We used to go to Kennywood every Father’s Day because for some reason it is traditionally uncrowded there that day. I guess most dads want to stay home and grill meats, who knows. I’m not a dad, I don’t know what goes on in Dad Minds.

It ended up being not crowded, per the norm! And Chooch had already said he was bored before we even entered the park so that was a great start, status quo, welcome home, etc.

Steel Curtain finally reopened this season after having been closed all of last season and….most of 2023 I think? I quit caring, to be honest. Kennywood does this thing where they buddy up with a coaster manufacturer and agree to have a prototype / first of its kind added to the park and then it ends up being a maintenance nightmare, but whatever – you do you, K-wood.

Oh! I can’t believe I never mentioned this on here but Kennywood and its sister parks were recently bought by Herschend, the owner of DOLLYWOOD AND SILVER DOLLAR CITY. I am so stoked on this. Do I wish that Kennywood could go back to being family-owned? Of-fucking-course. But this last corporation that owned them (Palace) made some real stupid choices. I’m hoping that Herschend will put some theming in, get some better food up in that piece (I’m thinking of YOU, Dollywood’s famous cinnamon bread,  but then again – it might lose its novelty if we’re able to have it whenever we want here in Pittsburgh!), and AHEM – RMC MAYBE??? We know Herschend has a good relationship with RMC! (OK, Lightning Rod might have tarnished that relationship BUT they were still invited to re-track Fire in the Hole at Silver Dollar City, so maybe??)

Sorry. Tangent.

LOL Henry had to ride with some other dad. They immediately started talking, too, and Chooch and I were dying. Then Chooch realized he had allowed himself to share a moment with me and went back to being sullen and bored.

Anyway, Steel Curtain is still good! I didn’t notice the new trims that much, but Henry said that his ride was super bumpy but maybe that’s just because his brain is bumpy.

KANGAROO.

Honestly, nothing that exciting happened all day so this is mostly just going to be pictures.

We didn’t even really ride that much because we were all tired for various reasons (Henry and I had a late Friday night and then the No Kings protest most of Saturday, and Chooch is just perpetually tired because he’s of a certain age + spent all of Saturday on a train home). But we did get some Phantom rides in and I can confirm that it is STILL one of my all time favorite coasters.

Then Chooch guilted me into riding Black Widow with him and I cannot stress enough how much I dislike this ride.

They assign you a number when you walk on and are very serious about everyone sitting in their assigned seat. They were going in order starting from 1 and I ended up being 15 but then they skipped to 20 for Chooch. I know it was weight / balance thing because the park wasn’t crowded enough for them to fill every seat on each cycle, but it was still annoying because I didn’t want to ride at all and now I had to sit alone. Then they moved him and some of the people next to him clear on the other side!

I’m not going to lie, I thought I was going to throw up as the ride was coming to a stop. I was hungry and also definitely needed water so that just exacerbated things and I am totally certain that all of the casual bystanders could tell that I was having a bad time, lol. The ride operator even said, “How was that ride?? Some of you looked like you were having fun, others….did not.”

HEY, THE LITTLE NEXT TO ME ALSO HATED IT AND WAS YELLING AT HER BROTHER THE WHOLE TIME FOR MAKING HER RIDE IT, SO THERE.

DARK SKIES.

OMG he’s so happy to be home with mommy and daddy.

We didn’t get a Golden Nugget! But we have season passes so I’m sure I will get my Gol’Nug fix at some point this summer.

That stupid Bites & Pints thing was happening again so Henry bought a dumb tasting card and there was next to nothing for non-meat eaters, I’ll tell you that much. Chooch and I would have been extra-screwed if we were full vegan. As it were, we could only really eat the dessert options at nearly every country’s booth. I was PISSED at Italy because it looked like ALL THREE OPTIONS were meatless so I was stoked and asked for the flatbread that had peaches and cheese on it, I forget the exact kind. But then when I saw in under the heat lamp thing, it looked like it had MEAT CRUMBLES on it so I asked the guy who punched my taster card if it did and he emphatically said no. But some woman next to him overheard and said, “Yes, it does – pancetta.”

UGH!!! The description did NOT mention that AT ALL. Do better, Kennywood. It is literally 2025.

Oh and the “pints” option for Korea wasn’t even a Korean beer, but ok.

My favorites were the churros from Spain and whatever the raspberry pancake things were from Poland.

It started raining pretty hard around 3PM and Chooch was like, “Oh darn, I guess we will have to leave now.” He was in a big hurry to be done with family time!

Before we left, Chooch and I rode the Racer in the rain which was kind of fun actually, but there was a Jonny Craig-looking dad in front of us (in a wife-beater, no less) whose young son was sitting in front of him and he proceeded to SLAP THE KIND ON THE BACK OF THE NECK for the entirety of the ride?! Granted, he was doing it as a loving rough-housing type of thing but it was making Chooch and me so uncomfortable, like bro – ok, you could have stopped after the third whack, you know?

Just so fucking weird.

What else do I want to remember? Oh, Johnny Rockets is now the Carousel Cafe and they have a veggie burger! We were HOT several seasons ago when Johnny Rockets removed the black bean burger from their menu like fucking haters. Anyway, only Chooch wanted to eat there so I went inside with him while Henry went to pee (the Kangaroo really jostled it out of him), but then I realized I didn’t have my credit card so we standing there by the register like losers waiting for Henry to come back and then a big family came in and I was like UGH NOW THEY WILL GET IN FRONT OF US AND THIS WILL TAKE LONGER but luckily, they hung back to look at the menu and then I saw Henry finally walking over so I pushed Chooch over to the register to order. I was frantically waving Henry over but a mom and her daughter thought I was calling them over so they cut in front of the large family and joined us?!!? It was so awkward!!!

And then the young emotionless girl who rudely took Chooch’s order was so confused because there were three of us but only he was ordering and it turned into a whole thing much like everything does when the 3 of us are united, like we’re aliens from a planet of socially awkward dysfunctional families. She acted MAD that only Chooch was ordering food though and I was like, “MIND YO’ BUSINESS, MISSY.”

Anyway, not the most exciting trip to Kennywood but it was still fun, we rode Phantom, I sipped some beers, and it got us out of the house AS A REUNITED FAMILY and that’s all that really matters! Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be many more amusement park recaps this summer and hopefully at least one of them will be more exciting than this one.

I have a full Kennywood post and a concert recap forthcoming but here are some of the in-between thingies that happened over the weekend:

When my starting word for the last 2+ years is finally the Wordle of the day. This was my second one-guesser! The other time was when I had just been looking at Amazon, opened Wordle, guessed “prime” without even thinking about it, lol. Chooch accused me of cheating.

Chooch is home for the summer as of Saturday night and Penelope is feeling very mid about it, lol.

I saw this on Instagram and thought, “Oh! I bet you can see Henry and me in there” because we were directly across from the middle of the steps where the speakers were….speaking. I spotted the Palestine flag and immediately knew that was our spot because the guy holding it kept dragging it across my shoulders every time he lowered it, haha. So, I zoomed in and staying true to every large group photo Henry and I have ever been present for at concerts, outdoor music festivals, etc. you can see Henry plain as day:

BUT I AM BLOCKED BY A FLAG!!!

My friend Lyda thought this was the funniest thing and honestly, fine, so did I lol. It never fails!!!

Speaking of the No Kings march, Henry and I walked to Sly Fox downtown afterward. I was sweating through my orange DICK PIC shirt but everyone else there had also come from the same place so we were all kind of grimy.

