Sunday Musings |
Last week was fairly normal and one thing that kinda threw a curveball at me was Pinterest. I love Pinterest, personally and for the blogging promotion. But the new algorithm has changed quite a bit and my numbers have fallen drastically in the past few days.
Normally, I would not have bothered but not knowing why it was happening is frustrating. I am working on it and have to check how this fall affecting my site traffic.
What I read this week
I am currently reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and I am loving it. I didn’t expect to like it as much and I was quite intimidated to read it. There will be a review shortly.
I am also between two manuscripts that I am commissioned for beta reading. Quite loving the change.
What I watched this week
Continuing my last week’s attempt to reduce TV binging, I spent only a few hours on watching TV.
I finished watching Line of Duty, a British investigative shop and alternating it with an episode or two of Community.
On my blog
In case you missed out on some of my posts last week, here is a quick recap.
My June 2020 – An Update: Sunday Musings #82
Here is a review of Normal People by Sally Rooney
On Wednesday I discussed the 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging
A quick round of quiz on Can Find The Famous Authors?
I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme.
Around the blogosphere
Woohoo, I found some fabulous book blog posts last week. Here are some gems for your eyes.
I loved the post from Valerie on being a better ally on her blog Wellness & Wanderlust.
If you are a fan of “if you like this book, you will like that book” idea, then you should check out Wendy’s Book like this one.
Every book blogger should read about how much book blogging paid post from Angel at Avd Reader.
From the Insta-world
Feel free to show some love to my Instagram posts, pretty please.
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Let us chat
How seriously do you take your traffic statistics? Are you on Pinterest and did this current change in algorithm affect you? Let us talk.
Sunday Musings |
Usually I am a quick learner, but I spent quite a large part of the last two weeks of June 2020 trying to figure out the free opt-in email subscription on MailChimp and failed spectacularly.
It is not much about being unable to get it working, as much as it is about my ego, I guess. I mean ‘how can this happen to me’, you know? I would appreciate any help at all in getting it running.
What app or technology got the best of you? Tell me so that I would not feel so bad and miserable alone.
Quick June 2020 updates
On the other news, I still have not got my laptop back from the service center and I am not sure when that is going to be, given the CoVid situation.
Yet another month rolls by and we are six months into 2020. And things are crazy as they were in the beginning. Here is a quick recap of the month.
- I have been getting up at least an earlier than usual almost every day in June 2020 to catch up on some deep work and it has been doing wonders for my productivity.
- Talking about my obsession with productivity, I am writing a series on the blog on the subject of personal development and a better you. Let me know what do you think of it.
- I will remember June 2020 as the month I whined, complained and felt helpless about the computer. Usually,I am not one for complaining but I realized how dependent my work and I were on a working computer. I can’t wait for the nightmare to end.
- On the brighter side, the UAE has removed most of the restrictions regarding movement with respect to the Corona Virus pandemic. And things are still under control here. I am happy that people adhere to social distancing and hygiene rules, for most part.
- At the same time, the stories back from my home, India are scary. I can understand if it were due to literacy and education, but it seems like the problems of stupidity and sheer arrogance. Well, thanks to your stories from the other parts of the developed world (I am looking at the USA and the UK), I know it is not an Indian thing!
- June 2020 has been really testing my patience and making furious with the world in general. But one thing that kept my flickering hope alive was the increasing number of people talking and supporting the BLM and LGBTQ movement online and joining the protests in person.
What I read this month:
While my reading was slightly less than average, I loved everything I read. I am really hard to please reader, so this is a huge deal. How many have you read?
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Normal People by Sally Rooney
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Lord Edgware dies by Agatha Christie
What I watched this month:
Last month (May) I spent a lot of time in front of TV and lagged behind the work due to that, so I reduced the number of hours I watch TV consciously. It worked mostly. Here are the ones that I loved watching.
- Line of Duty S1 and S2
- Community S4 and S5
- Fargo S1 and S2
On my blog
I had an excellent blog post line up in June 2020 as well. In case you missed my posts, here is a quick recap.
Book Reviews from June 2020
Sunday personal posts from the month
Blogging discussion posts from June 2020
Other discussion posts from the month
I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme.
From the Insta-world
Oh here are some pictures I posted on my Instagram. Share some love, will you?
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Let us chat
How was your June 2020? What worked well and what didn’t? I can’t wait to read about your month and more. Let us talk.
Sunday Musings |
Remember my laptop was making weird noises a while ago, and then it subdued? Well, that didn’t last long. I had to send it for a repair last week and I am making do with an old laptop for now.
It has been a learning curve but it works for now. But damn, I miss my laptop very much, especially because a number of keys don’t work in this one.
And I hear it is going to take another 2 weeks to get it back, no thanks to the CoCid situation. Sigh.
