March Playlist

Hello again.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their spring breaks. I am thoroughly happy that spring is here because I really miss the greenery and of course the gardening that comes with it.

I am so sorry for never posting about our third garden, but I think I have a way to incorporate it with whatever we do this year. We have a little nursery in my nephew’s playroom. There is a dresser in there that has enough space to like five containers of various veggies to grow indoors, and my dad put a couple of his LED lights on top of them in the daytime, and they’ve been growing like weeds! It’s absolutely insane on the progress our green beans, lettuce and radishes have been making in the last few days.

Here are some of the early photos my mom took earlier in the month.

• 

• 

I’m definitely looking forward to going outside and hang out with my cats for longer than five to ten minutes top, I’d like to get down and scoot out onto the deck again, I need to get as much exercise as possible–I’m not interested in getting my body into shape. It’s already a shape and I’m okay with it at the moment. All jokes aside, I enjoy being at the cats level. They seem to enjoy it a lot too. Some of them know if I am on the ground, they can get more pets, however, they have yet to figure out I also like to read while on the ground too, and there’s one that usually does not like to see my books. All of us (the cats and myself) are very spoiled but we can’t deny we don’t enjoy it though.

Besides all of the pretty things growing in our house, I’ve been listening to a lot of great music lately.

I have listened to quite a few albums this past month, and with promising results. I started with VÉRITÉ and her new release, “Love You Forever” and I loved this album so much. I absolutely love VÉRITÉ’s moody music, she reminds me of a poppier BANKS. The next album was Pop Evil’s “Skeletons” and that is a really good record. I enjoyed it a lot. And the final “new” releases, Ava McMahon, who was a member of Celtic Woman (I refer her as Eabha as that is her real name in Irish Gaelic) released a new EP called Scéalta this past week and she has a beautiful voice, and even though I don’t know the Gaelic language, it obviously doesn’t stop me from listening to her music.

For some odd reason I get into these spurts where I will focus all of my musical attention on a single artist or band and this month, I was hooked on Asking Alexandria. I was a late bloomer–honestly, I remember hearing about them in 2005-06 with Bring Me The Horizon but I was nowhere near ready for metalcore at that point in my life, so I stayed as far away as possible. And then all of a sudden, Danny left the band and I weirdly got into them with Denis as lead vocalist and I did like him but you can’t replace Danny’s voice though. Nowadays, the whole “metalcore” vibe they had in their days has disappeared, but I love this transformation into hard rock, and it fits with Danny’s voice now and honestly the music they’re creating now is much better, but of course that’s my opinion.

Before I leave you be for the rest of the day (or night), here is my Top 20 for March. If you’d like to check out the rest of the Spotify playlist, click here.

Black Out Days by Phantogram
Grand by Kane Brown
Midnight Sky by Miley Cyrus
Evil by Hollywood Undead
Temporary by VÉRITÉ
Fukk Sleep by A$AP Rocky featuring FKA Twigs
Inside Out by The Chainsmokers featuring Charlee
Let Down by Palisandes
Feel The Waters by Sarah Reeves
Animals – Orchestral Version by Architects
Empire by Beth Crowley
Until the Levee by Joy Williams
Sound of Glory by Pop Evil
See What’s On The Inside by Asking Alexandria
1985 by Bowling For Soup
Already Damned by Crimson Adored featuring Lauren Babic
I’d Do Anything by Simple Plan
What Could Have Been by Sting featuring Ray Chen
I’m Dangerous by The EverLove
Lullaby of Woe by Ashley Serena

What were you listening to this March? Drop your top three favorite tracks in the comments below.

Book Review: “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy

Hello!

I was hesitant to make this book my next review, mostly because this was a fairly popular memoir in the media and I just thought I would be repeating what others have talked about in their reviews, but it just kept bugging me, so, in short, I caved, and I hope that maybe my opinions will inspire you to give this story a chance.

---

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

taken from Goodreads.

---

I love and miss nonfiction books as you might’ve seen with Wednesday’s post. I run on facts mostly it’s weird things but with these kind of books, I generally enjoy learning one’s life up at a certain point. I have read quite a few in the past three years and I’m very proud of that, but I did not expect to say, Santa, I’d like to have “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy for Christmas, but it happened, and they got it for me. It is my first out of seven books I actually on that lovely morning!

