Woo wasn't a fan of The Vourdalak, but I enjoyed it! It's a different take on a historical vampire movie.

Added an Iron Maiden poster to my office so I can look at it and go, hell yeah. I plan on giving bonus points to the first student who recognizes that I have a floral arrangement of hops on my filing cabinet.

Damn, Orbit Culture! You didn't have to go so hard with this song! It's 6 AM and I feel like I can run a marathon. I'm looking forward to the album release tomorrow!

Submitted my novel to three potential publishers while blasting Waldgefluster's The Pit on vinyl. Kinda a depressing song to play for such an occasion, but it's one of my favorites.

It's officially October! I'm not sure who the creator of this is, but it makes me smile every autumn :)

I just helped a student analyze the credibility in Ru Paul's song Supermodel, and it was the most beautiful moment seeing their eyes light up as they recite the introduction from memory and link it to ethos. This is why I teach!

It's been such a good morning for wildlife! Found this picturesque spiderweb glistening with dew, a cute caterpillar that turns into a beautiful moth, a hawk, and two different woodpeckers.

Happy 20th (yes, 20th!) anniversary to HIM's album Dark Light. I still vividly remember listening to a sample of it in a bookstore and feeling transported to another world. This album literally changed my life for the better and jumpstarted my love of Finnish metal.

I wanted to get a picture of the pretty fog this morning, but now it's inadvertently creepy with the road and run down house.

My eyes felt like they're going to pop after so much grading, so I went to be among the trees.

I've had some pretty weird excuses for not coming to class, but today's a new one: "I cannot make it to class today as I must go help someone jump start their car."

I just found out that I can add a background to my phone's alarm, so I thought, what would make me happy to wake up to? Insert a red velvet waffle I will not eat in the morning but will still make me happy to see first thing.

Starting the querying process and drafted what I feel is a good author bio: Laura is an English professor who channels her love of horror and metal into writing when she isn't grading student papers. She lives in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains with her husband and rescue siamese cat.

I'm involuntary listening to a morning talk show while waiting for my car to get worked on, and they're making fun of a lady talking about her love of horror. The normies resort to high school bullying when someone has a unique hobby? It was awful to listen to.

Good news of the day: My poet colleague let me know that sonnets are back in style!

If anyone's interested in a history of human levitation (as you all should be), have I got the book for you! They Flew is fantastic and has added even more ramblings to my Salem Witch Trials lecture.

He knocked a whole bunch of stuff off my bookshelf to get there, but I can't be mad cause he's posing gloriously in front of my Turisas poster (and on top of Junji Ito's manga of No Longer Human)!

Just watched The Long Walk. I'm a huge fan of the book, and there were many aspects that stayed true it and warmed my heart. The changes that were made seemed to allude to modern America instead of the Vietnam War era it was written in which I can appreciate.

I had to go into work late, but it was all worth it because I got to meet this sweet baby stray kitty! She refused to be pet, but didn't run from me. I hope to see her again!

'Tis the season to break out the Halloween mugs! The ghost cat has blue eyes if you look closely, so in my mind he's a little trick-or-treating siamese.

Last week, I twisted my ankle walking into my garage. Today, I reached a new level of clumsiness: I got cheese in my eye after opening a package of cheese. Can now confirm it is difficult to get cheese out of one's eye.

I'm never getting tired of this view from my classroom this semester.

So many, but Rammstein's Herzeleid is perfection in my book. I also have it on vinyl, and it's phenomenal on that format! The power and depth comes through so strongly.

He's such a pretty boy! I don't see his chest as often as his super toasty back, so it's always surprising to see such an untoasted center!

Why can't we have Halloween scents like cemetery rot or bog witch? I wanna smell like peatmoss!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need the 12ft tall Nosferatu

It's a beautiful pink sunrise this morning!

A worker at my college was saying how wonderful AI was, and they were quickly reminded to fact check the information AI provided to make sure it was accurate. Their response? "How do I do that?" We're absolutely cooked as a critical thinking society.

One of my online students used "fraises" instead of "phrases," making the sentence unintentionally hilarious about strawberries.

My college has a guy presenting "the wonders of AI" to us, and he's started blowing bubbles and using them as a stupid metaphor. Send help!

September 1st means it's officially spooky season! I bought a cauldron this year, and she's staying out year round.

Organized my graphic novel collection into a new home. I forgot how much I loved some of these. Lenore was one of my favorite things as a high schooler.

So, Spotify is insinuating that I despise Thursday afternoons? Also, I really wanted a link to "miserable" to see what they think that genre is.

It's late August, it feels like fall outside, and this Japanese maple is already changing colors. I'm here for it!

*fingers crossed for Kalmah releasing a rainbow swamp metal inspired album* www.iflscience.com/deep-in-virg...

Sneakily representing metal in the workplace

I bought the Japanese edition of Kalmah's self titled CD from Japan because there's one track on it that was only published in Japan and I needed it! Really nice note from the seller, and the lyric sheet in Japanese is a really cool touch. I'm loving the nostalgia of listening on my old CD player!

What have thine kitty eyes seen? Horrors beyond our comprehension or just a bird? Probably just a bird

It hurt to refill my water bottle and roll over the number to those bottles who were not saved by the number of the beast

I love the dense morning fog that surrounds the foothills.

The view from my classroom is pretty sweet this semester.

I'm teaching at a new campus this semester, and my office came with a complimentary bottle of ibuprofen! It's not even expired!

Took a walk on campus now that I'm back at work and saw a daisy growing out of a wall. Persist like this little guy! If a daisy can grow out of a rock, you can certainly do the thing!

Oh, to be a cat basking in the light of dawn on a Monday morning.

Got the most picturesque photo of a rainbow!

The best advice I can give new teachers/professors is to ask your students to show you pictures of their animals on the first day of class. I saw birds and many cats from a student whose hobby is taking pictures of all cats he sees. Great icebreaker, too!

I was gushing to my supervisor (a fellow history turned English major) about a witchcraft in America lesson I have planned for my early American literature class. She's willing to travel an hour away to another campus I'm teaching at to observe me. At least two of us will enjoy it!

What would you think if your professor gave you a PowerPoint introduction of themself on the first day of class? I fondly remember my professors that did this, but I'm not sure if the youth these days would think it's cringe. Seeking advice before I actually make one!

Sushi boat! It was all very tasty

DID I JUST FINISH WRITING MY BOOK?! I think I'm finally done! Time for many read overs and edits before giving it to trusted readers. I'll then wallow in the muck of finding a publisher. If anyone is interested in a book about a black metal band with Lovecraftian horror elements, that's my creation!