𝓼𝓷𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵;

MARCH 2026

I really enjoyed my walks to work at the start of the month because the blossom and sunlight was making everything look fresh and hopeful, but the air was crispy and foggy for a nice contrast. I think its one of my favourite weather combinations. The evening walk also started looking new again because the light was so different. Now it is properly spring I’ve gotten used to it and the walk seems repetitive again, but I need to remember to pay attention to these small changes.

We heard a woodpecker in the viper woods and I also recorded a nuthatch’s call on my merlin app but we couldn’t track it down to spot it. It would have looked like this:

My birthday this year was full of delights !! George came to see me at work on the day before, then we went to the board game café for bday eve . The next day we went to London Wildlife Centre (me, George, mum, Aasiya and Mylen) to see the otters (named Honey and Tod) and the birds. We had Thai food for lunch at speedboat bar in Soho – I had the most incredible iced Thai green tea with condensed milk that I’ve been dreaming about OFTEN ever since. Got a nice book haul for my bday, as well as some perfume, vinyls (oklou and clairo), and some adidas ballet flats. Mum baked me a coffee and chocolate cake ♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡

Music

Picked up the guitar for the first time in aaggeees last week. George helped me learn ‘Underneath’ by Wednesday, so just need to practice and I wanna learn more songs this year.

New underscores album has dropped ! so far I really like the singles, and the song ‘Lovefield’. ‘Music’ remains one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.

Been having a jazzy bedroom pop moment, revisiting Faye Webster and Men I Trust a lot. Also obsessed with the song ‘Natural’ by Shelly.

March playlisto below;;;

Books

The Whole Picture – Alice Procter
Really thorough and interesting account of the colonial origins of (british)museums, and an analysis of how that curatorial lens still operates today. I loved how the chapters were divided into different archetypes of museums like ‘The Classroom’, ‘The Palace’ etc, it was a unique and clear way to organise the examples and themes. I flipped between the physical book and the audio version which Alice narrates and i enjoyed her narration - she doesn't try to hide any of the disdain/rage/passion that comes out when speaking about the harm perpetrated by institutions and the british empire . I met her in 2018 when the course I was on organised a workshop with her at the [REDACTED] Museum – maybe a year before this book was published. Would love to hear her perspective in 2026, now that many (but not all) museums are *finally* taking some action in regard to contested objects and curatorial bias .

Topographia Hibernica – Blindboy Boatclub
Short story collection which contains The Poitín Maker, the story I listened to last month and loved! There are 10 stories in here – I actually still have 2 to finish. The way he conjures an image is very satisfying, here’s a passage I underlined from The Donkey :

The air of the northside tasted of the peat smoke bite that it gets in December. Toothy little tenements and Fanta orange clouds over a trolley in a ditch.

Anyways I adore the dark humour and the unflinching way he represents the ugliness and the kindness of humans, particularly towards animals and children. Sometimes I recoiled in disgust and other times I literally laughed out loud. The Pistils of the Dandelions made me sob for like 30 minutes.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson
OKKAAAYYYYY I’m in the Shirley Jackson fanclub finally ! Im seated ! what a spiky and suffocating and paranoid and romantic little tale. I felt like I was living in the castle with them. I still am I can’t escape it. So enjoyable to now see all the thematic and aesthetic parallels w the new mitski album. I will be slowly reading everything she has written.

Films

All films I watched this month were rewatches aside from

Tangerine (2015)

Which I watched on my birthday at home. Sooo chaotic and vivid and funny and tender and painful. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez & Mya Taylor are magnetic. The donut shop showdown aaaaa I’d like to watch this every year, and actually just realised it’s a Christmas film!

Rewatched these bangers:

• Get Out (2017)
• The Visit (2015)
• Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

telly

Bait
Ok so Im biased because my fwend is in this !!!!!! But this series is v v unique and layered in the way it explores British Asian identity, the entertainment industry, representation, family dynamics and trauma, mental health, success... there is so much to unpick and ponder and learn !!! truly gorgeous depiction of London too, and a banging soundtrack. Watching it with my buddy and her biggest ride or dies on the day it came out was unforgettable ❤︎ btw she plays Q shes fantastic and everyone needs to watch this and sing her praises thank you!

