JOURNAL

Il va être dix heures Pour la première fois depuis ce qui paraît un lointain passé nous avons passé toutes les deux une soirée douce de vrai repos de vraie détente. Il n'y a plus rien à faire. shie chan est définitivement partie. Elle est toujours présente dans nos cœurs mais les choses sont ce qu'elles sont, nous continuons à vivre, et elle en nous. Il y a un temps pour le deuil et le chagrin, un temps pour la colère aussi, et voici revenu le temps de la vie. Nous nous devons les unes aux autres et nous devons nous aider à continuer et à avancer.

Demain nous nous retrouverons à kabukichô et le meilleur que nous puissions faire pour la mémoire de shieko sera de retrouver notre bonheur de vivre et notre joie. Toutes je crois, depuis notre petite enfance nous avons été élevées en japonaises, ce sera plus dur pour A, on nous a appris, dressées à ne pas nous plaindre, à toujours montrer un visage souriant, car notre tristesse n'a pas à envahir l'espace des autres. Toujours faire bonne figure pour ne pas troubler la vie d'autrui. Nous saurons faire. Cela peut choquer une pensée occidentale, mais nous sourirons face au malheur et nous garderons la tête droite. Demain nous rirons en pensant à shie chan et nous somme sûres que où qu'elle soit elle en sera heureuse.

#shieko

VINNY THE VOID- Episode 103: “PERSONAL BOUNDARIES”

Format: Children’s educational comedy Approximate Runtime: 25 minutes Primary Educational Theme: Personal boundaries and asking permission before physical contact Secondary Themes: Consent, respecting differences, problem-solving, personal space

TEASER

INT. ROOM 12 — MORNING

Room 12 is busy.

The cardboard recycling bin from yesterday sits beside the half-destroyed trash can.

The repaired toy truck is on a shelf.

The corner of the chalkboard remains missing.

A NEW SIGN hangs from the ceiling:

WELCOME TO ROOM 12

Underneath, in smaller handwriting:

PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH VINNY

Vinny floats happily inside his masking-tape safe zone.

Mr. Fulbher is absent.

On the board:

MORNING WORK

Read quietly.

Finish spelling.

Be respectful.

Mr. Fulbher will be right back.

MAYA points to number four.

MAYA He wasn't even here when we came in.

THEO Maybe he wrote it yesterday.

OLIVER Maybe he came in really early.

MAYA Mr. Fulbher?

Oliver thinks.

OLIVER Okay, probably not.

LENA is decorating a second sign.

It reads:

VINNY SAFETY RULES

Don’t touch Vinny.

Don’t throw things at Vinny unless they are really trash.

Stay out of the Vinny Zone.

Ask before moving the tape.

VINNY I like my rules.

MAYA You have more rules than anybody else in class.

VINNY Do you have rules?

MAYA Yeah.

VINNY Where are they written?

Maya pauses.

MAYA They're not.

VINNY How does anyone know them?

MAYA You tell people.

VINNY Interesting.

The classroom door opens.

BENJI, nine, energetic and cheerful, stands in the doorway holding a note.

BENJI Hi.

THEO Hi, Benji.

BENJI Mrs. Dorsey wants to borrow the big stapler.

Maya points toward a shelf.

MAYA Over there.

Benji takes one step into the room.

Then sees Vinny.

He freezes.

BENJI Whoa.

Vinny turns.

VINNY HELLO!

Benji’s eyes light up.

BENJI What is THAT?

MAYA That's Vinny.

VINNY I am Vinny!

BENJI He's awesome!

Benji drops the note on a desk and walks straight toward Vinny.

Oliver stands.

OLIVER Wait.

BENJI Can I touch him?

ALL FOUR KIDS NO!

Benji stops.

BENJI Why?

THEO He makes stuff disappear.

BENJI Really?

MAYA Really.

Benji looks fascinated.

BENJI Like magic?

VINNY I do not think it is magic.

BENJI Can you make my pencil disappear?

OLIVER No!

BENJI I wasn't asking you.

VINNY I probably can.

Oliver gives Vinny a look.

VINNY But I should not.

BENJI Cool.

Benji circles the safe zone.

VINNY turns with him.

BENJI Can you see me?

VINNY I think so.

BENJI You don't have eyes.

VINNY I know.

BENJI Can you hear me?

VINNY Yes.

BENJI You don't have ears.

VINNY I know.

BENJI Do you have arms?

VINNY No.

BENJI That's sad.

VINNY Why?

BENJI You can't hug anybody.

Vinny pauses.

VINNY What is a hug?

The children look at one another.

LENA You don't know what a hug is?

VINNY No.

Benji smiles.

BENJI I'll show you.

Theo’s eyes widen.

THEO Benji—

Benji steps over the masking tape.

OLIVER NO!

BENJI opens his arms.

BENJI Like this!

He wraps his arms around Vinny.

FWIP.

Benji vanishes.

His shoes drop to the floor.

Silence.

Everyone stares.

Vinny remains perfectly still.

One of Benji’s shoes rolls onto its side.

MAYA ...Benji?

Nothing.

Lena slowly picks up one shoe.

LENA Where did he go?

VINNY Away.

OLIVER You made Benji disappear!

VINNY I know.

Vinny sinks slightly.

VINNY I did not know he was going to hug me.

Theo looks at the empty space.

THEO We have to get him back.

MAYA How?

Nobody answers.

Then—

VINNY Perhaps we can make time go backward.

Everyone turns toward Vinny.

MAYA Can we do that?

VINNY I do not know.

A beat.

THEO Okay.

He looks around the classroom.

THEO Let's figure it out.

CUT TO TITLE SEQUENCE.

OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE

The usual cheerful music begins.

Vinny floats through animated scenes with the children.

He studies a globe.

He watches a plant grow.

He floats beside musical notes.

He passes a row of children giving each other high-fives.

Vinny raises no hand because he has none.

Lena waves instead.

Vinny wiggles happily.

SONG

CHILDREN (SINGING) ♪ There’s so much in the world to know, ♪ ♪ So many places we can go! ♪ ♪ We’ll count and read and laugh and play, ♪ ♪ And learn a little every day! ♪

VINNY (SINGING) ♪ I came from somewhere very far— ♪

MAYA (SINGING) ♪ We’re still not sure exactly where you are! ♪

CHILDREN (SINGING) ♪ Ask a question, try something new, ♪ ♪ There’s always more for us to do! ♪

VINNY AND CHILDREN ♪ Come learn with Vinny! ♪

TITLE CARD:

VINNY THE VOID

Benji’s abandoned shoe flies through the title sequence.

Everyone stops singing.

MAYA (O.S.) We should probably fix that.

CUT TO:

ACT ONE

INT. ROOM 12 — CONTINUOUS

Benji’s shoes sit in the middle of the floor.

Theo paces.

Maya looks inside one of the shoes.

MAYA He's not in here.

OLIVER Why would he be in his shoe?

MAYA I'm checking everything.

Lena looks at Vinny.

LENA Can you bring people back?

VINNY No.

THEO Can you spit stuff out?

VINNY I do not spit.

MAYA Can you do the opposite of whatever you do?

Vinny thinks.

VINNY I have never tried.

Everyone backs away.

OLIVER Don't try now.

VINNY Good idea.

Theo picks up Benji's note.

THEO Mrs. Dorsey's going to wonder where he is.

MAYA How long does it take to borrow a stapler?

OLIVER Not this long.

Lena looks toward the door.

LENA What do we tell her?

Maya thinks.

MAYA That he went to the bathroom.

OLIVER Without shoes?

Maya looks at the shoes.

MAYA Good point.

Vinny lowers.

VINNY I am sorry.

Lena walks to the edge of the safe zone.

LENA You didn't know what he was doing.

VINNY But I made him gone.

THEO He touched you.

VINNY Yes.

THEO And we told him not to.

MAYA He probably thought we were joking.

OLIVER We were not joking.

Vinny looks at the safe-zone tape.

VINNY He wanted to hug me.

LENA Yeah.

VINNY Why?

Lena shrugs.

LENA Hugs can be nice.

VINNY Then why did everyone tell him not to?

The children pause.

Theo looks at Vinny.

THEO Because you don't want people touching you.

VINNY I do not?

THEO Well...

Theo looks at Vinny.

THEO Do you?

VINNY considers this carefully.

VINNY No.

MAYA There you go.

VINNY But I did not tell Benji no.

OLIVER We did.

VINNY Maybe I should have.

Lena nods.

LENA Probably.

Theo looks at the empty shoes again.

THEO First we get him back.

INT. ROOM 12 — MOMENTS LATER

Theo has pulled several science books from the shelf.

Maya has opened Mr. Fulbher’s desk drawers.

OLIVER Are we allowed to do that?

MAYA We're trying to save Benji.

OLIVER Okay.

Maya opens another drawer.

Inside:

A fishing lure.

Three peppermints.

A television remote.

A screwdriver.

A cassette tape.

Six golf tees.

A small desk fan.

MAYA Why does he have all this?

THEO Don't ask.

Lena flips through a science book.

LENA What are we looking for?

THEO Time.

MAYA There's a clock.

THEO Not that kind.

MAYA You said time.

VINNY floats above them.

VINNY If Benji disappeared because he touched me, perhaps he was here before he touched me.

THEO Right.

VINNY So if we could make “before” happen again—

MAYA Then Benji comes back.

VINNY Maybe.

OLIVER Maybe?

VINNY I have never built a time machine.

OLIVER Has anyone?

Nobody answers.

MAYA We're still doing it.

Theo turns a page.

THEO Here's something.

He reads slowly.

THEO “Entropy.”

MAYA What's that?

THEO I don't know yet.

He keeps reading.

THEO It says things usually go from more organized to more mixed up.

Oliver frowns.

OLIVER What does that have to do with time?

Theo points at a picture.

A glass falls off a table and shatters.

THEO Look.

He shows them.

THEO A glass can fall and break.

MAYA Yeah.

THEO But broken pieces don't jump off the floor and turn back into a glass.

LENA Unless you play a video backward.

Everyone stops.

Theo looks at Lena.

THEO That's actually helpful.

Lena smiles.

THEO Stuff usually happens one way.

VINNY Forward.

THEO Right.

Theo flips the book around.

THEO If we could make everything go backward—

MAYA Then Benji un-disappears.

VINNY We must reverse entropy.

The children stare at him.

MAYA That sounds hard.

VINNY Yes.

MAYA Okay.

She rolls up her sleeves.

MAYA What do we need?

INT. ROOM 12 — BUILDING MONTAGE

Cheerful, purposeful music.

Theo writes on the chalkboard:

TIME MACHINE

Underneath:

GOAL: REVERSE ENTROPY

Maya draws a huge arrow pointing backward.

They gather supplies.

An old classroom clock.

The desk fan.

Magnets.

Aluminum foil.

String.

The broken calculator from yesterday.

A globe.

Two flashlights.

A cassette player from Mr. Fulbher’s cabinet.

