From the Nameco Arcade version of Splatterhouse, now up for pre-order at SpaceLab9 HERE.
Float:
I've been using my time in LaLaLand to try and reprogram some of the bad behavior I've developed since moving to Tennessee. Well, okay, calling it bad behavior is a bit hyperbolic, but here's a list of my transgressions:
• I used to average 14K steps a day. Now I average 4K. BIG difference, especially when you consider the next two points.
• Found I could eat all kinds of bread again without it causing me inflammation problems in my gut, which is how it's been since 2014 or so, and as a result, for the last 5 months, I've eaten bread multiple times a day every day.
• I went years barely eating red meat. I reserved that for special occasions or Chicago. However, we once we found a good Mexican place in Clarksville - something we 100% did not think we'd find - I ordered a big ol' carne asada burrito every Friday for months. This culminated with me eating two of those burritos one night. And when I say carne asada burrito, the only ingredients besides the tortilla are steak, guac and pico de Gallo. So that's like half a cow for two of these bad boys.
Now, I'm not one of those super health-conscious types, but I also adamantly will not give up drinking beer and do not want to be an old man who's super thin with a gut like a boulder, so something has to give. Since I woke up and flew out here this past Monday, I've fasted 74 hours (mostly in 8, 13, or 16-hour increments) and walked a stunning 40 miles - just over 84K steps. I've also done something I'd wanted to do for about the last 8 years I lived in LA and didn't - I booked two sessions and am planning at least one more at Float Lab Westwood.
I can't quite explain how the first session made me feel, except that it was fantastic. I've talked in these pages recently about needing to meditate more, and in general learn to relax a bit. When I stepped from that first session back out into the world, I was in such an altered state I couldn't believe it. My second one was yesterday, and although a bit frustrating - for whatever reason I just could not let go of my thoughts - I still count it as successful. Also, between the two, I think I've figured out a bit of a regiment to get what I need out of the experience, so here's hoping number three will be even more beneficial.
Of course, it's not just relaxation I'm after. My interest in Sensory Deprivation tanks shares motivations with my interest in hallucinogens - the latter being something I've found myself not really digging so much the last two times I've micro-dosed Psilocybin.
This is a forever place for me now, no doubt. I expect to be back in LaLaLand about every six months, and Westwood is only 2.5 miles from the hotel I favor while here, so there should never be a reason not to go.
Playlist:
SQÜRL - Berlin '87 (single)
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
The Birthday Party - Mutiny/The Bad Seed
T. Rex - The Slider
Fantômas - Eponymous
Orville Peck - Pony
Odonis Odonis - Post Plague
Windhand - Split EP
Windhand - Eponymous
Card:
Breakthrough in Earthly matters. Feels right.