We had a late lunch and shared a fight – I really liked every beer we tasted but the Royal Weisse was the best! It was a nice way to calm down a bit and refuel before heading back home on the T….

….where we ran into Blake! I have only seen him once since he moved out from next door two years ago, not sure how many times Henry has seen him, so it was nice to catch up because I thought he hated us?! Anyway, we were halfway to our step when he asked, “Hey….why are you guys on the blue line, anyway??” because we live within a 5-minute walk from a red line trolley stop.

“Um….because we were trying to avoid someone,” I laughed and then filled him in on the person I have been playing “hide but please don’t seek” with unbeknownst to them. They had invited themself to tag along with us today and I didn’t want to deal with it (11:30 to 3pm – plus the time we spent at Sly Fox) was a long-ass day!) so I said we were no longer going and then we DROVE TO ANOTHER TROLLEY STOP on a different line and had to pay for parking but it eased our nerves knowing that we at least wouldn’t run into them on there.

And of course, because PGH IS SO SMALL, we ended up spotting them right before the march started, but it turned out to be a good thing because then it gave us better odds of not accidentally merging into them during the actual march. I was telling some friends about it and they were like, “JESUS CHRIST, HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.”

(Yes, it is the same person as mentioned here, too, lol ugh.)

This was the random screensaver that appeared on our computer the other day and I was like, “Weird, I don’t remember taking a picture of that tree without people in front of it?” and then realized that this wasn’t MY photo of Gyeongju burial mounds, but some random “places around the world” photo. It made me so happy to see it though! I loved our time in Gyeongju and for some reason, those blog posts still get views almost every day from visitors around the world and I love that so much! HAVE YOU EVEN READ MY GYEONGJU POSTS??

Well, I think that was really all that happened this weekend in between the big events. I will tell you right now that it is so awesome having Chooch home but I am trying not to get too used to it since it will likely be his last summer home, unless he graduates and moves back home with us which I don’t see happening but never say never!

OK, time to go watch the new JNJ video, lol.

I’m exhausted but I wanted to share some pictures from today’s 50501 NO KINGS march in Pittsburgh that Henry and I attended today. We got home late last night from a concert, woke up tired AF, I had a headache. But fuck you, Trump. We still put our asses on the T (adorably packed with protest-ready senior citizens and I loved that) and spent from 11:30am to 2:30pm chanting, cheering, booing, and being together with what has been estimated was between 7000-10000 GOOD-HEARTED, SMART, but PISSED OFF people downtown Pittsburgh.

Grateful that Henry (who always looks like a husband who has been dragged out of his man cave against his will even when he genuinely wants to be somewhere) accompanied me, grateful that it was a peaceful turnout with no intimidation from outside groups or the police so that Chooch doesn’t have to walk from the train station tonight to the county jail to bail us out, grateful that I live in a liberal city on the right side of history. I know I diss Pgh a lot but today I really loved it here.

I bought this shirt for Chooch during that orange cunt’s first term and was glad to have it as a backup because the TACO shirt I ordered for the occasion won’t be here until Monday.

“I’m sure you will have plenty of opportunities to wear the TACO shirt,” Henry assured me while also simultaneously UNASSURING me –  I just want this to be over, take the fucker out, lock him up, please do not let us have to endure 4 full seasons of the real American Horror Story. Cancel the show, someone, anyone.

There were a bunch of speakers and while they were all fantastic and brave with strong and smart messages, I was getting antsy because I wanted to do the march! You know me and walking! I love to walk.

The guy who was walking around with Trump’s smug head on a stake was the MVP.

Finally the march happened. It wasn’t a long march but I was totally all about it.

“That was the first time in my life I said ‘jagoff’ unironically,” I said later when we were walking through downtown to Sly Fox for a late lunch.

“It’s probably also the first time you carried an American flag,” Henry frowned.

It’s true. I am very meh when it comes to patriotism but Trump is forcing me to care.

We were somewhere in that circled area, if I had to guess. There weren’t many people there yet when we arrived and that at 12 when they blocked off the streets, everyone moved closer to the City County Building and there were suddenly so many more people! It wasn’t too overwhelming though – people were giving each other space and everyone was hyper-aware of their surroundings so I felt pretty calm.

Anyway, I just wanted to share these quickly. Just in case anyone stumbles across this and doesn’t already know where I stand, I am very much anti-MAGA, Fuck Donald Trump, Abolish Ice, Hands Off, BLM, and just genuinely believe in doing what’s right and putting humanity over everything else. Fuck that cult bullshit. Fuck anyone that voted for this with no regrets and no remorse.

A few Fridays ago, I was sitting here at work listening to Spotify. This was around the time I started to get back into Kurt Travis and was heavily listening to his side project, Gold Necklace, so the algorithm was going with that. Most of the stuff I knew because I might have been out of the scene for a minute but the scene hasn’t changed THAT much.

Then suddenly, this one song came on that stopped me dead. Vocally, it sounded a bit like Bradley from Emarosa but also Tyler Carter from Issues a little and I was half-expecting it to be the latter even though it wasn’t very heavy.

It ended up being a new-ish (2021, I think) band from Baltimore called nightlife. They’re considered “soul punk” and I was like, “OK, I HEAR YOU, NIGHTLIFE.” I immediately looked them up on YouTube and saw that there is a video for the song that snagged the obsession lobe of my brain, so I immediately sent it to Henry who was napping. Then I ran upstairs and stood above him in bed like Fatal Attraction and when he didn’t immediately sense my looming presence, I started yelling DID YOU WATCH THE VIDEO I SENT YOU.

Literally 18 seconds after I sent it.

I made him watch it right then and there, drowsy from his startling nap-arousing, while I stood there watching to make sure he watched the whole thing before falling back asleep.

“WELL???” I screamed, awaiting a veritable college thesis on his thoughts of a 5-minute song.

“It was good,” he mumbled.

Then I sent it to my bud Wonka who practically DID write a book report on it as a response. He was really feeling it too!

Imagine how double-rainbow excited I was when Spotify told that nightlife was coming to Pittsburgh in a few weeks!!! I quickly went to the venue’s website and saw that they were actually an opening band for the Honey Revenge tour, and I had been following Honey Revenge on IG for several years. Plus, another supporting band is Daisy Grenade who we JUST saw at the Pierce the Veil concert. So, I had a lot of familiarity here and was stoked to buy tickets post haste.

Except…..

SOLD OUT.

I can’t explain the intense FOMO that encompassed me like a Killer Klown cotton candy cocoon in that moment. Just hang me from a rafter. It had been a long time since I had my heart THAT set on attending a non-Kpop concert and to see that I had no chance made my stomach hurt.

Spiraling out, I went to Instagram to see if I could find anyone with extra tickets. People were commenting on Honey Revenge’s post, and the band kept suggesting to check their Discord because fans were often selling extra tickets there.

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE DISCORD, I’M AN ELDER. I tried for about 5 minutes to figure it out and then gave up and texted Chooch who said he was “busy.” I kept nagging him and he said he didn’t know how and I was like OK LIES because he used to be on Discord all the time! I think they were using it for school during the pandemic, even?! Then he said, “I have to join a server and I don’t want to” WHATEVER THAT MEANS.

I gave up on my useless son who I am spending big money to send to college BUT THAT’S FINE, my body is still wrecked from CARRYING HIS LARGE HEAD INSIDE OF ME, also fine. Don’t throw Mommy a bone or anything. I’ll get over it.

