What an eventful month June was.
And just like that, we’re halfway through the year and I am still struggling to find time to rest and work on my goals at the same time.
I’ve spent two weekends in my hometown (closer to nature) in June. The first one was the very first weekend of June, a long weekend due to Pentecost Monday, which is a public holiday in Hungary. I also had Friday off, so I’ve had a a four day weekend. It coincided with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, although I couldn’t have Thursday off as well, so I only half-followed the first day (Trooping the Colour) on social media while at work. I followed everything else real time though, I loved the Jubilee Party at the Palace, and enjoyed the Jubilee Pageant as well. I think you don’t have to be British, or even an anglophile like me to be inspired by HM’s lifetime of service. Whenever I see her these days, I just wish I could be like this at 96 in all ways (jsyk, I plan to live to 100 at least).
The second weekend of June was an annual book event in Budapest, held in one of the most famous squares in the city center with all the publishers present with so many books and authors at one place. I just love the vibes of these events so much. I visited on Saturday, came home with some new books (just to fit in a small gap I happened to have on my shelf), and then went out again to celebrate two friends’ birthdays. It was a great day and night meeting up with friends.
The third weekend I went home again to celebrate my mother’s birthday (yes, June is always full of birthdays and cake eating, what can I say…) and again spend some time away from the city noise. The fourth weekend was also planned to be busy (I was so excited about the Night of Museums after skipping it the last few years first due to travels, then due to Covid), but then I decided to stay at home and sleep. Next year…
I’ve read four and a half books in June, and I am also six books ahead with my 2022 Reading Challenge on Goodreads. At this rate I am going to be done with it before the summer is over, which is impressive, even for me. The first read this month was a real Hungarian classic, by one of my favourite Hungarian authors. Whenever I feel like I’ve had too much light reading (chick lit, thrillers, etc.) I need to go back at least a hundred years, this one didn’t disappoint. The second one was a monthly book club pick, that surprised me in a lot of good ways. Then another light read for a booktuber’s monthly reading that I enjoyed very much. The third one was the book I’ve probably had on my shelf for the longest time. I decided to read through my unread shelf this year, and so glad I finally checked off this one. And the half one is a non-fiction, psychological read. It is therapeutic and so-so hard to read at the same time, and a long one too, so it will linger on to another month at least, but I love it and I’m learning so much from it.
There were several podcasts/videos about relevant topics I enjoyed this month. I listened to this new addition to the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law about The Laws of War Today by Helen Durham. Then two recommendations for Hungarian speakers: this lecture was recorded in May, but I only saw it in June about questions of international law related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict (and here’s another on this topic for English speakers). The other one in Hungarian is this conversation about the war in Ukraine that I listened to in podcast format.
As for watching movies/TV, I performed poorly once again, I managed to watch three (3) episodes of Bridgerton this month. I know most people binged the whole season in one or two sittings, I just can’t find the time. I did a little better in listening to music though, I kept listening to Beyonce’s new song on repeat. Also, I’ve never been a huge Taylor Swift fan, but her new song she wrote for the Where the Crawdads Sing movie made it quick to the repeat part of my Spotify liked songs playlist as well, for a while at least. I read the book when it was a Reese’s Book Club pick, and can’t wait for the movie too. Also, has anybody seen Mariah’s surprise appearance at the BET Awards?
I’ll start July with a week off, so hopefully I’m going to be able to finally catch some breath and organize my stuff. Amazingly, it seems like the more tired I am the more ideas for new projects come to mind. It’s like I kept thinking that taking on more tasks would cure my chronic exhaustion. Let’s hope July will bring on less bad news too.
