I bought tortellini soup for lunch but for some reason, my already tired brain decided it needed more food. I blatantly overate for the first time in who knows how long. So now, I’m extra sleepy and I’d love nothing more than to be curled up on my couch drifting in and out of sleep for the next several hours.

At least I can look forward to being able to relax on that very couch after work. I’m doing one load of laundry, sorting clean clothes, and then I’m hoping to relax the rest of the evening.

I had a pretty productive weekend. On Saturday, my mother-in-law wanted to go to the Mylan Park Holiday Craft Show and she left with Angel for a few hours. I was able to record two more songs for the album, bringing my grand total to eight. I was even able to finish writing one of the last two songs I had to still do.

With a little luck, I can record at least 2 more songs this week and maybe even write the intro and record it too. Which would mean the recording part of the album would be finished. A little bit of mixing, and dash of mastering, and it could be street ready before November 15th.

I have to meet up with E at some point to discuss possibly joining a larger Soundvizion project rollout in 2024 but even so, the album was to be done by December 1st. And I’m way ahead of schedule.

Which means I could start looking towards starting on Thunderstorm 2. T2 was part of my original brainchild in 2018 to start releasing music again and it’s evolved from a standard industry beat mixtape into what’s looking like my third album.

It blows my mind that I’m considering a third album when the second isn’t even completed but I’m not mad at it.

I also was able to test out my stream equipment since I haven’t used it since last Extra Life. Everything seems to be working and I was able to stream a little Marvel Snap. I still need to work on my overlays and alerts still; I’ve tried to go really basic with the last to EL streams but I need to know when a donation comes in. I was sitting there gaming last year and had no clue when money came in. I also will probably still run a webcam although I was debating foregoing it or using the camera built into my laptop. I probably will just stick to the top of my laptop screen this year and not worry about bringing the normal stand I have it on.

Speaking of Marvel Snap, this very moment marks the longest I’ve gone without playing it since I downloaded it two weeks ago. I’ve been able to make a decent amount of progress without spending in-game or real world money. It doesn’t hurt that I can also play with Matt from time to time. And while I haven’t played in almost two whole days, I know the next time I log in, there’s a high probability of 5 to 10 games being played immediately. 

When you haven’t been recording music on a regular basis, the joys of recording all come back to you in a hurry. 

Picture it, last Tuesday. I recorded 3 verses, 2 bridges, and 1 hook for a song. I thought the mix would be easy. Turns out, the hook needs re-recorded and my first mix needed some tweaking. 

I know it will be all worth it when the album’s done but I get beyond annoyed pretty quickly. 

We went to Capon Bridge to see Dad for Indigenous People’s Day but we came home a day early because the well pump died. This may or may not have been my fault because I didn’t stop the toilet from running on Saturday night. 

The last time we had to pull up the well piping to get to the well pump, it was the late 90s and it took us hours to drag that mollyfogging thing out. In fact, it may have taken a day or two. I didn’t want to deplete Dad’s surplus water supply, so we came home yesterday. 

Today has been spent doing nothing. I’m pretty sure I need to replace the retaining ring on the washing machine door. I hope that’s all it is. I don’t think I can make our old one right enough anymore. I edited Rasslecast today because I didn’t feel like it last night. The video should be done rendering, so that will be on YouTube in the next few hours. 

I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to record music on Tuesday and Thursday this week uninterrupted. In a perfect world, I can record three records this week and bring the grand total for the album to five out of eleven tracks. All mastered and ready for sequencing. 

Like I said, fingers crossed.

I finally gave in and downloaded Marvel Snap to try it out. And naturally, I’m obsessed. Today might be the least I’ve played since last Thursday. And after spending most of the weekend losing games just to be playing, I took in some deck building tips yesterday and they are paying off nicely. I love how there’s strategy in every move now. I might mess around and stream it soon.

Extra Life is on November 4th. I need to test everything as I haven’t streamed… at all at home this year? Has it been that long? On top of that, I think Extra Life 2022 was the last time I gamed on a console. That’s nuts for someone wishing for a PS5 so I can play Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

I’ve been tossing some ideas in my head about what I want to spend 24 hours playing this year. I can play Marvel Snap on PC. I have Rollercoaster Tycoon and I’ve been dying to play it, so I could do that. I also have a huge urge to replay Chrono Trigger. The last time was on my phone in late 2015/early 2016. It’s definitely time to go back. And see how well I do without a strategy guide to help me.

On PS4, I always have Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales ready. I still haven’t touched Skywalker Lego Star Wars since last November. 

There’s also a PS2 option that would consist of NCAA College Football 2004, X-Men Legends, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and maybe some NBA Live 2004/NBA Street Vol. 2.

And looking at it now, it really feels like it should be a PlayStation 2 year. I can celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first time I had full access to one thanks to Stevie.

