Past Clumsy Crushes Beneath Thrill Pier

A Very "Summer Nights" Mix Tape

Hi, valued subscribers! Thank you for paying for another month of content. Did you know that the song from Grease referenced in the subtitle of this post is not called “Summer Lovin’” as I mistakenly believed? I learned it’s actually called “Summer Nights” while fact checking myself, which is the kind of honest journalism you can continue to expect from this Substack. For those of you who can see this free preview and don’t pay for paywalled content (95% of you), this is what you’re missing by subscribing to the free version of Swan Fungus.

It’s been a weird week! I was scouring an old hard drive for songs that fit the theme of this month’s mix tape when I came across a trove of old short stories written between 2005-2012. You know, there was a time when I actually dreamed of being a writer. I don’t mean, like… blogging-writing. I mean like, fiction-writing.

I didn’t read a lot in college, mostly because I took a lot of English and Communications classes that required a ton of reading. I always wrote, though. Having to pen twenty, thirty, or fifty page papers for various classes had no effect on my obsession with writing. I have always enjoyed writing in my free time. Whether for the school paper, my blog, ‘zines, or short stories. If I read even one short story that inspired me, I would write ten of my own in response.

I’ve shared some of these in the past. “Sam” was one. “The Epoch Story” was another. “Fair” yet another. There are a bunch on the old website. The best ones were never published because I wanted to make a collection that was tied together by a central theme. It never materialized, of course.

Anyway, those are the stories I unearthed this week. I planned on sharing one with the paid subscribers, and have spent at least 5 hours this week revisiting one of my favorites. The thing is, I’m not a great editor. Especially when it comes to my own writing. I approached this story (written in May of 2011) as a harsh English teacher might, and the result is I’ve completely ruined it and it is now unrecognizable and I hate it. So…I don’t think I’m going to share it. Eventually, maybe.

The good news is, the process inspired a mix tape! Time to insert the paywall and then we’ll get down to business.