Currently... (23)

I found the Currently post at Kate Hart's blog, who got the idea from Amy Lukavics, who found it here. Please join in and link me in the comments if you do!


LOVING: Netflix's version of Queer Eye. If you need a pick-me-up, this show is it!

A post shared by alice (@akangaru) on Jun 25, 2018 at 10:40am PDT

Celebrating friends' milestones - turning 30, launching books, getting married, exciting new projects, my cousin graduating from college, and so on.


READING: I just finished Claire Legrand's new epic fantasy FURYBORN. It is a page-turner, immersive, and thrilling. I love how high the stakes feel, how vulnerable and alive the characters are, and seeing just how the 2 timelines relate to each other. This is your new fave YA fantasy. Trust me.

Also, I'm just so happy I finally got to meet Claire earlier this month. I've been Twitter friends with her since her debut (a creepy Middle Grade book called The Cavendish Home for Boys & Girls), and it was a delight to actually talk to her in person and give her a big hug. Plus, she crowned me at her signing.

A post shared by alice (@akangaru) on Jun 11, 2018 at 11:37am PDT

WATCHING: The Staircase on Netflix. Need to start Marvel's Cloak & Dagger and Luke Cage. Binge-watched Big Little Lies right before our trip to Monterey and loved it.

Saw way too many movies recently - Incredibles 2 (cute but a little bit like why did this take 14 years as it's very episodic - but the short BAO was ALL THE FEELS), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Blue!), Hereditary - which was not nearly as terrifying as everyone was going on about!


THINKING ABOUT: Comic Con plans - what I'm going to see, what I'm going to wear. What project I'm going to work on next. The need to KonMari my life. Would anyone be interested in buying a ton of my clothes because I need to purge my closet!


ANTICIPATING: Comic Con! More immediately, the 4th of July because yes, days off!! Seeing all the amazing photos @thisdorkynerdgirl took of me for her Elhoffer Design clothing review for Temple of Geek. Here's a few from the Star Wars-inspired collection!



WISHING: For more certainty and less doubt, for more confidence in my abilities, for more kindness in the world. For my country to be less of a trashfire.

• The SCOTUS news yesterday and today are particularly disheartening. If you're freaking out like I am about all of this, read @celeste_pewter's ACTION thread on Twitter about the incredible importance of DEFENDING the Senate. We need to band together to make sure no Dem Senators lose their seats, and we need to flip some. This means donating, volunteering, and calling. 
• See @Roadto18 for the necessary info on Senators and commit to helping one or two - it's like those assignments in school where you had to pick a Congress person to study or run a fictional campaign for. We're doing that, BUT FOR REAL.

MAKING ME HAPPY: Pretty much everything in the "Loving" category above. Oh, I recently was invited to an advanced screening of Netflix's movie adaptation of TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han. I'm not allowed to say too much about it, but I LOVED IT and I can't wait until August when everyone else can see it, too!

My newest poem is out in Liminality's Summer Issue, and it's called BEAUTY ROUTINE. It's about beauty and, like so many of my poems, about transformation. I hope you enjoy it and the rest of the issue. Liminality always publishes such exquisite work.

A post shared by alice (@akangaru) on Jun 18, 2018 at 11:14am PDT

Q4U: What have you been up to? Tell me in the comments!

Currently... (22)

I've been contemplating what to do with my little piece of cyberspace here as it has shifted away from its original intention to be literary focused, and we've gone from 2 bloggers down to 1 (me)! Things will continue to be on and off as I figure things out, but for those of you still here, you can expect to see more geek fashion (which I hope you like), some book reviews, and maybe more of those bookstagram Annotations posts I promised a while ago. I appreciate anyone who still even reads this!

Since it's been a while since last I was here, here's a quick CURRENTLY - for old time's sake!

I found the Currently post at Kate Hart's blog, who got the idea from Amy Lukavics, who found it here. Please join in and link me in the comments if you do!


LOVING: Reading spooky stories on the internet, even though it terrifies me. I know it just passed but Halloween - I think I love it more as I get older? What a hit our last minute Stranger Things costumes were!

A post shared by alice (@akangaru) on Oct 31, 2017 at 11:27pm PDT

Lorde's latest album. Thor Ragnarok!! The Thor franchise will always have a special place in my heart (and not just because of Loki), and I am 100% here for Taika Waititi's humor.

READING: Gray Wolf Island by my lovely friend Tracey Neithercott! It's just the kind of magic I love to read. Empress of  Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza for Books & Boba Book Club.