When I first saw an advisement for this book, I was somewhat intrigued by the title – it is a very bold statement. I felt like this could be the next “Mommie Dearest” which was another memoir written by Joan Crawford’s daughter, Christina in 1978. I have to say, I’ve never read that book or have any real reason to in the future. Since we’re already comparing stories, I’ll just say right now that I don’t want to read Prince Harry’s “Spare” either. They’ve been talked about so much that there’s no point in it.

“I’m allowed to hate someone else’s dream, even if it’s my reality.

So, what made Jennette’s memoir so different?

The only live-action TV shows I watched on Nickelodeon were All That and Keenan & Kel. So very 90’s of me! The same goes with what was on Disney Channel as well, except for their Original Movies. By the time, Jennette made it on iCarly and Sam & Cat, it was only my sister who would casually watch it. And it’s because of this that I was able to dive into her memoir easier because I didn’t really know her that well.

Jennette’s life wasn’t your ordinary California girl, her home was full of different stages of hell, I’m still shocked she stayed alive all that time. Her mother was a force to be reckoned with and not in a good way. She was put through so much pressure to be everything that her mother told her to be, even if that meant doing stuff she didn’t want to do. like act. She restricted her diet, feeling guilty for eating something otherwise healthy, but then end up with an eating disorder. Life wasn’t about Jennette’s needs as a child, teenager and young adult, everything was about her mother, and I quickly understood the title, because I don’t doubt, she was thrilled to be rid of that kind of monster.

This book also makes you understand how the entertainment industry views young children auditioning for various roles. Jennette never had someone in her corner the whole time, and that is so sad! How many other child actors out there are pushed into acting by an overburdening parent? I hope someday in the future they will have better outreach programs for the young actors, even if it’s a secret thing to help them understand between right and wrong situations involving their families.

Have you read “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy yet? If you have, what were your thoughts on it?

How to Create Aesthetic Playlists for Books.

Hello!

This post will be a little different compared to my book reviews and the monthly playlists, as I am taking my process to create aesthetically pleasing playlists for your current or favorite book(s).

I have been making mixes of music for YEARS! It started while I was in middle school, I would create CDs of my favorite songs of that time and/or mood. I had party, sad, happy, etc CDs in my collection, literally I have more burn CDs than actual artist/band albums. Back then, it was fun to arrange these two-to-three-minute songs in a way that would mimic a soundtrack.

When I was ending my last semester of freshman year, my English teacher made up a hefty final for us. He told us that we were to pick out a book, read it and do at least projects that would feature certain things that take place within the book. We were given a list of different projects we were allowed to do and I was pulled into creating a playlist of songs that I thought would fit the book itself. However, I did one better, I was using a CD-Rom that was called, “Jam Trax” and it was a kid version of what actual music producers use Pro Tools. This was made for children, so it provided you with an array of beats and instruments, but you were allowed to add your own sounds and vocals too. I didn’t just create a soundtrack, I made a score based on the events happening in the book, which was “Sister Spy (Alias #4)” by Laura Peyton Roberts.

Another element to the final was we were also allowed to grade ourselves and I remember giving myself a B-, I didn’t want to be cocky and give myself an A but I also didn’t want to barely pass either, so that’s why I went with a B- because it felt like a fair grade to me. What surprised me was the note I got on the whole thing, “You should have had an A.”

---

Last year, I just had the need to go back to when I created that final project. I was busy reading Melanie Karsak’s first Viking series, “The Road to Valhalla” and I was thinking of various songs that would be aesthetically pleasing; my intention was to do something simple because I was weary whether or not I would continue reading the series, but when I finished the first book, I had a whole playlist that reminded me of certain characters and scenes. I was curious to see what this would be like with the rest of the books and I can tell you, I have 114 songs on it based on all six books.

Here are some advice in creating your own aesthetic playlist based on your current read or maybe a favorite series in the past.

Find the main character’s theme first.

In “The Road to Valhalla” series, we follow Hervor’s quest into finding who her father was and discover the secrets hidden among her family.

One of the things that is important to Hervor is for her love of Odin, who is the main deity, he is like father to all of the Vikings as he represents knowledge and power. He is the Allfather of the Norse mythology.

While I was in the throes of the book, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint the right song that felt Hervor’s theme. It wasn’t until I found like five Vikings playlists on Spotify that I decided to listen to these Old Norse styled songs, and there was one that finally spoke to me. It was Foresaga’s “Allfather” and this has a hauntingly calm about it. I felt a sense of self the first time I listened to it, and I knew this was the way I wanted to start Hervor’s playlist.

