As a chronically online 19 year old and someone who needs background noise for just about anything, I consume a lot of media. Here’s the games, books, movies, tv shows and YouTube channels I consumed.
I – Games
Having finished Uni quite early, I currently have a lot of time on my hands. Time that, last month, I used to play the sims and Disney Dreamlight Valley. Both of which I have in and out phases of finding them entertaining, which I think is quite common. I’ll play the game intently for 3 or 4 weeks straight and then won’t touch it for a month or two.
The Sims for me is very therapeutic, It’s calming – most of the time – and its mindless. It also makes time pass very quickly which was exactly what I wanted. Some people don’t understand the the enjoyment and I honestly couldn’t explain it. It actually kind of odd if you think about it. It’s a life simulator, but most people never make themselves, build houses they would never live in, and do things they would never do. But then is that the point? To experience the unimaginable through fake little characters on a screen that you can control? To become the werewolf or mermaid or vampire you always wanted to be? Either way, it’s fun and I’ve been playing it since 2019 so I’m very acquainted.
Disney Dreamlight is a similar concept but you have less control over what happens. It’s a good time waster and a decent break from the sims because instead of having to chose the pathway of each individual character in an elaborate story, you play as yourself and complete quests to develop relationships with other characters and complete the storyline.
The graphics of both games are very pleasing to me, I prefer this semi-cartoonish look to the realism that they try to go for in other games. Overall I just like playing games as a time passer, even tried to play F1 23, was very bad, crashed lots and wouldn’t really claim to have ‘consumed’ it as a media so it only gets a mention.
II – Books
June’s reading list was a bit spotted and speckled, it had a mixture of non fiction, poetry and romance. A bit like shopping for fruit, wine and a mystery skincare item.
I started and finished ‘Cowboy’ by Kandace Siobhan Walker as a part of a poetry book swap with a friend from Uni. Her debut collection felt a bit like someone whispering secrets into a tin can and the end of a string. I was sad to part with this book after reading and annotating it because it was just so good. It was elliptical, sensual, and sharp enough to cut paper. She makes so many comments and arguments about neurodivergence, sexuality and girlhood that just makes any girl my age feel seen and heard. I might have to get a second copy for myself because this was a 5 star.
I also started reading ‘Come Ride With Me’ by Simone Soltani — a romance that unfolds like a long drive with a stranger who might just change your whole internal weather. I can’t say much about this book since I’m only 90 pages in but so far so good. The main characters are witty and funny, and their first encounter had me in giggles one second and mouth-open shocked the next.
The last book I started in June was ‘Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution & the Female Animal’ by Lucy Cooke — a science book with claws. She talks about the zoological aspect of what it means to be a female in the animal kingdom, correcting myths on evolution and calling out the male scientists that chose to ignore the complex beauty that is the female form. Again, I can’t say much because I’m not that far in yet but I have high hopes for this book.
Movies / Tv –
This was, unexpectedly, the month of Jeremy Clarkson. I watched Clarkson’s Farm Season 4 and The Grand Tour. The man just has a charm that works perfectly as background noise.
‘Clarkson’s Farm’ was unexpectedly tender. There’s something disarming about seeing a man yell at cows while trying to save his soil. It’s actually the first season of the show I’ve watched and thankfully you don’t really have to have watched the earlier seasons to figure out what’s going on. I love the personalities of everyone involved and – hot take – I admire everything he’s doing for British farming. His farm has been a bit of a controversial topic, but I think that his mission to only sell British grown products and all the awareness he’s brought to the struggles of British farming is incredible. Increased awareness always puts the government in a difficult position which is exactly what we want if there’s a chance at policy reform, but even then, it probably won’t be enough. Either way, I think its amazing all that he’s tried to do and people need to give him less hassle for making a profit from all the awareness he’s raising, because at least he’s doing something. Plus if you watch the show he spends a lot of money on this farm so he can’t be making that much profit.
I also rewatched ‘Bob’s Burgers’, my comfort show of choice. There is no problem in my life that cannot be temporarily softened by the basic animation style and funny little scripts. It’s good background noise, funny, easy to follow, and occasionally actually gets kinda deep with the messaging.
And then there was ‘The French Dispatch’ — viewed not for the first time, but with renewed appreciation every time. Wes Anderson’s little museum of melancholy and whimsy felt more relevant than ever. I watched it slowly, like sipping tea in a room full of strangers who all secretly know your favorite poem.
Some films you watch.
Others you inhabit.
The Internet –
This month’s YouTube consumption was a patchwork of low-stakes joy and long-form parasocial companionship.
Life with Hope offered gentle, blurry domesticity — perfectly imperfect mornings, quiet skincare, confessions made in bedrooms lit only by fairy lights. It’s not about watching someone’s life; it’s about remembering how to romanticize your own. I especially love her pocket and regular filofax, they’re so pretty that I want to make my own, hopefully she’ll come out with some kind of tutorial as to how she got it to look that way.
Lilsimsie continued to scream her way through builds in The Sims 4, occasionally unleashing chaos upon unsuspecting digital families. I watch a lot of her videos, there’s just something about her big energy that’s oddly calming.
Sydney Graham and Amazingishgrace both delivered content that made me want to rearrange my furniture, re-curate my bookshelf, and journal in cursive. They are archivists of soft-girl living — content creators who make “being alive and slightly tired” look like a spiritual aesthetic and I’m always here for it.
Wrap-up –
June was a month of curated joy — games played in quiet hours, books started with hope, shows rewatched like comfort food reheated just right.
Nothing revolutionary happened.
But something important did.
In the midst of deadlines, long-distance longing, and uneven weather, I made time to delight.
And perhaps that is enough.
See you in July. Bring snacks
xoxo Sara