So, tomorrow is May. I’d ask how that happened, but life is like that. For us planner and journal people, this becomes one of the highlights, because it means new themes, chances to play with our pretty things, etc. For this month, the theme is easy: Mermay. Mermaids. I love mermaids. Back when I was but a wee princess, someone gave me a book of British folklore, from the UK. We had a few family friends who were from the UK, so it may be from one of them. I was probably ahead of my peers when it came to knowing the difference between mermaids, sirens, and selkies. Also the whole manatee theory (yes, that is a nod to How I Met Your Mother. Still love the show, apart from the ending.) I don’t remember the name of the standup comic (likely from the UK as well) who talked about finding an old fur coat in the attic, then her dad got mad and nobody ever saw her mom again, but I very much got the joke. If you know, you know.

I am doodling more these days, largely when whatever is going on in my brain says “absolutely not” to sleep. That means time to watch some scripted drama and slap some shapes and colors on the page. I can sort of doodle mermaids, as in the tail half at the top or bottom (or side, come to think of it) going out of frame. We will see how that goes as the month progresses. Back when I was a teen, I used to doodle a lot more, often faces, not with any great detail, but it was fun and maybe a good thing to bring back into my repertoire.

So, tomorrow is May. I’d ask how that happened, but life is like that. For us planner and journal people, this becomes one of the highlights, because it means new themes, chances to play with our pretty things, etc. For this month, the theme is easy: Mermay. Mermaids. I love mermaids. Back when I was but a wee princess, someone gave me a book of British folklore, from the UK. We had a few family friends who were from the UK, so it may be from one of them. I was probably ahead of my peers when it came to knowing the difference between mermaids, sirens, and selkies. Also the whole manatee theory (yes, that is a nod to How I Met Your Mother. Still love the show, apart from the ending.) I don’t remember the name of the standup comic (likely from the UK as well) who talked about finding an old fur coat in the attic, then her dad got mad and nobody ever saw her mom again, but I very much got the joke. If you know, you know.

I am doodling more these days, largely when whatever is going on in my brain says “absolutely not” to sleep. That means time to watch some scripted drama and slap some shapes and colors on the page. I can sort of doodle mermaids, as in the tail half at the top or bottom (or side, come to think of it) going out of frame. We will see how that goes as the month progresses. Back when I was a teen, I used to doodle a lot more, often faces, not with any great detail, but it was fun and maybe a good thing to bring back into my repertoire.

Reading is, thankfully, back, which means May is a great time to take another look at some sort of reading journal…of which I have no idea how I want to set up. Probably watch a bunch of videos how other people do such things, make a couple of false starts and then hit my stride. Things usually work like that. My current romance read is Just in Time For a Highlander, by Gwyn Cready, the first in her Sirens of the Scottish Border series (nope, no mermaids, just time travel.) I love that the historical period in her time travels appears to almost always be the eighteenth century, but a little disappointed that there are no new titles since 2016. I am happy that I correctly guessed the heroines in the second two books, so looking forward to those.

Perhaps what has me most excited for May is that one of my top tier favorite historical romance and gothic authors, Aola Vandergriff, sadly no longer with us is now on Kindle Unlimited. Since some of her titles are very hard to find, and pricey, this is very, very, very good news for those interested in finally getting to read those. I have House of the Dancing Dead preordered for a May 8th release. Yes, I am excited. Yes, I will be dropping everything else to read this as soon as it arrives on my device. I also plan to reread the author’s Wyndspelle and McCleod Daughters series, historical gothic, and American historical romance saga, respectably. Probably all of her books, to be honest, because she is one of my top top top favorites and it has been a while.

That’s about it for today. I have a planner to prep for the new month, and Netflix and art journal sounds wreally really good right now. What are your plans for May?