Dealing with Depression, and a bit of a personal update.

Through the last little while, emotionally things have been hard. Really hard. I suffer from depression that varies in severity, and anxiety that does the same. And for the last little while, I've been finding myself getting worse and worse. And I am not sure why. I just kind of shut down.

I wanted to write a post about dealing with depression and anxiety for a long time. Ideally when I was in a good mood, and when I was happy. But I cannot seem to get the need to make this out of my system. So here it is. Some simple ways to combat depression.

1. Go out.
I know this one is so hard. It's so difficult. But even just getting out of bed, and going to the kitchen for a bit can be enough. Ideally you want to go outside, and get some sunshine. Natural sunlight is so good for dealing with depression, so just sitting outside for a little bit can do wonders. As well, try and socialize. Even if it's just calling a friend, and talking about the weather. Human beings are social animals. We need to socialize.

2. Get some exercise.
Just a short walk, or some gentle yoga is perfect. You don't need to go to the gym and break a sweat, but if you want to do that, then go for it. But just get your body moving a little bit. It'll release the endorphins in your brain, and make you feel a little bit better.

3. Do something productive.
Even if it's just taking a shower, or doing the laundry. Something productive will help distract you from dark thoughts. And allow yourself that feeling of accomplishing something. No matter what you did it was something. And that something means everything.

4. Pamper yourself.
Watch a movie, eat some chocolate, take a bath. What ever you do to relax and make yourself feel good is what you should do. Even if that is just watching a funny movie.

5. Be Gentle with yourself.
Remember this, you are sick. With physical symptoms and everything. No, not everyone gets the mental illness side of things. But regardless, science says your sick. So don't be too frustrated with yourself, and don't push yourself too hard.

Mental illness is such a difficult thing to treat, because it's so different for so many people. So, I cannot guarantee that all of these will work for you. These are just a few things I do to make me feel better after a hard day.

Star Bright Review.

A few weeks ago I found this book sitting in my school cafeteria. If you missed that post you can find it: here. And after a little contemplation, I decided that I would do a review of this book, and here it is: Star Bright by Andrew Greeley.

To be totally honest, I didn't have a lot of hopes for me liking this book. It is very Catholic as well as being a Christmas story. But I wanted to give it an honest try anyway, it was super short, and I had nothing to lose. And as much as I wished I wasn't, I was right, I didn't really enjoy this book. The book is about Jack a young Irish American and his story about falling in love with a girl. Nothing really original, but there are parts of the book that are heart warming I will admit. 

In my opinion the characters are very unrealistic, especially Odessa the girl Jack falls in love with. She is very flat, and boring. The most interesting thing about her is how pious she is, and even that gets annoying at times. She is described as being stunningly beautiful, and having no real flaws. Other than the fact that she apologizes a lot. 

There is one other big problem I have with this book, and its the 'instalove." I read this a lot in young adult books, so I am used to it. But that does not mean that I like it. Jack seems to fall in love with this girl instantly, and after knowing each other for only 2 months he thinks about marrying her. Now, I understand that scenarios like that happen in real life. But it's so rare, and when I read it, quite frankly I don't find it very realistic. If you and your partner got married within two months of knowing each other, and are still together, I applaud you.

Setting wise, the book takes place in the states, in December. But even so, I feel like the settings could have been described better. I'm pretty sure the book described almost all of Odessa's clothes or beauty better than some settings. It was hard to immerse yourself in a world that a writer scarcely provides you with.

There are a lot of really cute scenes in the book, I will give it that. I enjoyed reading Odessa's interactions with kids, and with Jack's family. And I find Jack's family to be really interesting as well. I honestly cared more about Jack's family than I did about Jack. 

If you are looking for something light and fluffy, this book is great for that. It reads fast, there are a lot of cute moments, the writing is really pleasant, simple, but pleasant to read. All in all, this is not something I want to read again. It feels like to me it's one of those books you keep on your table, and you just kinda have. 

So, I have released the book back into the wild, and hopefully it finds a reader who will really enjoy it. It just was not a book for me. 

Thunderwoman Review.

So, where do I even begin with this book. Thunderwoman is by Nancy Wood, and I really wish it was something I had heard of much sooner. The book is pretty much a fictionalized telling of mostly the conquest of modern South and Central America by the Spanish. And how Thunderwoman, and Kobili tried to conserve their way of life, and their people.

This book is beautiful, but it is best to go into with an open mind. It begins with the birth of Sayah the daughter of the chieftain, who is Thunderwoman the Creator. And it goes to tell her growing up, and eventually falling in love again with Kobili the shaman of the village. However, dangers are beginning to appear. And of course, the Spanish begin taking over.

If you know a little history or just interested in the Spanish conquest of South America, this book is just amazing to read. This is from the point of view of the natives who lived before the Spanish, and how they tried to resist.

This book does not have a super happy ending, I am warning you now. The book as a whole is very sad. But it's still so incredible to read. It is a little tricky to get into at first, especially because the names are confusing, and there are no quotation marks through the entire book. It can get very hard to follow.

But I found once I got into it, the book was very face paced, and the prose is just beautiful. As well the book includes illustrations by Richard Erodes. These little illustrations are scattered throughout the book, and they are incredible. However, I can see how some people may find them a bit disturbing. I will leave that up to you to decide.