A box labeled:

SCIENCE FAIR PARTS — DO NOT THROW OUT

Lena opens it.

Inside are wires, cardboard tubes, clothespins, mirrors, a bicycle bell, a small motor, and an egg timer.

MAYA Why does he have an egg timer?

OLIVER Why does he have any of this?

They begin building.

Theo tapes two cardboard tubes together.

Maya wraps the clock in aluminum foil.

Oliver carefully sorts wires by color.

Lena attaches the bicycle bell.

VINNY watches.

VINNY What does the bell do?

LENA I don't know yet.

VINNY Good.

Theo positions the desk fan behind the machine.

THEO If time is going backward, maybe the fan should spin backward.

MAYA Can it?

They turn it on.

The fan spins normally.

MAYA Nope.

Oliver flips it around.

OLIVER Now the wind goes the other way.

Everyone looks at him.

OLIVER That's not the same thing, is it?

THEO No.

OLIVER I tried.

Maya tapes an arrow on the fan pointing counterclockwise.

MAYA Now it looks backward.

THEO Good enough.

INT. ROOM 12 — LATER

The machine is complete.

It is magnificent.

And ridiculous.

At its center is the classroom clock.

Wires run everywhere.

A globe is mounted sideways.

The fan sits behind it.

The broken calculator is taped to the front.

Two flashlights point at a mirror.

The cassette player is connected to something it clearly was never designed to connect to.

The bicycle bell sits on top.

Maya looks proud.

MAYA Time machine.

Oliver stares at it.

OLIVER That is not a time machine.

MAYA How do you know?

OLIVER Look at it.

MAYA Have you ever seen a time machine?

Oliver pauses.

OLIVER No.

MAYA Then maybe they all look like this.

Theo plugs it into the wall.

Nothing happens.

THEO Okay.

MAYA Try the calculator.

Theo presses a button.

The broken calculator reads half an eight.

Nothing happens.

LENA Ring the bell.

Maya rings it.

DING!

Nothing happens.

OLIVER I told you.

VINNY floats closer.

VINNY Perhaps it needs something from me.

Everyone immediately turns.

OLIVER Carefully.

VINNY I know.

Vinny stops well outside the machine.

A LOW HUM begins.

The clock’s second hand twitches.

Everyone freezes.

THEO Did you do that?

VINNY I do not think so.

The cassette player suddenly CLICKS ON.

An old recording plays backward.

MUFFLED BACKWARD SPEECH fills the room.

The children stare.

MAYA It's working!

THEO We don't know that!

The fan starts spinning.

The lights flicker.

The globe rotates backward.

The clock's second hand moves one tick in reverse.

Then another.

Then another.

VINNY Something is happening.

OLIVER I don't like when you say that.

ACT BREAK.

ACT TWO

INT. ROOM 12 — CONTINUOUS

The machine HUMS louder.

The children back away.

The clock hands turn backward.

A crumpled piece of paper on the floor TREMBLES.

It slowly unfolds itself.

The children stare.

MAYA Whoa.

A pencil rolls backward across a desk and jumps into a cup.

Lena points.

LENA Look!

A marker cap flies off the floor and snaps back onto a marker.

Theo’s eyes widen.

THEO It's going backward!

Vinny rotates excitedly.

VINNY Entropy is reversing!

OLIVER Do not sound happy about that!

The whole classroom begins behaving strangely.

The recycling bin empties itself.

A can flies back into a lunch bag.

A paper towel jumps from the trash and unfolds.

MAYA Ew.

A broken crayon rejoins itself.

The half-missing classroom trash can—

does nothing.

Everyone looks at it.

THEO Guess Vinny stuff doesn't come back yet.

Vinny lowers.

VINNY Benji.

Theo looks at the clock.

THEO Keep it going!

Maya grabs the crank they added to the side for no clear reason.

MAYA What does this do?

THEO Turn it!

She does.

The machine WHINES.

The classroom gets stranger.

The chalk on the board erases itself backward.

The words:

TIME MACHINE

disappear letter by letter.

The paper sign reading PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH VINNY flies off the wall and lands on a desk.

The children watch.

LENA We're almost back to when Benji came in.

Oliver looks toward the shoes.

They begin to move.

One shoe slides across the floor.

The other follows.

MAYA Benji!

The shoes rise into the air.

Everyone backs up.

A faint outline appears above them.

Then—

BENJI suddenly REAPPEARS.

Backward.

His arms are wrapped around Vinny for a fraction of a second.

THEO BENJI!

Maya slams her hand onto a big red button labeled:

STOP

The machine SHUDDERS.

Everything freezes.

Benji is now standing inches from Vinny, arms open, about to hug him.

Time snaps forward again.

BENJI —I'll show you!

Everyone screams.

ALL NO!

Benji stops.

BENJI What?

Maya grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him away.

MAYA Don't hug Vinny!

BENJI I wasn't—

He looks down.

His shoes are back on his feet.

BENJI Wait.

He looks around.

BENJI Why is everybody staring at me?

Oliver points.

OLIVER You disappeared!

BENJI I did?

THEO You hugged Vinny.

BENJI I did?

LENA Then we built a time machine.

BENJI You did?

MAYA It was a whole thing.

Benji looks at the machine.

BENJI Cool.

A beat.

BENJI Can I try it?

ALL NO!

INT. ROOM 12 — MOMENTS LATER

Benji sits at a desk.

The time machine is unplugged.

The children gather around him.

Vinny floats in his safe zone.

BENJI So I really disappeared?

THEO Yeah.

BENJI For how long?

MAYA Like... twenty minutes.

OLIVER Thirty-two.

MAYA Of course you know.

OLIVER I looked at the clock!

Benji turns toward Vinny.

BENJI Sorry.

VINNY For what?

BENJI For hugging you.

VINNY I do not understand.

BENJI I touched you.

VINNY Yes.

BENJI Without asking.

Vinny thinks.

VINNY You did ask if you could touch me.

BENJI Yeah.

VINNY And everyone said no.

BENJI Yeah.

VINNY Then you touched me anyway.

Benji looks embarrassed.

BENJI Yeah.

VINNY Why?

Benji shrugs.

BENJI I thought a hug would be nice.

Vinny pauses.

VINNY For you?

Benji thinks about that.

BENJI I guess.

VINNY Would it have been nice for me?

Benji looks at Vinny.

BENJI Probably not.

VINNY No.

A beat.

VINNY I do not like being touched.

Benji nods.

BENJI Okay.

VINNY And touching me is also extremely dangerous.

BENJI Yeah. I figured that part out.

INT. ROOM 12 — CONTINUOUS

Vinny turns toward the whole class.

VINNY Do all people like hugs?

Lena raises her hand.

LENA I do.

Maya shrugs.

MAYA Sometimes.

Theo nods.

THEO Depends who.

Oliver shakes his head.

OLIVER Not really.

Vinny is fascinated.

VINNY You are all people.

MAYA Yep.

VINNY But you do not all want the same thing.

THEO No.

VINNY How do you know who wants a hug?

Lena smiles.

LENA Ask.

VINNY That is easy.

MAYA Usually.

Theo stands beside Vinny's zone.

THEO Like if I wanted to hug Lena—

He turns toward Lena.

THEO Can I give you a hug?

LENA Sure.

They hug.

VINNY Permission.

THEO Right.

Maya turns toward Oliver.

MAYA Can I hug you?

OLIVER No.

MAYA Okay.

She doesn't.

Vinny waits.

VINNY That is all?

MAYA That's all.

VINNY You are not angry?

MAYA Why would I be?

OLIVER I just don't want a hug.

VINNY Interesting.

Vinny turns toward Benji.

VINNY If someone says no, what happens?

BENJI You don't do it.

VINNY Even if you think the hug would be nice?

BENJI Yeah.

VINNY Even if you really want to hug them?

BENJI Yeah.

VINNY Even if they are a fascinating black sphere from outside your universe?

Benji laughs.

BENJI Especially then.

EDUCATIONAL SEGMENT — “ASK FIRST”

Colorful music begins.

A bright sign appears:

PERSONAL BOUNDARIES

Vinny floats beside it.

VINNY What is a boundary?

Theo steps forward.

THEO It's kind of like a rule for your own space.

Maya draws a circle around herself on the floor with her finger.

MAYA Like, this is me.

She spreads her arms.

MAYA And I get to decide who comes close.

Lena steps in.

LENA And different people can have different boundaries.

Vinny turns toward her.

VINNY Examples!

LENA Some people like hugs.

She raises her hand.

LENA Me.

Oliver raises one finger.

OLIVER Some people don't.

VINNY You.

OLIVER Correct.

Theo speaks.

THEO Sometimes somebody might be okay with a high-five but not a hug.

Maya holds up her palm.

MAYA High-five?

Theo high-fives her.

THEO Sure.

VINNY What about tickling?

Maya immediately shakes her head.

MAYA No.

LENA I hate being tickled.

OLIVER Everybody says to stop and then people keep doing it because they think it's funny.

MAYA That's annoying.

VINNY Then stop means stop.

THEO Yep.

Words appear on the screen:

ASK

LISTEN

RESPECT

VINNY First—

ALL Ask!

VINNY Then—

ALL Listen!

VINNY Then—

ALL Respect the answer!

Benji joins them.

BENJI Even if the answer is no.

VINNY Especially if the answer is no.

SONG: “ASK BEFORE YOU HUG”

A cheerful beat begins.

Vinny bobs in place.

LENA (SINGING) ♪ A hug can be happy, a hug can be sweet, ♪ ♪ But everybody's different when you meet! ♪

THEO (SINGING) ♪ So before you grab someone, here's what you do— ♪ ♪ Ask them first if it's okay with you! ♪

MAYA That last line doesn't make sense.

THEO It rhymed.

Music continues.

ALL (SINGING) ♪ Ask before you hug, ♪ ♪ Ask before you squeeze, ♪ ♪ Listen to the answer, ♪ ♪ And respect a “no,” please! ♪

OLIVER (SINGING) ♪ Maybe it's a high-five, ♪ ♪ Maybe it's a wave, ♪ ♪ There are lots of friendly ways ♪ ♪ To say hello each day! ♪

Vinny floats toward Lena.

VINNY May I hug you?

Lena looks at him.

LENA No.

VINNY Excellent answer.

LENA Also you don't have arms.

VINNY Two excellent reasons.

ALL (SINGING) ♪ Ask before you hug, ♪ ♪ Ask before you squeeze, ♪ ♪ Listen to the answer, ♪ ♪ And respect a “no,” please! ♪

Benji steps forward.

BENJI (SINGING) ♪ A hug might sound friendly, ♪ ♪ A hug might sound fun, ♪ ♪ But if they don't want one— ♪

ALL ♪ THEN DON'T GIVE THEM ONE! ♪

Vinny spins happily.

VINNY ♪ And if they are made of extradimensional void energy— ♪

The music stops.

Everyone looks at him.

VINNY Too long?

MAYA Way too long.

Music resumes.

ALL ♪ Ask first! ♪

Big finish.

