I had a fun day in San Francisco yesterday, visiting my friend Marc Kate and later attending a reading by author Ferrett Steinmetz.
Marc and I drank sage mint tea and talked about analog synthesizers (RIP Don Buchla), the trials and tribulations of creative careers, and his new podcast Scary Thoughts. I listened to Episode 1 (a discussion/cultural critique of Stranger Things) when I got home and greatly enjoyed it. Like most people in my demographic I devoured Stranger Things days after it was released on Netflix. Listening to the Scary Thoughts podcast helped me parse my thoughts on the way the series used nostalgia, hit all the right nerd notes, and veered just far enough away from tried-and-true horror/fantasy/sci-fi tropes to keep things interesting.
Ratings and reviews are incredibly important for a podcast launch, so if you enjoy Scary Thoughts please take a few seconds to rate and/or review it. And subscribe!
Then I headed over to Borderlands to listen to Ferrett Steinmetz read from his new novel Fix. I’ve been reading Ferrett’s blog for years and I’d read and enjoyed his short fiction too, but I’d yet to dig into his ‘Mancer series. So far both the first book of the series (Flex) reminds me a little of Lexicon by Max Barry, one of my favorite reads this year (both the writing style and the unique, meticulously-developed magic system). Ferrett is something of a role model for me since I’ve been following (and rooting for) his writing journey from aspiring writer to published novelist with a significant following. It was a blast to meet him in person. Great guy, bought everyone donuts, and gave an excellent dramatic reading. Go Ferrett!
For regular blog readers wondering what’s in the pipeline, here are some of the posts I’m working on:
- Q3 No-Car Update
- Supplements I’m Experimenting With (l-tyrosine, acetyl-l-carnitine + rALA)
- When You Start To Know the Trash by Name
- Update on 5/25 Exercise
- Investment Strategy Update