I ended up finding a theme for the majority of the characters in the first book. Hervor’s mother Svafa is dealing with what we would call amnesia and I gave her “Imaginary” by Evanescence. For Hervor’s best friend and thrall to the family Eydis, I found “Volva” by Vinnie Camaileri. It is an instrumental of a bunch of shamanism vibes and it fits well with her. Eydis is a devotee of the trickster God Loki, and been known to receive visions from the Gods, and the Vikings word for these types of people are called Volvas.

Focus on key words to help inspire you.

We live in a world where we hashtag a lot of random words, sometimes we include them in ways that will create traffic on that post. Let’s say you are advertising a book you really enjoyed, and oddly enough it’s about the Vikings and their culture and beliefs. You want it to be accessible to certain demographic groups, not just your audience, You need to think about the words to include in the actual post. Here are some easy key words to keep in mind.

• Historical fiction – it is important to include the words “historical fiction” as that category is a very popular type of fiction. You need to remember the terminology as well, because that will definitely help you out too!
  • Vikings
  • Norse Mythology
  • Old Norse
  • Gods & Goddesses: Odin, Freyja, Freyr, Loki, Thor, etc.
  • Scandinavia – Denmark, Greenland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden. They all have their own Viking stories, but it is easier to say “Scandinavia” to keep it simple for you and others.
• Warrior terms – Within the Viking world, you hear a lot about them raiding various cities around the world. They will include both male and female along for the ride. The women that were apart of the scrimmage were called “shield maidens” and they will train their children very early on, They use a mix of different weapons, some are lengendary and others are ordinary to everyday life.
  • Tyrfing – it was a cursed dwarven sword and used amongst Hervor and her father, uncles and grandfather.
  • Steel swords
  • Decoerated shields
  • Bow & arrows
  • Fiire – you have to remember they did have guns, but they knew fire was a handy element, and something else they used was whale oil. They would hunt whales to collect various bones, blubber, and oil for everyday usage.

When it comes to create an aesthetic playlist, it might also be helpful to search for fantasy and medieval playlists on Spotify. This is definitely an easier resource in case you don’t have enough material to work with in the beginning. People have also created their own bookish playlists so don’t deny yourself to have a look on their stuff too. It might also draw out the genre of music you want to use for the entire thing. For the first series, I went with a mixture of cinematic pop artists like Ruelle, FJØRA, Hidden Citizens, but I also included a lot of hard rock bands too, such as Within Temptation, Papa Roach, and Halestorm. However, for the second series “The Shadows of Valhalla” has more artists like Gealdyr, Danheim, Peyton Parrish as they make music in the same way as Foresaga.

Okay, I think I am officially done with this post. I know I gave more than enough of ideas to stir around in your head to probably give you a major headache but go slowly with it. Once you start though, it can be difficult to stop, so that’s my final piece of advice there. If you’d like to check out both of my aesthetic playlists here are the links. The Road to Valhalla and The Shadows of Valhalla. I hope everyone enjoyed learning a bit more about the Viking world past and present.

Have you made an aesthetic playlist before? If so, what was it inspired by and what kind of music did you use for it?

February Playlist

Hello!

For the past two months, I’ve been somewhat out of it. I haven’t wanted to blog at all, and for a time it was purely laziness on my part because I rush to get everything done during Blogmas and I don’t get to enjoy everything that makes the holidays exciting.

Just one little thing….

I’ve had this feeling for about three or four years now. I’ve wanted to stop blogging. There wasn’t anything wrong with my content or schedule, I think it’s me. Maybe it’s time to take a break from everything about Got Meghan’s Blog.

For now, though, I will only be on here every other month and publishing new posts within the last two weeks of each month. I may not even go on for six days, it just might be book reviews and playlists, sometimes you may see other stuff. It’ll be interesting how long this idea lasts, whether I continue blogging or not, I’ll always be around and on my social media too. You can find them on the right side of my site.

---

Within the last two months I’ve listened to an array of albums.

In January, I was thoroughly obsessed with power/symphonic metal band Kamelot’s older records like Epica (2003) and Poetry for the Poisoned (2010) featuring original vocalist Roy Khan. I really love current leader Tommy Karevik’s voice, but I’ve never really given Roy’s voice a chance, so I started going through their past albums, which hasn’t seemed odd now that I’ve seen they are releasing a new album this year, called The Awakening in March, which sounds really cool, so I’m very excited about it!

