Decided to do a second post tonight, due to snow storm and a general mood of anxiety that is making me a little jittery. I don't like working solo overnights anymore, and tonight happens to be one of the times that I am having difficulty overcoming that aversion. So anxiety.
As aforementioned, there is a snow storm happening here in Cleveland (and many other places, as I understand). I rather like snow storms. I know I don't have to drive in them, which probably does admittedly make that a lot easier. I've had to work most of them, though, which is less inspiring, but I did managed to get most of my traditional snow storm watches (The Thing, Howling 5, The Shining (both the Kubrick and Garris versions) in case anyone was wondering) this year. Even some additional stuff like The Hateful Eight was watched this year, too, which (other than the oddly gratuitous use of the N word) I generally liked and may add to my snow storm watches.
The only thing I didn't get to watch is The Storm Of The Century, Stephen King's overly long and maybe a tad dull "Novel for Television," that I love anyway and isn't currently streaming anywhere I can readily get to it. I suppose I could restart my Disney+/Hulu subscription, which I have had disabled since the FCC threatened ABC to cancel Kimmel...and while I don't care about Kimmel, I do care about the federal government threatening free speech, so I disabled it in protest with everyone else.
I am off today, and I think the storm is supposed to go awhile, so I'll consider it. I only have a podcast recording on my to-do list...well, no, that isn't true. I had a couple other things to do. Try to make a Doctor's appointment, but that will probably be moved due to the offices likely being closed re:storm. Schedule a haircut, another expensive proposition. Do my taxes (I probably actually will tackle that one). At least, I currently feel capable of doing those. When I get home, who knows. It's difficult to predict moods when a venue change is part of the package. Sometimes what begins as a lot of enthusiasm changes to a complete lack of interest and turns into a hibernation mode in which I barely want to look outside (which is pretty easy: my black out curtains and christmas string lights make it impossible to tell what time it is or what it's like outside without actually peaking). Same for going *into* work, of course, but almost certainly in a negative way. Going home can create a sense of positive energy after work, depending on my energy reserves, but it's also sometimes a difficult and exhausting task. In fact, I've lately found the morning commute home to be a pretty miserable experience in which my darkest, most self-hating thoughts occur during that point.
My hope is enthusiasm will continue because I like snow storms and I have the day off. I like commuting home in the snow, walking in it. I don't know why because I hate the cold, but there is something about a snow storm that makes me not mind wandering about in it. It's probably the dramatics of it, really, the idea of braving the elements, struggling against the environment itself. We place a lot of symbolism into it, the weather, and I think it's that promise of disruption and the (generally) survivable nature of it (privilege acknowledged, by the way) that gives it such weight. There's a confrontation in it. A sense of defiance. Not even god can stop me, that kind of thing, I suppose, but also in a surmountable challenge. The cold winds of change.
They oughta make more horror films that take place in snow storms. Ones that don't just rip off The Thing and The Shining, that is. Does anyone still do the sitcom trope of "people snowed in" anymore? And has that trope actually happened to anyone in real life? I doubt it. My back hurts from standing at this computer all night. I'm less enthused about that. But anyway, snow storms are so dramatic and fun/threatening that they make great back-drops to horror stories, in particular. But that drama lends itself well as an environment for a lot of different kinds of tension. I can't recall a particularly dramatic "snow storm" encounter of my own, which I guess is unfortunate.
Anyway, this second post was mostly brought about by enjoying snow storms, reminding myself that I have things to do that I probably won't, and a general boredom and anxiety. Probably not as substantial as previous ones, though I suppose you could make some inferences as to how mental health is affected by weather...because it usually isn't good. But maybe that's a post for another time.
If you are encountering a storm where you are, I hope you have the good kind of dramatic and not the bad, and that you and yours remain safe and warm.
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