The Hogbae Holler 10: Jubilant Gaze

🎉🎉ISSUE 10 DIGITAL PARTY🎉🎉

Hello my creepy little crepuscule crustaceans … welcome to the TENTH and NOT FINAL Hogbae Holler! We made it !! And we will continue to make it.

Here’s a question: why the fuck are banks closed on weekends? And only open during normal work hours?? Here’s the answer: it is because they hate us. With every fiber of their being, they hate us so deeply. They want us to fail and they think it’s funny. They think it’s so funny and cute that we can’t go to the bank to do basic stuff that is just so slightly more advanced than what you can do in their app/website. But that is ok because it is the WEEKEND and we have fun things to do.

Ted Update

What am I doing this weekend, you ask? Not much, on purpose! I am filing my first car insurance claim ever because a big branch fell on my car, and also getting groceries, and working on a couple new Cauldron of Life songs. I am also chilling super hard, touching some grass, and listening to music.

I am also coming to terms with my mortality. I think in my 20’s I was more or less invincible. Now that I am a Health Goth, if that’s still a thing in 2024, I’m seeing a bunch of different specialist doctors, and they are telling me things I am not super wanting to hear. But ultimately for me it’s better to know than not know, ya know? Next I am going to see an ear doctor, not for any particular ailment, I just want to see how much hearing I’ve lost after going to countless concerts in my life without earplugs :( I don’t know that knowing will help me, but I’d still rather know than not know.

Also I am 1.5 years alcohol-free and had my 1-year work anniversary lol. Kinda cool!

How Long Will My Reign Be? 🚨Mortality Warning🚨

I am so curious about how long I’m going to live?? Like if someone could just tell me I was going to live until 75, for example, I think that would be so cool. To be clear though, I’m not planning on going anywhere any time soon, just thinking ahead - like when you’re working on a project, it’s cool to have a timeline, ya know? It seems like such a weird approach to think of the length' of one’s life with a mindset of “I dunno lol”.

If a wise elder told me I was going to die at 75, I could:

• Plan out all the stuff I want to do in my remaining time (I guess this can be done regardless though)

• Plan a small retirement account accordingly, maybe retire early

• Give my friends and family notice of this fact - it is usually super sad when someone dies because it was either unexpected, or expected on dark terms. It is super sad either way I guess, but does it always have to be? For one of my grandpas we had a “Celebration of Life” event, and I thought that was way cooler than another funeral

• Have super cool birthday blowouts until then

Sorry if this is dark? But the reality is that so many people die every day, naturally and unnaturally, so I think this is something that is normal to contemplate. Also there are so many loose ends that need to be figured out when someone goes. These business items are tied into grief in a way that I find really weird and unsettling. It would be cool to have this figured out, and then leave when it’s time. Also, I really do not want to be like 90 years old, that just does not appeal to me and I don’t think I was built for that.

I am curious if anyone has similar or different thoughts about this. Leave a comment if so!

Hearing

Two thoughts here:

1. You really need to use earplugs at loud events if you don’t already, otherwise you will definitely lose hearing and develop tinnitus. I’m interested in learning what frequencies I can hear up to (hearing loss of higher frequencies occurs first). I can still definitely enjoy music, I’m not worried about that going away, but I have noticed that on my amplifiers/equalizers, I bump up the treble/high-end, probably because of some hearing loss 🤪

   1. I’ve used “Ety Plugs” and “Loop” earplugs and they are both good. They are designed for decibel reduction with preserved details in music

   2. In a pinch you can use foam ones, like construction workers use, as they have them at most venues for like $1 - they reduce volume by a lot of decibels, but the sound is not super clear/enjoyable

   3. The best earplugs are ones made from casts of your ears at an ear doctor. I’m gonna try to get these. I imagine they will not be cheap, but it’s something I care a lot about

2. I forgot my other thought :(

Food I Have Been Eating

Gochujang-seaweed vegan cheese 🤔

Per usual, I have been eating a variety of things. Here are some things I’ve had and liked recently:

• Snyder’s Pretzel Pieces - honey mustard and onion flavour 🤤

• Castelvetrano olive focaccia

• Castelvetrano olive oil

• At the farmer’s market I got some very interesting gochujang seaweed vegan cheese

• A lot of roasted vegetables, Brussels sprouts, tempeh, and tofu

• Budweiser Zero alcohol-free beer

• Trader Joe’s Spicy Tempura Seaweed Snacks

• Whatever vegan stuff is available at Grocery Outlet (life hack!)

• Anything by Field Roast (vegan meatless stuff)

• Peanuts, in-shell, salted

• A lady at Trader Joe’s today told me that their Cowboy Caviar salsa is so good that she “would eat it with a spoon”. For some reason I’ve never tried it. I got it and I am going to eat it with chips instead

Also I have been meat-free since 2011. Been a while now!

Probably Avoid Smoke Shop Mushroom Products

I’ve been reading about legal psychedelic mushroom products available at gas stations, smoke shops, etc. I went to a vape shop and found these:

Some of these are marketed as amanita muscaria mushroom treats. Amanitas (which look like the 🍄 emoji) are sort of hallucinogenic and legal, but the problem is that these products are in a Wild West/gray market situation, similar to Delta-8 THC products a few years ago (and maybe still) - there is no guarantee that they are actually amanita muscaria, and from what I’ve read, they probably aren’t — the effects of real amanitas are not consistent with what people are experiencing with this variety of gummies. Some are marketed as a “blend of functional mushrooms.” Some people (on Reddit and Reddit-type sites) report that the effects feel like research chemicals instead.

This is obviously dangerous - like yeah these will probably make you feel high, but on what? How does it interact with whatever medications you may be on, and your unique body and mind?

Plot Twist

Note that this is different than what I have been seeing all over Instagram, probably due to my demented algorithm - psilocybin-containing mushroom gummies, chocolates, and just straight-up mushrooms (currently illegal) available by mail. This is a more interesting space for several reasons:

• There are many studies completed and in-progress to see how psilocybin can be used for a variety of mental health issues - major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, PTSD, end-of-life anxiety, and more. Results so far are very promising - psilocybin provides relief within hours for many people. It is not without cons, but many people swear by it for their mental health

• Psilocybin mushrooms are currently decriminalized in a number of cities and states. Shouts out to Santa Cruz CA, Oakland CA, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, and I think some others. Other places are working on it (Michigan! Hi Mitch 🥹). Oregon specifically has legalized it for medical use.

Legalization does not move quickly, so people are taking matters into their own hands and selling psilocybin products over the internet. They are trying to be responsible by providing chemical analyses so you know what you’d be taking, and they try to dose consistently. They often have super modern graphic/package design and look like health products. Which they are, but I do think that makes it a little confusing, like it’s different than a supplement. Also why is everything in gummy form??

I don’t know why but I think this is so interesting. I think we’re going to see a lot of cool stuff in this space in the next 5 years. Exciting!

The Playlist: Now That’s What I Call Holler!

This playlist is a lil different - for this 10th edition of The Hogbae Holler, I have put together all of my previous playlists into one big playlist. Sometimes I go back to my old ones and they are like lil time capsules. Here they are in order from the first Hogbae Holler back in August 2022 to more recent! Some songs are not available on Spotify anymore though 😒

Cleo’s Corner

Cleo’s winter coat is at Peak Puff! I am going to have to start vacuuming twice a week soon as it gets warmer. She is my good little donkey girl and she started hanging out in my clothes hamper in the afternoons. A good idea I think!

Ok baby… that’s the end honey… kisses! 😚😚