And just like that, I’m getting excited.

I was trying to find this beat that CFX heard on E’s Instagram, so I sat down on lunch to start listening to stuff on E’s BeatStars account until I found it. It took me less than 3 minutes. That has to be a good sign, right?

I had Sam trim my beard back down to my face. I think I like it better, but it is nice to know I can grow a beard if I really want.

And not one person has commented on it.

I had a nice Labor Day weekend. I got to go get some pho with Steve and Jesse on Saturday. We cooked out on Sunday and we ended up watching Wedding Crashers while Aaliyah had a friend over for a sleepover. And yesterday, I didn’t do anything and my body is thanking me for it. It’s always nice when you’re able to utilize downtime to recuperate.

Sony is offering everyone 19 inches of Venom on October 20th for the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. I’d be happy with just a PS5 and the game, y’all can have the 19 inches.

I haven’t played video games since Extra Life last November, which is crazy. I have all this streaming stuff, all these systems, and I’m not utilizing them. I really need to try in the next two months to change that. Not only would it give me more content for my channel (if I stream/record it) but I just miss gaming.

And it’ll distract me from the fact that I won’t be playing Spider-Man 2 for a while.

Angel and I finished Orange Is The New Black yesterday evening. We got away from it after starting season 6 and not really being into the jarring transition into max. I randomly started season 6 again probably a month ago and we got back into it.

I think it’s a beautiful look at the American prison system from a woman’s POV as well as touching on some thought-provoking stuff on race, religion, sex, and more. Things got a little heavy handed in the last two seasons but I imagine budget cuts had as much of an impact on the show as the riot did in season 5.

I’ll have some more thoughts to share on my new show/podcast, whenever I’m able to get that officially going.

Aaliyah expressed interest in maybe quitting gymnastics after this meet season. While I would never want to stand in her way if she doesn’t love it as much as she once did, it’s a little bittersweet. On one hand, it’ll free up three nights of her week and we won’t have to pay the gym anymore. But on the other, she’s been doing gymnastics for 6 or her 9 years and she has a ton of potential still. It’s a little sad to think that she could never reach it. And then I worry that she does have my performance anxiety (great in basketball practice and pickup, horrible in real games) and that she was doomed before her gymnastics career began.

But I still don’t want to force her to do something she doesn’t want to; the decision is hers.

I scraped together $6.35 yesterday to use a coupon to get Burger King for lunch because I was too tired to make the stir fry vegetables I got from Walmart Sunday.

I wouldn’t trade this summer for anything. Playa Del Carmen had such a lasting impact on me. Angel was able to take Aaliyah to Europe. We made out annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland.

But sometimes these gaps in-between my last check and the 15th and last day of the month are brutal.

I have a dentist appointment today. Just my 3-month checkup. I have some bigger work that needs done but as long as I can hold off, I will hold off. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean a bunch of pain in my future.

I got to check out Mutant Mayhem with Angel and Anthony Sunday and of course I loved it. I’m going to put my review on Letterboxd soon. And while I’m thinking about it, let it be known that I still need to put reviews up for Clerks III, Creed II, and Barbie. I don’t think there’s any others I missed. I spend too much time thinking about what I’m going to write when it’s usually a few sentences.

I made a strong attempt at chicken tacos this weekend and they weren’t bad. I used the instant pot because my chicken was frozen (surprise) but I was pleasantly surprised. I promise next time I’ll be patient and defrost my chicken first. I do have some hamburger that I did defrost that I’ll make some beef tacos with later tonight.

If everything goes to plan, which it has not been lately.

I’ve been limiting myself to one cup a coffee in the morning before week lately and I haven’t seen any ill effects. Considering I used to drink coffee all day until I left work, cutting down to one cup hasn’t been bad. On the weekends, I’ve been drinking this coffee Angel brought back from South America, so I let myself have as much as I want then.

I’m also trying to get back in the regular habit of drinking at least a gallon of water a day. I was doing great until Mexico and I don’t think I’ve accomplished this once since I’ve been back. I’ve even started drinking hot water on those unmotivated mornings at work just to replicate the heat and feel of holding a coffee cup. But so far, so good.

If you see me using LinkedIn more, blame Gary Vee. It’s fine so far, but it’s weird when you’re not posting content geared towards your field? We’ll see how long I stick with it.

I was looking at pre-owned shoes on Sunday evening after my sister-in-law gave Aaliyah’s friend these black and pink Jordan 1s and ordered Aaliyah her own pair. You don’t know how much that hurt my soul (no pun intended). I’ve went from the guy who blew $300 of his refund check money in 2007 on Foamposite 1s to being too cheap to want to buy new Nikes at Shoe Carnival ($60-$80).

