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Friday, October 30, 2020

You know how right after you stop looking for something that's hard to find, like cuticle scissors or a cashier who appreciates a good Luis Tully impression, suddenly you find that thing everywhere? (Ok, so I'm still looking for the cashier.)

That was me after my last roundup of amazingly weird kid costumes; I kept finding so many more great ones!

At first I was bummed to have missed so many gems, but then I realized a second batch is exactly what we need today. What with Halloween being mostly cancelled, and the U.S. election looming (raise your hand if you're ready to stop being reminded to vote ::raises eleventy billion hands::), and of course how we have to wait an ENTIRE WEEK between Bake Off episodes, things could easily feel a little gloomy this weekend.

Ahh, but my friends, I'm here to remind you - in the words of sweet Samwise Gamgee - that there's still some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

Like this kid dressed as a fart.

Tell me this didn't make your day at least 12% better.

And I love that he has the Minion Fart Blaster to provide his own sound effects. Bahaha!

Keeping in that theme, here come your bathroom's #1 and #2 fans:

(CostumeWorks)

Don't they look flushed with success?

(Sorry, I write poo puns for a living, I can't just switch this off.)

Still bathroom-themed, but at least it's clean humor:

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Two weeks ago I found myself in that the hazy, irrational kind of place where I'm convinced I can't let myself rest or watch TV or do fun things, because I haven't done "enough" yet. I don't know how much "enough" is, I just know I never reach it.

I am working on this. I'm at the point in therapy where I can see some of the lies I'm telling myself, but not to the point where I don't still believe them. It's exhausting, seeing both sides, knowing your brain is sabotaging you, knowing that many of your core beliefs about yourself are wrong, but not being fully equipped yet to do much about it.

I'm also wrestling with the guilt and helplessness of seeing so many jobless friends struggle. Everything from "How dare you be sad, you've got a roof over your head, don't you?" to "If you aren't doing something to tangibly FIX THIS for people right now then you are worthless." But how, brain? Should I write things to make people laugh, or write things to tell them they're not alone? Should I focus on jobs helping a few people In Real Life, or spend more time on blog posts that will be read by - and maybe help - so many more? What do I do, when is it enough, and how do I do it all without falling apart myself?

Which brings me to last Friday, when I did NOT want to join Movie Night over on Discord. I was tired and overwhelmed and just flat grumpy - but thank goodness, I showed up anyway. Because afterward, I felt so much better. I always forget that magical, transformative power of human connection. Even just connection through text on a screen. For over 2 hours I laughed and joked and interacted with other people online, and that simple act finally made my frazzled brain stop running laps, and take a little breather.

After the movie I felt just good enough to open the mail from our P.O. Box. I'd been putting it off because I knew there would be good things in there - the letters and packages from you readers are always good - and I thought I hadn't earned the right to see those good things. Kind of a mild self-punishment thing. (Am I the only one who does this? I mean, I do my share of weird stuff, but this one feels especially odd.)

The first package was from my friend Kristi in Canada. I've talked about her a lot here: she's a reader I met through Instagram who makes amazing props, and is the only person I know who's a bigger Labyrinth fan than me, ha. She also loves The Princess Bride as much (or more) than I do, and over the past several months I've been virtually cheering her on through her latest build.

Here, let's open the box together: