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hi, I'm Alice Mae and I haven't got a clue what I'm doing here!

OK, that's actually a bit of an exaggeration. I don't quite know the ins and outs of Dreamwidth, I'm fairly experienced at journalling. I have kept journals since I was a teenager - everything from dear diary, to scrapbook journalling, gratitude jouanlling, reflective, guided... I have shelves of notebooks filled and it always gives me such joy.

I've never shared these thoughts, so the idea of posting it online gives me some sense of apprehension. I need to work out what level of my life I feel comfortable sharing, how deep this is going to go. Time, of course, will tell and the only way to find out is to jump in.

So why am I now choosing to bring my journalling online?
Mostly it's because I'm ~~nosy~~curious about reading others, and it only seems fair for me to do the same. I love people watching, I am endlessly fascinated in the story of human beings, our cultures and the societies we form, and how we interact with each other, within our own societies & cultures and with those from different ones, and with the world around us - there's a reason I have various degrees in anthropology & archaeology (and it's not just because I still want to be either Lara Croft, Sydney Fox, Indiana Jones, Daniel Jackson or Blair Sandburg when I grow up!) I'm looking forward to the opportunity to shares the things that bring me joy, and the chance to get a little glimpse into peoples lives through the things they choose to share genuinely fascinates me!

It also only seems fair to share a little about me. The basic details are I'm Alice Mae, I'm over 30, I'm Welsh and I live in Devon. I'm a white cis-gender bisexual woman and my pronouns are she/her.
My main interests are Egyptology, archaeology, anthropology and folklore (especially Egyptian mythology and witchcraft, and the witch trials of Early Modern Europe (and beyond)).
I have a growing interest in aliens, ufology and the psuedo-history/science of ancient aliens/ancient astronaut theory. No, I have no idea why either, but I've learned to not question random interests - instead I embrace them and see where they go!
I also enjoy reading, crossword puzzles, visiting museums, and am regularly kicked out of coffee shops becase they want to close and I've lost track of time in the back corner!
I am fuelled by copious amounts of caffeine, sugar and heavy metal music.

( Fannish interests are under this cut )

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and welcome to my blog. It's lovely to meet you, please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me a little about yourself (this is obviously not some kind of requirement - it would just be nice to know!).
And, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of igloo and northern lights. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

In your own space, set yourself some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I normally love this time of year and I love goal setting. I love the feeling of fresh and new and it feels like a good time to try something new. Although, mine tend to be goals/targets/things to try, rather than giving things up

But this year, with Da dying and everything that happened around Christmas, I haven't really had time to regroup myself let alone even think about 2024.

Book-wise:
Read 100 books
Try and expand into different genres
Complete at least one of the reading challenges I've signed up for on storygraph
Try to leave a review for every book I read - even if it's just one or two lines
Learn to use Borrowbox because my library is switching to that app for ebooks
Figure out using Instagram and Threads

Life-wise:
Build my emergency fund back up - travel disasters after Christmas almost wiped me out
Restart blogging
Stop using electronics in bed
Go on holiday to Egypt
Start playing Palia again - or a similar cosy game
Look into adopting cats
Decide if I'm actually going to write fanfic - and do it

Current Mood: determined

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of metallic snowflake and ornaments. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

Update your fandom information. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I have updated my sticky post to include some fannish information which basically says 'I love SG-1, especially Jack/Daniel - who I always come back to regardless of what else I start reading - but will read anyone/Daniel, with Daniel on bottom and I enjoy most combinations of Jack/Sam/Daniel. I also love team and gen fic.

I talked a little about the types of books/shows/movies I enjoy, that I read a LOT (my goal for 2024 is 100 books), and my love for heavy metal music.

I'm trying to decide if I need to write anything in my profile - and if so, what? Do I put different information, the same information or some kind of summary?

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock

2023 Reading Stats
Number of books you read: 53 - but I have two books I think I might finish reading today to hit 55!
Number of re-reads: 10
Number of books you DNFed: 0
Number of pages you read: 23,926 pages
Most read genre: fantasy
Number of new-to-you authors you discovered: I lost count somewhere around 28!

