Five From the Shelf Friday will return, but it’s been a week, oy, so let me swing into the weekend with five thoughts looming on my mind…

First, Memento Mori, the new album from the now-duo of Depeche Mode, drops today. My copy should be hitting me this afternoon from Amazon and I have already scored a pair of tickets for the tour in October. Word has it Memento Mori will be stripped (pun intended), reverential and somber in remembrance of the recent passing of Andy “Fletch” Fletcher. Whatever vibe prevails, I will no doubt be soaking up Memento Mori on repeat.

2. It’s been two years already since TJ came back into my life. We were close friends, compatriots, fellow writers, co-workers and equal parts nerd and knucklehead. I never thought a day like this would come after so many years apart, where she would enter mine and my son’s lives to become my future bride. Life has a funny way, and this whole thing seems predestined, regardless of the painful roads it took to reach this point. See you at the altar in October, babe.

3. Spring Equinox is here, yay! However, we’ve been so smashed-up busy with life and drama we totally missed Ostara. Overdue love and honor to you, Brigid, blessed be. We suck.

4. We just had a pipe leak in the townhouse we’re renting and leaving in May. Right after that, a vanity mirror in the fourth level bathroom became unhinged. And worse, my key broke off inside the bolt lock! Good times, ain’t we lucky we’ve got ’em. Things come in threes, so says the magickal law, but I would add that every single place I’ve lived in my adult life, when it comes to moving on, each house has had its own rude way of not only saying goodbye, but spitefully dropping its protest against me/us.

5. Warmer weather means it’s getting time to hit the trails! You all know me by now…it’s been a month of running and prep at the gym for spring through fall hiking, though TJ and I are both getting older and have to watch those knees. No excuses, though. See ya soon, roads lesser traveled!

Happy Friday, my friends…keep it hanging…

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.