Blog
My blog is about nothing in particular. Mostly I write about the stuff happening to me. Sometimes I write about stuff that I think matters. Mostly this page is just the reason I'm reluctant to give my IRLs my URL. You know what I mean?
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- I Finally Figured it Out - 10/26/25
(How to two-step transversal style, that is.)
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As soon as I moved to Ohio and began going to shows here, I took notice of one particular practice that was entirely unfamiliar to me. It occurs in the mosh pit and I immediately found it extremely puzzling. I can only refer to it as "The Transversal Two-Step."
You see back in Phoenix, in my experience, the mosh dynamics are very simple. You run around and throw yourself at other people and that's it. Nobody gets fancy with it. But here ... here it's different. There's a lot more going on and it seems like everyone knows what they're doing except for me. People do not simply throw themselves at one another, at least not at first. It begins with the two-steppin'. I knew how to two-step on a basic level, of course. Hop hop, kick kick, swing your arms. Yes, simple enough for even a dog to understand! But they take it to another level. They run around and throw themselves at each other while two-steppin'. This ritual goes on for a while until eventually it becomes the typical run and push and pull that I'm used to. And let me just say, the first time that I witnessed this ... I was baffled. I could not figure it out! For the next several shows I would watch carefully, entering the tangle of bodies only once it had devolved enough to suit my southwestern simpleton ways.
Once I actually mustered the courage to ask someone how it works. You see, my new midwestern friends didn't get it either. They were true mosh pit toddlers. Funnily enough I was the most experienced of our crew. I asked this sweet four-foot-eleven-ish girl who was going crazy in the pit and she did her best to explain, but at the heart of it, despite the evidence I'd gathered through observation, the secret she described was to "just do whatever." I could feel my knowledge and my confidence growing, and that night I did attempt to throw myself into the mess during some of the more sophisticated moments, though I still felt that I was uncoordinated and out of place ... despite my best efforts I just did not get it.
The next few shows I continued in my confusion, sticking to the sidelines in moments of doubt. But it was last night, just over two months from my first exposure to this practice, that it finally clicked. Fueled by two beers, eyes on the crowd and spirits high, I realized that everyone was off-beat and nobody knew what the fuck they're doing! A-ha! In a moment of classy face-punching, leg-kicking, high-energy madness I started doin' that kick swing kick thing and hopped on in there. And I got it. And it was fun. And then the music kicked up and we started body slamming each other like usual. Perfection. It's not a science, really, as much as it is a natural progression of things. That's how everyone knew what to do except me; it's something driven by human instinct!
I spent the rest of the night following the ebb and flow in and out of the pit. It's like my favorite thing these days. Maybe I love pain or maybe it's a special form of human connection but it feels like a different sort of high to me. I love nothing more than to be beaten up and bruised after a good night of music.
People keep telling me at these shows that they think I'm "cool." Now this may sound stupid, as those of you who read my blog should know by now that I am indubitably NOT COOL. But it keeps happening. On Friday night a pair of girls told me that they had their eyes on me at a previous house show, that I was "their favorite" of the crowd. We saw them again the next night and moshed together and it was great but I'm just like ... what the fuck? It keeps happening. I think the septum ring is doing wonders for me, I really think it is. Unfortunately I am too socially inept to sustain conversations with these people who think I am cool, at least on the first occasions that we meet.
And no matter who "cool" I am, I am still convinced that it is too late for me to ever enter the dating pool. Anyway. Moving on.
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Last night's show and the one the night before were both Halloween shows - costumes all but mandatory! Last night I was Nyan Cat and on Friday I was a garden-variety jester. Neither of my friends who came with me knew The Garden but they were jesters with me anyway because I am awesome and they love me and also none of us had better costumes put together yet.
