it is what it is
Firstly…
…a thank you to everyone who reached out to check in on me or to give me their breakup recommendations. There was a veritable festival of tearjerking music, films, art, and literature. Oddly, the things that helped me the most were the music and the poetry. Those bite-sized hot pockets of truth that I could revisit over and over. That and porn.
Joking, of course.
I don’t read poetry.
Anyways…
I’ve certainly had my fair share of headaches and heartbreaks over these last three months… but I’ve also had an absolute blast.
1. I went to Mallorca with my childhood friends. We were very silly. When the airplane steward checked our seatbelts, we got them with one of these —👌. If we were sticking to old-school rules, we could’ve punched them in the arm… for free!
2. I climbed Mount Snowdon in my short shorts. I learned that mountains are far too cold for short-shorts.
3. I tabled at the Thought Bubble Comic Convention with the H&C boys. A yearly event that I adore very much.
4. I finished writing my four-part audio drama for Bloody FM’s The Dead podcast and let me tell you… I had a lot of fun doing it. The deadlines were tight and things got a little chaotic, but I enjoyed writing every rotten, stinking, biting, gnashing, clawing, bleeding word of it.
5. I guess I’m doing the online dating thing now… which has been a learning experience in itself. It’s like training for a new job. I’ve discovered all about my anxious attachment style, the different love languages, and the art of getting ghosted. It’s exhausting tbh. My new plan is to live alone in a cave and survive on the wall slime.
New work
She Burns is my latest short story featured on The Other Stories. I’ve been told by a couple of people that it’s one of my best! It’s about the pursuit of artistic success… and there’s a creepy witch in it 🧙♀️🔥.
Christmas 2023 - Speaking of TOS, for the month of December we’re doing some Christmas fun times. Go and listen to my terrible voice acting. There are also some great stories, too!
My Dog Shits Cash is now hitting all the podcast feeds. As I write this, we’re just over the halfway point. New episodes every Monday.
Five recommendations
1. A Monster Calls - This book got me choked up several times. This is the kind of work that I aspire to create myself.
2. Likely Stories - A gift from Andy Conduit-Turner. A graphic novel collection of Neil Gaiman stories adapted by Mark Buckingham of Fables fame. A sordid, fantastical glance at the seedier side of London.
3. The Fall Of The House Of Usher - I wasn’t quite sure about this one after the first couple of episodes but by the end I was all the way in. Some of those final scenes gave me literal chills.
4. Loki Season 2 - Some lovely sci-fi telly with a perfect ending.
5. Green Room - A rewatch with a friend. One of the most thrilling thrillers to ever stick its hand through an an open doorway. IYKYK.
My dog… is no longer living with me.
And I miss her every single day.
&&&
That’s it for me today.
Only a short one as I’m saving myself for the big end-of-year review!
Happy Chrismas...
Your filthiest of animals,
Just Luke