horror Life As A Meme This summer, I had a day off by myself, and my husband dropped me a pin and told me that if I hiked to it, I would see a lot of elk. He did tell me that there was a 'sorta tough uphill four-wheel drive road' I'
horror Hair Cuts I am one of those people who will wake up one day and know my hair is too long. Like, one moment it's fine, and then next, I need a haircut. Right. Now. And this happened to me recently. I called the hair cut place by my house,
family It's 2025... Recently, I went to breakfast with a work colleague. It was a social/work meal, and when we got to the work stuff, it got really depressing. Let's just say that 2025 has not been a good year for my line of work, and it only continues to
desert Heavy Metal Is Forever Recently, I was with my parents and we drove by Hole N" The Rock on our way out of Moab. It's hard to miss, painted white letters, feet high, bright against the orange sandstone. My mom asked what it was, and I told, I had never been
horror No, Thank You It was day two of writing the first book I've ever been paid to write. And like every new project, it was slow going. I was finding a lot of ways to procrastinate. Walking around the house. Greeting the cats repeatedly. Looking at my stupid phone. So, I
family Goth Girl Diner I've always liked breakfast food, and because of this, I love diners. But they are a little risky. There is a fine line between a dive diner that is amazing, and a dive diner that will give you the shits. And if you don't have local
cats The YOLO Approach Some of you probably remember, back in another life, I had a baking blog. I was going through a difficult time and decided that I would deal with it by learning to bake. The plan was that I would bake a thing a week, and then give it away (in
horror I'm No Mathematician but... In my early thirties, I developed these cool things called allergies. I had no idea what they were for about six months. I actually thought I was dying. I had brain fog, migraines; I just always felt ill. Then I realized my symptoms were related to air quality (thanks random
desert This Is Art... Years ago, I was living fairly far away from my brother, and he made the trek to come see me. We spent the weekend doing a variety of things, and one of those things was going to a pretty-famous, nearby town to which he had never been. It was early
desert Sensory Deprivation I was asked to participate in a team relay run. The run was something like one hundred and twenty miles total, through the desert, in March. I was put on a team with some people I knew, some I didn't, and I was given an eight mile leg
books Ode to Libby I've always been competitive. As a kid I played sports and that was a good outlet. But it became clear pretty quickly, at least to me, that I was too intrinsically motivated to have the competitive edge that would really set me apart from the other athletes. I
food When You Turn Into Your Mother I have a distinct memory from childhood. We were in the car, the entire family, in a notoriously windy canyon. I was too young to drive and was in the backseat. We came up to a yellow road sign. You know the kind, the yellow diamond. On it was an
horror I Don't Really Want to Be Here Recently I found myself at an airport and in need of a ride to my hotel. The last time I’d been traveling, I’d looked into the taxi vs. ride share prices and found, in the area in which I was, taxis were cheaper. So this time, upon having
cats Why are you like this? As mentioned, my two felines are what they were made to be, furry masses of chaos which do not give two shits about what you would prefer they were doing. One night, my husband went to bed, and the calico cat ran upstairs. Moments later, I heard the telltale sound
cats Toxic is a Broad Definition As mentioned, I've got some cats. These cats destroy any plants I bring into the house. I would love to have a house full of plants, but I'd have to choose between the felines and the chlorophyl, and I guess I've already made that
autumn The C-Store Round Two On the last day of my annual North Dakota trip, I was riding in the car with my three other travel buddies. We'd spent the week wandering around the prairie, and on our final night my male friend realized, we were out of tonic water. "Did you
autumn Ghosts... We have a friend who asked us to go on a ghost tour. I'm into spooky stories, but I have to admit, I am not a believer in ghosts. But, it sounded fun. We met our ghost tour leader on the somewhat crumbling steps of the local Elk&
houses Gov Showers In what seems like another lifetime ago, I moved into a house I rented from the government. It was a tiny thing, no actual foundation, totally crooked to the road, built in the late 1920's and forever maintained with parts from that era. We used to joke it
cats Physics Be Damned At one point we lived in a house with a concrete slab foundation. When we moved out of it, we moved to a farmhouse with... Well, not a concrete slab foundation. The first night we spent on the ground floor of the house, my husband fell asleep almost instantly (he
horror The Wild West One summer night, my friend invited me up to his town to watch their local rodeo. This was about two and a half hours north of me, just over the state line. It seemed like a good idea to me, so I got in the car, and made the journey,
desert That Looks Ominous The second time I ever hung out with the guy who would become my husband, he asked me to go stomp around some sun-blasted, stick infested, section of scrub oak filled Forest Service land. He said he wanted to go quail scouting (it was spring, so not hunting season) and
horror The One-Armed Cowboy(s?) I live in a rural town. Like most rural towns, it contains a Dollar General and a box auto parts store. They line the edge of the two lane highway. They share a sidewalk that runs before both stores before ending, some long gone city planner's attempt to
horror The Mantle Of Responsibility I ended up at a training in one of those states that begin with a cardinal direction. The training campus was reminiscent of Hogwarts or some Disney castle land, the campus rolling and beautiful. Big stone buildings nestled into a wooded area, complete with baby deer bounding up the paths.
books Reading Patterns I read a lot. Not like I've got a super famous BookTok feed or anything like that, but last year I read about ninety books. I loved Mexican Gothic. Historic, etherial horror involving a female protagonist, a weird mansion and sentient fungi, I mean what's not
art The Grocery Store There are two kinds of people. Multitaskers and those that cannot multitask. It turns out, I am married to a man who despises multitasking, while I love multitasking. This is always exemplified when we go to the grocery store together. I'm the kind of person who will say