I love Halloween. It's basically my birthday so of course I like to go all out and of course it's my favorite holiday. I'm very fond of the fact that festivities seem to last over a week now that I'm in college! I'm not sure what I'll get up to on the 31st itself - I've caught wind of a few house shows and parties happening but nothing has jumped out at me as the place to be just yet. The furry club at my university will be getting together and suiting up to hand out candy on-campus early in the evening, though, so I'll spend an hour on that before I inevitably spend the night getting rowdy at some show or another. I finally have my suit here and I'm excited about that. On the first, though, there's a big show at one of my favorite house show venues with some of my favorite bands playing. My buddies and I are going to be three of the mane six and we will party our way well into the AM hours of my birthday and it will be awesome and I am so hype.
Something that's making this Halloween season even better is the fact that ... brace yourselves, everypuppy ... IT'S FALL!!!! IT'S REALLY FALL!!! In fact, it is my first ever fall. And it is in full swing by now. And it is wonderful and magical and it is everything I ever hoped it would be. AND supposedly it lasts longer than a week??? Perhaps longer than two weeks, even?? It is fall.
I've always been something of a fall fanboy. I love pumpkin spice and fall colors and I've always been one to pretend it got cool enough in the desert to refer to the climate this time of year as "sweater weather." But I never knew what it was really like. And now I know and it is really awesome. Every time I see a tree that is red I get so excited and wag my tail crazy style OK. I love fall. It's cold out and it actually makes sense to wear my awesome cute novelty beanies. I can buy a PSL and I can order it hot. And guess what?! The leaves really do fall! A big gust of wind will come by and they shower down like nature's confetti! This is like the best thing ever. I'm getting really into seasons. I feel like a little kid.
I went on a camping trip last weekend and on the drive home all the locals I was with were telling me about snow days. For some reason it never really registered to me that those were a real thing. Seems like something just for TV shows and movies. Damn I love it here.
I will leave you with some pictures of my two Halloween looks so far! I had a lot of fun as Nyan Cat because it was a pretty popular costume (lots of compliments from cute girls) and it was fun to pretend to have hair. Whipping it around while head banging is the best LOL. Sadly I did not win the costume contest that night ...
It was also great being jesters ... two of my beloved classmates turned up to the show, too, also as clowns, and we got a great group photo of the lot of us. Good times all around.
(I've never shown my face here before ... so just be normal about it OK? Nobody do anything weird with my pics LOL.) - Gathering no Moss - 09/29/25
Had a good weekend. Time feels crazy these days.
(I, like, accidentally forgot to finish writing this and then accidentally uploaded it?? So I tacked on the Saturday description based off what I could remember a month later. This one reads poorly but I'm keeping it up for the sake of my own memory.)---------
I can't believe It's been 5 weeks of classes already. I'm so busy and I'm having so much fun that it's all a blur. But then I'm doing so much every week and every day that in retrospect it feels like it's been longer than it has. I recall details from days ago as if it's been weeks. But then it's shocking to think I've been here sinking into my place in things for over a month. We're over a third of the way through the semester already. I try not to let this bother me.
I spent a weekend kicking rocks and doing jack shit after the one I wrote about in anticipation in my last blog post. It was as great as I thought it would be, by the way. The great outdoors and live music - my two favorites! Anyway the one after it was boring and I did nothing substantial, as far as I can remember. Maybe I saw J and watched a movie, I think I remember they slept over one night? Shit, I don't know, I need to blog more or start journaling or something because I'm forgetting all the details of my life.
Last weekend, though, I got back on the hype train! It started, truly, on Wednesday. After finishing my six hours of back-to-back studio classes, I ran myself around to a couple different clubs before meeting up with J to watch a movie in my dorm. I went to the risograph club meeting, which was a meeting for the small club leadership group we're scrapping together, and then I went to the mountaineering club. Our short fall break is coming up next month and they were dropping information about the fall break trips. I'm going to sign up to go backpacking for the first time and I do hope I'm selected! (It's the largest club on campus, so often if there are too many people signing up for trips they resort to random choice). J and I watched Ice Cream Man, an absolutely terrible horror flick that J loves for some reason. We take turns picking what movie to watch and for their past few choices they've enjoyed subjecting me to a constant stream of bullshit. It only gets more exciting from here, though.