What I read this week
I know I had been talking about reading Daisy Jones and the Six for more than two weeks now and I finished it this week finally.
And not just that, I also finished Lord Edgaware dies by Agatha Christie, read as a part of the ClassicsNChristie book club.
Not bad eh? That brings a total of books on this year’s reading scale. And this is how my A to Z reading challenge looks like now.
What I watched this week
As I was saying last week, I am keeping the Netflix viewing to the minimal. Each day this week I watched
- Community season five two episodes or less
- Line of Duty one season
There is something about the Brit thrillers right? I love them.
On my blog
I am quite happy how the week turned out on the blog. Here is a recap in case you missed out the buzz.
How To Finish What You Start: Stop Being A Serial Starter
Book Blogging Is More Than ‘Just For Fun’
Poet X, The by Elizabeth Acevedo – Book review
Solar eclipse 2020: Sunday Musings #80
I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme.
From the Insta-world
And my week was fairly active on Instagram too. Go take a looksie.
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Let us chat
What was your week like? What are you currently reading and watching? Let us talk.
Sunday Musings |
In today’s exciting news, parts of Asia and Africa currently are witnessing solar eclipse. It is the first solar eclipse of 2020. Some parts of the countries like Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman will be able to spot an annular eclipse aka ring of fire, and other parts will have partial eclipse.
We, Indians, have so many beliefs and traditions for everything and eclipses are no different. While some of them are just humbug, some of those “rules” do make sense even today.
Indian traditions for solar eclipse
Some of the things that we follow during solar eclipse are:
- We are not allowed to go out.
- We are not allowed to eat or drink. In fact, we stop our intake at least 2 hours before the eclipse begins.
- We are also supposed to take a bath after the eclipse ends and wash all the clothes and things we touched during the period.
- We also pray and meditate during the period.
As I said some of them make sense, some don’t. But we do what we do. Anyway, happy solar eclipse 2020 I guess? LOL.
On the other news, happy father’s day everyone! How are you celebrating it?
What I read this week
I am loving reading Daisy Jones and the Six. Everyone recommended me to get the audiobook, but I didn’t.
Now I keep worrying if that would mess the experience. Well, it didn’t. Anyway tell me what I am missing by not getting the audiobook.
What I watched this week
This week am trying a new thing: reducing binge watching. I watched lesser than an hour each day this week and it worked perfectly.
This week I have been watching few episodes of Community season 3.
I hope I can keep up with this new routine for a bit.
On my blog
In case you had missed any of the posts on Elgee Writes, here is a recap
How To Be More Productive In Life: Tips To Getting Things Done
Can Beta Readers Steal Your Work?
Review of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
How Are You Holding Up?: Sunday Musings #79
Around the blogosphere
Here are some of the posts I enjoyed during the week and I wanted to share.
I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme.
Pin me!
Let us chat
What are you doing for Father’s day? Are you witnessing the solar eclipse 2020? Do you have some rituals related to solar eclipse? Let us talk.
Sunday Musings |
Last week I was on a call with a couple of Middle Eastern bloggers and Instagrammers on the topic of ‘BLM and what can we do about it’. One of the members mentioned that she was feeling hopeful, because she is seeing so many people talking about it for the first time.
Do you feel that way? I am feeling more and more helpless as I read the tweets and videos. Yes, there is an occasional spark of hope – like when the Kpop fans broke the ‘White lives Matter’ app, but then it ebbs out.
A few days ago I was speaking to Evelina about racism and casteism in Indian society and I was emotional wreck all through it, because even my own circle of family and friends refuses to accept it.
The irony is that it is the same group of people that posts about BLM and how bad Trump is, all the while completely ignoring the news on how a Dalit teen was killed by 4 men for entering into a place of worship, just last week. But of course it is a fake news!
What I read this week
On the other news, I finished reading Normal People by Sally Roone and I loved it.
I am currently reading Daisy Jones And the Six.
What I watched this week
I am currently watching Fargo and I am loving it. It is definitely slow but it is gripping. And knowing that it is a true story makes it all the more interesting.
The stranger by Harlen Coben was ok but kinda predictable. Blame it on me for having watched/ read too many thrillers now.
On my blog
In case you had missed any of the posts on Elgee Writes, here is a recap
Part 3 of my Summary Of Atomic Habits by James Clear
How Using Instagram For Books And Reading Changed My Life
Book review on Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
May 2020 Updates: Sunday Musings #78
I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme.
From the Insta-world
Here is a quick look into what I posted on Instagram last week. If you like what you see, consider following me on Instagram.
Pin me!
Let us chat
How has your week been? How do you keep yourself positive? Are you hopeful or is it a disaster for you too? Let us talk.