Freak energy

Beginning of the June - Question a Day Meme

1. Is anything (minor or major) irritating you at the moment?

My back is bothering me, and so is my right knee, and my shoulders are tight.

2. Have you ever used a photobooth? Are they still around where you live (where’s the nearest one?)

I don't remember? I assume so. No, they aren't in my area - they may be in New York City? But I've not seen any? I have no clue where the nearest one is? (I hate getting my picture taken - so it's not something I'd seek out?)

3. Do you still pay for things with cash? Have you been somewhere recently where they don’t take cash anymore?

Yes, depends on the place. There are some spots that tend to prefer cash. I bought a milk shake from Carnval with cash - they tend to want you to spend more for the card. Although that may have changed, I didn't ask.

Also, my hairdresser wants either cash tips or tips by Venmo, I'd prefer to give cash. I don't like Venmo.

Yes, I've been to places that don't take cash - here and there. Not many though. The MTA OMNY CARD Machines don't take cash, nor does my laundry room - we have to use a credit or debit card to renew and add funds to the laundry card. It used to be cash only, but now it's card only.

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Wednesday Reading Meme

* Currently reading "Wydling Hall by Elizabeth Hand", Hand is an established horror and dark fantasy writer from the late 20th to early 21st Century. Notably best friends with some writer bloke who blew me off on a dating app for not having a photo that gave him that spark. I got annoyed enough - to write the interaction into the book I self-published. (I'm not positive? But I think the guy may have been horror writer Paul Trembalay, although at the time we flirted with each other on social media - he was unknown and struggling. ) I'm not a fan of professional writers - particularly horror writers, they tend to be assholes? I don't know what it is about that profession - but the ones who become successful at it (ie, can make a living at it), tend to be folks you do not want to meet in person or know? Sci-Fi writers aren't too bad - they tend to keep to themselves and don't go overboard on the marketing. Literary also not that bad, nor is urban fantasy. But Horror - damn.

But I can still enjoy their writing. I'm very good at compartmentalizing.
It's rare that I can't compartmentalize. Also, I know very little about Elizabeth Hand (by design - I don't want to know anything - the small bits shared on book jackets and in the acknowledgements - are more than I want to know). Honestly, I wish the writers would just go by pseudonyms and we learned zip about them.

I know too much about Neil Gaiman - so can't read his books any longer or watch anything adapted from them. (That's an author that I can't compartmentalize - I've tried and failed. Not helped by the fact that he is a dark fantasy horror novelist. So I got rid of the Neil Gaiman books I owned.)

Anyhow - Wylding Hall is a creepy folk horror gothic novel about a 1970s British acid-folk band, whose somewhat misguided manager sends them off to/ strands them at - an ancient, creepy isolated country house in Britain, to record their album. Much chaos ensues, a legendary album is recorded, and alas their new lead singer mysteriously disappears. Years later, a documentary is made with the surviving band members - the story is told through their fragmented interviews. (Think Daisy Jones and the Six - except as a creepy horror novel by Elizabeth Hand featuring some quirky British folk band in lieu of Fleetwood Mac.) The story unravels the dark secrets of the house and the band's tragic summer, blending folk horror, psychological suspense, and a haunting mystery.

It's compelling. Very similar to Hand's other novels - which kind of refer to the demon in the corner, without ever actually looking at the demon in the corner? You are aware it is there, what it has done, what it is about to do...but for the most part? It's left to your imagination. It's a specific style of psychological horror writing that I adore. I like the less is more approach to writing. Where the horror is more implied than actually shown. Donna Tart did it well with The Secret History. Hand shows a touch more than Tart, but not by much. And both excelled at psychological folk horror, with a gothic twist.

Oh, it's June finally. I graduated from PT for the most part. No more for the time being. Vestibular issue has been corrected. Hooray? Now, if I can just get my right knee fixed.