Later that weekend, I was scrolling through nightlife’s IG feed, in full pout, watching videos from the previous shows and feeling so sorry for myself. One of their posts was the list of dates, urging everyone to come out, and I commented that I was crushed that the Pgh date was sold out before I could buy a ticket, but that I hoped they would come back soon.

They responded, “DM US, HOMIE.”

AND THEN THEY PUT ME +1 ON THEIR GUEST LIST FOR THE PGH SHOW!!

I truly was not looking for a handout, I would have gladly paid for a ticket, but this was so incredibly sweet of them. You better believe I will be hitting up their merch table tomorrow night! I am so stoked for tomorrow! Plus, Honey Revenge is so energetic, and I am in need of some girl power in my life.

I told Chooch and he actually responded with “That’s great!” but I can’t be sure if he meant it or not, haha.

(When I told Henry the good news, he said, “Oh. Good.” LOL.)

I had another bad night of anxiety attacks / restlessness, which left me feeling so gross this morning that I had to skip my morning walk. I’m feeling mostly like myself now though! I don’t know why this happens out of the blue like this – I had a decent day yesterday. Lots of external things out of my control are probably affecting me while I’m trying to sleep at night though, like the constant shit show this country has been ever since PREZ TACO took office again.

Anyway, today is a new day and I’m not going to panic thinking about going to bed tonight lol. Here are some good things because otherwise this page is going to be filled with anti-ICE raging and FDTs but I will save that energy for Saturday’s protest!

Henry blended some fresh strawberries into my strawberry Nami matcha the other night and it was very delectable and I think I will order another one tonight. You don’t know my life.

I’m kind of annoyed though because I bought that glass from Etsy a few years ago specifically because the ghosts on it are supposed to change color once you fill the glass with cold bev but it stopped working and now it looks dumb.

This is the current state of the wardrobe/dresser thingie. Please excuse the messiness. The drawers aren’t painted because they are going to be covered in fabric so Henry was like I AM NOT PUTTING ALL OF THE DRAWER PULLS IN THERE JUST TO TAKE THEM ALL OUT AGAIN. Who knows how much longer this will take BUT all of my clothes are folded and put away, at least. And now we have to get another smaller dresser for Henry’s ugly shirts since there is no room in this one now hahaha.

Oh look guys! My “JnJ” shirt arrived yesterday, another shirt for Henry to fold haha. I wore it last night when I met Margie at Red’s and she didn’t even inquire as to what/who JNJ is!!!

Henry and I love them so much haha.

As previously mentioned, Margie and I went to Red’s Good News after work last night for beer and chats. Can you believe that Red’s has been open for…five years now?? Did it open before the pandemic?? I can’t remember anymore, but you might recall that Chooch and I used to love to go to this place on the blvd called Parker’s, which specialized in breakfast sandwiches and had the best vibe. the owner, Luke, would always treat us like we were co-mayors of Brookline, just me and Chooch, though – never Henry!! But then he bought the bar next door (the old Zippy’s, which was a true dive but also pretty great in an ironic way) and whipped it up real nice in the Parker’s fashion. I walk past it every day because it’s right on the blvd and I can verify that even while never having set foot inside, they put so much effort into gussying it up for each and every holiday. Even back to school! We never stopped by because we aren’t big bar-goers and their food menu doesn’t have much for the meatless set.

Anyway, we had a really great time – I have had some family crises going on (what else is new) that I had been bottling up and it all came spilling out of me as more beer went in, lol. I didn’t realize how much I needed to blabber, and somehow I got kind of drunk off 2 beers in the span of 3 hours, I really can’t stand myself. I actually felt hungover this morning and I’m sure that contributed to much of my restless night. UGH.

If they would add a simple grilled cheese to the menu, I would make a conscious effort to hang out here regularly. It’s just really hard for me to drink without also eating because I get drunk/sick so quickly.

Oh, and the thing I love the most about them is that for Halloween, they cover “Good” on their sign with a pirate-esque flag that says “Bad.” Their attention to detail is amazing and totally my style.

(WHOA WHOA WHOA, Henry just saw his circulars in the trash (courtesy of me) and huffed, “You can make your own dinner!” while stomping away in a pout. Lol, Henry and those fucking circulars, Jesus Christ.)

I’m feeling much better now though, especially after this beaute arrived:

I know everyone always q-tips their dickholes over Black Parade but Three Cheers was peak MCR as far as I’m concerned. I was so into them in the early 00s (even before this record) and feel grateful that I got to see them open for other bands in really small venues and I think I can accept the fact that I grew out of them after this album, but that doesn’t mean these songs will ever stop meaning something to me. Ugh, my MCR phase was a good one. I’m also at a stage in my life where I don’t give a shit about bragging about my past concert luck. I DID THESE THINGS, SO THERE. Lol.

I’m ending with this bad bitch of a Seventeen song, thank god they gave it to us uncensored because ON THE ALBUM IT’S CENSORED!!!!!

About a month or so ago, my therapist gave me this “empty nester” worksheet to help me put in writing a lot of the things I’m feeling so that we can find coping solutions, ways to grow, new avenues to explore that veer away from the bridge/cliff/5th story window, etc. It was really easy for me to answer everything on the page because I am so IN MY FEELINGS 24:7, surprise, surprise. But the one that tripped me up, and I’m sorry I don’t have it in front of me so I have to paraphrase, was something about listing some things that I have always wanted to do but never could while I was busy parenting. Or something.

So, I was like, “OK cool, this is the fun part.” But then I just stared at the page. I couldn’t think of anything! Because look, when I became pregnant, a close friend at the time said to me, “Well, it was nice knowing you.”

I was completely caught off guard by that and asked wtf that meant.

She explained that people change when they become parents, implying that my only identity then would be “mom.” That all of my current hobbies, interests, passions would fade away and be replaced by, what? A minivan, mom jeans, and PTA meetings? I’m almost glad that she was audacious enough to say that to my face because it really stuck with me, obviously it’s 20 years later and I still think about it, ha! I can’t say for sure if I would have naturally gone the same route regardless, but it did trigger me, gave me a bit of a complex, and I was determined to find balance as a mom and as…me.

I never stopped geeking out about music. I never stopped going to concerts. I got back into art for the first time since way before I was a mom, I still kept writing.

Haunted houses? More than ever.

Road trips? Tons.

Big travel? Eventually, yes, we got there as a family!

Becoming Chooch’s mom was THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE. But one time at work, one of my coworkers said to me, ” God, I always forget that you’re a mom.” And that was one of the compliments ever! Because YOU CAN BE BOTH A PARENT AND YOUR OWN PERSON. BOTH CAN EXIST AT THE SAME TIME!

So, I told my therapist later that I couldn’t think of anything to put on that line because I have been able to do all the things I wanted to do while still being a mom. And she said, “That is really amazing.”

But I went on to tell her that after going to a few non-Kpop concerts this year, and then accidentally obsessing over Johnnie Guilbert which got me back into scene music, I realized that while Kpop is still my #1, it sucks to only be able to go to those kinds of concerts several times a year. (Dude, we have to travel for every single one of them + HAVE YOU SEEN KPOP TICKET PRICES.) So I decided that instead of choosing something new (not to exclude new things! I’m sure new interests will arise from time to time, they always do with me!), what if I…allowed some of the “old” back in. The “past” parts of me. And find a balance between the two.

Because not only will it keep me feeling young and excited for things coming up, but it will scratch that live music itch in between Kpop concerts.

I was worried my therapist would consider this akin to living in the past, not allowing personal growth, etc. But she fully supports it!

