June Rewind.

June in Photos

5 Things that Happened in June

1. Mark came home from Israel, was home for three days, and then got shipped off to Phoenix for another business trip. And, as I mentioned a few days ago, he got official word that he'll be sent to Israel for three months and leaves in a week.
2. We attended a Food Truck Rally hosted in our town, which was so fun! I'd never visited a food truck before, and it was super fun to try a bunch of different trucks at once. We had a perogi sampler; empanadas filled with sweet corn and Malbec beef; grilled cheese with raspberry jam, avocado, and poblano peppers; Asian dumplings; kim chi and cheese fried rice balls; and a mango lassi. We were about as full as you'd expect after all that food.
3. Our friends Emily and Tim got married! It was a great day overall. Just before the reception, it started pouring buckets of rain, but it turns out that Emily and Tim had a special deal with their jewelry store that if it rained an inch or more on their wedding day, the cost of their rings would be refunded. Just as dinner was starting, the DJ ran in with a piece of paper and said he had an official announcement that there was more than an inch of rain, and everyone cheered for them. So that was a nice $$$$ bonus to start off their marriage!
4. We began receiving our CSA share, and I've been quite successful at using everything we've received so far. Granted, I get the feeling we're getting less produce in our boxes than we were in year's past, but at least it's not going to waste?
5. I read a lot (see below). I guess that's what happens when I'm left all by my lonesome a lot :)

Read in June

• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss: I really enjoyed this book. The writing is solid, and the story and the characters were touching and tragic. A few specific passages made my heart hurt.
• It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini: I'm conflicted about how I feel about this one. On one hand, I admire how the main character was able see how he needed to seek help for his depression, but I feel like his depression was handled very "neatly," which came across as too simple and unrealistic. Since it is a YA book, maybe it was supposed to be an inspiration for teens going through hard times, but then that message is made quite complicated since the author tragically took his own life recently. So my feelings are complicated. 
• The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan: This is a posthumous collection of essays published after the 22-year-old writer was killed in a car crash. It's not hard to see why so many people thought she showed so much promise and talent. Many stories seemed a bit unfinished and the language was loose in some passages, but in a way this adds to the reader's sense of loss over the author's life. I don't read a lot of short stories, and I didn't quite understand the deeper meaning of some of the stories, but I really liked this collection overall.
• Ghost World by Daniel Clowes: This is a short, well-known graphic novel. The two main characters are insufferable, but I somehow felt that the depiction of these two teen hipster girls and their friendship was somehow more accurate than a lot of portrayals of adolescence. I liked the end of the graphic novel and how the story wrapped up.
• Fun Home by Allison Bechdel: Another graphic novel. I picked it up after a Booktuber recommended it and then saw all the accolades on its cover, including being named Time magazine's #1 book for 2006. It is a graphic memoir depicting Bechdel's life from childhood through her college years. It largely centers around the death of her father, which occurred a few weeks after Bechdel came out to her parents and it is revealed to Bechdel that her father was gay. The book chronicles her memories and experiences as they are re-filtered through this new knowledge about her father. The novel is subtle, calculated, and very smart, and the artwork is really worth examining as you read.

Favorite Song from June

I'm such a Lana fangirl, and I love the entire new album, Ultraviolence, from start to finish. I can't pick just one song, so here's the album trailer/sampler:
 
 

What I'm Looking Forward to in July

Lots of projects! Honestly, I'm a wee bit nervous to embrace the solo life again for the next few months while Mark is gone, so I'm planning on throwing myself into a few solid projects to keep myself busy at home. I want to work on 1 or 2 short stories (with the intention of seeing if the ideas are strong enough to be expanded into a novel); get my YT book channel up and running in the next few weeks; work through Blogilates' month-long beginner workout; and finally finish my Ireland photo album design. Aside from that, I'm sure I'll read a ton and I have some ideas for a sewing project. If Misfit's health is doing okay and she recovers from surgery quickly, maybe I can squeeze in a trip to the lake house in Wisconsin, or a trip to Minneapolis or Ann Arbor to see friends. We shall see!