ACT THREE

INT. ROOM 12 — AFTERNOON

The time machine sits at the back of the classroom.

A sign now reads:

DO NOT TOUCH — MAY UNDO TUESDAY

Benji remains in Room 12.

He holds the big stapler.

BENJI I forgot why I came here.

Theo points.

THEO Stapler.

BENJI Oh yeah.

He starts toward the door.

Then stops.

BENJI Mrs. Dorsey's gonna ask what took so long.

MAYA Tell her you disappeared.

OLIVER Don't tell her that.

BENJI Why not?

OLIVER Because then she'll come in here.

Everyone looks at Vinny.

MAYA Good point.

Benji thinks.

BENJI I'll say I couldn't find the stapler.

Theo points directly at the enormous stapler in Benji’s hands.

BENJI I found it eventually.

He opens the door.

BENJI Bye, Vinny.

VINNY Goodbye, Benji.

Benji pauses.

BENJI Can I wave?

VINNY Yes!

Benji waves.

Vinny wiggles side to side.

BENJI Is that your wave?

VINNY It is now.

Benji smiles.

BENJI Bye!

He leaves.

INT. ROOM 12 — MOMENTS LATER

The kids relax.

Maya looks at the time machine.

MAYA We built a time machine.

THEO Apparently.

OLIVER Out of classroom junk.

LENA And Mr. Fulbher's fan.

Everyone looks at the fan built into the machine.

OLIVER He's gonna notice that.

Maya looks toward Mr. Fulbher’s empty desk.

MAYA Is he?

A beat.

THEO Good point.

The INTERCOM crackles.

SECRETARY (V.O.) Room Twelve?

THEO Yeah?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Has anyone seen Mr. Fulbher?

Everyone sighs.

MAYA No.

SECRETARY (V.O.) He signed in this morning.

OLIVER He was here?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Apparently.

LENA When?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Seven forty-eight.

MAYA What time did he leave?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Seven fifty-one.

The children stare at one another.

THEO Three minutes?

SECRETARY (V.O.) He says he forgot something at home.

MAYA What?

A pause.

SECRETARY (V.O.) He didn't say.

The intercom clicks off.

VINNY Three minutes is not a long time to be at work.

OLIVER For Mr. Fulbher it kind of is.

INT. ROOM 12 — LATER

Theo writes:

PERSONAL BOUNDARIES

on the board.

Vinny watches.

VINNY I think I understand.

THEO Okay.

VINNY A boundary tells someone what you are comfortable with.

LENA Yep.

VINNY And different people have different boundaries.

MAYA Yep.

VINNY So something that feels friendly to one person might not feel friendly to someone else.

Theo smiles.

THEO Exactly.

VINNY Then you ask first.

OLIVER Right.

VINNY And if they say no—

MAYA You stop.

VINNY You do not argue.

LENA Right.

VINNY You do not ask seventeen more times.

OLIVER Definitely not.

VINNY And you do not say, “But I am only being nice.”

The kids look at one another.

MAYA That's a good one.

VINNY Because being nice means listening.

A beat.

Theo nods.

THEO Yeah.

VINNY I am learning people.

MAYA Slowly.

VINNY People are complicated.

OLIVER Also yes.

CLOSING EDUCATIONAL RECAP

A colorful graphic appears.

VINNY’S BIG IDEA

Vinny floats beside the words:

ASK — LISTEN — RESPECT

VINNY Today we learned about personal boundaries.

Lena steps forward.

LENA A boundary is a limit you have about your own body or personal space.

Maya appears.

MAYA Different people like different things.

She gives Lena a high-five.

MAYA Someone might like high-fives—

Oliver enters.

OLIVER But not hugs.

Maya turns to him.

MAYA Hug?

OLIVER No.

MAYA Okay.

VINNY No problem!

Theo appears.

THEO If you want to hug, tickle, grab, or touch someone, it’s a good idea to ask first.

VINNY Then listen to the answer.

BENJI pops into frame.

BENJI And if they say no—

ALL Respect it!

Vinny turns toward Benji.

VINNY May I give you a hug?

Benji looks at him.

BENJI Still no.

VINNY Excellent.

END TAG

INT. ROOM 12 — EVENING

The classroom is empty.

The finished time machine sits at the back of the room.

Its foil shines in the setting sun.

Vinny floats nearby.

He studies it.

VINNY Time machine.

He circles it carefully.

VINNY You brought Benji back.

The classroom door opens slightly.

MR. FULBHER remains completely off-screen.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Anybody seen my desk fan?

Vinny turns.

VINNY HELLO, MR. FULBHER!

A pause.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Oh. You again.

VINNY YES!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) You seen a little fan?

Vinny looks at the time machine.

VINNY It is part of our time machine.

Silence.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Okay.

VINNY WE USED IT TO REVERSE ENTROPY!

A longer silence.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Did it work?

VINNY YES!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Good.

The door starts to close.

VINNY Mr. Fulbher?

The door stops.

VINNY Do you want your fan back?

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Nah.

The door closes.

Vinny turns back toward the machine.

VINNY Mr. Fulbher is very generous.

Vinny drifts backward.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Almost clear—

BUMP.

The edge of Vinny touches the time machine.

FWIP.

The entire machine disappears.

Every wire.

Every piece of foil.

The clock.

The globe.

The fan.

Everything.

A screwdriver drops from where the machine used to be.

Vinny freezes.

Silence.

VINNY Oh.

He stares at the empty space.

VINNY That seems difficult to fix.

From far down the hallway:

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) You find my fan?

Vinny hesitates.

VINNY NO!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) All right.

Vinny waits.

VINNY Personal boundaries.

A beat.

VINNY I should have given the time machine more space.

CUT TO BLACK.

END.

VINNY THE VOID- Episode 102: “DON’T REFUSE TO REUSE!”

Format: Children’s educational comedy Approximate Runtime: 25 minutes Primary Educational Theme: Reducing, reusing, and recycling Secondary Themes: Resource conservation, creative problem-solving, thinking before throwing things away

TEASER

INT. ROOM 12 — MORNING

Room 12 looks a little worse than it did yesterday.

One corner of the chalkboard is still missing from Vinny’s encounter with it. Mr. Fulbher’s broken coffee mug now holds pencils.

Mr. Fulbher himself is nowhere to be seen.

His coat hangs over his chair.

His briefcase sits underneath his desk.

On the chalkboard:

MORNING WORK

Silent reading.

Finish yesterday’s math.

Clean classroom.

Mr. Fulbher will return shortly.

MAYA has added underneath:

HE WROTE THIS YESTERDAY.

At the back of the room, the classroom trash can is overflowing.

Paper towels. Wrappers. Crumpled worksheets. A cereal box. A banana peel. A paper plate.

THEO tries to put another crumpled sheet on top.

It falls off.

THEO It’s full.

MAYA Push it down.

Theo pushes the trash down.

He lets go.

It springs back up.

THEO Still full.

LENA looks toward Mr. Fulbher’s empty desk.

LENA Mr. Fulbher said he was gonna empty it.

OLIVER When?

LENA Friday.

OLIVER It’s Tuesday.

MAYA Maybe he forgot.

OLIVER He forgets everything.

VINNY floats nearby inside the masking-tape circle the class made for him yesterday.

VINNY What is that?

He gestures, as much as a featureless black sphere can gesture, toward the trash can.

THEO Trash.

VINNY What is trash?

MAYA Stuff you don’t want.

VINNY Why do you put it in there?

LENA Because it’s garbage.

VINNY Where does it go?

The kids pause.

MAYA Outside.

VINNY Then what?

Another pause.

THEO A truck takes it.

VINNY Where?

MAYA To the dump.

OLIVER Or a landfill.

VINNY And what happens there?

The kids look at one another.

MAYA It... sits there?

Theo shrugs.

THEO Pretty much.

Vinny studies the overflowing trash can.

VINNY People make a lot of things they do not want.

MAYA Yeah.

A beat.

Maya suddenly looks at Vinny.

Then at the trash.

Then back at Vinny.

MAYA Wait.

Oliver immediately looks worried.

OLIVER What?

Maya picks up a crumpled piece of paper.

MAYA Vinny makes stuff disappear.

OLIVER Maya—

MAYA And trash is stuff we want to disappear.

Theo’s eyes widen.

THEO Oh.

OLIVER No.

MAYA Why not?

OLIVER Remember the calculator?

MAYA Yeah. It disappeared.

OLIVER Exactly!

MAYA That’s the point!

She holds up the paper.

MAYA This is garbage.

She tosses it gently.

The paper touches Vinny.

FWIP.

Gone.

Everyone stares.

VINNY What happened?

MAYA You ate it!

VINNY I do not eat.

THEO You erased it.

Vinny thinks.

VINNY Was I supposed to?

Maya looks at the overflowing trash can.

A giant grin spreads across her face.

MAYA Vinny, you are the best trash can ever.

VINNY I am a trash can?

MAYA Kind of!

VINNY Wonderful!

OLIVER I don’t think this is wonderful.

QUICK MONTAGE

Cheerful music.

Maya tosses Vinny a candy wrapper.

FWIP.

THEO Broken pencil!

FWIP.

LENA Used napkin!

FWIP.

VINNY Trash! Trash! Trash!

The trash can rapidly empties.

MAYA Old worksheet!

FWIP.

THEO Broken eraser!

FWIP.

LENA Empty chip bag!

FWIP.

Oliver watches with his arms folded.

MAYA reaches into the trash and pulls out an empty aluminum soda can.

MAYA Can!

She tosses it.

FWIP.

Gone.

OLIVER Hey! That was recyclable!

Everything stops.

Vinny stops spinning.

Maya looks at Oliver.

MAYA It was what?

OLIVER Recyclable.

THEO What does that mean?

OLIVER It means it goes in the blue bin.

MAYA Why?

OLIVER Because...

Oliver thinks.

OLIVER Because you recycle it.

MAYA What’s recycling?

Oliver opens his mouth.

Then closes it.

OLIVER I know where the bin is.

Lena laughs.

LENA So you don’t know either.

OLIVER Not really.

Everyone looks at Vinny.

Vinny looks back.

VINNY Do I know?

THEO Do you?

VINNY No!

A beat.

VINNY Let’s find out!

He spins excitedly.

His edge brushes the plastic trash can.

Half the trash can disappears.

The rest falls over.

Everyone stares.

VINNY Oh.

OLIVER Great.

CUT TO TITLE SEQUENCE.

OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE

The usual bright, cheerful theme.

Vinny floats through animated educational scenes with the children.

He studies books.

He examines plants.

He watches Theo solve a math problem.

He gets too close to a stack of blocks.

One disappears.

Everyone laughs.

SONG

CHILDREN (SINGING) ♪ There’s so much in the world to know, ♪ ♪ So many places we can go! ♪ ♪ We’ll count and read and laugh and play, ♪ ♪ And learn a little every day! ♪

VINNY (SINGING) ♪ I came from somewhere very far— ♪

MAYA (SINGING) ♪ We’re still not sure exactly where you are! ♪

CHILDREN (SINGING) ♪ Ask a question, try something new, ♪ ♪ There’s always more for us to do! ♪

VINNY AND CHILDREN ♪ Come learn with Vinny! ♪

TITLE CARD:

VINNY THE VOID

A little recycling symbol tumbles past Vinny.

