August 2021 Monthly Round Up

August has come and gone. I don’t know about you dear readers but, for us here at Our Muchness Guide, August flew by. The month was jam packed with work, work and more work. We enjoyed a number of new titles on Disney+ and even got to do some gaming in our down time! But before we welcome September with open arms, our social lives can get a bit more back to normal by seeing friends we haven’t seen in over a year and going to gigs again, we need to list our favourite things from August! 

Book of the Month

E: Mythos by Stephen Fry is a fantastic re-telling of Greek mythology plus I’m staying on brand reading a book about my masters subject too.

N: I started reading Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy again. ‘Wither’ the first book in this series is my month’s pick. The series is set in the future. 

Movie & TV

TV Show Picks

N: Disney Plus struck gold again this month thanks to Marvel’s What If? If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it. It’s a very interesting concept and some fun episodes so far of some of my favourite characters. 

E: Have to agree with Niamh, ‘What if…?’ really is a fantastic show and each episode is a canon multiverse universe which I love!

Good Movie Recommendation: 

E: The Suicide Squad – By far a better use of the Suicide Squad idea with a better storyline and use of the characters. Idris Elba was a great addition and King Shark is the best! Nom noms.

N: Saltwater – Matt Damon’s newest movie which, I was honestly surprised by how good it was. Don’t judge it on the trailer, it does nothing for what the movie is all about. Interesting twists and one of Matt’s best performances in recent years in my opinion.

Cheesy Bad Movie Recommendation:

E: Den Brother – Don’t ask me why I watched it but I did and, oh my lord, it was so bad that it was comical.

N: For the month that was. I’m dedicating this month’s cheesy movie pick to: The Kissing Booth series. They are so bad that they are cheesily good!  

Gaming Picks 

E: If you couldn’t guess, I love the Tomb Raider series and this month I’ve started ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ and I’m loving it.

N: With a glitch in our hard drive, I started Kingdom Hearts III again. Loving starting the adventure again and even upped the difficulty this time! 

Music 

Single of the Month

E: Kiss My (Uh Oh) by Annemarie & Little Mix is an amazing song. Lately, anything Little Mix has been involved in has been on repeat in my playlist and Kiss My (Uh Oh) is no different. 

N: Luz ‘permanent+1’. Can Luz bring out a song that doesn’t resonate with me on a personal level? Probably not! ‘Permanent+1’ is my favourite song by her. I won’t spoil the story that song tells but, I would urge everyone to give it a listen.

Album/EP of the Month 

E: ‘Meanwhile EP’ by the Gorillaz. It may be only three tracks long but it is still an amazing EP and very different to a majority of the music I’ve been listening to lately.

N:  Emma blackery ‘Girl In A Box’. Emma’s second album came out last Friday, trust me when I say it was well worth the wait. One aspect of Emma’s music I always adore is how brutally honest she is with her lyrics. ‘Girl In A Box’ is a mature sound from this amazing artist who deserves a lot of new listeners from this stunning album! As the album title suggests, I’d love to see anyone put Emma’s music in a box as she uses different genres throughout this album! 

Favourite Things

Favourite Thing About August

E: That my summer contract is over and I can get back to focusing on things I enjoy like, maybe, the blog I write.

N: It was a tough month personally so, I am happy how fast it passed by. Here’s to the last few months of 2021 being amazing!

Favourite Item of the Month

E: The F1 app on my phone because I followed the live time sheets for FP 1, 2, 3 and qualifying on it while I was “focused” on my work but also the calculator on my phone that saved my sorry ass from figuring out simple sums on my fingers and making the company look bad in front of customers (I can barely add and subtract on a good day).

N: Cook books! Primarily vegan where possible and mostly vegetarian at the moment (not by choice). So, I have been diving into new recipes and hoping for the best! 

Moment of the Month

E: Receiving a voucher for a local coffee shop from an elderly customer who was just really grateful that I was so patient with her. Unexpected but such a kind gesture. 

N: Winning a competition I didn’t know I had even entered but, turns out all the person’s followers had been entered into it. I just got lucky I guess.

Your Quote of the Month

E: ‘Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.’

N: ‘Plant seeds of happiness, hope, success, and love; it will all come back to you in abundance. This is the law of nature.’ Steve Maraboli. 

Three things you are most excited about for September? 

E: September is my summer break. I work hard for the summer and September is my opportunity to reset, recharge and catch up on what I missed while I was working. We have gigs coming up and one is more unexpected than the rest but gigs are always something to be excited about. And, on top of all that, we get to see our girls from around the country (they kept me sane during all the lockdowns over the last 18 months) for the first time in ages!

N: I cannot wait for the reunion with a number of my friends. We haven’t seen each other in over a year and a half; it is going to be emotional! Gigs! Roisin O is kicking the month off right and it will be my first gig back since March 2020. Lastly, I’ve booked some time off work, I should be looking forward to the recharge but, I’ve appointments, gigs and catch up time planned with Emma!