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Everything I post and everything below in this thread is released to the public under the CC0 license, posting in this thread retroactively confirms you are releasing all of your posts under the CC0 license:
Transcription of all previous posts (3-8-2024 - 6-30-2025).
Transcription of all previous posts (7-1-2025 - 12-31-2025)
Transcription of all previous posts (1-1-2026 -)
27490 - SoyBooru.png
 
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July 15th, 2026: Final day of camping. I woke up at 5:40am with the sunrise yet waited until 7:00am to start packing up. Putting my clothes in my bag and rolling up my mattress. I got out to eat breakfast, which was granola with yogurt. I got to work taking stuff out of my tent and putting it into the minivan. My parents were later with packing and I already had my tent rolled up and in the bag by the time they took the fly off their hexagonal tent. We did a police line to check for trash and I found a few pieces plus these stakes stuck in the ground from a previous camper. We left this hand sanitizer we got in the bear box. The guy and his son came from Charleston, South Carolina, my parents and him talked about camping outside of a campsite being cracked down on. Sad! We departed at 9:55am.
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We took our car and drove down to the Georgetown convenience store. We went in and got these egg bake things which my dad described as super good, so he gave me money to buy some. At 10:36am, my dad talked to two scouts to ask them what they were doing. They were camping in Stephen’s Gulch, Colorado but half of their troop came down to Georgestown, Colorado to interview the locals. They’re with the Federation of North American Explorers, not the Boy Scouts of America. We drove the minivan a bit southwest to the Georgetown Loop Railroad. We got our picture taken.
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We got on the train and at 11:02am, an elderly Mennonite lady looked at me and gave me a flirtatious smile. Woah! We sat near the end as the train took us to the end destination:
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We stopped in the Silver Plume section to see the Mennonite woman’s possible relatives, the women all had the small black caps with strings on them. I quickly toured the museum:
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Then we got onto the train again to take a picture of said train sending us halfway back:
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We stopped off halfway at the Mine Tour Loading Platform on the pretty crowded train to get a tour of the mines. Our tour guide was a short guy named Jimbo from New England wearing red and black plaid, he was a pretty funny guy who had been working here for 10 years giving tours, we all had to put on blue hard hats to enter the mine. The first thing Jimbo mentioned was the mine was staffed mostly by immigrants from Cornwall, England, who were on average 5’4” so the tunnels were short, Jimbo’s wife is shorter than her and he told us a story of his wife getting on his shoulders to hammer a nail in the wall on a staircase. He also said:
“My wife said to me: ‘if you were a dwarf in Snow White your name would be Touchy.’”
The other people in our party included someone from Steamboat Springs, Colorado and Wichita, Kansas. I put on the fleece my parents brought as it was 44 degrees in the mines.
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We toured level 3 as levels 4, 5, and 6 were flooded with spring water and then went off to a large vein that was carved out and then a lode. The tunnels were sloped to allow spring water to flow down and out for the miners to drink in or piss in. The miners got 3 3-hour candles for their 10 hour shift to earn $2.00 a day. Jimbo talked about jacking and double jacking and then the widowmaker, which was a pneumatic drill that was very effective but would make you only live 5 more years due to all the stone dust it would kick up back in your face, as there were no labor laws back then, the owner could get away with a lot, like not even tracking deaths. Touring one of the carved out veins. Jimbo mentioned the miners breaking off stalactites to put under their mouth for stomachaches. Jimbo said he managed to convince 133 men to lick the calcite formation running down the wall and that on a good day he can convince someone to do it. I was the 134th man that was convinced to lick the walls by Jimbo. We went further down the main shaft to see where there had been a cave in and then we simulated having the electric lights turned off to rely on one candle. Jimbo told us how the miners would soak their cloth caps in linseed oil to make it harder so it could hold one of the 3-hour candles. Jimbo described the “fun” that would happen when someone tilts their head down and the linseed oil catches fire. Jimbo also showed up the side tunnels so the miners didn’t die by the shockwave of the dynamite. Apparently when Jimbo first started working here, he mentioned that the mountain water would end up all the way down in Golden, Colorado to which an unnamed brewery would use for their beer, Jimbo asked them to sponsor the tours of the mine but the brewery said no, so Jimbo always brings that up. We got out after an hour and my parents gave me a $10 bill to tip Jimbo with and he was thankful. We rode the railway back:
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And on the ride back, this woman came up to us with the photos to sell us for $25. I looked super autistic in the photograph. We got in our car after going to the bathrooms. I got a bloody nose in the bathroom but that was solved. We drove back to Denver and got to 6ie’s house. When we got there, I got to my room and unpacked all my dirty clothes. I got on my computer and wrote a bit until my dad later asked me:
“Hey I think you should shower before your sister gets over at 6:30pm.”
And I did, it felt so good to have all that dirt come off of me. I got started on a KiwiFarms thread for Samuel Pepys but made little progress. My sister came over at 6:33pm and we chatted a bit, she got the pilsner our cousin left for us while I had this disgusting IPA. 6ie’s neighbor came over a short while with her mom for dinner and informed us they’re from Salt Lake City, Utah. We ate the brats and then went over to an ice cream shot for dessert, I got mexican hot chocolate and as we went back I talked to my sister about the car deal and it turns out she won’t be buying a new car but if I need her old one, she could just transitmaxx like I do. I declined. I then posted my blogposts and went to sleep.