Small Prophets
Actually another British series with a small no. of short episodes, this time on BBC. It follows Michael Sleep, a lonely man living in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac and working at a DIY store. His partner has been missing for some years and no one knows why, so his elderly father pushes him to follow a mystical recipe to find out the truth…. He also forms a wholesome friendship with his younger colleague Kacey. So funny and charming and odd I loved it.

that is all for march, happy springtime !

JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2026

A double feature

  ∧＿∧
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⊂　　 ノ 　　　・゜+.
　しーＪ　　　°。+ *´¨)
　　　 　　.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
　　　　　　　 　(¸.·´ (¸.·’*

Due to new job at the [REDACTED] museum, I haven’t had any time for coding or compiling blog, so this will be a joint jan-feb roundup !

Im v grateful to have some work now for the next few months at least, and the job is chill with lots of time for chatting to colleagues. The rota has been pretty intense to get used to though, especially as we have had plumbing work going on at home during all of my days off. Today was my first weekend day at home in about a month and it has been heaven to be by myself and just cook and watch films. I watched Cat People (1942) a little while ago, and as I’m writing this I’ve put on The Curse of the Cat People (1944). Having a blast with my lil cat beside me – she has been super unsettled for the past 5 weeks due to said plumbing works (she despises strange men in the house).

Going for nature/birdwatching walks every week has been keeping me sane and grounded. Best spots so far this year were a kingfisher at the wetlands (saw twice!) and a woodpecker in the forest. Also this white duck:

We had george’s birthday in early feb which is always one of the best days of the year. This year we went to Hoppers sri lankan restaurant with Aasiya on the birthday eve. The curries were DECADENT and we got desserts too. Then on the actual birthday we watched No Other Choice and Hamnet in the cinema. In between films we grabbed fish and chips and saw a double rainbow. Then in the evening we watched people do karaoke at the trades hall

I rly enjoyed some small crafting this month – customising a hoodie for liyah’s birthday <3 was so fun and I want to do some more embroidery projects this year for sure

Music

2026 is crazy good so far for my fav artists releasing and touring!

I adore the new Mitski singles and videos, excited to spend some quality time with the album now its out. It is another strong message that I need to read Shirley Jackson as the album is referencing her books particularly ‘we have always lived in the castle’. I fell in love with Rosemary’s site @ https://hillhouse.neocities.org at the end of last year, a love letter to Shirley Jackson, so I’ve been officially double Influenced now.

New snail mail too ! and we got tix to see her in June which im sooooo happy about as I missed her in London last time.

The new Lana song ….white feather hawk tail deer hunter… I love I love I love I hope the album features this kind of sound a LOT. Am trying to find more music with this specific gothic chamber pop vibe – its made me revisit Movietone and Broadcast which give me a similar feeling!

I saw Wednesday last week! At the roundhouse – the biggest gig they have ever played according to Karly speaking onstage :) they sounded incredible and I picked up my first piece of Wednesday merch, this amazing long sleeve with artwork by woodedwoods

Recently im really vibing with their earlier album I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone, especially the songs ‘underneath’ and ‘november’ – unfortunately they didn’t play these but next time @Karly pls read my blog

Books

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.
It is surreal reading a true crime story in the style of a fictional novel, and very clear that Capote was embellishing extensively for the effect he wanted. The book is obviously really well written, I think he did a good job in fleshing out what was known about the killers into layered characters that are interesting and sympathetic at times, but there’s a lack of consideration for the victims and the locals. It’s striking 2 me that Capote is completely removed from the narrative, you never witness his side of the conversations, his research methods, or his responses at all apart from how he has chosen to portray everything. Very murky and Im gagging to watch the film with Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Crazy to think that this novel is kind of the blueprint for how the true crime genre has evolved into what it is today. P.s. I read this bc of Penance by eliza Clark

She’s Always Hungry – Eliza Clark
And speaking of Eliza Clark I finally read her short stories collection which George bought me for Christmas!! I expected the body horror and dark humour, but I was surprised at a few of the sci-fi settings. My fave was probably the one about a coastal matriarchal community where there is a mysterious mermaid/siren legend that lures men into the sea.. but they were all very fun and gross!

