I have been super energized lately on the home project tip! We decided to have a small, casual Christmas party this December so I made a list of all the things I want to get done before then and Henry, in the robotic season of his life, has methodically gone along with this. I practically sprung out of bed this morning because I knew I was going to get to use THE HEAT GUN on one of the projects today – Henry has the audacity to say that he was going to end up taking over but guess who finished the whole thing??

Me. Truly.

That particular project is redoing an old, small coffee table to use over in the church pew section of the living room. We never had a need for one before because no one has really been here since we bought the church pew two years ago.

Anyway, I’m really excited about this table!

Also this weekend I will be repainting the cat-head wall. It’s time. I was never in love with that wall, really, and I am working on new memorial art for my Original Four Cats that I am going to use as replacements for the pictures that are currently hanging there. I require oval frames for this project though so we went to Fleatique today to see if anything stood out to me.

Didn’t find any frames but OH BABY I found something better and it came home the fiddly-fuck home with me.

(Henry didn’t even try to resist. Just handed over the cash, lol.)

It’s already on display with my other Jesus art in the bathroom. I love this so much!! I hope it’s haunted!

And I hope that everyone who comes to my XMAS party (probably like, 3 ppl let’s be honest) will have to use the bathroom at some point so they admire this piece of fine art.

I took a casual dive in the photo vault again the other night and this time landed in the Wildwood stash!

Always stoked to share pictures from the best time of my life, sigh.

My grandma looks like she actually loves me here! Probably because it was before I got fat, ugly, permed and braces.

(You think I’m kidding – lol.)

Dude. I have the most vivid memories of this boardwalk ball pit. I looked at this picture last night and literally felt like I was in the balls again. IN THE BALLS.

Being the most cute. Can you tell that Gizmo is in my lap!? Super quick back story: My aunt Sharon (mom’s oldest sister) never came to Wildwood with us. It was always just my immediate fam (ugh when RYAN was born and started tagging along) and my grandparents. But on the morning we were leaving for this particular summer’s trip to Wildwood, she presented me with a white box that had holes poked in it the top. She told me not to open it until we got there, and I was DYING, YO. Every time we hit a bump, whatever was inside would squeak and I was so certain it was alive.

This was the year that Gremlins had come out and Sharon had taken me to the theater to see it.

I was 4 and it was SCARY to me so we had to leave once the gremlin action started. But then I was like, “Never mind I want to go back” so she took me back to see it again and this time I made it through the whole thing and never walked out on another movie again until Dolores Claiborne in the 90s. (I was with my then-friend Keri and we were like, “Why isn’t this movie ending? How long is this movie?”)

I had Gremlins on the brain for a GOOD while that year and was 100% positive that Sharon had found me a motherfucking mogwai. I mean, it had to be that, right?

Well, technically it was, but man was I disappointed when we got to Wildwood and I ripped the lid off the box only to discover that it was not actually a living, breathing mogwai but a stuffed Gizmo that squeaked when shaken.

I clearly loved it though, considering he’s in like every picture of me on the piers, lol.

My mom looks very excited to be co-holding Gizmo.

LOL this would have been my dad’s first time at Wildwood with us. ALSO OMG BED BUGS! I have no recollection of ever playing that but certainly remember that it existed.

Happier times, haha.

This picture must have been the next year’s visit because that baby is RYAN UGH (j/k I like hm now) but I’m including it here because of my dad’s interesting early 80s attire. I can promise you that if we were able to pan out right now, you’d see that his shorts were essentially hot pants. And he probably had socks up to his knees.

Well, happy Friday! I’m about to go and erase this past week from my brain – it was long and annoying.

I love October so effing much but – oof – it is so bittersweet. I always have that “I’m running out of time!!” sensation so I’m not always living in the moment because I’m internally panicking about not being able to do everything, but no, I don’t want haunted houses to be a year-round thing because that kills the novelty and anticipation. I think it all boils down to exactly what the doves have been crying about: I’m just never satisfied.

Anyway, here is a round-up of the last haunts we squeezed in during the final days of October.

FRIGHT FARM! WOO! This was Henry and Zakk’s first time here, but Chooch and I are seasoned pros by now. I was so excited for Henry and Zakk to experience what is essentially the granddaddy of farm haunts. First of all, this photo is blurry because I WAS SO FUCKING COLD. Literally shivering and wishing I had brought gloves in addition to the knit beanie and boots I was already wearing.

Henry was a big fan of the snack options. It gave him something to do while we were watching for an hour-ish for our group # to be called. At least we didn’t have to stand in line!

Zakk’s new girlfriend. Chooch was jel.

Anyway, some quick thoughts:

• An actual line-dance happened when Flo-Rida and Kesha’s “Timber” came on, and I was extremely uncomfortable about that.
• An older man behind me on the hayride kept announcing everything that was about to happen to his companion, Ruthie. I kept looking behind me and Ruthie was legit recording the whole thing with her phone so I think she was aware of it.
  • Literally, the whole damn thing!!
• Hayride portion was sick as usual, possibly the best hayride around.
• Once we got to the haunted house part, we had to stand in line with like, and I’m not exaggerating here, 12 different large groups of extremely loud and inebriated people?! All the guys looked like people Blake would be friends with. It was so annoying, yet somehow the line moved extremely fast because most people were standing in clumps waiting for their friends to use the porta potties so everyone was just cutting past them. But then the kid manning the entrance to the walk-thru was letting huge groups go through at once so that was a major haunted house foul, come on kid.
• We were the last people in the group that got sent in, but somehow a group of 5 TOTALLY HIGH/DRUNK ASSHOLES caught up to us. They were insufferable. I don’t like making a scene (LOL ok) but all I kept thinking was that we drove an hour to get to this place and then paid $100 for admission, so I was not about to let these assholes fuck with my night. “Look, I’m going to pretend like I have to tie my shoe so that they’ll go past us,” I whispered to Henry who probably didn’t hear me because he can’t hear anything anymore. I dropped into a squat to fake-tie my shoe while dramatically saying, “UH OH I HAVE TO TIE MY SHOE, YOU GUYS CAN GO ON AHEAD” but then they were going to STOP so I hurriedly waved them past while I did the worst shoe-typing pantomime which involved me fluffing my laces and then IMMEDIATELY standing back up once they passed us – it was so obvious but….they were so stoned, so it probably seemed normal to them. We caught up to them at the checkpoint for the actual haunted house (the first part is mostly outdoors) but I flat out said to the girl manning the door, “I don’t want to go in with those people” and she said, “Oh yeah, no problem,” letting the door close behind them. “I could tell by your face that they were annoying you.” Other groups had caught up to us by then, but she was a fucking sweetheart and let just the four of us go inside alone and NO ONE BOTHERED US (well, aside from the monsters, but we want to be bothered by them) so YOU’RE WELCOME FOR SAVING THE NIGHT WITH MY FAKE SHOE ISSUES, GUYS.
• Look, I’m not straight-edge or a NARC or anything, but there is nothing worse than being sober in public while a bunch of jackasses parade around you in a state of extreme intoxication. TIME AND A PLACE. TIME. AND. A. PLACE.

It was like 40 degrees but go on with your shorts and t-shirts.

I’ve seen this one in the haunted listings for years and years but for some reason, we have never gone. I was tired of spending lots of money on these haunted nights so when I saw that this one was only (“only”) $15, I penciled it in. Plus, the entire proceeds go to ANIMALS!!! We love that.

Also, that’s Henry’s “Leave My Woman Alone, Chainsaw Guy!“ face. Lol j/k, he moves out of the way for them.

Anyway, this was fantastic – so reminiscent of the ones I used to go to in the 90s with Christy and/or the LAME crew. I was laughing so much and one of the guys was wearing a Sloth mask and he followed me for a LONG WHILE and then growled, “SEE YOU LATER TONIGHT” and it was sinister yet HOT?!

There was a middle school-ish aged girl dressed as a dead cheerleader and she stole the show. I made sure to tell her that when I saw her outside of the trail as we were leaving (wait – she WAS supposed to be part of the trail, right? WAS SHE AN ACTUAL DEAD CHEERLEADER???) and she giggled and then skipped off. It was adorable.

The last haunt of the season was last Friday night – Wells Township Haunted House, and oh you guys know EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED THERE, LOL.

Honestly, though – aside from my WOUND – this was still one of the best haunts I went to all season, if not ever. I just love how balls to the wall it is, I don’t mind being touched at all; in fact, in one of the first rooms, someone was VICIOUSLY tickling my sides, like they were relentless about it. I was SCREAM-LAUGHING so hard into Henry’s back, literally almost peed my pants which is how you know it’s a good haunt!

I would not recommend this one to anyone with depth perception (lol, it me) or mobility issues because one of the scariest parts is not knowing where you’re going, if there are steps coming up (usually the have someone guiding you but there was one part where I had to toe the area in front of me and holler, “THERE’S A STEP!” to Henry who at some point got behind me and I don’t know what’s scarier: being in the lead or in the back!

Well, that completes the 2022 Haunted House Circuit. It was a good one, for sure, but you know…the older I get, the less people I can find to go to these with me – especially now that I almost lost a foot to a chainsaw guy. I’m sure that’s a sign from the universe saying: FIND GROWN-UP HOBBIES. Pfft, yeah no thanks!

I voted today in my accidentally, horrifically Republican looking Six Flags sweatshirt. When we were walking past all the canvassers who were loitering in front of our polling place, I loudly said, “UGH I HATE THAT THIS SHIRT MAKES ME LOOK LIKE A REPUBLICAN” to which Henry mumbled, “ok” in his Calm Down^TM tone.

Then I opened the door to the church gymnasium and it slapped back on me while I was walking through and it startled me into a jump, at which point I overcorrected myself while I was in the air and SPRAINED MY BACK. The whole thing happened so fast that I can’t even really understand how it happened at all except that it was somehow Henry’s fault. And I had an AUDIENCE and it was so embarrassing – I hope they weren’t there trolling for OZ, that would have been even worse.

As usual, I didn’t understand what the trick question was at the end of the ballot and I was openly panicking, like not even trying to be discreet about my confusion, so Henry calmly nodded his head as he walked past me after submitting his ballot.

Whew.

I still have no idea if I answered that correctly.

Then I had to walk by all those people again and I was so UGH about it until I realized that the people coming out of the polling place have a DIRECT VIEW of the pink neon on our carouselfie wall!

Henry was like, “oh boy.”

Anyway. I hope all my US pals voted today.

Super nervous about it. :/

My fucking back hurts so bad. But, at least I broke it for DEMOCRACY.

Hey Sam, hey Lucy. Here are some songs I have been super stoked on lately.

I’m sorry, YG as an agency may have fallen out of grace years ago at this point, but to me everything they put out is perfection. Treasure is an excellent example. Also, my fave Kpop cardio YouTuber has a fantastic, super energetic routine for this that I was so into earlier today, I may have sprained my back.

PVRIS is one of the very few non-Korean groups I still have interest in. Lynn Gvnn is just insanely brilliant, a true artist in every sense. I love that their sound has evolved and matured since their early Warped Tour days, but you can still tell that it’s PVRIS. That signature sound is still embedded deep into the background, and Lynn’s voice is so distinct.  This new release has sent me head-first into a massive PVRIS deep-dive and the nostalgia has been so soothing!