Song of the Day: Blue Sky - The Allman Brothers Band (1972)
 
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July 16th, 2026: Driving back home today, I woke up at 6:30am to have granola with yogurt for breakfast, there was nothing else. I packed up my clothes into my green suitcase and then my backpack with my books and stuff. I got in the car at 7:50am ready to leave. At 7:59am, my mom brought up that my cousin 6ie didn’t have kids because it’s apparently “too expensive” despite how much money she and Rocky spend on their dog, with their doggy daycare being super expensive and including video calls with their dogs. I felt like I was talking with my parents about Weimar degeneracy. We departed a few minutes later and I spent most of my time on my phone with SuperLocal loaded in the background to improve capturing of discovery. At 9:22am, my parents were playing The Lumineers radio, proof that they don’t fundamentally respect me. There was this godless cover of Stayin’ Alive by Dirty Streets which sounded awful, I should have told them to play better music. Vannie said that she wanted to ask me a question if I was gay because yesterday I was wearing my 5 color trail unicorn shirt, I told her no and that the rainbow afterimage on the t-shirt is 5 colors, not the 6 colors of the gay pride flag, she didn’t buy it and I was a bit mad at her. I saw how bad the air quality is in the city I live in, it was above 500, it said 500 but I think it was maxed out. I posted it on my story with the caption:
>I hate those godless Canadians so much
And it was a bit popular. Also on Instagram I found out Lewis’ ex-girlfriend’s 20th birthday is tomorrow and made sure to wish her so, she didn’t seem enthusiastic. We stopped at an information center in Julesburg, Colorado to go to the bathroom and pick up some pamphlets to use. At 10:52am we crossed into Nebraska, before we stopped for lunch, my dad realized that my mom forgot to grab the gatorades from the freezer and my dad was a little upset at that. We got off at a station in Sutherland, Nebraska to eat lunch, a sandwich for me and then sea salt and vinegar chips, the whole time nobody spoke until I went into the bathroom. The scenery at the stop was really good and I saw this Hispanic dude in a neon green shirt changing all the garbage there.
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We got back on the road and I texted the girl I added on Bumble a bit more, she’s kind of obsessive and has BPD so I’m gonna call things off, my mom made me buy sodas for us all at the dispenser, I got cherry Pepsi, my dad got Diet Coke, and my mom got orange Fanta. As we neared the Iowa border I was in Omaha so I texted the TradCath groupchat that I was there. We drove through more of Nebraska until at 5:19pm we crossed into Iowa. The Omahan then wrote to me at 7:02pm asking me:
<What brings you to Omaha? (I hail right next door from Bellevue.)
I replied:
>Driving home from Colorado.
Later on we stopped just northeast of Des Moines, Iowa to eat at Raisin Canes for dinner, I got the chicken fingers. We then drove west more. As we were driving through Rhodes, Iowa at 8:11pm, I took a picture of the smog that we would be driving into from the Canadian forest fires, I got mad and decided to bait Canadians on Reddit by saying that I would want to live in provinces like Alberta, Yukon, and Quebec but not Ontario or Alberta.
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We entered the smog a bit later. At 8:41pm, my mom asked me this question that felt more like a trial:
“Who would you like to run for president Gemerson?”
I just threw out the first Democratic governor I could think of:
“I’d say Tony Evers.”
My mom disagreed but not because of politics:
“But Tony Evers is old, he’s had cancer multiple times.”
I then came up with an alternative:
“J B Pritzker.”
My mom accepted that answer, truthfully I wish Pat Buchanan was president of the United States of America. I started falling asleep multiple times. We stopped at the Kwik “Star” we stopped at before. My mom put on the entirety of the album A Trick of the Tail by Genesis from Dance on a Volcano to Los Endos. Donald Trump released bombshell evidence of their being voter fraud perpetrated by the Chinese government but multiple news outlets like ABC news, CBS news, CNN, and NBC didn’t air it while my parents focused on frivolousities in his speech. I think the funniest thing was one of the networks trying to debunk the claim of there being election fraud from the released documents before said documents were released. It just sold me that the Democratic party is rigging elections and will import a ton of new voters. At 10:36pm, we were in my home state and the smog was bad, we arrived home just at midnight…

TO BE CONTINUED

Song of the Day: Squonk - Genesis (1976)
 
July 17th, 2026: We unpacked and I took a shower. I took this picture of my nice cat at 12:35am:
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I tried publishing my blogpost but it took too long uploading the images so I just went to sleep, at least the nice cat was sleeping in my bed.
…
I woke up in my bed with my cat laying on the blanket in the other bed grooming herself, I went downstairs and only found this weird protein chocolate flakes that tasted disgusting, my mom had some Kaukana honey from New Zealand that people said had anti-cancer properties, it tasted like normal raw honey, I went upstairs and finally published the July 15th post late. I went downstairs to walk around a bit and found these headphones with the lightning cable adaptor, I tried it and it works. It’s Lewis’ ex-girlfriend’s birthday today and I wished her a happy 20th birthday today, turns out she has a twin and I didn’t know that. I continued writing my blogpost for yesterday and I had greatly reduced the number of images from the last few days. I went down to get lunch and play with the nice cat indoors. For most of the day I didn’t do much but at 5:00pm my mom asked me where I wanted to for dinner and I said sushi. We then got in the car at 6:30pm to drive to the sushi place that was new. On the way my mom asked me:
“When are you gonna look for a job in [here]?”
I told her I would like to stay in the city I currently live in and she got upset despite me telling her multiple times I didn’t want to move back home. My mom then said that restrictive leases are why she refused to renew my last lease, I told her that she refused to renew it over a job in Chicago that never materialized and it kind of set me back. I then told my mom I could just look for jobs in the counties adjacent to my current one and that really upset her. We stopped at the sushi place at 7:11pm but it was closed with a note on it, my mom told me to get out and read it. I took a picture of it and the note read:
<I need to get my wisdom teeth pulled, and I have to go to New York since my dental insurance is only valid there this year. I’m really sorry. But the pain is unbearable, so I have to head back to New York right away. We’ll get to see each other soon.
I showed the photo to my mom and she got mad because she couldn’t read it, so I zoomed in and read it for her. She then decided to go to another sushi place. On the way she asked me if I’ve ever done 3 truths and 1 lie, I told her it’ts 2 truths and 1 lie but I really wasn’t in the mood to do it or tell her more information about myself, I knew it would be used against me. My mom’s first one was that she worked for Donald Trump, I said it was a lie but she told me it’s true; in college, my mom worked for the Trump corporation in New York City for catering, I delayed and she said that she I could do the Irish citizenship thing as a true thing. We got to the sushi place and sat down, she was mostly initiating conversation because I was really upset and uncomfortable, she asked me about what Dean was doing and I said I don’t really talk that much as he never talks with me. I then initiated the conversation about the all-female Japanese troupe that partnered with my former workplace that I couldn’t attend because of the Denver trip. My mom asked me if I would have gone and I said no, I’m still angry at my former job and she told me that I shouldn’t be mad at them, she told me a story of her friend who got pregnant and then was laid shortly afterwards but she was still friendly with the company.
Not a good example mom!
I thought, I told my mom that what the manager did was illegal and her friend has grounds to sue. First the appetizers came which I just got by randomly guessing the name of an appetizer; shrimp tempura, they also had fried sweet potato slices with it plus fried broccoli. The sushi came out and we ended up eating half of both of our specials before my mom was full. We then left a bit later and took a bunch of the uneaten sushi home. My mom didn’t like ginger because one time while living in New York City, she bought what she thought was ham from a Korean grocery store but it was ginger for sushi that she didn’t like. As we drove home my mom tried the 2 truths and 1 lie thing I just gave a generic answer. At home I had some watermelon my mom cut up while I was upstairs writing and cuddling with the nice cat, downstairs my mom was cuddling with the cat. I had to cut things off with the woman I met on Bumble as I was feeling like it would be a disaster to lead her on. She texted me this last super long message and at 9:12pm I texted her:
>I don’t think this is gonna work out anymore.
I then unadded her on Snapchat and Instagram. I took a shower at around 9:20pm, published my blogpost, then went to sleep.

