A few things that I’ve been spending time on:

Currently playing: Black Mesa Blue Shift

Working my way through the new release from the Black Mesa: Blue Shift team. HECU Collective just released Chapter 5 “Focal Point” and I’m enjoying replaying the first four chapters and seeing Chapter 5 for the first time. The screenshot above is from Chapter 5.

Recently read

The Illuminatus! Trilogy (Shea and Wilson). I took about two months to finish this. There is a lot going on in the book and I kept getting bogged down and found myself going back and rereading sections.

The Soft Machine: The Restored Text (William Burroughs, edited by Oliver Harris). I enjoyed this a lot more when I started reading it out loud and imagining Burrough’s voice. Definitely not a traditional storyline.

The KLF: Chaos, Magic, and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds (John Higgs, 2012/2024). This was the book that got me to finally read The Illuminatus! Trilogy. I had read that the KLF were intertwined in some ways with the Trilogy (for example, the classic “Kick out the JAMs” line is taken from the book, as is “The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu”, albeit with a typo…) so I decided to read the Trilogy before reading the KLF book. I am very glad that I did. I’m also glad that I have some knowledge of Robert Anton Wilson’s work, and Alan Moore’s work, as they both feature prominently in the KLF book.

Recently watched: Gladiator (2000) and Sicario (2015).

I saw at least two (maybe three) bald eagles today. There are a few in the area but I rarely see them, so this caught my attention.

I saw the first one while driving to work. A flutter and then something perched atop a utility pole. A quick look (I was driving) and it was a bald eagle.

A few hours later I was at work in a grassy field. The first group of kids on the ropes course was just leaving, and the next group had not yet arrived. The wind was calm and so it was very quiet in the field. Two bald eagles appeared and flew in circles for several minutes while talking to each other. It was so quiet that I could hear them.

I have seen bald eagles before but I have never heard them talking with each other. I said “thank you” to them before they flew away.

I don’t remember the leaves on this particular tree being so red in years past. Trees all over the area are turning and the nights are near freezing. Had the first frost of the season last week. Time to clean up the garden and start getting it ready for winter.

Sunny days in the 60s, nights in the 40s, the best season has arrived.

All tender assent, yielding and devoted as a river, earth is inexhaustible in bringing forth wild bounty. (From Hexagram 2, “Earth”, translated by David Hinton)