How About That Thing?

So yeah, the yearly hiatus began a little earlier than even I anticipated. I was definitely hoping to get more Halloween articles up and ready for your reading pleasure… Then I got sick. Then I got sick AGAIN. And it kind of went on like that all month, honestly.

Apparently, there’s a new strain of common cold going around KCMO, and it’s been kicking everybody’s ass. Not helped by the fact that my wife has been working from home a lot more than previously this month, and I don’t really get out and about like I used to these days (the joys of fatherhood, am I right?), so we’ve all been spending the better part of a month passing the same cold around. Right now, my wife is the only one who has it, but I’m already feeling the tickle in my throat for the third time in a row.

Plus, any energy I WASN’T spending on recovering from a cold, I was spending on potty training my two-year-old son. As of this writing, we’re making progress, but we’ve still got a VERY long way to go. In the meantime, I can say with one-hundred percent certainty that this is the most disgusting thing I have ever done in my entire life. And you should hear about some of the stuff I’ve done.

So yeah, October has been busier than I’d anticipated. Eventually, my stockpile of articles ran out, and I didn’t have time to write new ones. I guess I’ll have to save the remainder of my Halloween material for next year.

As for what lies ahead… Well, I definitely don’t plan on taking TWO months off like last year. Last year, I had so many writing projects I wanted to work on and get out into the world. Fast forward to today, and I’ve finished… One. Most of the projects I started have either been shelved completely, or remain in limbo on my desktop, waiting to be finished. It’s kind of disappointing, really. I thought for sure I was going to be able to finish at least one of these.

Then, my toddler decided he doesn’t take naps anymore. Which, I guess, was eventually going to happen no matter what, but god damn do I miss that hour of time dedicated to writing. Not to mention six or seven chapters in to one project or another, things kind of started to fall apart.

• I had an idea that I was particularly enthusiastic about, but once I made it to chapter 6, I reviewed my progress, and said out loud: “This is Goblin Slayer. Like, this isn’t ver badem, but Goblin Slayer more or less had this exact premise. I can’t continue this.”
• Another idea I started only made it up to chapter 9 before I said to myself: “Dude, this is X-men if Juggernaut led the team.”
• One idea I had only made it to chapter 2 before I shelved it completely. This one wasn’t ripping anything off, that I’m aware of, but the idea just felt dumb after two chapters.
• One project made it all the way to chapter 20, but then I said to myself: “While this doesn’t appear to be ripping off anything specifically… Yeah, if I, a straight man, have a main character who’s questioning her sexuality throughout the story, does this mean I’m awful? I mean I was questioning myself for the better part of two or three years before I decided to stay cissgendered, but the fact I stayed a straight white man in this current environment… If the character I’m writing goes the other way, am I awful? Twitter will probably say yes, but Twitter is a fucking septic tank.”

So yeah, none of my projects made it to completion. One came close, but it never made it there.

I don’t have NEARLY as many ideas floating around in my head nowadays, so I think I’ll resume in December like I always do. Get a couple normal articles up, do something Christmas themed on the week of Christmas… You know the drill by now.

The site overall did pretty well in 2026, if the view counter has been anything to go by. Still not doing HUGE numbers, but considering this place is a glorified nostalgia blog whose only direction is “I’ve been thinking about this all week”, I’d say I’m doing fine. Not exactly pulling in 1900Hotdog levels of viewership, but who is?

I’m grateful for every reader I get, and I’m glad those who’ve stuck around since this site’s founding in 2023 have stuck around. If they have. Writing for this site has been a blast, and it’s helped exorcise a lot of thoughts in my mind, and get some things off my chest… Seriously, you think anybody IRL would be as eager to hear my dumb ass rant about LazyTown, or Play-Doh knockoffs?

I did have to miss a couple weeks due to illness, or things coming up and requiring my attention, and I can’t guarantee things like that won’t come up in 2027. However, I swear I’ll try to be a little more consistent in 2027.

I’ll see yall in December. Till then, so long and thanks for all the fish.