Omega-3, Optimus Prime, Octomom...Omicron. Hello, 2022.
So why are we hunkering down in NY at our house instead of out filming with friends? We had plans to be in Ohio again this month but I think what the rest of the internet doesn't know is how terribly risky Ryan's job is. 5 days a week for hours on end, he's alllll over the Capital District of NY. He's in people's homes, sometimes those people wear masks and are very polite and careful, and sadly just as often, those people aren't masked, tell him and his coworker how they don't believe in masks, and the "boogieman flu is nothing". So that's been a real fun time for him and in extension, me, for the last two years.
Many of the people we know, I'm sure, do not have the same fears we have over this disease, in potentially spreading it, in catching it (again in our case), etc. It's fine. That Ryan has been so careful in all the places his job takes him, especially with this outbreak, is astounding and the most admirable thing on earth. I mean if I'm going to be honest, his own coworkers don't even take the precautions he has. He's smart. I can't say that about everyone we know in this area, that's just the reality. I'm the one who sent him to work with a massive pack of Clorox Wet Wipes in early March 2020. And he did it for me, the person in his life who's almost died from respiratory issues and not at the fault of my own doing. I asthmatically choked nearly to death from subcutaneous emphysema in a rotting apartment building at 22, living in a slum lord's forgotten void of student housing. I had a rare reaction to intubation almost a decade later going into routine surgery and almost lost my life while unconscious under anesthesia. Let me just tell you - that will MESS with your spiritual beliefs. 💯. Go find the other blog about it if you'd like a PTSD (post-traumatic spiritual disorder) run-down. So what I'm saying is, we're pussy'ing around this pandemic because we have good reasons, and this thing could hit us any moment with Ryan's job, and we've been living on the bleeding edge like that for 2 years. We're all feeling this shit together, though. The spread of the new variant(s) is something I hope becomes the death throes of the whole virus, but I'm not a scientist and I know nothing about that besides a headline or two. I just hope.
I hope it's waning because we've been so careful, and we've cancelled plan after plan and altered so much for 2 years, while *still* somehow making other plans happen in the most opportune months, and almost on a whim as things change. Then buckling down back into the isolation and careful tactics again. The entire earth is 'playing it by ear'. So, we're giving the winter vlog season a go and providing our channel with at-home videos. I have a minutia of last year's footage to turn into something magical (or total shite, I mean, it depends who you ask) and from there it's story times and unsolved crimes of olde.
Paranormal stuff going on? Yes, this isn't just a rant over my despair about hunkering down at home this week, instead of driving through an ice storm 10 hours to Ohio and back in a rush of illness spreading insanely fast around us.
Ryan recently bought himself a beautiful Martin acoustic guitar from a seller he trusts and who worked with him on exactly what he needed. And there's something we realized at the end of last year when it comes to Ryan and his guitars. They're a tool not just of music but of magic. So, our future project involves musical instruments and magic and that's as much as I'll say until it's done.
We're also rather stoked and humbled to be able to offer channel memberships, super chat and super stickers on our YouTube channel, finally! If you see ads in our videos, it is in fact because we are monetized. We'll get those new features active when we have another livestream or premiere, which we'll need to do sooner than later, but our content is currently very *indoors*, as I mentioned.
We've got a haunt we absolutely love booked for mid-April, a trip to assist in my novel research in mid-May at the New England coast, and I'll be in WNY in March without Ryan (😞) for a women's investigation weekend with some folks it's been far too long to have not met in person yet. 2 haunts, 2 nights. I've got the longest drive to the locations so I need the sky and earth to remain dry and above freezing for me. There's a far more massive travel plan for Ryan and I that's been booked and a deposit paid - it depends on this pandemic and what July looks like for travel, but all I'll say is it's a great thing both of us have valid passports. I love to leave this country, repeatedly, so get vaxxed and boosted and help end this purgatory, okay? Okay.
We're investigating this year in some unsuspecting places, some repeat favorite haunts, and taking on a much larger film and occult project than before. We've booked campsites in the Adirondacks, and my birthday weekend will be at The Roxbury. This time - summer at Stratton Falls and a different themed cottage that requires full 1700's Rococo costumes. We love the Catskills and we'll never not go to The Roxbury. 🙌 I already booked our time slot for the pool cabana and spa because if July's mega-event falls through due to global fuckery, it'll be an escape weekend we'll need to forget what was stolen from us and about 50 friends. I don't know how many people the July event is designed for, but the planning alone must have been epic, and we'll be just crushed for the woman behind it all if the world dashes that plan.
So overall, 2022 started a little quieter than we'd hoped, out of safety and precaution. But we also have a new device on the way! It's less expensive than most of the electronic devices (gadgets) for paranormal investigating, which is surprising. It isn't a complex item though. Bulky, somewhat fragile, but it isn't complex. It might allow us to really do some strange new things in the dark. If you know of *Brion Gysin's work, you know what's on the way to our house, complete with an accompanying book and DVD. Not that we own a DVD player anymore...but that's a nice touch, and the whole shebang cost less than a REM-POD. Weird doesn't have to break the bank. Return that SLS camera. ;)
Sweet *dreams, and cheers to the 6th year of Full Dark! 🥂
