Good morning good morning! Hello. What is UP. Friday. That is nice. I am feeling pretty good today. Prit-tee good.

RIP Patrick Stewart. I didn’t know he was sick. That sucks. Degenerative diseases are the worst. Emma thinks she wouldn’t want to live through one but I would. Don’t put me out of my misery, I want to experience it all. I was thinking, though, it’d be kind of cool if there was some sort of “safe word” for dementia patients? Would that work? Like before you get dementia, you both agree that if you say something like “Gazebo frog” it means “yeah, okay, you can kill me off now.” But you have to be lucid and remember it. Or something. I am still workshopping this one.

But yeah, Patrick Stewart. Huge figure in my life, obviously. Man. Two Trek kings dead in the same week. That is a rough one.

I guess I know which A Christmas Carol the gang will be watching this year.

In 2013, Emma, a bunch of friends and I all went to see Patrick Stewart/Ian McKellan Waiting for Godot. It was wonderful, of course. And, you know, Broadway, those little theaters. Just so intimate. Those two are treasures.

I could have sworn I took photos at the play, but it was before my amazing photo sorting technique came into play, though I did retroactively apply it. I assume my memory is flawed, and no photos were taken. Good for me. I was living in the moment with Patrick.

Man that guy ruled.

Hey this “permitting bill” is bullshit and Republicans are hoping to pass it with 70 votes in the Senate? Lots of Dems support it but it is bad. They think it’s a means to lock in the renewable projects that Trump has declared war on but it will not do that, it gives him plenty of loopholes that he will very obviously use. Supposedly if a permit is issued for an energy project (like a solar farm) it can’t be cancelled. Which sounds good, but there is a stupid-ass, “national defense” exception where the president can kill a project at their sole discretion because of national security concerns. I mean come the fuck on. This dude does everything using fake national security concerns. Are we fucking serious? You may as well write into the bill that “Trump can still do his thing.”

But no exception for environmental damage, of course. Not even newly-discovered or major damage. And it weakens the EPA, the Clean Water Act, and endangered species protection. Indigenous tribes are against it for the encroachment on their sovereignty. It eases restrictions on development in National Parks.

The thing sucks and we should not support it. It is mind-boggling to me that Dems do. I mean, I get it. They’re going for some incremental progress, which is a thing I am often for. The grid improvements are wonderful. But this is not incremental progress, this is incremental progress with larger incremental, even transformative costs. That is a different thing.

The BAAJA bill can fuck right off.

Don’t get me started on the data center implications.

Had a fun talk with someone recently about AI. We both don’t like it, but for different reasons. They don’t like it because it makes people stupid. Also a thing I do not like. He then said he didn’t ind the data center bit because “that’s basically like the thing we already do.”

And then I said “right! Except this time it’s for useless garbage that makes us dumber!”

And was like “Well. Yeah.”

Good talk.

Join the GMHHAY slack! Reply to this email and ask for an invite if you’re a human who likes chatting with other humans about topics such as these within!

Listening to a solo lady black metal project here that goes by the name Genital Shame. Album is called Wellness Plan. It is a new release for today on the excellent Flenser label, a metal powerhouse label from SF. I have a record-of-the-month subscription from them and it never steers me wrong. This album is great. I get good stuff I know about from them, like Agriculture and Chat Pile, but sometimes I get something I don’t know anything about like this one and boy does it make me happy. GENITAL SHAME. I have a lot of shame in my life, but I do not have genital shame I kinda like my genitals. I would imagine, though, it would suck very much if you did not like your genitals.

Listened to the back catalogue of the Chemical Brothers yesterday after a chat with my wife and, yeah. My favorite tracks from each album from when they came out are still my favorite tracks. I am kinda convinced the Chemical Brothers were like “okay, two banger singles, one kinda psychedelic thing, and the rest is straight techno” and that is their formula. The straight techno is good, obviously, but I am partial to the banger singles and psychedelic stuff.

Still, a worthwhile back catalog investigation. “Star Guitar,” man, great tune. Awesome video, too.

Wondering what back catalog to do next. Suggestions welcome.

Dropped Jane off at school. It is Halloween (well, close enough) so the kids and teachers are all dressed up and I gotta say: the classic cheap-ass banana costume? Undefeated. There is something so universal, high-vis, dada and just so gloriously dumb about it. Never gets old.

Then I went to McDonald’s and it was more contractors than old men today, though the old men had a strong showing. One guy brings his whole laptop and mouse like he’s in a Starbucks at Astor Place or something. Sports Guy Worker talked to me about, I thought he said the Packers? Yes. They played Carolina. I offended him by telling him I like the Packers because they’re quasi/pseudo socialist and I own a share. He did not know how to respond to this.

Even when I try and talk about sports I fail.