Firsts and Lasts
First book you read: The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies by Christopher Scarre
Last book you read: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
First 2023 release you read: A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

My favourite books of the year have been Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow, and The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene by Mark A. Maslin & Simon Lewis

I've only really been reading as an actual hobby for a couple of years, and only started tracking my reading on goodreads and storygraph since the summer. I'm discovering through Threads that there is a entire community of bookish people out there on the internet and I want to try to join them.

I may need to figure out how to write a book review, so I'm off to do some research - and maybe figure out how to use Instagram too!

Current Mood: nerdy

Merry Christmas,
Splendid Winter Solstice,
Cozy Kwanzaa,
Festive Festivus,
Cool Yule,
Happy Hogswatch,
Lucky Litha,
and whatever else you care to celebrate.

Regardless, I hope you all have a pleasant Monday

Current Mood: tired

I don't often wish I could drive, but when I travel back to the wilds of North Wales by train, I really wish I do. It takes me over 6 hours, and 3 changes of train - into Exeter, Exeter-Bristol, Bristol-Newport, then Newport-Flint, followed by a 16 minute taxi drive. And that's when things go smoothly

Of course, travelling over the festive period, things do not go smoothly and I spend closer to 8 hours on trains. I got plenty of reading and napping done, if nothing else. At least one of my cousins picked me up from the train station.

It's going to be a weird Christmas, our first since my Da died. Mam is still grieving and, understandably, doesn't have a lot of festive spirit but I also think she'd struggle more if I wasn't there, even though she's surrounded by the rest of the family. We've never been especially close and losing Da has not brought us any closer.

I'm hoping it's going to be a better week than I think it's going to be, but I'm not holding my breath. It will be nice to see family, and have dinner cooked for me but I'd rather be spending the holidays at home on my own.

There's always next year

Current Mood: stressed

One of the biggest signs for me that I'm feeling more like myself is that I'm reading again. Having barely touched a book in weeks, I've finished 2 in the last week.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
I'm not quite sure I understand the hype for this book. Was it good? yes. Was it amazing? No.
I found the characters poorly conceived and difficult to tell apart - and I didn't care about any of them, I found the story a little predictable and I have no great urge to get the next one

Weyward by Emilia Hart
Wonderful writing and storytelling and a completely gripping book. I loved the characters, and the way the stories of the three women across the centuries was weaved together was done very skillfully

I've also jumped feet first into AO3. I've recently discovered the

stargateficrec community and I'm working my way through some of the various categories and devouring fic. Right now I'm working on the Sam & Daniel friendship fics and finding some lovely gen/team fic

I've also been really enjoying a lot of the Whumptober fics from a few months ago - and it seems Whumpcember is also a thing and a lot more Jack and/or Daniel whump is getting posted which is wonderful.

Current Mood: nerdy
Current Music: Metallica - Until It Sleeps

Hello Dreamwidth

I think I'm actually about ready to come back - it seems I wasn't last time and the internet was still a little Too Much. I've done a combination of avoiding the internet because it's stressful, and some work curating my online experience to protect my mental health and I think I'm starting to recover.

The world is still a dumpster fire, and there have been some things in RL that have been utterly terrible that I'm not ready to talk about. I'm still struggling but I'm medicated, I've done a self-referral to local mental health services, and I have an amazing support network in my closer friends.

I'm starting to notice I'm listening to music again, I picked up a book for the first time in weeks, and I've opened up Dreamwidth again so fingers crossed the light at the end of the tunnel is the exit and not another train hurtling towards me.

Normal service should return shortly but in the meantime - I've just signed up for Threads. I have no idea how to use it, how to find people but if any of you lovely people are using the site, please add me and say hi so I'm not all alone?
https://www.threads.net/@alismaywitch is where you'll find me

Current Mood: hopeful

Thank you for all the well wishes on my previous post, I appreciated them a lot.

I think I'm mostly back to being well. I still get tired very easily, and those first few days back at work, even though I continued to work remotely, were exhausting. I've started back at the office today and I've survived the morning if nothing else.

I think I'm as up-to-date on reading and commenting as I'm going to get which, sadly, is not hugely and I apologise for that. If there's anything important that happened in your lives that you want to tell me about, please do so because I'd love to hear it.

