cafalla

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2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 15/12

Oh man, I've really fallen off the wagon as far as reading and updating on my reading, haven't I?

I finished my 15th book of the year back in like...July? Very beginning of August? I think? And tomorrow is September. Oops.

Let's just say getting Covid in July immediately following my birthday didn't keep my spirits or motivation high. Truthfully, I'm only just now starting to feel fully recovered and like my drive to pursue my hobbies is coming back to me.

Speaking of hobbies - the latest book I finished: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (306 pages).

I really enjoyed this story! The feelings and motivations of each character felt grounded and easy to follow. The main characters were both very likable to me, and watching them meet, fall in love, and reach their happily ever after was sweet.

Maybe I'm just simple and sappy, but I love a good ending where everything is resolved at the end lol! I mostly figured out the "mystery" right away, but I was still hooked on seeing how it played out.

The only part I was kind of iffy on was the masquerade fiasco, which I had to suspend my disbelief on in regards to the situation. I don't want to spoil it, but it was basically a mistaken identity situation (masquerade, masks - you know). Given what we know about Jorgen (the main guy) and how smitten he is with Odette (main girl), I just couldn't believe he would not realize it wasn't her?

The conflict there felt a bit forced, but everything else I really enjoyed! All in all, a good read.

I'm about 1/4th of the way through my next book, but at the rate I'm reading (and updating) on here, it probably won't be seen for a while lol. Hopefully I can burn through a few more books before we reach the end of the year. I can't believe it's already September!!

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Total books read: 15 Total pages read: 4,176

[cafalla]

Internet Archive Account Restored!

I was able to get my account back!

According to the reply email from staff, there was a system glitch that removed some accounts.

The solution was to "create" a new account with my same account email. The downside is that I can't use my original username anymore 😕 (which was the same as my blog handle).

Thankfully all my items are still saved under my email, so I don't have to reupload anything! That's a win. But I'm going to have to go and re-do my IA links on this blog and possibly some on my photoblog.

Ah well, at least my account wasn't fully terminated for what I've uploaded. That's a relief.

Here's the link to my "new" Internet Archive account. I named it "cafallachu", like Cafalla + Pikachu, since I love my Pikachu avi haha.

I'm excited to get back to work on scanning and uploading some new stuff!

[cafalla]

Internet Archive Account Deleted -?

I attempted to go on my IA account today, and it's just...gone.

I'm not sure if I've uploaded something in violation of TOS or if there was a piracy issue with an upload, but it seems odd I didn't at least get a notification/warning on a specific item, or only had that one item deleted. Instead my whole account is just GONE with no word, when it was fine and untouched just last night!!

I attempted to log in with what I know is my correct login, and it says there is no registered account with my email. I've been able to click through direct links from this blog and can see my items still there, but with an "Unknown" uploader where my username used to be.

I'm confused, as I haven't even uploaded anything very recently...my last upload must've been weeks ago. I've emailed the help center email to see if I can at least get my account back. This is so weird.

I'm saddened as I enjoy scanning and uploading there. Just feeling a bit defeated is all. :(

[cafalla]

Rainbow Brite Saves Spring (1984) Book Scans

Long time, no see! It's been a while since I last posted about a scanned project. The last time I posted was about an issue of Starlog Magazine back in February.

Most of my latest posts really focused on my reading goal for the year, though that has fallen a bit to the wayside lately. I'm still reading, but at a much slower pace of about one book a month. I've been playing more video games, which I mentioned in my last post, and I do want to post and talk about them sometime!

But for today, we are going to look at this little story book I scanned: Rainbow Brite Saves Spring (1984).

My history with Rainbow Brite is quite short and limited. My mom had many VHS tapes with randomly taped episodes of Care Bears that I used to watch. Sprinkled throughout were also the occasional episode of the Rainbow Brite cartoon. I think I also had a VHS tape with one of the Rainbow Brite movies that I would watch sometimes as a kid...but that's about it.

Aesthetically, I LOVE Rainbow Brite. I even bought an artist pin of her from a horror convention.

I'm so sad I don't remember the artist - it's been years and I no longer have the pin backing that came with it. I tried googling around and couldn't locate the art either. If anyone knows the artist, please let me know so I can include a link for credit!

Back to the storybook - it's a simple story about Rainbow Brite and friends saving the Rainbow Sprites from Murky Dismal and Lurky's gloom potion. After the gloom potion has been blown away, the gang run off to start work on making the first day of Spring vibrant and lively with color!

I'm going to be honest, I was kind of shocked when I flipped to this page.

They just casually drop that the Rainbow Sprites are slaving away in the MINES. I honestly forgot that was a thing.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Rainbow Sprites were the type to yearn for the mines...brb, making a terrible meme.

I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself. I have impulsive thoughts, a computer, and basic editing software...it gave me a giggle, at least.

And this sad realization isn't helped by the little art on the inside cover of the book of the Rainbow Sprites looking absolutely miserable.

Worked to the bone with nothing to boost their morale.

Someone give these little guys a Happy Meal! Do I gotta do everything myself around here?!

There we go!

(Ok, I promise to stop making edits for my own amusement, at least for the remainder of this post lol).

This artwork is actually in relation to the plot of the Rainbow Sprites becoming gloomy...but I like to think it's due to their abysmal working conditions.

The potential lack of Rainbow Sprite labor and lunch laws aside, here's some art from the book that I really enjoy!

Starlite is definitely my favorite character in the book - he looks so pretty and elegant in this art style! The kids look cute too, but they run the risk of looking a bit wonky at times. See Rainbow Brite's toad-like appearance and Red Butler's pog face in the above panel.

I'll be posting the above artwork and more over on my photoblog, nostalgiahime, if you're into reblogging art without all my words attached to them. I've been lacking on posting to both this account and that one, but I'll have them queue'd up here soon!

Also, feel free to take a look at and read the whole storybook here on my Internet Archive account!

Thanks for stopping by ♡︎

[cafalla]

Diary Entry - 07/14/2024 - Happy Birthday (Covid Edition)🍰

The beginning of July marks the the start of my 30th year on this planet. Growing up, certain ages always felt so "adult" to me. Sixteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-five. Always "so far off" in the future, yet these numbers always crept up and passed me by so quickly.

30 in particular has always felt lightyears away from my current self and well...here I am now.

No longer in my twenties - truly now I am an "adult".

Why is it that I still feel so young?

I think the older I get, the more the same I feel. I still feel seventeen, and twenty-two, and twenty-eight...even though I'm not. I know I have learned life lessons and have grown between all those ages...but I still feel the same? Ageing is weird.

Cheers to my 30s, and to what this decade will bring me.

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And well...my first week of being 30 brought me Covid, of all things. I've managed to go this whole time without contracting Covid, and here I've been cooped up in the house this past week trying to get over it.

My sister had come to visit for my birthday, and she is very much a restaurant/bar hopping type of person, so we were out and about and around tons of people all weekend.

If it was just me and my bf, we probably would've just gone to dinner and stayed home all weekend playing video games. But because we had a guest, we made a point to go out and socialize more.

And in a dark way, I joke that God has smited me with Covid for daring to go out and have a good time on my 30th.

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My timeline of symptoms were as follows:

Sat 07/06 & Sun 07/07 - My birthday! And the day after. We were outside for extended periods of time in what was the hottest weather for our area this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if heat exhaustion/dehydration had something to do with how horrific I felt when my fever started to hit. Sunday night, I started to get a little cough and headache, but I attributed it to us being outside more than usual and allergies.

Mon 07/08 & Tue 07/09 - Ran a fever, was in bed all of both days. Fever high was 102. Barely ate/didn't eat anything at all - could still taste. Headachy and tired, alternated between freezing and overheating. Slept on and off, kind of delirious. Voice sounded off/sick.

Wed 07/10 - Fever gone, throat sore and coughing a lot. Sinuses started to get stuffy. Voice sounded sick and no sense of taste. Stayed in bed/body achy. Barely ate.

Thurs 07/11 - Sore throat and coughing a lot. Sinuses really stuffy. Voice still sick, sense of taste still gone. Stayed in bed/body achy. Barely ate.

Fri 07/12 - Sore throat and coughing a lot. Throat starting to feel a little better. Voice sounded more normal. Sinuses still stuffy. Still can't taste. Stayed in bed/body achy. Barely ate anything other than dinner. Boyfriend made curry for me because I was desperately craving a potato and soup and even though I couldn't taste it, it was so good I cried. Mental was pretty rough - had a bit of a breakdown over never being able to taste again/being tired of feeling terrible and in bed.

Saturday 07/13 - Throat felt a lot better, still coughing. Sinuses starting to loosen. Voice sounded normal. Moving around felt easier and I moved around the house more/wasn't always in bed laying down. Taste still mostly gone, but was able to eat more food.