Thursday night we went out with my classmate L to go see a movie in a local indie movie theatre. We saw Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers. I had never seen it before and I found it hilarious! It was still pretty early by the time we were back on campus so J and I retreated to my dorm once more and watched the SNL episode that came out on my birthday last year. Thursday night was chill and glorious.
On friday I went to a house show with J and my other friend S. I haven't mentioned S here before, but we've been to a good handful of rock shows together by now and she's pretty cool. We always have a good time. Oh, Dogblog Nation, was it a fantastic show! Three amazing, female-led bands, a wonderful, lively crowd, and a great new house show venue came together to create a perfect three hours of music and love.
Saturday followed with yet another epic house show! at the same venue I first felt at home here. I went with J and it was a great time and I got high off my ass off the worst cart ever. It was approximately a month since we'd met in the same asphalt-paved frat house back yard and I found myself feeling grateful. Half the bands performing that night were playing at the house show the night before, and half the crowd was there, too. I always see the same people coming out. Not everyone all the time, and I always meet new characters, but I'm doing this as much as I can and I really feel like I'm starting to find community here.
I think that about covers my good weekend. I've been having fun. Peace and love forever and here are some pictures from my moutaineering club day-trip.
- Things So Far - 09/11/25
I've been at school for three weeks now since yesterday. It's going pretty well.
PS I'm trying out a new format ... I know it's inconsistent and I DON'T CARE!---------
When I first got here, I wasn't sure how things would go. Being in a completely new environment with an unfamiliar climate, without friends or any knowledge of the local area, it felt like I got airdropped onto an alien planet. I was scared. It didn't help that the "welcome week," the first week between moving in and starting classes in which student organizations put on events for new students to mingle and socialize, turned out to be ran almost entirely by a handful of Christian missionary groups on campus. The only non-religiously-affiliated event all week that wasn't mandatory university orientaion was "Big Queer Welcome" on Sunday. Quite the contrast from the church potlucks and bible studies, but I moved in and I was at a loss for how to spend the week beforehand. It was honestly pretty chilling to walk around campus and see all the tablers around were church groups, Christian fellowships, and massive corporations. I felt insanely out of place and I will be real with you! I started freaking out a little bit! I spent the night [all but physically] alone in my dorm room feeling fucking awful while my roommates kept going back and forth bringing random guys to the room through the wee hours of the morning.
But by the next night ... everything had changed! That Thursday afternoon I ended up being pretty busy between orientation, dorm shopping, and a fitness seminar. As I was walking back to my dorm after the session, I was approached by two *clears my throat* eclectic young men who complimented my TV Girl shirt. I was most pleased. I had worn it in hopes someone would approach me and exchange pleasantries. Then they asked if I liked live music. Errrm, yeah, I do like live music! So they handed me a flyer and told me they were putting on a "music festival" with their frat. Intriguing. I looked them up to make sure they weren't one of the several Christian Fellowship fraternities and was pleased to discover from their instagram that they're queer/trans-friendly and they seemed to have a history of bangin house shows. None of my [three] roommates were busy but none of them wanted to go with me, so I took a leap and decided to go on my own. It turned out to be awesome, like a breath of fresh air! Immediately I got there and noticed ... holy shit ... almost everyone here is alternative or queer or both ... none of them appeared to be Christian nationals, at the very least. I was being shy in a corner when this mysterious dropout introduced themself to me and proceeded to help me mingle and break out of my shell. We danced together and then I threw myself into the mosh pit as it formed. I learned that midwestern people mosh way differently from the people back in Phoenix ... three weeks and two more house shows later I'm still trying to figure out how to do the transversal two-step thing ... I met a bunch of second years and a fifth year in my major. I stuck around with the group of sophomores for most of the night; everyone was so cool and nice and everyone in my program had nothing but positive things to say about it. It was so reassuring! On so many levels! And I even did well enough socializing that I didn't have to walk back to campus alone, two of the cool nice girls offered to walk me back. On our way, they told me that they thought I was brave and I was like what does that even mean. Apparently to them it was brave to go out on my own to a punk show on my second night in the city. It felt less like bravery and more like an act of self preservation to me. If I hadn't gone out I would have spent the night cooped up and frustrated just like the first one. And two bad nights in a row tends to turn into a snowball rolling down some miserable hill. I needed to throw myself out and force myself to get used to this place! Force myself to socialize! Make friends and learn The Spots and figure out how to have fun here!