Although, I am trying to avoid the news situations in the world right now, my mental health is a little fragile after being sick and I'm head-in-the-sand for personal reasons, because I know I can't handle it. I also recognise the privileged position I'm in to be able to do that

I think I'm going to draw a line and start afresh today, although I'm still fairly fuzzy brained and not completely sure what I'm going to post about. I'm sure once I get back into the swing of things, get back into the habit of opening up Dreamwidth and seeing what comes out, usual service will resume. But somehow getting re-started feels harder than starting itself did.

Logic says it's because when I started, I didn't know what I was going to talk about. But I seem to find my flow in fandom thoughts and meta, so now I feel like I'm putting more pressure on myself to do that again.

Maybe I just need to watch some more Stargate. How terrible a thing that would be!

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: some cheesy pop love song on the radio in the office

I didn't think I'd read much in September, due to a combination of being sick and because The Priory Of The Orange Tree was such a big book, but it turned out I read 12 books again (4718 pages)

The books I read this month are: The Handbook Of British Archaeology by Roy A. Adkins & Victoria Leitch; The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn; The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune; A Practical Handbook of Archaeology by Christopher Catling; The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna; Landlines by Raynor Winn; Chariots of the Gods? by Erich Von Daniken; The Gods Never Left Us by Erich Von Daniken; The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why Did Foragers Become Farmers? by Graeme Barker; Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman; The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon; and First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies by Peter Bellwood

My book of the month was either The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches of Chariots of the Gods

The top 'moods' of the books I read were 'emotional' and 'reflective'.

64% of them were medium paced, with 27% slow and again only 9% fast paced - do I not like fast paced books?

42% of the books were under 300 pages, 33% were 300-499 pages and 25% of them over 500 pages long

For the second month running, 67% of my read was non-fiction, and only 33% fiction which I find interesting.

My most read genres were again fantasy and history, which is still not a surprise, followed by nature, lgbtqia+ and memoir

I tag the books that I get from the library or through the Libby app, and this month 5 of the books I read (that's 41%) were library loans. I haven't been leaving the house much over the last weeks so it makes sense there were less library books.

Format wise, it was a complete switch from last month with 58% being print and 42% digital

And my average rating was 4.05, with my lowest rating being 3.0 and my highest being 4.5, and it's nice to see that even as I'm continuing to explore different genres and types of book, I still know what I like!

I'm looking forward to seeing where my October reading takes me

Current Mood: nerdy

I wanted to quickly post to apologise for falling off the face of the earth - especially in hilarious timing just after saying I was enjoying being here and would be continuing to blog.

I've been unwell. I caught COVID, for something like the 4th time, and it has hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm still exhausted, fatigued, weak and with a terrible headache but I'm turning the corner and feeling like I'm starting to heal.

It's probably going to be a couple more days before I'm back - and then I'll be updating my goodreads and storygraph with the things I've been reading.

Hope you're all doing ok!

Current Mood: sick

Do any of you use goodreads or storygraph and want to be friends there?
A link to my goodreads, and a link to my storygraph

I don't use any other social media (other than my kink-tumblr) - is there any you recommend I should look at?

Are there any other DW communities you would recommend?

Current Mood: curious

I've been here on Dreamwidth for about 6 weeks right now and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm starting to connect with people which is a little harder than I expected but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I still sometimes overthink what I want to say in reply to someone's post and end up saying nothing. Practice makes perfect though so I'm going to keep working on it, and ask you all to continue to be patient with me.

I didn't have a clear idea of what I was going to write about. I knew this wasn't going to be a diary or daily journal, I have those. I had thought I'd write about my hobbies and interests, but instead this has turned quite fannish and I've been making fairly long rambling posts about things. Meta might be the way this is going and I don't mind that at all. I might look into more about that.

I still want to try turning my hand at writing some fanfiction, but I'm still quite apprehensive there. I don't know if writing about my attempts at writing would be interesting, but I've seen others write about it. A problem shared is a problem halved and all that

I may write a little more about the books I'm reading. I enjoyed seeing the stats for my August writing. I've seen some book-themed link-ups but I'm not sure how interested in those I am, or if anyone else would be either.

So yes, so far so good, I'm enjoying my first attempt at blogging and I think I'll be continuing it!

