Lake Michigan. The dunes are made of the softest sand and some of the most beautiful parks are along the lakeshore. I remember going one winter with some friends and it was probably one of my favorite trips. Honestly, I don’t really remember my friends much, but I remember how crisp the air was. Some of the ice on the lake had cracked and ran into more ice, forming ridges. The night was so silent that you could hear it groaning. For a moment, we were the only people on Earth.

And now, the weather.

Using The Room is cheating. There are only, like, two scenes in the entire movie that make sense according to the plot.

And also, I would have probably gone with the playing catch (with a football, I think) in tuxedos scene.

In case you don’t know, that’s an excerpt from A Pickle for the Knowing Ones by Timothy Dexter, a man known for making terrible financial choices at the right time. For example, he sent coal to Newcastle, which arrived just after miners went on strike, so he made a fortune. His whole life is a farce.

My work calls them knuckle busters. They suck.

I used to have really bad dentist anxiety, so my teeth got pretty bad before I finally saw someone. My dentist prescribed some kind of twilight drug before my procedures, so I could still respond to commands, but I’d have no memory of the event. I’ve had two root canals and the surgeon had me use the same drugs for both procedures. I don’t know if that’s a viable option, but I don’t think I could have done them without.

Otherwise, when you go in for your consult, be honest about your anxiety. If you don’t want to hear the details of the procedure, tell them that. They have to inform you of risks, but they don’t have to go into detail about the procedure. I brought in headphones, which helped me calm down until the drugs kicked in, though, oddly, I can remember the music I woke up to and not much else. I was so scared in the days leading up to the first procedure, but the pain relief was so great that I’m glad I did it. If nothing else, focus on that.

QAnon, apparently.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or linguistic relativity, just in case that was bothering you.

You mean a poozooka?

The movie (that I literally didn’t know existed until right this moment) is based on a novel by Anne Rice, under the pen name Anne Rampling.

She also wrote a series of BDSM novels about Sleeping Beauty under the pen name A. N. Roquelaure.

The Venture Bros. had an entire episode about this and it was excellent.

I think that this is from the episode where she’s possessed by a Pah-wraith and it’s showing O’Brien that it can kill Keiko at any time.

Formerly known as QAnon Anonymous, they’re a podcast that started out covering Q-related conspiracies, but have since expanded into general conspiracies and far-right rhetoric. The hosts are also non-tankie leftists, which makes the show even more appealing to me.

She’s in Science of Identity Foundation and I believe pretty close to the leader. QAA has a two part episode about it and her.

Definitely in Michigan. It was one of the only parts of my speech that never disappeared after living in Texas for a decade.

Preacher by Garth Ennis, who also wrote The Boys.

It’s going to blow their minds when they learn about the Volga trade route or the Varangian Guard or the Viking raids on Muslim Spain or…

He’s been fostering another chick since May or June!

He’s fostering another chick this year!

If you’re going to plant it, plant it in a pot first, then bury the pot up to the lip. It will stay mostly contained and you won’t see the pot unless you’re right on top of it. Mint reproduces through runners as well as by seeds and the runners are so much harder to control. If you bury the entire pot, it makes it easier for the runners to escape, which is why you want that little bit of lip above ground.