Song of the Day: In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel (1986)
 
July 18th, 2026: Heading back to my new apartment today. I woke up at 6:00am and found out there’s normal cereal without added protein that doesn’t taste like shit. I got packed up a bit more including my backpack and my container. I said goodbye to my nice cat and I went outside to load stuff. At 12:06pm Jane texted me:
<I don’t know if you have heard about Sen Durbin’s proposed bill in the senate-PROMISE Act (Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone) REP Co sponsors Republicans Tillis, Cassidy, Cornyn and Armsreal womang—plus Dems. Please call your Republican senators to support—The SS trust says that there will need to be average of $500 cuts to Social Security in 2032—if nothing done—press not talking about it. They can solve 80% of the problem by raising the social security max on income! This is important for our kids and grandkids too!
Seriously, I think we need to cut Social Security. When loading stuff up into the car, my mom got these two holders for utensils that I said I didn’t want it, she didn’t care and repeated myself and she still didn’t listen. I asked to leave after lunch but we only started departing at 2:30pm, my mom said I dressed like her dad with the shorts and the long socks he sometimes wore. We drove over to my first workplace to buy oranges and milk for Helga, my mom insisted that I get a slushie and I did, but she took forever getting some cold brew coffee. We then went to a second store to look for carpet cleaner for the special vacuum my mom had. We then went to the old grocery store Dean used to work at and then found it. We drove to Helga’s place and it was very cluttered as usual, not disorganized, but cluttered. She had this fancy chess set and I helped clean up the kitchen a bit as I put in the oranges and milk. Helga and my mom talked a bit with Helga mentioning her rich son coming over recently. My mom noticed I was irritated and I told her that we were leaving way later than I asked we could leave. Helga was understanding and we decided that later when she takes her books off a bookshelf, I would get the bookshelf, Helga then handed me this letter for graduation she hadn’t been able to give me:
<To Gemerson –
<”Contrats”! A new life of new adventures. Maybe a new move? New Mexican + German restaurants.
<Gift is yours if you don’t get into politics…
<your friend
<Helga

It was a $50 check, well I couldn’t get into politics with how much I’ve ruined my digital footprint. We then left a bit later after that and drove a while. During driving I said I had to go to the bathroom and my mom got off and took a right into wilderness, she was super mad and stated:
“Great, it will be a mile before we can turn around!”
I had a map on my iPhone and told her she could turn around pretty quick, I then told her to drive into town and she got mad that there would be no restaurants or gas stations to stop at, I had my map open and corrected her that there was one closeby, the town was very fancy and then we got back on the highway. We arrived at the apartment at 4:15pm and started taking stuff in. We brought in all the furniture and started taking stuff out and my mom first worked on moving stuff out of the living room or next to the wall as with the books so we could check the dimensions of the carpet and see if it fit. We got that and then she went into my closet to organize clothes, which I was not that keen on. A bit later, my mom was sorting through the books when she pulled up my Polish Catechism of the Catholic Church translated as Katechizm Kościoła katolickiego
and she was upset:
“What’s this?”
She interrogated.
“It’s my Polish copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”
I explained, she wasn’t having it
“You can’t read Polish right?”
She asked. I replied:
“I can’t read Polish.”
She wasn’t happy regardless, she told me:
“Then why would you waste money on stuff like this?”
I tried to defend myself:
“It was only $2.00!”
My mom didn’t listen and was still mad at me for that. I had some framed stuff that I wanted to be nailed up that I asked her to do multiple times while she was sorting stuff in my closet. She eventually got around to it. I was growing frustrated at this time but I sat on the rocking chair a bit and then realized I’m acting like my dad so I got off my phone. We took some more stuff out and the other neighbors were outside, after passing them being loud as fuck, (as per usual with Black people) it was a chubby Black guy with his chubby Black girlfriend who had short hair and visible hair on her chin. A while later she put this spare blanket cover on the rocking chair and I told her.
“What’s with the chair cover?”
Mom replied:
“Dad said that you thought the chair needed it.”
I never told dad this, I was real frustrated with my mom. At 6:29pm my mom was going through the bathroom when I told her:
“Mom, I can do the bathroom myself.”
I already said some variation of it
She then asked me:
“Do you want me to leave?”
I just answered honestly in a severe mistake:
“Yes.”
You’re overstaying your welcome.
I thought. My words got her really upset and she starting yelling at me:
“Well I was going to take you out shopping for groceries and command strips but no you just want me gone.”
I replied:
“Mom I can buy those things by myself.”
That set her off even more
“Fuck you! All you do is care about what you want!”
Ahh yes, the person who I have to state what I want or don’t want multiple times is mad that I don’t care about what she wants. I gave her the keys and then hauled the last of the stuff out, I waved goodbye to her but she ignored me. I then went upstairs and into my apartment for a bit until I got a call from my dad at 6:38pm and I talked about what happened, he wasn’t that angry at me and told me that mom is dead set on when she has an idea she wants to implement, we talked a bit more with him recommending that I give it a day then call to apologize. I left the apartment and got Monster Energy plus some ramen for dinner and cooked that. I felt like crying after what I treated my mom like garbage. I tried to set up my Wii with the television but the batteries for all the Wii remotes were dead. I took a shower late and went to sleep. In the news, England won its FIFA world cup 3rd place match against France.