WATCHING: On Netflix - Mindhunter, Stranger Things 2, American Vandal. This is a good mix of psychological darkness, scary-fun 80s nostalgia adventure, and on-point crime documentary mockumentary humor, respectively. (Technically, I have just finished Mindhunter and Stranger Things 2.)

THINKING ABOUT: What I'm going to do with this blog and with Girl on the Roam. I blog mostly for fun, but I also don't like to think I'm neglecting either of them. The fact that I'm going to see Hamilton next week for the 5th time, this time in my home city of Los Angeles. Wow.

ANTICIPATING: Looking forward to seeing my friend Melissa (@melfallorama) do a stand-up comedy set tomorrow night. She's one of the wittiest, funniest people (and writers) I know, and I'm so thrilled she's back on the same coast as me and living in the same region! If you're in Los Angeles on November 9th, tickets are available here: Funny Girls

In geeky anticipations: Star Wars Battlefront 2, Punisher, kinda even tentatively optimistic about the Justice League movie? Oh and seeing Hamilton again, of course!

WISHING: Time would slow down a little. Can you believe we're already approaching the end of 2017? I'm not even sure what to think, I'm so busy catching my breath! I'm also hoping for the weather to to stay cool, or at least stay consistently one thing or another. I'm not traveling this fall for the first time in 3 years, which is making me nostalgic for trips past.

A post shared by Alice (@girlontheroam) on Oct 23, 2017 at 12:47pm PDT

MAKING ME HAPPY: Meeting online friends in Real Life. I had the pleasure of meeting up with Danielle Ward, the brilliant founder and designer of Little Petal at LA Comic Con. She makes convertible geeky dresses, and they are just amazing.

My current hair color. Chats with Sarah Enni. Snuggling with Loki, even if he would rather not. Getting SDCC badges!! See you in 2018, San Diego!

My poetry getting published! This is never not wonderful and exciting. "Estate Sale," which I wrote last fall while getting frustrated with house-hunting was published this Monday in the online magazine Polu Texni. I'd love if you let me know what you think of it! Here's a little background: The Memory of Objects.

A post shared by Alice (@girlontheroam) on Nov 6, 2017 at 1:34pm PST

My house. Furniture browsing. Sweater weather, finally. Informal ConSquad get-togethers. Loki- I told myself I wasn't going to be Loki-trash again, but well, here we are. Founding Daddies brunches. Porgs.


Q4U: What have you been up to? Tell me in the comments!

Currently... (21)

"Currently..." updates will be every 2 weeks or so. Going to try to update on Tuesdays when Katy Upperman posts hers.

I found the Currently post at Kate Hart's blog, who got the idea from Amy Lukavics, who found it here. Please join in and link me in the comments if you do!


This is going to be a long one because I missed all of June and July!! Yikes!


LOVING

My girl gang. If you follow me on Instagram, you know it's been a whirlwind since the end of May. I've gone on a few adventures with my best gal pals - namely, New Orleans and Comic-Con!

• NOLA - my first time in New Orleans and in the South. This was also a really spontaneous girls trip. We got caught in thundershowers, visited a gorgeous swamp and plantation, had my fortune told, ate our weight in delicious food, met up with one of my oldest blogging friends, and beignet every day.

Ok ladies, now let's get in formation. • Beyoncé did in fact shoot a music video here (but not Formation). #wanderlust #NewOrleans #NOLA #travelgram #consquad #friends #squad #plantation #girlgang #OakAlleyPlantation #aliceadventures #latergram

A photo posted by alice (@akangaru) on Jun 6, 2016 at 5:06pm PDT

• SDCC 2016 - met up with so many friends at the con this year. Did 2 days of cosplay, one of which was a group one with my gals. Did the Hall H thing with relatively little drama, got donuts from Bryan Fuller while in land, and got a new wand (Newt Scamanader's!) for swag. OMG, and there were Hamilton coplayers!!

ConSquad the sequel

A photo posted by alice (@akangaru) on Jul 22, 2016 at 1:48pm PDT

A photo posted by Nicole Mojan Pirshafiey (@nicolemojan) on Jul 22, 2016 at 1:52am PDT

Adventures at home - 4th of July fireworks! Outlander costume exhibit! Movies at the beach! Loki swimming!!

