Greetings from my personal pit of despair, from this fetid rats nest known also as my bed, wherein I have spent the past few days truly rotting, having succumbed to gastric illness of unknown origins.

I hadn’t really planned to celebrate Thanksgiving much this year, useless holiday that it is. Usually I enjoy it as an excuse to cook grandiose seasonal dishes to share with friends and family. This year’s plans were far more lazy, though food remained central to the plot. I ate an all too reasonable amount and was nonetheless satisfied with the day.

I started feeling nauseous around bedtime, and things devolved quickly from there. I eventually slept fitfully, uncomfortably, feverishly through the bulk of Friday; my smart watch clocks me as standing for approximately one hour that day. Yet having spent the day in a twilight of malaise, I still slept 12 hours again that night. To be honest I wish I was still sleeping; my brain and body ache too much to be capable of most activities, and yet I am bored.

There will be no leftovers for me this year, no pie for breakfast nor fully loaded sandwiches. I’m subsisting on a bland diet of broth and plain bagels and rice, the buttery flavor of these club crackers feeling like an indulgence as I open another bottle of Gatorade.

Irma has been stalwartly by my side through it all. Penelope refrained from her usual mischiefs at least until my fever broke. Maybe I’ll queue up some Netflix on the iPad today? Maybe tomorrow I’ll get out of bed? Who’s to say; recovery has no timeline. But my misery… my misery is eternal.

☑️ Done and Done - Had an easy dentist appointment getting two fillings on the same tooth, Irma got the all clear to go back to hard foods and chews after her own dental work. Did a couple fun cam streams including some arts & crafts (hand turkeys ftw), did some more Black Friday shopping. Shared some foods with friends and fam on Thursday, spent the rest of the weekend laid up with aforementioned horrid stomach bug.

📋 Coming up - No serious plans this week outside of work, which I’m strongly reconsidering. I’m in no shape to do any camming; do I pivot to chatting and content editing, or take the week off entirely? I could use the “me” time to finish up some home projects, but also need to be conscientious about holiday spending vs. earning. 😅

🎬 Movie #1 - It’s been a number of years since I first watched Ready Player One (2018), and while it def holds up, it’s almost… too prescient of the dystopian future we now find ourselves living in. Drone delivery of fast food, decrepit housing blocks where no one questions catastrophe, capitalism is a prison, and the entire population is escaping into digital/virtual reality. I never read the book so I can’t complain about the modern IPs they brought in for the movie, but I imagine the book was more of a warning than any tech bro cared to acknowledge; something about a Torment Nexus?

🎬 Movie #2 + 3 - Post-dentist double feature needed something lightweight, so why not The Wrong Paris (2025), which was a fine movie. I did get annoyed that the cowgirl cosplay influencer thought she could cut it on a real farm but whatever we weren’t supposed to like her anyway. Followed by Champagne Problems (2025), which was actually quite delightful! I loved the champagne party boy, who was definitely giving young Nathan Lane, but not as much as I loved Flula Borg’s German peak efficiency wine distribution expert. (And FWIW, A Perfect Pairing + Champagne Problems would be a better… pairing.)

🎬 Movie #4 - Honestly, I love Long Shot. It’s one of those movies I put on thinking I’ll do other stuff while it plays, and I get sucked into it. Perfect 3-act plot progression, prime examples of not judging a book by its cover, an odd couple situation, etc etc. If you love romcoms and your partner loves action flicks—or if you love Charlize Theron action and your partner loves Seth Rogan comedy—give this one a go.

🎬 Movie #5 - If I hadn’t had this on order, I would have streamed Live Die Repeat aka Edge of Tomorrow (2014) (aka All You Need Is Kill) instead of the movie above. Fortunately, my Gruv order arrived the next day, so this was my first watch from that haul. I saw this in theaters and it really holds up! It’s mostly practical effects?! Yes, even the Normandy beach invasion scene. This is a prime Tom Cruise WW2 action hero movie with the added bonus of getting to watch Cruise die a hundred different sci-fi ways… interspersed with mecha Emily Blunt carrying Big Sword and doing so much sweaty Cobra Pose. (Further reading: why does it have two titles?)

🎵 Listening - When I’m ill I tend to put on ambient music, the sort that you can meditate to or that has “frequency” or “MHz” in the title. Doesn’t matter what it is, it all sounds the same, and helps my fevered brain have some semblance of time/space as we dip in and out of consciousness.

☕ Drinking - My preferred flavor of Gatorade is red, if you’re curious. Though Pedialyte is the true powerhouse of recovery (and pre-gaming) beverages.

A brief newsletter from me this week, though I’m surprised at having managed this much! I’m conscious but uncomfortable, staying hydrated but not really eating yet. Blarg. What a cruel fate on what could have been the most delicious weekend of the year!

May my own fate not befall you this holiday season. Mask up, and keep washing your hands before you eat/as soon as you get home. Maybe stock up on your preferred color of electrolyte beverage, maybe make up some chicken or vegetable stock (just in case). And don’t forget that the enemy would prefer you exhausted, so rest when you need to.

I will probably not be so miserable next week.

xox,