Lane
@lanetalbot.bsky.social
https://thrillstate.substack.com/
Fiction and essays that pair well with exotic cocktails served in haunted hotel bars by the sexiest ghosts one could survive beholding directly.
#HorrorSky #BookSky #FilmSky
Fiction and essays that pair well with exotic cocktails served in haunted hotel bars by the sexiest ghosts one could survive beholding directly.
#HorrorSky #BookSky #FilmSky
"The Chicago Handshake."
On Nov. 10th, 1924, mobster and florist Dean O'Banion was greeted in his flower shop by three rivals, one of whom seized his right hand while the other two fired into him.
On Nov. 10th, 1924, mobster and florist Dean O'Banion was greeted in his flower shop by three rivals, one of whom seized his right hand while the other two fired into him.
November 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
"The Chicago Handshake."
On Nov. 10th, 1924, mobster and florist Dean O'Banion was greeted in his flower shop by three rivals, one of whom seized his right hand while the other two fired into him.
On Nov. 10th, 1924, mobster and florist Dean O'Banion was greeted in his flower shop by three rivals, one of whom seized his right hand while the other two fired into him.
Our kids are trying to tell my wife and I where to go for our 11th anniversary. (This date includes them apparently.)
6yo suggest local Mexican ice cream place, his closer: “Dad, it’s so good. It’ll literally make your brain explode.”
6yo suggest local Mexican ice cream place, his closer: “Dad, it’s so good. It’ll literally make your brain explode.”
November 10, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Our kids are trying to tell my wife and I where to go for our 11th anniversary. (This date includes them apparently.)
6yo suggest local Mexican ice cream place, his closer: “Dad, it’s so good. It’ll literally make your brain explode.”
6yo suggest local Mexican ice cream place, his closer: “Dad, it’s so good. It’ll literally make your brain explode.”
I've been writing a document in my ReMarkable device--totally unaware of page or word count.
I guessed I was about at 20k words.
Just transferred it:
20,065 words.
I should go to Vegas.
I guessed I was about at 20k words.
Just transferred it:
20,065 words.
I should go to Vegas.
November 8, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I've been writing a document in my ReMarkable device--totally unaware of page or word count.
I guessed I was about at 20k words.
Just transferred it:
20,065 words.
I should go to Vegas.
I guessed I was about at 20k words.
Just transferred it:
20,065 words.
I should go to Vegas.
We're all just pretending printers, leaf blowers, and Microsoft products actually work, right?
November 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
We're all just pretending printers, leaf blowers, and Microsoft products actually work, right?
The Arc Raiders tagline confounds me.
Enlist. Resist
That dropped second period is intentional, right? Why? What does that choice accomplish?
Any copywriters want to weigh in and tell me what I’m missing?
Enlist. Resist
That dropped second period is intentional, right? Why? What does that choice accomplish?
Any copywriters want to weigh in and tell me what I’m missing?
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The Arc Raiders tagline confounds me.
Enlist. Resist
That dropped second period is intentional, right? Why? What does that choice accomplish?
Any copywriters want to weigh in and tell me what I’m missing?
Enlist. Resist
That dropped second period is intentional, right? Why? What does that choice accomplish?
Any copywriters want to weigh in and tell me what I’m missing?
Midday pep talk in the mirror.
November 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Midday pep talk in the mirror.
“I can fast a hundred years and not die. I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show me your enemies.”
— C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian.
— C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian.
November 4, 2025 at 2:13 AM
“I can fast a hundred years and not die. I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show me your enemies.”
— C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian.
— C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian.
There are many phenomenal action hero jackets.
There are only a few perfect ones.
There are only a few perfect ones.
November 1, 2025 at 12:22 PM
There are many phenomenal action hero jackets.
There are only a few perfect ones.
There are only a few perfect ones.
Heads up out there today.
October 31, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Heads up out there today.
October 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Business idea: “There and Back Again Massage”
A Lord of the Rings-themed massage therapy office.
Hobbit-hole interior design.
Your massage therapist will be dressed as Galadriel, Gandalf or (at an additional cost) Gollum—yes, he’ll whisper over you.
Nobody steal this idea. Or do.
A Lord of the Rings-themed massage therapy office.
Hobbit-hole interior design.
Your massage therapist will be dressed as Galadriel, Gandalf or (at an additional cost) Gollum—yes, he’ll whisper over you.
Nobody steal this idea. Or do.
October 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Business idea: “There and Back Again Massage”
A Lord of the Rings-themed massage therapy office.