Do you even need any more evidence to support my claim that Ten is my ult bias of the NCT Universe? (Tied with Haechan, don’t forget!) Earlier this year, Ten was a judge on a Chinese dance competition show and he performed this on there – I remember thinking, “SM, if you don’t allow Ten to officially record this song and film an MV for it, you are out of your goddamn minds.” Thankfully, SM heard me, I guess!

Ugh this gives me major summer in the 90s vibes. Like I can imagine lounging in my grandparent’s pool and this coming on the radio right after Shaggy’s Bombastic. This song is my head quite often lately.

And then let’s throw it back even further into the past with the disco vibes in this one!

Ciao for now!

(I said that to the tune of Hot Child in the City for some reason and now I feel uncomfy.)

You guys, what a great November Saturday! I spent most of the morning / afternoon getting my hair done, so I was dying to go for a walk when I came home. Luckily, Henry was doing fuck all and accompanied me. (Literally, what did he do while I was gone?!)

I will say that I was happy to be able to regale my HARROWING CHAINSAW ACCOUNT with my stylist and some other gals in the salon – they were HORRIFIED and I said, “THANK YOU THAT IS THE CORRECT RESPONSE” *side eyes Henry*

When I got out of bed this morning, my other ankle actually hurt too from all the hardwork it put into its supporting role last night. And the Academy Award for best supporting actor goes to…

ERIN’S LEFT ANKLE.

I was sitting on the chair on the back porch today and Drew walked behind my legs and BRUSHED AGAINST THE ANKLE IN ALL OF ITS BANDAGED GLORY and the way I screamed.

Oh Sally, the way I screamed.

Easily one of the top 10 most traumatic moments of my life (that annoying bray is Henry laughing in a dark corner).

Anyway, I like my hair! I wanted subtle purple and my stylist Carly was like, “let’s experiment and see how well your hair will take the color without having to go platinum” and it came out good! So next time we will do it more intense.

Other than that, I had a grand time playing with the squirrels in the backyard (one of the babies is SO CLOSE to eating out of my hand!) and now if you don’t mind, I need to go and eat my dinner, thanks.

Friends. This happened tonight. I am home now and I think I’m going to survive but it was…touch and go for a while there.

Running into an acquaintance 15 years from now, probably not at a grocery store: “Whoa, you and Henry broke up? What happened?”

Me: “Well, a chainsaw guy at a haunted house….”

a

Additional thoughts: this happened at the very end of the haunted house (which was 100% SO GOOD and I’m not mad about this, it was an accident plus we signed waivers so can’t go Full Karen on the place) and I knew it happened, could feel the pain immediately, and usually I would run like a scared deer from the damn chainsaw guy but I was legit frozen in place, hugging Henry, and then I just like, quietly limped away because I wasn’t sure at that point how bad it was and if my ankle would just like, split in half if I started to aggressively run. So I casually limped back to the car and then whispered, “I think the chainsaw guy cut my ankle and I’m afraid to look” to Henry who had no reaction because he was probably daydreaming about the gas station snacks he was going to buy on the way home (“Mmm Slim Jims”). I risked a quick peek when I got in the car and IMMEDIATELY started screaming and panicking, trying to slather on bandaids with shaking hands while holding back bile-burps.

But now I’m home, wound is clean and bandaged. I still won’t put any weight on it when I walk. I’m walking on the toes of the injured foot, but with the knee bent and then my other leg is like “let me bend a little too” so I look like a gimp leprechaun, I dunno, OR SOMETHING.

I’m about to pass out. Chooch is disgusted and said there is no reason for this much drama and then he retreated to his room and Henry just like, left the house. I mean, ok leave me alone with an injury of this magnitude, sure. At least I have 4 wheelchairs at my disposal.

Today is my Pappap’s birthday. He passed away in 1996 and while I miss the HELL out of him every single day, I did eventually reach a point where I was able to stop crying about it at a pin drop and actually enjoy the memories I have.

I acquired a shit ton of photos from whenever we were cleaning out my grandparents house in 2016. I still haven’t hone through everything but I like to rummage through the boxes every now and then. I decided to do that tonight to get some photos of him to post on here and I ended up pulling out a stack from one of our vacations in 1990. I was so wrecked-looking for a long time as a kid and these pictures of me are awfully cringey but it’s time for me to stop caring about that because – well, who cares!

I’m glad this is the stack I drew because I have been thinking a lot lately as we plan our family trip for next summer about how my Pappap (and Aunt Sharon, also featured prominently in the upcoming photos) instilled a strong love of travel into my life. I think he would be happy to know that Chooch is here now and is exactly the same way. I think my Pappap would have been wild about Chooch, honestly.

Anyway, please enjoy this random collection of my brace-faced, knotty-maned, chubby-cheeked adolescent self; my Pappap and Sharon’s disdain for posing for the camera; and a lot of European locations, some that I can’t exactly pinpoint all these years later – sorry!

Get ready for some signature Sharon scowls…

On this trip, we did London, parts of France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, I believe. Maybe Amsterdam, too. I would have to consult my old vacation journals and they are in a large trunk which is a pain to open. So we’ll just have to pretend that my memory is tight.

To this day, when I think of the Spanish Steps, I think of the fanciest McD’s I’ve ever visited. I wonder if it’s still there/as nice?

!

I look like I’m crying but this was one of my favorite places when I was a kid, except that there were GIANT spiderwebs inside that bridge and that always scared me. I hope that I can go to Switzerland with Chooch (and Henry, I guess, lol) one day!

