*It is strange, being inside a living being without being inside. The cabin of the bus breathes, a gentle rise and fall, the walls, the floors, the seats themselves push at you as though eager to be pet. To rest within the bus is to feel as though you are being cuddled by a tiger. Held safe.*

When I get some rest...

I...do not know what to do with myself.... AHAHAH I have been planning everyday around checkouts and check-ins and friend favors and couch crashing and campground hours... For a solid month. EVERY. DAY. A-are you telling me I don't have to plan for anything tomorrow but fun?

Made it... I can finally be still...

Okay so Pineapple Casserole is DELICIOUS and I will hear NO SLANDER OF IT IN THIS HOUSE. YA'LL CAN"T BE MAD AT ME, I HAVE AN ALIEN TONGUE.... ....I like it way more than I thought I would...

My bout of bad mental health really supercharged my interest in mental health. So I picked up a pop psychology book. I guffawed out loud when I heard that the first chapter was literally called alienation...

Camp breakfast

I have to say of all the forms I figured would end up camping alone I always figured it would be PB. AHAHAH I AM SUCH A CITY BOY RIGHT NOW. I feel like a Japanese Candy influencer in the middle of Yellowstone National Park. Somewhere inside me a pig is livid.

I was right to fear getting that sleeping bag and tent back into their bags... I could not do it. BUT THEY ARE IN THE TRUNK AFTER SOME SHOVING HA. Copilot's back in his seat. Engage ship, FTL YA'LL LETS GOOO

*The bus roams countrysides, small hamlets that have never seen something so strange as feline transit infrastructure. Glances seem to slide off it, only animals really notice. It is for the passengers, to truely know the bus. Onlookers soon forget like a half remembered dream in daylight*

The bus is ebullient, leaping over obstacles as though gravity were someone else's concern. It's impossible body makes a mockery of physics as its huge grin thunders forward, exalting in the joy of movement. The emotion is contagious, you feel a zest for life as if you had twelve limbs yourself.

youtube.com/shorts/_37E3... I love the creators of 'Dubbi' they're inspirations for the mental health work I want to do. Legit, I theorize autism goes in two directions, high and low reflexive empathy, and I think the two types do way more damage to each other than is needed by not being open.

Honestly, I had been looking for an excuse to actually read the manga (THANK YOU TO WHO GIFTED ME THIS, it showed up during a horrible week I lost the tag, but thank you). Killing time in a little dog park on a nice camp ground with some tea from FWA is making for a nice morning.

Like certain other pet species from space, I am powered by the Sun. Good morning Krypto, thank you for being a beacon this entire time.

I made it through the night, the sun is rising above my little tent. Thank you all so much for your support over the years. I have that box of letters that came to my PO box with me, I've been reading them by lanternlight. That PO box is closed now but there will be a new one.

I have to say, of all the travel tech I managed to get before this all happened, this collapsible kettle is honestly super MVP. The fact you can just uncouple it from its power cable, and you just have a little carafe of boiling water. Wherever you happen to be is so useful. It's insane.

*The bus finds its own roads, getting creative in how it chooses to travel, over houses, under bridges, atop power lines. It's a wild ride, the mammalian vehicle's radio blares the Tournament Arc cover of Beneath the Mask, heard from odd angles as it pads across the world*

Honestly Zac McMillian has been a godsend all year. HA how most of his actual studio songs have less than 7k views I DO NOT KNOW. This song in particular has been on heavy repeat. HA it speaks to new beginnings, progressing despite being over your head, and a hopeful joy for new things. Lovely.

Honestly, I got an easy setup tent recently. I spent a lot of money staying in Atlanta to get this move done, but for 35 bucks this is probably the coziest I've been... The snufkin vibes are high.

The bus is ebullient, leaping over obstacles as though gravity were someone else's concern. It's impossible body makes a mockery of physics as its huge grin thunders forward, exalting in the joy of movement. The emotion is contagious, you feel a zest for life as if you had twelve limbs yourself.

I do have to say, whilst my literal nightmare occurred...again...here lately...There's something freeing about that It happened again...and I not only survived, every professional I met gave me glowing marks. I feel like I could survive anything with my wits alone. I-I just hope I don't have to.

*The bus proceeds past cornfields and small towns, a thousand lives passed in an instant. Its twelve paws pound the ground in a steady 6-6 rhythm. youtu.be/wY9FMuvKtnQ?... A melancholy guitar song plays on its speakers*

*The bus updates its destination, the strange living sign above its head often displaying friendly greetings or monosyllabic instructions. Right now, however, it shows a new heading, a new place to explore, a new place to Be. The bus is boarding, it's doors are open. Time to drive*

*The bus continues its journey, a jaunty swagger in all twelve of its kitty-caterpillar legs. It does not care about the reason for travel, it simply likes the travel. You find the cabin stabilized by the odd gait, narry a jostle as you progress. youtu.be/r9X0ahqqIW4?... A happy tune plays.*

Someone drew these on my filthy car, and honestly I'm not wiping them off, I take this as a good omen. Cat face for the catbus and the alien. Like flame decals to make the move go faster.

