Friday Thoughts (August 10th, 2018)

I hope everyone had a good week. I spent most of my week working on this stupid posting bug where the posting box goes behind the keyboard, but everything I’ve done to fix it ends up causing a headache in a different and new way. It’s driving me fucking insane. So, I’ve decided to pause that until next Monday and do some other maintenance things today. Take a step back for a bit and see if that helps.

  • Today sees the release of that new Foxing album. It’s really good and I totally recommend everyone checking it out. Give it some time. It’s very dense. It took me quite a few listens to really get into it and I still have to be in the mood for that specifically, but I think it’s worth the effort. It’s a band that really went for it and tried to do something big, grand, and special. I think they succeeded way more than failed. More bands should be this bold.
  • This week was another punk music week for me. The new Anti-Flag acoustic album came, which is really good, and that got me back on an Anti-Flag kick. Great, great discography. I love so many of these albums. It’s depressing how much of the earlier work is still relevant today, but there’s something extremely cathartic about the songs that really makes me feel better. Especially after reading the news.
  • Also finally got around to that Birds in a Row album. Played it a couple times while on the treadmill this week. Good running music.
  • If you like that same sorta 80’s inspired music I like, check out Hotel Apache. Some good tunes.
  • New Four Fists album is good. The beats are pretty nuts. Subp Yao did some work on it and it’s all over the place, but in a good way, like some of it sounds like Nintendo-ish. I’ve been waiting for this collaboration for a while and I don’t think it disappoints.
  • I still haven’t made it through the new Tokyo Police Club. It’s just not doing it for me right now. I dunno why.
  • The new Death Cab got three spins yesterday, and one this morning. By far the best one was last night on the balcony, having a beer, and feeling the heat just start to fade from the day. The album has this really nice laid back feel. It’s simple in that sense, but the simple and nostalgic songs work for me. Thinking of lost loves works best with a cold beer and a little alone time. I’ve liked basically every album these guys have made at this point, some more than others, so I dunno what the backlash/main consensus will be on this one … but I like it. Don’t think it’ll top my EOTY list or anything, but it’s going to get a lot of late night plays.
  • Watched Deadpool 2 and thought it was a’right. Like, it’s not good. It’s not horrible. It wasn’t as good as the first, but I didn’t hate it or feel like turning it off. It was fine. Glad I didn’t pay to see it in the theaters though.
  • Watched the animated Death of Superman last night. Really liked it. One of the better DC animated movies yet and one of the best portrayals of Superman we’ve seen in a “movie” in a while. Good stuff. If you like Supes or cartoons, I think it’s worth seeing. I’m excited about the sequel next year now. This entire storyline reminds me of being a kid and going to the comic book shop. I saved up $30 to by the “special edition” version of the “Death of Superman” comic. Pretty sure I got ripped off. Oh well.
  • Finished season three of Billions. That show is my “guilty pleasure” show. It just does it for me. I like business/palace intrigue stuff and always have. I end up getting oddly inspired by it and I can’t explain it.
  • Started Succession after all the recommendations I’ve seen of it. Two episodes in and it’s good so far. Excited to see where it goes, it has the makings of something I think I’ll really like. (The dad being the guy from Super Troopers kills me though.)
  • Late night (since Hannah has been gone) I’ve been re-watching episodes of VEEP (still incredible) and kinda watching some of season three of The Flash. I stopped watching that a while ago, and don’t download it anymore, but it’s on Netflix now so I figured I’d toss it on when I can’t sleep and am trying to just zone out.
  • I forgot who came up with the idea for doing a “drive” like thing to get people to sign up for supporters a few weeks back, but the post/ads/notice I posted this week have really helped. So thanks for that idea! And, as always, thanks to everyone that does support this website. It means everything to me.
  • I’m now down 15.4 lbs. I consider this a success given that last weekend was a wedding and we basically didn’t “count” Friday-Sunday. I did my best all week to make up for that and I’m happy with the .8 lbs down for the week. It coulda been way worse. I’m celebrating by going to get a $1 Big Mac at McDonalds and then hanging out with my sister for beers and pizza and movies later tonight. At this point, I think I have about five pounds more I’d like to lose before I’ll be in a spot that if I maintain within a 3-5 pound range I’ll be happy with how I look and feel (as long as I keep up the same habits and go to the gym to try and tone a little more). I’ll take that at age 35 if I can feel good looking in the mirror. As much as I don’t like admitting it, a big part of my self-confidence and depression over the past year I think was tied into all of this. It was a bad spiral and confluence of events with the election and stress-eating and then not knowing how to fix it.
  • Uh, the cat is looking at me all weird while I type this … look at that side eye:

image

I think that’s everything for this week. Hope everyone has a great weekend.