Our house is a house of plague right now. I’m not really sick myself, but the flu has camped out in our house and I’ve been caring for sick kids and now a sick husband. I’ve been too busy to think up anything great to say, but I’ve been watching and listening to all sorts of things while I dole out cough drops and tissues.

Ever since I discovered the Dark Histories podcast a couple months ago I’ve been on a true crime kick, so I binge watched the Ted Bundy Tapes as soon as I got the chance. I’ve been familiar with the Ted Bundy murders ever since I moved to Utah, where he was first captured. It’s not something locals talk about much, but Bundy lived in Salt Lake City for quite a while and even attended a local Mormon church. I really enjoyed this detailed look that focused on original sources, though it doesn’t dive as deep into Bundy’s psychology as you might expect.

Watching the Bundy Tapes led me to Abducted in Plain Sight, which was actually much sadder and stranger. It’s the true case of an extremely naive Mormon family manipulated by a creepy child molestor.  This documentary is an interesting story, but also a deep look into the way close knit religious communities can be so vulnerable to predators.

Aside from true crime, I’ve been immersed in Dungeons & Dragons stuff. We finished the starter kit and started our next adventure. After much thought, I decided to put off Curse of Strahd until fall, when the nights get long and we’re all a little more experienced with role playing and rules. We’ve started Hoard of the Dragon Queen instead. As I’m learning to run the game I’ve become obsessed with D&D blogs and YouTube channels. The most important thing I’ve learned so far is that every good GM out there is a white guy with a well-trimmed beard. I had always suspected this, and it’s good to know I’m right.

My favorites so far are the Angry GM, How to Be a Great GM, the Dungeon Dudes, and Matt Colville. Matt Colville’s channel is doing an entire campaign about the Chain of Acheron and I’ve got the kids hooked. Maybe watching good players will get them to stop arguing about where they sit and whose character goes down the tunnel first.

In between all that I’ve been listening to old favorites–Nine Inch Nails, the Cure, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, and positively obsessing over the Enneagram for Idiots podcast and speculating on everyone’s enneagram type.

And that’s it. My life right now is watching random stuff while people cough and sniffle in the background, hoping the flu doesn’t take me next. Hope your week is at least as wonderful as mine.