The second band I was into, was Sleeping With Sirens. I watched the music video of “Let You Down” with Charlotte Sands and I really enjoyed it, and I’ve never been into male vocalists with a falsetto voice, but once I heard that song and then later on I heard the title track of their new album, “Complete Collapse” on SXM Octane, I decided to give it a chance one night where I couldn’t sleep, and I like it. My favorite was “Us” with Dorothy.

For February, I was pulled into two more albums. An old favorite of mine: Xandra, they are a symphonic metal based in The Netherlands, and they recently introduced their new singer, her name is Ambre, and she does both clean and harsh vocals on their album, “The Wonders Still Awaiting” and I actually love this album. Xandria’s been through a hard road, with everchanging vocalists, but I’m glad to see this band pushing through and releasing a brand-new album for their fans.

The final band I’ve been crazy for is I Prevail. Now I’ve liked certain songs from them in the last five years, like “Every Time You Leave” with Delaney Jane. And I heard their songs “Deep End” and “Body Bag” on Octane, and after getting out of the last three bands, I decided to give their album “TRUE POWER” a shot and again, I loved it! I like how you have the harder and up-beat songs at the front of the record and the ballads toward the end. Since they have two separate vocalists, I find this arrangement gives each person a place to showcases their talent fairly.

If you haven’t listened to any of these albums, I highly suggest you do so! I’ve included several songs in my January and February Spotify playlists. If you want to check out the January list, click here. Now, here are my Top 14 songs for this month, and this is your link for that playlist.

Special by Georgi Kay
Queen by Loren Gray
Brooklyn by MALINDA
Hold Me, Help Me by Halocene
Fantasy by Mariah Carey
Black Sheep by Dorothy
Ghetto Supastar (This Is What You Are) by Pras featuring Ol’ Dirity Bastard & Mya
Lost by Linkin Park
Beaver Cage by Butcher Babies
Get There First by Austin Snell
Drowning by Atreyu
Dead Reckoning by Pop Evil featuring Fit For A King
Bad Man by Disburted
The Reason by Hoobastank

As my final note, I wanted to talk to you about one of my favorite bands ever, Linkin Park releasing a new single called “Lost” for the 20th Anniversary for their second album Meteora, and it’s the first song that the band’s released in a long time. Since the passing of Chester Bennington, they’ve been somewhat quiet as a band. Mike Shinoda released a solo album a couple of years ago and it did very well, but all of the LP soldiers wonder how the band will continue and being able to put something like this little gem was beautiful. One thing I thought was interesting in the first time listening to it, was while Chester was doing the second verse, seemed to bring out some emotional feelings for Chester. Did you notice it too?

What were your favorite albums and/or songs for both January and February? Let me know in the cemments!

Royal Baby | A Sibling for August Brooksbank!

Hello everyone!

I am back for another royal baby post; I bet a lot of you out there were wondering when I’d want to discuss all of the possibilities for the Brooksbank family. Honestly, ever since the announcement came out, I had at least four stuck in my mind. I was going to wait until mid-April to say anything about it, but I really wanted to unleash my thoughts in a post, so I hope you are ready for it today!

When I wrote my first list for when Princess Eugenie was pregnant with August, I went with an artistic and literary style, and it looks like I had the right idea, as it is featured in the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio but August in itself can be a royal twist, as the majority of the Hanoverian royals, used “Augustus” (and “Augusta for girls!) before Queen Victoria and her descendants stopped using it in their children, except for the lines in Prussia, Germany, Lichtenstein, etc.

Every part of August’s name is honored by various family members between the former Princess of York and her common born husband Jack Brooksbank. So, when I started to come up with this list, I paid attention to their family trees, but I also wanted to include some things like their recent move to Portugal last year. What kind of names they would have been introduced there. My final objective was to stay in the lines I used when guessing for August too, so I added some interesting, but trendy British names as well.

---

Algernon Christopher Stamp

I recently went through the couple’s family trees. While I was on it, I went back through Sarah Ferguson’s family, and found a few gems, especially Algernon. Algernon Ferguson was the Duchess of York’s grandfather. And like Augustus, it also fell out of favor in the last several years, however, I think it is due to make a comeback as it is so handsome and would go well with Jack’s middle names. I can’t be the only one who thinks August and Algernon as siblings wouldn’t be absolutely adorable, right?

Rafferty Charles Henry

Now let’s say they wanted a totally cute, but laidback type of first name instead. I think Rafferty would be a great gender-neutral contender. I first heard about it back in 2021, at the time I had found like five interesting “R” names, and this was definitely one of my favorites. You could use “Rafe” for a nickname as a child or “Ralph” for an adult sort of name instead, but I find it cute just the way it is.