Song of the Day: Adore mio aiutami - HAUSER, London Symphony Orchestra (2025)
 
July 19th, 2026: Lord’s day today. I woke up at 8:00am and went to buy 2 ½ gallons of milk and 2 boxes of cereal for breakfast. I got dressed up a bit but not as much as I thought I should to head to church today. I took the bus down and arrived a bit late for when I usually get there. I sat two rows behind the Omahan and noticed Rehoboam in the row in front of me off to the left. Salignac was here but shitoko less dressed like a 1940s lady. Zhao was absent and there was a different priest for mass today. I put the milk I brought for brunch near the refrigerators. The mass went on as normal and was beautiful. I didn’t go up for the Eucharist as I was in a state of moral sin. When mass ended I went to the fridge to grab the milk then take it outside. I'd thought that the brunch would be inside due to the air quality issue but the smog has toned down enough for it to be outside. Outside was Loid, the Omahan, another guy whom I will be calling Hugh, I met him and he’s from Hale’s Corner, Wisconsin who recently got a job, but not his dream job. He was dressed up fancy with a wooden Jerusalem cross around where his tie is tied, I discussed my upcoming interview at fAsherah’s workplace and he wished me luck at the temporary workspot. Salignac came out for a short time and she told us she couldn’t stay because of a seamstress gig she had to do for another member of the TradCath group, tailoring his suit or something. I had some charcuterie for my lunch and a bit of the milk I brought. I spotted Horseradish and talked with him for a bit but didn’t see his son, I told him that the last time he was here I saw him in the confession line but he didn’t notice me. I went to talk more and had to shoo the flies from the food multiple times. I said hi to Loid and his sister Yor and then talked with the others a bit before leaving. I had to hop on a different than usual bus as mine had a major gap. I stopped at a grocery store to buy eggs, bananas, a gallon of 2% milk, and a gallon of cheap orange juice. I should have aimed for orange juice with pulp. I had to walk all the way to my current bus stop and I went past a street viewing for the final of the FIFA world cup; Spain vs Argentina. I’m rooting for Argentina because the president of Spain is a dummyed communist who gave 500,000 immigrants citizenship so he could buy more votes. I got on the bus and at 1:33pm, this Black guy said to me:
“I like your tastes man! The supreme gentleman himself.”
I was looking at an image of Elliot Rodger on Xitter on my phone at the time. I got off the bus and into my room, I tried calling the place I applied to and I ended up speaking to the manager. We agreed for a 12:00pm in person meeting with the hiring manager. I texted fAsherah back and forth about it and the incident with my mom who she said was neurotic. I set up my Wii and it turns out it can’t connect to my WiFi so I’m screwed but I managed to download Mario Kart Retro Rewind regardless, it’s super fun to play and unlike CTGP-R, I can actually play battle mode. I went to this other convenience store nearby to buy dinner (a Screaming Sicilian single pizza) with a drink. I heard the store owner say ‘jihad’ while I was waiting to be rung up. I had to volunteer to usher at mass tonight so I got redressed after eating the tiny (relative to average pizza sizes) pizza. At 5:13pm my mom texted the family groupchat and started the conversation:
<Arrived in Minneapolis - mom
<Conference? - Garnet
<Yes [acronym]! - mom
<At the conference center downtown or where at? - Garnet
<Staying downtown at the Park Hyatt. The conference is at the conference center. Ther is also a Magic the Gathering conference here as well. Easy to distinguish the difference between the attendees. 🙄- mom
<I think it would be harder for me to tell the difference - dad
I went to the church by 6:46pm but Lucas wasn’t there so I had to distribute with another woman, the people I saw there included Rose (I noticed she has tattoos on her left arm) and her now husband, FOTS’ mom, Norah, Selassie, Lang, Thomas, Isaiah, Tapper, Anders, and lots others. Near the beginning Joseph helped me close doors and then Lucas arrived around 6:00pm to help out. This mom with 2 teenaged daughters– the older one with a pixie cut –had issues finding out where to sit so I pointed them up to the front. The homily by Pops, where he moved down to stand on the same level as the congregation, was on this premature baby he had to administer baptism to 25 years ago, the kid’s name was Christopher and he was told by the hospital staff to do it with 3 drops from an eyedrop behind gloves in a box. Christopher survived until his First Communion party and even graduated from college last year. At the end, Pops said to Christopher:
“You did well.”
But not referring to Christopher, but to God. Pops decided to replace the Nicene creed with the repetition of the baptismal vows and at the end, or at 7:33pm, I saw a commotion while ushering in a medical emergency. Mass had been stopped for what was a 19 year old African-American who passed out due to dehydration. I heard Tapper (who was in the back) cracking a joke to Selassie which made me a bit mad. I guided a woman to the down the stairs bathroom for drinking water and helped a nursing student gather paper towels for a cold compress. She told me the bathroom water was too warm so I suggested the baptismal font. Lucas had already called 911 then me, Lucas, and 2 other men moved the baptismal font and then the giant candle with the current year (2026) on it. I helped with some guidance a bit more until at 7:43pm, with Pops getting the woman’s permission at 7:43pm. The two paramedics arrived after Lucas and I got back from depositing our collections in the safe. I didn’t get the standard priestly blessing when going up. I stayed a bit and had to stand to reach this lever which keeps the door locked or unlocked, after locking the push bar doors (I don’t know the actual term) with the hexagonal key I walked home. I tried calling my mom now but it went to voicemail and she texted me that she was busy now. At 8:16pm, Waleran texted me back.
<Im not sure when im going to have time to make it up to [city]. Probably mid august but ill lyk
So now I have the place to myself for the while.

