As you can probably see from the accompanying picture, I have made some new progress on my way to being That Guy. My new acquisitions include a treadmill and a standing desk or whatever you call this thing. There are multiple reasons for all of this, not the least of which is that I am old and I’m tired of my back being sore all of the time. After decades of jobs which required me to be on my feet for eight to thirteen hours at a stretch, I was just not acclimating to the whole “sit on my ass all day” thing. Plus I would really like to not be the same weight as Homer Simpson before he tries to go on disability by eating things from the Forgotten Food Groups (although I do love me some “chocotastic”). Finally, this means that I can clear off the dining room table and not have to clean off my desk.
The only real downside to the walking while writing thing is that since my hands are still (relatively so), my watch thingy isn’t picking up the steps. I have to figure out how to manually add a work out to the app. Well, right after I figure out which app I’m going to use. I deleted a whole bunch of stuff from my phone when I went through and stopped Siri from using my apps to farm for their AI.
For now both the treadmill and the desk are in the living room in front of the fireplace. The Mrs told me that she doesn’t understand how I can do this in the heat, but I had to point out that I’ve been wearing shorts and a tee shirt while working. Plus, I’m only walking at about one mile per hour. I can’t go too fast and continue to work (I don’t want to accidentally knock my laptop into the fire). I suspect that when it gets warmer I will move the whole set up to the sun room.
This was a big week for me in terms of not being in the house. I attended my first convention of the year, ConFusion, and had a great time. It was wonderful to see all of my delightfully creative friends again. I always get a big boost in terms of creativity, even though the whole being out and socializing thing is physically and mentally exhausting.
I wasn’t able to spend all of the weekend at the con, as I had planned a secret date night with The Mrs for Saturday. We went down to the beautiful Fisher Theater to see Insidious: The Further You Fear (more on that below). Then on Monday I attended a Mystery Monday preview at the MJR in Brighton (again, see below).
There is no rest for the wicked, as February is chock full of things which will pull me out of the house. We will be celebrating The Mrs’ birthday a week early on the 8th, but I can’t say anything more than that without spoiling the surprise. The following weekend we will be meeting some friends at the Historic Howell Theatre where we will take in a showing of the classic Valentine’s Day movie My Bloody Valentine (1981). And there are two more conventions coming up (see below).
One benefit of things happening this past weekend as opposed to earlier in the month: the weather. While it’s still Michigan and still cold, it wasn’t ridiculous like it was at the start of the year. It’s warm enough for me to go out in shorts to take in the garbage cans (but I’m kind of stupid, so take this with a grain of salt). I just balanced the hot tub water and unlike last week, I didn’t have to crack the ice on the cover first.
Make sure to tune in to Otherwordly Culture on 6 February 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern for a special Valentine’s Day show featuring Suzy and myself discussing Hot Guy Killers!
Listening To: I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones. This was one of the few novels on the recently announced Stoker preliminary ballot that I hadn’t read yet so I knew that I needed to rectify that. Jones is an amazing author who really knows how to key in on that 80’s slasher vibe. If you haven’t read The Indian Lake Trilogy, what is wrong with you?
Currently Reading: I haven’t had a lot of time to read (see the discussion of being out of the house all weekend), but due to the marvels of modern technology, I always have a whole library with me at all times. While sitting and waiting for appointments and what not, I started reading Aliens About Humans: The Undercover Aliens’s Handbook on Successful Infiltration by Michael Sender. It provides everything that an extraterrestrial needs to know about blending in on Earth. At least, everything that the extraterrestrials know about blending in on Earth.
Current Obsession: Trying to figure out the optimum speed to walk and still be able to type.
Dragon’s Roost Press News
We have the proof copy of Let the Sun Shine In: Poems Torn From the Dead Flesh of The Autopsy of Jane Doe by Anton Cancre in hand. This collection of poetry based on the film The Autopsy of Jane Doe will be our first release of 2025.
We are also hard at work editing Some People I Have Killed by Ken MacGregor which is next up on the publishing schedule.
This weekend (1 - 2 Feb) we will be at The Michigan Oddities and Horror Fest. Some down to Monroe for our first time in the Vendor Room this year and check out our new set up.
At the end of the month (28 Feb - 2 March) we will be at our first out of town show. Visit us in Pittsburgh at Horror Realm.
This Week’s Rambling: Double the Reviews
As noted above, it has been a week of fun times out of the house. The first thing theatrical type thing which I took in was Insidious: The Further You Fear. While the show is billed as “A Live Horror Experience,” most people in the audience seemed to find it more humorous that horrifying. The premise of the show is that the two parapsychological assistants from the first film have sold off the rights to what happened in the first movie and have taken their show on the road.
There is a big multi-media element to the production which I found interesting at first, but less so as the show went on. For the most part, the actors were all right, but there was one who shouted all of her lines which really got on my nerves. The stagecraft and special effects were where the show really shined. They did some really amazing things on the stage which I really appreciated.
Despite this, most of the people around us seemed not to like the show. I got the feeling that many of them were die hard fans of the cinematic franchise who ended up being disappointed. I’ve seen a couple of the movies, but I tend to get Insidious and Sinister confused in my head (I prefer the latter). The Mrs went in with no expectations and absolutely loved it.
On Monday I attended a Mystery Movie showing which turned out to be a preview of Companion. This time it was my turn to go into something totally blind. I am very glad that I did because there is a crucial element that is quite a twist and I was totally surprised by it. The film has elements of some of the best crime flicks where there is a relatively straightforward plan and then one thing after another go horribly awry. I don’t want to say any more than that for risk of giving away anything. Let me just say that this in one of those movies where after you know the twist you can look back and see certain elements in a whole new light. Well done, well acted, definitely recommended.