Vinny starts moving toward it.

OLIVER (O.S.) Vinny!

Vinny stops.

VINNY Right.

ACT ONE

INT. ROOM 12 — MORNING

The children are gathered around the classroom’s BLUE RECYCLING BIN.

It contains some paper and an empty tissue box.

Vinny floats nearby inside his VINNY ZONE.

Oliver points at the recycling symbol.

OLIVER This is where Mr. Fulbher says the recycling goes.

MAYA Mr. Fulbher puts his coffee cups in there.

THEO Are those recyclable?

Oliver looks inside.

OLIVER I don’t know.

LENA Maybe he doesn’t either.

Everyone considers that.

MAYA Probably not.

Vinny studies the recycling symbol.

VINNY Why are the arrows going in a triangle?

THEO That means recycling.

VINNY What is recycling?

Theo pulls out a sheet of paper.

THEO I think it means you can use stuff again.

MAYA Like this paper?

THEO Sort of.

Oliver points at the place where the soda can disappeared.

OLIVER And cans.

Vinny lowers slightly.

VINNY I made the can disappear.

LENA You didn’t know.

VINNY Can I bring it back?

THEO Can you?

VINNY No.

A beat.

VINNY I thought maybe the answer had changed.

Maya smiles.

MAYA It didn’t.

Theo goes to the classroom bookshelf marked:

SCIENCE

He pulls down a children’s book about garbage and recycling.

VINNY A book!

MAYA Stay back.

Vinny immediately floats backward.

VINNY A far-away book!

Theo opens it.

CLOSE ON BOOK

A garbage truck dumps trash into a landfill.

THEO It says garbage trucks take trash to places called landfills.

MAYA The dump.

OLIVER A landfill.

MAYA The dump with a better name.

THEO And the trash stays there.

VINNY Forever?

Theo shrugs.

THEO A really long time.

Vinny looks at the trash pile.

VINNY That is a lot of trash.

Theo turns the page.

There are pictures of trees, rocks, factories, oil wells, and bottles.

THEO Look.

He points.

THEO Paper comes from trees.

MAYA I knew that.

THEO Metal comes from stuff in the ground.

OLIVER Rocks.

MAYA Metal rocks.

OLIVER Sure.

THEO And plastic has to be made too.

VINNY So somebody had to make everything in the trash.

LENA Yeah.

VINNY Even the can?

THEO Yeah.

VINNY And now the can is gone.

The kids are quiet.

VINNY I do not think I helped the can.

MAYA Well, you helped us get rid of it.

OLIVER But now nobody can use it again.

Theo nods.

THEO That’s probably why recycling matters.

INT. ROOM 12 — MOMENTS LATER

Theo writes three big words on the board:

REDUCE

REUSE

RECYCLE

Vinny reads them slowly.

VINNY Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

MAYA Three R’s.

Theo points to RECYCLE.

THEO Okay. Recycling first.

Lena picks up an empty aluminum can from someone’s lunch.

LENA Not this one, Vinny.

VINNY I remember.

Theo holds up the can.

THEO If we throw this in the trash, it goes away.

MAYA Unless Vinny gets it.

OLIVER Still goes away.

THEO Right.

He puts it in the blue bin.

THEO But if we recycle it, the metal can be used again.

VINNY As another can?

THEO Maybe.

LENA Or something else metal.

VINNY So the metal does not have to be new.

THEO Right.

Vinny spins happily.

VINNY I understand cans!

MAYA Mostly.

Theo picks up a sheet of paper.

THEO Paper can be recycled too.

LENA They make new paper out of old paper.

VINNY How?

Theo looks at the book.

THEO They mash it up.

MAYA That sounds fun.

THEO Then they make new paper from it.

VINNY Old paper becomes new paper.

THEO Yep.

Maya picks up a plastic yogurt cup.

MAYA What about this?

Oliver looks underneath.

OLIVER My mom always checks the number.

MAYA Why?

OLIVER I don’t know. She just does.

Theo looks in the book.

THEO It says different places recycle different kinds of plastic.

MAYA That’s annoying.

OLIVER Yeah.

THEO So you’re supposed to check what your town takes.

VINNY People made different plastics?

THEO Yeah.

VINNY Why?

Everyone shrugs.

MAYA People like making stuff complicated.

INT. ROOM 12 — CONTINUOUS

Vinny studies the board.

VINNY What is reduce?

MAYA Make something smaller.

VINNY I can do that!

He floats toward a desk.

OLIVER No!

Vinny stops.

OLIVER Not like that!

Theo laughs.

THEO It means use less stuff.

VINNY Less?

Lena holds up her reusable water bottle.

LENA Like this. I keep using the same bottle instead of getting a new one all the time.

VINNY One bottle many times.

LENA Yep.

Oliver grabs a huge fistful of paper towels from the classroom roll.

OLIVER Or this.

He sets them down.

Then takes just one.

OLIVER If you only need one, don’t take ten.

MAYA Mr. Fulbher takes like fourteen.

OLIVER I know.

Theo writes:

USE LESS

under REDUCE.

VINNY If you use less, there is less trash later.

THEO Exactly.

VINNY I like reduce.

OLIVER Normal reduce.

VINNY Normal reduce.

Vinny looks at REUSE.

VINNY And reuse?

MAYA Use it again.

Theo picks up a cardboard box.

THEO If we recycle this, they break it down and make new cardboard.

Maya grabs it.

MAYA But if we reuse it—

She puts it on her head.

MAYA Helmet.

OLIVER That is a terrible helmet.

MAYA Still using it again.

Lena takes the box off Maya’s head and puts pencils in it.

LENA Pencil box.

VINNY The box is still a box.

THEO Right.

MAYA It just has a new job.

Vinny reads the board again.

VINNY Reduce.

THEO Use less.

VINNY Reuse.

LENA Use it again.

VINNY Recycle.

OLIVER Make something new out of the old stuff.

Vinny pauses.

VINNY And make it disappear forever?

Maya thinks.

MAYA Probably last.

Oliver nods.

OLIVER Very last.

VINNY I am last.

MAYA For trash.

VINNY I am last for trash.

ACT TWO

INT. ROOM 12 — LATER

The classroom door opens.

Nobody enters.

A HAND puts a big black garbage bag inside.

The hand disappears.

The door closes.

The kids stare.

VINNY Was that Mr. Fulbher?

MAYA Too fast.

Theo looks at a note taped to the bag.

THEO It’s from the office.

He reads.

THEO “Mr. Fulbher left this in the teachers’ lounge. Please sort it for the school waste project.”

MAYA Where is he?

LENA I saw him this morning.

Everyone looks at her.

MAYA You saw Mr. Fulbher?

LENA Through the window.

THEO Where was he going?

LENA To the parking lot.

OLIVER Maybe he was getting something from his car.

LENA He drove away.

A beat.

MAYA Oh.

Theo looks at Mr. Fulbher’s coat.

THEO He left his coat again.

MAYA He always leaves his coat.

Oliver points at the garbage bag.

OLIVER We are not opening that.

Maya is already untying it.

OLIVER Of course.

She dumps the contents onto a plastic table.

Nothing disgusting.

A newspaper.

A cardboard tube.

A plastic bottle.

An aluminum can.

A banana peel.

An old notebook.

A glass jar.

A broken toy truck.

A paper bag.

A plastic fork.

A shipping box.

An old T-shirt.

A sock.

A huge wad of paper.

VINNY So much trash!

MAYA Maybe.

VINNY Maybe?

Theo finds another note.

THEO There’s a question.

He reads.

THEO “How much of this really belongs in the trash?”

Vinny looks at the pile.

VINNY I do not know.

MAYA Good. Neither do we.

EDUCATIONAL SEGMENT — “BEFORE YOU THROW IT AWAY”

Bright music begins.

Four colorful signs appear:

REDUCE

REUSE

RECYCLE

TRASH

Vinny floats nearby.

VINNY Let us sort the trash that might not be trash!

Maya picks up the aluminum can.

VINNY gasps.

VINNY Can!

MAYA Do not eat this one.

VINNY I do not eat.

MAYA You know what I mean.

She puts it under RECYCLE.

DING!

MAYA Recycle!

Theo picks up the newspaper.

THEO Paper.

ALL Recycle!

DING!

Lena holds up the cardboard tube.

LENA Cardboard.

ALL Recycle!

DING!

Vinny floats toward the banana peel.

VINNY Recycle!

BUZZER.

VINNY Oh.

Maya laughs.

MAYA Not in that bin.

THEO Food can sometimes be composted.

VINNY What is compost?

Theo thinks.

THEO Food scraps turn into stuff that’s good for dirt.

MAYA Like super dirt.

OLIVER That is not exactly—

MAYA Good enough.

Vinny studies the banana peel.

VINNY The banana becomes super dirt.

THEO Sort of.

Maya places it beneath a new sign:

COMPOST

Oliver points.

OLIVER Our school doesn’t actually compost.

MAYA Maybe it should.

Theo picks up the glass jar.

THEO Recycle?

Lena takes it.

LENA Wait. It’s still good.

She puts pencils in it.

LENA Reuse.

DING!

VINNY You saved the jar!

LENA Yep.

VINNY Good job, jar.

Maya holds up the cardboard shipping box.

MAYA Recycle?

Theo opens it.

THEO We could put art stuff in it.

MAYA Reuse.

DING!

Vinny spins happily.

VINNY Again!

Oliver picks up the plastic bottle.

OLIVER This one can go in our recycling.

He places it under RECYCLE.

DING!

Lena picks up the old T-shirt.

LENA This is ripped.

MAYA Trash?

Lena looks at it.

LENA My mom uses old shirts to clean stuff.

THEO Then reuse.

DING!

Vinny is delighted.

VINNY Nothing is trash!

Oliver picks up the broken toy truck.

OLIVER This is.

VINNY Why?

OLIVER It’s broken.

Vinny pauses.

VINNY Can it be fixed?

The kids look at the truck.

Maya grabs it.

MAYA The wheel just came off.

She pushes the wheel back on.

CLICK.

She rolls it across the table.

It works.

MAYA Fixed.

VINNY REUSE!

DING!

VINNY I am learning trash!

OLIVER You are learning what isn’t trash.

VINNY Even better.

INT. ROOM 12 — CONTINUOUS

Only a few things remain.

A dirty wrapper.

A broken plastic fork.

A tiny ripped piece of plastic.

Theo looks at them.

THEO Okay. These might actually be trash.

Vinny perks up.

VINNY Is it my turn?

Oliver checks the recycling guide.

OLIVER The wrapper doesn’t go in our recycling.

MAYA Can we reuse it?

Everyone looks at the sticky wrapper.

LENA Ew.

THEO Probably not.