I guess Sharon must have taken this picture; I love it a lot.

That green was a choice.

I mean, I hate that I’m about to say this, but Shron really should have smiled more. She was so pretty. Also, seeing those coach buses in the background have me stoked for our summer 2023 trip that better fucking happen because we’ve already paid for some of it and I fucking swear to god there better not be another lockdown. It will be our first time as a family traveling with a group and I’m so excited because I love group tours!!

My pappap was probably ranting about how we had to pay for each pat of butter.

My grandma was a difficult person to travel with.

We’re probably walking off yet another ear-beating from my grandma here in Venice.

I wonder what he was talking about! That one lady is like, “NO FUCKING WAY, YA GOTTA BE SHITTIN’ ME!” in response to whatever tale had him gesticulating like so. You know how kids are always like SO BORED to be sitting with a bunch of adults at a dinner table? I was the opposite – I fucking loved sitting with my pappap because he always had interesting things to say, he always ended up being one of the most popular people on all of our trips, and I felt like A FUCKING GROWN-UP sitting there drinking my hot chocolate (which was usually disgusting Ovaltine in these hotel restaurants) with my plump pinky finger extended.

HNNNNGGGG.

Anyway, I’m glad I never burned these pictures in a hobo fire of shame and I think it’s time that some more of these old shots see the light of day. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to make these memories, even though they weren’t always as idyllic as you’d think. At the end of the day, it was time spent with my pappap and I will always treasure, today especially. Happy birthday, Pappap!!

If you’re reading this, would you like to see more vintage photo dumps like this? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS. Lol.

…and not even a manic one, either.

Hello from 2 days post-Halloween. I was off that day as tradition goes, but this might have been one the least-Halloweenie Halloweens that ever Halloweened for me. It makes me sad that Chooch does not care at ALL about Halloween anymore so I have no one to dress up, and I certainly don’t dress up because I never get invited to any Halloween parties nor do I go to any Halloween event because stranger danger.

The most I did was wear my Cedar Point HalloWeekend shirt which I’m sorry, I thought it was PRETTY SICK OK.

I literally spent all day fussing over the squirrels.

포도 (grape) time!

At one point, my cat Drew and I were at the window watching two of our Buddies eating lunch. Drew looked at me and said, “Hey look–it’s 2 Buddies 2 Buddies 1 Porch” which was a HILARIOUS parody of NCT127’s latest hit, “2 Baddies” (1 Porsch) so of course I had to make a reel.

View this post on Instagram

God, Drew. What a genius.

Trick or treating started at 5 and true to form for my stupid street, I got barely any customers and of the 5 I did get, well, all 5 of them had to be lured in off the street by my pathetic desperation. Literally, I kept Swan Lake’ing out of the front door, plastic pumpkin pails of candy in both hands, singing, “I have candy!!” And then I had to keep stopping myself from saying “trick or treat.”

No, Erin. THEY say that. THE KIDS say that.

BUT NONE OF THEM DID! Two of them were too young, one was maybe 9 or 10 and seemed nervous that I was begging them to take my candy, and then the last two were older teens, probably in high school, who acted like they were doing me a favor by going five steps out of their way to get candy.

You know who did come around for trick or treating action though? My furry woodland pals.

God fucking love them.

Where was Chooch during all of this, you ask? Oh, he was starting his new job at Dunkin’, four days early. Yeah, he went to work when he wasn’t even scheduled because he doesn’t pay attention but they let him stay even though no one was there to train him? Then the next day he was prepared TO GO BACK but somehow caught on that his actual first day is Thursday. What is his problem?? Why can’t he just pay attention??

Well, that was Halloween 2022. I didn’t even eat that much candy because I started Noom again last week and didn’t feel like logging it so I just avoided eating it. I guess that’s the whole point of logging food.

Wow I’m so boring. Goodbye.

Henry and I had plans to go to Cedar Point on Sunday for the last day of the season, but I almost let my depressed mood convince me that I wanted to stay home. Too much happened all at once and it was weighing on me big time:

• The hawk incident (more deets on this in a separate post);
• There was another car crash on my street Saturday night and I’m sorry, but hearing that sickening crush of metal never gets any easier (no one was seriously injured thank god but the lady driving took out about 3 parked cars on my block and then later tried to say she wasn’t the one driving but no one else was with her and she also threw an absolute fit when my neighbors tried to call 911, then her husband came and started yelling at her when she started to make up more stories);
• But mostly: the Itaewon incident has really hit me hard. I can’t explain it, but it feels close to home.  Anytime anything awful happens in South Korea, I feel it in my heart. Such a tragic, horrific way to die. My friend Jiyong moved back to Seoul last year, but she luckily was not in Itaewon.

So, I didn’t really feel like going to Cedar Point in light of all of this, but Henry was like, “You can’t just stop doing everything because bad things have happened” blah blah, but he’s a sociopath who doesn’t care about anything ever so taking advice from him is not advisable. In the end, I agreed to go but I was a mopey lump in the passenger seat for the entire 2.5 hour drive there. I kept getting news alerts about Itaewon, texting Chooch about the hawk (“IS IT THERE? WELL, ARE YOU EVEN LOOKING FOR IT??”) and crying every time we drove past road kill. At one point, I wailed, “I WISH I DIDN’T FEEL SO MUCH!”

I’m becoming more and more of a fatalist as I grow older and it’s kind of psychologically debilitating, I have to say. I feel like I’m on a fast track to reclusion.

After an uneventful drive with me brooding out the window, we arrived at CP with about 20 minutes of Early Entry left. We headed straight to Millennium Force, because this is the coaster we have the best luck with during early entry. The line was already starting to get kind of long, so I was a baby about that because PROJECTION, but it actually was only about a fifteen minute wait.

