So...You Haven't Posted In Over A Month....

*coughs* 

I have been pretty absent from the world of blogging lately, and it seems as if I begin every post saying something to that extent. I have a tag on my list of posts to write, I have movies that need to be reviewed, and the world is so much in turmoil that I could potentially write a "serious" post about how I view current events and such living in Michigan, where so many things are going on. 

But instead, I just binge The Clone Wars...

Oh well, there are worse things. I have never watched the series before, so it's nice to see something new, I suppose! I wasn't totally sold watching the first few episodes, but they are growing on me! And I'm already a quarter of the way through the second season! My husband and I are also watching The Adventures of Merlin, which is thoroughly fun. As a blogger, I've heard TONS about the show, but never actually sat down and watched it, and, well, quarantine is full of opportunities! It's quite fun--I could criticize its faults, but I prefer to enjoy the escapades, silliness, and melodrama, rather than dismiss it. Also, it's a great source of memes and hilarity. 

Anyway. 

What else have I been up to that has distracted me from blogging so much?? Well...since the public libraries are closed, I haven't been working, but I did finish a rewrite of my novel and I am starting to send out query letters to literary agents! It's exciting, scary, and a bit nerve-wracking...but I'm trying to be calm and positive about it. I have a tendency to plummet to the depths of despair at rejection, but as I was researching traditional publishing/agents, I have learned that rejection is normal and if an agent sends you packing, it's probably for your own good; it wasn't meant to be. I probably won't make any progress for months, but it doesn't hurt to try! 

As far as writing goes, that's about all that I've been doing. I'm planning to work on my Honors College senior thesis in June, so you'll probably hear about that, but most novels are paused except for jotting down ideas/notes, and for working on agents/queries. 

With that being said, I would love to hear any ideas for further posts this summer! I PROMISE I will get around to finishing up the last post I was tagged for, and I would really like to review The Rise of Skywalker or maybe Merlin once I've finished it. I'm also thinking of doing an "Ask Me Anything" post next month, but I am eagerly seeking out new ideas! I hope you are well...and I shall leave you now to tag yourself as a Pride and Prejudice character in quarantine: 

2019 So Far: Wedding Plans, Final Exams, And What To Do When Someone Buys You An Egg Cooker

Sorry about that really long title, folks. But it kind of sums up what I've been doing for the past several months, and I think it's time to give you a "lately" post...I'm about due for one.

Life has been....a little bit crazy over the past few months and let me tell you, planning a wedding is...well, it's more work than it sounds like. Or at least, more work than I thought it would be. But it's all good work, so that's the important thing! Since that's probably the most exciting thing that has been going on for me, I'll talk about wedding planning and such first:

Me when trying to plan decorations for my wedding

No, I shouldn't complain. Things are actually going quite well! The whole event is coming together slowly but surely, with LOTS of help from my family and my squad of girls who are always there to help out. :) It's crazy, but all of a sudden May is almost done and there are less than 2 months till the actual wedding! How did that happen? I sound like an old woman, but wow, time is going really fast. Plus, I don't actually know how to plan a wedding...I'm the first in my family to be married, so we've never done this before. *nervous laughter*

I did have a couple of lovely showers thrown for me, which was great! I am a terrible introvert, which makes me DETEST being the center of attention at a party, which, well, at a bridal shower, you can't really avoid. But, thankfully, I am blessed with lots of great friends and family who are Much More extroverted than I am and who can mediate between me and...*ominous pause*...socializing.

But it actually all went very well, I'm pleased to report. And I added a new and excellent possession to the list of kitchen supplies that were gifted to us...it's called an egg cooker, and it looks something like this: 

I know, I know, I had my doubts too. It kinda looks like a spaceship or something...like from Jimmy Neutron. We were so curious about how it worked that we tried it out the evening of the shower, actually!! And it works! It works very well, cooks a great hard-boiled egg. We still aren't sure what the spaceship's cockpit is for other than a handle to open up the lid, but hey, it's still a great and newfangled contraption. I approve. 

ANYWAY, in things mostly unrelated to showers and wedding planning, I have successfully finished my 2nd year of college, halfway to being done with my bachelor's degree. (Woop woop!) Nothing VERY exciting happened, and exams are over. I'm very thankful to have a few months off. Though I did have one class held in Meadowbrook Hall, the old estate that was owned by the woman who founded my university. Now THAT was pretty cool. 

Meadowbrook Hall, as I approach for my class...