And thanks to Johnnie Guilbert (lol), I went to see Pierce the Veil and my Spotify has cracked the door open for my old Swancore* mainstays to slip back in as well.

*(Speaking of swancore, I can’t believe I’m so old that I was there for the genesis of swancore and now it seems like fans of the sub-genre don’t even realize who it was named after?!?)

So now I am giddily adding little concerts here and there into our schedule and Henry is in full OH BOY mode, lol.

I just can’t keep sitting here every night after work doing nothing. It’s a pit of despair. Log off, eat dinner, exercise, watch YouTube, go to bed. I would rather have events/concerts to go to rather than something like a lesson or a class that is consistently on my schedule because commitment is hard for me and makes me lose interest, fast!

(I am still not ruling out something that Henry and I can jointly enroll in because I really think he needs to find things to enjoy in life too, like BALLROOM DANCING, I don’t know why I’m so fixated on that because I truly have no interest in it other than I think it would be hilarious.)

(Because, it’s me and Henry.)

(Doing ANY kind of dancing together.)

(Kara, maybe MACRAME, FINALLY??)

When we were with Chooch in Philly on Sunday, he randomly started telling me about the bands he has been listening to a lot lately, like DEFTONES and Pierce the Veil! Deftones was especially exciting for me because I was his exact age when I constantly played their Adrenaline album (ON CASSETTE) in my Eagle Talon when I was first living on my own. And then we just sat there and dished about music and it was so important and special to me because I have included him in so much of my music obsessions all through his childhood and to be able to sit there with him as basically an adult, and talk about this and see that he really appreciates it now – it was so huge for me! Yo, Pierce the Veil was his first concert when he was….6??? And it was a roadtrip concert, no less!

I don’t know, I guess I just needed to type all of this out to hold myself accountable and actually start living my life again. Crying every day is not the way!

8:36am: We just left a Greensburg Sheetz, en route to Philly to get Chooch mostly-moved out. Henry’s breakfast sandwich is making the car stink of b.o. so bad and also I looked over right as he pulled a LONG onion tendril out with his teeth and I started gagging.

“Why are you laughing??” he demanded.

“I’m gagging, thank you very much.”

Anyway, I’m using this time in the car to also do a photo dump from the last week so I can stop being so behind on blogging.

Here are some pictures from our Sunday visit to our fave, Pink Box, for some pre-cemetery walk treats:

Seriously love this place so much, love supporting it, love their delicious treats! Please stay forever, Pink Box.

I got this giant pineapple croissant because I needed croissant redemption after that shitty bread-lump that I was served at Penn brewery the day before. Oh and while I’m at it, let me state for the record that I hate them even more now because I messaged them on IG re: the Kennywood edition of their (shitty) lemon shandy. I specifically said LEMON because there is a strawberry shandy that comes in the Kennywood six-pack. Whoever answered me said that YES the KENNYWOOD LEMON SHANDY was available at the brewery in the KENNYWOOD CANS. So Henry went out (twice because the first time he forgot to check their hours and they were closed lol) and that same shitty bartender lady tried to sell him the REGULAR six-pack and he was like NO, THE KENNYWOOD ONE PLZ and she said NO.

So I responded again and my message was SEEN but not replied to. Fuck you Penn Brewery.

Anyway, my Pink Box croissant was so satisfying.

Homewood Cemetery has the most beautiful pond. We come here all the time (miss not having Chooch with us) and just stand there looking at tadpoles, turtles, etc. like it’s nature porn.

P.S. I had to wear glasses for nearly a week because whatever allergies/sinus ailment I had made my one eye red under the iris. It didn’t hurt at all but it made me nervous. Not nervous enough to get it looked at by anyone other than Henry though. Haha.

—————-

9:21am: We still have 3:32 hours left ugh. And it’s raining. We’re listening to the Stray Kids DominATE set list now but this came up earlier and cracked me up:

10:14am: LOL I texted Janna and asked her to do me a HUGE FAVOR because that’s just the sort of text everyone wishes to receive out of the blue (갑자기) and after waiting AN HOUR for her respond, I asked her to message Penn Brewery about the cans and she said SURE.

LOL. I AM GOING TO SUE THEM FOR FALSE ADVERTISING.

In other non-on-the-road news, we are still in the process of getting the wardrobe and dresser set up. Henry spent all last weekend tediously trying to fold all of my T-shirts because I just ball them up and punch them into the drawers. He even ordered a T-shirt folder and taught me how to use it so I can fold my own shirts going foward lol. But anyway, everything is removed from the old dressers and they are currently bashed into pieces in the dumpster at Henry’s work. (Trust me, I’m all for upcycling but these were TRASHED. It was so bad & aggravating, trying to access clothes in the condition BOTH dressers were in.)

10:20am: Henry just gave me a quizzical look because he looked over and saw me crying.

I was thinking about G-Dragon. Lol.

12:31pm:

Me: Do I have to do anything when we get there?

Henry: like what?

Me: Help.

Henry: That’s hilarious. I just brought you along for company.

Lololol.

Speaking of Henry, did you know he moonlights as my inhouse matcha barista?

Of course this is Nami Matcha, their new strawberry-infused blend. It is sooo good. The strawberry essence is subtle and natural, but not artificial tasting at all.

And here’s some Penelope pics:

2:09pm: this is very tedious and frustrating lol.

2:30pm:

Me: I’m sweating!

Henry: from carrying that poster?

lol srsly that was pretty much the extent of what I did.

3:16pm: we had lunch with Chooch at GFG Cafe and it was delectable. Veggie mousakka!

And we finally got to meet FOUR of his friends finally, two of them he’s rooming with next year.

What a whirlwind day. Now we’re heading out. I let Chooch off the hug hook this time around since we’ll see him on Saturday!!

Bye Drexel!

5:31pm: Still in the car, trying not to have a heart attack while reading updates on the Orange Psycho’s war on Californians. Trying to balance it with G-Dragon content.

Speaking of, my fan club members only version of his mini-lightstick arrived on Friday :)

6:07pm: It’s really sad that we have made this trip so many times that we recognized the last working at the 7/11 at whatever rest stop we just left. (Blue Mountain or something.)

Also Henry bought a Mr. Beast Feastible because he was influenced by Jake Webber.

7:06pm: Just left this cutie rest stop:

We’re listening to Kurt Travis and getting so stoked to see him again next month and by we I mean me. “Isn’t his voice so pretty?” I said to Henry.

“I guess?”

Ugh.

9:42pm: We’ve been home for an hour. Byeeee!!

Yesterday was a milestone birthday for Henry – the big 6-0! I posted these pictures yesterday on Instagram in his honor (he was so thrilled and touched by some of them, as you can imagine) so I figured I’d share them here too because honestly, we didn’t do anything to celebrate. I kept asking him what if anything he wanted to do and he gave me nothing to work with. Some people are just like that, which is crazy to me because I will pout and sulk if nothing happens on my birthday which is why I start planning ahead of time because I have learned over the years that if you want to have a happy and fun birthday, ain’t no one going to do that for you but you.

I did chat with Chooch about this a few mths ago but we couldn’t think of anything he’d actually enjoy, lol. I definitely wasn’t going to have a party for him because that would be just me doing something for me, in the end.

And besides, the last year+ has left me stripped of energy, motivation, and creativity. Plus, it sucks without Chooch here. He’ll be home next weekend, which is Father’s Day, so we can celebrate then.

