Monthly Favorites ~ June 2005
june was a tiring month for me, yet i did pull together a small list of some favorite things of mine that really got me through it! heres my june monthly favorites...

first, i want to start with music. ive been listening to breath (呼吸 - kokyū) by lily chou-chou for years now, and its gotten me through the hardest times in my life. lilys songs put my mind at ease and keep me calm, even when im heavily stressed. my love for 'breath' has only gotten stronger since the first time i listened to it! and its still my favorite album ever. even if youre not a lily fan, i urge you to give it a listen. i lost myself in the past few months, i didnt know who i was anymore and how to express myself. yet listening to this album and rewatching aalcc helped me regain my sense of self. i feel much better because of this--and im trying to change my site to bring it back to its once-colorful style.

next, as for movies, most of the films i watched didnt really stick out to me. that is until last sunday when i finally got to see 'the phoenician scheme' by wes anderson. this movie was so entertaining and the colors were beautiful. i found myself not looking away for one moment. the film was just what i needed, it was funny and bold--like every wes anderson movie of course. i cant wait to own it on dvd.

i finally found some time to read a book ive been looking forward to reading. i picked up 'if cats dissapeared from the world' by genki kawamura at the bookstore for $5 and noticed it was a short read. the chapters of the book are categorized by day, so i made it my personal goal to read each chapter along with the day of the week it correlates to. overall, it was a beautiful book. im the type of person that prefers to 'blind read' books--picking up a book that sparks my interest even if i have absolutely zero idea what its about. its like a game to me and makes reading more entertaining. (i do the same with movies too!)

a random thing i really enjoyed this month were stone fruits.. i had never heard of that saying but when i found out i realized that most of these are my favorite fruits! i seriously always have these in my fridge, especially cherries and peaches. stone fruits are amazing and definitely my favorite category of fruit!

my mother gave me 120 prismacolor pencils from her college-days (as an art student) when i was a kid and ever-since ive always taken good care of them. these pencils are my favorite and i use them for everything! theres so many colors, i rarely find myself looking for a color that isnt avaliable. i see why these are so expensive.

something ive used a lot has to be my lavender chamomile candle by DW home. i use it when i take a bath or right before i head to bed. its very calming and smells amazing! i definitely recommend DW home candles, they last me a long time and dont smell too strong.

ive added crosswords to my daily routine! theyre so fun and relaxing to do in the morning or at night and really help turn my brain on. i usually get up in the morning and start with the NYT daily mini crossword (as well as wordle, strands, and connections--sometimes sudoku if im up for it) then when i get on my computer ill do the boatloadpuzzles daily crossword! i recommend it if you want to sharpen your mind and help your memory, ive noticed that i remember things easier now.

thats all i have for this month, this list is a bit shorter than my previous ones but as i said, june has been a big month for self-reflection (and a 'mid-life' crisis before i even reach my twenties! lol) so this pretty much sums up what i was doing. as always, thank you for reading!

love, felix