Good morning good morning. Greetings from Boston’s South Station. I am chillin, hanging out, waiting for my train. I got here an hour early because I am a lunatic. Real dividing line between types of people, the desire to leave early. My wife thinks it’s unnecessary. I like to be early, and I have a weak tendency to catastrophize, imagining all the horrible ways I could miss my train. Also I have missed a lot of trains because I cut it too close. Though those episodes usually involved copious amounts of drinking the night before. And even though I went to a bar last night, I did not drink copious amounts.

(Apple claims “catastrophize” is not a word. It really is something how un-hep their spell-check is. They should hire Mirriam-Webster’s social media manager to be their spell check editor. Oh my god do you think that’s a job? Editor of spell check? Lol Apple can’t even keep an employee assigned to, like, Preview.app let alone spell-check).

Nor did I find my beloved Viridian baseball cap or my spare set of house keys, both of which I was convinced I left at the bar when Sean and I went on that bender last week. But alas, they were not there. Gonna have to go check Somerville Theater when I get back. Nor was the cute bartender who complimented me on my band t-shirt. Friends were there, though. And friends are great. I like friends. Even though I called one of them by the wrong name, which is not great. Only known her 20 years NBD. But then again, I was just buying a diet coke from Pick n’ Bite and I forgot how to pay. So, you know. Nothing personal.

Two bears sitting across from me at this table sampling breakfast pastries and talking about Bakeoff and if it isnt the goddamn cutest thing in the world.

Okay pause while I situate myself on the train brb.

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All right. That took us a while. This is all very exciting. Haven’t been to South Station for Amtrak in years. Haven’t seen the whole building and bus station they built above the tracks. The fancy new method of scanning a QR code to get to the track area. All very thrilling for a lapsed train lover.

There was an absolutely amazing human drama going on as I waiting outside for a train. A maintenance worker was endeavoring to wash the glass door that goes from the track area to the bus station. It was an automatic-opening door. It kept opening while he was working on it. He kept leaping back in what appeared to be fear every time the door opened. This dude worked on the door for an entire half hour. What an amazing drama. What a thrilling scene. I am telling you man, the potency, the humanity, the Greek-scale adventure of it all. Like nothing that can be experienced on the grand stage of geopolitics and capitalism. Elon Musk knows nothing of human drama compared to what I just witnessed. You ever see that scene in Keislowski’s Blue with the old lady trying to put the milk bottle into the recycling bin? The effort, the tension, the scale? It was like that. Times ten. My god, my god. My week is made.

There was also a guy in this utterly flamboyant Red Bull racing hoodie that had so many colors on it. Just insane. Kinda loved it, though. Maybe I will change my style. This all black thing, man. I mean, I live it, love it, laugh it, but it is funny it’s probably weirder and less en vogue than it’s been for decades. There were a ton of weirdoes at South Station this morning, but they were, like, grown-ass adults in anime clothing with giant teddy bears, or trans kids, or that Red Bull Racing guy or those bears debating pastries. No one is gen X goth anymore man we are a dying breed.

New Amtrak stock! Oh boy oh boy I have been so lapse. Can one use lapse as a verb? We are today. This is my first time on the new Amtrak stock and it is all very pretty. Though I gotta say, the first class is maybe not as good as the old first class? The seats or stiff and I cannot find any USB at the normal chairs. I have USB because I’m at a table. Though that seems luck. I like this whole assigned seats thing, but they changed my seat so I’m not sure the point. At least I am still on the sea-side of the train. The seats don’t recline. The USB they do have is USB-A. I’m so confused. They can’t not have power in first class? Very mysterious. I am lucky.

Also there is this film over the windows that mimics a pattern of small Acela logos as if they are frosted into the glass and it is very nice, but it gives the whole window a foggy feel and I worry I will not get to take many pretty photos.

And as we all know, I am a published photographer of photos from Amtrak along the eastern seaboard.

Let’s check out the bathrooms.

Very large. Very red. very pretty. Mostly hands-free. No paper towels, which is probably good because people made a mess with those. The air dryer is cold air, though. The faucet is anti-goth and doesn’t automatically go on when you are wearing all black. Cursed, we are, cursed.