Shout out to Henry for having more patience than anyone I know, keeping Chooch & me from perishing more times than I can recount here, being a one-man crafting powerhouse (he takes all of my ideas and makes them tangible!), driving me hours upon hours for Kpop concerts and never complaining, loving G-Dragon almost as much as me, rolling with all of my stupid “OK HEAR ME OUT, WHAT IF—-” ideas, and honestly just being my best friend. I don’t know how I would have gone through this last year+ without him.

Remember when I used to take coleslaw action shots?? Should I start this series again?? Lol.

Chingumas poca Henry.

Looking like the cook. 

Celebrating Hyunjin in Seoul.

This was taken by me in Gamla Stan, Stockholm just to show him an example of how I wanted him to take a picture of ME and he still failed miserably even with a visual aid. Anyway, it turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of him and his man-purse.

Chilling with a troll in Norway.

If Henry was an office worker.

He found the Ted Nugent hotdog bun at Tony Packo’s in Toledo!

That time he got stuck on the floor at my birthday lunch in Seoul. 

This was taken at one of our favorite places to walk – Keystone State Park.

Mt. Olympus angel. He was annoyed because I posted it on Instagram and Mt. Olympus liked it haha.

This was when we were visiting Alyson in New Hampshire <3

LOL donut photoshoot in some random town in New York.

Posing at Six Flags Great Adventure.

LOL. Even when Henry is having fun, you can’t tell.

Being a proud Air Force person at Indiana Beach even though he went AWOL.  

We love Phantom’s Revenge!

At a SHINee anniversary event in Cleveland!

Working on some project for me.

Seeing NCT127 for his first time in Newark!

Enjoying his Golden Nugget at Kennywood.

Henry and his twin brother at Six Flags. 

Had to include this classic Henry photo lol.

Anyway, Henry seemed to have an OK day. He came home from work, got a haircut, went to TWO GROCERY STORES at TWO SEPARATE TIMES which is his favorite past time, and then had some beer while watching Korean content on YouTube. (Specifically: Taemin on Daesung’s talk show, and Joshua on Yoon and Brian’s show BYOB.) I don’t know what today will hold but tomorrow we’re driving to Philly to bring home the bulk of Chooch’s shit so at least he will get to see him for some belated birthday aggravation!

Henry and I had a drinking lunch date on Saturday with Amy and Dick and I always look forward to these! This time it was at Penn Brewery and I was excited about it because we recently got that Penn Brewery Kennywood-inspired six-pack and actually enjoyed all 6 varieties in spite of Henry’s prior mutterings about “never having had a single good beer from Penn Brewery.”

It’s evidently the oldest brewery in the city. These are things I’m learning, lol. I have never been there before even though it seems to be a beloved Yinzer institution. I will definitely give it all of the points for aethestics alone – I love old shit and this made me feel like I was being all historical and whatever.

I guess this was the tunnel where they stored the beer back in the day?? That’s what Amy told us. She and Dick were there a few weeks ago to pick up some special collab that the brewery had with our SUPER GREAT local chocolatier, Sarris. (Seriously, I get that Europe has the supreme chocolate but it irritates me when the American chocolate being put up against Cadbury and the likes is always Hersheys and Nestle. SARRIS IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!!)

Anyway, they made a limited-run stout conditioned with Sarris’ peanut butter meltaways and it sold out so fast that they made more for Easter so Amy and Dick headed out and grabbed a whole case because so many of their friends (they live in Ohio) also wanted to try it. Henry ended up finding single cans at our local beer distributor so he brought one home and we HATED IT. Like, I took one sip and decided right there on the spot that I never wanted that swill in my mouth ever again. Henry ended up dumping the rest of the can because he hated it too.

I figured Amy and Dick might have enjoyed it because they are more stout-adventurous than us, but they scrunched up their faces and said they thought it was awful.

“Did you guys taste ANY peanut butter?” Amy asked.

“No, and not any chocolate, either!” I cried. I also saw that it got a ton of bad reviews on Untappd so that made me feel validated.

But back to our experience at the brewery itself:

Apart from it being really cozy and German-y, we were off to a bad start immediately when we walked through the door and a semi-surly server barely greeted us and told us to sit anywhere. I was hoping she was just the hostess, but then she came over to get our drink order and made me feel so uncomfortable right out of the gate. We asked if they do flights there and she was like, “Yes, I’ll bring you a flight card” and then Henry tried to get two more for Amy and Dick who had yet to arrive, but it somehow complicated the whole process and I could practically see fire in her eyes. She ended up just bringing us two cards and we were like, “That’s fine, thanks” then Amy and Dick had to jump through the same hoops once they arrived.

It was just as bad when she came back for our food order – she was actually turning her head away from us the whole time while we were quickly trying to decide and I wanted to be like, “WHY DON’T YOU JUST COME BACK THEN IF THIS IS SUCH A NUISANCE TO YOU??”

We were being so polite too, way more so than she deserved. She made me feel like I was in trouble every time she came to our table and honestly just made the whole vibe awkward and uncomfortable. I really hate complaining about these things and it takes a lot, really. I’m 99% always on the server’s side but this broad needed to just go home.

The beers were just a’ight. We all got the lemon shandy I think and all had the same exact review: dafuq, where’s the lemon tho?

I dunno how Dick & Amy felt about their food, but Henry and I were not impressed with ours. I got a veggie sandwich on a croissant and what was served to me looked like it was from a kids menu. I’ve had bigger and better croissants from 7-ELEVEN (and I’m talking about the crappy American 7-Elevens, even – not the superior ones in Asia). It basically had a floppy portabella slice, lettuce, and a tomato on it. It was so lackluster and I was still very hungry afterward. Luckily, I swapped the fries for a side a spaetzle and that was actually good, just not as good as my Pappap’s.

I did try one of Henry’s fries though and it was really good so I guess if I ever go back, it’s “order a bunch of sides” or starve.

One highlight (aside from hanging with my sister!) is that there was an advertisement on the table for the Kennywood six-pack. But alongside the picture of the 6-pack, there were EIGHT different cans!?!? I quickly ran through them and found the two that there were not included in our six-pack. Henry was going to ask the server and I was like, “Bitch, best just go straight to the bar with this inquiry, come on now.”

He came back to our table with an entire six-pack of one of the different varieties (this one has Phantom’s Revenge on the can!!!!) because it was the only way to buy it. The one we’re still missing is just – ugh – the lemon shandy with a different name but it’s THEMED TO THE DEFUNCT LE CACHOT AND I NEED THIS CAN!!! Henry went round and round trying to explain to the bartender that we specifically want the Kennywood cans and they kept trying to push the regular Penn Brewery lemon shandy six-pack on him. UGH!

But then one of the bartenders did mention that some had been shipped out to various distributors and Giant Eagle so we spent the rest of the weekend sporadically looking to no avail.

There is really something wrong with my phone’s camera – all of my photos look like ass lately (and not just the ones I’m in lol).

OMG why he is stalking around like this??

Anyway, just look at how amaze this can is (the beer was so-so):

Phantom’s Revenge is one of my ult-favorite coasters and not just because of Pgh Pride. It is legitimately a world-class coaster! GO READ MY MYRIAD BLOG POSTS ABOUT IT!