I have been working two days a week at our local library and still enjoying it immensely--it's a great job for me I think; it fits me well. I found this Absolute Gem of a DVD while I was shelving one day. 

Isn't that just the coolest and most up-to-date thing you've ever seen????? 

As far as writing, reading, and movies go: 

I have finished the final edit of my second book, and am working on formatting stuff, hopefully to be able to self-publish through Amazon this summer (however, I plan to wait till after I'm married so I can publish it after my name is changed). I wrote this flash fiction mainly for my creative writing course at school. 

I went to see Endgame the night after it opened, and we finished basically all the movies in the MCU (here's my post about that) before seeing that. I also reviewed The Greatest Showman, saw How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (which I'm planning to review after I see it once more), and finished up the Pirates of the Caribbean series (which I hope to review sometime in the future as well). 

Reading? Well, ha, I have discovered that now that I don't have to go to school and do homework, I have SO MUCH free time!!! It's great...I've already read the Ascendance Trilogy (by Jennifer Nielsen, and maybe I'll review that eventually), The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I'm working on The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. 

Anyhoo. that has been my life lately...just thought it was about time for a "recently" post. I hope that everyone's springtime is going well! :D If you all have any ideas for posts that you would like to see me write this summer, then please let me know! :) I'm hoping that I'll have some time this summer to post a few things that aren't just wedding pictures! :P 

And now, I shall leave you with an inspiring quote from Pooh Bear: 

In Which Anna Discovers a Scammer and Completely Destroys Them

So the other day, I got a Messenger text from an old family friend who I am friends with on Facebook. I thought it was a little weird, no preliminary pleasantries or reminiscing, just a blunt "How are you doing?" I also thought it was weird that her messenger account (*I am leaving all real names and info out, for privacy's sake*) said it was linked with a phone number, not with a FB account, which...well, she's a friend of mine on there so it wouldn't make sense for her account to not be linked to FB. Anyway. I responded with a wary, "I'm doing well, how are you all?" Then this happened: 

Already I was pretty sure this was fake. For one, it doesn't sound like her "voice" at all, and for another...well, anyone knows that people randomly offering money are usually scammers. So I decided to play along for a while.

Now, at this point I decided to mess with the scammer by asking the same of the supposed person's son--whose name and nickname me and my family all know. So: 

There was no response for this for a day, which made me sad. But then the person replied!!!! So I referenced a fake person named "Josh" (which was obviously completely made up, but of course only I knew that).

NOW I started laughing. Angie????? Really???? You need question marks after telling me your own son's name????? Is that the BEST you can do?  Honestly, even *I* would be a better scammer than you! But I kept playing along. (And his name isn't Angie, by the way.) 

(Just so y'all know, I did NOT try the number, I was just playing along.)

By this point I knew that if I didn't say I texted the number then they would really suspect, so I typed out a lecture for them and ended the conversation with an appropriately devastating gif (which doesn't work in screenshots of course, so I added it for your benefit). 

Sorry for this random post, but I thought it was an interesting event, and it's also a PSA. If someone ever offers you money or something like that over the phone/online...well, do your research. If anything, ANYTHING seems the slightest bit fishy about it, then it's probably just fake. And if you want to use my spiel and tell them that they have been "Loki'd"--by all means do it! ;D 

"She's Just About to Close Up the Library!" and Other Summer Happenings

Hello, everyone! Since it is summer, I am out of school, and, well, it's summer, you were bound to get a "lately" post. And here it is! I have tried to organize my ridiculous, rambling goings-on into several categories. I apologize in advance for an Extremely Dull post, but, hey...you kind of knew it was coming. :D So here we go! 

Lately, I have been...

Working:

When people ask where I see myself in ten years, I can now just show them this picture...:P 

Hence the title of this post, I have recently gotten a job at my local library, which, so far, I am really loving! It's a quiet, calm atmosphere (usually), I love books/movies, and I am learning so much about libraries in general. It's a small place, and the best part is that it's not working retail. I don't have to deal, at least for the most part, with all the angry customers, credit cards that don't work, and disgruntled holiday shoppers. So far I really like it, and I'm very happy there. I get to work in relative quiet and peace, with not too much to distract me from my job.  Oh, but I must share the worst library joke ever with you! When I'm going through the children's section, all the books have the first two letters of the author's last name on them (so, Dr. Seuss would be SE, Mo Willems WI, etc.).  When I get to the H section, I just can't help myself from grinning.  This section is the most hilarious section of the library, I think to myself as I read HAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHIHIHIHIHOHOHOHO.  

Okay, I guess I deserve that head shake, Mr. Knightley. But still. You've got to admit it was a pretty good joke.

Going (on Vacation): 

Our family has gone on a couple short vacations this summer. Instead of our usual week-long Upper Peninsula visit, we went down to Kentucky, to visit Mammoth Caves, for several days. It was really lovely, and the caves were totally amazing. I left feeling, as a writer, so inspired--the caves got my imagination going, and I was blown away. 412 mapped miles underground in those caves. 412! It's really incredible. 

Historic graffiti in Mammoth Caves! 

We also went up north to the city of Tawas for a few days, visiting some relatives who were kind and generous enough to let us camp out in their yard. It was great to see them again, to spend time on the water (and get terribly sunburned, cough cough), to ride the speedboat and just relax for a few days. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I always love being up there.

A small waterfall at Iargo Springs near Tawas, MI

A butterfly on the shore of Lake Huron

And some corn...:D Just for fun

Watching (and some of these were slightly filtered on Clearplay; I have marked those with an asterisk, and, for the sake of brevity, rated the movies out of 5 stars--also these are all the things that I HAVE NOT seen before this summer): 

The Incredibles 2 (2018): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003): ⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): ⭐⭐

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thor (2011): ⭐⭐⭐

The Avengers (2012): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Coco (2017): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (don't mind admitting that this made me sob like a baby...)

Lark Rise to Candleford, Seasons 1 and 2: ⭐⭐⭐...and a half... I would give it four...maybe. I have mixed feelings and I can't really rate it until I finish the series. 

Swallows and Amazons (2016): ⭐⭐ (I can't do half stars but I would only give it one and a half.) 

Reading: 

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers: I am liking this so far, it has a Sherlock Holmes vibe, which is good...I haven't finished it, but so far I like it. 

I am helping proofread/advance read my cousin's book over email, and enjoying it! (She is also an authoress, and we have always sort of...inspired each other. Here is a link to her first published book!) We grew up together and there are so many things that we just understand each other about. So we have always proofread each others' writing, at least, most of it.

Listening (Disclaimer: Not all the bands whose songs I listen to are bands/artists that I support in any way, liking or listening to one song does not mean I like the rest of their music, or even that I interpret their songs the same way that they do, or even that I agree with everything in their songs.  Also, this isn't ALL the music that I listen to...these are just some of the most notable songs, the ones that have most been stuck in my head lately...):

U2: Beautiful Day, Seconds

Coldplay (their videos are super confusing--artsy and kind of weird...): Up & Up, Paradise, Sky Full of Stars, Everglow

The Police: King of Pain

Interstellar Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer
Burlap to Cashmere: The Other Country 

Writing: 

Working on the final edit and proofreading of the second book in my trilogy...my dad has been reading it aloud (ACK) to our family, which is both terrible and wonderful. Terrible, because it hurts me So Bad and is somewhat awkward to listen to, having your siblings criticize every single word, wonderful because I catch every little mistake that way. I'm hoping to get that book done and published at the latest by Christmas this year. 

Typing my sixth book, which is chronologically about fifteen years before the trilogy happens, and is the third prequel I wrote (yes, I realize that I did it like Star Wars, but I'M SORRY okay?)

Brainstorming and writing a book with my dear cousin, or trying to, at least.  We are co-authoring it, but I can't tell you much about it...because that's a secret. :D It's great fun, though!  

Does making collages and aesthetics count as "writing?" Because if so...I have been doing that. They're mostly heinous, because I can't find a good program to make them the way I want, but they work. Oh, that brings me to ask if anyone happens to know of a good, free program/software for making/editing photo collages and things? Because if you do, I shall be forever in your debt. :) 

Doing: 

Spending lots of time with my family and friends, playing games, playing backyard soccer with my cousins...eating tasty food and in general just resting and preparing myself for this next school year. Ya know, just bee-bopping around...(hee hee) and enjoying the time that I have left to sleep in.  I have had some very wonderful times with the people I know and I am always thankful for the great group of family/friends that I have. It has been a restful, pleasant summer so far, and, though I don't really *want* to go back to school, I know that it can't be avoided. But that's not for 22 days yet! I've still got time.  

Wow, I have really no good way to wrap this up, and that was really rather boring....anyhoo, since I don't have a good way to wrap up, I will just say... 

What have you been up to this summer? 

Have you ever visited Mammoth Caves or Tawas?

Do you like/dislike any of the movies, music, or books I mentioned?

Do you have a nice hat? 

Let me know in the comments!