Monthly HapPENings: April

So it's May, which I guess means that it's time for another Monthly HapPENings post. I'm gonna try to keep this one shorter, as I've been pretty tired and sore the last few days and I feel as though I haven't really relaxed in a while. I apologize in advance if I come off as . . . I dunno, brusque or something. Not my intention.

A couple of highlights of the month were a staff outing I went on and Easter weekend. For a few weeks, I planned an event for all the staff at my workplace. One of my managers helped out a lot to put it all together. In the end, there were only, like, eleven of us who attended, but it was still super fun. We went to a place that had bowling, laser tag, and a restaurant. (I had a pulled pork sandwich with a milkshake, in case you're wondering.)

Something funny happened during the bowling. We got two lanes for an hour, and I was absolutely killing it in the first game. I got spare after spare and beat everyone else. When it was my turn to start the second game, one of my coworkers whispered under her breath, "Gutterball."

"Excuse me?" I asked as I turned around. "What'd you just say?"

"Oh, nothing," she said with an innocent smile on her face. I take my turn--and I get a gutterball. Then another. Each and every turn, I get one gutterball after another. Meanwhile, everyone else thinks this is hilarious, and the instigator and a second girl who joined her in the chant of "Gutterball" are dying laughing. I ended up with only nine points by the time the game ended. It was probably the best part of the entire evening.

Easter weekend was pretty great. On Friday, my sisters went for a long walk and stopped for ice cream along the way. Much hilarity and goofy antics ensued, and it was just an all-around fun time--save for the sore legs after. I had a Jack and Jill shower to attend on Saturday, and a family gathering on Sunday. While they were fine, I would've preferred to have more of the weekend to myself. I hope that'll be the case on the May long.

Bookish HapPENings

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So I have mixed feelings about this book, and the Dominion Trilogy in general. I slogged through the first one and got very little enjoyment out of it. I dreaded reading this one, but I will admit, it was better in some ways. It held my attention better than Relentless did, and I enjoyed it a lot more overall. However, it still suffered from some of the same problems, such as too many named characters, especially insignificant ones; some characters are just used as convenient cameras for the readers for some scenes; too much dialogue at times with no action in between; some scenes were told instead of shown instead of vice versa; and others that aren't coming to mind at the moment. Hopefully Merciless will avoid these issues!

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I don't often read graphic novels, but this Amulet series caught my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed the first installment! While the art style is pretty simple most of the time, it doesn't detract from the story at all, and some scenes/characters look super cool. This was a quick and interesting read for me, and I am definitely gonna keep reading these books.

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I picked up this book for two reasons: one, the back of the book snagged my attention by using just a few sentences, and two, Eoin Colfer--author of Artemis Fowl--enjoyed it. The book had me laughing to myself already in chapter one, and I knew it was going to be fantastic . . . and it is! I was blown by Kevin's debut novel. It's full of action, intrigue, great characters, and humor that appeals to me. This was a near-perfect book for me. There are a few jokes that target the male crotch, but aside from that, this was one of the best novels I've read this year. And it's the first in a series, no less!

HapPENings on the Screen

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Tracey and I watched this on the Sunday of the opening weekend, and OH. MY. BRICKING. GOSH. What a phenomenal end to a phenomenal decade of films. This movie was everything I wanted and more. Heck, it was everything I didn't know I wanted! If you don't think this was one of the greatest Marvel movies of all time--or even just one of the greatest movies of all time--I will fight you so hard.

We watched this in the D-BOX, and while it wasn't as utilized as it was when I saw Aquaman, it was still a great extra feature, especially during the final battle. Also, the audience I was with was spectacular. Everyone clapped and cheered at some stuff, or sat in heavy silence during other scenes (you'd hear a few sniffles around you at times). Even one dude whispering "Oh sh*t" near the beginning of the film just added to that experience.

Honestly, this was mind-blowing and incredible in every sense of the word. It makes me wanna collect and rewatch the entire MCU.

On Good Friday, my mom and dad had to step out in the evening, so my sisters and I watched a couple of TV episodes. It'd been forever since I watched Once, but so far, S4 just isn't living up to the first half of S3. The current villainess is not only immodest in her attire, but also twice as annoying the one in the latter half of S3. I really wish they'd focus more on characters like Hook, Emma, David, and Mary Margaret, while keeping Regina and Gold as anti-heroes and having antagonists who are actually interesting like Pan was. I do hope things get better, but I fear they'll just get worse in the long run . . .

We also watched the first episode of S4 of The Flash, which I personally found a lot more enjoyable. It was still as good to me as it was when I first watched it by myself. I'm curious what the villain's going to be like, since this is the first time we're getting one who is not a speedster.

Gaming HapPENings

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The other day, Chloe, Kaitlyn, and I decided to play some more Kirby's Return to Dream Land together. The result was a fun time with lots of laughing and bantering, and maybe a bit of button-mashing as well. Even though this title is several years old by now, it still looks very appealing, and remains one of my all-time favorite games. In our time playing, we did some wacky stuff. Chloe jumped into a fire block while I was riding on top of her, making me lose my ability; we had a crazy battle with a genie by the name of Mr. Dooter; I controlled a giant snowball that destroyed a few large sand castles on the beach while taking my sisters along for the ride; and we played a minigame where we threw ninja stars at targets. It was all a total blast!

All three of my sisters and I also did some Wii Party minigames and a few rounds of Super Smash Bros. Brawl one day. Again, more fun, more laughter. On top of that, I did a lot of Breath of the Wild. Just last Tuesday, when I stayed home sick, I fought and killed a Stalnox, Lynel, Molduga, a Guardian, and a Talus . . . all in one play session. I'm honestly surprised that I didn't even die once, thanks to a couple fairies and one handy special ability.

Writerly HapPENings

In case you missed it, I participated in Camp NaNo last month, and it went super well. Not only did I surpass my goal of 900 minutes, I also ended up with 12,446 words written. I'm super proud of the progress I made, and I learned some stuff from the whole experience. I seem to do better with time goals rather than word count goals. Even though I didn't write as much during NaNo, I enjoyed the time I spent writing a lot more during Camp. It's easier to write consistently when you're doing thirty minutes a day versus having to write 1.6k. I think I've finally found a rhythm that suits me, and I'm quite pleased about that.

Okay, I'm done now. How was your month? Did you have a good Easter weekend? Did you participate in Camp NaNo? Have you seen Endgame yet? Do tell all in the comments!