marching away from march | a wrap-up

Hello people! Are you healthy and well? How's your social distancing and self-quarantine going? Have you gone mad yet because you can't go out? For me personally, I'm okay with staying home all day (read: nerdy introvert) because I'm with my family and during this hard time for literally everyone around the world, it's everything I need (besides foods, internet and other basic needs, of course). It'll be nicer if my little brothers will shut up for a few minutes during the day, though.

Books read in March...

○ Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo

○ Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO) by Rick Riordan

Six of Crows duology is one of the most acclaimed series in the book community and now that I've finished the second book, I totally see why. The plot and writing are top-notch and you can't help but love and root for the characters not just as a group but also as individuals. I love that the readers get to know the backstories for each of the characters and learn why they are the way that they are.

March unexpectedly became the month of reading fantasies for me, as I literally started devouring Percy Jackson and the Olympians right after I finished Crooked Kingdom. I didn't even expect to finish Crooked Kingdom on March but I ended up finishing a whole series after Crooked Kingdom. Bored during quarantine? Totally not me. When I told my friends that I haven't read PJO, the gif below mirrors my friends' literal reactions.

Grateful for that, though. PJO was a fantastic series. It's written for middle-grade but me, a teenager on the verge of turning into an adult (am I a young adult?) also enjoyed it very much. The writing style was easily understandable and the plot was simple, not really complicated but intriguing enough to keep me reading which was the exact reasons I devoured the series in a very short period of time. My favourite thing about this series was the funny narrating style and the fun experience of learning how human the Greek Gods actually are. I am so excited to start reading Heroes of Olympus which is the sequel series for PJO but my brain is still exhausted from reading too much adventure so maybe next month.

Watched & currently watching...

○ I finally finished Victorious! I didn't get to watch it when I was younger because my mom decided that any cartoon/kids channels beside TVIQ and Astro Ceria would be distracting for my siblings and me haha. I had so much fun watching it, I laughed a lot and the show was a total stress reliever. My roommates must've looked at me like I was insane every time I laughed out loud (I swear I tried to suppress my laugh) watching it but because I watch comedy pretty much all the time, they probably got used to it already. For the first half of March, since I was eager to finish it, I watched the show pretty much all the time. I watched it while having my breakfast, while I did my ironing, lunchtime, dinner time, basically whenever I had free time. It's sad that they ended it after only 4 seasons, though. It was a pretty hanging ending for me.

Happy 10th Year to Victorious!

○ I haven't finish Peaky Blinders yet but I finished watching the first season and it was really great. The start kinda felt like meh but as I watched it, the show started to grow on me and I started to root for Tommy and the gang. I started watching this show as I was reading Crooked Kingdom and both of these are bandits-kind of stories which I was loving at that moment. It was violent, though, and it was shown kinda explicitly, not too violent for me but violent enough for me to skip those scenes. It was bloody but I love Tommy so the next seasons are definitely on my list to watch.

Currently watching: Crash Landing On You, Memories of Alhambra

Music that played in my head 24/7 
(basically, a fangirl rants)

○ CALM by 5 Seconds of Summer
CALM was incredible. It made me cry thinking how the members have grown up so much from singing about a girl who looks perfect standing there in their American Apparel underwear to acknowledging how crappy people they were in the past towards the people they love, promising that they're changing and asking for second chances to give the people they love their best. It wasn't their best album (Sounds Good Feels Good) or my favourite album (Youngblood) but my favourite 5sos song is definitely from this album.

○ Kid Krow by Conan Gray
I started watching Conan's Youtube video in 2016 when my younger brother introduced me to him, my brother was such a huge fan of Conan's big mess of curly hair back then and I've never stopped following him ever since. So yes, watching him grow from singing, recording and editing in his room to this loved "gen-z's ascendant king of sad boy pop" singer (billboard's word) was another semi-emotional moment for me. Kid Krow had me sobbing on my bed after dancing and dance again and sob again, it was an emotional roller-coaster journey. I'm definitely rooting for whatever he has next.

○ Cherry by Harry Styles
So I literally woke up one day and "don't you call him baby" played in my mind and never stop playing ever since.

Some life updates

○The first half of March was actually good. With my first lab of the second semester and another field trip which was absolutely fun, life was treating me real good. My friends and I got to hangout lesser than we did in February but we weren't too busy to chat and catch up.

The field trip was held before the RMO and even then we took precautions very seriously (wore mask, stayed clean and used hand sanitizer all the time, etc.) in case if you think the field trip was during RMO.

○Life had been literally chaotic lately. With all the quizzes, assignments, labs, exams, classes that are postponed and some other assignments that need to be submitted right after this RMO ends, my anxiety is at its peak. And don't even get me started about how anxious I am about COVID-19. The first few days after going back home from uni, I literally isolate myself in my room and go out only when I really need to because I was afraid that I carried something bad from uni but alhamdulillah, I'm very much fine and so is my family.

○My uni postponed our second half of the semester to June, which means I'm having my semester break earlier. The next semester will start two weeks after this semester's final exam ends, 2020 is going to feel like so much longer than 366 days.

Just a PSA, wherever you are, please stay safe and be careful. Stay clean and hygienic and make sure you're social distancing. Don't go out from home if it's not necessary. If you have any symptom, make sure to go and take the test at your nearest clinic/hospital. Be thoughtful of people around you, think of those who are more vulnerable to this pandemic. Stay healthy!

Yoon Se-ri says to wash your hands and STAY HOME