Anyway, after leaving Penn Brewery, I needed a hot coffee and sweet treat so we parted ways with Amy & Dick and went to the nearby Yinz Coffee, one of the few local chains I genuinely support. It was more crowded than I have ever seen it because it was Pride weekend and a ton of people had wandered in from other events. Normally, I’d be like, “HELL TO THE NAH” when I see a line, but the energy was so positive there because of the LGBTQ+ love that I decided to stick it out. Godspeed to that barista though – he was killing it alone behind the counter! I bestowed all of the kindness I had in my daily reserves onto him, since I was given no reason to use it at the brewery. I always have so much respect for people who can handle the stress and pressure of a non-stop work flow like that, and he was doing it with PANACHE and a smile on his face. We had a nice and quick chat (I’m sure he was relieved to hear that my order was a simple drip coffee with a splash of almond milk) and he said, “Tomorrow is the parade so it will just as crazy!”

It was one of those brief interactions that leave you feeling good because the person on the other end was pure vibes, you know? Love you, Yinz Coffee!

Henry and I also got two cookies to share so we took it to the nearby Uniondale Cemetery (the one where “Henry wrecked” the car, definitely not me) but yo, I couldn’t believe how cold it was. I think it was like 50 degrees that day but it was windy with no sun so we didn’t last long.

And that was Saturday!

No intro.

1. Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson

I actually read this on 4/30 but left it off of my April round-up by accident. This was fine – I listened to the audio and I do genuinely like Pamela. I was hoping for some more Hollywood dishing I guess but overall it did leave me with even more respect and admiration for her. Her childhood was…yikes.

2. What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella

I grabbed this from the library because I wanted something quick to read and had no idea that it was loosely based on the author’s own experience with a brain tumor and having to essentially re-learn everything each day. Somehow this was still pretty light, considering.

3. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

I will say that it was a risky move for a man to write a book about teenage pregnancy in the 70s but I think he kind of pulled it off. The problem is that it was just kind of boring. And it felt VERY long.

4. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

I am so sorry to say that I am falling out of love with Emily Henry. After a while, the novelty wears out and you’re able to really see that the author just keeps recycling characters, tropes, finger-snapping banter. It really worked for me for the first few books but this was actually kind of dreadful and I HATED the story-within-the-story. HATED IT. It was so boring and tedious, and also, the main characters fall in love almost immediately and it wasn’t believable at all to me. Yeah, there’s a twist but by then IDGAF.

My Goodreads review: This was…bad :/ I have loved so many Emily Henry books but after a while it’s just the same characters over and over. Quirky NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS protagonist; surly, serious YOU WONT KNOCK DOWN MY WALLS man. Not working for me anymore. At least not for this one.

5. Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter by Nicci French

I usually love this married writing duos’ books but this was another one that was entirely boring for most of the first part and then by the time it picked up and we find out if anyone has seen the bitch, I didn’t care.

6. One of Us Is Dead by Jeneva Rose

Light, upbeat book about nasty rich wives and the woman who takes care of them in her salon. Then it turns VERY dark. I liked it – not too deep but just plain entertaining and sassy.

7. The Resting Place by Camilla Sten

Eh. Not as good as the Lost Village, which she also wrote.

8. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan

If you followed the Gabby Petito investigation, then you can probably skip this because it’s very clearly loosely based off that. Nothing was very shocking here BUT it was still an entertaining listen while I was on my walks and that’s my only criteria for audio books.

9. Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

I loved Nothing to See Here and now this is the second book of his that I read after that has disappointed me. It did not engage me, not a single character, and in fact the only good thing that came of it was that there was a reference to one of the characters wanting to film their siblings in profile and then I started picturing me, Henry and Chooch in profile and somehow that morphed into me coming home from a walk and screaming, “I FINALLY HAVE AN IDEA FOR A CHRISTMAS CARD AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!” and Henry was like, “It’s….May.”

10.The Winner by Teddy Wayne

There’s a review on Goodreads that says simply, “Only a man could have written this” and I have nothing else to say except: laden with misogyny.

11. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

But nothing else I read all month matters because THIS. THIS!!!!!!!

Another 5-star from Backman. Not Beartown-tier, but still a five. HOW does he write such broken, imperfect and lovable characters. I felt for every single person in this book. I cried so much. I had to actually stop reading it Saturday morning because we were meeting my sister for lunch later and I was crying all of my makeup off. I don’t know how to articulate it, but his books are so comforting to me and also fill my heart with so much sadness simultaneously.

Bye.

Pierce the Veil – where do I even begin?? First of all, being back at Star Lake was so weird and disorienting since it was an actual concert and not Warped Tour (with Warped Tour, we’d spend most of our time in a huge section of the parking lot that was fenced off for the two main stages and very little time under the actual pavilion). I immediately went to the bathroom and of course chose a stall with a door that wouldn’t lock so I had to lean forward and hold it with an outstretched arm while I was peeing and it felt like I was going to pop my arm out of socket so that was a very Erin start to the evening. But then, after Henry paid $22!!!!!!!!! for a beer, we found our seats and settled in. Henry was happy because I specifically bought an aisle seat but then I sat in it instead of giving it to him, haha.

I’ve been getting Reddit notifications about people complaining about how shitty the crowds have been at whatever PTV date they attended, and I am relieved to say that I only saw this stuff AFTER our date so that it didn’t cause me any unnecessary stress prior to the show, and that the crowd in our section at least was very tame and maintained good concert etiquette.  Did I think the super tiny couple in front of me was annoying? You fucking bet your aunt Betty’s britches I did BUT that was just me being me, lol. They weren’t actually doing anything that I couldn’t just ignore if I needed to. I was just fixated on the fact that the boyfriend, in his MCR letterman jacket and the bizarre way of dancing, looked like he was cast as an sock hop attendee in a Happy Days episode. He and his babe were going to pop a squat at the mom and pop soda shop afterward for a motherfucking egg cream, gee whiz.

The upside was that they were both super short so I could easily just…not look at them if I didn’t want to. But Chachi kept turning around to record himself with the stage in the background.

Anyway, Daisy Grenade opened and they were fine. Upbeat girl power pop rock from NY.

Then Sleeping with Sirens came on and I even though I used to love them, I will be honest and say that I haven’t seen the best performances of theirs over the years. They still have the same singer (Kellin Quinn) but the rest of the band has changed so much that I didn’t even know NICK MARTIN was in it now! So that was a fun throw back for me. There was a time when I feel like I was seeing Nick everywhere.

It only took about 20 seconds for me  to get totally swept up in feelings though. Henry sat through the whole thing and scrolled though his phone. At one point, he was looking at the ground through his camera viewfinder??

What a total Herb.

In case one day this video is gone, here’s the caption:

A HENRY&ERIN MEMORY: Back when Henry still had me in the Proposal Waiting Room (9 years in and my number still wouldn’t be called for another 13 years unbeknownst to me) and I was at the height of my delusional Imaginary Never-Wedding planning, this song came out and I became OBSESSED with having a full choreographed contemporary “first dance” to it (I was also super into SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE back then too). I used to listen to it on repeat while walking a nearby high school track AND OPENLY WEEP because I wanted to get married so badly lol.

Last night, I looked over lovingly at Henry when Sleeping With Sirens was performing this song, and he was….sitting down & scrolling through Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Erin Appledale (@ohhonestlyerin)

Anyway, turns out that SWS still has the ability to make me emotional; get it, Kellin.

And then finally – PIERCE THE VEIL! Before I get into that, I just want to say that Chooch was texting me before they came out, saying things like, “let me know if they play Fast Times at Clairemont High or Even When I’m Not With You” and “Wasn’t ‘If I’m James Dean…’ your alarm?” and I was swooning at the fact that he remembers this from…15 years ago??

