Labor Day
Struggled last week with getting anything done, dealt with more shoulder problems, found a new app for enjoying audiobooks, enjoyed some college football, and hung out with family on Labor Day.
Good morning,
Well, last week didn't go as planned. I had hoped to get back into writing and editing, but that was not the case. I spent part of the week dealing with some shit in my head. I tried to sit down and right, only managing to get a paragraph written for Blood Sucking Bastard. I mean, it's another paragraph at least I guess. I just wanted to make more progress than that. But I was Struggling with some mental stuff, and just couldn't focus. I also wanted to be editing Paper Nightmare, but again, just couldn't focus. I did get irritated and frustrated with myself for a bit, but then I told myself hey, it's OK. I'm going to have weeks where I struggle to make progress on stuff like that. It happens. The best thing I can do though is not get mad at myself, and just tell myself that it's OK, and I will sit down and work on it when I am mentally ready. Telling myself that did help, and I realized that those projects will move forward when I am ready to sit down and focus on them. So, I'm going to try again this week. Hopefully, I make some good progress.
I was also frustrated because my shoulder was doing better, at least that was until Wednesday night. I was literally reaching my arm back and over to grab my headphones off my nightstand shelf where I had placed them, when I felt a surge of agonizing pain shoot down through my shoulder and all the way to my fingers. It was absolutely horrible. I tried to pull my arm back and place it in a comfortable position, but it didn't seem to matter. The pain was just throbbing and pulsing no matter what I did. OK, I'm going to say this, if you're a man, it is not Stupid or embarrassing to say that you cry. There's nothing wrong with being a guy and crying sometimes. I hate that we are taught that men have to be strong and can't cry. That is complete bullshit. If you have to let your emotions out, then you let them out. As long as it's in a safe and healthy manner, and doesn't hurt anyone else around you or yourself. There's no reason why because your a man you shouldn't be able to cry. And I did cry. My arm hurt so bad and I had no idea what to do. I sat on the edge of the bed, tears running down my face while I contemplated going to the garage and getting a saw and just sawing the fucking thing off so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. it literally hurt that bad. Part of me wonders if I had dislocated it a couple of weeks ago, and when I reached back for my headphones on Wednesday night I had finally put it fully back in place. I'm not sure. I have in the past been able to dislocate my shoulder at times, although it's not a great thing or fun. For now, I am using ice packs to ice it every couple of hours, the heating pad when I'm not using an ice pack, keeping it in the sling for support, and just trying to take it easy with it. I know I should probably go to a doctor and get it checked out, but I don't have medical insurance to cover that, so I don't even want to know what the hell the cost of all of that would be. That and I already buried our family in enough medical debt last year from Multiple dental visits to get my teeth fixed. So, not burying us in medical debt again. Hopefully what I'm doing works and my shoulder feels better soon.
The wife told me the other day about a couple of new apps that I might be able to use to enjoy more books. Apparently they just use your current library card to access free audiobooks. That just sounds awesome to me. If it wasn't for audiobooks, I don't know what I would do. It's given me a way back into reading, and I've enjoyed so many great books that way. Currently I use an app called BARD Mobile, which is a special app designed for the blind/visually impaired community, giving us access to audiobooks. It's a great app, I use it all the time, but doesn't always have the newest content however. I also use Spotify for some audiobooks, but do find it very limiting only getting 15 hours of audiobook time a month as a premium member. So I tried to use other apps and limit how much I use Spotify since I'm limited on there. I also have the Libby app, however I do find it very limited on what they have for a selection of horror fiction. My wife uses that app pretty much all the time for her reading, but I do find it to be a little sparse for someone who loves horror fiction. One of the new apps she told me about and that I'm loving is called cloudLibrary. It is awesome! So far I have 18 books added on there. It's really given me another way to find audiobooks that I couldn't find on my other apps, or easily access them as well. So that's pretty cool. I tried signing into and setting up an account on the other app she told me about, Hoopla, however it still keeps saying I have a bad username or password and won't even let me login. So I ended up deleting that one. But that's cool, I have the cloudLibrary app, and excited to move forward using that one along with all of my other apps for enjoying audiobooks. check it out if you like to read, I know they have more than just audiobooks on there, but that's mainly what I like to enjoy.
