I’m just relieved they finally fucked off with the mobile checkout thing in Canada. They were pushing it so hard for a while there that I dreaded even going into the store. You couldn’t get through checkout without four different employees wanting to explain it to you and asking, “Why not mobile checkout? But you get ten times the points! C’mon, try it!”

I did try it, too. Twice. The first time was confusing, unintuitive, and clunky. The second time was exactly like the first, except it didn’t beep with I had finished paying and the woman at the counter had a heart attack thinking I was running out the door with stolen merchandise. By the time she checked everything and confirmed that I had, I decided those 10X points could fuck off.

Night of the Full Moon is incredible.

You know, it’s kind of horseshit that nobodies story ever sucked so bad that, at the end, they were rejected From The Midnight Society.

They always told an absolute banger, and Sam would give them this knowing smile that said, “You’re in, brother.”

Wow. I’ve never seen this before and I really liked it.

Honestly, that’s on her for not liking the smell of cumin.

Bruh…

Rockstar (2.25), 4pk of Snickers (4.40), Burger King Double Cheeseburger (3.50)… Shit, I went over. I don’t know how I could make any compromises here.

While I don’t have it anymore, for years I had a recurring nightmare about the house I grew up in. There had always been unusual occurrences within, mostly auditory but sometimes visual. Looking back, I was never that spooked about it while living there. I honestly loved that property and have fond memories of growing up among all those old apple trees. But for years after moving out I would dream that I had returned to it, and it was very, very different.

In the dreams the house was dark and full of shadows. Completely devoid of furniture and decor. It was gray, empty, and wholly abandoned. While inside I could feel an overwhelming and foreboding precense. It was this feeling of fear and panic. Pure dread. There was something disturbing there with me as I traveled from room to room, nervously anticipating every new corner as the sun sank low and the shadows grew deeper inside. As the years progressed, I would find the house to be filled with spectral cats that accompanied me throughout, or darted around the rooms inexplicably, sometimes out of the corner of my eye and other times as clear as day. Though I couldn’t quite focus on them, I had the feeling these were all the cats I had owned growing up. Some of them cats I had owned and lost since originally living there. It was as though they were trapped in the purgatory of that haunting, empty dream house, and even though the cats seemed to be full of spunk, there was an immense sadness about them being there.

The dreams occurred with greater frequency into my late 20s-early 30s, until one night I simply stepped inside and realized there was nothing left to fear. Suddenly the house no longer bothered me. It stood still and silent. Cleansed somehow. There were no more shadows, ghostly cats or smothering prescences within. It was as though the both me and the house had been freed.

I haven’t dreamt about that house since, other than a snippet from another unrelated dream, where I found myself briefly gathered with a co-workers family on the back deck, but I didn’t realize where I had been until waking.

I wish I had learned piano. I’ve spent my entire life wishing I would learn piano, but I’m too awkward to book lessons and/or commit to sitting down with an instructor. But as a kid I had a natural ear for playing and could figure out a portion of most songs if I spent enough time poking at the keys. My daughter (4) has been fidgeting with her little keyboard a lot. I’m wondering if we shouldn’t learn together in the future.

I often close my eyes and move my fingers as though I’m playing naturally, and I swear I know where all of the keys are. It’s more than just pretend. It’s like it’s been here all along, but I’ve never honed it. I know that I could play something beautiful if I just fucking tried.

I wish I agreed with this, but every day more forests and fields are knocked down to make room for more shitty subdivisions in my area. The few farmers that have held out and still use their land on the middle of the city are heroes, but I know that within a few decades they will slowly dissappear, as the farmers die and their kids cash in on that appreciated land.

People like Hip Hop because it makes them feel cool for listening to it.

The Zone from the STALKER games disturbed me for years, but I’m such a grizzled veteran of the Zone now that I enjoy being in it. Night is still a little terrifying, though, and I don’t care to use nightvision. Kills the vibe.

I’ve always suspected my wife has this, and I just inquired. She said she can’t picture faces or things, but can recognize them. Her memories are more like feelings. I asked if she were separated from our daughter in an apocalypse, if she could remember what she looked like. She said, “I have no idea what she looks like right now.”

Now she’s in kind of a dark place.

How can you kill a god? What a grand and intoxicating innocence! How could you be so naive? There is no escape. No Recall or Intervention can work in this place. Come. Lay down your weapons. It is not too late for my mercy!

Lately it’s Batter Up, by Brand New.

https://youtu.be/jprzj-nQNpI?si=K3QO8PdvLEbRBkHy

This one is great too. Goodnight California, by Kathleen Edwards:

https://youtu.be/Z92NiX-d-tE?si=YU8wgyP6h70vcM3S

HP Lovecraft’s way of conveying old and decrepit settings, threaded with veins of natural beauty that encompass the horrors lurking within them. He had a particular knack for inspiring imagery that is both vividly moving and unsettling. For a specific example, scope out the first few paragraphs of A Color Out of Space

The first couple of paragraphs of The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath serves as a testiment to the sense of majesty he could impart to the reader, but it was also (in my opinion) the last of his older, flowery, and overly-poetic style of writing before he hit a home run and found a new rhythm with A Colour Out of Space and everything thereafter. I personally was not a huge fan of The Dream Quest, but he certainly knew how to describe a triumphant city.

NOTE: I recently watched the new Color Out of Space film immediately after finishing the short story, and in my opinion the short story is infinitely better. It’s more subtle, much creepier, far more detailed, and takes place 150 years earlier (1880s). It has an entirely different vibe that I found to be far more isolating and less obnoxious than the film.

Lol, I feel like I should have known this one, but at least I’m better equipped for future use.

Whoops.

I bought carpet tape to keep rugs in place on my polished hardwood floors.

There’s a random planet in Mass Effect that is tidally locked, and mentions it’s life exists only in the twilight region. The light side is violently hot, and the dark side is brutally cold. Every time I come across this planet my imagination always goes a little wild, picturing strange alien creatures lumbering about in the cool air beneath a deep purple sky and perpetual sunset. It’s such a cool vibe.