This book is not for everyone, I will say this now. It is a little gory, and disturbing in some places. As well as the book can be very difficult to understand. But at the same time, I feel like people should read it. I feel like the story it tells is very important for us especially those of us in North and South America. It is part of our past. And it's something that shouldn't be erased.

Between each part of the book, there is a poem, and the poem does help the reader understand what is going to happen. However, knowing a bit of history helps a lot too. I'm not saying you need to be an expert in the native civilizations of South America. I'm saying it helps to know about Cortes, and the horrors that the native tribes faced due to Spanish conquest.

This is not an easy book to stomach, but it is still harrowing, but beautiful. I don't know if I would be able to read it again, but certainly I would try. This book is not so much about the characters, but the messages it tells. But the characters are very full too. Sayah's changes through the book are very profound, but we do not get a lot of her husband or much of the other characters in the book.

So if you are looking for a book to make you reflect on the life you've been lucky enough to have, or are interested in reading about long gone native tribes. Then I would totally suggest Thunderwoman, but I suggest it with a warning that if you are sensitive like myself, you'll cry. But all in all, a good read.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. :)

Some Small Changes.

As my reading week comes to a close, I have come to realize I need to make a few changes to my blogging life. No, I will not stop blogging, I love doing this way too much. There is nothing to worry about there. However, I feel like I need to blog less.

I want to give you guys the best content I can, and I am feeling like some of my posts are a little bit rushed. So, instead of posting nearly everyday, I will post twice a week. Tuesdays, and Fridays. Those are the days through the week I have off. So there is more time for me to make higher quality content.

My book reviews will be a little more in-depth, my posts can be a little longer, have more pictures. All of those things. But during my reading weeks, and my time out of school, I'll be able to make more content, and post more often than twice a week. As well as if there is something exciting going on.

Hopefully these little changes will make things easier for you guys to keep up, and for me to keep up as well. If there are any hiatuses I will of course let you know. I hope you all have a wonderful day. And thank you all for being so understanding.

Cecil Welcome to Nightvale Cosplay.

I have been aggressively listening to Welcome to Nightvale, and I did a post about it a while ago. If you want to take a look at it here is the link: link so feel free to read it. Anyway, I had stopped listening to it for a bit, and now, I have gotten back into it.

I listen to way too much of this series, but, I have fallen in love with it. It's funny, and weird, and just all around perfect. So, I decided to cosplay as one of the characters: Cecil. Cecil is the narrator of the podcast. And there is very little known about his personal life, other than he loves Carlos. And come to think of it, I feel myself beginning to fall for perfect Carlos, and his beautiful hair.

Now, there isn't an official design for Cecil, but there are a lot of fan designs. And as I was flipping through them, I realized, I can totally cosplay this. A thing cosplayers say a lot. And so, I debut my first finished cosplay in years.

I generally just used clothes out of my closet,  I was going to do the tattoos, but I didn't want to waste my eyeliner. However, if I decide to do this again, I am so going to get some purple face paint. And possibly purple coloured contacts. As well as try my hand at prop making.

I had so much fun taking these photos. Granted it was just me hanging out at home by myself. I still had so much fun. If you are interested in seeing more of my cosplay life, and cosplay work, follow me on cosplay amino at Prince Basil.

There are also a few extra photos at princeofthefairies.tumblr.com if you want to go check them out as well.


I hope you all have a wonderful day. :)

Travelling Books.

Books just wanna be free. And book crossing does just that. Over the years, I have found two of these wandering books. One was an Agatha Christie novel when I was on exchange in Norway. The other I found just the other day at my college campus. The book is Star Bright A Christmas Story by Andrew M. Creeley.

Book crossing is an organization in which one takes a book, and just set it somewhere for anyone else to pick up. Inside each book is a code, and you go online put in the code, and you can find where the book as travelled. Then you read the book, and set it out in the world again.

You can track the books journey through this link and you can even see what other books people are "catching." It's such a great concept, and I feel really lucky to have caught two books through this program.

To register a book is totally free. All you have to do is register for a code, download the label, and set the book out. This is entirely free. There are different ways to send out the book, either by giving it to someone directly, leaving it somewhere totally random like at a cafe, or at official "book crossing zones".

The "book crossing zone" is just a specific location where a group of people continually drop books for one another. This kind of dropping usually has some organizing behind it. Regardless of how you find the book, finding one is always kinda special. Or at least to me it feels special.

When I finish this book, I will of course be dropping it somewhere for someone else to find. And I think this book may have slipped onto the bottom of this months TBR. I still haven't decided if I am going to review this book, but when I do decide I will let you know.

Thanksgiving Weekend.

Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is in October instead of November like in the states. And this weekend was amazing. It started with a two and a half hour car ride back home from the city, and has ended with the most beautiful nature walk.

Today, my family and I went to the O'Hara Mill. The O'Hara Mill is a pioneer homestead, surrounding it, is a nature conservation area with a bunch of trails. The area is so beautiful, especially now that the leaves are changing colours. It's stunning.

After living in the city for a few months, I begin to miss nature. I miss the stars, and the trees, and the fresh air. I hope to do something like this every time I come home for a holiday. Being in the fresh air is so meditative. I have little else to say, all I have is these stunning photos.

I am rather exited about the rest of my reading week. I have other plans, and I will of course share these adventures with you. 

Tonight, I'll be heating up some apple cider, and sitting out enjoying the stars. Everyone needs a chance to slow down from the busy city life.