sunday things

Some disconnected ideas on the last Sunday of winter:

Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will remember an odd plot development at the beginning of season 5. Buffy got a new sister, Dawn, out of nowhere. She just appeared in the middle of the ongoing series, and everyone on the show acted as if she’d always been there. It was jarring and weird for the viewer. What did we miss? How did she get here? We find out over time that she was a magical entity made human, and the beings that created her were powerful enough to alter the memories of everyone else on the show, such that she had a full backstory. In the minds and hearts of the Buffyverse, the slayer had always had a baby sister. Only through a massive, induced group hallucination was Dawn accepted as having always been there.

Anyway, I feel like Pedro Pascal was introduced into the global consciousness in the same manner. I don’t think he existed three months ago, and now I can’t escape him, and everyone is acting like this guy has been here forever? I don’t buy any of it. He’s an energy demon.

India! It’s hard to find the words to describe just how disorienting yet wonderful that trip was. And that may be why, two weeks after returning, I still haven’t really found a way to organize my thoughts about it. But I will. It was an incredible experience, truly once-in-a-lifetime stuff. I’ll have more to say about it soon.

I got a strange email from a subscriber the other day, or more accurately, from some e-scrubbing service they were using. The service told me this person was reducing their digital footprint, and that according to their records I had their email address on file. The service was asking me to delete that address at once, and to confirm back to them that I had done so when complete.¹ Of course I did so, right away. It doesn’t go without saying, so I will say it: I will never, ever, use the email addresses I have on file here for anything other than sending these posts. I’m deeply grateful you’re interested. To give or sell them to someone else would be a terrible betrayal. There’s a link to unsubscribe at the end of each email, or you can do so at the site under the “Subscribe” link up top. No hard feelings.

And, well, in what may be a somewhat awkward pivot from that point, I do want to call your attention to an upcoming show for my band, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood. It’s our first gig in the Chicago area since before the pandemic, and we’ll be debuting a new rock opera entitled 1-9-7-5. It’s going to be an absolutely massive spectacle. Come see us at the Rhapsody Theater in lovely Rogers Park on Saturday, May 13. You can get tickets here. Seats are limited and they’re going fast; you don’t want to miss this epic event.