September 2021
Hello everyone! The end of September is here, and I can’t believe it came so fast. It’s been an admittedly hard month, seeing as it basically began with a miscarriage and ended with a very stressful two weeks at work. But! I’ve been trying to keep my spirits up as best as I can. I’m surrounded by good people so I never have to worry about feeling alone for too long!
Anyway, let’s get into September. A good handful of things have happened this month, so here we are…let’s talk about what I’ve been doing for the past four weeks!
Goodbye to These Specific Plants
I hate killing plants. While it’s one of the most inevitable things about being a plant owner, it still sucks to watch a plant die. Last month, my striped caletha fell victim to spider mites! If you don’t know about spider mites, let’s just say that they are a plant owner’s worst nightmare. They can destroy all of your plants within a week. Needless to say, when I was told that spider mites were the cause of my caletha’s droopiness, I acted fast.
Even though I tried to stop it, the fall of my caletha was swift and almost instantaneous. Luckily, since there are no plants in the Plant Room just yet, I was able to quarantine her away from everyone else, so none of my other plants were affected. I’ve tried to get her to bounce back by repotting her and cleaning her up, but I think it might be time to say farewell to my striped caletha. I hope next time I’m able to find one, I can keep it alive!
I also tried to propagate some of my pothos, like I've done before. This time, however, they’re not looking too hot. I looked up why this was and I found out that if you let pothos root in water, they might not be able to withstand the soil once you move them to their new dirt house. So, with the rest of my pothos (and a little bit of my elephant ear plant that the cat dug up), I’ve been adding soil to the water, one spoonful every five days, to see if the roots will grow accustom to the soil enough to be repotted into a new permanent home.
Unfortunately, I think that some of the other propagations might need to be thrown out because they’re beginning to die. Being a plant mom is hard! Fortunately, I’m still learning and I think that eventually, I’ll be able to confidently call myself a green thumb.
Mary’s Art Corner
I’ve been talking about art a lot this month. There’s a reason for that! I’ve been focusing on painting whenever I have the time and the motivation. It helps get my negative emotions out while making something to admire later on in life.
While I’ve been using acrylics most of my adult painting life, I decided to buy some cheap watercolor paints and see if I can figure out how to use them. It’s been an adventure, for sure. I haven’t been using them much (mostly because I get a little annoyed trying to be perfect — I can admit it!), but I’m still having fun painting regardless.
I’ve been going back and forth about the idea of commissions; I know that I’m not THAT good at painting, but I figure opening up commissions would be a welcome challenge. Another thing keeping me away from commissions is that I simply don’t want my hobby to become work! I enjoy painting just to paint, so the idea of making it work sounds pretty unappealing. I’m not going to do so yet, but maybe when I grow more confident with my painting ability, I’ll be able to do so…we’ll see what happens!
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings: I Loved It! Did You?
I saw “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” earlier this month and had a VERY strong reaction both times I’ve seen it. All month, I’ve been wanting to write a blog post about it and how freakin’ amazing it is. I couldn’t place why I felt so strongly about this movie until I realized: the last time I felt this strongly about the quality of a Marvel movie, “Black Panther” had just come out.
Of course, it’s not my place to compare the two and the impact both have had on people of color. After all, I can’t put myself into an Asian-American’s shoes and tell you how they feel about the movie. I can, however, tell you how I felt about “Black Panther” as a mixed-race Black woman. (Long story short: It opened up a whole bunch of doors for people like me and gave kids a new hero to look up to, and I think that that’s fan-frickin’-tastic.)
I feel like comparing the two and the impact on the two POC communities in their target audiences would be interesting to write about, but I feel like I can’t write anything without talking to Asian-Americans, or just Asian people in general, about “Shang-Chi” and how they feel about it. I tweeted about this and didn’t get much back, so now I’m interested to see if I can look up some articles written by people of Asian descent and ask if I can quote them, or even have a quick interview with them.
I know I could just write my own post and call it a day, but I feel like it’s not right to at least consult someone who would know better than I about the impact “Shang-Chi” has had, if any, on the Asian community. I’m hoping that I can find people willing to share their thoughts, or at the very least, people that have already shared their thoughts and are willing to let me quote them in an article of my own.
Either way, the movie? Amazing. No matter what you think about Marvel as a whole, this movie should be watched by everyone! It’s got so much action, a great story, and beautiful visuals. What more could you ask for? Plus, everyone in the movie is gorgeous. Yes, even Trevor from Liverpool.
Contest Winner, I Guess??????
Matt and I spent the day together in German Village a week or two ago. It was a beautiful day, perfect for adventure and ice cream. We went to the German Village Maker’s Market, a little local market full of artisans. I specifically wanted to go because I wanted to try a new ice cream truck out (Little Ladies Soft Serve exceeded my expectations), but I ended up entering a contest put on by Make It Posh Picnics…and I won!
The idea of having an intimate picnic set up and cleaned up by someone else has been a thing that I’ve always thought was interesting, convenient, and fun. I’ve seen set-ups from other companies and wedding venues and thought to myself, “This would be so cool for a wedding, or a date night, or a cute kid’s party, or…” I had no idea that something like that was located in Columbus for me to partake in, or even just see firsthand.
When the owner of Make It Posh Picnics told Matt and I that they were doing a contest, I took a standard picture of the display they had, not really wanting to be in the picture or touch anything for fear of ruining the set-up they had so meticulously put together. We talked to them and learned a little bit about their business. It was interesting to see Peyton and her partner so passionate about the art of picnicking!! I thought that posting their display on my story would be the end of it.
Getting the message that I won was surprising, to say the least. I go into Instagram contests expecting to lose, so seeing that winning message in my inbox was awesome! In October, Matt and I get to go on a cute fall picnic date and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I fully plan on writing a blog about it, so expect to see that sometime next month!!
Music Obsessions
I really shouldn’t even be talking about other music; Lil Nas X won music this month. Since his album came out on the 17th, I have not been listening to much else. I’ve been waiting for this album ever since “Old Town Road” and it does not disappoint. If you’ve been skeptical of Lil Nas X’s success, PLEASE do yourself a favor and listen to “Montero”. Every single song is 10/10, and there is a flow to the album that I can only describe as “thot shit to sad boy hours in a blink”. It’s just…SO good.
Besides “Montero”, I’ve been listening to some music from the past, like Katy B and Michael Bolton, as well as some new-ish releases, such as a previously unreleased Radiohead song as well as a remixed The Midnight song that’s almost as good as the original.
I also had a moment while walking home the other day, as Damian’s favorite Peaches song came on shuffle and I had to stand in the middle of my neighborhood and cry for a few minutes. So, I put that on here too so that you all can envision how ridiculous I looked crying to this song!
I tried really hard not to add the same artist twice, but in True Mary Fashion, I did it twice this month. I’m serious when I say I’ve only been listening to Lil Nas X all month! Check out the playlist here!
So, that’s what’s been up with me this month. Like I said, this month flew by (haven’t they all?), so I feel like I didn’t have a whole lot to write about. Hopefully you enjoyed what I had to offer for this monthly wrap-up!
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As always, thank you so much for reading, tipping, and sharing my writing. I’ll see you all next week for something new!