Sunday 07/14 - Throat feels normal, still have a cough. Sinuses still a little stuffy, but much better/almost normal. Voice sounds normal. Taste has come back a bit more as has my appetite. Ate lots more food and was more mobile/doing things around the house. Feeling pretty good.

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And that's where I am now. Still a bit under the weather, but I think I can function again.

My dry cough is quite annoying, but I can deal with it. I'm hoping my sense of taste comes back stronger as the days go by. I truly was getting fearful I'd be one of those unlucky people who did not get it back for an extended period of time. This was honestly the main part for my mental boom on Friday.

I had gone most all week without really eating anything, and I was feeling terrible and weak. I lost like, almost 10 pounds from Monday to Friday, and I was just mentally over it all and couldn't hold it in anymore.

It's been rough, but I'm glad to be through it. Even my bf (who has had Covid 2-3 times) said it really hit me rough. Kind of sucks I had to take so much sick time off of work to deal with this, but that's what the sick time is for, right? I'm a little apprehensive to return to work tomorrow after having been gone for over a week. Hopefully my dry cough won't be too terrible to deal with at work.

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That being said, I'm happy to be alive and 30! And I'm happy to have such a great bf who has taken care of me this whole time and helped me through it all. I'm glad I got to see my sister and spend time with her, but I'm happy to go back to my homebody ways for the weekends lol!

Here's to the next few weeks treating me with some kindness, and to hopefully NOT getting sick with Covid ever again!

[cafalla]

I finally beat PokeRogue!

This game was really kicking my butt. I tried this final fight with this team so many different times, using different strategies, and spent at least 2 hours the other night trying to win.

Yes, I was save scumming, and I do want to try and beat the game without doing so one day, but honestly the team I had just was not good enough to do it on an initial/no reset run. I got very unlucky with my random drops, and my move sets were not crafted with the final boss in mind.

I made it this far though, and wanted to try and see if I could win. I felt it was impossible.

Today I picked it back up after a break and thought "Ok, I'll give it one final go. If I lose this time, I'll take the loss and start a new run."

And what do you know, I beat it on my first try this time!!

This was probably my 4th or 5th run, and I still am having tons of fun with this game!

It just feels good to have finally beaten the campaign at least. x

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 14/12

Gosh, it's been a while since I last posted!

My reading has slowed down drastically, mainly because I've been becoming more engrossed in video games again. I got quite burned out on them last year, which was why I switched to reading more.

I've been picking quite a few back up recently, which obviously cuts into reading time. I'll show off the games I've been playing in another post!

On to the most recent book I've completed, The Princess (294 pages).

This is a weird one. I picked it up because the cover felt very secret garden fantastical, and the premise of a royalty-slow-burn-arranged-marriage plot always intrigues me. I naturally assumed the book was a period piece.

The book actually takes place in like, the 90s/"present day". It is a fantasy (sort of?) because the characters live in a country that...doesn't exist. But the country does exist in our normal world, because they reference the USA and one of the side characters is from France.

But there are no other fantastical elements, just that they live in a place that doesn't exist. Oh, and they have a monarchy, and there's an arbitrary (but heavily enforced/always followed) rule that the king successor needs to be married by like, 26 years old, and also everyone is...turbo Christian?

Yeah, so going into this book I had no idea the author was a Christian author, or that this book was SO heavy on Christianity in terms of how the characters think and talk to each other. Like prayer, being a good Christian, Jesus, converting others to Christ, etc are constantly being talked or thought about by everyone.

I'm not religious at all by the way, and I don't typically enjoy reading religious books/characters. It's not a deal breaker for me, however, and I was still interested in the romance of the story that I kept chugging through.

Honestly, the romance story wasn't too bad. It definitely was a slow burn, and there were many sweet moments. I felt there was a lot to dig into with how the main characters (Shelby & Nicholai) were set up, and overall it was a sweet story.

Unfortunately, I felt the whole Christianity aspect of it all kind of took away from the love story. Like, if they spent less time praying a talking about God to others...maybe we could've had even more romance and emotional beat moments with the main couple. Oh well.

Weirdly enough, I felt blindsided towards the end because I did NOT process the part where the characters had sex for the first time.

