Music

New Post, Who Dis?

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Where does the time go? And the answer is … DEPRESSION! Since the summer, I have really been struggling with focusing on things other than work and scrolling TikTok.

But life has been rolling along.

Work, eat, drink, scroll TikTok, sleep, and maybe cry a little. Rinse. Repeat.

Of note, I crossed over the 54 threshold last October. I am looking forward to hitting the 55 mark later this year because certain businesses set their senior discount age at 55. Yeah. Kinda excited to be closing in on senior discount territory.

I have been to trivia several times since summer ended. Three different teams and three different first-place finishes. This makes me never want to do trivia again because I  now have a big head about always winning. Ha ha. The toughest thing about trivia is coming up with a fun team name.

We Remember O'Malley's
Team “We Remember O’Malley’s”

The Baldy Beardo Cartel
Team “The Baldy Beardo Cartel”

I am most proud of winning the special horror trivia night before Halloween. We only missed one question the entire game.
Three from Hell
Team “Three From Hell”

And, it just dawned on me that I am wearing the exact same thing in all these photos. What the hell?! I swear I have other clothes.

I had a couple of tickets for concerts lined up in January/February. One of the shows got cancelled because we had an ice storm that made traveling stupidly dangerous. I am super bummed that I didn’t get to see Sudan Archives.
SUDAN ARCHIVES Cancelled

But! The Nine Inch Nails show in Charlotte on February 10 went off without a hitch.
NIN Peel It Back Charlotte 2026

I didn’t have any NIN shirts to wear, so, hopefully, dressing in black fit the occasion.
NIN Concert Fit

Speaking of winter weather, we FINALLY got a decent amount of snow a few weekends ago. I measured right at 8″ on the back porch at one point. I wish it snowed here more during the winter. Stupid global warming!
Snow!

I got a wild hair a few weeks ago and bought the stuff to do a cross-stitch project. This pattern is a Twin Peaks-themed owl. It’s an effort to give myself something to focus on other than sitting around staring at the walls or TikTok. The plan, ultimately, is to give the finished piece to A&A (who are big Twin Peaks fans). Hopefully, they will like it.
Stitchery Stitchery

And, yes. The plan is to get back to posting here on a more regular basis. How many times have I said that before?

New Post, Who Dis?

The Vibe

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This round of COVID seems to be in the rearview mirror. In just a few more days I can be unmasked around people. Thank goodness I had a super mild case. Honestly, if my second boyfriend hadn’t tested positive, I would have just thought I had allergies or a light head cold.  I am super happy it wasn’t worse.

Anyhoo … Here’s the 1999 Music Flashback Vibe for the day.

The Vibe

Upcoming [PSB Edition]

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petshopboys nonetheless
Pretty stoked to wake up to an announcement of Nonetheless, the new album from Pet Shop Boys! It will be released via Parlophone Records on April 26th.

Track Listing:
– Loneliness
– Feel
– Why am I dancing?
– New London boy
– Dancing star
– A new bohemia
– The schlager hit parade
– The secret of happiness
– Bullet for Narcissus
– Love is the law

The 2CD and double white vinyl deluxe editions of “Nonetheless“ include the bonus four-track EP, “Furthermore”, featuring completely new recordings of “Heart”, “Being boring”, “Always on my mind” and “It’s a sin”.

Of course, I have preordered the deluxe vinyl, deluxe CD, and the “Loneliness” CD single from their UK store (the US store isn’t offering the CD single). Plus, I should get a signed art card from the boys (exclusive to the UK store). Whoot, whoot!

You can stream the new single, “Loneliness” (featuring two non-album tracks) on all music streaming services and see the official video over on YouTube.

Upcoming [PSB Edition]

Things and Stuff

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Life is still chugging along in its crazy, maddening, and somewhat weird way. Labor day has now come and gone and there’s definitely a hint of fall in the air. Love it!

Speaking of Labor Day …

We kicked off the holiday weekend by meeting up with the local gay group at one of our local breweries. This is a pretty new group and it’s been fun to get to know some gay men (and women!) that actually live in Waynesville.

