Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1527
A gubernatorial train dream, a TMI wegovy story, a Discogs collection analysis, assorted anxieties.
Good morning, friend. I’m awake. I’m awake. Set my alarm for 7:30, couldn’t do it. 8:30 it was. Thank you, wife, for taking our daughter to camp today. Stayed up too late finishing the third book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy, that is now a quadrilogy, I guess. Started the fourth one for good measure but only read 2 pages. Weird just jumping right in when there was ten years between book three being published and book four being published. I feel like I should wait a decade to read it. But, nah. Jumping right in.
Just coming out of a dream where I had just been elected governor of Massachusetts. I mean, like, the night before the dream took place. I won a write-in campaign. Without a campaign apparatus. And now, the morning of my election, I decided I needed to ride the rails solo, so I spent the day riding the MBTA commuter rail all round Massachusetts. Not exactly incognito, but looking kinda like a pretty beat-up, withdrawn version of myself: black hoodie, sunglasses, vaping too much. No one noticed me. No one was really talking about the upset gubernatorial victory that occurred last night but, you know, most people don’t spend their lives obsessing over politics. People were ambiently aware. I caught a couple people talking about me. But of course why would the new governor be riding the rails in a hoodie all alone.
The train I was riding, at the back, had an “office car” where several MBTA officials had desks, and worked. Right on the train. Reader, never have I wanted a job so badly. They did not recognize me as their new boss. Should they? I doubt the governor is even the boss of the MBTA. It is probably Kathy Hochul. That is a transit history joke don’t at me.
I ended up in Taunton, trying to work my way back to Mattapan for some reason. I was trying to compose a cabinet for my new administration. Best I had come up with was that I needed to convince my old friend Mike to move back from Indiana, where he’s been for like 30 years now, to come to Boston and help out.
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We are listening to a band called Mên An Tol, whom I know nothing about. But they are great? Guitar pop, almost shoegaze. Remind me of the Railway Children or This Picture or something from the 90’s I love this band. Wikipedia tells me that Mên An Tol is a small formation of standing stones in Cornwall, England from the neolithic or bronze age. Great name. Discogs tells me they have been releasing records since 2007, but also their Discogs page is only 2 records long. Wait no that is almost certainly a different band. This Mên An Tol has three releases on Discogs, all from the last year or so, all singles or EPs. Also this one does not put hyphens in their name. Is that how they get away with having the same name as another band? No hyphens? Oh hey I found their instagram. OH RIGHT. I found out about this band from the “Introducing” stage at Glastonbury. Well, anyway, they are great.
Feeling kind of down today. I got a work situation I do not love, that I am not 100% sure how I am going to resolve. It is one that stresses me out. Most work things these days do not stress me out, but every once in a while one comes along that does, because it feels unnatural? Like it runs against my basic instincts, and I am required to act in a “business” manner that a) feels unnatural, and b) I believe strongly is not actually the best manner in which to act. These usually involve lawyers or bankers. You know. Someone telling you sorry, but this is the way it has to be. And the way it has to be is dumb and it sucks. But you don’t know how to get out of that trap.
Also I did not work on my AI book yesterday because I was feeling tired and kinda down and that made me feel more down. Pretty strong levels of self-loathing on that one. BUT, luckily, easily fixed. If I can get out of my own head.
Really only takes a feather to push me over into a not great mood these days since, you know, society has done the bulk of the grunt work chipping away at any good mood I might have.
Ready for some TMI? Yesterday I was taking my Wegovy and somehow the needle bent as I was inserting it into my abdomen, and the drug inside somehow injected into a small pool, just under the skin, causing a little bubble in my abdomen. The bubble was squirting $250 of Wegovy back out of my stomach. I have no idea how much went into my body or how much got squirted out. Super awesome. Maybe I will be hungry this week. Who knows. I am trying to lose another 2 pounds here this week, to cross a mental barrier, but I don’t think we’re gonna make it.
$250 of drugs just squirting out of my belly. Awesome.