I interpreted the scene of them sleeping in the same bed the first time as an act of evolved trust/taking the next step towards intimacy. Like yes, I know Shelby went and bought lingerie because she was feeling ready to take that next step, but I felt like it was not clear at all that they actually did take the step.

It was a typical they kissed while holding each other in bed and the scene "faded to black". We didn't even get a scene of her wearing the lingerie and them having a nice intimate moment!! The characters did not allude to sex or act any different right after the fact, which didn't strike me considering sex was a big weight on Shelby's shoulders regarding the marriage. The couple having sex was also a big deal for both sets of in-laws....like they talked about it constantly.

So when they had sex, y'know, I figured it would be a very big moment.

But apparently it was not big enough for me to catch, and Shelby got pregnant. I also did not pick up on her being pregnant, because I hadn't had thought they had sex yet!!! I was shocked and confused to say the least lol

Overall, this was a cute slow burn, but the religious stuff really threw me off in some places.

I was really skeeved out when Shelby was asking her mother how sex would look like in a married relationship, in terms of like...what to do if your husbands wants sex and you're maybe not ready or wanting it in that moment. And sheeeeeesh, the mom basically gave her the "well, our duty as wives is to always be there for our husband and his needs"....biiiiig yikes.

It's sad, because I know purity culture is so damaging and puts so much societal, emotional, and sexual pressure on women. Marital rape is a real issue in these communities, for this exact sentiment that the wife "belongs to her husband" and "can't say no". Ugh.

Thankfully in the book, nothing of the sort happens and it is all consensual, but still.

There was also a weird line where I think Nickolai (or one of the fathers) is praying, and he thinks something along the lines of "hoping Shelby will become a perfectly submissive wife" or something. Ick!!!

The epilogue also was a bit of the shock, in that in the future the main couple has like...literally 5 or 6 kids. It's a lot. I couldn't help but think it was alluding to the "quiverfull" sentiment.

Which fine, if you want that whatever, but it felt a little disingenuine to Shelby as a character. We watch her struggle with falling in love with Nickolai, and figuring out her place as a wife. And then she had a horribly traumatic end to her first pregnancy, and I think at some points in the book it mentions how Shelby was the last in her family to really come to faith.

To me, I felt Shelby would maybe have a couple children, but 5+ seems outrageous. But idk, she's a fictional character and none of this matters haha. Moving on! x

—

Total books read: 14 Total pages read: 3,870

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 13/12

I've completed another book - the first past my initial reading milestone!

Recently, I finished Devil's Wake (276 pages).

The summary on the back pitches this book as a love story within a zombie apocalypse, but the romance of this book was very...underwhelming. This book itself was underwhelming.

Heck, Devil's Wake isn't even a major part of the story. I kept expecting it to be, but it never was.

The "romance" felt forced to me. I didn't feel any connection between the main characters other than them being the only nice/reasonable single boy/girl in the group. It seemed as if that was the only reason they even "liked" each other. They don't have too many actual bonding moments that we see. They mostly silently admire each other for being cool or shooting a gun well or something lol. So that was kinda lame when I expected the romance to be a bigger plot point.

The book goes back and forth from the POV of the main characters, but then will randomly show POV from a side character? Their whole backstory is crammed into their section - then we never hear from their POV again lol. Those sections were a bit odd to me.

I fully expected them to mean that that character would die soon - like in movies when the focus is suddenly on a side character who then dies or leaves the group dramatically. No one from the main group of characters died/left/fell ill/got bit/etc though, which was kinda lame.

There was never any real drama between characters - there really wasn't much drama at all? Which made it kinda boring when action wasn't happening.

OH, and this is not even touching on how weirdly anti-vaxx the whole book sounded? In the book, the zombie disease originated from taking both a flu vaccine and ingesting a mushroom which was a new trendy "medicine/supplement". Many of the characters (mainly the main girl character), bring up in conversation/inner monologue multiple times about how they knew the flu shot was bad and basically patting themselves on the back for not taking it. It had a weirdly victim-blamey tone in some parts to me - the vibes were kinda sus. Like what lmao.

Idk, I didn't dislike this book, but I think I just expected more from it?

I haven't felt like I've had much to want to talk about with recent books I've finished - I'm surprised I wrote this much. I didn't even realize I had so many thoughts I wanted to type out about this book lol, but hey, sometimes it's like that. x

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Total books read: 13 Total pages read: 3,576

[cafalla]

DIARY ENTRY - 04/02/2024

I found out yesterday that I have been promoted, and will now be working in a different unit starting next week. It seems this unit is thought highly of, it is located in a desirable new (clean and updated) building, and I know I'll have a much better "quality of working life" there. This applies to the building and amenities, down to the storage and privacy within my working space. Everyone says it will be a good place to work.