Getting an oil change before I hit the road, this mechanic has a dog you can pet. I am also taking this as a good omen. Petting a dog before a journey (Beyond the one I'm taking), can only be a boon.

I am very happy for the return of my co-pilot. My friends were angels for watching them as long as they did, I am finally once more a dog owner. HA I haven't driven this long with him in years, but honestly I'm looking forward to it. Onwards and Upwards, bud.

*The bus finds its own roads, getting creative in how it chooses to travel, over houses, under bridges, atop power lines. It's a wild ride, the mammalian vehicle's radio blares the Tournament Arc cover of Beneath the Mask, heard from odd angles as it pads across the world*

It has become unavoidable that a house move is needed. We have found a place to land that can host until 2028 at a lower rate than we used to pay BUT... This move is expensive. Friends have already been incredibly generous, but more may be needed New Ko-FI Goal to assist: ko-fi.com/caudle

*The clerk barely stumbles outside before it happens, shifting down onto all fours as more limbs than a cat should have crick-crack from his sides, and a roomy, cozy cabin forms on his back. He goes from 'He' to 'It', stumbling, non-verbal onto the street, ready to move. The bus has arrived.*

*A Beatlegucian Boyfailure's outline wobbles, and for a moment they seems to have like....twelve legs instead of two arms and strikes an onlooker as rather vehicular...* O-oh dear...okay, yeah that was bound to happen I'LL BE BACK SOON YA'LL I MIGHT be back after the drive we'll see.

I begin the drive to my new base for the year today. The word 'Home' has always been weird to me. I've never really felt like I fit in anywhere. I love the work of Peter S. Beagle, I got stuck in the hospital with his work, and I can think of no better audiobook for my journey Maybe this time.

Ilovethemsomuch.... I am going to throw up a hair ball...

HA honestly I kinda figured something would happen when this form cropped back up. TBH I really appreciate folks being cool with it, it is...one of the most neurotic and unapologetically strange ones BY A LONG SHOT AHAHAH also one of the more slang-y... T-thanks for putting up with my weirdness.

Every day my urge to use my French Revolution fixation to write a gay-canine story about two boys during a Change period of fictional not-France grows... PARTICULARLY because every day without news of season two makes me more sure we won't get one... ... Maybe if Peach Rings finishes well.

HA I like Belfort and Lupin way too much... GOD these dumb gay dogs just HAD to come out the year where my mom died. If there was any way to nestle into my brain more succinctly than being super gay and cute whilst in one of the most traumatic periods of my life I haven't found it.

faith in humanity restored

Chad Johnson is CEO of 'Grain Weevil'. His son did robotics competitions in high school, which inspired this little fella that breaks up hardened surfaces & levels grain to ensure it behaves like a liquid, avoids clumping. This probably saves 10-30 human lives a year. NO BOOTS IN THE GRAIN.

*Urge to start a substack grows* W-why does one of the best audio-support platforms have to be led by nebulous jerkholes? It would be SO easy to start a cool podcast on that thing. Like SO easy.

I hate how much I'm watching this dumb show to prep myself for the four our drive tomorrow. WEH....I LIKE BABY SHOWS OKAY? My life is really challenging often and sometimes I want the media I watch to be unchallenging and cute...

I often say the inside of my head sounds like Snail House's 'Morph'... HA that is very true lately with the move and everything. So much is up in the air...the inside of my head is a mess. Feeling very alien.

*The betelgeusian book clerk is long and slender, if perhaps shaped a bit like a volumetric flash with slight hips. In the way of cats, though he is and alien, he hardly seems to have any bones. He curls around you to look at your phone, and bends about the bookshop like an autistic rubber band*

Me at the console of my own life pushing random buttons as I'm suddenly flying solo. I have to say it's going shockingly well, no one ever gave me a spaceship license. Wish it weren't so stressful though...

youtu.be/Sg-hA64-yWs?... Breadsword is my favorite video essayist probably? And I have saved this one video by him for years HA. I hate watching the last of something I love, but I'm finishing moving form a place I've lived for 9-ish years tomorrow. And I might just get it. Thank you Breadsword.

HA I've been feeling so much kindness from strangers lately that I almost wanna make something with Timtam in it, though I need to get through my owed projects first, clear my ledger. HA almost everyone who's noticed I'm frazzled has been so reflexively kind I could cry.

*Loads up the trailer* W-what do you MEAN THIS IS STOP MOTION HOLY STUFF? WOW Laika is outdoing themselves on fidelity.

WAIT THE WILDWOOD TRAILER DROPPED? AHHH YEAH AHAHAH I find myself less and less excited for movies every year but I'm waiting on that one with bells on.

The 2020's have not been great for me. The last six years, have been some of the consecutive worst of my life, and that keeps being a hard contest. And yet, I will never call myself a failure. Other people can do that if they want, but the words of Captain Haddock ring through my soul. Onwards.

Q: Do you have a crush on Devil Dinosaur? A: LOOK. He is BIG. He is RED. He uses his tail CONSTANTLY. There is an EXTREME PRECIDENT for me falling vaugely for Big Boys of this subtype. I cannot be blamed. Also he's super expressive in every cartoony appearance he's ever made...

... Devil dinosaur is cute...