“I’m not screaming,” I said as I stood in line for the back row with my arms crossed miserably over my dumb chest.

“OK,” Henry laughed, knowing that this was like, an impossible feat for me.

It was really funny though because when it was our turn, the ride attendant with the mic was like, “If you’re ready….don’t scream.” Henry was like, “WOW” because for every train before that she was of course telling everyone to scream and it was like she knew that I said I wasn’t going to!?

But then as the train started to leave the station, she was like, “OK you can scream” and I forgot that I wasn’t GOING TO so of course I screamed like a lunatic.

And then I grayed out after the first drop! That doesn’t happen to me very often on Millie!

The wait time for Steel Vengeance was listed as 30 minutes which is SHORT for that fucker! We got in line and it was moving super steadily until an announcement came on saying that there was going to be a short delay in order for a train to be removed from the track for maintenance. The recording INSISTED that it was A SHORT delay. So we didn’t let our inner Karens run rampant.

But then, and I fucking swear to god it happened at the CURSED SECTION of the queue, right where the dummy Fast Lane people come in, another announcement came on saying that STEVE WAS DOWN AND THAT MAINTENANCE HAD BEEN CALLED.

Motherfucker, SteVe! Has there been a time when I visited CP when SteVe hasn’t broken down while I’m in line?! MAYBE ONCE?!!? The only good thing about this is that people start dropping out of line like flies. So even though the dumb ride is broken down, we’re still kind of moving up in line.

I killed time by making this sick meme of THE ONE THING THAT CAN PULL ME OUT OF MY MOPEY MOOD. lol. Even Henry kind of smirked when he saw it on Insta.

We finally made it past the Fast Lane spillway and into the last stretch of queue before LOCKER TIME. But then there was ANOTHER ride delay announcement right before we got to the metal detector (riding RMCs is a real experience, you guys). Henry was annoyed because he forgot his dorky eyeglass strap thing in the car and hadn’t bought a new one there yet so he had to leave his glasses in the locker. Which meant he was standing in line, visually impaired. LOL.

Anyway, I would say that in total, we went from a 30-minute wait to probably a little bit over an hour but you guys gotta know that SteVe is fucking worth it.

Mostly, our day was pretty chill. We didn’t ride a whole lot (Raptor / Ferris Wheel / Mine Train Thing / TIKI TWIRL / plus Millie / Steve) because we only stayed until around 4:30 and spent what felt like most of the day roaming around looking for HALLOWEEN TREATS which apparently didn’t come out until the haunt shit started later that night. The one thing we saw a sign for though were two “creepy-themed” cupcakes, $10.99 each! Is that a joke?! I’m sure they were probably just regularly sized cupcakes!

So, here are some pictures from the rest of our day.

I realized that we had never ridden the ferris wheel at CP before so we changed that. We spent the whole time in line trying to figure out the reasoning behind why they don’t load every car. I know it’s a balance thing, I’m not a stoop (mostly) but like, why don’t they fill the whole thing if there are still people waiting in line?

It’s weird how small Cedar Point looks from above, when it feels like you’re walking a half marathon to get from one side to the next.

It was kind of nice to just relax on the dumb ferris wheel for a bit!

After that we rode the Tiki Twirl which is a Calypso-style flatride and I just love these types of rides SO MUCH. I was cracking up during the whole ride and Henry was not amused which made it even funnier.

I love that Cedar Point has a little food truck area – all amusement parks should do this! The truck with the delicious sunflower veggie burger was there again and I was delighted. This was literally right up there with SteVe on the list of reasons I got out of bed on Sunday.

IT IS SO FUCKING GOOD. I also got a maple & brown sugar-flavored coffee from the bagel food truck and that too was wonderful. It was a really mild day with JUST ENOUGH chill in the air to require a jacket and hot bev.

Henry got a pizza bagel or something, who cares.

I don’t care about shows but for some reason we stopped for a few minutes to watch these people do super glam and overdramatic covers of not-great pop songs and it was actually making me uncomfortable; I’m not going to lie. One of the dancers reminded me of Weird Paul but the more I think about, I think he moreso reminded me of one of the guys from ARMY OF LOVERS:

Yeah, the guy on the right. Alexander Bard, apparently.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE. Hilariously, I had peanuts in my fanny pack because why wouldn’t I?? So I got to feed a CP squirrel.

This was only our second time riding this and I gotta say it’s actually not that bad and it made me kind of giddy. (I feel like I spent most of the ride screaming OW MY BACK OMG though, lol.)

Henry was not happy about riding it but then admitted it was not as bad as he remembered.

It’s weird – I love amusement parks and I love haunted houses, but I don’t care much for the haunt events at amusement parks. I do like the decor though but I’m not trying to stand in those lines! The haunt crowds were starting to pour in by the time we were on our way out and I was not sad about leaving.

Overall, it was a nice afternoon. I don’t think we fought at all, although he was annoyed that I texted Chooch while we were in line for Raptor to tell him that Henry said he doesn’t like “those hanging ones,” instead of calling them by their real name: INVERTS. Ugh, some thoosie he is.

Dear Sunday Lovers,

Today, Henry and I spent the day at Cedar Point. It was the last day of the season for them and I was sad when I realized that we only once this year! Anyway, I’ll get to that another time.

The point of this is that CP was lacking in treat department. Everything in the bakery was 50% so there were two long-ass lines out the building. I’m sorry but their baked goods aren’t that good. All the Halloween-themed treats seemed to only be available once the haunt stuff started later in the evening and we wanted to leave by 5 since it’s approx. a 3-hour drive home.

So I suggested that we just get A TREAT outside of the park and screamed THAT ONE RESTAURANT WE LIKE WITH THE PIES! Of course, neither of us could remember the name. I dunno what method Henry was using to find it, but I searched “Cedar Point butterscotch” in my blog and immediately found the post from last May where I had DELECTABLE post-Cedar Point butterscotch pie at a place called Dianna’s (omg I almost put Gianna’s and had to scroll up to check the menu in that picture up there – will we ever remember this damn restaurant’s name??).

Man, I love this place so much. There’s not many veg options on the menu & they definitely cater to the nursing home crowd, but their pies are memorable to the point where the last time we were there, I said it should be our post-park tradition. If only we could remember the damn name.

I just wanted pie but Henry was like I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD ORDER FRIES OR SOMETHING FIRST so then I felt obligated to also order a non-pie but I wasn’t hungry for a meal. I was delighted to see that they had a fruit and cottage cheese combo called the FRESH FRUIT FANTASIA. This appealed greatly to my inner Elder! Sadly, the waitress came back to tell me that they were out of the raisin bread (!!!) it normally comes with and asked if an English Muffin would suffice as a substitute. I said yes and was honestly just relieved that this was the only issue and not that the entire food item had been removed from the menu on account of it no longer being the year 1958.

Meanwhile, Henry ordered a GRILLED CHEESE??!! Have I ever known him to order a GRILLED CHEESE (outside of an insane/gourmet grilled cheese establishment like Melt)?! I think not! This was a shocking turn of events.


My Fantasia was such a gargantuan portion that I had to ask for a box because sorry fruit, I needed to save room for the PIE.

YES SIR. Man, butterscotch is so underrated. I haven’t changed my stance in that this isn’t as good as my mom’s (hers is not pudding-y) but it does make the octogenarian side of my soul sing.

Hopefully Chooch sticks me in a nursing home with good butterscotch pudding. And if they have that pistachio fluff shit like Eat n Park offers on their salad bar, I will happily let that be my last meal.

Henry got a slice of coconut cream pie so we shared both slices. Originally, I tried to take half of his coconut cream and then proceeded to start eating my whole slide, hoping he wouldn’t notice. But he did. :(

Anyway, the day started out with me in a MOOD but ended on a very lovely note.

My heart is in a million pieces over the horrific tragedy that happened today in Itaewon. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Please give someone a hug tonight.

:(

Hello. Here is my run-down of the books I read in September. Apologies in advance if it feels rushed but I was entrenched in a war with a HAWK this morning and have yet to get my body to calm down. IF IT COMES AFTER MY SQUIRRELS AGAIN I WILL PUNCH IT IN THE FUCKING HEAD I DO NOT CARE IF IT’S FEDERALLY PROTECTED. (You know this has been an ORDEAL when my apathetic son is alarmed and says, “Jesus Christ, please don’t wind up in the fucking hospital because you made a hawk attack you.”)

1. Book Lovers – Emily Henry

Cute, quick read. I liked the small-town location and the banter. Emily Henry is a pretty solid choice if you’re looking for a light romcom escape.

2. Things We Never Got Over – Lucy Score

First of all, did this need to be 568 pages? Probably not. I thought it was quirky and fun, the characters had personality. I hated that the kid’s name was WAYLAY!? And that the dog’s name was WAYLON. (Or something similar that made it super confusing.)

WAYLAY, THO??

I haaaaaaated that Knox eliminated “I” from every sentence. So he’d be like, “Need to…” or “Want to…” and maybe it was because I had the audiobook for this, but hearing the narrator actually speak this out loud was so grating. Very cavemannish. Maybe that was the intent??

Still though, it was entertaining enough. I’m not sure that I will continue along with the series, though I did give it 4 stars (probably more of a 3.5).

3. The Worst Best Man – Mia Sosa

Mediocre romance. It was fine. The audiobook kept me company on some walks.

4. The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School – Sonora Reyes

A decent coming-of-age book for LGBTQ+ young adults. Lots of drama. Love the book cover!!

The only thing I have to say about this is that I was on my lunchbreak walk one day listening to this when I got stopped by two young guys canvassing in front of CVS for ASPCA. Usually when I have headphones on, people leave me alone, but the one guy was like HELLO WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO.

I paused the book and said, “Oh, it’s um, just an audiobook.”

“Oh? Which book?”

“Um….” AND FOR SOME REASON I FELT TOO EMBARRASSED TO SAY!? So I just stammered, “It’s just a young adult book….”

AND HE KEPT PRESSING ME SO I FINALLY FLASHED MY PHONE AT HIM. I DON’T KNOW WHY I FELT SO WEIRD ABOUT IT??

Oh I guess because I’m 43 and reading about a lesbian in Catholic School, lol.

Anyway, 20 minutes later and I walked away with the new title, Erin R Kelly, ASPCA Guardian Member.

Literally, I just can’t say no to animal stuff. I already make semi-regular donations to ASPCA but now I’m signed up to make monthly contributions to the legal team that helps prosecute animal abusers. I am such an advocate for this stuff that when I said I didn’t have my wallet, I promised that I would come back after work and finish signing up, but as I walked away, I thought, “WAIT A MINUTE…MY APPLE PAY!” So I WENT BACK immediately to finish signing up, and they were legit shocked at my honesty.

That’s what I will associate with this book now.

5. Bright – Jessica Jung

Dude, the sequel to Shine that all Girl’s Generation (or kpop in general) fans have been waiting for. The tea was SPICY. I love Jessica Jung and while we may never know what really happened between Jessica and GG, this book doesn’t really leave much to the imagination. It was entertaining and juicy. Would you like it if you weren’t already in the know about the real-life drama? Mmm, maybe! But probably not.