Song of the Day: I Shot the Sheriff - Eric Clapton (1974)
 
July 20th, 2026: It’s Agaw’s 21st birthday and the Omahan’s 33rd birthday today. I woke up actually pretty late at 9:00am as my mattress was in the living room next to the AC unit I had to get out of bed and make cereal plus coffee. I played a little bit of Mario Kart Retro Rewind and just did the Dolphin (reskin of Birdo) on the Dolphin dasher. I then got my YouTube account on my tiny television set up to watch some videos, including a 30 minute video by Caleb Hammer’s other channel on the ticking time bomb of the 2030 census and how some states like California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey are falling behind (lack of new housing, restrictive taxes, domestic emigration, restriction on international migration) while other states like Florida, Idaho, and Texas are accelerating in population growth and will gain more congressional seats. Minnesota and Michigan were also mentioned as being states that were doing well but not well enough to stop them from losing a seat in the house of representatives. At 11:11am I texted the TradCath groupchat:
>Going to a job interview in less than an hour, pray for me.
I left at 11:15am and took the bus to the store. I walked around a bit to explore and fill out SuperLocalMaps until it was 11:55am when I went into the store. I was told to wait a bit while the hiring manager talked with a customer. I faced up the store for a minute until we went back to the cooking class for the interview. It was standard stuff like my previous work experience and then why I wanted the job and what previous work experience applied here. I mentioned to her that I knew a bit about the regions of Italy and she asked me:
“Would you be willing to do extra research outside of work on the things we sell?”
I said yes and at the time noticed these 3 poorly-dressed teenagers, one woman with a bonnet who took a giant blue BuzzBall and put it on top of her head to balance it, I pointed it out to the hiring manager as a concern that it could drop and shatter. The hiring manager told the store communication to keep an eye on the 3 but that BuzzBalls are made out of transparent plastic so I shouldn’t worry. I concluded the interview at 12:30pm and she told me there were 2 open cashier positions and she had 2 interviews tomorrow and then a few on Wednesday. So there’s at least 5 other people in competition with me for a ≤ 33% chance of getting the job, with 4 hours on Sundays and if I put in 2 full days on Friday and Saturday plus 2 half days on Wednesday and Thursday for possibly $20 an hour, $20 x 28 = $560 ⇒ $560 x 52 weeks in a year = $29,120 ⇒ $29,120 / 12 months in a year = $2426.67 per month ⇒ $24.26.67 a month x 0.3 (amount needed for rent to be considered affordable) = $728 per month, well over my current rent so affordable. Once the interview was done I bought an $11.00 bottle of amaretto for myself and checked out. I then took a different bus back home and walked a distance to get back when I realized I should have bought something like a bottle of wine to gift the Omahan. I got back in and continued writing for a bit, I charged up my phone despite it taking a long time to charge and played more Mario Kart Retro Revolution, I thought about ordering an ethernet to USB cable adapter but I managed to pivot to the correct chipset. I found out that I accidentally doxxed my Wikipedia account on another website so I had to do some stuff. I trusted a fart too much today and had to go to the bathroom to wash my clothes and then throw them all into the laundry, I took a shower and then got changed into new clothes. I went to the convenience store where Spencer had been working as I didn't want to catch the parasite going around causing diarrhea and if I got it, stop the diarrhea in its tracks. I bought some off-brand Pepto-Bismol and a green tea Arizona iced tea. I got back home past my loud Black neighbors and drank both, feeling better. My mom said that she would call me after 4:30pm yet when that time rolled around, I hadn't been called yet but I went to the bus stop at 5:11pm to catch the bus down to the Omahan's apartment for his birthday party. At 5:41pm when I was almost off the bus, I got a call from my mom but I texted her:

>I'm on the bus right now.
I waited until I got off the bus and went into this parking lot to call my mom. She picked up and I apologized to her, she accepted and then told me I needed to contact my second cousin not to ask for an IT job but to ask for advice, the whole time I was picking up trash from off the ground and throwing it into the dumpster, she told me she met up with the woman my dad stays at the house of in Chicago at the conference she's at and that the woman brought limoncello because I like it. The thing is that I haven't seen her in years and I don't remember telling her I like limoncello.