Current Mood: optimistic

Thank you to

einhornmaedchen for the post idea!

I read 12 books in August (that's 5,868 pages!), and I am loving the fact that one of the tracking website I'm using (thestorygraph.com, highly recommended) gives me stats on everything from mood to genre which I'm going to share because it interests me.

My book of the month was definitely The Once and Future Witches which I've already raved about how beautiful it is so I'll spare you the repeat, but I'm still thinking about it a few weeks later!

The top 'moods' of the books I read were 'reflective' and 'sad'.

55% of them were medium paced, with 36% slow and only 9% fast paced

I somehow managed a perfectly even split between books under 300 pages, books 300-499 pages and books over 500 pages long. I couldn't have done that if I'd tried!

67% of my read was non-fiction, and only 33% fiction which surprised me. I know I read a lot of non-fiction but didn't expect it to be 2/3s of my reading.

My most read genres were fantasy and history, which is not a surprise, followed by LGBTQIA+, thriller, romance, memoir and historical fiction.

I tag the books that I get from the library or through the Libby app, and 6 of the books I read (that's 50%) were library loans. I've been making a more concerted effort to use the library and it's nice to see it paying off
I'm about a miles walk to my nearest library from home, and another mile walk from the office to the city centre library so I've been using both of them.

Format wise, 58% were print and 42% digital - this again surprised me, I thought I read more physical books that digital. Then again, as I've been utilising the Libby app, maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise.

And my average rating was 4.19, with my lowest rating being 3.5 and my highest being 4.5, so it was a month filled with books I enjoyed which is always nice to see!

I'm looking forward to seeing where my September reading takes me

Current Mood: nerdy
Current Music: Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

I mentioned a few posts ago that most of the crushes I get are on fictional characters, and one of the strongest of these is on Daniel Jackson from Stargate. I will accept either James Spader from the movie, or Michael Shanks from SG-1, although my preference is definitely Michael Shanks

He's just this adorably nerdy, passionate, brilliant, caring, snarky and sexy little shit. With the most gorgeous eyes, hair I want to run my fingers through and a jawline that I want to nibble my way along.

Current Mood: silly

The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. Of those located in modern Egypt, most were built as tombs for the country's pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.

The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found at Saqqara, northwest of Memphis, although at least one step-pyramid-like structure has been found at Saqqara, dating to the First Dynasty: Mastaba 3808, which has been attributed to the reign of Pharaoh Anedjib, with inscriptions, and other archaeological remains of the period, suggesting there may have been others. The otherwise earliest among these is the Pyramid of Djoser built c. 2630–2610 BCE during the Third Dynasty. This pyramid and its surrounding complex are generally considered to be the world's oldest monumental structures constructed of dressed masonry

The most famous Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. Several of the Giza pyramids are counted among the largest structures ever built. The Pyramid of Khufu is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence, despite its being the oldest wonder by about 2,000 years

Current Mood: nerdy

Apologies for the radio silence over the last week. I discovered, fell in love with and got dragged head-first into a (new-to-me)TV show.

The show is Leverage. It ran for 5 seasons from 2008 to 2012, and a 2 season revival in 2021. Its a bit Robin Hood-esque and follows a five-person team: Parker a thief, Sophie a grifter, Hardison a hacker, and Eliot a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, who use their skills to carry out heists to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.

From what I understand, a lot of the storylines are based on real events, as are the cons the team pulls. They had actual (reformed?)con artists/pickpockets as consultants on the show as well, which I think is a fantastic detail. Gina Bellman, who plays the grifter Sophie is mindblowing - Sophie plays different characters every episode, often multiple in the same one, with different accents, different body language.

It's produced by Dean Devlin - who was involved in the Stargate movie, and also The Librarians tv show. And Christian Kane, who played Jake Stone in The Librarians, plays Eliot in Leverage. He also has bonus points for not being hard on the eyes. Admittedly, the whole cast is very aesthetically pleasing in various ways.

I found it through fanfiction. I was continuing to explore various kinks on AO3, found a few that related to the show, enjoyed them enough to look the show up. There is so much fanfiction (10,079 on AO3) and I'm enjoying the variety of pairings - although I think my favourite might be the (pretty much canon)OT3 of Hardison/Parker/Eliot.