So the cool lefty lady did not win the democratic primary in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, alas. It was very close. Polling had her comfortably winning, but she didn’t quite squeak through. We are seeing this a lot this cycle, which makes me worry about ole Talrico. I have a new theory about polling. This is mostly half-assed, but:

I finished the Dungeon Crawler books last night. We are free! I can read slowly again! I can have a life! Man cliffhangers are a lot harder when you can’t just pick up the next book amirite? I’m not gonna spoil the plot or anything but…

I am gonna spoil the author’s note at the end, so if you are committed to being surprised by his note, skip the next two paragraphs:

He said in the note that he had just delivered the book to his publisher, and then he went to the UK for a sold-out book tour, then he was off to New Zealand for a sold-out book tour. And then he said two interesting things: He said first, it is fucking terrifying for him to write these books now that so many people are reading them. Dungeon Crawler has blown up a ton in the last few months, this year, and he no longer has that security of being able to write only for a small and adoring crowd. Man this is like my idea of hell. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. The idea of hundreds of thousands of people reading my writing — the writing I am compelled to write and put out into the public nonstop, and dream of it being read — the idea of that writing being read by too many people is fucking terrifying.

He also said that, with all this new attention, and without naming names, he now understands why “certain other fantasy authors” have a hard time completing their books. This seems very insightful and self-aware. And it makes me feel bad for George. Who among us can say we would not be seduced by the trappings of fame — going to ten Dead & Co concerts, optioning every brain fart to HBO, working on thirty different projects, buying a movie theater and funding Meow Wolf. Is that life really any worse than finishing ASOIAF? Not for him I bet!

I just wish ole George wasn’t so depressed.

I myself an totally cool if Winds of Winter never comes out. It’s fine.

It’s fine.

I forgot to tell you what music I am listening to. I am listening to my 8,000-song “All The Best” playlist, as we whiz through the short segment of the Amtrak Eastern Seaboard route between Boston and Providence where the trains are allowed to go anywhere near their full speed. It is currently playing “Illusory Me” by Love Spirals Downwards. They are great. 10% too goth to be included in the new shoegaze revival, which is a shame. In a lot of ways, 90’s-era Projekt was really ahead of its time. Mainstream goth went synth, but shoegaze goth was really where it was at.

Shit maybe I need to make a shoegaze goth playlist.

Shit maybe I need a SHOEGAZE GOTH shirt.

GOTHGAZE

The Apple TV in the Boston apartment has the Snoopy screensaver on it, and over the last, oh, three, four visits to Boston, Jane has slowly been seduced by Snoopy’s cute-ass antics. And she has started to just want to watch the screensaver. Most of the time Snoopy is just sitting there on his doghouse but sometimes he goes fishing or something. Last night Emma and Jane were building some Legos and Jane had me keep an eye on the screensaver in case Snoopy did something exciting.

Even as I was saying it, I knew I was falling for their marketing. “You know…” I told her. “Snoopy has a show. We could just watch the show.”

And so we did, the Snoopy show on Apple TV+.

Fucking marketing.

Jane was mesmerized, just laughing hysterically at Snoopy and his wacky scouting and Red Baron hijinks. Just loved it so much. And I would make little comments about how good or bad the voices were compared to the old voices. Charlie Brown? S tier. Peppermint Patty? C Tier. Linus? B tier. Marcy? B tier.

I can’t believe that marketing gimmick worked. I feel dirty. I also think Apple may as well sell that time to other tv shows. Gimme a Silo screensaver or a Slow Horses screensaver or something. Or sell it to other networks and gimme a SNL screensaver.

I popped into her little fort this morning to say goodbye. She was on her Switch. Mid-switch, she decided she had a chance to get me to let her use iPad. She immediately said “I’m bored.” Which is what she says when she wants iPad.

“You are literally playing your favorite game on the Switch right now.” I said.

“Oh yeah.”

She gave me a quick hug goodbye and back to the Switch it was.

Alas.

Train music playlist for you today — the last hour or so of music I’ve been listening to on this rail journey. Including GOTHGAZE Love Spirals Downwards. Good morning of music. I have a soft spot for this Maggie Rogers song. I love any song where the singer says her own name, like “Caroline Stop” by Caroline Polacheck. Or this one “Maggie, slow your roll.”

NAMECHECK ROCK.

Until tomorrow. Maybe. Or maybe Friday. I don’t know how I’m going to manage this what with my TEAM OFF SITE for day job. But never say never!