[POST SPLIT IN HALF DUE TO CHARACTER LIMIT]
 
July 20th, 2026 (Continued): I walked to his apartment and first an old Black guy asks me for a light so I ignore him, then 2 Black young kids ask me to unlock the rentable e-bikes and I say I can't, I think they followed me for a bit but I threw them off until I got to the kind of old apartment, best guess of when it was built is the 1960s. The Omahan let me in and I got up to his apartment, a single bedroom and I saw a lot of the stuff he had. I first went into the bathroom to wash my hands and I could tell it hadn't been cleaned in a while, there was dust everywhere and the sink was dirty so I spent time cleaning the sink and the drain before getting back out. I met with this woman who lived on a farm that the Omahan worked at and described him like a brother. The Omahan went down to get another person at the door and the woman told me that he lives like a bachelor. The person he brought up was the farmergirl's sister named Sara, who was in a wheelchair, they joined him in a game of Set while I got this "mac and cheese" that looked more like jambalaya, I ate that as more people came in like the brother to the two sisters who looked like a guy who worked on a farm. More people came in including Adam II and his girlfriend, Bonaventure, this guy whom I will be calling Vytautas, because he's going to Lithuania on vacation soon, he also had some of the noodle meal. I tried to clean up the kitchen and got two dishes done including a spatula and my bowl but he said:
"I can clean up my own stuff."
I went into the bathroom to "go to the bathroom" which was an excuse to clean it a bit, wiping off the top of the toilet with the tissues he had and even cleaning the faucet a bit. The toilet I couldn't clean but I would describe it as a "calcified" toilet where there were brown shingles covering the bottom. I got out and joined them as another guy wearing a Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong themed short sleeved button-up. I had a cupcake and talked with the two sisters a bit, the one in the wheelchair had a bruise on her arm from wheelchair volleyball. I talked with Bonaventure a bit and he told me that J. R. R. Tolkien is one of the main reasons why he converted to Catholicism and Christianity, I told him:
"I find it weird that Tolkien hasn't been canonized yet."
He told me that there aren’t enough miracles yet and that we should pray for their intercession more, I informed him that miracles are only needed when going from Venerable to Blessed, the walking sister backed me up on the process. The Omahan’s mother called him and he went outside for that. A bit later Adam II and his girlfriend left and they hugged us all goodbye. We then got Zhao here a bit later and sadly the younger French priest didn’t show up for the thing. It was 6 of us left as the two sisters left later when we decided to start playing Secret Claus. We talked about this massive Italian family that Vytautas said compromised ⅓ of all people in the pews, I don’t know if he meant 1 out of every 3 people in the mass I usually attend or all 3 masses, or even every single mass held, which I would estimate to be above 600 people in total for Sunday, I contrasted it with this other Italian family in the city that was notorious for being a former crime family and that I delivered food for their restaurant once but didn’t use that to gain favor. The other family that was mentioned as being pious which I forgot the name of yet I think it started with a ‘Z’ sounded like the Rockford, Illinois crime family’s name (upon further research, this dynasty is NOT the Zammuto crime family). The Secret Claus game saw so many jokes about transgender surgeries and child brothels flew whenever a liberal policy was passed, I made a joke about Mexican immigrants and an early implementation of the H-1B visa being implemented. The first round started with the Omahan being Claus and won by being nominated chancellor. I got a beer in this variety pack of 3 bottles each of 4 different flavors: Dancing Man Wheat, Totally Naked, Kid Kölsch, and a 4th one I forgot. Vytautas tried the Totally Naked flavor and he said it was bad, moreso boring and plain, tasting more like hopjuice than actual beer. He poured some for me and for Bonaventure and we both didn’t like it. I offered some Dancing Man Wheat to Zhao before I drank out of it and he passed. I asked if he was not 21 yet and he told me he’s 23 but doesn’t drink alcohol. The second round started and I was laughing so much at the start so people thought I was one of the fascists but I wasn’t, my liberal card had art of a guy who kind of looked like a Hasidic Jew and then Claus won again (Donkey Kong button-up guy I chose to be chancellor) and then we talked more, I found out the Omahan’s brother was ordained in 2010 with the verse chosen as Hebrews 5:4

☛4 One does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God
I left at 9:21pm and recorded an almost fight at 9:32pm while waiting for the bus, I got on and off then walked home, deciding not to take a second shower tonight. I slept in the living room.

Song of the Day: She - Tyler, The Creator, Frank Ocean (2011)
 
July 21st, 2026: Another day of exploration. I decided it would be time to ride another bus route in full. I woke up and had cereal then coffee and I cleaned up the apartment a little bit. In the larger Catholic groupchat today there was a posting of a petition related to the sale of a former Catholic high school to a Muslim group. It caused some mixed reactions, it started late yesterday but continued into today:
<Hey everyone! There is a beautiful Catholic Church in Chicago that was established in 1906. It is being sold to the Muslims unless enough signatures protest against it. If you could all please sign to protect this Holy House of God! https://www.change.org/p/save-our-l...ale-of-catholic-church-to-non-Christian-group - Lady 1
<I signed it and I'll add it to my prayers too and all parishes to be saved from dangerous groups and other religions Catholic parishes must remain Catholic permanently no matter the situation - Gerrardo
<I would invite you to consider the Church's guidance on honoring the good, true, and beautiful found within the Islamic faith before blanketly calling those who practice it a "dangerous group." This seems particularly inappropriate in a group chat of over 1,000 people where more personal discussion cannot be adequately had to emphasize the fullness of truth, beauty, and goodness that the Catholic faith offers, attend to the deeper grief expressed at the potential of losing an established, sacred place of Catholic prayer, and maintain a dignified view of other human beings seeking to live a life of prayer according to their conscience. Feel free to dm me if you'd like to continue the conversation! - Lady 2
[liked by: Gabriel, Jacky, Nikki, and 23 others, disliked by me, Zhao, and 14 others]
<Just to clarify my comment here the "dangerous groups I mentioned was another situation where another parish was sold to a satanic group using that parish as a nightclub and mocking our faith in regards to the people of the Islamic faith if any of you guys got the confusion where I meant that all people of the Islamic faith are dangerous that's not what I meant at all sorry for the confusion this must have lead - Gerrardo
<And I agree with the statement made by Lady 2 - Gerrardo

