Offbeat Offline: May 2023 (+ Announcing a One-Month-Long 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? A piping disaster, more eye trouble, return of the perm woes, usual amount of running around and caregiving. I had planned to take a month off blogging (this one), but as you know, I ended up starting my hiatus earlier than I anticipated, because I was spent. It didn't make a difference for the blog, because I had the whole May content scheduled already, but it caused me to pretty much disappear on you (brief Twitter stints excluded), and for that I'm sorry...but I can't seem to find the time and energy to stay up-to-date with your posts - not to mention, I want to be able to put my heart and soul into my interactions, and that just isn't feasible at the moment. So, after this post, I'll retire into my cave again for the whole month, and I hope to be able to make a proper comeback in July. Bless you for not giving up on me and for showing me support even when I'm M.I.A. 😭 🧡.  

📚 THE BARE MINIMUM. I read 1 book and DNF another in May, both ARCs. (More often than not, I'm so tired that even reading is a struggle, which explains the shameful numbers). Before I decided to move up my hiatus, I also managed to review another ARC that will come out in August. Here's a rundown of my bookish activity for the month... 

Approvals:

• The Dark Place by Britney S. Lewis (YA, sci-fi...ish?)

At first (that is, a while ago) I requested the book both on EW and NG (where I could only "Wish for it!", so of course I had zero chances to be approved - it's a Disney Hyperion title after all...)...then I found out that the author had a form on her blog for early reviewers to apply, filled it, and got access to an eARC (via NG) in a couple of days! 

Reads:

• The Dark Place by Britney S. Lewis (see above)

Alas, the book didn't "wow" me like I expected, but I liked it enough to finish it, and I'll post my mini review in July.

• The Girls from Hush Cabin by Marie Hoy-Kenny (YA, thriller)

Ugh. Another DNF, after only a few pages. I can't seem to have any luck with YA thrillers - more often than not, they're full of unpleasant/fake characters, and far more trope-y than their supernatural or sci-fi counterparts. I should probably stop requesting them, but I can't see any reason why thrillers should be the only genre where YA tends to be subpar, so I try and I try...Anyhow - DNF mini review to come in July.

Reviews:

• The Museum of Human History by Rebekah Bergman (Adult, sci-fi/speculative fiction)

Not the kind of story I expected, but good. As I mentioned above, I managed to produce a review for this one in the first half of the month, and I scheduled it for July.

Normally at this point I would list the reviews I plan on posting and the TMST prompts I plan on answering in June, but of course I've got nothing. My next blogging foray will be at the beginning of July, with a new Offbeat Offline installment (and I'll be honest, I'm glad B.C. Johnson had to postpone the publication of the last book in his Deadgirl series, because if it had come out between May and June as he hoped to, I would have gone above and beyond in order to produce a review, and that would probably have involved sticking toothpicks in my eyelids to keep my eyes open - while I want to be less busy and tired when I read/review it...if that's even possible, I mean 🙄). 

💧PIPING DOWN. Early in May, a pipe in my condo burst during repair work in the street. We went a whole day without running water, after which we got a patch, but the plumbers will have to do a proper repair by installing new pipes on the outside of the condo and connecting them to the system, as opposed to substituting the old ones, because they couldn't locate the problem and they can't very well drill a tunnel under our apartments in order to do so. The damage happened when the local integrated urban water management society was at work, but they negate every responsibility, and though our insurance will pay, it will only refund part of the money, since we aren't fixing the old pipes but installing a new network, which is out of budget...

👁️STINK EYE. One week after the pipe disaster, I had to go to the ER because I was seeing flashes with my left eye again, and I got my second retinal laser barrage in 3 months and a half 😮. I hope it doesn't become a habit now, for goodness' sake. (For the record, I was told I have not one, but two more old, self-barred holes, one for each eye, that apparently never caused any symptoms). Also, the doctor (a different one from the one who treated me the first time) finally explained that my current vision problems have nothing to do with the hole(s) or the laser procedure, but are caused by my developing cataract, so there's another intervention in my future...I only hope my right eye will work until it's time for me to fix the left one, or there will be no more reading and blogging to be done for a while...😱

💇‍♀️BY A HAIR. I got my first whole perm done at the new hairdresser's (well, the one I've gone to for the past year), and it was a monumental effort. She imbues EVERY SINGLE STRAND OF HAIR with curling solution PRIOR TO applying the rollers (as opposed to pouring it from above after wrapping the hair around them like my latest hd did 🙄), and yet...she had to redo my right side twice (and my bangs once) because, as usual, the hair in those spots was being difficult. She tried for the second time right after doing the whole perm, and for the third 8 days later, and finally she conquered the hair monster. Mind you, I still have loose strands here and there, but on the whole, no one but me would notice - and most of the hair is super-curly, finally (she used 132 rollers...😮). I'm told that nowadays curling solutions are different from the old ones because certain chemicals have been banned, though to the best of my knowledge, perms never killed anyone in the history of mankind (or I would have died a long time ago 😂), while on the other hand, the old products used to do their job the first time around...Anyhow, at least my current hd can be reasoned with, and tries everything in her power to get the desired result...Of course, I ended up paying for one perm and a half (since she had to repeat it on my right side), but at least she has friendly prices...

As I said above, I haven't blog-hopped at all this month (except for its very first week), so I've got nothing 🙁. And June will be a repeat of this scenario 😞. But I do plan on being around again in July, not only for the actual blogging gig of course, but for the socialising one as well. 

That's it for now. My next post will be up on July 3rd, and it will be a new installment in my Offbeat Offline series. In the meantime, have a great June, sweeties!

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