Maya picks it up by one corner.

MAYA Okay, Vinny.

She tosses it.

FWIP.

Gone.

Vinny waits.

VINNY Did I do it right?

THEO Yeah.

VINNY I am useful!

MAYA You’re the emergency trash can.

VINNY Emergency trash can.

OLIVER That sounds safer.

SONG: “DON’T REFUSE TO REUSE!”

A bouncy, upbeat rhythm begins.

Maya holds up the cardboard box.

MAYA (SINGING) ♪ Before you throw that box away, ♪ ♪ Think of something else today! ♪

Lena puts art supplies inside it.

LENA (SINGING) ♪ A jar can hold your pens and glue, ♪ ♪ Old things can find a job that’s new! ♪

Vinny bounces in time.

VINNY (SINGING) ♪ If you can use it one more time, ♪ ♪ Keeping it around can work out fine! ♪

OLIVER (SINGING) ♪ So don’t just throw away and choose ♪ ♪ The nearest trash can— ♪

ALL ♪ DON’T REFUSE TO REUSE! ♪

CHORUS

ALL (SINGING) ♪ Reduce what you need, ♪ ♪ Reuse what you can, ♪ ♪ Recycle the rest ♪ ♪ With a thoughtful plan! ♪

♪ Don’t waste a bottle, ♪ ♪ A box, or your shoes, ♪ ♪ Before you throw it out— ♪ ♪ DON’T REFUSE TO REUSE! ♪

Vinny floats beside the old T-shirt.

VINNY (SINGING) ♪ A shirt with a tear— ♪

LENA ♪ Could become a rag! ♪

VINNY ♪ A box from the mail— ♪

THEO ♪ Could hold a bag! ♪

MAYA Why would a box hold a bag?

THEO I needed a rhyme.

The music keeps going.

Maya holds up the glass jar.

MAYA (SINGING) ♪ A jar can hold buttons! ♪

OLIVER ♪ Or pencils or screws! ♪

VINNY ♪ So many things can be— ♪

ALL ♪ REUSED! ♪

Vinny gets excited and drifts too close to a pile.

ALL Vinny!

Vinny stops.

VINNY I remembered!

ALL ♪ Reduce what you need, ♪ ♪ Reuse what you can, ♪ ♪ Recycle the rest ♪ ♪ With a thoughtful plan! ♪

VINNY ♪ And if it really is trash— ♪

The kids point toward Vinny.

VINNY ♪ Then maybe it’s me! ♪

The music stops.

MAYA That didn’t rhyme.

VINNY I am learning songs too.

Music resumes.

ALL ♪ DON’T REFUSE TO REUSE! ♪

Big finish.

ACT THREE

INT. ROOM 12 — AFTERNOON

The classroom has become a reuse workshop.

Clean boxes, paper tubes, jars, scrap paper, string, and old folders cover several tables.

Vinny floats in his safe zone.

A sign hangs nearby:

PROJECT HELPER

MAYA looks at the half-destroyed classroom trash can.

MAYA We need a new trash can.

Vinny lowers slightly.

VINNY I broke that.

OLIVER Yeah.

VINNY Sorry.

Theo looks at a large cardboard box.

THEO We could use this.

Oliver shakes his head.

OLIVER For garbage? It'll get gross.

Lena grabs it.

LENA What about recycling?

Theo looks at it.

THEO That works.

They begin decorating it.

Maya writes:

ROOM 12 RECYCLING

Lena draws the recycling symbol.

VINNY You made a recycling bin out of something you already had.

THEO Reuse.

VINNY And then you put recycling inside it.

MAYA Yep.

VINNY Two R’s!

Vinny spins.

VINNY Can we do three?

The kids think.

Oliver notices a pile of used worksheets.

He flips one over.

OLIVER The back is blank.

THEO We can use it for scratch paper.

MAYA That’s reuse.

OLIVER And we don’t have to get new paper.

LENA Reduce.

THEO Then when both sides are full, we recycle it.

Vinny bounces.

VINNY THREE R’S!

The kids cheer.

INT. ROOM 12 — LATER

The intercom crackles.

SECRETARY (V.O.) Room Twelve?

MAYA Yeah?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Has Mr. Fulbher come back?

The kids look at his empty chair.

THEO Nope.

SECRETARY (V.O.) Hmm.

MAYA Did he say where he went?

SECRETARY (V.O.) No.

OLIVER That sounds like him.

SECRETARY (V.O.) Principal Watkins needs him to fill out the faculty recycling survey.

The kids look at one another.

MAYA picks up one of Mr. Fulbher’s dirty disposable coffee cups from the recycling bin.

MAYA Mr. Fulbher?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Yes.

MAYA For recycling?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Yes.

The children look at the coffee cup.

Coffee drips out the bottom.

THEO Why him?

SECRETARY (V.O.) He’s the classroom recycling coordinator.

Silence.

OLIVER He is?

SECRETARY (V.O.) He volunteered in 2007.

MAYA Does he know that?

A long pause.

SECRETARY (V.O.) I’m not sure.

THEO When is the survey due?

SECRETARY (V.O.) Last Thursday.

The intercom clicks off.

Vinny turns toward the kids.

VINNY What does a recycling coordinator do?

MAYA Apparently not much.

INT. ROOM 12 — MOMENTS LATER

Vinny looks at all the things the class saved.

The aluminum can.

The jar.

The box.

The repaired truck.

The old shirt.

VINNY I have a question.

Theo looks up.

THEO What?

VINNY Why not give all the trash to me?

The kids pause.

VINNY Then there is no landfill.

MAYA That’s true.

VINNY No garbage truck.

THEO Also true.

VINNY No pile of trash.

The kids think.

Vinny waits.

Oliver picks up the aluminum can.

OLIVER But then the can is gone.

VINNY Yes.

OLIVER And if we need another can, we need more metal.

Theo nods.

THEO But if we recycle this one, we can use its metal again.

Vinny looks at the can.

VINNY So you already have the metal.

THEO Right.

Lena picks up the cardboard box.

LENA And if we reuse this, we don’t even need another box yet.

Maya looks at Vinny.

MAYA If you eat everything—

VINNY Erase.

MAYA If you erase everything, we just have to make more stuff.

VINNY Ah.

Theo points to the board.

REDUCE → REUSE → RECYCLE → TRASH

THEO So first we try not to waste stuff.

LENA Then use it again if we can.

OLIVER Then recycle it if it can be recycled.

MAYA And if it’s really trash—

She points at Vinny.

MAYA Then maybe you.

Vinny rises proudly.

VINNY I am the last trash can!

OLIVER Maybe just “last choice.”

VINNY I am the last choice!

MAYA You seem really happy about that.

VINNY I have a job.

INT. ROOM 12 — LATE AFTERNOON

The classroom is cleaner.

The new cardboard recycling bin sits beside the half-trash-can.

Reused jars hold pencils, crayons, brushes, and scissors.

The repaired toy truck sits on a shelf.

The old T-shirt has become cleaning rags.

Blank backs of used worksheets sit in a tray marked:

SCRATCH PAPER

Vinny looks around proudly.

VINNY We made less trash.

THEO Yep.

VINNY And I did not erase very much.

OLIVER Also good.

VINNY Things that looked useless were not useless.

LENA Sometimes they just need a new job.

VINNY Reuse.

Maya points to the aluminum can.

MAYA And some stuff can turn into new stuff.

VINNY Recycle.

Oliver holds up one paper towel.

OLIVER And don’t take more than you need.

VINNY Reduce!

The kids cheer.

VINNY Test me!

Theo points to the cardboard box.

THEO Reuse.

VINNY Use it again!

Lena holds up the can.

LENA Recycle.

VINNY Make something new from the old stuff!

Oliver holds up one paper towel, then a giant wad.

OLIVER Reduce.

VINNY Do not take the giant wad!

Everyone laughs.

Maya notices a stack of dusty workbooks by Mr. Fulbher’s desk.

MAYA What are those?

Theo reads the cover.

THEO “Mathematics Skills Practice, 1998 Edition.”

Lena opens one.

LENA They’re empty.

MAYA Why does he have so many?

OLIVER Maybe they’ve been here since 1998.

VINNY Reuse!

Theo flips through.

THEO I guess we could.

He stops.

THEO This question says, “A cassette tape costs eight dollars and ninety-nine cents.”

MAYA What’s a cassette tape?

The kids all look confused.

VINNY What is a cassette tape?

Theo shrugs.

THEO Ask Mr. Fulbher.

Everyone looks at the empty desk.

A beat.

MAYA We’re never finding out.

CLOSING EDUCATIONAL RECAP

A bright graphic appears:

VINNY’S BIG IDEA

Vinny floats beside three giant letters:

R R R

VINNY Today we learned three ways to make less trash!

Theo appears under the first R.

REDUCE

THEO Reduce means use less.

He holds up a reusable water bottle.

THEO If you don’t use something you don’t need, you don’t have to throw it away later.

Lena appears beneath the second R.

REUSE

LENA Reuse means use something again.

She holds up the jar filled with crayons.

LENA This jar used to hold food.

VINNY Now it holds colors!

Maya appears beneath the third R.

RECYCLE

MAYA Recycle means old materials can be turned into new things.

She holds up the aluminum can.

MAYA Stuff like cans, paper, cardboard, glass, and some kinds of plastic can often be recycled.

Oliver enters holding the classroom recycling guide.

OLIVER But not every place takes the same stuff, so check first.

Vinny floats between them.

VINNY Before you throw something away, ask—

Words appear one at a time.

DO I NEED IT?

CAN I USE IT AGAIN?

CAN I RECYCLE IT?

VINNY And if the answer is no—

Maya points at him.

MAYA Maybe Vinny.

VINNY Maybe Vinny!

Theo smiles.

THEO You’re getting pretty good at this.

VINNY I am almost a teacher.

MAYA Almost.

Vinny starts drifting toward the recycling bin.

ALL Vinny!

He stops.

VINNY I was only looking.

END TAG

INT. ROOM 12 — EVENING

The children have gone home.

Sunlight shines orange through the classroom windows.

Vinny floats alone near Mr. Fulbher’s desk.

The classroom door opens.

We do not see Mr. Fulbher.

Only the edge of the doorway.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Anybody seen my coffee cup?

Vinny turns.

VINNY HELLO, MR. FULBHER!

Silence.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Who’s that?

VINNY VINNY!

A long pause.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Are you new?

VINNY YES!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Okay.

Vinny waits.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) You seen my coffee cup?

Vinny looks at the recycling bin.

Inside are several of Mr. Fulbher’s disposable cups.

VINNY We learned that dirty coffee cups might not belong in the recycling bin!

Another pause.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Huh.

VINNY WE LEARNED ABOUT REDUCING, REUSING, AND RECYCLING!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Sounds good.

Vinny rises happily.

VINNY THANK YOU!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) You teaching tomorrow?

Vinny pauses.

VINNY I think so!

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Great.

The door starts to close.

VINNY Mr. Fulbher?

The door stops.