<Feels like we can cut the convo off here. Thank you! - Groupchad leader
<I don't think it is inappropriate for this group chat of 1000+ people considering that it is literally called [Catholic groupchat] Also Pope Leo the XIII in his 1888 encyclical Libertas Praestantissimum states that the belief that all religions are equal "most clearly leads in the end to the rejection of all religion in both theory and practice" he continues with "And this is the same thing as atheism, however it may differ from it in name". Basically the Muslim religion can be tolerated, but not excepted. - Guy 1
<Our lady of victory is the name of this church that is in the process of being sold to Muslims. Our lady of victory was the result of the battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571 against the Muslims. The Catholics were outnumbered in this battle and the Pope Saint Pius V told everyone to pray the rosary to win the battle. The winds changed at sea and us Catholics won the battle. It was all because of Our Lady! Muslims hate us Catholics, we've had many crusades over this. They are actively killing Catholics in Nigeria and other parts of Africa right now. We are Catholic, we do not support the Muslim. Out of charity we pray for their conversions, we don't support them living in their error and spreading their errors which lead souls to hell. True charity is telling people in error their errors. Pope Saint Pius X: "No; outside the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church no one can be saved, just as no one could be saved from the flood outside the Ark of Noah." - Guy 2
<Pope John Paul II: "There is one universal Church of salvation, since there is one Christ and one salvation." - Guy 2
<How about that Spain winning 😅 - Lady 3
<W Catholic country - Guy 2
<Once again! The purpose of this group is for sharing catholic young adult events around the greater [city] area. If we continue to pursue discussions, that information gets lost. Let's save nuanced conversations for IN PERSON opportunities, and leave this group for sharing event information only. Thanks! - Jacky
The problem was solved by creating a new groupchat explicitly for theology, which prompted even more discussion, with Zhao joining the groupchat and writing a good amount. I eventually left to try and ride a bus route in full today, I rode the first bus route down and then got myself lunch at this eastern themed slop bowl place, which had most of the ingredients of sushi: raw tuna, caviar, minus the seaweed. I then got on the bus and whipped out my computer to write for my post a lot. There were many people on the bus but I was one of the few White people on it, we had to do a major detour due to a bridge being out, adding like 20 minutes. The bus ended shortly and I got off to walk around the strip mall, all the text I saw was English yet I only heard Spanish, I waited back on the bus and when it came at 4:18pm, the bus driver said to me:
“You could have just stayed on.”
I lied when I replied:
“I had to drop something off.”
I got on and then took the rest of the bus all the way to the bus collection. I got screwed over by the busses again and as I waited for my next one, the Black lady driving my bus said this was her last drive so I waited more for a second bus that dropped me off farther from my home. I got back to my apartment at 5:40pm and Sobieski posted about a dance every Tuesday. I charged my phone a bit and left at 6:01pm to arrive at 6:20pm but the dance lesson was already halfway through, I saw Anders and I was confused but talked a bit with Anders until I decided to walk back home. On the way I spotted an old guy wearing one of those t-shirts that had a jean jacket across a graphic of ripped abs. I got home and ate some chips as my dinner. I scrounged through different fliers I got from the traditional church to look for people with the last name that apparently took up a lot of the pews and found 2 that happened on 1 week and 1 that happened last year. I then watched some YouTube on the television before taking a shower and going to sleep.

Song of the Day: Always Something There to Remind Me - Naked Eyes (1983)
 
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July 22nd, 2026: Quite the lazy day today, I woke up at 9:00am and got cereal for breakfast and also coffee to go with. Here’s most of the theology debate groupchat by the way:
<This was shared yesterday in the larger chat. I’m just curious to know how these statements have affected Europe since they’ve been released:
<https://www.usccb.org/committees/ec...rs/vatican-council-and-papal-statements-islam - Guy 3
<I think a fairly safe blanket statement to get the ball rolling is that for many laypeople especially, it is extremely difficult to reconcile the various decisions, writings, etc. that came from V2 with the previous 2000 years of Church history. Be it theology, civil/economic matters, or anything else you can think of, they often seemingly contradict.
<I’m no theologian and I do not know the term for this, but my understanding is that dogmas or other decisions the Church makes can’t directly contradict or nullify previously accepted Church teachings, as it would effectively de-legitimize the Church. - Guy 4
<There is clear contradiction in the 2nd Vatican council apposing 2000 years of church teachings. Particularly religious liberty, false ecumenism, and collegiality.  All the pope encyclicals before the second Vatican Council contradict what was said in Vatican II. The faith cannot contradict itself. The deposit of the faith from the apostles is a continuous one truth that exists until the end of the world. So there are many questions that need to be addressed with Vatican 2. We can see all the stats of priests, religious, and lay people from all around the world, how they have all gone down in numbers. The faith is one and cannot be contradicted. - Guy 2
<That is true - dogma by definition cannot contradict dogma. Thus, when two statements contradict each other, it logically means that at least one of them cannot be dogma. And since the Second Vatican Council - according to Pope Paul VI himself - avoided the dogmatic mark of infallibility, and the ecumenical spirit and letter is manifestly a rupture from the exclusivist spirit and letter of the Deposit of Faith and statements from previous Popes and Saints, it remains logically necessary that Lumen Gentium must not be dogmatic nor treated as such. - Zhao
<🐕- Myra
<I’m still new to being Catholic but shouldn’t we still assent to the teachings of the Magisterium? How can we go about interpreting Vatican II as not dogmatic/contradictory without falsifying the One True Church? - Guy 5

<We are to submit to the teachings of the Magisterium; however, there are a few crucial elements to consider:
<* Pope Paul VI, who was the head of the Magisterium during the Council, stated that it is not dogmatic - hence, to submit to the Magisterium in this sense is to recognize that it is not dogmatic.
<* There are (if I understand correctly) three levels of doctrine: dogma, infallible doctrine, and fallible (non-infallible) doctrine. All are authoritative by default, but with good reason (such as manifest contradiction with dogma) one may doubt or reject teachings in the third category.