Oh but there is a turtle on the turtle dock right now, Unifi tells me. That is the best. Man, I am so glad the turtles have learned to love that turtle dock. Took a year. For a while there I was worried that all of my turtle dock construction effort was for naught. You guys remember that? Last year was it? Year before? Those weeks, months I spent just working on a stinking turtle dock? Held up pretty well the Turtle Dock. One of its pontoons is dislodged and I kinda want to reel it in and fix the pontoon then set it out again. But it seems to be working fine regardless.
Was thinking yesterday about my New Year’s Resolution to buy fewer records. I think it was to end the year with the same number of records as I started? As in I had to sell one for every one I bought? Well, that has not happened. But I have definitely done better than last year. And instead of just feeling bad about myself for failing, I thought I would put some numbers to it to see if I hade made any progress at all.
And it turns out I have! I have bought less than 50% the number of records as last year year at this time. In the first half of this year, I have obtained 97 new record items (singles, albums, box sets all count as one). About six of those came from a one-off purchase from a friend, and about 25 of those were actually just delivered in January, I had purchased them in 2024. So in 2025 I have only purchased about 70 new items.
Last year at this time I had purchased about 150.
So, not terrible but not great. I do not think it is realistic I am going to sell 70 pieces of vinyl this year. Though I suppose that’s just a matter of time? I have no doubt if I had the free time I could find 70 pieces I would be willing to sell. Wait. Would I? I don’t know. I never tried. Maybe I’d get all weird and make excuses for each and every record. Nay, self. You need two copies of the original Legend soundtrack.
Also checked out the collection for the most valuable, for some reason with an eye toward years. I guess cuz I was comparing 2024 and 2025. Here is a rundown:
2025: Most valuable purchase: Springsteen Tracks II (ranked at no. 13). Number of items on the top-25 list: 1
2024: Most valuable purchase: Shellac The Futurist (ranked at no. 3). Number of items on the top-25 list: 2
2023: Most valuable purchase: Twilight Singers box set (ranked at no. 4). Number of items on the top-25 list: 4
2022: Most valuable purchase: Love and Rockets box set (ranked at no. 9) Number of items on the top-25 list: 2
2021: Most valuable purchase: Flaming Lips The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down, (raked at no. 20). Number of items on the top-25 list: 1
2020: Most valuable purchase: Taylor Swift Folklore (Meet Me At the Mall edition) (Ranked at no. 70). Number of items on the top-25 list: 0
The other items rounding out the top ten:
1: Ragnar Kjartansson and the National: A Lot of Sorrow. My copy has a cracked lucite case, btu the cheapest one for sale is $899 with no case.
2: Adventure Time, The Complete Series Soundtrack
5: Saint Etienne, A Glimpse of Stocking
6: Pixies, Minotaur. That one has gone up and down a lot through the years but currently the cheapest copy is $649. At one point it was like $150. Crazy.
7: Various Artists, A Factory Sample
8: Future Islands, Little Advances EP
10: Microphones, Absolutely Everything 1996-2021
So, mostly box sets. Six and four. I guess that makes sense. There are a fair number of one-LP releases in the top 25: Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream on purple vinyl. I gave that as a gift to Emma when we started dating but ha ha we got married so I got it back. The Verve Voyager 1, a random re-release of Low’s I Could Live in Hope for some reason. Original US pressing of Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space, Beyoncé, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, an alternate cover version of Did You know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard and a ltd edition of Lorde’s Melodrama. Huh. It is weird how quick some of the lady pop stuff is appreciating. I guess having a large fan base helps whoda thunk it.
“Whoda thunk it.” My grandfather said that. I wonder if there was an apostrophe in it. "Who’d a thunk it” maybe. He was a funny guy. A drunk, but a funny guy.
Anyway I guess I should sell 70 records this year.
Gonna have to quit my job to find the time.
Got a modern synthpop mix for you today. Most of this stuff is just random, came across it on mixes or something. Been a lotta months so I don’t remember a lot of this stuff. Gonna have to listen to it again. I do remember loving that Blancmange release, and I liked the last Allison Goldfrapp single okay. I am excited about the new Nation of Language and the new Automatic, and enjoy this Geli Haha that Nicholas got me into.
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Thanks for reading.
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Good Morning, Hello, How Are You vol 1.