It ended up being one of his favorite gifts that year precisely because I was telling the truth. He laughed so hard! That's the best part of buying him gifts--how happy I can make him with pure absurdity. But it's not the easiest note to strike.

Fortunately, he really appreciates a good gag gift. A couple of years ago, I handed him a wrapped cylinder, and assured him "This is the worst gift you're going to receive this year."

It was a stuffed Pringles can. Like, a normal Pringles can, but in doll form.

One of his five items has a note that says "I don't want this badly enough to buy it myself, but I know you need more things on the list."

My wishlist at his age required a spreadsheet. It's nice that he's so not materialistic, but this time of year I wish he were a *little* more materialistic.

And now video games are on their way to fully digital too, which is literally just about the only thing my son ever asks for. I asked him for a list, and he struggled to get it to five items. (Which have to be divided between my parents, my wife's parents, and also US.)

On the upside, AU me got to have a super interesting travel experience!

And, of course, a little ouzo to complete the meal!

That's not to say that it's the right version or the best version--as a writer working in performing arts, it's vital to let go of the idea that the way you hear your script in your head is always how it *should* be performed. But it's still cool to actually hear that version.

Even just looking at his campaign flyers, the whole vibe of his communications was "settle down kids, Middle-Class White Man is here to set things right!"

I'm not joking when I say I would, in a heartbeat, follow an account that just posted Disco Elysium edits of news footage, current memes, and random media scenes.

This is the meme format I've been waiting for.

No character in the scene even acknowledges what was happening in that moment, and it still ready so clearly!

...and the transition melding the two characters into one voice is so seamless, yet so perfectly clear, that I was standing in my kitchen literally shouting, "Holy shit, Lauren!" to an empty room. Goddamn that was beautifully done!

www.atypicalartists.co/harperandhavoc

None of this is anything I've ever been particularly private about--I talk about it pretty freely. (Apart from that one bit--the "scoop" as it were.) But I've never written about it so directly.