F I F T E E N

Y E A R S

A G O

F M L

But wow, what an unexpected departure from the “wow” and “mm cool” responses that I usually get from him! It’s like he actually cared that I was at the PTV concert!

And then something else unexpected happened when the lights went out for PTV:

H E N R Y

S T O O D

U P

Can you even believe it?? Henry NEVER stands at concerts if there is an empty seat directly behind him! Does Henry….like PTV now? According to him, he never said he didn’t like them but I believe this to be a bald-faced lie.

BRB going to wake Henry from his nap to see if he wants to go see them again tomorrow night in Cleveland LOL.

We were pretty far back – actually it was the farthest back I have ever been for PTV; I have been “stage-hugging” close in the past but for this one, I wanted to be comfortable and I wasn’t disappointed in the seats at all – so I don’t have much to share on here media-wise. JUST THAT I FELT SO MUCH JOY. Not that I was ever “young” during my time as a PTV fan, but that night really did make me feel like I was in high school. I was already in my mid-20s when I first heard of them but it really does feel like I grew up with them. Just like, nothing else mattered but the music being played in front of us that night. It was incredible and I am so glad that I bit the bullet and got us tickets for this show, especially now that Henry has turned a new leaf and appreciates them like I always have! I called him two days later when he was on his way home from work and he legit answered by saying, “You interrupted ‘Pass the Nirvana,’ what do you want??”

You know I texted Chooch immediately and said, “Apparently your dad listens to PTV on his own time now.”

SETLIST (& no, they didn’t play the songs Chooch asked about, sadly)

El Rey / Jose Alfredo Jimenez used as their intro music

1. Death of an Executioner
2. Bulls in the Bronx
3. Pass the Nirvana
4. I’m Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket
5. I’d Rather Die Than Be Famous
6. Where Is My Mind? (Pixies cover) (Snippet which segued seamlessly into….)
7. Floral & Fading
8. Circles
9. Yeah Boy and Doll Face (FML SRSLY)
10. She Makes Dirty Words Sound Pretty (Partial) (WTAF??? I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HEAR THIS LIVE AGAIN)
11. Today I Saw the Whole World (acoustic)
12. Wonderless
13. May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight
14. Hell Above
15. Caraphernelia
16. Emergency Contact
17. Bulletproof Love
18. Disasterology
19. Hold On Till May
20. King for a Day (with Kellin Quinn)

I guess I’ll share this one since evidently, it’s Henry’s favorite! (I love this song but hate the video, FYI.)

[Sadly, a few days before this concert, Dave Shapiro and several others from the music industry were killed in a plane crash. Vic especially seemed maudlin when the show first started, but they all seemed to feed off the energy of the crowd and pushed through. I can’t imagine how difficult and painful it has been for them to continue this tour when they are mourning the loss of such a close friend. Ugh.]

Short weeks are truly always the longest somehow,  but it’s finally Friday and I feel so good about that. Even though it’s chilly and rainy currently.

Here are some things that are currently making me smile, or smile-adjacent (smirk?):

1. Henry Loves Jake Webber

Dude, you guys I know I’m all aboard the Johnnie Guilbert Emo Train, but Henry has the man-hots for his counterpart, Jake Webber I think. Our new nightly ritual has been to unwind watching videos from both of their channels (the best are the ones where they’re together though!) and Henry will actually LOL at them. His favorite ones are where Jake decides to cook something for the viewers because Jake has the same cooking prowess as me.

I like to take stealth-photos of Henry laughing at these so that I can send them to Chooch, who will NOT sign off on this new hobby of ours, and thinks we’re too old to be enjoying 20-somethings act like feral animals while trying seasonal candy from Walmart, but you know what Chooch? LEAVE US ALONE.

I did get Chooch to watch ONE video though and he agreed that it was “kind of” funny and that he probably would have liked it years ago but now he only watches physics videos on YouTube. WOW. How exciting.

Oh, and you want to talk about someone being influenced by an influencer? Jake mentioned sugar-free Sonic water powder stuff and literally the next day, Amazon was delivering them to our house. OK Henry, you simp.

Meanwhile, I’m over here in my Johnnie Guilbert shirt like: 

We’re just Mr. and Mrs. Midlife Crisis over here, don’t mind us.

2. GOLD NECKLACE

My Spotify was like, “Oh  you’re listening to Pierce the Veil again? Let’s add some Swancore back into the mix too” which has been so pleasant and familiar to my ears, god I love me some Swancore (Dance Gavin Dance, etc.) but then this one song came on and I was like, “Whoa, hold up – what is this? It sounds like Kurt Travis?” It was a band called Gold Necklace and I WAS RIGHT – it’s another side project of Kurt Travis! Holy shit, this song nearly made me fall out of my seat – I have been out of the loop! Anyway, Henry had told me a few weeks ago that Anthony Green is coming to Pittsburgh with Geoff Rickley and Kurt Travis, so this was my cue to snag two tickets. Kurt Travis, you are brilliant. Anyway, I am trying to be more diligent with keeping up with my old music tastes too. I get FOMO bigly when it comes to music and I want to start going to smaller shows like I used to, in addition to the big Kpop concerts.

3. Stupid Memorial Day Parade + Twin Lakes

Not even worth making a separate post about it. I truly despise this parade so much, I wish I could better articulate my feelings but I guess all you need to know is that I don’t really have any neighborhood pride so I could really give a shit about seeing our local girl scouts trying to serve cunt or those idiotic war reenactors who INSIST on firing their guns in front of our house every year.

Anyway, I was giving Chooch a play-by-play so I’ll do the same here:

1. Larry (Chooch’s frenemy) is ready for the parade with his….sheriff hat I think and a flag.
2. Larry gave Henry a flag.
3. Some financial group drive by in a CYBER TRUCK with an accordion player on the back – I refuse to clap for that thing.
4. Some big military plane flew overhead – Henry’s favorite part.
5. No child has fallen, sadly.
6. I wondered out loud how I could get myself into the parade. Doing WHAT?? Henry asked. Promoting my blog, obvi, I said. Oh, your blog is the LAST thing this neighborhood needs to find out about. Wow.

Yeah, I just really hate it. I sit on my porch steps and say, “I’m not waving to these assholes” or I’ll wave facetiously just to be an asshole. I just get very angry! Maybe because I hate this country so much.

After the idiot parade (thanks to NO ONE for tossing us any candy – age discrimination!!!), Henry and I went out to a park called Twin Lakes that somehow, we have never visited. It was about an hour away and I didn’t feel like being in the car that long so I almost told him to forget it but then tried to just “go with the flow” which is something we’re working on in therapy, squashing my kneejerk need to fight myself and happiness. Really glad we did this! It was a super fun day even though I was wearing brand new Vans and ended up saying “ouch, ouch, ow, omg my broken toes” halfway into the walk.

I’d love to go back sometime this summer while Chooch is home and force him into having a family picnic with us haha.

4. Resting Penelope Face

She always looks so pissed! But she’s the sweetest, most loving cutie sweetie!

 5. Audra Took a Tumble

ok, yoooo – this is apropos of NOTHING but I was flipping through a stack of old photos just now and came across this one:

This was at my elementary school’s playground – sometimes we would go there during non-school hours because we lived right down the street. Anyway my first thought was “Shit I used to be so GOOD on the monkey bars” and then I immediately thought about the time my friend AUDRA fell off those same monkey bars and landed on her head!!!! She didn’t die or anything but I remember it being scary and her getting rushed off the playground and probably to the hospital I guess.

