I’m really ruminating on this. I know nothing I do is really going to fix the horrors all around us. There’s just no way. But, giving into total cynicism on a personal level would be total misery. I want to believe a small gesture does help others, even if it’s naïve. Naïve isn’t always terrible.

I know it’s not very important right now, but I think I’m getting a very cool surprise late Christmas gift involving one of my favorite things- unique college sports mascots and logos.

Sometimes all you can do is make the world 0.0000000000001% less awful by being a good person and it feels very meaningless but it’s also the only thing that really matters

Studying niche historical events has cost me more money than I care to ponder, but I’m a better person for it.

So, is there a coup going on in Caracas?

Me the next morning after staying up beyond 10PM EST.

Finally, I will be tearing into this!

It’s time to feast!

Perhaps I have become Chopped Unc.

Just a guy, his inability to take selfies, and his favorite kind of hat (defunct sports franchise).

This “Looksmaxxing” stuff is nonsense. You’re fine the way you are. Cute, even! Don’t believe nonsense. Just be yourself.

A forgotten aspect of yesterday that makes things bleaker is how many friends thought the AI-Maduro picture was real… We are woefully unprepared for what’s coming there. These were friends that are usually good about identifying it. Woefully. Unprepared.

Trying to ease my mind by listening to Roy Donk, King of the Tuk Tuk Sound.

Debating whether it’s time to shave the beard and go back to the goatee.

(I know it’s selfish) This is one of those days I hate being that friend that “knows things” because I’ve been asked about interventions in the Americas all morning and it’s just so damn depressing to recount it all. But, it is good to inform others, as well.

I think I’m going to watch a basketball game now and just try and dissociate for a bit.

This type of morning requires not one, but two, caffeinated beverages. And not for pleasant reasons.

My South American hard to find topic book came!

Apparently, Stranger Things did not get the correct pronunciation of Louisville. Anyone in this area knows what a cardinal sin that is. May the lord protect the Duffer Brothers should they have a layover in Muhammed Ali International.

More on this: Mom: “Yeah, you get buzzed and turn into John Keats” Dad: “You’re ‘the Raven’ when you’re sober and ‘Annabel Lee’ when buzzed, what a dork!” Mom: “It may be, but it’s cute!”

Also I may be a lil tipsy. Don’t nervous sip bourbon during a football game.

IU WON THE ROSE BOWL. I never thought I’d see this day, like ever.

Watching a video about how Coachella works and holy crap is this bad. Why do people that aren’t heirs go to this?

The way that Capital One John Travolta Grease Santa commercial makes me nearly irate needs to be studied.

Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks for navigating another year with me. It really does mean a lot. May we all have a successful and blessed 2026!

How’s my night going? Well, I just photoshopped R2-D2 and C-3PO (human-cyborg relations) into Jackson Hole, WY.

Realizing I am “Built Different*. *A sleepy little guy that has not and will not ever make it to midnight NYE.

Local science museum is doing “Noon-Years Eve” and honestly that was a great pun. Can’t even be mad.

Top 10 Books of the Year! 10. Blood from the Sky: Miracles and Politics in the Early American Republic by Adam Jortner 9. Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History by Phillip Jenkins 8. Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism… by Brad Ricca

History is cool because you’re reading about a war between Paraguay and Bolivia, and all there are German field marshals and White Russians in the conflict, and when you think it can’t get any wilder- Huey P. Long just appears?

Missed opportunity to not name one of these companies “AM by Ellison” or “We Have AI and We Must Scream”. They obviously don’t care about being on the nose so might as well commit, right?

A second 19th Century Chilean History book as entered the chat.

I really did think that the “high school history teacher working in the athletic department” stereotype was just one I happened to live. But no, apparently that’s extremely common and not just a sitcom beat.

For the second time this year, a random person I have never seen nor met before commented that my body proportions “look like an orangutan” and kept moving. What even.

Tried this. Aliens immediately hung up. I was told not to talk to them or their son ever again. Sad!

People doing mirror selfie trends make me a little sad because I can’t take them well, if at all, due to the glare on my glasses. They make me look like a creature with voids for eyes, and it’s not a good look. I’m already making you look at me, I shouldn’t make it worse… (Self-depreciation, 😂)

It has filled me with great joy that the 31 Minutos Tiny Desk Concert has 14 million views.

I shook hands with Larry the Cucumber.

I went to the theater more times this year than any year prior. Streamed a bunch of movies and the occasional TV show. Even went to a concert, which is rare. And the biggest cultural moment of the year for me was still watching I Think You Should Leave for the first time. It consumed me.

It dropped 50 degrees (F) overnight. Went from shorts to a longshoreman.

Finally the Chilean history book I’ve been dying to get my hands on is back in stock and it will be mine as soon as possible.

I really forgot the highlights of this period, my three favorites were: -dating you would be like homework, but the fun kind. -reading non-fiction was a massive red flag. -blocking me for saying I only knew 15 NASCAR drivers.

*Hears a rumble while visiting extended family* *Opens barn door* “Well, I have disturbed something important.”

Shockingly revelation today: I was dangerously close to being named Ulysses??

One day I will accept that I am not funny. But today is not that day!

Same vibes:

*sigh* I am NOT immune to the propaganda.

I forgot this year was my brief, 2-month long journey into the world of Hinge, and that taught me… way more than I wanted it to. I didn’t get any matches, but I did learn I’m a better conversationalist than I thought! That was a strange period.

Biggest takeaway from watching college football bowl games: American Idol is STILL a thing? Really?

🎵Strawberry PopTart ‘23🎵 Contact the Brothers Johnson (or Shuggie Otis) IMMEDIATELY!