6. I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy

Is it really shocking anymore to find out that a child star has suffered unspeakable levels of abuse? I guess not, but I was still so appalled and disgusted while reading this (Jennette narrates the audiobook btw). I was a huge fan of iCarly when it was on because it was the first show that Chooch REALLY LOVED. And we REALLY LOVED it together. I mean, I have an iCarly pocketbook and messenger bag for fuck’s sake. We lost our minds at the series finale.

Jennette’s character, Sam Puckett, was our favorite and you know, when you latch on to a TV show, the characters start to feel like family or friends. Knowing all these years later the disgusting sexualization, abuse, psychological control, and multiple eating disorders that Jennette endured while filming a show that so many children around the world loved…it makes me feel gross. This is why former child stars are on drugs or commit suicide. The industry alone is abusive and then when your own family isn’t protecting you, but contributing to the abuse themselves…well, it’s no wonder we see so many beloved stars take a turn.

I’m glad that Jennette was finally able to break free from the industry. Protect this beautiful angel!!

7. The It Girl – Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware is hit or miss for me, but I genuinely enjoyed this one. I love mystery/thrillers that bounce between present day and the past. This one is centered around the death of a man convicted a decade earlier of murdering an Oxford student. But there’s a reporter who doesn’t believe that he actually did it, and between the death of convicted murderer and this reporter asking those who knew the victim to sit for an interview, it’s forcing an old group of college friends to rehash the events leading up to the murder.

I thought it was entertaining! I liked the flashback parts the best. I kept picturing the “It Girl” as that bitch from the later seasons of Dawson’s Creek – Busy Phillips! Ugh, she’s so annoying.

8. Tripping Arcadia – Kit Mayquist

My Goodreads review: I was pretty bored throughout most of this, though it started off well enough to hook me. A big problem I had, and maybe this is me being a big dumb stoop, was that I had a difficult time really picturing what was going on and then it just got confusing as to who was doing what, re: the NYE party. I wish there had more to do with the aunt in Italy.

9. Good Rich People – Eliza Jane Brazier

That’s big NOPE from me, Bob.

I’m 0/2 with this author now so perhaps I will pass if/when she publishes a third.

10. The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling – Wai Chim

Wow, this one was darker than I expected, and really very sad about a mother struggling with mental illness. I appreciated that it didn’t have a happy ending, but a realistic one. Also it made me want to go hog-wild on a bowl of dumplings.

(Specifically kimchi and dubu mandu.)

My weird side-angled view, lol. The advantage was that we got to see NCT before anyone else though!

Ever since the NCT127 concert two weeks ago, I have been putting off writing about it because (a) I’m still riding that high and frantically searching YouTube for fan videos from the concert and (b) I don’t even know how to begin! I feel like I always start these things by saying some wishy-washy sentiment like, “It’s so hard to explain…” but you know what? No, it really isn’t so hard to explain because I bet any person reading this can relate in some way to that fucking euphoric feeling of seeing your favorite band, especially if it’s one that you don’t get to see very often or haven’t seen at all before, and then that inevitable crash of post-show depression that follows. This is what connects us! We might not agree on the band/group/etc. in question, but the feeling is the same.

So…you know exactly how I felt on this night of October 13th, 2022, and also right now as I relive it!

I am honest to god quietly crying right now (and also laughing at the fact that I’m crying!) because I love these boys so much. I want to protect them and I want all of the good things to happen to them.

I first saw NCT in 2017 at KCON NY (actually was in Newark though, at this same arena!). They were still rookies then and I only knew a little about them. At that time, I was wholly-invested in their big brothers, SHINee, as you might know! But when Chooch and I saw them on this stage that night, I was blown away. I started paying close attention to the music and MVs after that, but it wasn’t until maybe 2018 or 2019 when I also started watching their content.

If you don’t know, most Kpop groups put a TON of extra content online. YouTube is full of “comeback parties” and vlogs of their daily lives. I think what really hooked me was watching all of the vlogs that NCT127 filmed while on their last US tour in 2019. I already knew all the members by that point, but that was what solidified me as a card-carrying NCTzen (their fangroup name!). Seeing them on this stage that night, in real life, after spending the last several years obsessing over them, learning the members of ALL NCT units, hemming and hawing over who is my latest bias, and just rooting for them with my whole heart, it was a lot. It was a lot for everyone there that night, I think! The number of tears that I shed and screams that scraped my throat that night…that was also a lot.

♥SETLIST♥

• Interlude: NEO Zone
• Kick It
• Lemonade
• Cherry Bomb
• Elevator (127F)
• Dreamer
• Love Song
• Another World (Taeil Solo)
• Love Sign (Taeil & Haechan duet)
• Run Back 2 U (Jonny, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun dance performance)
• Highway to Heaven (English version)
• Breakfast
• VCR: Running 2 U
• Vibration (Mark solo)
• Moonlight (Taeyong solo)
• The Himalayas (Mark & Taeyong rap duet)
• VCR: Lipstick
• Lipstick (Jungwoo solo dance)
• Focus (with Johnny solo dance break OMFG)
• Lost (Jaehyun solo)
• Butterfly (Yuta solo)
• The Rainy Night
• White Night
• Back 2 U (AM 01:27)
• The Reason Why It’s Favorite (Doyoung solo)
• Favorite (Vampire)
• Regular (English version)
• Love on the Floor
• Paradise
• Touch
• Love Me Now
• Sticker
• Faster
• 2 Baddies

ENCORE:

• Dreams Come True
• Promise You

(And now I’m crying again. Cool. It’s fine. This is fine. I’m fine.)

