It’s been six weeks since I announced that I would be taking a short break to get some things in order. Are those things in order? No, not even close, but I’m coming back anyway. Let’s get it on!
Author Journey (June 2, 2025)
What happened?
It’s been another couple of busy, busy weeks, however, this time I was lucky enough to have four Real-Life Family Event-free days. That’s one more that the previous fortnight. Over six weeks I had a total of twelve days without incident which has been pretty consistent for 2025. Obviously, I’m hoping that things calm down in the near future, however, the summer break is rapidly approaching and that always brings more things to worry about. So, I’m going to attempt to work my life around these things and do the best that I can.
I’ve made some changes to the format of my posts which I think will make them quicker to write without losing any of the content. So far, I think it’s working. I had hoped to come away with a full six week buffer of scheduled posts, but sadly, that hasn’t quite happened. I do have eight week’s worth of anime posts and one week of manga posts. That should make my weekly goals a little easier to hit. Hopefully!
How is it going?
1. Health
I added another 110 km to my total for the year, which was great, although still below the target of 10 km a day. Obviously, all of the interruptions to my days are also impacting my ability to pound the pavement. I’m still trying to work out how to fit in a quick treadmill session as that might be enough to bridge the gap. As crazy as it might sound, I feel like I’m falling into a better rythym with the Real-Life Family Events. I’d prefer they didn’t show up at all, but that’s not likely to happen any time soon.
Goal: 3,650 km (10 kmpd), Current status: 1,232 km (8.1 kmpd).
2. Writing
I’ve made some progress on the plan and incorporating the emotional arcs of the characters. The thing that has made this take a little longer is the realisation that the secondary characters need some emotions too. How dare they! Anyhow, I like how this is allowing me to create extra tension when emotional arcs are at different points and deliver insane highs and lows when they align. I also finally cemented the opening image into my head and am almost reading to start workigin through the new draft.
Goal: Publish a book, Current status: Working through the emotional beats and mental blocks.
3. Art
One of the things that I’m going to do over the summer break is to sit down with the kids and draw. Hopefully, that will give me a chance to work on some designs while also keeping them off YouTube.
Goal: Complete artwork for my book, Current status: Preparing to draw!
4. Watching
Things are looking up. I managed to fit in six episodes of anime and one movie. All six episodes were a part of my drive to complete my current shows and the movie was the live action version of Lilo and Stitch, which was actually a lot better than I was expecting. I am looking forward to reintegrating movies into my life in a bigger way.
Goal: Watch more than 629 episodes of anime, Current status: 33 episodes watched
Bonus: 8 episodes of TV, 4 movies
5. Reading
I read one book and that was volume four of Please Put them on, Takamine-san. I started reading the series back before the winter break and completely forgot about it, jumping into several other series when I returned. It’s good to be back with Shirota and Takane in their incredibly awkward relationship. Basically, it’s what would happen if a tsundere met a clueless protagonist with panties and time travel. Utterly bonkers, but so good!
Goal: Read more than 159 manga volumes, Current status: 47 volumes read
6. Blogging
I published just one post again, but I managed to write eight so the extras went into my scheduled posts. I currently have twenty scheduled posts and my goal is to keep that as the baseline. The more I add the better, but I don’t want it dropping below that. Having it there makes things a lot less tense and is the main reason I decided it was time to come back.
Goal: Publish 365 posts, Current status: 87 posts
What are you planning?
I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve been investing in physical media. It started as a way to ensure that I had copies of my favourite shows, but since then, it has evolved into something else. I’ve started monitoring ebay for old sets of anime DVDs. And, I’ve been quite successful, picking up several for very good prices. Some I’ve seen, some I’ve heard of, and some I have never heard of before. I’m excited to dive into them and write about my experiences. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and hopefully, I’ll find some hidden gems.
All of the posts for Cautious Hero and Monster Musume have been completed. I’ve already started on a two episode OVA series from 1996 which is already making me feel good about shifting part of my focus towards old and obscure titles. Don’t worry, I plan on getting a mix of old and new, but I definitely won’t be covering seasonal anime for the foreseeable future. That just doesn’t work with the buffer system, and I need the buffer for my mental health! Anyhow, it’s great to be back. Thanks for reading.
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