Fenchurch

I love Halloween but I'm such a procrastinator that I'm never able pull together anything impressive. On the other hand, we have Mr. CWAL over here with professional makeup/effects to make his skin look corrupted!

I ended up at a daytime dance party, located next to a creek and a freeway exit. Had to call a phone number to get the location and all the details. It felt delightfully old school! Was too busy dancing to take many photos - https://imgur.com/a/A1ZTtLQ

Sawall grabbed me a two-weekend ticket, so I guess I'm going.

I haven't set up my tree yet but I've been drinking hot cocoa every night and knitting to this stop motion yule log! I also have Christmas lights up and have been buying gifts — this is the most I've ever leaned into this holiday and it's probably because I've been trapped in my flat since March.

Any presents you're gifting that you particular like? I had ornaments made that look like mini versions of my friend's favorite books; I'm pretty excited by that and all the shortbread I'm giving out. <3

Thanks, Scott!

I'll take The Order off my to watch list but I don't know if I can give The Expanse another try. I didn't find the acting that great in Season 1 and the detective looks so much like a pick-up artist who would try to neg me at a bar. I really enjoyed the first Expanse book so I may attempt to read the rest of series but there are 8 books with a 9th one on the way this year!

Goddamit, Al.

Happy holidays, everyone!

This year, I went to the local Dickens Fair for the very first time. I had tons of fun but was very confused when I spotted this gentleman. I'm getting a real Alice Cooper vibe à la Neil Gaiman's The Last Temptation. Am I missing something? That's a LOT of eyeliner for Victorian London.

I just had an eye checkup this past week and, on a whim, I asked about Lasik. I have an extremely high prescription so anything to bring those numbers down would be great even though the thought of LAZERS in my eyes makes me want to hide.

In my high school German class, there were multiple Nguyens in my class. To differentiate myself, I went by Frau Nahgooyen! Below are my favorite how to pronounce Nguyen videos:

I don't know how I'll ever get around to watching all these TV shows! I have a very lengthy list of shows I need to watch, and Narcos is on said list — thanks Sawall for posting your uncle's take on it. Has anyone seen The OA? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Has Quinn also requested a theme?

If you don't pay for Spotify and don't want to listen to a bunch of ads, S U R V I V E is also on Bandcamp. https://survive.bandcamp.com/

Edit: Though, you can only listen to select tracks.

Season two has started and it's torture having to wait for a new episode every week! To fill the time, I've just subscribed to a Mr. Robot podcast. Sawall, what have you done to me?!

Congratulations!

Which island are you headed to? If you happen to be going to the Big Island, there is a seahorse farm on the Kona side where they let you hold a seahorse!

99% Invisible
What Sawall said.

Song Exploder
Same.

Invisibilia
It's about invisible forces that control our behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. It's a newer podcast so it'll be easy to catch up with the episodes.

Limetown
A fictional story about a journalist investigating the disappearance of 300 people at a neuroscience research facility. I hear if you enjoy Welcome to Night Vale, you may also enjoy this podcast.

the memory palace
This may not be for everyone. It's a historical podcast with the contents presented like a story. I don't have a favorite episode but I keep listening to it because it fascinates me.

Our Fair City
Welcome to a post-apocalyptic world where there are mole people, huge ants, and a living meat wall. It took me about 2-3 tries to listen to this. I think I had to realize and embrace that this is extremely, extremely campy. Really good production, though. You may enjoy it if you like radio dramas.

Radiolab
Science-minded stories. I know I'm not selling but it's very easy to listen to.

This American Life
This is the podcast I've been listening to the longest! It can be incredibly sad but usually very thought-provoking. It has made me cry on several occasions and usually when I'm at the gym. I'm just that weirdo crying on the treadmill at the gym... Each episode has a theme, explored in a few different "acts". I think there are several hundred episodes so here are some recommendations:

Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde
Doppelgangers
Superpowers
The Human Spectacle
Harper High School, Part One (listen to part two if you like part one!)


Love + Radio
This is hit or miss for me, but you MUST listen to the Greetings from Coney Island episode. Don't read the comments — you don't want spoilers! This is a story about a woman who received a vintage postcard from Coney Island. The postcards keep coming and she has no idea who it's from.

Stranger Things

Stranger Things is a nostalgic sci-fi/horror series about a boy who goes missing in a small town in the early 80s. His mom (Winona Ryder) and his friends frantically search for him, uncovering secret government experiments, a strange girl, and the supernatural. Lots of people are describing it as The Goonies meets X-Files. It's a big homage to popular 80s movies and there are a ton of references in this show; it's making me want to watch or rewatch a lot of them. There are only 8 episodes in the series so it's a quick, fun watch! Much too dark and scary for children, though.

Has anyone seen it yet and can weigh in?

I am probably going to obtain it *ahem* somehow and see if it's as cringeworthy as I think it may be.

Happy Lunar New Year! Thumb-Sized Monkeys New Status Symbol Pets For Year Of The Monkey?

I went to the optometrist just this past Tuesday and she thankfully did not puff air into my eyeball! Anyway, I'd like to see if I'm eligible for Lasik but my co-worker told me her Lasik horror story. Her vision is great now, but she said they didn't give her enough anesthesia and she was in terrible pain the entire time. *shudders*

I just discovered Sawall had never heard of Key & Peele until viewing this trailer. I have high hopes for this movie as I am a big fan of their TV show.

Scott wouldn't stop talking about Mr. Robot on Slack so I finally watched it... all in two days. I was hooked! Now I'll have to wait another year for the next season.

I sometimes forget we live in the fucking future! I don't know how since my mom works at Tesla and an acquaintance is working on Google's self-driving car.

I went looking for photos from my ZombieFest. 2005! Yowza, I feel mighty old but it was the best party I ever hosted! My favorite zombie was the Gorton's fishmerman.

Are you out in the countryside? There's no room for us to blow up pumpkins or make explosives here. The cops would be on us too quick! Glad no one was badly hurt. Eek.

We're going to see photos of your place all decked out, right? Sadly, no children come to my apartment since they'd have to climb two different set of stairs.

Welcome to American, Anton... :\