A video posted by Loki (@dogdaysofloki) on Jul 10, 2016 at 7:38pm PDT

READING

• The Cursed Child (just finished) - I don't know how I feel about it being the next bit of HP canon, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Wish the plot hadn't been so grand because the quieter, character thematic parts of the play were probably what I liked best.
• Jellicoe Road - I'm finally reading this!!
• This Savage Song
• Various Tarot Books

WATCHING

• The Olympics!
• Suicide Squad (recently) - I wanted this to be good so badly. Was I entertained? Sometimes, but honestly, I can't say because I left this movie feeling so much frustration that I can't honestly say my experience was good.
• Mr. Robot - so good. Seeing their presence in SD was one of the highlights of this Comic-Con.

A photo posted by Catherine (@catherine) on Jul 24, 2016 at 2:05pm PDT

• UnReal - the season finale was last night and OH. MY. GOD. I love this show. Seriously, if you haven't tried this show, do it.
• The Night Of - we just started this, and it is so stressful. It's about a guy who may or may not have committed a crime & the workings of the justice system starting from the night of the crime.

LISTENING

The Black Tapes podcast - to give me another creepy/intriguing thing to listen to other than LORE, I started The Black Tapes podcast in June and basically binge-listening to the entire first season. I'm all caught up with Season 2, and I am so obsessed! It's like Serial + LORE + supernatural mystery.


ANTICIPATING

• My birthday! Starting today, it is the last week of my 20s. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE??!
• 2017 when a bunch of my writer-Twitter friends are going to have books out!!

WISHING

Teleportation was real so I can hang out with people who don't live near me! This desire is worse now because I've been spoiled by being able to meet up with online friends pretty often recently thanks to mutual traveling and things like Comic Con.



THINKING ABOUT

How much has changed in just this last year - like Hamilton! It is such a huge deal now. They've won 11 Tonys. They just celebrated their 1-year anniversary of their debut on Broadway, and so many of the original main Broadway cast has departed the show. This all blows my mind because it has only been a little over a year since this thing came into my life and changed it.

A photo posted by alice (@akangaru) on Jun 12, 2016 at 9:08pm PDT

There have been some other life things happening personally and with friends and family too. I've been to spin class (who am I?), had my tarot read, built my first major costume prop (Rey's staff), and inadvertently cosplayed at SDCC.

Poe Squadron reporting for Hall H line duty earlier this morning! Han Yolo (& Chewbacca), x-wing pilots, Rey (& BB8)! . . #poesquadron #consquad #friends #sdcc2016 #sdcc #StarWars #hansolo #xwingpilots #rey #casualcosplay #cosplay #geekbound #ootd #wiw #geekchic #geekstyle #geekfashion #whatiwore #linecon #girlgang #geekgirls

A photo posted by alice (@akangaru) on Jul 22, 2016 at 8:43pm PDT

MAKING ME HAPPY

• Summer! Ice cream, sunshine, bright colors, and unicorn floaties.

A photo posted by alice (@threadedpages) on Aug 7, 2016 at 4:34pm PDT

• Flight of the Conchords concert
• Learning the tarot - basically, a psychic in New Orleans was convinced I have untapped spiritual powers. So I'm trying to unlock them. Wish me luck. ;)
• Hammer + Sarah time!
• Celebrating nerdy things in nerdy ways - like all of Comic Con and midnight book release parties for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

A photo posted by alice (@akangaru) on Jul 31, 2016 at 3:30pm PDT

What's up with you?

Currently... (20)

"Currently..." updates will be every 2 weeks or so. Going to try to update on Tuesdays when Katy Upperman posts hers.

I found the Currently post at Kate Hart's blog, who got the idea from Amy Lukavics, who found it here. Please join in and link me in the comments if you do!


LOVING

• Celebrating Star Wars Day aka May the Fourth (be with you)! My last post was actually an Outfit of the Day post featuring some of my favorite new Star Wars gear. Do check it out if you haven't yet!

• Captain America: Civil War! We were lucky enough to watch it a few days early because we won tickets from a local radio station to see it at IMAX HQ, which is pretty dang cool. (The Sister and I saw Age of Ultron here too.) Bet you can't guess whose team we're on. ;)

• Our second viewing of the movie was with some of our Comic Con Hall H line buddies and "Chris Evans." And all this fun stuff aside, yes, I loved the movie. They handled the large cast incredibly well, and I really liked how they handled the character arcs and themes.

A photo posted by @mylifewithchrisevans on May 14, 2016 at 12:38am PDT

• Brunching with my Founding ladies. I wish I had a catchier name for this, but here we are. I'm so lucky to have found my people so relatively early in life and to have kept them in my life.

• Brunching for birthdays - specifically for my Con Squad sister Jenn's birthday this past weekend. Obviously, it was a fun time but it was also cool to see how everyone knew everyone else. It's incredible to me that a year ago, Comic Con squad did not exist, and now look at us!

• Blackmilk Sample Sale haul. Sadly, Blackmilk has closed their Los Angeles location, but the bright side is they had a sample sale as a last hurrah and we bought all the things. I am most pleased with our LOTR and Harry Potter lucky finds! Map dresses! Daily Prophet legs!

• Yallwest goodies: I scored an ARC of Garth Nix's upcoming GOLDENHAND, which is a BIG DEAL to me because it is an actual sequel to his original Old Kingdom trilogy. I love the Old Kingdom books A LOT, and I can't wait to see where some of the characters are now!! And I didn't even think I'd have a chance at Victoria Schwab's THIS SAVAGE SONG ARC, but thanks to an amazing friend who also went to the fest, I NOW HAVE A COPY. *cue freak out*

WATCHING

• The Night Manager: So much beautiful Tom Hiddleston.
• Game of Thrones: this season is exciting. I need more reunions and Tormund x Brienne, lol.
• TURN: it's the Benedict Arnold betrayal season and I love it.

ANTICIPATING

• Writing a special blog post for a friend's project.
• NOLA - in about 2 weeks, I will going to New Orleans for the first time!!! So let me know if there's anything I MUST do and/or eat!

THINKING ABOUT

Beyoncé. I wouldn't call myself a member of the Beyhive, but that all changed when I saw her 2 weeks ago on her Formation World Tour. I can't even begin to explain the experience of being at her show because it was incredible, and I don't think I exaggerate when I say it was like a religious experience. I totally get why Queen B is the queen and why her fans are so intense about her. Yes, she's a consummate performer, talented and that beautiful in real life, but there was just something electric about the entire show.

A video posted by alice (@akangaru) on May 15, 2016 at 4:12pm PDT

I think I also found it strangely moving (I actually teared up at the show because I was so overwhelmed, and that is so not me) because it was such an empowering night. Like it was all about the strength of women and loving yourself.



MAKING ME HAPPY

• Always, seeing online friends. The Yallwest book festival was actually perfect for that. I finally was able to meet Erin Bowman, who I've known a while on Twitter and who was the one who convinced me to read The Scorpio Races, which is one of my favorite books ever now. We also love Harry Potter, and she makes an amazing Luna Lovegood.

• The bonus, of course, was also meeting so many authors I admire and fangirl over, as well as Twitter/author friends. I had such a great time actually putting faces to Twitter handles and chatting and eating over-priced truffle fries. Oh, and I wore my Marauder's Map dress, which was the best decision because I don't think I've ever been complimented so much on it in my life.

• Speaking of the serendipity of making friends on the interwebs... I was so lucky to be able to make Sarah Maas' signing earlier this month, mostly thanks to some help from Sarah, and she was as funny and delightful as she always is. The big surprise though was while I was starting to read A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, I was amazed and really touched to find myself in the acknowledgments.

• My contributor's copy of THE 2016 RHYSLING AWARD anthology! My poem is in a book-shaped thing with so many, truly magical poems. I am so humbled and happy.

• My newest Jordandené tank, which is a collaboration between Jordan and Megan aka The Nerdy Girlie. Oh and if you want one of these for yourself OR even the Hamilton design which is back for a limited time (!), don't forget you can get 25% off through the end of May with my code: workwork!

Q4U: What's up with you?

Currently... (19)

"Currently..." updates will be every 2 weeks or so. Going to try to update on Tuesdays when Katy Upperman posts hers.

I found the Currently post at Kate Hart's blog, who got the idea from Amy Lukavics, who found it here. Please join in and link me in the comments if you do!


LOVING

• My second trip to Coachella~! This time, I was more prepared to have my allergies destroy me, so I took the appropriate medication. It was also windier than last year, which made taking a fashion cue from Star Wars' Rey kinda prudent. Oh and the reason we ended up going to Weekend 1 when we hadn't bought tickets? The Sister won tickets! I think this must be her super power...

