Tangent - Apologia

Hey guys,

So it's been two months. Jesus, it really has. I actually haven't abandoned this site, all 20 of you that care, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have other things on my mind. Job hunting is my biggest priority at the moment because, quite frankly, I'm getting tired of listing "barista" as my occupation in the mini-bio on the front page. Likewise, my weekly Monday posts were starting to feel more like an obligation than something I actually enjoyed. Every once in a while I wrote something I felt very proud of but otherwise I was kicking myself over how to make writing about my favourite albums interesting. Perhaps one solution is to abandon the rigid, every Monday without fail (and even that wasn't certain) framework I had and opt for shorter yet more sincere pieces whenever the mood strikes me.

Tangent - A Midsummer Night's Delirium

Pictured: the atmosphere inside my house.

Things I would prefer to this week's heat wave:

• Having my toenails yanked off one at a time.
• Running face first into a tree.
• Stubbing any and all of my toes.
• Being forced to replay the final episode of The Walking Dead game on repeat.
• Being shot non-vitally.

Tangent - Canada: FUCK YEAH

AW SHIT IT'S CANADA DAY EVERYBODY.

TIME TO SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE WHO HAS MADE THIS COUNTRY AWESOME AS HELL.

Tangent - Puzzling

I've been doing a lot of puzzles as of late. It doesn't matter where I get my hands on them, be it in the newspaper or online; you give me a little conundrum like the one pictured above and I'll slip into a cryptological trance unti I've either completed it or given up on it.

This week's post is on the short side, not because the subject at hand has ironically distracted me from thinking at length about it, but because I don't believe I have much to say beyond a few neat things.

Tangent - "Mr. Sandman..."

As I’ve told a few of you, my dreams have been incredibly lengthy and vivid as of late. I’ve curled up for an eight or nine hour sleep and woken up at the end of it after what, to my subconscious mind, has been days and, one time, even a whole week. Every night becomes a surreal adventure, albeit sorely lacking the backwards cadence of Twin Peaks’ Man from Another Place.

But the ones that actually irk me are those I can’t clearly remember as being dreams. One time I imagined a friend and I chatted about cats at length, and once awake had to firm up with her if the conversation actually happened (as we do regularly talk about the abnormally cute kittens we’ve discovered online). It’s gotten to be quite annoying, as these fairly mundane dream fragments can be nearly indistinguishable from the chunks of memory that lie on the outskirts of the conscious mind.

What I’m saying is, I’m starting to think I need a totem.

The following are a mixture of the most bizarre and bizarrely mundane dreams I’ve had to date.

Tangent - Songs I Somehow Associate with Christmas

December is upon us, and so I feel little shame in devoting this week as well as the remainder of the month to discussing all things related to Christmas. With Yuletide approaching, a great deal of the music I listen to leading up to it has been chosen to enhance the accompanying atmosphere. The vast majority of these songs, mainly Christmas carols, have very, very good reasons for being on my iTunes playlist. Others, not nearly as much. This week's piece is about the latter category.

Tangent - On Pseudonyms

What's this? A midweek update? It's nothing big, but if you go back through my archive you'll notice I've changed every instance of my pseudonym, David Merrick, as well as its corresponding initials back to my actual name (as well as, it goes without saying, its corresponding initials). I'm doing this partly because I want to keep the Merrick name for my fictional stand in, but mostly because it's confusing to see it posted alongside people's actual names.

Again, nothing world shattering, merely a little less confuddling.

Rant - Lesser Known Physical Laws

The following fragments were found scribbled on several napkins left at Professor Brian Cox’s table in a London pub.

Rant - Carry On Wayward Son

I seem to have developed a secondary musical taste.

Yes, it’s a strange thing to say. Normally when one talks about developing a secondary anything they’re usually referring to some bizarre mutation: secondary organs, secondary limbs, or any other biological redundancy that might result from proximity to Chernobyl. I’ve never been off this continent, let alone within range of Ukraine, and so I’m unable to link this newly discovered tangential fondness to the ill effects of radiation, but it’s a mutation nevertheless.

Tangent - New Design!

Aw Hell yeah, Ash Tree Lane has a new look... cobbled together from various templates. Hopefully future Blogger updates will allow me to upload a personalized background photo but I think this is fitting for now.


Soon: actual substantial updates!