thing #70

stranger things 5

image from @noahschapp

Happy 2026, readers! It’s a new year, which can mean a.) Absolutely Nothing at All or b.) high time for a complete reset and renewal of every aspect of your life. Choose your own adventure, but I might assume the dual weight and opportunity of a new year may be attractive to the common individual with 2025 slogging out cultural brown slop and general global hellfire.¹

Just like Eleven *spoiler* absolutely incinerated herself into the Mindflayer’s twisted heart for her final battle with Vecna, maybe in my rose-colored view, the combo of shared community and nostalgia can be the flamethrower that sizzles through the slop this coming year.

In the spirit of 80’s cinema, Indiana Jones rides off into the sunset, Bueller fools Rooney, Westley rescues Buttercup and Inigo gets his revenge. The Slop personified loves to hate in the comment section - but I think the Stranger Things series finale gave us a perfect 80’s happy ending. I jumped, I laughed, I cried, and my viewing party turned off the TV satisfied at the end of a warm and fuzzy epilogue, feeling collective nostalgia for an excellent show that had a decade-long run. Discourse stimulates intellect; but when discourse becomes mass critical pessimism applied to culture at large, how can we possibly expect to fend off the looming homogenization of creativity?

In 2026, I’m manifesting more happy endings, more creativity, more togetherness, more love and more joy. Also, I have a resolution to run a mile without stopping in under ten minutes. I’ll keep you all posted.

1. Pun intended.