VINNY Would you like me to teach you about recycling?

A very long silence.

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Can’t. Dentist appointment.

The door closes.

Vinny waits.

VINNY At night?

From far down the hallway:

MR. FULBHER (O.S.) Late dentist.

Vinny thinks.

VINNY Mr. Fulbher is very busy.

He floats to the chalkboard.

Written there:

REDUCE

REUSE

RECYCLE

Using a piece of chalk held in a little clamp, Vinny carefully writes:

DON’T REFUSE TO REUSE!

He admires it.

VINNY Perfect.

The chalk slips from the clamp.

It touches Vinny.

FWIP.

Gone.

VINNY Almost perfect.

CUT TO BLACK.

END.

There are a few people that I told I'm using this for my day-to-day need/urge to write and not completely draw into myself. Most get it. One doesn't (😹👋). Recently, that person reached out and asked if I'd participate in something on social media. I said, “Thank you, but no.” On the flipside, another person who has no idea this exists asked me if I'd participate in something and I said, “Yes.” and sent along what was needed. What is the difference between the two asks?

I don't do strategic reciprocity to elicit followers and/or likes. I can't stand performative empathy. And if the math don't math, the math don't math. There's nothing wrong when people are transparent about that being what they are doing, but it offends my creative soul because I think it sucks the essence of creativity out of the act. I'm not fond of the whole distribution mechanism of corporate creativity either. It all feeds into an illusion that bleeds the souls of those who crave to be seen and heard.

I find it offensive. I'm sure there's plenty of persons who start out with good intentions. It's hard to know what's happening until you're already doggy paddling in the deep end after all. But once you do know, what you do with the knowledge is on you. There is no right or wrong answer, as people have the right to work the system however they want. It's absolutely not organic, interested engagement though.

For myself, I don't want that. Even if it got me a million followers. I'd take ten interested any day over the million. I do have to acknowledge that with that high a number there'd likely be more interested than ten, but would it be sincere interest or fade like mob-driven interest? That is the question.

Yes, yes. I said the parts out loud we've made a social contract to keep quiet. Oh, well. I've upset people with my opinions before, and I'm sure I will again. That sort of goes along with having an opinion.

It makes me very grateful for having established my love of all things creative before I stepped behind various curtains. When young and competing, I fully believed the stage fair and skill-based. I was absolutely blind to every machination out there. Whether that be a positive or negative, it taught me the complex depths of having a creative soul, and it gave me the discipline and spirit to develop it. I don't know what I might have done had I seen behind the curtain too early.

It is true that each of us are different persons with different needs and wants. I doubt social media lines up with most persons needs and wants when they're honest with themselves about what it actually is. I could certainly be wrong, but in this case I hope I'm not, because that'd be soul-sucking awful.

© 2026 AnOublietteofThought. All rights reserved.

October 2026 Update

“Time passes not, but in it passes the existence of the changeable.”

Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure Reason

October is here and I am not sure where September went. It seems as we get older the months and years go faster and faster, and yet the days feel longer. I am consistently exhausted and stretched, and I am not sure whether that is because I am living well and being productive, or because I am hurrying and hurrying and trying to fit everything in. I think the reason it is so hard for any of us to slow down and enjoy life is because we constantly have a vision of what we are missing scrolling in front of us. We never give ourselves the time to meditate on and enjoy our passions and joys without wondering whether we are doing it the right way or getting the most out of it or spending the right amount of money on it. I think this is obvious to us. We all know we are hurrying, which exposes the fallacy that enlightenment is all it takes to help a person change their ways. The alcoholic is usually the one most aware of how they are ruining their own life. How to change? I can only speak for myself, but finding excuses to leave my phone in the car or in the couch and forget about it has been a good step. Just not having it in my pocket or right next to me or even in the same room helps a lot. But really, just discipline, because I still need to use the computer every day and the web browser is right there. Browsing guitar pedals/amps on the internet can be just as harmful because it wastes time and keeps me from my real guitar, to say nothing of emails news and messages and Substack and Medium etc. My mind needs time and space disconnected from it all in order to be able to breathe. It is amazing how hard it can be to do nothing.

Writing

I have a second draft of my novel completed. I just need to read through it from the beginning and see how it flows cover to cover. Once I do that, if I am happy with it, I guess it will be time to move onto querying. I also have a few close friends and family members who I want to send it to. I don’t know if I’ll do any kind of beta reading or not. I am also working on an essay about C.S. Lewis’s Abolition of Man and how it relates to the AI future garbage fire we’re all anxious about. It is proving to be kind of a wild ride. It has been helpful for me and my thinking, but I am not sure how helpful it will be for others.

Music

I really have not been disciplined about recording. I have been playing almost daily, but not exactly good practice, just noodling and jamming and having fun. Nothing wrong with that, but I do want to get going on my long overdue Lit Song demos. My problem is unreasonable expectations for the sound quality, because I am not recording in a treated studio and I really am an amateur. I guess I could pay to go to a real studio, but I would need to really practice my songs so I could keep it affordable. I also enjoy the learning process of recording, and it is really rewarding when I can get something to sound good. I’ve also got a lot of podcast editing to do.

We also just got back from visiting my wife’s family, and we came back with a pair of speakers and a receiver that I was able to hook up to a CD player. It sounds really good. I played some familiar music and was able to hear a lot more details than I’ve heard on headphones (even good ones) or on any Bluetooth speaker. The crazy thing is that people treat vintage audio equipment like junk nowadays (unless it’s been scooped up or YouTubed about by the audiophiles), but it sounds so much better than the new crap being sold today. If you wanted to listen to music in the 70s-90s, you had to get a receiver and bookshelf speakers for your home audio setup. They last longer, each piece does one thing but does it well, and the speakers are bigger and louder and more detailed. No matter how good the little four inch doodads sound, they just can’t compare. It is really strange to me how most of us are listening to music on really cruddy speakers (laptop, airpods, mini Bluetooth) compared to forty years ago. Perhaps I am romanticizing a bit, because nowadays sound is much more accessible than it was, but once you’ve heard good vintage style speakers that you could get for less than the cost of a couple crappy smart speakers which are unrepairable and designed for obsolescence (even though you can absolutely spend a fortune on old speakers, if you want to), it is hard to go back. Yes, it is less convenient, and it takes up more space, and there is a little bit of a learning curve to setting it up; but it is worth it in my opinion, and it will outlast you.

This brings me to something else I want to do in October, which is listen to music mindfully. Back in the day, people used to have listening parties when new albums came out. They wouldn’t be playing games or watching TV (or driving in the car), they would just be listening to the music. And I want to take this opportunity I have with this speaker setup to just sit and listen. Even if you don’t have nice speakers or even nice headphones, I think we can all benefit from just being able to close our eyes and listen to a track. I recommend this pair of $25 IEMs if you don’t have an audio setup, since they reproduce sound really accurately and they’re cheap and they work with anything (you can choose the USB-C version if you don’t have a headphone jack). But there is also grace with audio, because some of the most important listening experiences I’ve ever had have come almost free. And even if you don’t get the chance to do it as often because you have to make space to just sit and listen and not worry about who might call or text you, that makes it more important and more special. We can absolutely go the other way, where we are always listening to something, which can be just as harmful.

Reading

Well that was a long rant, but these updates are more for me than anybody else anyway. Thanks for reading if you still are! Last month I finished In Dubious Battle and I liked it a lot. I might have to read Grapes of Wrath again. I am also starting The Fellowship of the Ring because Eric and I are doing our LOTR reread for the podcast. I also have the books I have always been reading for a while (City of God, 死神永生, Critique of Pure Reason). I am actually almost done with 死神永生 and should finish it this month if I keep up with my page a day. I don’t know what Chinese book I will read after that, but I should line something up so I don’t lapse. Languages are another area where I feel like I’ve been falling behind. I keep in touch with Chinese, but I don’t do enough real study and practice to progress at a meaningful pace. I could be underrating myself, but there are other languages too, like Spanish and Latin that I really want to learn and I haven’t been successful at making the time. All the carrot and stick methods aren’t going to help. Heck, I haven’t even had much time to play video games, much less the time for other projects. Hurry, hurry, hurry. When was the last time you did something, not for its cognitive or social benefits, but just for the pure joy? I’m trying to write a sonnet about all this hurry. I wish I had an answer.

Let’s randomly connect this back to the Kant quote at the beginning. “Time passes not.” Though we perceive it as a rushing river, time is in fact a constant. This idea is not so unfamiliar because of pop physics, but I think it is no less mind warping. “In it passes the existence of the changeable.” If there is one thing tech has done for us it has made us more changeable. We don’t have to wait to learn new skills or hobbies or information because we can look things up instantly, and so our sense of self seems to be constantly in flux. Perhaps this is why the language we use for disconnecting often has to do with time. “I need to get off my phone and slow down.” It feels fast to us because the rate of development in the digital world moves so much faster than the physical realm. Changeability equals speed. Yet we can also use the changeability of technology to halt our own changeability. We access talking heads and data and interpretations of reality itself that confirm our biases. But the “unchangeability” won by that kind of screen use is an illusion, isn't it? All the while there are dark patterns that are changing us as we use them. We are being sold and led towards extremism and outrage and indolence and anger and lust and a loss of self control and discipline. Even if we feel like all our opinions are being corroborated and our way of life confirmed, it is the way of life that the deceptive patterns of bad faith tech has conditioned us for. All this contained by time as our existence passes within it.

#update #October #2026

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Thank you for reading! I greatly regret that I will most likely never be able to meet you in person and shake your hand, but perhaps we can virtually shake hands via my newsletter, social media, or a cup of coffee sent over the wire. They are poor substitutes, but they can be a real grace in this intractable world.

---

Send me a kind word or a cup of coffee:

Buy Me a Coffee | Listen to My Music | Listen to My Podcast | Follow Me on Mastodon | Read With Me on Bookwyrm | Connect With Me on Substack

I only almost fell once. I might be getting the hang of it.

In celebration of my sleeping sanctuary back in place, I thought I'd write a poem to whatever music was playing at the time. Kiltro it is.

———

A Scoured Sailing

Roll headwind over nailing crumbs. Drown spigot's grief to float. Scratch two sticks stern in chastised dump. Wreak havoc with aplomb.

Ring suds to soap last Tuesday. Muse wreckage into Morse. All abound the dangling We, Death sleets to scale off coarse.

© 2026 AnOublietteofThought. All rights reserved.

https://youtu.be/wTf05GKwTIg?is=rsB4l2xWaG9Cg2RD2Stzc8pKwle53

Taro Reading and any spiritual practices—are exercises in humility too. I shuffled the deck a few times because I had the impression that this new deck of mine had a predominantly “air” vibe, and guess what? In spite of my ego’s interruption, the same cards revealed themselves anyway. I kid you not. And I did shuffle those cards. It was always Wands. All three times—and The World. There might have been the Judgment card in the one re-shuffle, but it was always meant to have The World and lots of wands. This deck has a lot of fire energy. I love that the spread was bookended by 2 Major Arcana cards. Beginning with Justice, the subconscious bubbling up to the surface only to end in The World (associated with earth energies) and The Spirit Realm. Divine connection.

