It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

This year. Civil unrest. California is on fire. Record breaking hurricanes. Killer whales attacking boats of the coast of Spain. Murder hornets. Motherf***ing pandemic. I suppose things could be worse? It’s not as if the world is ending. I know some people like being dramatic about the current events, but it’s not all bad. Not trying to down play anything currently happening, but life is far from over.

With so much doom & gloom out there I figure it’s to talk about the end of the world. Let’s talk about some real bad scenarios: extinction events. Cataclysm. So many movies center on them. We’ve all seen a few. Just think, a giant f***ing rock could fall out of the sky & send us packing like the dinosaurs(how many times are we going to see that on film?). The Yellowstone caldera could awaken and send plumes of ash into our atmosphere blocking the sun & killing off the vegetation we rely upon for food. That would send us into famine. The food wars would be something to see, let me tell you. In such a case to occur, I have to wonder? Would I swallow my pride and eat pumpkin spice flavored food if that were all the options I had? Yikes. Talking about times being hard. Nightmare scenario indeed. What about we fall into the unfortunate path of a gamma ray burst? Goodbye cruel world. What about the BIG bomb!! We are not beyond our on undoing(in all likelihood our own undoing will be the winner). All it takes is for some syphilitic dumba** to push a button and send us into a nuclear winter. BOOM!!!!Let’s go horror/SiFi real fast. Zombies!!!! Naw, that’s over played. An alien invasion. They could descend from the sky and enslave us, taking over the world. Wait a second! They would probably see the mess that we’ve made of the place and just fly right by. “Look at that dumpster fire called Earth. Keep flying, Marvin. Let’s check out that uninhabitable place that these earthlings call Venus.” I mean, we really have made a mess of this world. Can you really argue otherwise? After seeing the presidential debate, maybe the world would be better off if someone hit the restart button. Maybe the old gods rising from the seas wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Cthulhu lives!!!

I’ve always had a morbid curiosity for cataclysmic events. I wrote a paper about them for a geology class in college. Something of such force that it alters the reality of the world. Planetary Geology was always one of my favorite subjects and it really opened the door to some interesting moments in our world’s history. So many violent events of the past. Impact scenarios, super volcanoes, Snowball Earth, etc. that restart buttons been hit before. Can you imagine 200 thousand sq. miles of basaltic lava? Google search the Deccan traps. It’s hard to wrap the mind around that much lava. The amount of gases that were released into the atmosphere. This even coincided with the Yucatan impact. The dinosaur’s rule of the earth really didn’t have much of a chance. Someone hit that restart button.

Call me weird, but id like to witness a catastrophic event if it were to take place. I would watch in awe as Yellowstone pumped ash and gasses into the atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong, I would likely be s***ing my pants with the rest of the world. To witness a world changing event, short lived as it would likely be, would be incredible. Yes. Yes. You are thinking it: morbid weirdo. My youngest brother says that’s f***ed up. You don’t want your nephew to live? Of course I do. I’m just saying if said event were to take place it would be a heck of a thing to see. Imagine if a meteor the size of the Chicxulub impact were to smack down into that Ocean (likely it will be an ocean since that takes up most of the world surface area), and you just happens to be on the beach that day. A massive tsunami would be heading your way. Nothing you could do would get you out of its path. Why run! Instead, turn around and face the ocean. You would eventually see the wave. It would begin to look like a distant mountain range, only getting bigger and bigger. Terrifying, yes. But know death will be instantaneous and what you are seeing is an event larger than any in man kinds existence. A once in a lifetime. And end of a lifetime event. Sure. If it’s to happen, it happens. Why not behold it.

Let me describe it like this. The meteorologist don’t want tornadoes or strong hurricanes. They don’t want the devastation, but they sure get excited when it’s brewing. They feed off that rush. I am like them in that way. I love storms. LOVE them. But the afterwards not so much. I feel the same about a catastrophic event. That could be the science nerd in me. If something were to wipe out this planet, oh well. What a show. Mother nature at work. Sucks, but damn mother nature is a beast. Also, believing that this is just one cycle on the plain of existence and not an end gives me comfort. The souls eternal, and it will go where it goes next. Don’t think of things as an end but the path to a new beginning. Besides, the Earth will recover as it always does. It will just need to restart.

I suppose the fear that comes with said events is what attacks me to them. I like being scared. I urn to be frightened . I want to feel that fear. Why do you think I love all things horror. The biochemical rush can result in a pleasure-filled, opioid-like sense of euphoria. I suppose everyone has their kicks. Peppers & fear. That is mine. Me is weirdo. Oh well. Living during a pandemic and a world that is seemingly falling apart I get a bit of that fear everyday. I wish it were a bit more controlled like a book or movie, but this is life. It’s out of my control. At least I control my pepper intake.

Nothing about the week aside from the monarch butterflies coming through town heading south to Mexico. I did campus deliveries for the first time in months. It was nice seeing some faces. I was told that I’d been missed. We have reached the mid-point of the semester. Downhill from here.

Horror Film

The Lost Boys. 1987. Who hasn’t seen this film? I must have been six or seven when I first watched this film. Waaaay to young. I was marginally traumatized by one scene in particular. I don’t think I was “allowed” to watch this but I was good at sneaking out of my room when I was meant to be in bed. I’ve gone over that before. Anyway, as the years progressed and when I was “allowed” to watch it it quickly became one of my favorite movies. Being that the protagonist was a kid really resonated with my younger self. I feel nostalgic every time the movie is on. It was just so cool. The style. The music. The gore. Punk vampires!! Unlike any vampires in the traditional sense. That opening scene. I had no idea vampires could fly. Being plucked out of thin air like a rat by a hawk was f***ing terrifying. That campfire feeding frenzy will alway remain in my mind. The movie is also very funny. Think the Goonies with Vampires. Back to the music: my lord. Talk about an 80’s time capsule. It brings me right back to a place of youth. I associate it with a place in my heart never available again but through memories. I haven’t said much about the actual film. You’ve all seen it, so why bother. Right?

Jalapeño

Brunch was going to be potato pancakes. Then potato waffles. Bekah took over. To say it was a total bust is no exaggeration. So we made mini breakfast croissant sandwiches. It was GOOD!!!

Tacos for National Taco Day. Double decker style. Because fries up some corn tortillas and the rest was yours truly. Spread refried beans on a flour tortilla and wrap around the taco. A real treat. On of the only menu items I liked at Taco Bell and they discontinued it.

Jaegerschnitzel w/German red cabbage & mashed potatoes. The gravy is cooked down white notion and mushrooms, beef broth mixed with flour and heavy cream added at the end. Thyme & paprika. Salt & pepper to taste. Lots of work go into this meal. 4 burners burning on the stove at once. It’s a “once” a year meal for Octoberfest. It’s good but very heavy. I don’t want red cabbage again.