Not a book but in a recent Blindboy podcast episode he read out his short story ‘The Poitín Maker’ and it was amazing, I could feel all of his historical knowledge and references but in a subtle way, and it was sooo warm and tender. He described a red deer’s coat as something like ‘flour flicked on a brown loaf’ and I kept repeating it to myself afterwards I just loved that image. You can listen here:

Films and telly

Already mentioned No Other Choice (instant fav), Hamnet (devastating), Cat People (it’s a 1940s noir horror about a woman who turns into a panther), and The Curse of the Cat People (terrible sequel) Also saw:

• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
• Devdas
and
• Hamlet

I watched the netflix America's Next Top Model doc; it was way more harrowing than I was expecting. Tyra is not just kooky and attention seeking she’s actively evil wtf, and so many other people are responsible for so much trauma and will not be held to account ! its sad for the cast and for viewers also, especially all of us that watched it as children, yikes.

Until next time

DECEMBER 2025

The end of a very challenging year!!! This month had lots of beautiful warm times spent with friends and family which I am very very grateful for . A few new core memories :

• Return of the Mylen! Meeting up in a cosy pub near Waterloo and feeling like a grown English woman in a Christmas film
• Spontaneous nite in soho with aasiya in which we befriended an interesting guy from Wisconsin who paid for a karaoke booth
• Bidding farewell to dearest Vanessa a few days before she moved to Sydney
• Dreamy walk along the canals in Islington followed by christmassy pints with george
• Chopped my hair the shortest it's ever been!!!! Hoping im channelling 90s winona ryder
• Had mates over for boxing day and made delicious lasagne with aasiya. Played games and realised my phone stopwatch had been running for over 2900 hours… since august lol no idea what I was timing
• Celebrating my nan's 80th birthday with the extended family in Bognor Regis - where she grew up . Insanely wholesome and special.

Despite many applications and an interview I am still funemployed and broke, but this has forced me to be really creative w christmas gifts and I enjoyed the cards and gifts I made :-) My grandad helped george and I create windowsill planters for my mum, and we filled them with ivy, primulas, violas, mini irises, and cyclamen. I also made her a card and tree decoration (pictured below)

I got george 4 indie horror games on steam which were super cheap and then made a lil zine to go with them which was so fun!! I might add it to the site at some point, it was v much inspired by trawling through neocities pages and reading about obscure games.

I also spent time reformatting the CSS for my homepage, which meant learning how to use CSS grid. I'm really proud that I managed to execute the design I had planned out and code it all by hand with no template! There's still a lot I need to learn but i'm much happier with the design now. Looking forward to tightening up the rest of my site and experimenting with more CSS .

music

I really didn't listen to much new stuff this month, was mainly going back to my most liked of 2025 so I think I'll do a separate roundup of my fav albums etc! but here's the playlist of all the stuff I liked the most this year (not all released in 2025):

Films and telly

films

It's What's Inside (2024) - very corny in parts but a fun and messy time


Twilight (2008) - in all seriousness i do love this film, mainly for the time capsule it is and the v unique color-grading and mood. soundtrack gets better with every watch.


Bridget Jones' Baby (2016) - decent cheesy christmas watch. so 2016 in the worst ways.


The Holdovers (2023) - perfect film
Wake Up Dead Man (2025) - Enjoyed ! the political/social commentary was more subtle than most netflix offerings

Telly

• Broadchurch
• Stranger Things S5
• (classic) Come Dine With Me (we're talking 2006-09)

Exhibitions

Sound Waves: Music in Newham at Becton Globe Library - a participatory archival project documenting the history of music in the London Borough of Newham. I went to the talk, there were only like 5 of us there, but it was really cool.
Turner and Constable @ Tate Britain - went with my grandad bc he really wanted to see it.

happy new year!!

