Offbeat Offline: May 2022 (+ Blog Hiatus)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Basically - unemployment benefits application, useless job searches, Covid, perm issues (again) 😭. I know, I'm such a drag. But I can't seem to take a breath - it's been an endless string of misadventures and annoyances (at best) since Dec. 31st 2020...I'm so tired and angry and frustrated and I feel like crying. The only good thing in my life is my blog and all the stuff that revolves around it. Which is nice and everything, but it's not enough to make a life worth living...

📚 SURPRISES, SURPRISES. I read less than usual in May because I was busy with housework and studies and job applications and unemployment-related bureaucracy...

I read and reviewed Last Exit by Max Gladstone (a Titan Books approval via NetGalley), and as you already know, I loved it.

I reread Reverie by Ryan la Sala just for the hell of it.

I was approved for The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco on NetGalley (a Sourcebook Fire novel, like Reverie above, which was another NG approval back in 2019). I didn't expect it, especially after being rejected on Edelweiss. I still have to start it because, as I said, this month has been hectic, plus the book will only be out in October. I haven't read Chupeco since her Girl from the Well duology, because her following books were in the fantasy genre, but this one sounds very much in the same vein as TGFTW...

I read the very much anticipated Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire (sidequel to Middlegame, which I ADORED), and I was disappointed. Not a bad book by any means, but the amount of exposition was staggering. Review to come in July.

Ordinarily at this point, I would list all the reviews and the other posts you can expect later in the month, except...I've got nothing. I decided to take a month-long hiatus in order to concentrate on my housework, studies and job search (more of that below). I also hope to read a few books with no (full) reviews attached. My next post will be the June Offbeat Offline installment on July 3rd. Fair warning...I will be scarce this month. That is, I'll try to comment and everything, but the truth is, I'm awfully tired and life is kicking my ass, so I might disappear on you. Fear not, though, because it's only temporary! And I'll do my best to keep up with your shenanigans via Twitter.

🤬A LIST OF RAGES. Where do I even begin?...

• On May 1st, my throat started to hurt. At first I dismissed it as my usual laryngitis, except it was unseasonable...so I ended up taking a swab, and of course it was Covid. Thankfully, I was in the clear after a week, but the hoarseness and stuffy nose went on for a long while (I still have the first, but what's new?). I can't say I've had any other symptoms, if not for my feeling a little sleepy for exactly one day and a little achey for two or three (like one would with a normal flu though). I guess I can deem myself lucky...For the record, my husband remained Covid-free. And I had to postpone my perm appointment by two weeks...
• I finally went to the hairdresser's on the 21st, and I had the usual perm difficulties - as in, locks that don't curl the first time around and do it poorly even the second one sometimes. I had part of my right side redone TWICE, for goodness' sake. I'll have to see if I can find someone else, because it's frustrating as hell - not to mention, I tire of the endless arguments and touch-ups, and the HD is starting to get nervous as well. I understand professional pride and whatnot, but you must do something wrong if one's hair always turns out this way (while it used to be perfect with your predecessors). My bet is on an uneven distribution of the perming chemical (a hunch that one of my former HDs confirmed, because they used a routine that the current ones don't...they massaged the chemical into every lock, as opposed to pouring it on the head as one would with syrup on a cake 😖), plus the type the current HDs use is arguably too weak for my hair...BUT THEY DON'T LISTEN 🤬.
• Remember Around the World in 80 Days with David Tennant? The mini series that should have aired on Jan. 2nd here? It had originally been moved to May 29th...then, a week before that day, I read that it got postponed to December!!! A one-year delay?!? are you f**king kidding me?!?
• (In other news, David will reprise his role of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who for the show's 60th year celebration in 2023, but it's unclear if it will be for a story set in a different universe, timeline or what...anyhow, Catherine Tate-Donna will be with him, and I'm so happy, because I adored those two together! Only good piece of news of the month LOL).
• My unemployment benefits application was accepted, but I found out that it will last for 480 days only, not the standard two years...because I used to work 15 hours a week and generated sub-average social security contributions. Also, I'll only get 75% of my former monthly income, and the sum will decrease by another 3% each month starting from the eight...😡 😭 

😫DIRTY JOB. In the meantime, since getting unemployment benefits requires that you make yourself actually available for jobs (and build a profile in order for the job facilitators to find your best matches), I have an appointment with my local job center for June 13th, so that I can tell them all about the jobs I can't do because I have no experience/qualifications/driving license 😖.

Speaking of qualifications, I'm still studying the main programs in the Office suite (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), since I only knew the basics of the first two and I never got the chance to use the third so far. I can't afford to pay for a legitimate certification, so I'm schooling myself via a series of YouTube videos...I even applied for an internship that requires the candidates to know the gist of all three programs, so it's crucial that I learn all I can. (Usually, internships are geared to people up to 29 years of age, but if you're unemployed you can apply nevertheless, at least for some...now, their taking you into consideration at 55 is another matter...). The problem is, I do like databases, but Excel is a thought one (also because it relies on math a lot, and I can't wrap my head around math)...definitely not something you can learn in two weeks 😓.

🥵MAY I GET SOME SPRING? My dears, I kid you not: May was BRUTAL. The temps were already higher than average, but the last week of the month felt like July. I don't recall ever turning the fan on before mid-June, but here we are - I had to start days ago. (And of course, the earlier you turn your AC or even fans on, the worse global warming is going to get...). Also, my usual summer-related health problems are already kicking in, and I can't even imagine having to suffer both from the heat and its effects on my body until...October maybe? I'm so DONE already 😥. 

PUBLISHING NEWS/TIPS

• Quinley shares a few ways to fix overpowered characters and discusses attributes such as perfection and unreliability.

THINK-PIECES, DISCUSSIONS, ORIGINAL FICTION

• Louise shares her library pet peeves - both as a user and as a worker.
• After an unpleasant incident, Nicole wonders if your right to free speech extends to someone else's blog.
• Krysta has made peace with publishers' lack of interest in book bloggers, though she still thinks that the medium is relevant in its own way.
• Sophia explains why blogging under a pen name is okay, or even the wisest/most beneficial choice sometimes.
• Dini discusses making friends through blogging and why that kind of friendship is valid.
• Six years after writing a post where she shared a few complaints about the medium, Emily has a new stance on fan fiction.
• Sam shares a few Random Reading Thoughts, in which she muses about remembering characters' names, being allowed NOT to like  a book without getting backlash, and decoding reviews that say certain things. 

REVIEWS/RECOMMENDATIONS

• Veronica reprises her audiobook recommendation series and adds ten new books to it.

OTHER

• Kit recommends five funny SFF podcasts (also part of an ongoing series of posts).

That's it for now! As I said, my next post will be up on July 3rd, and it will be my June recap. Long gone are the months were I would have posts scheduled to cover for my hiatus...👋

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?