I'm truly excited, but a little shocked since this opportunity was all but dropped on my head yesterday and I'm being shuffled away from my current unit so quickly. I like my current unit, but I know this is a huge upgrade from where I am now.

Money wise, I won't be making too much more since I'm maxed out on my position "steps", but I still will be making a couple bucks more, so that adds up.

I think my work itself will also be much lighter in load, and because of that I'll have more downtime. Maybe things won't be as stressful over there as they feel now in my current spot.

I'm looking forward to the change, as I'll be able to learn so many new things and be in a nicer working environment, but I can't help but feel a little sad that I'm leaving the unit I was hired on with. They've all been really good and nice to me since I started.

Truthfully though, I never felt like I fully fit in with my unit in the sense of like...friendliness? Not that everyone isn't friendly to me, or I'm not friendly to them, but I always feel somewhat left out of the loop in terms of social situations and information exchanges. I know that is vague, but I don't really care to go into detail about it.

I think a part of myself is relieved to go and start new with a new group of people in a new place. But also selfish because me moving leaves them in a precarious situation as far as the work is concerned. It's nothing they can't handle, but it will take them a while to recover from being a person down, if that makes sense.

It wasn't my idea to move though, it was an internal decision made - I had no idea of this position opening or that I was considered/picked for it until yesterday.

It's been a lot for me to take in. I'm not sure I've even fully processed the change. I feel silly for being so blindsided and stunned over something that is a positive change for me. I know I'll look back on this time months from now and think "what was I even worried about?" But for now, I'm still feeling a little anxious over it all. x

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 12/12 !!!

I did it, I reached my yearly reading goal of 12 books this year!

I know that doesn't seem like a lot, especially considering how I reached this year-long goal in only a few months. (I finished this book a few days ago, so this counts as a March book!)

But I think it's important to consider that I have been only averaging 0-1 book a year for the past...10 years or so? So, despite having once been a bookworm of a reader long long ago, this was a lofty goal for me to start with. I'm glad to have achieved it, and now know what is possible for me!

This is my twelfth book completed for the year, The Game of Love and Death (329 pages).

I quite enjoyed this one. All of the characters had interesting backstories and goals, and I liked that we followed the actual characters Love and Death throughout the story. I felt satisfied with the conclusion, despite it being a safe one.

I've also hit over 3k pages read! I truly did not start this year thinking I'd be at this point by the beginning of April. I figured it'd take me at least twice as long to get to where I am now! x

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Total books read: 12 Total pages read: 3,300 (what a pleasing number lol!)

[cafalla]

2024 Reading - Completed Book 11/12

I finished my 11th book of the year a few days back, The Lover (117 pages).

Honestly, I don't have much to say about this book. I feel like I should, considering its contents, but I don't. I've never been good at theme analysis, and I'm sure there is plenty to talk about regarding this story. I thought the writing was interesting, and it was a decent quick read.

I feel like I should have more to say, but eh. Sometimes you just read a book, finish it, and think "cool, ok moving on". It's not a bad book, but I guess nothing in it resonated with me or excited me enough to want to say anything more about it.

I'm amazed I am almost to 12/12 books read! I gave myself a whole year to reach this goal, and here I am, right at the line to reach it in March. x

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Total books read: 11 Total pages read: 2,971

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 9 & 10/12

I have regrettably fallen behind on updating my reads, so this post is a double feature!

I've finished two books so far for March - the first being Death Comes to Pemberley (291 pages).

Honestly, this is probably the first book I've read so far this year that was a terrible struggle for me to get through.

The premise sounded great - Pride and Prejudice many years after the original book...but make it a murder mystery! Essentially P&P fanfic, but I am all for it.

Or at least, I was until I actually started to read. The book isn't terribly written, but it is certainly not on the same level of entertaining as the original. Obviously, it was written by someone else. But I was at least expecting the same type of format, even if it wasn't the same level of quality. I wanted witty dialogue and fun social scenes with a murder mystery element.

This book felt like descriptions, after descriptions, after descriptions of things I didn't care about and soooo many characters were brought in and out that I honestly could not keep up with who everyone was, save for the main characters from P&P.

