Escape isn't an ism, it's a human right
«‹‹ 0: prelude ››»
Rebranding? First off, I hate a lot of things with the new-Internet branding. No person should be a ‘brand’, not even if they work with marketing or something even more dubious than that. Brands wall us in, keep us confined. More about that in the next segment. But yeah.
Some Irregular Moments Last Forever might have been a good name when I started and this was meant to be a replacement for a personal blog, but I’m not the same person I was back then. Not by a longshot. And that long cumbersome name I gave this thing is clearly me in the past — I do still have the habit of giving things complicated names but for something like this I feel it needs to be shorter.
Hopefully you’re not confused and throw this among the spam in frustration.
It’s still me, in essence though. Still the same word repetitions and the same dyslectic spelling errors. With the added self-knowledge of possibly having ADHD, but I hope that means I’m aware of my flaws and can do this more regularly so that I don’t forget. I hope.1
«‹‹ 1: escapism, no escape ››»
It still happens that some people will scoff of disdain about people reading sff and horror stories. They’re after all genre literature and often seen as escaping reality — whatever the fuck that means. I’d say no-one is as aware of reality as someone who needs a breather.
This of course also disregards the whole notion of sff and horror being quite gruesome and not really an escape in the way the reality-mongers believe. But it got me thinking. In order to escape properly, you need to be aware of the thing you’re escaping from. It’s a confinement with clear borders.
Side-question: The edges of literature enclosements are always fuzzy — even though some refute this with insisting on rose-tinted purist glasses. Does this mean literature genres are waves or particles or both?
I mean, there’s a reason why prisons in the US has started to ban science fiction and fantasy. You can’t have people escaping even if it’s in their imagination! That would make being locked in less inhumane. I think fantastical literature and the way the help you escape the present is a human trait, we need this to get through. Especially today. God, especially today. To be able to take in worlds not our own and not just the dreary present is a strength — no matter what literature awards want you to believe.
«‹‹ 2: In search of guitars ››»
Trapped in a nightmarе, trapped in my lair
I'm a taxidermist, I'm a taxpayer
You try to get straight, you try to get normal
You try to forget about the formal
— The Paranoid Style, «The Formal»
My arms have been letting me down recently. There’s arthritis in the family and it’s quite possible this is the first signs of that fun. It makes drawing a bit more of an issue so I’ve been trying to not do that more than I have to — which is smart, think we can all agree on that. But the problem is that I need a new creative path. I used to draw a lot and that was my main mode of expression. Without that… I’m a bit of at a loss. Started writing again, as you can see here, and I really have the urge to start doing music again.
I was never good at music — apart form perhaps the lyrics — but it was fun. Just. Sort of. I haven’t done music since Tommy died. So that’s a little bit of a stumbling block. The bigger one is that I obviously want a better guitar than the old battered cheap acoustic one. So a not too expensive electric is on the list of things I’ll get when I can afford. All comes back to that.
This has also lead to me digging through music a bit more this year, making an effort of not just listening to the new same old. I tried to follow the artist paths and see where it took me and well, it’s been great. As shit as the year has been, there’s also been rediscovery of things I enjoy.
Like Laura Kidd’s She Makes War which I discovered a few years ago but then lost track off. Her newer projects such as Penfriend and Obey Robots turned out were even better once I started to listen. Same thing with Fightmilk that has had a few listens the last two years but this year they’re at the top of my listening habits. The Paranoid Style’s new album «The Interrogator» was great too. But all in all, this year has had a lot more great songs than albums and I’m not sure this is good. I like albums. We should listen to music more structured like that than randomised playlists provided by music subscription service of (un)choice. And I know, I know. It’s convenient to find new music when you take the dog out for a walk but at what cost? One miss so much.
«‹‹ 3: Anyone have an A24 bluray subscription? ››»
It doesn’t exist but I think it should. I’d get it anyway because a lot of their output has at least been interesting if not always that good. A friend and I watched «The Green Knight» and had very different reactions to it. He wasn’t impressed at all while I loved it, the slow pace and the poetic rhythm in the cinematography. It’s not perfect and I’m sure we can all agree that they shouldn’t have tried to straightwash it as much as they did compared to the original poem.
And then there’s «I Saw the TV Glow». It still haunts me in the best of ways and I must rewatch it.
When I think about that stuff, it feels like someone… took a shovel and dug out all my insides. And I know there’s nothing in there, but I’m still too nervous to open myself up and check. I know there’s something wrong with me.
As someone who watched a lot of late 90s and early 00s tv shows, a lot of the shorthands in the movies was like second nature, but also made me reflect a lot on how things move on. For good and for worse. But the movie took it’s influences and not only wore the t-shirt for all to see but also plugged it into a feedback loop. Like in the bar scene where Owen and Maddy sit and have a talk, with the live music in the background that many of the people ignore as if it’s normal to have a constant live band. I’ve never seen a place like that outside of television and it feels as if it took place in Buffy's the Bronze down to the design of the stage and table seating and all. Which means it’s set in the reality of the thing that Pink Opaque is an homage to, and it pushes that feedback loop between literal and metaphor in an amazing way.
As I said, I need to watch it again. 100% sure the gut punches will still be felt even if I know what’s coming.
«‹‹ tail: Henson ››»
Henson has been a bit worried of late. He’s always been weary of certain cars since he was a pup, and now some of those are at the school across the road more often due to the gym hall. This shouldn’t be an issue since this is there and he’s here, but he likes to lie in the hall so he hears the doors slam shut. Because 16-17 year olds need to slam the doors. Other than that, Henson is a happy grump.
«‹‹ EOF ››»
«‹‹ FOOTNOTES IN THE STATIC ››»
1) 'I hope' is a terrible catch-phrase but for 2025, it seems appropriate. But let's wrap that hope in something more sturdy, like a brick. A thousand bricks of hope.
+) Sadly there were no more footnotes this time. I will have to do better next time and make it up for you.
Thank you for reading and I hope it finds you in... a health I suppose. I do hope it was a good one though. Outside of this, there's always bluesky or the links to all things Internets (including art commission info).