June Wrapped!
A Monthly Wrap Up
HAPPY BELATED PRIDE MY LOVES! I hope everyone had an absolutely banging June, and wore your rainbows with pride (pun intended). I myself had a very jolly queer time, and spent a good portion of it traveling or out and about with my friends!
Ready or not, prepare for a very queer article.
Sunshine:
I got to spend a whole four days traveling through Teton NP and Yellowstone NP with two of my best friends and my girlfriend!!! For those who don’t know, my girlfriend actually is working seasonally in Yellowstone NP which means we have been long distance (even more so) since early May. This was the first time I got to visit her and it was incredible. Not only are the parks gorgeous, but spending time with her for our six month anniversary was such an amazing opportunity. We saw the entirety of Yellowstone in the span of about two days, and in total saw 9 bears! Very very cool things.
PRIIIIIIDE MONTHHHHH. Ofc yo girl had to do something to celebrate so me and my friends went to a pride event hosted by some local gardens! It was such a good time, and they featured a lot of local artist. We made friends with some of the stand owners, and spent a good amount of time just wandering around and doing the crafts they had set up.
I made a lot of art this month! I got really into sketching and drawing again, and even pulled out my markers for a couple things here and there. I’ve been struggling a lot with a lack of structure since school finished, but doing more art always helps. It’s just a matter of gathering the willpower to get started.
Spent a lot of time hanging out on the lake! One of my friends has some paddle boards, so we like to take them out and just wander around a nearby reservoire or pond, and it’s one of the best parts of me week.
I have really started to hone in my tarot skills! Tarot is one of those things that I find incredibly helpful for self reflection and introspection. With my AuDHD, I can really struggle to articulate with myself things that I experience and feel. Tarot is a great tool for me to think more deeply about things, and try to help myself find a way forwards! And I think it’s witchy and fun :)
I got to attend the one and only Crane Wives concert with my little sister! I am a long time fan of theirs, and this is the second time I have seen them in person!!! I will usually pop in a CD of theirs while I am on a roadtrip, or have it playing while I clean. I also head cannon a LOT of my favorite characters to much of their music! If I had to pick a favorite song from the concert though, I would say Ribs, Bitter Medicine, and Take Me to War are my favorite songs to hear live. However, I also LOOOVE the Garden and Tongues and Teeth. If you listen to them, what’s your favorite?
I scheduled my next tattoo! Any guesses on what it will be…?
Rainclouds:
House hunting. Genuinely the worst ever. I had to retake a math class 3 times and it was not as bad as house hunting is. Me and my roommates have been ghosted, forgotten about, had people ‘forget to mark a tour’ in their calendars, and more. But we finally received an offer from one of my favorite places earlier this week! I am so incredibly excited. AND IT ALLOWS PETS! You have no idea what this means to me lol.
Job hunting. Also horrendous. I do already have a job, but I am trying to find a second or even third. Why you ask? Well, working full time while also being a full time student SUCKS. It’s my goal to make a years worth of rent during the summer, so I can just work part time while I’m back at school. A crazy goal, but one I really think I can pull off… if I get a job in the next two weeks. Wish me luck.
There have been many tears over being long distance with the aforementioned girlfriend. Enough said.
The world is constantly filled with bad news and horrendous atrocities being committed. Staying informed and active in advocacy gets harder every day, but it is always worth it.
For some reason I have had MULTIPLE migraines this month. I have had bad migraines for years now, but usually they are a month or so apart from each other, and I can tell when I’m gonna get one. This month I got knocked out by THREE with no warnings. Called off work once because I couldn’t get up. It was brutal y’all. Praying it was dehydration and nothing worse.
With the summer time sadness and a lack of structure, I really struggle to actually do things that I enjoy. One of those is reading. Last year, I read 10 books in the month of June. This year, I read mayyyybe one. And I want to read more, and I do really enjoy it, but finding the mental energy for it is rare right now. But who knows, maybe I’ll get back into my stride out of the blue tomorrow.
Recommendations:
TV Show: I finally gave in. I finally watched The Pitt and everyone was right. It was AMAZING. My mom worked as a paramedic and ER staff for 20 years, and was stunned by the accuracy as we watched it together. The storylines are masterfully done, and switching back and forth kept it engaging and fast paced. The acting is incredible, and overall I looooved it.
Book: While I may not have read much this month, I will alwayyyys have reading recommendations. For this month, it’s got to be Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea. The whole series was so much fun to read! It is a cozy sapphic fantasy that has four books. I believe it was the authors first book, and you can see her growth with each addition. I found the characters to be really enjoyable, and overall it was a very fun, light and easy read.
Music: As with books, I also always have music recommendations. For the month of June, I would be remiss if I didn’t include a queer artist, so we of course are going with The Record by Boygenius. I will admit with my chest, I did not know who Boygenius was until this year. I had heard of them, but never listened to the music and didn’t know jackshit. To be so honest, I thought it was a one man band by some twink in the midwest. Then I walked into a friends room, say a Boygenius poster and went, “Wait, is Lucy Dacus in Boygenius????”
I am in fact being serious. Feel free to shame me. But since then, I have atoned for my sins against the queer community. And The Record is an absolutely stunning album that I have had on repeat, particularly the songs $20, Not Strong Enough and Satanist!
Articles I Read This Month:
This article by lizzie :) genuinely might be one of the most beautiful, heartfelt pieces I have ever read in my entire life. I will return to this one over and over again, truly.
This one by Kelsee was such an amazing read! I love her optimism on such a stressful experience, and the grace she gives herself. It’s a good reminder to us all to be a little bit kinder in hard times, even to ourselves.
Tess Guinery did a wonderful poetic piece this month that I DEVOURED. I am such a big fan of more poem style substack pieces, and she always delivers.
Looking On:
With one month done, another one begins. And I would love to start setting a more intentional tone for my time. In the month of July, my biggest goal is to try and do one art piece a day. One sketch, one song on my guitar, practicing piano or kalimba for five minutes, pulling out my markers. Whatever. Crochet an entire sweater in one day, who knows. So long as I do one creative thing a day, I’ll be happy. Slowly, dopamine will rise, and screen time will fall as it should.
Now, with Pride month having ended I want to wrap up with something for my LGBTQIA+ readers. You are still valid. You can still be loud and proud even now that June is over. Wave your flags, wear your colors, love who you love and be who you are. That doesn’t end just because the month does. If you are bisexual, I hear you. If you are trans, I stand by you. And if you don’t wanna take shit from anyone anymore, I am with you. We are here and we aren’t going away. Not ever. I love you. Have a great July my loves.
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Visiting Yellowstone is a dream!! I'm so glad you got to experience it. I totally relate to the lack of structure summer brings and struggling to read--I impose my own structures and struggle to stick to them for months lol.
Love this!! And thank you for mentioning me!! 💖💖