NOVEMBER 2025

My job finished this month so I'm now #funemployed for the moment.. so lots of time for consuming media and neocities. I'm also trying to change the layout of my website which is taking ages because I'm such a beginner at coding but we will persevere !!

music

At the beginning of the month we went to the Pitchfork Festival in Dalston. It was across a few venues, but everyone we wanted to see was at Earth Hackney. I’d never been to an event there before and it was such a great venue - the theatre was huge with colosseum style seating and old art deco tiles.
We saw Teethe, hey nothing, indigo de souza, underscores, and a bit of panchiko. Hey nothing were my favourite by far, and they hung around to chat to people so we got to say hi! I also got a setlist which someone so kindly gave me bc their friend already had one ❤︎ my first show setlist memento

Indigo de Souza sounded great, I wasn't a fan of the new album but she does sound so sick live.
I had never heard of underscores (whyhow?????) but we saw her out of curiosity and I am SOSO glad I'm now absolutely obsessed with her music - Wallsocket is brilliant and I love the world she has built w all the different character pov's!! Her new tracks are so good as well and it was amazing seeing her alongside so many people who were very very into it. Would love to see her again!!

Following on from that event I've been listening to a lot of underscores and by association I've got a second wind with the oklou album and I listen to it everyday . The first phase I had w it earlier this year I feel I was listening from a distance but now I am fully inside the songs experiencing the beauty.
Have also been loving last year's MJ lenderman album a lot more - in a similar vein I think the Wednesday album unlocked it for me and I am hearing it in a new light :) Been consistently going back to coco and clair clair's 2024 album too; something about their music feels very wintery in a sparkly way.

november playlist...

Books

My only read this month was Butter by Asako Yuzuki. I really liked it! Loved the visceral descriptions of cooking and eating food, plus the interrogation of gender expectations and heterosexual relationships in Japanese culture. I felt that the ending was a bit neat and lacklustre, and there were some plot points that kind of fizzled out. Would have loved a bit of a deeper engagement with the queer tensions hinted at too ! But I enjoyed the read, it reminded me of Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata which i really loved when i read it a few years ago.

Films and telly

Scream 3 (2000) - my scream marathon continues


Frankenstein (2025) - thought this was a bit disney-fied :( beautiful gowns etc..


Small things like these (2024) - was great, Cillian Murphy and his sad eyes


Closer (2004) - shite !!! Saw the play a few years ago and had been meaning to watch this for ages and what a letdown lol just felt so superficial and melodramatic

Telly

• Celebrity Traitors finale (UK) - 10/10 tv
• All her fault - pretty good! I need 2 see more sarah snook on my screen
• As ever I am storming thru beloved Eastenders before the xmas period when I know they'll be going CRAZY TOWN TIME

Exhibitionsz

Forgot to say last month that I went to Spineless Wonders at Senate House Library, a small exhibition of ephemera from their special collections, so loads of cool pamphlets.

And this month I saw Caravaggio's Cupid at the Wallace Collection, and also had a wander round the permanent galleries there.

Id love to write more about the exhibitions I visit and have a dedicated space for that, but we'll see what I am able to make time for !!!

That’s it 4 autumn 2025 ~~~~

OCTOBER 2025

hello first blog I am speaking out into the void
Soooooooo nice things in October; I started this website! I was inspired by karly's (from the band Wednesday) website prisondivorcebombshell.com - I didn’t know people still used the internet in this way and its so diy and non-algorithmic (??) lol. After a very fun exploration of other neocities sites I was like yes i need to do this!! I think it took me about a month to actually set up an account and start learning html, but this is exceptional for me - I don’t remember the last time I actually followed through with a creative project. Rly enjoying learning new things and having an online outlet that doesn’t feel *as* performative, somewhere to stick any old thing and do whetevrr I want!!! Because its my website, not yours!!!!!

went to the new theatre near my house aka the old cinema which has now been refurbished after not being a venue for over 15 years. We saw a comedy improv show with kiell smith-bynoe which was really fun, feel like I understand improv now! The inside of the theatre was breathtaking , all this intricate carved wood which was a beautiful surprise.

