers, but I probably unintentionally got rid of mine over the years. It's amazing that you found it though and it's a lovely idea to type them up :)

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  3. I hate that sinking feeling, particularly when it's difficult to attribute it to a specific thing that you can then try to change. I hope that gets better for you.

    I used to write stories about a rabbit kingdom (I loved anthropomorphism at a young age apparently), but I think I got rid of them which is a shame. That must have been wonderful to discover your first novels!

    Have a lovely week, Katie! I hope focusing on the good helps :D

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