<* The role of the Magisterium of the Church is not to invent new doctrines or reinterpret existing dogmas, but to safeguard the Deposit of Faith, handed down to us over the ages dating all the way back to the Apostles. Novel doctrines are not part of the Deposit of Faith; hence, it is not a rejection of the Faith to doubt them. (Doctrinal development does not mean doctrinal evolution.) - Zhao
<So the contention about Vatican II more or less comes down to doctrine (not sure if I can use that term interchangeably with dogma) versus discipline? Doctrine/dogma ultimately being at the root of the crisis, and that’s why many don’t recognize the post- Vatican II/Novus Ordo hierarchy as the Catholic Hierarchy; because they’re teaching false doctrine? Am I correct in my understanding? Disciplines on the other hand (laws of fast, certain liturgical practices, etc.) are able to be changed by the church, right? And basically what’s happened to Europe since is a result of instituting bad doctrine? - Guy 3
<Something like that. False doctrine being taught by the hierarchy is at the heart of this crisis, similar to (and arguably worse than) the Arian Crisis. Sacrilege, heresy, scandal, confusion, blasphemy, sins of the flesh, etc. are rampant because many - both lay and clerical - are taught a corrupted version of the Faith. Some conclude then that the post-Vatican II/Novus Ordo hierarchy is a false hierarchy (most sedes), but there are many who recognize its legitimacy while publicly resisting its errors and working to teach Catholics the True Faith. Disciplines can be changed - for example, it is no longer a sin to eat two or more full meals on Ember Days. Bad disciplines can and will lead to problems, but not nearly as grave or widespread as bad doctrine. - Zhao

<I think a lot of clarification is needed concerning the development of doctrine, differences in authority concerning church statements, and the historical, social, and linguistic context of all thinking.
<I do not think the matters will be settled or resolved on a GroupMe chat but maybe arranging a place for drinks and discussion over a particular topic will be fruitful - Guy 6
<I like that idea, we could probably arrange something - Lady 4
<Yeah meeting up and talking about this would be great. Definitely hard doing it over text - Guy 3
<I’d be down. - Zhao
<Great idea - Guy 7
<I am on call for work these two weeks though, so my availability will be limited for the time being. - Zhao
<I would watch this play out possibly - Myra
<I would go - Guy 8
<I could make the digital flyer if its all planned out - Myra
<Next Saturday work for people? - Guy 7
<Works for me - Guy 3
<Where? And any extra information? - Myra
<Just throwing out a date that might work. I’m indifferent to any place it could be held at - Guy 7
<Anywhere with ample parking space is fine by me (I don’t want another ticket) - Zhao
At this point the conversation discussed location and it wouldn’t be this Saturday and would shift a bit.
[POST SPLIT IN HALF DUE TO CHARACTER LIMIT]
 
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July 22nd, 2026 (Continued): I got on my Wii and played some more Mario Kart Retro Rewind, but I got on my computer also and ordered this ethernet to USB adapter for my Wii to connect online. I then tried booting up my desktop yet it was having errors again. I just went back to the living room and tidied up a little bit. I tried finding what happened to my copy of Saint Augustine's Confessions yet I couldn't find it. I wrote a bit more until I decided it was time to go outside and I got out and took a detour for fun on my walk to the ramen spot nearby, I spotted a college-aged woman holding her cat on her shoulders and I wish I asked to pet the grey cat. I got to the ramen place and the only two people working was this old East Asian guy and a young Olmecian woman. Nobody was at the cash register as it was a self operated tap screen. I ate half of my ramen and posted on Reddit before taking the other half for home, I walked back and put it in the fridge and got on my computer a bit longer. At 5:05pm I decided to walk to Eucharist adoration. I got in at 5:40pm and I was welcomed by other seminarians.
"Oh hey Gemerson!"
One of them said to me, I didn't remember his name but I said hi back. Rehoboam was there and he told us that dinner tonight was pretty simple: chicken tenders, french fries, tater tots, watermelon slices, and italian ice. Jordan got there a bit later and we talked a lot during dinner like how Cardinal James Michael Harvey will be here next week at the dinner and leading the Eucharistic adoration. Rehoboam's car broke down last week so now he has to share his mom's car. I walked over a bit early and decided to wait in line for confession at Luigi's priest brother's line. I went back to grab a pen from the back and saw a "pro-life feminist" magazine in the back, I hate how much feminism has infiltrated every aspect of society. I grabbed the pen and wrote down my sins to confess to. I spotted Kalifornia sitting in the pews while I went to confess. Luigi’s priest brother mentioned to me that one of my sins (constant phone usage) is related to a source like isolation. I went up and prayed a bit before sitting down next to Jordan. I did the flipping to halfway then halfway to the end technique for my reading and spotted others there like Naomi, Sixes, Sixes’ friend, Jacky, Quinn, Quinci, Gerrardo. When Eucharistic adoration ended, someone went up to Jordan and asked them to read for mass and he accepted. I wasn’t happy that I got passed over. I was one of the first to receive the Eucharist at mass and then prayed a little bit before heading outside with the others to socialize. The first group of people I talked to was Quinci, Gerrardo, and this Hispanic woman with multiple of those bright colored and star shaped pimple patches who was somehow shorter than Quinci, she’s from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and she met Quinci at a different Eucharistic adoration group and brought her here. Quinci told me that she never met the presider for mass today, I told her who he is and brought up the fact that he was the one who confirmed me, but the priest left so I couldn’t introduce him to them. Gerrardo never talked the entire time but I went to the next group to talk to Kalifornia, Sixes, and Sixes’ friend. I wished Kalifornia a late happy birthday and Sixes talked about attending a psychology class. I said bye to them at 9:16pm and ran to the bus stop to take it home, I took a shower, and went to sleep.

Song of the Day: Big Girls Don’t Cry - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (1962)
 
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