Nothing in the world could fail me now.
We did have a belated Thanksgiving with a handful of people rolling up to the kitchen table. I didn't set the dining room table because no one would commit. It's dark before dinner and the rain and the lack of excitement from me was palpable or maybe we all just weren't in the mood. Maybe it was because if I don't make a big deal and begin preparations no one will. I'm not sure if everyone is regularly depressed, seasonally depressed or just oblivious but it's concerning regardless.
It meant leftovers. Henry and PJ managed to divide them without any fights (or tears) over the next couple of days.
I think the whole continent is sort of holding it's collective breath for the next two or three weeks but also I hate that subject altogether so let's talk about my treadmill videos instead. Did I tell you? We got a new treadmill. It's more me-sized than them-sized because no one wants me outside getting my fresh air fix by walking as far up the mountain as I can go and when I get tired, bored of an inkling of anything at all I turn and walk all the way back down to the ocean. It's been a thing forever and I don't care if it's eight at night. I don't care if it's seven in the morning. Sometimes it's four pm sharp. So the treadmill arrived and I jumped on, fired up a walking video because I can't just stare at the wall and I can't just listen to music so I found a hilarious-to-me genre on Youtube called treadmill walks.
Oh boy. Where to even begin. You probably knew about these ages ago but I didn't and I told Lochlan without context that I was going to walk the Appalachian trail.
You mean the Pacific Coast Trail and no, you're not.
No I mean the Appalachian Trail. I showed him the video and he laughed (with relief I bet) and we dug into what else there was.
Ultimately the first video I ended up putting on was a walk around the city of Venice in Italy which was somewhat disconcerting because somehow the cameraman found the most perfect, dry, sunny and virtually empty city to film and the whole time I'm thinking Venice never looks like that.
It made me laugh. I have been a few times now and it always seems to hit the same week the rain hits and the mild flooding and the crowds and the rats and the mold and I'm sure I've written about it before but it's so beautifully tragic it's become a gorgeous memory of choosing terrible vacation plans because that can be a sport, you know.
(One I can win Olympic gold in.)
Go into everything with low to no expectations and you will be gobsmacked. Sometimes disappointed anyway (look at my efforts with Burning Man) and sometimes you'll even try AGAIN because you're a baby masochist or stupid or both but rats.
Rats.
Not a huge fan. I'm not going to jump on tables screaming or anything but I had nightmares they were chewing my hair. I never got warm there. I never really felt safe there.
So the next video will definitely be the Appalachian Trail one. Unless someone can find me some horror-themed treadmill walks. I must look. That would be amazing.
In other news a total stranger complimented my hair colour yesterday. Not Lochlan's but MINE. We were both surprised but then after he says I told you. It's so unusual. Huh. Yeah. Aren't we all. I pretty much shy away from attention in public anymore. My tattoo suit does a good job of keeping most people away and the few who approach somehow want to be cool by association and will start a conversation, which I indulge and will always find an easy compliment for them because they're usually way cooler than me to begin with. Having tattoos isn't cool, it just means you have money and like to lie on tables in pain while artists leave their beautiful works on you. Sometimes you pick the art, sometimes you let them pick it or tell them an idea and let them run with it.
That's what life is, running with ideas. Let's move. Let's get married. Let's try this restaurant. Let's buy this tiny treadmill so you don't get eaten by a bear. Let's not do the Appalachian Trail in real life but let someone else do it and we'll give them a click like a tip for a job well done.
Risk your life to maybe be eaten by a bear (or a skinwalker in that region I mean who are we kidding?) and someday Youtube will send you a plaque that says you had a bunch of people watch the thing you filmed. Cool.
You're cool. I am not cool. I couldn't even do Thanksgiving on the right day or fully utilize the giant treadmill we already own. I can't seem to see Venice on a sunny day and yet I have had far too many conversations with bears to make anyone comfortable and that's how I'm going to keep you.