I know it's a pretty old show now but does anyone else watch it?

Current Mood: geeky

WWW Wednesday was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Taking on a World of Words Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at.

What are you currently reading?

Roy & Lesley Adkins and Victoria Leitch - The Handbook of British Archaeology I only started this one this evening, I'm on page 23 and have read the section on The Palaeolithic Period. It's definitely reminding my why I love the subject, and I remember how useful it was being in sections by time period - made it useful on the go, as well as a reference book.
DK Publishing - Feminism Is... I've been trying to use my local library more, and for reading books that I wouldn't usually read. This is one I picked up using the Libby app. I am loving the straight-forward approach the book has to the topic
Alix E Harrow - The Ten Thousand Doors Of January This is just as beautifully written as The Once and Future Witches, I really feel transported to the magical places the book is taking me

I am typically reading three books at a time - one fiction, one non-fiction, and then a library book that I've picked specifically because I'm trying something new.

What did you recently finish reading?

Alix E Harrow - The Once And Future Witches I completely fell in love with this book within pages. Harrow's writing style is - as mentioned above - just breathtakingly beautiful. It's exquisite and I cannot recommend it enough. Feminism, witchcraft, equality, the symbolism from so many paths and a story I feel everyone can connect with. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me do both at the same time, it made me fall in love over and over and it gave me goosebumps!
Frederick Joseph - The Black Friend: On Being A Better White Person This was exactly as eye-opening and challenging as I expected it to be. I am a decidedly middle-class white cis-gendered woman - it's made me aware of some unconscious biases I have, and made me examine some of the language and assumptions I use/make about people. It did exactly what it was supposed to be have done and made me uncomfortable in the process. It was not an easy read but it was incredibly educational.

What do you think you’ll read next?
The book at the top of each of my three piles are

Christopher Catling - A Practical Handbook of Archaeology
T.J. Klune - The House in the Cerulean Sea
Raynor Winn - The Salt Path

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

I am quite the excited woman today, because I have just discovered that one of my favourite shows is on Amazon Freevee. Relic Hunter. All 3 seasons. If anyone needs me for the next couple of weeks?... try not to LOL

Relic Hunter, for anyone who doesn't know, was a late 90s/early 2000s mystery/fantasy/adventure show that follows the globe-trotting adventures of unorthodox American archaeologist Sydney Fox, and her more reserved British assistant Nigel Bailey. She is a relic hunter who looks for ancient artifacts (which often have supernatural powers or are pieces of unusually advanced technology) to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner.

Most episodes feature Sydney & Nigel travelling around the world at the behest of a museum, private collector or government, hunting for clues in order to find the artifcact. Complications, naturally, occur, often with rival relic hunters, who only want the artifact to sell to the highest bidder, and generally Sydney ends up fighting them with her martial arts prowess. It is then up to Sydney and Nigel to seize the relic and ensure it ends up in the proper hands (such as the rightful owners or a suitable museum).

"They are assisted at their 'home base', a generic American university identified only as Trinity College, by ditzy student secretary Claudia, a spoiled and fashion-conscious daughter of one of the college's major donors. Claudia sometimes plays a vital role in finding the relic and shares witty banter with Nigel. In spite of her general incompetence, she possesses a savant-like ability for organizing unorthodox and creative solutions to travel difficulties that Sydney and Nigel face, in one case arranging for them to sneak over the Angolan border disguised as Catholic missionaries. Claudia occasionally joined Sydney and Nigel in the field, most notably during their quests for Ariadne's ball of twine and Cleopatra's necklace.

Current Mood: excited

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Alice Mae

January 2024

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I'm a slave to the Power of Death

Recent Entries

Sticky: An introductory post

Snowflake Challenge 2024 #2

Snowflake Challenge 2024 #1

2023 Book Survey

Seasons Greetings

Home for the Holidays

On Reading

Threads?

I don't know how you do what you do

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Dear Dreamwidth

August Reading Wrap-up

Crushes on fictional characters

Egyptian Pyramids

We provide... Leverage

WWW Wednesday, 23-August-2023

Sexuality & fictional characters

Relic Hunter