Well, I’m back.

Everything better?

No? Not even a little? Cool.

I am sorry for the absence. It has been a ridiculous autumn around here. I spent most of it sick, so sick I couldn’t even sit up or focus my eyes enough to doomscroll endlessly, feeling, in addition to mucus, mucus everywhere, the actual physical sensation of my life’s energy slowly dripping out into a depthless pool of quiet tears.

First it was COVID (FOURTH TIME’S A CHARM!) for almost a damn month, then, less than a week after slowly slouching toward recovery, some other horrible bug knocked me on my already knocked-upon ass, and thus I drifted in the Void of Lost Time until just about Thanksgiving!

And, well, the other thing that turned life into a circus of stupid is so unbelievable and unrealistic I can’t bear to go over it all again, so I’m going to reverse the usual course and cross-post the Holiday Tale of Horror from my Patreon by way of apology and explanation for where the fuck I’ve been.

Because I only just found my notebook with all the notes for the next essay in it. So I’m working on it; see below.

Nevertheless, as it is on Patreon, this is locked to a paywall for reasons that are about to be very obvious—I live in a small place and I’m about to spill some beans on the snowy ground, and I don’t want anyone who isn’t onside enough to be part of one of my little clubhouses waggling their face about it.

Saints and ministers of grace defend us, let’s dive into the chaos vortex.

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