Every single second of the night was my favorite. But if I had to choose several isolated moments:

• HAECHAN. Literally, seeing Haechan in real life was everything. He’s my ult bias across the entire NCT universe, and it was hard for me to focus on my actual NCT127 bias (Jaehyun, who started out as my bias wrecked only to be in danger of being wrecked himself!). Haechan is just…this is so fucking lame and I’m going to sound like a grandma from the 1960s, but he is JUST SO DAZZLING. His movements, his face, his HONEY VOCALS. No one sounds like Haechan. No one. He is OOAK.

• Finding out that NCT’s labelmates AESPA was in the audience!!! 
• Mark Lee coming so close to being my new bias wtf, he is just a fiery ball of charisma.
• Taeil’s “We always thankful and we love you” moment – an inside joke for all czennies!
• The awesome people around me!
• Having my lightstick synch thanks to the friend I made in the seat next to me!
• THE ENERGY. IT WAS PALPABLE.
• Screaming the “BRRRRRRAaaaaa” part of Regular and SKRRT part of Lemonade!!!!

OMG this part! OK so I tried really hard to avoid videos from the LA show that happened the week before this because I didn’t want anything spoiled. So I had no idea that they did this super cute lightstick dance to “Breakfast”! I was SCREAMING.

I’m just going to put this out there, but I think Mark and Taeyong’s chemistry together as rappers is like a New Gen T.O.P. and G-Dragon. Their rap styles are so distinct that even if you aren’t a NCTzen, you can spot an NCT song by the rap line alone. Anyone who says Kpop is homogenous either isn’t paying attention or doesn’t want to accept the fact that there is a wealth of talent in South Korea and frankly, their artists are just performing at levels that Western artists can’t touch.

OK LOVE ON THE FLOOR. (And poor Taeil’s shoes preventing him from climbing up.)

This is nowhere near as incredible as it was when they performed it in Korea and Japan because the US just can’t handle those kinds of stages, I guess, lol. But this was still…yeah.

The last song before the encore was 2 Baddies and I swear it felt like the arena suffered structural damage from our maniacal screaming. THAT SONG. THAT FUCKING SONG.

After the lights came on, I reluctantly made my way out of Section 127 into the swarm of NCTzens, and found Henry creepily leaning against a wall. He immediately started whining in real time to me about his seat sitch and I was just like, “Bro-ski, I do not CARE, let me SAVOR THIS MOMENT without dropping your bitchy anvil on it.” Fuck!!

Once we got outside, Henry’s mood had totally seeped into my skin so then I was feeling mopey too but he finally realized that he was, once again, ruining my life, so he quickly swerved and said, “Hey come on, let’s go stand over there and wait for NCT to leave. I didn’t call the Uber yet.” I made him suffer for a few more minutes before finally walking over to the area near the loading zone. We found out by accident that this is where the artists leave the arena back when we saw Stray Kids, because it was taking us so long to get a ride back to the hotel that we just happened to still be standing across the street when their cavalcade of black vans pulled out.

We must have only waited for about 20 minutes, but it was chilly and drizzling. Still, it was totally worth it to stand with my fellow NCT stans in total anticipation of not being able to see anything aside from our distorted reflections in the rain-streaked tinted windows.

Yeah, it was worth it.

Henry was even nice and gave up his spot to an older lady who was so appreciative – Kpop Dads know when to take one for the team, you know?

I didn’t realize this until days later, but apparently Aespa was in the first van!

(Um OK I’m crying again, hold please. What is my problem lol.)

Oh man, what a night. I hate Newark so much but I would make (Henry make) that drive 127 more times if it meant even seeing NCT for a minute. They are so special to me, it makes me feel actually physically ill.

When we got back to the hotel, someone on our floor had Haechan peeking out from under their door and I was so jealous! I do sometimes wish that I had friends here who were into this but I guess Henry will do. And my one and only kpop friend (Veronica in LA!) and I made a pact that we WILL be attending a kpop concert together in the future. I suggested that we just go to Seoul and see NCT127 there and she did not say no, lol!

Do I regret spending $DONTMAKEMESAY.IT on a ticket? NOPE. I will never, ever regret spending money on music.

(Or vacations and amusement parks!)

At least I will die rich in experiences lol.

(Probably while lying in the fetal position on the futon Chooch throws into the corner of his basement for me because I’ll be too poor as an old retired* lady to live on my own.)

*(Or to retire.)

[DISCLAIMER: None of the YouTube videos are mine. The Flickr ones are, though.]

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Henry recently refreshed the Mouse Attack sign and I am so happy with it! I hadn’t realized just how badly the LEDs had dimmed over the years, plus Henry’s method of attaching the lights to the inside of the sign wasn’t very conducive to longevity – he used rubber bands, for god’s sake! Now, the new lights are held in place in a much savvier way.

While Henry had the sign off the wall, I suggested that he add some of the leftover neon yellow from the kitchen TV project.

I believe that “Yes, Your Majesty,” was his response.

I really love how much it brightens up the wall!

I love fun lighting and I don’t care if it makes my home look like a tacky funhouse.

To me, it’s cozy and it makes me happy!

We’re also in the process of revamping the beverage buffet and Henry wants to redo the Seoul Subway sign, and I am not stopping him from that. He came up with a better way to do the lighting and thinks he can fix it without even taking it off the wall, and I am willing to watch him try. I’m also working on art portraits of my Original Cat Squad to hang on the cat wall, which I might repaint. I’m kind of tired of it.

Don’t even ask about the attic. We haven’t work on that project in MONTHS lol.

In other news, I worked in the office today and walked down a street about 45 minutes before a shooting occurred so maybe I won’t be going into the office anymore.
iv>
Nothing down there feels the same anymore, anyway.