The following night I spent time with my mother before she was to fly back home. We went to a minor league baseball game. There were fireworks. The night after I went back to same frat house for the final night of their festival. It was just as great as the first night except better because I met J, another freshman who shares my major, who I think has since become my best friend here so far. I don't think I'm J's but I don't care. It's okay for there to be an imbalance when I know like three people.
Since that first weekend, I've been going to classes and clubs and shows and all kinds of shit. I got a piercing on the following Saturday night just to give myself something to do. I've been seeing all the live music I can and becoming acquainted with the local bands. I went to a furbowl at some point and I've been spending time at this public park near campus that's like a little patch of woods in the middle of the city. Yesterday I hung out with the aforementioned dropout for a while. They drove me around and showed me some interesting spots in the city. I have approximately three friends right now. That's pretty good for a dog like me. And I'm going to a concert with one of those friends tomorrow night. Then on Saturday I'm going on a day-long hiking trip with a bunch of strangers from the mountaineering club. It's going to be sick, I can't wait to get outdoors. Then maybe I'll see one of my new favorite local bands later that night at a street festival event. I've been hanging out with my classmates for study sessions and just for fun, too. I have all the same people in all of my classes because my program is cohort-based, and so far I'm really getting along with them. We're talking about living together next year. We had a listening party for the new Big Thief. J comes over to my dorm all the time and we snuggle and watch movies. I like my classes, too. I'm feeling good.
Also, I'm less bothered by the prevalence of the churches and missionary organizations on campus now. They're still intensely fucking annoying, don't get me wrong. They do sermons and shit in the middle of campus all the time. The other day there was some grown ass man with a megaphone shouting about a fearsome god right outside the main dining hall. Like ... what the fuck are you doing here. Go away. But I'm less bothered because it turns out that there is a community here that I fit into ... you see, all of the gay and trans and alternative students just happen to naturally be funneled into the design school. I was conveniently funneled in here, too. It's kind of hilarious, actually, the ratio. I guess gay people are design students and design students are gay.
The leaves are starting to turn yellow. THIS has me EXCITED. Having grown up in the desert, I've never really experienced seasons before. I didn't think it would start to become "autumn" so soon and I'm delighted. I'm getting super excited for Halloween, too. I got a little Halloweeny garland to put up in my quarter of the dorm today and it's making me happy. Autumn, to me, is one of those things that's totally real but totally seems fake. Like dinosaurs or pirates. I get all giddy whenever I think about it. The fact that autumn is real and I finally get to know what the fuck it's all about.
Okay, Dogblog Nation. I think that about sums up my three-weeks-in college experience so far. I want to show u all my dorm but I also don't want to whip out my camera and take pictures right now. So I'm gonna leave u with this image that I think is really representative of me and how I'm doing as a student.
Maybe I'll upload some pics or a video of my dorm here soon. 'Til then, take care everypuppy!! - College - 08/16/25
I'm moving across the country to start college in a couple days, and I wanted to catalogue and share some of my anticipatory thoughts on the matter. This one's scanned and uploaded straight from my journal, which is a bit more vulnerable as I go off on tangents and I keep in the stupid things. - THROW AWAY YOUR SMARTPHONE NOW! - 08/09/25
A review of my cell phone and how it's made my life better. - This Dog Gets Everything They Want - 02/12/25
Me oversharing. - Dogblog 4.0 Launch, and the Rest of My Life - 02/03/25
I don't really remember what this one was about and I don't feel like reading it but there are some pretty pictures at the end.