Hobbit-hole interior design.
Your massage therapist will be dressed as Galadriel, Gandalf or (at an additional cost) Gollum—yes, he’ll whisper over you.
Nobody steal this idea. Or do.
A Lord of the Rings-themed massage therapy office.
Hobbit-hole interior design.
Your massage therapist will be dressed as Galadriel, Gandalf or (at an additional cost) Gollum—yes, he’ll whisper over you.
Nobody steal this idea. Or do.
Grateful to have been invited to my son’s first grade classroom as a visiting author.
I did not tell them I am an author in the same way that Captain Crunch is a naval officer.
I did not tell them I am an author in the same way that Captain Crunch is a naval officer.
October 27, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Grateful to have been invited to my son’s first grade classroom as a visiting author.
I did not tell them I am an author in the same way that Captain Crunch is a naval officer.
I did not tell them I am an author in the same way that Captain Crunch is a naval officer.
#ITWelcometoDerry thoughts:
Stephen King dark Americana—what could be better?
Kid who plays Phil is phenomenal.
Creepy moments more successful than the outrageous ones.
Chintzy FX should be illegal.
Stephen King dark Americana—what could be better?
Kid who plays Phil is phenomenal.
Creepy moments more successful than the outrageous ones.
Chintzy FX should be illegal.
October 27, 2025 at 2:40 AM
#ITWelcometoDerry thoughts:
Stephen King dark Americana—what could be better?
Kid who plays Phil is phenomenal.
Creepy moments more successful than the outrageous ones.
Chintzy FX should be illegal.
Stephen King dark Americana—what could be better?
Kid who plays Phil is phenomenal.
Creepy moments more successful than the outrageous ones.
Chintzy FX should be illegal.
Still thinking about (and not forgiving) that time my best friend called Farscape trash 20 years ago.
October 22, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Still thinking about (and not forgiving) that time my best friend called Farscape trash 20 years ago.
“What people such as Altman & Andreessen envision is the logical end point of technology itself—a push to eliminate cognitive resistance and bridge the gap between imagination and reality… They wrongly believe that the world turns on ideas only, and devalue the work that goes into their execution.”
A Tool That Crushes Creativity
AI slop is winning.
www.theatlantic.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
“What people such as Altman & Andreessen envision is the logical end point of technology itself—a push to eliminate cognitive resistance and bridge the gap between imagination and reality… They wrongly believe that the world turns on ideas only, and devalue the work that goes into their execution.”
For some reason, encountering one of these setups feels like picking up some extra health in an old Sega game.
October 21, 2025 at 4:50 AM
For some reason, encountering one of these setups feels like picking up some extra health in an old Sega game.
Is this depression, anxiety or just lucidity?
October 19, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Is this depression, anxiety or just lucidity?
Writing, when little else, is at least and always an excellent use of time.
October 19, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Writing, when little else, is at least and always an excellent use of time.
Wait till someone finds out about me and my decades of performative writing in coffee shops.
When they ask, I invented that.
www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...
When they ask, I invented that.
www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...
Are you an actual book nerd, or are you just 'performative reading'?
Reading in public has become meme fodder online. Some longtime book lovers say the scrutiny has made their hobby come off as a performance.
www.nbcnews.com
October 15, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Wait till someone finds out about me and my decades of performative writing in coffee shops.
When they ask, I invented that.
www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...
When they ask, I invented that.
www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...
While I am not running the Chicago marathon this year, I did just summit chorizo mountain.
October 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
While I am not running the Chicago marathon this year, I did just summit chorizo mountain.
Wants to be a Gambit, is a Cyclops.
Wants to be a John, is a George.
Wants to be a Carrie, is a Carrie.
Wants to be a John, is a George.
Wants to be a Carrie, is a Carrie.
October 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Wants to be a Gambit, is a Cyclops.
Wants to be a John, is a George.
Wants to be a Carrie, is a Carrie.
Wants to be a John, is a George.
Wants to be a Carrie, is a Carrie.
I love Chicago as a Chicagoan. And I love New York as a non-New Yorker. Big difference.
October 11, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I love Chicago as a Chicagoan. And I love New York as a non-New Yorker. Big difference.
I’ve never felt (or even feigned) a level of authority over anyone or any subject comparable to that which my 4yo girl self-evidently believes she possesses over everyone and everything.
October 8, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I’ve never felt (or even feigned) a level of authority over anyone or any subject comparable to that which my 4yo girl self-evidently believes she possesses over everyone and everything.