One Final Summer Song /// Music Monday #83

 Well, well, guess it's time for another one of these.

We've got one more summery song before returning to our regularly scheduled programming, and it is . . .

"Starshine Beach Galaxy" from Super Mario Galaxy 2

Composed by Mahito Yokota

I could scarcely believe it when I found out that in the three years I've run this blog, I haven't shared a single song from either one of the Galaxy games. It's crazy! They've got some of my favorite soundtracks in the entire Mario franchise. (We need a proper Galaxy 3 on Switch, please and thanks, Nintendo, with the graphics of Odyssey and the music of the first two games.)

For some reason, this song gives me serious Super Mario Sunshine vibes--maybe because Starshine Beach is tropical and beachy with music to match, and is inhabited by Piantas. And wouldn't you believe it, I just looked up this galaxy on the Super Mario Wiki to make sure that I spelled Piantas correct, to find that there are indeed many similarities to Sunshine. Hooray for my associative brain!

There's just something about the Galaxy soundtracks that I can't get enough of. It's like their . . . musical vibe, for lack of a better term. It's so perfect! Like, this song makes me happy and nostalgic, which probably stems from fond memories of playing Galaxy 2. Now I want nothing more than to pick up the game again and play to my heart's content. Some people give it flack for supposedly being all of Nintendo's leftover galaxy ideas from Galaxy, but I think that's a load of crock. To me, it's better than the first game, but that could be because I played it/owned it first.

Also, can I explore with this music playing? Like, I'll go to a cozy, charming port town, walking along the pier, exploring the markets, eating fresh fruit . . . or I can play this when I go to New Zealand to meet my friends. That'd also fit really well. As I said, these games have perfect scores.

And that does it for today's post! Was the song a good addition to our collection of summery tracks this year? Have you played the Galaxy games? Which is your favorite, if you have?

To the Beach! /// Music Monday #82

 All right, you know the drill at this point. And if you don't, where in the world have you been for the last 81 of these posts over the course of three years?

Our song for today is . . .

"Summer (Tropicala)" from Stardew Valley

Composed by ConcernedApe

If you don't know anything about the game Stardew Valley, think of it as a mix between a farm simulator and Animal Crossing, but with less anthropomorphic animals. It's such a relaxing, fun experience, whether you're playing by yourself or with a friend. You plant and cultivate different crops based on the season, form relationships with the townsfolk, hunt monsters in the mine, and more.

One thing that makes this game so relaxing is its soundtrack. The original developer of the game, ConcernedApe (whose real name is Eric Barone and who was later joined by game publisher/developer Chucklefish), composed the entire soundtrack himself. The game was inspired by Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, Rune Factory, Minecraft, and Terraria. You can not only see that inspiration in the game, but you can also hear it.

If you ever need a chill soundtrack to throw in, this is an excellent example, as proven by today's track. It's fun and upbeat, with that beach overtone to it, but it's also super relaxing. I don't know what exact quality of the music causes it to be that way; all I know is that I love, and that I can sleep to it.

Just picture it now: you're at the beach, the warm sun overhead, water splashing against the sand. You're either swimming and enjoying the cool water, or you're laughing with your friends while you play a game of beach volleyball. Or maybe you're more like me and you're tanning on a blanket, reading a book. This song seems to fit that whole scenario. It honestly makes me wanna live this out.

And that's all I've gotta say! What'd you think of the music? Have you played Stardew Valley? Have you gone to the beach at all this year?

Monthly HapPENings: July

Wait . . . it's July already? How? Why?

Life has been a bit of a mixed bag this past month. There've been great moments, not-so-great moments, and a whole lot of meh. At work, we've been required to wear masks for our entire shift, which has been horrible for my jaw. I try to generally be positive on here, but honestly, every day with this pain seems to push me a little more to the breaking point. So I'm trying to figure out what needs to be done to avoid that.

Other than that . . . there really hasn't been much. My sisters and I had a lovely evening a couple of weeks ago, where we went out for a bit of shopping, supper, a walk in the park (which wasn't a complete walk in the park thanks to the mosquitoes), and got froyo. My family went to the beach for a few hours, which was all right (I'm not the biggest beach fan). I've also had online hangouts with Preston and Megan, which are always some of the greatest highlights of the week. But I really can't recall what else I did. Can't have been too interesting.

Bookish HapPENings

Aaand we're back to what is apparently the norm: finishing no books. Maybe I'll be able to finish one or two in August--but no promises. I did, however, finally receive my copies of the Havok Season 2 anthology, so that was great. Feels like it hasn't fully set in that I'm a published author now, and I don't know when it will.

HapPENings on the Screen

I'm watching so many shows these days, I think I need to be a little more choosy about which ones I talk about. I might have to make some of the blurbs a bit shorter too. Anyway, let's get to it!

AGH. AVATAR IS SO FREAKING GOOD. I could honestly leave it there and that would cover all of my thoughts, but f'real. In actuality, I can't talk much about where I'm at because there'd be a lot of major spoilers. I just know the conclusion to this show is gonna be epic, and you can't convince me otherwise. Do yourself a favor and watch this if you haven't yet. You won't regret it.

I have now finished S2 of MHA (yes, I technically finished it on August 4th, but it's close enough), and WOW. What a finish that was! My predictions so far for the show have tended to be wrong, but I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. Just means it's keeping me on my toes! I'm looking forward to seeing how the Two Heroes movie picks things up . . .

OH. MY. FLIPPING. GOSH. I AM OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP WITH ATTACK ON TITAN. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MYSELF UNTIL S4 DROPS?!

Ahem. S3 was absolutely phenomenal and mind-blowing--not that the other seasons haven't been, but . . . you know what I mean! I have theories about what's gonna go down in the final season, and trust me when I say none of them are good. I can hardly contain myself, though! I really need to progress in the show with someone else so that I can spill all my thoughts and ideas.

Tower of God is one of those shows that I highly suspected I'd enjoy, and yet I'm still surprised by just how much I'm enjoying it. The visuals and the animation style feel very different from the other anime I'm currently watching. Considering how long the Webtoon is, I don't expect to get any sort of resolution of any kind from the ending of S1. Guess I'll have to see what happens!

One of my friends recommended Ergo Proxy to me, and it's been very interesting so far. I found it confusing at first, but it's slowly making more sense. I still have many unanswered questions, though at least in this case I know I'm guaranteed to get some sort of proper ending, seeing as the show is only one season long. I just hope the main characters, Re-l and Vincent, will be able to catch a break at some point.

Gaming HapPENings

I'll go through seasons where I basically play just one game that I'm really into. That game this time around is Dream Team, which has captured my attention like it never has before. Everything about it screams fun. The visuals, the concepts, the battles, the music, the plot--it all blends together in this perfect mix. If it keeps it up, it could be an equally favorite Mario & Luigi game to Bowser's Inside Story. And let me tell you, that game was pretty legendary. So I'm quite excited to see how not only the plot goes down, but also what the remaining gameplay has to offer.

Writerly HapPENings

I wrote absolutely nothing, which I expected. I haven't been in the right headspace or been feeling creatively energized enough for it lately. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it at some point and feel good about doing so.

Sorry if isn't a great post, but like I said, haven't been really feeling like writing for a while now. (I also apologize if there's any weird formatting. Blogger was giving me issues.) How was your July? Do anything fun and exciting?