September 2025

 It’s September, and officially fall. Things are darker, and our morning and evening walks involve very little, if any, sun. No worries, though, we’ll have snow to brighten things up soon enough. But first, the leaves have to turn pretty colors and fall to the ground. I still have a pumpkin to carve, and I may still try to get a cold dip in the pond before it gets too cold. I’ll hold out for a warm day in October.

Some things I’ve watched.

I have not made it to see the new Toxic Avenger movie, but I should.

I watched 28 Years Later, and it was a great follow-up to the original. I don’t remember a lot about 28 Weeks Later, but they had done ok with that as well. I think this latest one is the first of a trilogy, and I’m down to see how that goes. 

I also watched JugFace after seeing the cover for the movie for years and listening to it spoiled on the Ruined Podcast. (An amazing podcast if you need an entertaining podcast to pass some time.) The podcast was better than the movie itself. 

And late to the party, I watched all four seasons of Mr Robot. There were parts I enjoyed, but it was too much to watch all the episodes back to back in a half-hearted binge. I’m sure it was better to watch as it aired.  

Some things I’m reading or have read.

Finished the last two books in N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky. A great series that has been on the shelf for a few years. I’m glad I was able to finally read them. 

I got around to reading Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. Light, fun, and just what I needed for a little entertaining read. 

Still working through Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez. It’s my before-bed read, so it’s taking longer as I have not been awake enough to really rip through it. I'll finish it in October so I can read The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story, a new one by Olga Tokarczuk.

I have also picked up and started reading Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond as the first book in the next round of difficult books in my difficult books club. It helps to read tough things with other folks reading the same tough things and talking about them. 

As for writing, 

I worked on a short story, but I have not finished it yet. Always good to get back into my brain and type some of this stuff out. 

The longer story I have been turning around in my brain since this summer is still taking shape. When I start, I’m going to need to establish a very consistent writing schedule to get it all out in a timely manner. I’ll likely start with a few weeks of dedicated time and writing exercises, then kick into it. 

While on the subject of writing, and I know I’m not alone, there is a constant battle going on in my brain that is much harder than writing all the stories. The constant push to make something of the writing, and then questioning why I am even bothering. There is so much time dedicated that could be spent doing almost anything. I want to write stories, and it would be cool if they connected with somebody, but the amount of work it takes to connect them with folks is tough, and I really don’t want to do that. 

What this does is distract from the writing process and locks the stories in my head until they are reabsorbed into the squishy grey blob and forgotten. My goal is to keep trying to let them out without sweating too many of the details, but it's hard. 

But that's writing. 95% of what's involved is not the actual writing of the book. 

That's it for September. I have things to write. 

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Here’s a picture of the bog on the walk in Bangor Main on a beautiful early fall day. Surrounded by some carnivorous plants.