~ I started playing Magic: The Gathering in 2001, in 3rd grade. My brother was in 5th going to 6th and we saw some 7th Edition booster packs and starter decks near the checkout at Wal-Mart. I don’t know what compelled us to pick them out, a random grocery store gift from mom {pls+ty}, beyond the art.

~ essay on the Avatar films, thus far. Avatar (2009) is one of the biggest films ever made. James Cameron’s science fiction epic launched audiences directly into the other-world of Pandora, with visual FX innovations that may never be matched. As a Romantically goofy action-adventure film featuring sky dragons and…

~ a poem about experience. Gaze upon me And what do we see? A lank, a jester, a stranger Walking questions Building & burning a mortal coil Yet, worlds are built into this frame. These soles have crossed between dimensions These hands have cut down demons & dragons These eyes have seen things you cannot imagine My spirit is unbreakable Even whenI die My body will plant seeds. ~

~ an essay on the music of Porcupine Tree, a prog rock band. Steven Wilson considers his career a “noble failure.” No, for real — you can hear him say it here. The frontman of the freshly reunited prog rock giant Porcupine Tree speaks in this interview about the reality that he set out to be Prince, known to all, and instead just became Steven Wilson, {one of the best musicians to ever do it}. Read more: https://thresholds-of-transformation.blog/2022/11/20/on-porcupine-tree/

~ a short story (fiction / parody / satire / *all in Minecraft*) Elon stepped out of Twitter headquarters to the sight of losers and sounds of yelping nonsense. A horde of reporters awaiting him. Media parasites… Read more here: https://thresholds-of-transformation.blog/2022/11/17/the-haunting-of-elon-musk/

~ essaying on a trio of “prestige” TV shows I recently watched concurrently, at long last: The Sopranos (1999), Mad Men (2007), and Better Call Saul (2015). Each from a distinct passage within this era now understood as “The Golden Age of Television.” We have just lived through a Golden Age of scripted television. Continue reading: https://thresholds-of-transformation.blog/2022/11/15/prestige-tv-tripulacion/

~ a short story / X-Files fan fiction Agents Mulder and Scully sauntered through the woods of West Virginia with spooky sparkles in their eyes. Though their attention continually fell upon each as they haunted the highway forests off the 7, hunting for clues. He wore a long trench and…

~ I have an artistic way of looking at the world. Recently, I’ve been thinking about art, and the fact that there are so many … good pieces of it. I would go as far as to say we are living in a Golden Age of art. And I don’t mean the 2010s or 2020s or whatever, I mean the 20th and 21st centuries. So much great cinema, the invention of TV and new modes of writing and production, rise of animation and evolution of on-screen acting, the creation of video gaming technology and fresh forms of storytelling style.

~ a short story Around a large table the shape of a trueform heart, seven fanged fops sat and bristled. Their names are unimportant, but one of them is Vlad. Blood pulses to the top of the tower they make their homes and meetings within. It courses through a complex…