Formatting was rough to read - a typical page is just two very long paragraphs. Dialogue felt scarce, and scenes felt drawn out. Surprisingly, the murder mystery was not interesting to me at all, and I found myself thinking "Man, I really just don't care" for most of my time reading.

Which is sad! I wanted to enjoy this book. I don't know if it was a me thing but I found myself dreading to get back to it each night, rather than excited. But I finished it, and I was relieved to finally move onto something else.

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That something else being the next book that I struggled to put down - Tuck Everlasting (139 pages).

Now, I admit that all of my knowledge around this story came from the movie. I completely expected a tragic romance, and instead I got a sweet bonding story between a young girl and this cursed (blessed?) family.

I see why the movie aged Winnie up and fleshed out the romance aspect with Jesse for entertainment. In the book, romance isn't present at all, due to their ages. Winnie is, of course, a bit smitten with Jesse, who is a cute older boy who wants her attention.

But Jesse strikes me as tragically in denial. I believe he knows deep down that his request of Winnie is unreasonable and foolish. He knows he is fantasizing an outlandish future that won't happen, but he is desperate for hope. He wants a "normal" life with someone, anyone, else from outside his family, that he can't help but ask anyways.

The real gem of the book (to me) is the bond between Winnie and father Tuck.

The cover of this book depicts the best scene - where father Tuck and Winnie go out on the lake and he talks to her about mortality.

I was really struck how Winnie had a thought that no adult has ever talked to her like this before. No adult has ever confided, entrusted, spoke to, or treated her as an autonomous person. And when she was looking over the Tucks later, she had a thought that father Tuck was the most precious of them all.

Because he was - he truly was a man stuck in an impossible situation, unable to save or cure his family from their affliction. All he wanted was to take care of everyone. He cared for his family, for Winnie, and for every stranger in the world. He didn't want anyone else to suffer like they did.

Idk, I was just really touched by it. I loved how father Tuck was also the one to find Winnie's grave, and how he praised her for not giving in to the temptation of immortality. It was sweet, how he knew she would be clever enough to understand how the bad outweighed the good. He was happy that she lived a full and resolute life. I like to think she did it just for them.

Winnie's interactions with the toad were also really nice, and I loved the ending with the Tucks and the toad.

Really loved this one. I needed this good, breezy book as a palette cleanser from the P&P one. x

—

Total books read: 10 Total pages read: 2,854

[cafalla]

Diary Entry - 02/28/2024

Last week, my sweet old man of a kitty jumped face first into a standing fan and practically knocked out one of his front teeth. He had to spend the last week with a tooth awkwardly sticking out of his face, and then today he went into surgery and had all of his teeth removed.

Granted, he has needed to have his teeth removed for quite a few months now. Him messing up his front tooth just made me realize I needed to get a move on with his dental procedure.

Sadly, his previous owners before I adopted him did not take good care of his teeth, and they've only gotten worse over the years despite trying to help him with brushing, water additives, dental treats, etc.

I knew he'd eventually need all of his teeth out - the damage was too far gone. But I hesitated because I felt so guilty for taking away his teeth.

Part of me felt he would rather have teeth, even if they were bad. I thought about it in the same terms of how declawing can harm a cat's mental health - I feared the same would be true if I took away his teeth. I love this little guy more than anything, and I would never want to harm him or make him feel insecure. But I know ultimately his quality of life is going to improve now that he doesn't have decaying teeth in his mouth.

He is resting and recovering. I hope he heals quickly and truly feels better after this surgery. Ugh.

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I also had a podiatrist appointment, and basically have now lost all hope for having a normal large toenail. I damaged it pretty badly many years ago. I've had it removed and have gone through many treatments to promote nail growth.

My nail just doesn't grow normally, and was told today that basically my only options at this point are to file it myself/go in and have it filed by a podiatrist when needed, or go through a procedure to permanently have the nail removed so it will not grow back.

Basically, during the time my nail was damaged/removed, my nail bed healed over. So now a growing nail will not attach to about the top half of my nailbed. So my nail grows slowly and is attached to my toe at the bottom half, but can't attach to the top half, so it grows in an odd dome-like shape over the part it can't attach to.

And because it is damaged, my nail grows in layers and builds up, making it thick. Which needs to be filed down to keep it from being this huge rock on my toe lol.

It's hideous, but ultimately nothing can be done about it. I'm sad because I've been holding out hope that one day my nail will go back to normal, and that's just never going to happen.

