Hey y’all! It’s been a minute since my last check-in, and I hope this one finds you well.

This month has been surprisingly therapeutic for me. It didn’t start that way. I had to cut someone out of my life who meant more to me than I ever did to him and it was very difficult. I struggled with it a lot. I let myself cry, I almost let myself message him, and then I decided fuck it! My tagline became “Dry your eyes and remember who the fuck you are.” And while I won’t say I’m over it, I will say it hurts less now.

The events in May have helped immensely. It started with Mother’s Day. I worked on the actual holiday, but Mom and I celebrated early by exploring a few areas around Huntsville. We hiked almost 7 miles and just…absorbed nature. It was really, really cool – even if we’re not sure the “waterfall” we went to actually constitutes a waterfall. Lol. You’ll see what I mean in the pictures at the bottom of this post.

One of my cousins from Indiana came down that weekend, as well. I didn’t get much time with her; however, we did have a big family dinner on Mother’s Day, which made Mom incredibly happy.

The very next weekend, my brother and I went to a Marilyn Manson show. Now, you may be thinking “ok, you’ve already seen them,” and yeah, you’re right. But I haven’t seen them with my brother. This concert was major for a couple of reasons.

1. My brother is the OG Manson fan in our household, yet he had never been to a show. I got to take him to his first Manson concert!
2. Tim Skold is back in the lineup, and if you know me at all, you know I love Tim Skold.
3. Songs that were in the setlist that I never thought I’d see Manson perform: “Great Big White World,” “Coma White,” “The Nobodies,” and “Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World.”
4. Manson looked and sounded great. As my brother said, “Okay, sober Manson. I see you!”

The night was perfect. My brother was so relaxed and happy, and we stuck to tradition and went to Waffle House after the show. Oh! And we tried Hattie B’s for the first time. That was some damn delicious chicken!

Fastforward to the very next weekend. An old friend of mine, Brian, had tickets to The Rise of Rock World Tour, which featured Dorothy, Stone Temple Pilots, and Godsmack. He invited me to go with him, so I did. We had fun during Dorothy, then we had to move to the interior area of the amphitheater because of a storm. Unfortunately, the delay meant Stone Temple Pilots only played six songs, but they were awesome! The new vocalist, Jeff Gutt, nailed it. (He used to be in Dry Cell, a band you know if you ever owned the Queen of the Damned soundtrack.)

Godsmack is always a kick ass show. I’m not a huge fan, but Sully Erna knows how to work a crowd. Most of my favorite songs were on the setlist, except “Moon Baby,” “Bad Magick,” and “Greed.” I’ve accepted I’ll never see them do those…

Can I tell y’all how therapeutic it was, having back-to-back weekends during which I got to scream along with artists who helped me through my angsty teenage years? Man. It was fantastic.

The last stop on May’s healing journey happened yesterday. I went and got a tattoo. I used a different artist than usual, though it was the same shop, and she knocked it out of the park!

Okay. It’s picture time.

If you wanna see a few videos from the Manson and Godsmack shows, you can check out my YouTube or Instagram. I also have a few more interviews I’m getting scheduled soon, so look out for those!

And last but not least, my new mermaid scales.