The Mood Bored

I previously wrote on Substack about my thoughts on how the band should proceed with a female vocalist before all the rumors came out and Emily Armstrong was announced on here. So naturally, I’m a fan of their new lineup and latest album, From Zero. And this is coming from a forever Chester guy… (fyi: this piece assumes you know the whole tragic story, so I won’t delve too much into it).

Festivals, Retro JRPG’s and how allowing Vampires to be cool again Mood Bored #16 Sept edition If you’re new and just stumbled on this, welcome! The “Mood Bored” blog series summarizes everything I’ve gotten into for the past month. From media that have inspired me lately , hobbies, travels, experiences, music, and everything else I’m currently geeking out on.

Pt.2 of a newbie in Solo TTRPG I wanna start by thanking everyone who read pt. 1, 8 Months of Playing With Myself (A newbie’s solo RPG Experience). To summarize, it’s basically how I stumbled upon this fascinating hobby of solo tabletop gaming. Through that discovery, I found so many people here on Substack who play solo TTRPGs! I promised a follow-up. And in the same fashion, why not have the same ridiculous title?

Back in Jan, I wrote about my experience playing my first solo journaling game. I was very much new to the hobby and had never heard of it before. I always thought tabletop roleplaying games were limited to people with lots of friends and a good amount of free time. In both cases. I DO NOT. “Beyond the Rift” was the first game I picked up using some dice, a deck of cards, and a journal in hand.

At the start of 2026, I picked up a new hobby in solo tabletop gaming. And that’s eaten a lot of what I consider “gaming time”.

I’m a little late on one of these with August around the corner, and even so, there are still so many recently released albums I want to hear before I make mine! But if I did that, next thing you know it’s December, then it’s 2027, and it’ll never get done. So here are my picks for 2026 albums so far with small blurbs on why I picked them. These 10 are NOT ranked in any order cause with so many genres I listen to outside my main (alt/punk/metal), how can you compare them like that?

For every time you do something familiar, try something new. Or… Whenever you’re up for trying a new activity, keep something familiar on the side. Whether it be a backup plan or my safe bet alternative. So even if the new experience doesn’t quite land, you can still look forward to what you know will hit. This has been my mantra that I made up for myself for the past 10 or so years now. And you don’t have to follow it to a tee. Maybe something new for every 3-5 things that bring nostalgic joy.

June edition If you’re new and just stumbled on this, welcome! The “Mood Bored” blog series summarizes everything I’ve gotten into for the past month. From media that have inspired me lately , hobbies, travels, experiences, music, and everything else I’m currently geeking out on.

... I finally have my answer If you’re new here, usually, I only talk about my love for music. My time and energy only go to things I am passionate about. But today.. I’m going to do something different and talk about a song I HATE ever so passionately. And because I regrettably lost some sleep thinking deeply about this the other night (go audhd). Rarely do I get asked what I think is the worst of all time, or see a post on it.

Wiki cites it as: “..a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression” After being, I would say, the past 25 years of my life being heavily involved in music from creation to fan, I’ve gone through many eras as a fan. From backpack rapper, raver, metalhead, indie darling and so forth.