I guess there are fake nails that can be applied, but I'm uncertain since I'm not a person who ever uses fake nails or gets my nails done at all. And the thought of just having NO nail whatsoever forever makes me feel weird. So I guess I'll continue to file it...but idk.

It's an insecurity of mine, and I'm just saddened to know I can't hope for my nail to go back to normal.

I guess I should be happy I at least have all my teeth, since my poor kitty friend has none. A toenail, in the grand scheme of things, is no big deal, and people tons of people have toenail problems that are way worse than mine.

Still, it sucks. I'd love to just wear a pair of sandals or walk barefoot one day without feeling insecure. As I get older, I am loosening up a bit, but it is going to take me some more time to get used to the toenail thing...ugh.

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Things have been a bit rough, but I'm hopeful March will be better!

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 8/12

To finish off the month of February, the most recent book I completed was The Last Man's Reward (192 pages).

This was a quick read, and despite it being a book I'd consider aimed at preteens/teenagers, I quite enjoyed it and found myself invested in the story.

It reminded me of the books I'd read myself as a teen - light adventure/coming of age stories. The main character is flawed and quite judgmental, but he's also, well...a young teen. It makes sense. I enjoyed reading from his POV. It was nice to see him grow to have more altruistic motivations, and realize his mistake in writing off the people who ended up doing the most for him by the end of the story.

This book really made me feel like I was a kid again in some ways, "surrounding" myself in the antics of the boys in the story. I think it's fun to read something outside of my "demographic" every once in a while. Stories are for everyone, and it's fun to read new things.

And fun fact - my book is signed by the author! That's always a fun surprise with thrifted books.

I hope Joshua had a good time reading this book when he had it! I spent a minute googling the author and browsing his blog. He seems like he truly wants to tell stories that youth can identify with and learn from, which I think is great.

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I am about halfway through another book, though I wish I could've finished it before February ended! February felt like a slow month for reading, despite finishing 4 books. Ah well. At least I'm holding to my resolution and consistently reading! Unfortunately I can't say the same for the other resolutions I had...but hey, I'll take one ingrained habit over none. x

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Total books read: 8 Total pages read: 2,424

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 7/12

After waiting a few days following my last reading post, I got my hands on the sequel to Flame in the Mist!

It's been a few days since I've finished Smoke in the Sun (408 pages), and I have to say, I really had fun with this story. Both books were such page turners for me!

I don't normally like hardcover books, but I had to spend the extra dollar on thrift books to get the hardcover edition. The paperback edition offered didn't have this beautiful cover art, and I wanted both of my books to match appearance wise!

I do intend to keep these around, rather than re-donate them. I can see myself revisiting them in a couple years, after I've forgotten some of the details lol. And the books simply look pretty, even on the spine.

I did not overstay my time with this story, and I felt satisfied by the end. Some book series can drag on and on over multiple books, and I find myself losing interest by the 3rd book or so. But that's just me.

I enjoyed this second book. However, because of the circumstances of this second half of the story, I couldn't help but notice I was missing what I loved about the first book - the interactions between Mariko and Okami. They are kept apart from each other for most, is not practically all of the second book, save a few short meet-ups.

Their few moments they did have together were great and full of tension, and the epilogue was very sweet. I just wish we had a little more time with them at the end, when they finally were able to freely be together. I guess I wanted a more drawn-out reunion to make up for them hardly being together for this book.

I did enjoy the scenes with Mariko and Raiden though. Honestly I would've liked to see a bit more of their development...it felt like Raiden warmed up to her too quickly, but that's just me. I live for romance and slow burns lol, I always want more.

Strangely enough my main problem was the amount of editing errors and typos I came across, particularly in the last few chapters of the book.

Tensions were high and dialogue was intense...then I'd come across an extra period at the end of a sentence. Roku's name was written as Roka once, and it stopped me dead in my tracks with confusion until I realized they were talking about Roku. Ranmaru was once spelled as Ranmaruao or something like that at one point.

It was very distracting for me, especially when I was reading so fast because I was engaged in the end game. Ah well. I'd still recommend these if the plot of the first book sounds even remotely interesting to you!

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Yay, I've hit 2k pages read!

I also finally did go on that thrift book hunt. My to-read pile is now thoroughly stocked up! I've already started my next adventure. x

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Total books read: 7 Total pages read: 2,232

[cafalla]

Starlog Magazine (December 1995, Issue #221) Scans

It's been a while since I posted about a scanning project. The most recent magazine I scanned was this Starlog Magazine from December 1995!