Then I flipped to the EXACT NEXT PICTURE:

AND AUDRA IS IN IT!!! She’s the girl right in the middle with the headband. See? She didn’t die and was apparently cleared to go to the pumpkin patch with our Girl Scout troop only a few mths later. (Interestingly I’m not in this picture but my brother Ryan is??!!!)

Oh well, that’s all for me.

Sunday was such a glorious day! In therapy this week, I was saying that I know it might not always be healthy to do this but I can never help but compare the present to the past and this was one of the few times recently that it worked to my benefit – last Memorial Day Weekend (2024) was so bad. Chooch was in DC visiting his Mexico study abroad roommate so I was sad about that because we would typically do a family coaster roadtrip and then I remember (vividly!) having massive body image freakouts that weekend. We had planned to get some flowers for the yard and went to a nearby cemetery first where I had a major mental breakdown over how I felt inside my skin. I flipped out and said, “We need to go home NOW.” And that really set the tone for the whole weekend. I spent the whole weekend frantically searching for miracle diets, and then there was a huge storm that Sunday and our power was out all night and I was so miserable. The only good memory I have is that Bambi was still alive then. But yeah, it was such a bad “inside my head” weekend that I actually tried to block it out for a while there.

But this past weekend was the total opposite and gave me hope that maybe “life goes on” isn’t such a corny saying after all.

Most of Sunday was chill, just hanging out, reading, going for walks. But then around 4:30 we left for the Pierce the Veil concert and I was so giddy. You guys, I haven’t seen them since 2017 – a combination of many things: PTV having a sizeable gap between albums so they weren’t touring, Covid, me diving headfirst into Kpop. I actually think I only missed one of their Pgh shows during that interim though, maybe two. I almost missed this one too! I knew they were coming, I still follow them on Insta. But I saw the venue and wasn’t too inspired. (Star Lake, an outdoor pavilion that’s about 45 minutes outside of Pgh.) It’s always a disaster trying to leave there because there is only one exit so Henry was ultra-grumbly about having to go here again after such a long reprieve. I’m a passenger princess so what do I care?

We stopped at Sheetz and got an IPA to share in the parking lot since we had some time to kill and I was IN FULL ERIN FORM by then. As soon as I saw all of my fellow PTV fans, I was so stoked and felt like it was mid-2000s again. Do you have any favorite bands where you can remember exactly the first time you heard them? My Pierce the Veil origin moment is a perma part of my memories. It was 2007 and I was driving home from visiting Christina in Cincinatti. Back then, I used to make mix CDs of all of the recommended bands in Alt Press magazine. On this particular mix, I had both PTV and Dance Gavin Dance, among others. When I say I almost record-scratched the car (I think this was the Nissan Sentra era, hated that fucking lemon so much) off the highway when “Currents Convulsive” came on….and I had NO IDEA what it was either because I was driving and couldn’t look at my track list until the next time I stopped!

I just remember thinking that the singer’s voice sounded so familiar to me and it turned out that I had listened to Vic Fuente’s original band, Before Today, on PureVolume. I was so into PureVolume back in the day and it’s even how I knew of Panic! At the Disco before they even released anything other demos. Not a humble brag, just a fact! I was constantly on the prowl for new music back then (OK, that never changed lol).

The demographic of PTV fans seemed to still be sort of young. Maybe more young adult now as opposed to teenagers back when I was still regularly going to their shows. Henry even commented, “Why does it seem like I have gotten older but the fan base has stayed the same age?” LOL I mean, Henry was always old in comparison though. Even I was!

I will say, I supremely miss the scene kid era. I only saw ONE person who could have passed for a scene kid. Bring back scene kids! I feel like the music genre back then was referred to as “scene music” and now everyone just calls it emo but to me, emo is like, I dunno, midwestern sad boy rock like Appleseed Cast and Braid and Sunny Day Real Estate. Things have changed a lot when I wasn’t paying attention to American shit, I guess.

There was a merch truck in the parking lot, so I decided to grab my shirt there before we went into the venue. There were two girls behind me, probably mid-20s, and one was a kpop stan. I was going to turn around and try to make friends but she was talking waaaay too much about J-Hope and sorry but I don’t really want to deal with Army so I kept to myself. I swear though, the whole Warped Tour scene is such a natural gateway into Kpop land, I can’t explain it but it makes so much sense. It was like a natural progression for me to go from this to kpop, and I’m trying to make more room for both in my life because after this night, and my Johnnie Guilbert deep-dive, I realize now that I still have a blackened section of my heart and I have been depriving it of attention for 10 years now!

Standing in this line, in the dusty parking lot, brought back so many memories of Warped Tour. I’m tearing up all over again – those were the best days of my life. Henry and I even chatted about it a bit on the drive to Star Lake, how it was the ONE DAY a year where we did NOT argue at all. I was so blissed out for the entire day, start to finish, that it was nearly impossible to burst by bubble. I honestly can’t think of a single bad Warped-related memory, except for the time I went to Warped in Cincinatti with Christina and her sister Cynthia and MISSED CHIODOS because Cynthia was the one driving and we were at her mercy, so when she decided to stop at Walgreens for NO GOOD REASON, there was nothing we could do to stop this and I felt so out of control and anxious. Then she decided she wanted TO LEAVE EARLY so I missed PARAMORE. To this day, I still have never seen Paramore, and that would have been the era I wanted to see them the most. I don’t care too much for their mainstream radio bullshit.

But literally every Warped Tour after that was heaven for me. I loved the exhaustion, the sun burn, the music hangover, the joy of following Warped’s progression around the country all summer via social media, watching all of the YouTube content, getting obsessed with new bands. It was my Christmas in July. And Pierce the Veil was always the angel on top of the Christmas tree, every time they were a part of the lineup.

Getting inside was smooth sailing because some nice Star Lake staff member zoomed over in his golf cart to tell us that once we got our merch to NOT get in the line closest to us because it was packed in comparison to one of the other entrances behind us. He wasn’t wrong! We walked right in.

Henry bought a $22 (ughughughugh) beer to share and we found our seats where we proceeded to people watch and reminisce about old scene stuff. This season of life is so weird. I’m still trying to acclimate!

Anyway, I will end this here and save all the band talk for the next post, OMG CAN YOU STAND THE WAIT. Another OHE concert recap, how blessed are you.

I have been sitting with this one for a few days now. I listened to it when it first came out over the weekend but have REALLY listened to it more the last day or so and it has broken me. I knew that Jonghyun was somehow going to be featured on it but didn’t know the full details and hoped that it wasn’t going to be some weird, cold, tacky AI recreation of his voice.

But then I learned that this was something Jonghyun had been writing and composing for SHINee before his death. His family allowed SHINee to use it and Jonghyun’s guide vocals were incorporated into the chorus and also the bridge, which he hadn’t had a chance to write the lyrics for, so they kept his “scatting” in that part and, paired with the rest of SHINee dancing together in a circle, it just really sent me. I was crying (and still am lol) so hard that I was choking.

I think what I love the most about this song is that since it was written pre-2018, it has that nostalgic feel to it that makes me remember why I began to love Kpop so much to begin with. It’s light, airy, summery, totally SHINee-coded. I have been trying to spread the word about this because as usual, SM is doing a pisspoor job promoting it so it’s not getting the traction and attention that it deserves, especially not with the new gen Kpop fans who just haven’t learned about SHINee.

My love for SHINee is so stupid strong. I really hope that they come to the US some day!

Anyway, I have lots more fun Memorial Day weekend to recap once I stop crying over this haha.