I’m going to have to remember how to post here.

Hi. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? By my count, something like three years. A recent comment from Krell Laboratories‘ Christianne Benedict sparked this return. I’m trying to think about how to approach coming back to this ol’ faithful place where I’ve dumped thoughts and reviews for so long. I guess the best way is to just do it.

And so here I am. Giving life back to start focus end, a.k.a. Bemused and Nonplussed, like some kind of Frankenstein, or Fronkensteen if we’re being fully honest. I’d intended this to be a movie blog at some point, but other stuff kept creeping in, so it will likely remain a hodgepodge of film reviews, music talk, poetry (???), real life observations, so on. Why break tradition?

I suppose I should catch you up on everything since 2022, and for a moment I thought I would attempt it in the style of “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” but why torture ourselves? The world is already a dumpster fire, let’s not make it worse. So:

• Film: I attended Noir City Detroit for three years running, with plans to go again this year. Some of my favorite films they’ve screened: In a Lonely Place, Nightmare Alley, The Spiritualist (a.k.a. The Amazing Mr. X), Fly-By-Night (which seems to not have a physical release, which is unfortunate because it’s one of the funniest films I’ve enjoyed in years), Key Largo, Raw Deal, Road House, They Live By Night, The Big Clock, Moonrise, Victims of Sin (a must-watch), Brute Force, Never Open That Door, and The Window. I also saw the Mad Max quadrilogy in the theater, participated in Barbenheimer (in the wrong order), and watched the OG Back to the Future with my nephew for his birthday at his bequest. I attended Godzilla Fest (highly recommended), saw Creature From The Black Lagoon in 3D on the big screen, and went to a regular theater to see Wicked (it was better than Cats!).

• Music: I’ve been to a bunch of concerts, including Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, Bruce Cockburn & Dar Williams, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Cyndi Lauper, The Last Waltz tribute to Robbie Robertson, Benmont Tench, and a couple of Chris Holt joints. There might be more I missed, but I think that sums it up. I also started putting together monthly playlists of songs that were either new to me, or ones that made me go “I haven’t heard this in ages but what a banger.”

• Travel: I took a trip to Oklahoma to visit my aunt and cousins, and also got to see the then-new Bob Dylan Center, the Woody Guthrie Center, and The Church Studio (founded by Leon Russell and original home to Shelter Records) while there, went out to Los Angeles a couple of times, traveled to Ecuador to spend time with my brother from another mother, went to New York for a week and stayed in the Upper West Side (la-di-la).

• Life: Had my first mammogram, which found a suspicious lump, which triggered an ultrasound, which was inconclusive, which triggered a biopsy, which was possibly the most terrifying moment of my adult life, which came back benign. I do not recommend this experience, but I do recommend getting mammograms.

• Books: I read or listened to A Sorceress Comes to Call (T. Kingfisher), Faith (Jimmy Carter), How We Live is How We Die and Start Where You Are (Pema Chödrön), Joyland (Stephen King), The Measure (Nikki Erlick), Go Ask Alice (Beatrice Sparks, credited as Anonymous), Unmask Alice (Rick Emerson), The Long Walk (Stephen King, as Richard Bachman), Seven Days in June (Tia Williams), The Midnight Library (Matt Haig), The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Kim Michele Richardson), We Ride Upon Sticks (Quan Berry), Those Pink Mountain Nights (Jen Ferguson), Kitchen Confidential (Anthony Bourdain), Lost & Found (Kathryn Schulz), A Study in Scarlet (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), This Poison Heart (Kalynn Bayron), I’m Glad My Mom Died (Jennette McCurdy), and many more.

I think that gets us just about caught up. I watched a bunch of movies and TV at home, listened to a lot of music at every opportunity, started several books that I should probably finish.

I never know how to end posts like this so I guess I’ll just Irish goodbye it.