As for the middle names, I had some issues coming up with anything that would rival to Algernon, but then I thought about the upcoming coronation of Eugene’s uncle, King Charles III. She is still asked to represent the King, Queen consort, and the rest of the Commonweath with her own patrons, so I feel like this would be a nice way to symbolize her love and support than to name her child after him. In the past, Princess Eugenie has had a good relationship with her cousin Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. We don’t know how she and Jack feel about his memoir “Spare” but then again, it isn’t any of our business either; so, they could also add Henry into the mix as well.

---

When I was thinking about girl names, I was thoroughly surprised in the fact that I wasn’t pulled into the realm of female royal names. Don’t get me wrong, later on, I made up for it! Anyways, I was thinking of “Willa” at first as it’s not really high in the various charts, but once I started the collecting process that’s when it quickly disappeared from the lineup. Here is what I am thinking about now.

---

Isabeau Victoria Helena

The name Isabeau is a very old name, but it has roots within the French royals with Isabeau of Bavaria who was the wife of King Charles VI of France in 1385. Isabeau is a great variation on the more popular Isabel/Isabella/Isobel, and since the princess has a goddaughter by the name of Lady Isabella Windsor, I didn’t think “Isabel” would be a great idea, but with this spelling, it feel like this could allow some of the older royal names like Isabeau to come into the 21st Century. I also thought this would be a great way to showcase her love for her grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth too.

Personally, I would love using “Beau” for a nickname would be lovely against her aunt Beatrice and of course older brother Augie.

Now since I used Jack’s middle names with Algernon, I thought it was only fair to lend Eugenie’s middle names with Isabeau and honestly, I find both to be very bold and regal with the additions of “Victoria” and “Helena” as they are driven by the former Duchess of York’s love of Queen Victoria. I really feel like it would be fitting to honor both of these great queens and familial favorites in the York women.

Phoebe Charlotte Beatriz

Okay, let’s get out of the sophisticated names for a minute and imagined the Brooksbank family using a fairly common name for their daughter. The name “Phoebe” was calling out to me a day after the announcement broke and I took it as a sign obviously. Phoebe is an adorable name and has become a favorite to many families lately and I absolutely love it! It’s not that popular with the US couples, but if the Princess would use it for her first daughter, I could see it being added onto the charts.

I think it’s important to remember that the royals love reusing certain names. The name “Edward” has been used twice within the Queen and Prince Philip’s younger children. The Duke of York (Eugenie’s father) was born as “Andrew Albert Christian Edward” and The Earl of Wessex and Forfar was named “Edward Antony Richard Louis.” Fast forward in time, and we have the similar situation with the name “Louis” when The Prince and Princess of Wales were naming their sons, their first is “George Alexander Louis” and youngest was given “Louis Arthur Charles.”

Another name was shared among cousins as both August Brooksbank and Princess Anne’s daughter Zara and her husband Michael Tindall named their son Lucas. They each have the name “Philip” as part of their middle names as The Duke of Edinburgh had died some months before the the birth of his great-grandsons.

I didn’t mean to spiral down like that, but I wanted to explain why it is somewhat popular for the newest generation of royal babies to be named after someone close to them. And with that being said I believe the name of “Charlotte” will be used as a middle name for the Brooksbank family. It is a very beloved name worldwide, and it’s definitely one of my ultimate favorites, but I thought it would be interesting to see it again amongst the lower branches of the royal family.

I read an article last year, about the Brooksbanks had moved to Portugal as Jack had been offered a job and the entire family went with him. So, I thought about honoring their new home and went with the Portuguese variation of Beatriz for Princess Beatrice. The York sisters are very close, so it was a no-brainer to not include it in the post. To be honest, I thought this way was unique compared to the other “Beatrix” as I believe this to be too popular, but then again August is also a favorite too, so I might be wrong with my assumptions anyway.

---

I’ve written over 10 royal baby posts and honestly, I enjoy collecting a bunch of names and seeing how bad or good my guesses are at the end. I am usually wrong, but I keep coming back and creating these posts and I hope anybody that is a fan of the royals or in need of some inspiration for their child’s name, they can check out my other posts and have a hey day with them.

Even though it’s early, do you have any guesses bubbling to the surface? Are you focused on a certain family member or gender? Let me know all of your thoughts in the comments.