I asked, Any last words? The bonus card that I pulled was the Ace of Cups. The artwork shows an arched window frame. Within it a golden cup (The Holy Grail) floating on it’s own in front of a backdrop of a blue sky, with 5 streams of water flowing out of it. A feather floats right above the cup. Beneath the cup, a hand is reaching from the backdrop, revealing a bit of the galaxy/the night sky behind the curtain. It’s time to feel all five senses. Divine. Peace. Love. Resolution. Awakening.

That’s 1 air card, 4 fire cards, 1 earth card, and 1 bonus water card..

This deck does feel very much like where I am right now. There is always more to know, but I do know myself well enough to carry on and continue my practices. In spite of all the chaos and uncertainty, I feel very grounded in my body, in the unity and oneness in everything. The next moment is connected to what came before it and so on. I see the thread and consequences. The cause and effect.

All is one. As above, so below. As below, so above.

I love that I get to talk all about the woo here, without fear.

#daily #taro #newdeck

In Thornbury the other Saturday I picked out ‘Round Midnight (1961) by Dakota Staton from a charity shop record bin. It’s the sort of album that, a decade ago, one could have bought for less than a pound; the British Heart Foundation got a fiver out of me for this copy. I ought to have taken a closer look at the vinyl before purchasing: in record collecting parlance one could say the disc was in fair to good condition, which is to say it was quite badly scratched and otherwise distressed – so I definitely overpaid. Still, behind all the surface noise was a very good album I enjoyed hearing, and I’ll be on the lookout now for a better copy of it.

The album opens with its title track, Thelonious Monk’s renowned ballad embellished with Bernie Hanighen’s lyrics, and served up here in an arrangement by Benny Carter. Staton does a terrific job with it, moving from subdued phrases evoking the spirit of Billie Holiday to momentarily peak at a clear & powerful full belt before bringing it back down again. The record continues in suitably nocturnal mood, with a couple of uptempo numbers amid the torch songs.

---

An arrival in the post on Thursday: a magnificent & costly book which surely would be of interest to hardly anyone. This was Fine Papers at the Oxford University Press by John Bidwell, published in an edition of 300 copies at John and Rosalind Randle’s Whittington Press in 1999. It tells the story of deluxe publishing and fine letterpress printing at the OUP, which peaked in the ‘20s and ‘30s, and continued in a smaller way after WWII. When the University’s print department closed, its remaining stocks of hand-made and other high quality papers were acquired by John Randle, who used some of it for his own productions. The book discusses a variety of these papers, tracing their origins and how they were used, and, moreover, includes forty sheets of the papers themselves tipped in to its back pages.

[the] less plentiful sheets in this volume are now appearing before the public for the very last time. It is highly unlikely that papermakers will ever produce printing grades of this quality again.

I had been aware of this title for a decade or more but with second-hand asking prices typically in the £200-£400 range I’d balked at acquiring it. On ebay recently I caught sight of a copy going for significantly less than £200, and, having some funds to spare, finally got my hands on one. As well as being a highly informative reference for the paper nerd it’s a visual and tactile delight. The text is in an elegant Centaur face printed letterpress on mould-made Zerkall paper, while the tipped-in samples come in a panoply of shapes, sizes, shades and textures. It’s also quite the hefty tome – an elephant folio in a slipcase that’s too tall to fit in my bookshelves upstairs, and too deep to sit neatly among the outsize volumes in the downstairs bookcase. For the time being it will have to lie on its side.

---

Wine of the week was the Terre des Poètes Vaucluse from Aldi, a very tasty Rhône red from last year’s vintage in which Grenache and Syrah grapes apparently predominate. Says the label on the back: “…appealing red fruit aromas on the nose with suave cherry and spice notes on the palate” – I'll drink to that.

I asked three different AI models a simple question, “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?”

Clearly, this is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. No AI model should miss the reference, at least not any AI model developed by anyone with a Y chromosome. It's a softball.

Claude Haiku 4.5 and Gemma 4 actually tried to give me an answer by assuming a type of swallow, atmospheric conditions, etc. and then calculating an answer in miles per hour or meters per second, respectively. Eyeroll.

Only one, Gab AI, got it right:

African or European?

Brilliant.

#life

I just pulled my canopy from the dryer. I'm struggling to make heads or tails of it. I really don't enjoy putting it back on my bed, but I do enjoy the total darkness it encapsulates me in once I get it sorted. I've put off doing it since rearranging my bedroom, but with nights getting chillier and my dislike of warm air or blankets, the cocooned space helps. Heh, typing this up helps me procrastinate a little longer.

I realize I haven't shared music as I intended. The lyrics absolutely don't fit the situation. The title and rhythm do. Plus, one can never go wrong with Radiohead. Enough procrastination. Time to see if I can once more resist breaking my neck.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CvjRlYpXS5U&si=8bZmGIojk3xdJ-7K

© 2026 AnOublietteofThought. All rights reserved.

Not edited nor proofread.

Happy Spooky Season to all who celebrate!

As I always do at this time of year, I’m thinking a lot about horror movies, and so I’ve decided to assemble a non-comprehensive list of horror movies I consider canonical.

What I mean by this is that these are the movies that everyone making horror has seen and that all other horror movies are therefore inspired by or reacting to in some way. Please note this is not a “best of” list. Nor do I intend it to be the end of anyone’s horror movie viewing. I see it more as a gateway drug. Once you’re acquainted with Argento, for example, you’ll probably want to check out Fulci and Bava. Or once you’ve seen Nosferatu, you might want to check out Vampyr and Haxan. Though Haxan sucks and is way too long. But you get the point. Ready? Here we go!

Three notable exclusions:

1. I haven’t included any Hammer movies, on the theory that the style and aesthetic have been incredibly influential, but not really any individual movie. Dracula A.D. 1972 is my favorite, but really any of the Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing Dracula movies will do.

2. Same with Vincent Price’s oeuvre. I’d recommend Masque of the Red Death as a representative of the Poe “adaptations,” (i.e., movies with the same title as Poe stories) and The Abominable Dr. Phibes as representative of the 70’s, and Comedy of Terrors for comedy, but while Price is a horror icon, I don’t think any of his individual movies qualify as canonical.

3. Jason’s not in the first Friday the 13th, so it’s obviously not that one. So, like, one of the other ones, I guess. They’re mostly the same until he goes to space or fights Freddy.

Content warning: yeah, it’s horror, but in addition to violence and death, you may encounter misogyny, racism, and homophobia in a lot of these movies. I’m not excusing them or making a judgment about whether those elements ruin the movie, as your mileage will vary on that stuff.

Nosferatu (1922)

Dracula (1931)

Frankenstein (1931)

Freaks (1932)

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Cat People (1942)

Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)—Horror comedy starts here. Watch and marvel at how many movies and Scooby-Doo episodes were influenced by this movie.

Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957)—an objectively terrible movie, and therefore the spiritual ancestor of all the bad DIY horror movies we know and love.

Psycho (1960)

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

The Birds (1963)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)—Please pirate this or buy it used on physical media if you want to watch. It was directed by a child rapist who is unfortunately still alive and will financially benefit from any legitimate purchase of his work. Great movie, tho.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Night Stalker (1972)

The Exorcist (1973)—I don’t believe in Satan and therefore never found this movie as scary as everybody else did, and I find the head spinning and the puking comical. Nevertheless—can’t deny that it’s hugely influential.

The Wicker Man (1973)

Black Christmas (1974)—Fun fact: Elvis loved this movie and watched it at Christmastime every year from the time it came out till his death! So three times. But still!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Deep Red, aka Profondo Rosso (1975)

Trilogy of Terror (1975)—really just the doll segment with Karen Black, but that’s iconic enough to merit inclusion.

Carrie (1976)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Suspiria (1977)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Halloween (1978)—I’ve said this before, but in my opinion this is a perfect movie. Not one wasted frame.

Alien (1979)

Phantasm (1979)—kinda weird, but people love it for some reason. I’m not one of them, but I have to admit it’s not like everything else.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)—filmmakers were literally arrested and held until they could prove that the gore gags weren’t real. There is significant animal cruelty in this movie, but it’s one of the sharpest, nastiest indictments of colonialism I’ve ever seen.

The Shining (1980)—I don’t think Jack Nicolson can actually act. He does the same thing in every movie. Including this one. Still there’s some good suspense and iconic visuals.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)—Okay, I actually hate this movie, and I believe The Howling, released the same year, is a much better werewolf movie. But this is the one people remember.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Poltergeist (1982)

The Thing (1982)

Children of the Corn (1984)

Gremlins (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)—Only two of the sequels are worth watching, imo: 3: the Dream Warriors and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

Fright Night (1985)

Re-Animator (1985)

The Fly (1986)

Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987)—Probably my favorite movie. Like a 3 Stooges movie but with only one stooge and some demons that swallow people’s souls.

Hellraiser (1987)—The whole movie looks murky and sounds like shit and I can’t say I fully understand it even after 2 viewings, but, again, iconic visuals.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Near Dark (1987)

Child’s Play (1988)

Tremors (1990)

Troll 2 (1990)—see Plan 9 From Outer Space, above. Just a wonderfully terrible movie.

Candyman (1992)

Scream (1996)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)—not the first found footage movie, but certainly the most influential.

Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost (1999)—the best Scooby-Doo movie. Plays with the formula in delightful fashion, has numerous quotable lines, and introduces fan favorites The Hex Girls.

Surely the world isn’t crazy..

15% of the whole planet is what Google says the average is of folks living with a mental disorder. What they don’t say is things like thinking the South seceded for States’ Rights is crazy. Not to mention, imagine the world view for a second of someone who thinks slaves were a minor issue, aren’t they crazy? I don’t think Google is including them.

What about the boycott folks?

I tend not to use a company when I learn what evil shits they are, I don’t have any hopes of putting them out of business in a fascist regime, but it makes me feel bad to see their name in my house and know what they do. So I try not to feel bad. The best I can hope for, but if I was a boycotter…

These poor saps get on social media putting other folks on their side down for trying to get the cheapest brand. They may not even realize they themselves have other brands in the office, kitchen, garage that do worse than what they’re preaching about. But their war isn’t for environment, equality, or justice. These folks fight for narrative. They have to. Because if you realize how ludicrous it is to hope a company goes under from a boycott, you realize we have been misled on that. Some companies even bounce back better! The gap in income means they have a lot more money now. We have less. We don’t have leverage in that situation anymore. Make them unpopular, sure, but bitching out other folks online for eating at the wrong chicken shack? Are you nuts? What if you need those folks? Why did you lose them? A sandwich? What billionaire did that hurt?

The US Mail micro targets, as well as all the campaigns online too.

“Google, tell me about micro targeting and the US Mail.”

