I told the story of my cherry tomato plants in a previous entry.
Long story short, I decided to try growing tomatoes in my Aerogarden (which I've only used for herbs). Alas, the plants grew into the grow lights, burning them. I ended up planting them outside and it didn't go well because they weren't used to the heat. I thought they were goners.
But then they rallied! I got a couple tomatoes off them, then ignored the plants.
Yesterday I noticed that I had a lot tomatoes on them and made a note to harvest them today. There's a baked tomato and feta dish I like, and I thought I'd smear it on toast for dinner.
I planted them too far apart because I didn't want them growing too close together. Turns out I planted too far apart. And I should have bought a wire cage to help support their weight.
Regardless, they turned out beautiful. I thought that bugs and birds would have ate them, but nope!
And I couldn't do it.
I couldn't cook my harvest. The tomatoes were SO beautiful and SO tasty that I decided to make a fresh tomato feta salad instead (tossed with EVOO, Mediterranean herbs, red pepper flakes, and a little minced garlic, then topped with a balsamic glaze)...
Cannot possible enunciate how phenomenally delicious this was.
Next year I'll be planting at least ten plants... probably more... because I could eat like this all Summer and still want more. Store bought tomatoes cannot compare.
Or maybe I need a greenhouse so I can eat like this all year long?
Somebody buy me a greenhouse.
As I've already said... I have zero problem with Disney (the company) deciding to make an animatronic of Disney (the man) because Walt Himself had zero problems with dredging up people like Abraham Lincoln to be turned into a robot. So why not? In the end, I actually thought that it was a good thing.
At least I did until I saw what they came up with.
Does Walt Disney Company not have photos of Walt Disney? They did a terrible job of making something that even remotely resembles the guy...
I know it can't be perfect... but getting the hairline, eyebrows, and nose right would have gone a long ways towards a better resemblance.
I can't even figure out what era this is supposed to be from. It's not near his last appearance (bottom), that's for sure. Why wouldn't they take his look from the middle of the extremes that people recognize him from (top)? That would have made a lot more sense.
Yikes.
I guess those people saying that he should have never been ressurected as an animatronic have nothing to worry about.
Because that ain't him.
I had no intention of buying a Switch 2. Not only did it feel overpriced with overpriced games, there were some other things that rubbed me the wrong way as well. But the biggest reason I wasn't going to buy one is that I barely have time to play my OG Switch and Xbox Series S as it is. Why buy something new to give me even more I won't have time for?
But then it came to pass through a series of events that I acquired one anyway...
I've been jotting down notes for the past couple weeks as I run across things...
And there you have it. No idea how much longer I'll hold onto the thing, but I suppose that I'll buy a few overpriced next-gen games just to see what it's like.
Since the unit is here already.
It's 911. The world may be ending, but I'm not sending this blog with it just yet... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...
• IN THE NEWS: Historic lodge on Grand Canyon North Rim destroyed by wildfire. This is awful. I've never stayed at the Grand Canyon Lodge because it was way out of my price range, but I've eaten dinner there with my mom and it's a wonderful place. Or was...
Image from a news story taken from somewhere on Twitter
The world being both figuratively and literally on fire is really starting to wear on people. Starting with me.
• IN THE NEWS: 1 person dies of the plague in northern Arizona. And guess what? The current administration is GUTTING our research and defense against shit like this. All so he can give billionaires more tax cuts while the country goes trillions more into debt. The rest of us just get to die of the plague, I guess.
• IN THE NEWS: Mexican volunteers rushed in to help after floods in Texas. Some want to continue recovery efforts. "Oscar Morales is part of the volunteer-led recovery team International Tlatelolco Azteca Rescue Brigade, which was created after the 1985 earthquake that left thousands dead in Mexico City. The group is better known as 'Los Topos,' which translates to 'the moles,' because members search for victims after natural disasters. But the part of the above story which is adding a new level of horrible to an already horrific situation? On social media, Gov. Greg Abbott has thanked almost a dozen states for sending help after the catastrophic floods, but he hasn't publicly mentioned the help of Mexican volunteers. Because of course not. And yet Mexico showed up anyway, even though they knew this would happen. And despite the fact that there could have been seriously harmful consequences for showing up to help a neighbor... like getting deported to a prison in El Salvador. I was holding my breath when I heard they came, just waiting for some stupid racist shit to go down, because that seems to be what this country is all about now.
• IN THE NEWS: From Mackintosh Braun on Instagram. "Our independent album The Sound was removed from all streaming and stores by TuneCore because Warner Sync UK Warner Music has claimed they own a song on the album. We made this record broke, sharing a studio apartment back in 2006. This is why the music industry is broken. They’ve effectively removed our music from existence for no reason… if you can write someone do it, no idea how to fix this." This is horrible, but so typical of the abuse which huge companies can unleash whenever they want, and rarely face consequences... even nearly 20 years later. This is an incredible debut album from MB (Macintosh Braun), one of my all-time favorite bands. I've been hoping for a new album for a decade now, but have taken consolation that their old albums are still out there to be enjoyed. Except when they're not.
