An Innsmouth Thanksgiving

Well it's Thanksgiving here in the US. My usual yearly plan was changed kind of at the last minute, and I decided that I'd do a hermit holiday. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays I have a ton of mixed feelings about, was very much a me and the parents holiday. After my uterine sibling got married and moved out, me and the folks stopped doing the traditional dinner in lieu of reservations at a place called 'The Milleridge Inn' out on Long Island. Even after we moved to Texas, it was still eating out most of the time. Even infected Amythest's clan with the idea a few years. But it always was a holiday that involved having spare tentacles ready, and anxiety meds. So when this year because a DIY event, I kind of ran with the idea of staying home. I did get several invites. (Thanks Strongbow and the Raptor Badger clan). But a day of tasty heat-and-eat meats and snacks sounded better. So here I'm hear with three different kinds of sausage, eggs, some chicken, bread, cheese and even a tiny (bad for me) lemon pie. I joked at the beginning about having Thanksgiving Ala Ancient Rome, and I really did kind of pull it off. No dormice, but I'm not the upper crust. First course is chicken soup, which isn't traditional Roman (They started every big meal with eggs, and ended with fruit. Thus the phrase 'Eggs to Apples' compared to our 'Soup to Nuts').

I'm wearing a tshirt I got with some of the famous man-eaters of horror fiction around the thanksgiving table. Which set the movie theme for today. Currently watching the 2nd of The Hills Have Eyes original flicks (I watched the first before stating the post.) Later will be one of the 'Hannibal' series (at least), one or more of the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' flicks, 'Return of the Living Dead' and 'Day of the Dead', which covers all the characters on my shirt, with the exception of a C.H.U.D., but I recently watched that movie and it doesn't sound all that appealing to rewatch. Plus he's hiding under the table, guess he's shy.

No real other plans for today, I have some stuff I'd like to get done this weekend. New drive for Dagon, so I can do an fresh install of Ubuntu 18.10, but still be able to flip to the old drive in case of problem. I'm also going to a friend's orphan shindig Saturday night. I'll only know a couple of people there, but as I was told 'It's a gathering of introverts' so things should be fine. Tomorrow there will be people in the office working but I'll be staying at home, unless there's a crisis. The only leaving of Château Innsmouth is maybe to go raid a Half Price Books or 3, they're running a 20% everything sale. I also want to stop my an office supply store for canned air, since it's been a dog's age since I cleaned out Dagon. I want to also spend some time cleaning out clutter, I have access to an SUV to haul things out with, so that will be helpful.

So that's my Thanksgiving in a nutshell. Cannibals, sausages, chilling out. I do have to leave home for a little bit, critter care, but that's it. Hope everyone is having a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate, and a good Thursday/Friday if you don't.

Cthulhu’s CtheeseBurger and other Weirdness

Haven't had a lot to talk about. Work is still fluid, brainmeats are still iffy. Texas is still hot as blazes. Having issues with sleep, and with waking up unwanted early (6am on a Saturday is just wrong). Though on the positive tentacle, I did get almost all my chores done. On another positive tentacle, I had lunch with some nifty friends, and was reminded that I have a pretty good burger place just down a couple of roads from me. (Fuddruckers for those who care about such things. Used to go a lot with friends, and with Mom, but in the last few years I haven't gone.) Didn't get anything fancy, a 1/3rd pound cheeseburger (provolone, cheddar and swiss), steak fries, and a grape sprite. Just what the burger desires ordered.

Post food and friends, I went to a Half Price Books, only found one book that said 'you need this'. A collection of Aleister Crowley's 'Simon Iff' stories. More interested in his idea of an 'occult detective' vs Crowleyness. I also went to B&N for the first time in a few years. Was looking for the latest issue of Fortean Times. They had an issue, from July 2017. Oops. Came home after that, had some errands I thought about running, but it's too darn hot here. Came home, chilling out. Actually, I'm kind of craving another burger (and their fries). My crazed cravings.

Plans for the rest of the weekend, maybe some more errands in the morning. Maybe working on some more reorg of Château Innsmouth. Next weekend is a three day weekend, so I'll try to balance social/hermit, along with some bookstore raiding (Half Price Books 20% off weekend). In a few weeks I'll be going back to Portland for my 2nd HPLFF. Really looking forward to the gathering of the cultists, and the fun of Lovecraftian/Weird films on a big screen. Plus the Hollywood Theater in Portland is awesome. And of course, Powell's City of Books. Hopefully by then I have a plan for what path my gainful employment will take. I can hope at least. And on that note, I'm going to call this a post.

Starry Wisdom Retreat: Part 2

On Thursday I rented a car and drove down to Mystic to visit the aquarium and seaport there. Got to feed a stingray, which was one of the oddest feelings I've ever felt, like a muscular vacuum cleaner was grabbing my hand. Saw belugas, seals, petted a small cat shark. It's not a huge aquarium, but it's definitely high quality. Mystic Seaport was a place me and my folks went to when I was a kid, and it's been on my list to revisit for YEARS. Lots of ships, including a visiting Viking longboat that I went on board without knowing it with still offlimits to visitors (oops). Did go on board a 19th century whaling ship, an 20th century full ship rigged training vessel, and a fishing vessel from the early 20th century. Plus there's a number of historical buildings that were part of the Mystic sea trade. Definitely was good to visit, next time I'll go later in the year so more things will be open. Oh yeah, and while I was in Mystic I stopped by Mystic Pizza for a slice (or 3). Not a fan of the movie, but really...why not.

Random stuff. Visit Providence, and you'll eat well. Italian food, Irish pub food, sushi, so much good sushi. Found a little breakfast place that I ate at repeatedly while I was there. Had pizza a few times, quite a bit of variety in New England, some was like NYC, but thicker, others were like Chicago, but not as 'pie' like. The only less than great meals I had where when I had to do chain food, all the local places were top notch. Another oddity, Providence has really good tap water. Probably saved myself a bunch on bottled water bills. Lots of people with dogs on the streets of Providence, but unlike most of the random dogs I run into in Texas, they were well trained and didn't suddenly lunge at me randomly. Well other than one fluffy still mostly puppy, who just radiated 'I want to be friends'. The bus system was decent, a little confusing, but then again I have less experience with mass transit. I ended up walking a lot for that reason, and the occasional Lyft ride.

So that's the Cliff Notes version of my trip to Providence. I really had a good time, and I'll be back, probably for NecronomiCon 2019. I'm really fond of how the city looked, and how it felt to wander around. Definitely glad I decided to go. Thanks to Grandpa Theobald for inspiring me to go, and to all the nifty people I met while I was there. Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!