What else

Made some great healthy breakfast muffins from this recipe, they turned out great and were still good after I froze them so I think I'll keep making them in future 4 breakfasts bc I find it so hard to eat something good in the mornings. Also made a pumpkin pie but w butternut squash instead - slappEDt hard.

music

BLEEDS

The most Wednesday album of them all - I have prob listened to this everyday since it released. I love everything about the writing, the melodies, guitar parts, the cover art!!! And sooo incred that we actually got to see Karly play the songs in august, and have the signed artwork print and physical cd hehe :))) anyways this album is everything I ever want from music, cant remember the last time I bonded with an artist so much since discovering mitski in like 2017 tbh !

My october playlist;
Got a few of the first songs off of Blindboy's 3 episode thingy on bbc radio 6 - have only listened to the first episde and it was full of gems ;;;;;;

♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.

b00ks

So I read a couple books this month, first Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro . I found this compelling enough and I like stories about ai that are actually stories about humanity - just read Do Androids Dream of electric sheep last month so that was fresh in mind, and prob an unfair comparison. I did like KatS, but it didn't give me that insane feeling I get when a book really hits me. Theyre gonna make it into a movie which I'll probbaly watch lol


Also read Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. Really wasn’t what I was expecting! Great time to read as its kind of a ghost story, but not scary, even though there are defo some chilling and gruesome aspects. It was super unique historical fiction, blended with the actual true event of President Lincoln's son Willie dying at 11 yrs old of .. Typhoid I wanna say? And the president was grieving so hard, he was witnessed visiting the tomb to see his son's body multiple times in the days following his death.. I did really enjoy this, it was darkly funny , strange, and explored an interesting conception of the afterlife.


When I couldn't sleep one night I somehow stumbled across Tavi Gevinson's 'novella' called Fan Fiction - which is published for free in a zine and available online. Its like 76 pages so I read it all at 2am and it was amusing and interesting I guess ! Would maybe reread a bit more closely to fully get a sense of the cultural commentary within the satire thing she's doing - but yeah its about Taylor Swift, and Tavi's relationship with her both as a swiftie and as a friend, but it is 'fictionalised', so although they did have a relationship and Tavi was a fan we don’t really know what is real and what isnt. It was pretty funny too, and managed to be kind of scathing but also understanding towards swift.

Films and telly

Films I watched :
The Smashing Machine - enjoyed ! Score was cool too !


Carrie (1976) - the GOAT obvs. I realised this film and book were the beginning of my love for horror



Mitski: The Land - mitski tour movie !!!!!!! Aasiya and I saw this at Hackney Picturehouse and it was justtttttt stunning. We had a very delicious and cheap meal as a prelude (pictured) and an extra treat was that we walked past a bus driver holding a bubble machine out of his window with a straight face, just sending bubbles into the night it was puuuure joy and magic.


We're all going to the world's fair - amazingly it was free to watch on channel 4 :p I am so excited that we have jane schoenbrun making movies like this about niche internet communities, loneliness, dysphoria.. I cant wait to see what they do next. Didn’t get to me as much as tv glow but I can see the relatability factor for anyone who was in that specific pocket of the internet as a teen. The whole creepypasta , blurred reality element really reminded me of penance by eliza clark !! If that ever got made into a film or show I would looovvvve schoenbrun to direct !


Scream 2 - so fun so 90s I love everything abt it I love slashers!!!

Telly has been reality junk as well as the traitors which is reality fine dining. Also watched s2 of the rehearsal - was absolutely loving it watching at aasiya's but when I finished the series alone it didn't have the same hit. Definitely funnier with company of fremd. But was w ild ride 4 sure.


Also watched over the garden wall w george - download link 4 the whole series is here. Really loved it, v adventure time vibes with a more specific quaint and creepy aesthetic. Might b one to rewatch every autumn ~~~

It's 2 November right now and we just got back from halloweekend getaway for dearest aasiya burthday ! very nourishing and life affirming time was had.

Dassit !