• End of an Era! The Rivers of America has been removed from Walt Disney World's maps. That's where the new Cars attractions are going to go...
The Rivers of America in Disneyland is still there, so that's nice.
• PC Mini! If you're looking to kill some time and are mesmerized by electronics videos like I am, here's your next watch...
It's remarkable how much of the work is done by hand. I would have sworn that these would be 90% automated by machine. Also remarkable? How everything is being made to look like a Mac mini now, right down to the packaging.
• Hello Depression! Am I the only one who can no longer watch movies about the total fantasy of what this country could be without being filled with abject despair over how it is?
I just wanted a feel-good movie to play while I had a sandwich, so I put on Dave, which I normally love. Now it just makes me depressed.
And now we can continue with the ongoing nightmare of our existence.
I was gone two days on vacation and, just like when I'm gone for two weeks, Jake won't leave my side.
Every night I go to sleep and he's laying next to me, then when I wake up and he's still there. I don't know how he manages to get any sleep with all my tossing and turning, but it doesn't seem to discourage him. Of course even belly rubs only distract him for a second before he falls asleep again...
If only I could sleep like that.
After talking with a friend who had just watched Mickey 17, which stars Robert Pattinson, I remembered that he also starred in the Christopher Nolan's Tenet, a movie I like the more times I see it.
This time was no different. Such a brilliant film.
I've watched videos, read articles, and examined timeline charts in order to better understand the film. And here's another one which was very recently released (spoilers, of course)...
I love that the movie is so deep that videos and articles are still being written about it.
Next up from Nolan is his adaptation of The Odyssey, the trailer for which has apparently leaked online. I'm not going to try and watch anything until Universal officially releases it. Otherwise I know that I'm going to undoubtedly be clicking on a fucking shit-ton of AI-generated shit, because that's what YouTube is all about now-a-days.
Except...
Unlike Facebook, YouTube may actually be trying to curb the AI slop we're being inundated with. Thank God. I am so sick and fucking tired of this crap that it almost makes me want to abandon the internet so I don't have to see it.
And, just like that, Summer vacation is over.
Now I need a vacation from my vacation...
...which is how you know it was a good vacation.
The third deepest lake in the USA is Lake Chelan, which is an hour from my home (the first is Crater Lake in Oregon, the second is The Great Salt Lake in Utah). Friends and I decided to spend part of our week hanging out at the local big deep.
The weather yesterday was perfect. Plenty of blue sky and sunshine, which means the lake was fairly calm and we could take a boat out to swim and soak up the sun...
Half-way up the 50-mile lake is 25 Mile Creek, where we stopped for ice cream...
It was a fantastic day and a fantastic trip on the lake.
But not all was perfect when we got back.
The condo room I rented inexplicably has a set of stairs immediately after walking in the door...
Now, keep in mind that from the perspective of the photo above, you can actually see the stairs. But if you are on the top of the stairs, you don't see the sides. From your perspective, you can barely see stairs exist and it looks much like this...
Which means that I charged right through the door, concentrating on not catching my bag and suitcase on the closing door, didn't see the stairs... and walked right off the edge, catching myself on the little sink there.
I wrenched by back pretty good, and spent two days of my vacation in pain.
I don't understand how this is even a legal construction. Don't stairs have to have guardrails to keep you from falling off? I'd think that the owners would want to have a railing of some kind for safety. Because even after I learned (the hard way) that the stairs are there, I was still running into them (particularly at night, because the bathroom is just past the sink.
Oh well. I had pills on me so I could push through and have a good vacation despite it all. That's probably the thing to focus on.
Some friends and I decided to do some floatin' on Saturday.
It was bordering on hot, but the water was cold, so it all balanced out in the end.
It seems strange how the water just gets lower and lower every year. Used to be you could float until August. Now it's almost too late to float in July...
Lower...
And lower. I was close to dragging ass at this point...
Duckies were out again this year...
Some with babies...
I didn't see any deer this year, but I did see a raccoon, which is more rare since they usually only come out at night. Guess he just wanted a drink and a quick dip to cool off...
And despite being warned, there were no bears again this year...
And that's my first and only float in 2025.
Professor Dave has created an in-depth video addressing RFK's horrific, life-destroying misinformation campaign. Of particular note is how the head of the Department of Health & Human Services profits from his bullshit.
No matter what side of the fence you're on, I'd urge you to watch this entire video... if, for no other reason, to listen to the debunked lies that are easily verifiable by looking up the misrepresented citations RFK presents as "facts in evidence" to know the truth. So even if you don't take action for your own self, at the very least you're not propagating misinformation which convinces others to risk their health and lives (or, more tragically, the health and lives of their children)...
You know what refutes science? Better science. Not whatever the fuck RFK's stupid shit and lies are supposed to be.