Not a complicated series of dominoes I guess, but weird to think that the idea for Night Vale, and thus making a living as a writer for over a decade, started with being invited to a Something Awful staff trip in Vegas, and not having enough money to fly there so I drove
I had not spent a lot of time in the desert before then, and driving through the landscape made a huge impression on me that came bubbling back up as an idea four years later
Me looking around to find the ATM I heard was on the second of my college's campus center > every relationship, hobby, and project I've had ever since.
Nah they thought I was a different watery-eyed nerd boy. When it was revealed I was someone different, it didn't change things much. We're pretty interchangeable.
THEN i rolled up a cleric.
That's such a cool story! I am many years behind on Night Vale but its fucked-up desert lives in my heart too now. I put it on in the car to scare the kids.
I don't know if you're already listening to Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast but it sounds like you'd make an incredible guest. They've already had luminaries like Josh Sawyer and Elias Toufexis on, and I believe Brian lived in Arizona, although it could be AJ.
When Nightvale first came out, I heard about it first on the forums, and specifically because some of the early episodes featured music during the "Weather" segment by other forum members.
Making a Twitter account in 2012 because “I have no reason not to” ➡️ operating a particle accelerator in Canada in 2017.
Now in 2024, I have every reason not to have an account there 🤣