Saturday was the start of college football Saturdays, and I was super excited. Always love turning on a college football game and sitting there listening to it. I wait all year for this time of year to come around again. College football is actually the one sport I give a shit about. I used to listen to Twins games, but eventually decided I'm just tired of baseball and kind of bored with it. Nope, college football is my thing. I eagerly anticipate when the new season will start every year. Enjoyed listening to the Iowa Hawkeyes play on Saturday morning, and the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday evening. The Hawkeyes had a slow start in the first half, but found their footing and came back to dominate 40 to 0 in the second half. It was a great game. It was kind of the same for the Michigan Wolverines. A slow start but they eventually found their footing and kicked some ass. Happy that it's college football season again.
Finished reading The Bell Chime by Mona Kabbani. I really enjoyed this novella. Right from the start your hooked and you don't want to stop reading. It was great! Found myself eagerly following along as the main character navigated her broken heart and the insanity of her life surrounding it. Truly a really great read. I really enjoyed how it was written, and where the story ended up. That's all I'm going to say because I don't want to give anything away. Definitely go grab yourself a copy and read this book!
Also finished reading The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry. This book was OK. Had some creepy moments in it. I just felt sometimes like the story was drug on a bit. It had a great setting, some really good characters, but yeah, there were moments where I just felt it went on and on a bit too long. Some of the chapters could've been shortened up and it might have pushed the story on a bit quicker, but also brought up the tension a bit more. All in all though I thought it was a pretty decent book.
And, I also finished reading You're Not Supposed To Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron. I thought this book was pretty good. I did enjoy it, except the narrator of it wasn't that great. I think the book would have been even better had the narrator done a better job. She just seem to stumble and trip over reading some sentences and it was kind of annoying. It was hard to really get into the atmosphere of the book with the narrator struggling like she was. But I did enjoy the book itself, The fun creepy summer camp slasher, and the good terrifying scenes it had. Definitely a book I would listen to again if I could find it with a different narrator. Other than that, I thought it was a pretty good book, and just a lot of fun.
Currently reading: Come With Me by Ronald Malfi.
Currently listening: i've been in to Marilyn Manson lately. Hold on... ummm… that doesn't sound good. I mean I've been listening to a lot of Marilyn Manson lately. That's better. Those two new songs, "Raise The Red Flag" and "As Sick As The Secrets Within", are just fucking awesome! Honestly they take me back to Manson's older music, mainly the Mechanical Animals album. Which, is my favorite Manson album of all time. I've also been enjoying listening to the Marilyn Manson playlist I created on Spotify which has a ton of different music of his from all his different albums. Love his music! And remember, as Manson says in the song Raise the Red Flag, "My red flag is your white one soaked in blood." A fitting line to use I think considering the name of this newsletter. Also enjoyed another new episode of the podcast Impact Winter. Damn that show is awesome.
Currently watching: Iowa Hawkeyes football and Michigan Wolverines football. Along with other various Big Ten football games when they're on.
Well, happy Labor Day to you. I'm not sure if we're supposed to say happy Labor Day or what. Hope you are enjoying today, you don't have to work, and you can just take it easy and relax. We generally don't do shit on Labor Day. It's a nice day for everyone to be home, but most of the time we never really have any plans. Which is fine with me. I don't mind a day hanging out at home With my wife and daughters. Actually, I believe all of our children and granddaughter will be coming over this evening to hang out and have dinner. I think my youngest daughter and I are going to make brownies this afternoon so we have a dessert to share with everyone as well. Should be a great time having everyone here for dinner and to hang out for the evening.
Well, I am going to go hang out with my family and relax. I know I have some housework to get done, and some yummy brownies to make today as well. Maybe I'll find some time to get some writing done today, but if not, no big deal. I think my focus for tomorrow will be on getting more editing done on Paper Nightmare. I'd like to finish that one soon. I know, I keep saying that. Time to get back to work and actually get that stuff done though. I have more books to write and more I want to get done. So, take it easy today, enjoy Labor Day and hopefully some relaxing time, enjoy a hot cup of coffee cause you know I'm going to, and I'll talk to you soon my friends. Thanks so much.
Thank you for reading this weeks newsletter. I hope to see you back here next week. Be yourself, be original, and be bloody.
- Matthew R. Taylor