A video posted by Alice (@girlontheroam) on Apr 18, 2016 at 12:21am PDT

• Being able to share this poem with you for National Poetry Month! I'd written the poem for a contest/challenge in February, and I really liked how it turned out. It was written during my February flurry of poetry writing. In any case, when the poem came back to me, I didn't really think about sending it elsewhere and since I wanted to share it, I did. :) If you haven't read it, I'd be delighted if you took a look: "Well-Met"

• Poe Dameron Day / The Force Awakens - this was at the beginning of the month, but obviously, we bought all the comics, wore our T-Shirts, and watched the Force Awakens again - with our (sphero) BB-8! BB is actually not a good person to watch the movie with. He beeps at all the most dramatic moments but is so cute! And yes, we still love TFA a lot!

• Meeting up with Tweeps - especially the writing kind. As I mentioned last time, I got to see long-time Twitter friend Lydia Kang when she was in town for a conference. It was also great finally meeting Jessica Love in person! (We now have matching Hamilton-Schuyler Sisters shirts.) Bonus! Seeing Elizabeth Briggs again and commiserating about Comic Con Hotelpocalypse. :P

READING

The HAMILTOME! This book, guys!!! It is BEAUTIFUL. Great content aside, I just love everything about the design of Hamilton: The Revolution. It's bound like a history book, has deckle-edged pages, and the inner layout - the photos, how they're presented with the lyrics and text - is just gorgeous. I love it so much, and I'm loving all the stories about how this crazy thing came about.

WATCHING

The Jungle Book - so beautifully done and a classic family film.

The Night Manager - only one episode has aired as of my writing this, and I can't tell how much I like it in terms of plot so far. BUT my goodness is Tom Hiddleston just wonderful to look at and listen to, and basically, however this show turns out, it is still a gift to me because I get to see TH on the small screen once a week for 6 episodes.

Game of Thrones - Yes, this show continues to upset me with how it chooses to handle certain characters and story lines, but I still desperately want to know what happens - and there are still aspects of the show I enjoy. So really show, stop pushing me away!

Lemonade - I wouldn't say I'm part of the Bey Hive, but Beyoncé's visual album for her new album Lemonade was all kinds of amazing. It's visually stunning, but her music and choice of visual is so powerful. It's intimate, gorgeous, political, introspective, and moving.


ANTICIPATING

• YALLWEST! It's the West Coast companion to the much loved book-fest YALLFEST that takes place in South Carolina. Anyway, this is Yallwest's second year, but it'll be my first year going! I'm excited because I'll get to meet up with some blogger and author friends AND there's a Hamilton sing-along.

• Also, it is almost time for Captain America: Civil War - and given how much I loved Winter Soldier, I am so excited for this.

• TURN: Washington's Spies - we're getting really into the Revolutionary spy game now. This season? Benedict Arnold's betrayal! (Also, I hear we're finally getting some Hamilton!)

• Roshani Chokshi's debut The Star-Touched Queen, which is out today! I've read her poetry and short stories online, and her writing is so beautiful! It's vivid, rich, and lyrical. I cannot wait to read an entire book by her!

• And, of course, today is the release day of THE RAVEN KING by Maggie Stiefvater. It's the final book in the Raven Cycle series, which has arguably been my favorite on-going series these past few years. I'm already so sad to have to part ways with this magical world and amazing, amazing characters. I love them all so much! I'm so excited to find out what happens.

A photo posted by alice (@threadedpages) on Apr 26, 2016 at 10:12am PDT

THINKING ABOUT

What new Annotations posts I'm going to do next. Don't know what this is? It's a blog supplement to my new bookstagram Instagram account, Threadedpages. The first post is here: Annotations.


MAKING ME HAPPY

• Helping Jordan promote her lovely Hamilton shirt design! It's available until the END OF APRIL only, so if you're thinking about getting one, this is your last week! I put together some outfits and got you a sweet discount code (for Jordan's entire store)!

• Hanging out with the Founders squad this weekend. We watched the boy-band zombie-Western flick Dead 7 (it was...really bad. Eck!), listened to Hamilton on vinyl (absolutely incredible - like the violins are in the room with you), and then re-enacted part of the opening number when we realized our friend's house kind of mimicked the stage. Here's a gif from our efforts.

• Being asked by Twitter friend Amparo to be part of her Staying Awesome Interview Series. You can read mine here: I talk about writing poetry, geekery, and the history of my crush on Alexander Hamilton (in case you were curious?).

• Seeing Years & Years perform last night at The Fonda. We missed them at Coachella, so we were so glad we'd gotten tickets for "localchella." Every show with them is a party. Love it.

A video posted by Catherine (@catherine) on Apr 26, 2016 at 12:12am PDT

Q4U: What's up with you Currently? Also, if any of you are going to YALLWEST, please let me know! I'd love to see you! :D