The Girvanaca Monthly Report for October of 2025
Read For: An Autumn Lament-A Silkworm Reunion-More Rejection News-and Monthly Blog Installments
Hello, everyone. Happy October.
I have a conflicted relationship with the month of October. That is mainly because of my inconsistent past with the seemingly most popular holiday among people my age—Halloween.
As a kid, of course, I loved Halloween, but I wasn’t allowed to celebrate it every year. It all depended on how “Christian” my father was any given year. If there was an article about how “evil” Halloween is in October’s issue of Focus on the Family—no Halloween. However, the next year my father would be all in, decorating the front door and greeting trick-or-treaters with a flashlight shining in his face, exposing vampire teeth.
“Good evening. I vant to suck your blood… One for you. And one for you.”
He sounded like a cross between Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, and the Count from Sesame Street. That year it seemed like his favorite holiday, but the next year we would be at a lame church-sponsored fall fair purposely held on Halloween to combat the “heathen” holiday.
In the end, I don’t really remember which side he landed on. Because of this childhood trauma—and yes, I consider it a form of trauma—I still can’t figure out if I love Halloween, if I’m scared of it, if it’s lame, or if it is just a waste of time. So, I don’t know what I am going to be for Halloween this year. Maybe nothing, maybe Paul Blart, Mall Cop. But everyone else should enjoy the Halloween season.
Vestiges
Two vestiges for the price of one this month. Join me as I reminisce about everyone’s favorite subject—saying goodbye to a pet. Or in this case, three pets. The more I dig into these vestiges, the more the theme of death keeps popping up. Hey, just in time for Halloween. Spooky…ish?
How I Find Joy in 2025:
Over a decade ago, I produced a documentary on an “indie rock” band called Silkworm. The movie was directed by one of my best friends, and the band is one of my favorites, so the time I spent working on this movie was some of the best time I have had on this planet so far.
Silkworm had a long, interesting, and tragic history by the time they played their final show in 2006, and it seemed clear that the band would never play again.
Never say never. This week I got to see my favorite band play three shows in Chicago, and it was awesome to see them.
Like I said before, Silkworm’s history is complicated, so this new incarnation of the band is complicated to explain as well. Luckily, other people have spent time doing that. If you want to learn more about Silkworm, look into them. Most of all, listen to their music—a damn good band, playing damn good rock and roll.
Check out some of this content to discover more about the wonderful world of Silkworm:
Still selling a digital download of the Silkworm Documentary (BluRay may be coming soon).
Conan Neutron’s Protonic Reversal Ep 439: Tim Midyett of Silkworm
Kreative Kontrol Ep 952: Silkworm
A new book of great essays and articles about the band by fans of the band.
A Non Binding Deposition of a Person I Know
Eric Williams is a talented writer, director, musician, and actor, as well as a successful professional in the film industry with decades of diverse experience. I am proud to call him a friend, and I hope to spend more time with him in the future. We are both lifelong New Orleans Saints fans and hope to see them in the Super Bowl again before our journeys end. I hope you enjoy the answers he gave to my questions.
Girvanaca Writing Update
I have a few more rejections to report. I didn’t make the cut for The Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize. Congratulations to anyone who did. You see, I am not bitter. I also got a rejection for a short story from The Letter Review.
However, I did send in some more poetry and fiction to Grist and Swing, the literary journal of The Porch in Nashville, which is a really cool literary center. Someone told me that if I am not getting rejected, then I am not submitting. I will keep telling myself that.
Here is a link to my first official publication. Unfortunately, my alma mater, the great Goddard College, went out of business, and with it the literary journal folded. This short memoir piece was an online exclusive for The Pitkin Review in the fall of 2014 it’s titled, My Father was a Sailor.
Just Another Blog Post
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about how crappy 2025 has been so far. Many months later—uh, it hasn’t gotten any better. Not at all. I thought about rewriting this, but then I decided I didn’t want to. I will try to be better about posting timely things in a timely manner.
For those are here and want to read more — please, subscribe and share. Follow me on all of the socials (except X and Tik Tok) and thank you for your support. Have a happy and productive August.