That Saturday, we attended the last of the summer “gays only” pool parties that we have been getting invited to over in Asheville. The weather was supposed to be dodgy, but it ended up being a super nice day.

The pool before being tainted by all the homos …
Pool Party!

We went to a “guys only” cookout the next day and that was pretty nice as well … even though we got stuck inside the whole time because the weather did end up being super dodgy that day.

So, all in all, it was a pretty gay Labor Day weekend!

In non-gay news …

I have finally started going through records that I have been given over the past several years and have been trying to salvage the ones that are not too beat up. Since I don’t have a fancy (or non-fancy) record cleaner, I will wash mine in the sink with a little soap and water. That can sometimes help tremendously if all you are dealing with is fingerprints or mold (or both) on the vinyl. And it’s always amusing the see them drying in the dish drainer.
Savin' Records

And finally … here is Chip being cute as fuck.

Things and Stuff

Hey. Hi. Hello.

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It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Not much has been going on here other than my standard “work, eat, sleep, be depressed” routine. I have not had much energy about posting here (shocker!) because day in and day out seems to be the same ole, same ole.

I did actually have a vacation scheduled last month … to a gay campground in Florida! But, guess who got sick with strep the day before we were supposed to fly down. You guessed it. I ended up home sick and missed the vacation while David got to go. It’s hard not to feel like the universe has it in for you when shit like this happens.

During REI’s member discount sale, I did finally pull the trigger on a new sleeping pad for my backpacking adventure. You can see in the pictures that the new pad packs much, much smaller than the Thermarest that I have been carrying for 20+ years. Over the past three years, I have managed to replace all my old gear. The only thing I want now is a more compact camp stove (and maybe a lightweight camp chair) and I will be fully set!

And … I am stupid excited to finally have acquired a copy of Austra‘s debut album, Feel it Break, on vinyl. I have been looking for a copy of this for quite a while. Whoo!

And, yeah. Sunrise in the mountains never gets old …
Sunrise

In movie news … Robert Eggers’ The Northman opens next week and I can’t fucking wait!

Hey. Hi. Hello.

Mid-Winter Blahs

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Yeah. I am officially stuck with a case of the mid-winter blahs. The weather has been too cold to get out and do anything outdoorsy and I am tired of being stuck inside. The weekly Saturday Firepit sessions with Shortlegs and Co. are currently on hold because the weather has been too cold, rainy, or snowy for us to gather. It’s my sanity break for the week and I miss it terribly. C’mon, spring!

Speaking of snow … we ended up getting about 9″ last Sunday! It’s about time we got some of the fringe benefits of winter.
Snow 2022
Snow 2022

A few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my trusty iPhone X to a spankingly new iPhone 13 Pro. I am now in debt on the damn thing for 2-12 years! Sheesh. It’s almost like having a car payment. I initially had buyer’s remorse but eventually got over that. The camera alone was worth the upgrade. *drools*
iPhone 13

I was reshelving some movies last week and made a fun discovery. I managed to buy TWO copies of the Criterion Collection edition of Alan J. Pakula‘s The Parallax View. I had bought a copy at the B&N Sale in November but had (apparently) forgotten that fact. When I rewatched Klute one day, I thought about how I needed a copy of The Parallax View for my collection and ordered a copy off Amazon. Talk about feeling stupid when I realized what had happened. Hopefully, this isn’t a sign that senility is setting in.
Dumbassery

We did get out earlier this week and caught the new Scream film. I really dug it! It had chills and thrills and even made me cry at one point. Out of all the horror franchises out there, I think the Scream franchise is my favorite one. Get thee to the theater to see it!
Scream 2020

Work has been horrifyingly slow the past few weeks. I hope in the long term it doesn’t mean that I am about to be unemployed. In the short term what it means is that the workdays feel long and the work weeks feel even longer. Ugh.

And, finally … There’s lots of good music on the way this spring with new albums from Ghost, Midlake, and Daniel Rossen (of Grizzly Bear fame) on the horizon.

Mid-Winter Blahs