I’ve started listening to podcasts, and have been telling friends about this one in particular. Mrs. Hatboy, who bravely preceded me into the world of podcasts, somehow stumbled upon it and recommended it to me.

Welcome to Night Vale is a … well, I can say it no better than the website itself: a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.

It’s Lovecraftian and weird and beautifully written and endlessly imaginative. Every new episode adds bizarre complexity and unfolds the whole scary picture a little bit more. They feature some pretty cool original music each episode in their “weather” segment, and they have books and merchandise and a freaking live show travelling the US and Europe over the next year. Just … wow, these magnificent people. Bless them.

I may have to buy some of these NRA stickers for my car. Also I want an Intern pin for my pin collection.

Yeah, it was a fantastic series to start listening to this week, since Mrs. Hatboy and the girls have been up at the kesämökki and I have as a result been dealing with isolation and sleep deprivation[1] as I always do when I am placed into the involuntary bachelor (or inbach) life. Anyway, my point is, a Hell of a podcast to listen to while sleep-deprived and feeling surreal. Its unconscious association with In The Night Garden, a children’s show that Wump used to watch, just makes it that much weirder. Particularly since I used to watch that while sleep-deprived too.

[1] It hasn’t been too bad, as my work schedule has required me to be up at 07:00am each morning, and this has put me in some sort of diurnal routine. Any positive effects of that have been counteracted somewhat by the heinously scorching and humid weather this past week, leaving me dazed and unable to do much in the way of writing … but generally it’s been fine.

Ah well. Fun. They’ve been at it for years and have a hundred or more episodes, so plenty for me to catch up on. I hope they’ve been doing well (they certainly seem to still be going strong, I’m considering donating just in case though – for some of those perks) and continue making episodes for a long time. I’ve subscribed to their newsletter and will continue plugging them as more news comes to light.

GO DESERT BLUFFS!