May 7, 2025

"All planets are made of cheese in the Milky Whey" - my spouse

Photo from José Ignacio Pompé (Unsplash)

I woke up this morning to an episode of Modern Marvels about pyramids. While watching them talk about the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx, I remembered the fact that I used to live in Egypt when I was little. When I tell people this, they act surprised and then ask me if I remember anything. It's annoying to think about that since I can't draw any actual memories from that. "Not a damn thing," I tell them. "I was a baby back then."

I returned to the United States right immediately after I turned 3. Whatever memories I have are fabricated from the photos I saw years later of me being lugged up a pyramid by my parents, with my patented "Oh No!" face and a newfound fear of heights. That lack of memory is very frustrating, since all I clearly remember from that time is once having a plastic giraffe that smelled like vanilla. Not something to be upset about (I hardly think about my childhood before 5 at all) but certainly one that brings up a bit of melancholy since that would be cool to expand upon other than "Um, I was a baby then..."

Forward to now, yesterday was a bit rough in our household. We're ultimately fine but there was almost a medical emergency that thankfully was avoided. The sun is shining today, a reprieve before another set of storms tomorrow. Listened to David Bowie's Blackstar (2016) yesterday while working and got goosebumps again by the time I finished. Still an amazing album and the absolute Gold Standard for how to leave Earth in style. - A.B. 5/7/2025