Another year older, none the wiser.
June 2026 in review
It’s my birthday month and, wow, I guess the celebrations took a toll on my media consumption. I barely watched anything at all and the time I did spend on myself was only split among a few things. I actually had to refer back to my wife’s blog to remember what we actually did this month.
A trip to Virginia Beach and beyond!
To celebrate the numerous birthdays in my family falling in Gemini season, we took our annual trip down to my in-laws’ lake house. On the way down we decided to spend a couple days in Virginia Beach to soak up some sun and waves before spending the weekend with family.
What I watched
Backrooms - believe it or not, the only movie I watched this entire month was Kane Parsons’s Backrooms (did you know that he was only 20 years old? (he’s actually 21 as now as of me writing this)). I thought it was an solid extension of the webseries, of which I have seen some, and did a great job of establishing a mythos while telling its own contained story. While the performances were good, I do think that the character writing was a bit flat and one-note at times, but that’s not what I was there for. I just wanted to see unsettling geometries and creepy guys, and on that it delivered.
Widow’s Bay finale - Following up on what I mentioned in my last post, the AppleTV show’s first season has now ended (renewed for a second season, woo!). While it wasn’t perfect, and some of the episodes hit harder than others, I think the balance of comedy and horror is damn near perfect. It’s a brand of straight-faced humor in the face of some terrifying stuff that I don’t know I’ve seen before. And the mystery/drama at the core is something I felt has been opened up enough (no spoilers) to allow to be expounded upon in further seasons. I think there are a lot of people digging into some of the gags as if there is more backstory there than there really is, and I really hope that the showrunners don’t feel the need to fill in every single gap and question.
What I read
Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson - this thriller spans decades following a woman who, after finding a corpse on the side of the road, stumbles into a conspiracy involving Irish folklore and a children’s TV show. Years later, her daughter picks up the thread and begins spiraling into a dark underworld. I thought this novel was really well written and mostly entertaining, but I’ve read one too many version of the “demonic kid’s show” creepypasta for this to really hit for me. The aspects of Irish folklore that are weaved into the supernatural mystery were the best bits for me, even if the ending ultimately fell flat.
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito - this follows a newly-hired governess in a Victorian manor as she struggles to integrate into a wealthy family’s home while trying to suppress some rather disturbing urges. I don’t think I really gelled with the humor this story was putting out. It really felt a little too shocking for shock’s sake with the same gallows humor you see in most works like this. The last bits of the novel try to play off the central character’s amorality as some kind of commentary on social justice, but I think the message gets pretty muddled by the time it’s over.
Left to You by Daniel J Volpe - a man makes a bargain with a strange acquaintance to save his dying mother’s life, but there’s more to this old Holocaust-survivor’s story than he initially lets on. The bulk of this novel is a flashback set in a concentration camp and while I think they are some of the best bits of the book, the choice to frame the violence and cruelty in a “splatterpunk” novel really felt in bad taste to me. The rest of the story set in present day was awful in pretty much every other way and as soon as the book returned to it, I was almost ready to put the book down for good.
What I played
We had a mini-game day at some friends’ house and played:
A couple games of Hot Streak - still a goofy fun time
King of Tokyo - a game I haven’t played in a long time but still enjoyed the press-your-luck dice rolling
Magical Athlete - I think I’m starting to like this more than Hot Streak because of how all of the crazy powers can interact
At my weekly game night we played:
Trajan - one of the first heavy Euro games I owned, was fun to revisit. It’s still dry as all hell, but the burning itch that it gives my brain makes me feel alive
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy - another semi-oldie but a goodie. I kind of ignored my race’s asymmetric strength in developing technologies and struggled greatly for it.
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
We also had some home game nights with friends where we played:
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship - I think this one was a bit much for my wife and her friend. We actually got our sub-quests completed but lost all hope trying to toss the ring into Mt. Doom. I still have yet to win a play of this game.
Quacks of Quedlinburg - I 3D printed some organizers for this game so I decided to break it out towards the end of the month. I forgot how much I love this game.
3D-printed storage for Quacks of Quedlinburg
And some video games:
Mina the Hollower - I almost bounced off this completely due to its steeeeep difficulty curve at the start of the game. Once I got through the first dungeon or two I started to hit my stride and I ended up seeing things through to one of the endings within a couple weeks.
Pokopia - Got this as a birthday gift and immediately sunk quite a few hours into it. The jury is still out as to how I’m actually liking it, because the main gameplay loop feels more like work than play, but I’m not completely burnt out on it yet.
What I’ve been listening to
I picked up a few records this month. A good mix of old and new stuff:
All Them Witches - House of Mirrors
Slomosa - Tundra Rock
Angine de Poitrine - Vol 1
Angine de Poitrine - Vol 2
Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (soundtrack) (birthday gift!)
Also, here is some of what I’ve been listening to this month. This is supposed to be a playlist, but it looks like you can only skip songs if you’re in the actual Youtube browser. SUBSTACK FIX YOUR SHIT AND GET BETTER AT NATIVELY EMBEDDING YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS THANKS