And no, I’m not going to buy pre-owned shoes. I was just jealous. I haven’t had new Jordans in years.

Someone bring me a pumpkin spice latte, stat. Please.

I can’t believe the 180 I’ve done on Cee-Lo Green. I used to be such a fan. But there’s no looking past it. F*ck You/Forget You is on the radio right now and I feel absolutely nothing. *Sigh*

At night, I often will lie in bed and watch YouTube until I’m ready to fall asleep. This would preferably be after I finish watching the video I’ve pulled up. I cannot begin to tell you the number of times that I nod off, wake up, rewind back to the last part I was awake for, nod off again, rewind back to the last part I was awake for, etc. Eventually, I nod out and either the TV shuts itself off after YouTube has been running untouched for so long (which is annoying when you try to pull up ocean waves, or a white noise video with space and stars only for YouTube to ask, “Are you still watching this video?” after 5 or so hours). I have to check my watch history in the morning to see what was auto played after I finally succumbed to sleep. This morning, it was Scotland Nature Relaxing Movie 4K – Meditation Relaxing Music – Wonderful Nature. I’m sure it was great. I actually remember turning the TV off last night though.

I figured out my situation from last week’s blog with losing the Down In Mexico sampled beat. It’ll still come out on Soundcloud and Bandcamp before the album. But thankfully, my man No Name Tim had a whole banger just sitting on his site. So that will replace it on the album.

I hopped on a Zoom call with Errick and Marc Rob to talk Rasslecast season 4 on Saturday after work. It looks like we will return to air Monday, September 18th. Episodes will release bi-weekly from there until a week or so after WrestleMania. You can find all of our previous episodes wherever podcasts are podcasted and on my YouTube channel. I might start a Rasslecast channel again and slowly start moving things over there. If it ever takes off, then the channel will be ready.

WVU students walked the f*ck out of their classes today. And rightfully so. I love a good protest. But it seems like the turnout was minimal. And somehow, quiet apathy seems on brand for WVU.

I think my current meal go-to is going to be that egg sandwich that went viral a few years back. I attempted it during Covid and it wasn’t bad but now that I have confidence in my cooking, I’ve made two bomb ass sammichs the last two days. I’m interested to see if I can replicate a decent one using low carb tortillas.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Orange Is The New Black debuted. Even harder to believe that I just finished Season 6 with Angel on Saturday night. I was happy how easily I was able to pick up the story considering how long it had been since we watched Season 5. Damn, that was a good ass season.

Why in the world do people choose to go out in terrible weather? Look, I get you have to run errands sometimes, but why in the hell do you look outside when you’re not in the rain or snow and think, “I need to go out in this!” when you don’t have to?

People lack common sense. Or maybe they have to prove something to themselves.

I broke out the Wii with Aaliyah for the first time in a while last night. We played Swordplay, Golf, and Table Tennis on Wii Sports Resort. She eventually wanted to move on to something else so I thought I’d play a game against the CPU on Table Tennis.

Three hours later, I turned the Wii off for the night. I’ve never liked table tennis. I was awful at it when I tried to play at Potomac State and I’ve never tried again. But last night, I must have played 20+ games and I definitely lost more than I won.

Also, there’s almost no info on the internet about how to be a better Wii Sports Resort Table Tennis player. Just some speedruns and a couple top spin/back spin tutorials. There was also a bunch of content about trying to beat the champion Lucia but I can’t even put more than 2 wins in a row together.

Needless to say, I left the Wii hooked up in our living room. Despite somehow tweaking my knee and my whole right arm being sore, I will return to the resort to try to get better at Table Tennis. I want to see Lucia crush my hopes and dreams in person, dammit!

And maybe, I’ll finally find a way to drag the table tennis set that Aaliyah got for Christmas into the basement and set it up. Even though I know I’ll be trash. It’s only 300 pounds…

We also watched the Super Mario Bros. movie now that it’s on Peacock. You can read my review over on my Letterboxd.

Despite my feelings on Vince McMahon needing to be removed completely from the company and sent to the fiery pits, I’ve been following WWE pretty closely again and watched SummerSlam almost in its entirety. It was a hell of a show and for the first time in ages, I wanted Roman to lose. The Bloodline story seems to be treading water a bit with how Roman ended up retaining, but I will continue to trust the process as everything is lining up for Roman/Cody II at WrestleMania XL. And Cody looked like a true superstar who is really ready to finish the story now.

Ugh, why does such a good product have to have such a horrible man still involved?

I took Friday off because Angel and I are going to Pittsburgh to attend the Barrel & Flow Festival on Saturday afternoon. It’ll be our 4th time going and Barrel & Flow was just named the #1 beer festival in America by USA Today.

Crap, that means it’ll be even more packed. Good news for Ed and Day though.