Then a landscaping guy sat right behind me, did that comfy, sit-sideways-in-a-booth thing, and proceeded to cough constantly right into my back. Did not like.

Emma has a thing tonight, and she thought we had a Julien Baker show, so she got a babysitter. Jane is excited and likes the babysitter, so we’re not going to cancel. So I gotta vacate the house for a bit tonight. I have a few options:

• Go see You Can See Everything

• Go see some other movie, maybe the Laika one

• Go to Chore House and do chores.

• Something else?

I know it is insane but I am probably going to go do chores. I know I need to see YCSE but a) I do not really like Nathan Fielder’s schtick, b) I very much do not like Elizabeth Holmes’ schtick, and c) I do not really want to subject myself to three hours of that. I will eventually pull it off at home, I am sure. With breaks. Over a week or something. But, god, man. It feels like homework at this point. Like I gotta see it like I gotta read Gravity’s Rainbow or Infinite Jest. I mean, Gravity’s Rainbow and Infinite Jest are good but also, jesus. Come on man.

Similar dilemma: I bought a ticket for the first (paid) show at the new larger Cat’s Cradle room I am very excited. I’ve been excited about the room for the two years it took to build, because I’m hoping it siphons a bunch of shows from the Ritz and I don’t have to go to Raleigh, and Quasi is opening and I sure do like Quasi. I like about 70% of the dozen-or-so BTS shows I’ve seen in my life, and I’m into the idea of his new ladyband, which I don’t think I’ve seen?

BUT I just realized it’s on election night.

Do I really go to a show on election night? Is that a good idea or a bad one?

Probably a good one, right?

So yesterday was Jane’s therapy appointment. We decided to just roll with this therapist we like for as long as we can. Jane likes her, she is very into the whole thing, may as well at the very least reinforce a positive attitude towards therapy. Emma had to do a thing with her mom so I took Jane solo.

And as we were walking up to the front door, right on time, she tells me:

“Oh I forgot to put on pants.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I took my daughter to therapy without any pants on.

She wasn’t there the last time but there is a very attractive… I don’t know what to call her? Admin? Receptionist? Nurse? Person-who-sits-at-a-desk-in-the-waiting-room? And I have to admit to this woman that my daughter has no pants.

Then I have to admit to the therapist that my daughter has no pants.

Then I sit awkwardly in the waiting room for an hour with this admin.

And while I am sitting there, I’m browsing Bluesky and learn about, in real-time, what appears to be the largest heist ever. Aside from, you know, Putin and Trump and Capitalism and, like, the Sultan of Brunei or something. You know, good old-fashioned theft.

Some hackers drained five billion dollars from Binance. And I just sat there watching it happen on my phone, sitting in this quiet waiting room, with this hot admin. Do I say something? I mean, it’s not like I care about crypto. She probably doesn’t either. And of course these days, I mean, dime to a dollar if I go look at the NYT right now it doesn’t even make the front page. I am obviously going to sound like a lunatic talking about this to her.

(Oh, okay, it does now but only because Binance seems to have paused withdrawals since I looked at the Times at 6:30)

(Also turns out it was probably North Korea so my beloved Razzlekhan may still hold the record for the largest heist ever perpetrated by private citizens.)

So I just sit there in silence, watching this heist.

The future is so weird.

Jane loves therapy though. And it makes her so happy and energetic afterwards. Wish we could get an appointment before 6PM. She is impossible to get to sleep. But the therapist seems to have taught Jane some baby steps towards taking a deep breath when she’s angry. Which I have tried to do a million times but of course I only ever think to do it while she’s in the middle of a spiral. She told her to imagine blowing bubbles. And imagine the anger floating away in a bubble. And Jane was so into it.

Yeah I can see this paying off right quick.

This morning Jane added “Utopia” by Goldfrapp to the Daddy Jane playlist and I am a proud papa. She was in her cute Catstronaut outfit I shoulda taken a picture. We did French Duolingo and Wordle. She solved the Wordle after choosing a pretty difficult opening word — SORRY.

OH and we did a Daddy Dchool last night. 12 plushie students. We did one about MIDDLE SCHOOL. How it works, what to expect. She is very nervous about not getting to her classroom on time. It was a very successful daddy school.

Cup is full, etc. etc.

Looks like we have a Oontz Oontz techno Da Club playlist for you. All new except for the aforementioned Chemical Brothers. I enjoyed the Pet Shop Boys’ new opera about Alan Turing. I am not the biggest Slayyter fan but respect her. Love Miley but don’t love the new albym. Love the new Carly Rae. The new H&LA is not my preferred moody H&LA but it is good. New Kaitlyn is awesome. I am a sucker for “Midnight Sun” by Zara Larsson in all its forms even though I recognize it is not objectively a good song. I think it’s just because of the title and my Alaskan roots.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and I hope for both our sakes I have a ton of chores to tell you about Monday. Ta.