Starlog originally started out as a Star Trek magazine, but evolved to include all things sci-fi, fantasy, and nichely nerdy. I don't think nichely is a word, but hey, this is my blog and I say and do what I want lol.

Here are some scans I like from the magazine! There is also a link to the full magazine at the end of the post if you're interested in seeing the whole thing!

Let's start off with this subscription form for the magazine.

This takes me back. The thought of filling out a form and mailing it in to purchase a magazine subscription feels so alien now (haha).

I also wanted to point out Robocop, one of my boyfriend's (and my dad's) favs! I actually only recently saw the movie for the first time with my boyfriend, and it was so fun and surprisingly gorey! I wasn't expecting it at all. For some reason I thought the movie was silly and campy? And I mean it was, but the blatant gore and body horror that would come out of nowhere was so shocking to me!

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Speaking of filling out mail-in forms to make purchases, this magazine is full of them! Mainly they're for merch and memorabilia. Here are a few of my favorites.

This selection doesn't even include all of the things available to buy from the magazine. I think my favorite are the audio cassettes/CDs and the Star Trek face t-shirts. The pin collector in me also admires the page of Star Trek pins.

The signed movie and tv photos page is SO interesting, too. I wonder how they decided the prices for each celebrity? Part of me can't imagine these are real, but if I was a celeb...I certainly would take 1 second to sign a photo if it was being sold for $40 and I got some kickback lol.

If you could have one of the singed photos from a celebrity on that list, who would it be?

I'd have to pick Gary Sinise!

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There are actually quite a few story articles in this magazine. Each have around a 3-6 page spread full of pictures - they're quite fun to look at! Here are some of my favorite pages from the various articles.

I really enjoy how they all have drastically different color backgrounds.

The cover article about how Toy Story was created/animated is cool! I picked this page because I love watching how animators work, especially when they use themselves as reference (like in the above pic).

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Lastly, just a couple of random parts from the magazine that interested me.

One was this article about a fantasy fiction author.

The article included many different covers of her books. I wish these could've been in color! I've never read older fantasy adventure novels, but these all looked super appealing to me. I'll have to keep an eye out for some of her books while thrifting.

During the scanning process, I spend a lot of time looking at the front and back covers of the books/magazines I'm scanning. I found myself absolutely enthralled with the back cover of this magazine.

Something about the colors, art, and design just piqued my interest while scanning. I've never heard of this game, much less played it, but I do want to know more about it! I'll probably see if there's a let's play online.

Gosh this is such a cool looking ad for this game. I'm sure the game itself is probably nothing great, but this ad sure is great to look at.

As always, you can view the full magazine for yourself over on my Internet Archive account.

Thanks for stopping by!

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 6/12

Wow, I'm halfway to my yearly goal! I have a feeling I'm going to surpass it before the middle of the year. Maybe I should've set a more lofty goal for myself? Though I truly didn't think I'd go from reading zero books to having read 6 already by mid February.

I don't mind a small goal that leads to a bigger one. This small goal was the thing that got me back into reading and I'm so happy for it!

The book I recently finished was Flame in the Mist (392 pages).

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that before I finished reading it, I ordered the sequel off of thriftbooks. Had I realized this book had a sequel at the time of buying it, I may have searched the thrift store more thoroughly to see if the sequel was also donated.

This was a fun read, the kind where I didn't want to stop - and when I did stop, I couldn't wait to get back to it. I finished it thinking "ah, I just want to keep reading more!"

It ticked a lot of boxes for me: hidden identity/royal hiding as an average person, fantasy period piece (feudal japan!), infiltrating/going behind enemy lines, enemies/rivals to lovers, interesting characters (main and side), MC who grows and evolves with the story while staying true to herself, satisfying twists (to me, anyways) - just to name a few.

This is the kind of book I would've loved as a teenager, and I shamelessly love as an almost 30 year-old. The ending just made me want to get my hands on the sequel immediately.

The sequel hasn't arrived yet, unfortunately. I finished this book quite a few days ago now, so I've been on a bit of a reading break until I receive the sequel. I have no more books in my 'to-read' pile, so I need to go on another thrifting trip here soon.

I'm interested in reading more of this author's books. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for her other works while thrifting. x

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Total books read: 6 Total pages read: 1,824