May 2026

It’s the end of May, and like previous months for the past year and a half, there is way too much going on in the world to not feel overwhelmed and unable to stay on top of the chaos and worried about the state of things. But it’s another month and another post. 

This month involved an overseas vacation. After limited trips since Covid, we opted to take a family trip to Paris and hit up the amazing Hilma Af Klimt exhibit at the Grand Palais. That was the catalyst of the trip, and it was followed by hitting up a bunch of other museums, Versailles, the Catacombs, Pierre Lachaise Cemetery, and all the vegan bakeries and vegan restaurants we could find. 

As a result of the lead-up, the trip, and the recouping from the trip has limited the amount of writing I was able to get done, but I have a nice backlog of ideas to work through when I have a minute to focus for more than an hour or two. I did edit a short story I’ll be releasing as a small zine/chapbook about a photographer that should be ready for June.

This month, I finished Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. I had been reading this book for months, and normally, when that happens, it’s a book that I just don’t finish. The difference is that this was a good book, heavy and full. Just slow and not like a lot of horror stories, but definitely horrific and full of disturbing scenes. So worth reading if you can take it, but I’m glad it’s over, and I have something lighter to read at night before bed.

Still working through the Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, while great, it’s sprawling and full of information about Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the 18th century and the real-life Jewish messiah, Jacob Frank. 

My lighter evening read is Zombie Bake Off by Stephen Graham Jones and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

I am watching the new Apple TV show Widow’s Bay. Some spooky moments, but a fun New England Coastal Horror series.

Finally watched the Toxic Avenger remake and had a good laugh. Not as over the top, but the chaos was there.

Along with Toxie’s new film, I also watched Oz Perkins take on the Stephen King short story - The Monkey. It was over the top and fun. It had a voiceover and a great soundtrack, and if you just listen, you might think it was Rob Reiner's classic Stand By Me. It’s not. It’s full of monkey-triggered deaths reminiscent of Final Destination, but it does not seem to take itself as seriously. I had wondered why they opted for a drum-playing toy monkey rather than the cymbal-crashing Monkey from the book. It turns out that we can blame Disney for that. Because a cymbal-crashing monkey appeared in Toy Story 3, Disney apparently owns the rights to that character. 

Sometime this upcoming month, I’m going to make it to the theatre to watch Backrooms because it looks scary as hell. Who isn’t petrified of liminal spaces? The liminal space within the house was my favorite part of  Mark Z. Danielewski’s chaos novel House of Leaves.

That’s it for May

If you are on BlueSky and interested, follow me here: https://bsky.app/profile/spwhite.bsky.social

This is a picture from a spot within Pierre Lachaise Cemetary on a rainy day from our trip.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 2025

Image
 October, while still a week from being over has been full of a number of things. I wrote a short story for my daughter in college, worked with Jen to get it illustrated, and the printed out a bunch of copies zine-style. And that was not the only story I worked on.  I also read O Hole’y Night at Quiet City Books. It was my third time reading at this spooky story time for grownups and while I was still quiet and barely audible I still managed to get a few laughs in. A little weird to read a Christmas story in October but it was spooky, so it counted. I also met some new writers, and heard some other great stories.  Some things I have read. I read Witches, The History of Witches by Nigel Cawthorne. The name of the author sounds like he may have witch hunter ancestors. It was not a fun easy read. The history of actual witches is brutal and horrific and directly attributed to power, wealth accumulation, and primarily impacted women. In the States, we had the Salem Witch Tria...
Read more

June 2025

Image
It’s June, and I just nudged past a milestone birthday, so this will be a quick post so I can get back to some June vacation activities. Here are some books I’m reading and have read: Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson - I’m a little over halfway through it and enjoying it so far. I’ve liked the other books I have read by him as well. I just finished Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi for our Difficult Books book club. It was an interesting look at a possible and likely more realistic outcome after a complete world government collapse. I like that folks band together to help everyone and themselves. While bleak, it was still better than the dystopias where it’s every person for themselves. This week, I’ll be starting the next book in the Difficult Books series, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I’m coming into it blind and don’t know what it’s about. I’ll also be starting To Be Taught If Fortunate by one of ...
Read more

September 2025

Image
 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 movi...
Read more