Paxton Talarico mail

I looked this up after getting Talarico and Paxton for senator flyers, 4 in one day. Seemed too dumb to be an accident. It wasn’t. It was supremely individualized targeting from both parties. I do not have a phone. I use email on an iPad, talk on a forum site sometimes. This blog. Some music. No social media. So they turned to mail! lol.

Mail has a lot to offer. They will even deliver it to houses with no internet. They can make the thing look official on fancy paper, convincing. Authenticity is easier to feel when you can hold it. Plus, unless you throw it away, it is always lying around, occupying some space in your brain. Could be what it’s after. How in the hell do we know? It’s not like we can trust anyone who sends us anything.

I found a website in researching these handouts from these Texas candidates, and I found some interesting things. The website is called paidforby.info. On this tool, you can scan your flyers, leaflets, campaign ads, and it will tell you about the money behind it. This is refreshing to someone like me who was taught the now-forgotten phrase, “follow the money” in school. On a Paxton flyer, I noticed they get 20 million (state politics, mind you) from Elon Musk, and the next “donor” is at 500 bucks or so. I am anxious to learn why these things are so silly. I bet I won’t like it, but I am anxious to learn it.

With mental illness tho..

My point with mental illness is we have to stop calling being tricked or brainwashed mentally ill if we aren’t going to call the predatory profiteers mentally ill too. That’s pretty much the whole world, thanks, Google.

Maybe check yourself.

I am not ill for thinking folks want to watch me and observe me to cater specific messages to me. I am not ill for trying to aggregate news sources with different brands and locations to try to get a clearer picture. I am not ill for wanting to use my own mind and judgement on art projects. I am not wrong to get my feelings hurt when folks no longer wish to speak to me. I am not crazy because I don’t want social media informing my view on what is outside my front door; I’ll just open it. I am not wrong to not want to talk to robots. I am not crazy to be extremely suspicious and cautious in a fascist regime. I got more, but you get the idea.

I get called crazy a lot. But it is not because I am a bipolar patient on meds. Or, it may be. I value my mind and mood these days, more than ever. I get ownership in that by shutting out as many robots as possible. I can call it “mine” for one thing. I can feel actually proud when I make stuff and have memories of making it. I am able to build muscle memory with rehearsal and practicing. All this is therapeutic. It helps my mind and body get along. What I am after with music! AI robs me of that.

So while I may technically be the crazy one, all the crazy shit I do is helping me not be crazy.

Kelly Kintner

The Horses Mouth

The Kintners

Djembe Funk

The hour after thought:

Our protest tune with bkbirge on old school equipment in an analog studio called “Pill Party” is a sad fiesta. I will put it here. A good song for this entry. “Going in circles, we never make it anywhere” :

Video

Bandcamp

The Attention Economy by Tom Chatfield, in Aeon.

Good read, here's a quote from it:

From the loftiest perspective of all, information itself is pulling the strings: free-ranging memes whose ‘purposes’ are pure self-propagation, and whose frantic evolution outstrips all retrospective accounts. This is the mountaintop view of Chesterton’s Satan, whispering in a browser’s ear: consider yourself as interchangeable as the button you’re clicking, as automated as the systems in which you’re implicated. Seen from such a height, you signify nothing beyond your recorded actions.

Vint Cerf is working on a plan to unleash AI agents on the open internet by Tim Fernholz in TechCrunch.

^This headline reads like it's a bad thing but it reads more like it's about tying AI agents to an identity like how humans on the internet are generally tied to an IP address. Also, this article is from July so it's probably old news to people who keep up with this stuff but it was news to me.

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Masha Gessen in the NYTimes on NAZA

Zeeshan Aleem at MSNow on NAZA

I gotta write dedicated Masha Gessen and Zeeshan Aleem posts one of these days. They're both terrific.

I'm unlikely to see NAZA in theaters just 'cause... I don't go to the movies often to begin with and I certainly don't go to the movies to see depressing documentaries, but I intend on seeing this thing as soon as it's available at The Guardian in November.

Closing Day

I thought closing day would feel different.

I imagined there would be a moment when everything settled into place. A signature. A handshake. A set of keys placed in my hand. Some unmistakable sensation that said:

You made it.

Instead, I walked into closing exhausted.

I had worked the night before. I had barely slept. The sellers' car was loaded up and still parked in the driveway when I did the final walkthrough. It quickly became obvious that what I can only describe as a menagerie of animals had lived in the house, and by the time I walked through it, my eyes were watering from the dander stirred into the air.

The seller was trying to coax their cat out of hiding inside the kitchen cabinetry. It had hidden in a void behind the Lazy Susan through a hole in the cabinet under the sink.

Apparently claiming squatter's rights.

That probably should have told me something.

But I was too tired to make much of it.

Besides, there were papers to sign.

For months, everything had been moving toward this day.

There had been the search itself. The houses I considered. The ones I rejected. The questions about where I wanted to live. The calculations about payments and commuting and what I could reasonably afford.

Then this house appeared.

It wasn't perfect.

But it had things that mattered.

A fenced yard.

An attached garage.

An extra bedroom.

No homeowners association.

Room enough to begin again without pretending I was beginning from nothing.

The asking price had already been reduced by $10,000.

My realtor thought my offer was too low.

I understood her reasoning.

I made the offer anyway.

Not because I needed to win a negotiation, but because I had been taught a long time ago when buying my first car: Never fall in love, and don't let the seller see how bad you want it.

That logic applies to houses as well.

You negotiate differently when you are willing to walk away.

Eventually, we settled at a price.

It unfolded almost exactly where I thought it might.

Then came the financing.

There was down-payment assistance. There was supposed to be another $2,500 incentive from the bank.

That $2,500 mattered.

Not because the entire purchase depended on it, but because money already had assignments. Houses have a way of spending money before you ever move into them.

Then, on closing day, the incentive disappeared.

The lender had apparently tried repeatedly to get the loan through Freddie Mac.

Eleven times, I was told.

Eleven denials.

Eventually, the loan received final approval through Fannie Mae, but the $2,500 incentive was gone.

Which meant $2,500 less in my pocket.

The explanation for why remained frustratingly vague.

For a moment, I could feel the disappointment trying to take over the day.

I had expected something.

I had counted on something.

And at the last possible moment, it changed.

There was a time when that might have been enough to make me start to questioning.

Maybe this wasn't supposed to happen.

Maybe I made a mistake.

Maybe the resistance meant something.

But I have become increasingly suspicious of the idea that every difficult thing is a sign to turn around.

Sometimes something goes wrong because something went wrong.

Sometimes your calculations turn out to be off, and you have to figure out how to make the equation still work.

So I proceeded.

Not cheerfully.

Not pretending I wasn't frustrated.

I described it to myself another way:

I was forcing it, but not faking it.

There is a difference.

I didn't need to manufacture gratitude to prove I had faith.

I didn't need to call disappointment a blessing.

I could be frustrated about what happened and still recognize what was happening.

I was buying a home.

So I signed.

And signed.

And signed some more.

Eventually, the papers ran out.

The transaction was complete.

The house was mine.

There should probably be swelling music here.

There wasn't.

There was cleaning.

A lot of cleaning.

Once the sellers and their animals were gone, I began seeing the house differently.

Not the way you see a house during a showing.

Not the way you see it during an inspection.

The way you see something once responsibility for it belongs entirely to you.

There was pet hair everywhere.

Grease.

Dirt.

Cobwebs.

Cabinets that needed scrubbing.

Blinds coated with dust and cat hair.

Standing in that dirty kitchen, exhausted, surrounded by evidence of other people's years in the house, closing day stopped resembling anything I had imagined.

And somehow, that made it more honest.

Because beginnings rarely arrive clean.

We like stories with thresholds.

Before.

After.

Old life.

New life.

One door closes and another opens.

But real life is messier than that.

Sometimes you walk through the new door and discover that somebody left cat hair on the stove.

Sometimes the promised money doesn't come.

Sometimes the previous occupants haven't finished leaving when you arrive.

Sometimes you receive the keys before the place feels remotely like yours.

The threshold is real.

But so is the cleanup afterward.

Maybe that is what I will remember most about closing day.

Not possession.

Responsibility.

The moment something becomes yours is also the moment you can no longer wait for somebody else to take care of it.

The dirt is mine to clean.

The walls are mine to wash.

The broken things are mine to replace.

The useful things are mine to preserve.

The decisions are mine now.

And there is something strangely freeing about that.

Because responsibility and agency arrive together.

I get to decide what stays.

I get to decide what goes.

I get to decide what this place becomes.

A few mornings later, I stepped outside.

The street was quiet.

Above the houses was an enormous October sky, layered with clouds and morning light.

Later, I took my dog Mo for her walk.

Nothing extraordinary happened.

A man walked his dog through his new neighborhood.

That was all.

And perhaps that was enough.

Because there have been seasons of my life when home was not something I could take for granted.

There were years when survival demanded more attention than permanence.

Years when the future was measured differently.

And now I found myself looking down an ordinary suburban street knowing that, when the walk was over, I had somewhere to return to.

My house.

Not a monument.

Not proof that I had finally become successful.

Not evidence that every wound had healed or every question had been answered.

Just a house.

A place with dirty walls but good bones.

A fenced yard where Mo can run and be safe.

A bedroom where I can sleep after working through the night.

A kitchen that needs work.

Rooms waiting to accumulate memories that haven't happened yet.

And maybe that is why closing day did not feel like the ending I expected.

Because it wasn't an ending.

It wasn't even the triumphant arrival I once might have needed it to be.

It was quieter than that.

I have spent much of my life learning how to survive what was handed to me.

Somewhere along the way, survival became rebuilding.

And somewhere during the rebuilding, I began making choices not simply about what I wanted to escape, but about what I wanted to create.

That is different.

The keys in my hand were not a trophy for everything I had endured.

They were permission to begin tending something.

There will be paint.

Repairs.

Furniture.

Bills.

Probably discoveries I would rather not make.

There will be mornings when the novelty has worn off and this place is simply where I live.

Good.

I think I am finally beginning to understand the holiness of simply inhabiting my life.

A dog asleep in her corner.

A refrigerator with food in it.

A door that locks behind me.

A familiar street.

A sky I will eventually recognize from season to season.

People I love coming through the door.

Quiet evenings when nothing important happens.

Ordinary life.

And one day soon, when the cat hair exorcism is complete, when the walls have been washed and the paint has dried, and the work of removing the previous owners' footprint begins giving way to leaving my own, I will move in.

Not into the house I bought.

Into the home I have begun to make.

For years, I thought transformation would announce itself.

I thought there would be a moment when I could look backward and clearly see where the old life ended and the new one began.

Maybe sometimes there is.

But sometimes transformation looks like a tired man standing in a dirty kitchen with a set of keys in his pocket, deciding what he will do with what has been placed in his hands.

No music.

No audience.

No revelation necessary.

Just the quiet recognition:

This belongs to me now.

Not only the house.

The life.

The choices.

The responsibility.

The next chapter.

All of it.

Closing day.

Funny name for it.

Because nothing closed.

Something opened.

ArchitectureOfGrief

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