Whenever Jenny has had enough of me petting her or holding her feet or whatever... she just starts kicking at me to get away while she makes her escape. It's a hilariously cat-like. They manipulate you into getting what they want. And if they don't want you around, they leave.
I can't help but feel I should be learning from that.
In other news... Jake puked on the warming pads I had put on the bed. Both of them!
After I took the covers off the pads to toss them in the wash, I went back upstairs and Jake was sitting on the warm spot left by one of the pads. I crawled back into bed to work for a while, at which point he plopped down next to me and fell asleep...
I think I mentioned how my cats are "talking" a lot more as they get older.
I've decided to talk back.
Jenny was hanging off the cat tree looking at Jake running down the stairs. I was on the couch and started meowing at her. She turned her head to look...
I kept talking to her, at which point she shifted her body more towards me... still hanging off the cat tree...
She doesn't talk back like Jake does. Instead she just looks at me like I'm a moron.
Which is also hilariously cat-like.
On Facebook I learned that Morrissey had canceled the remainder of his US tour, including Salt Lake City and Seattle (on October 7th). It seems a perfect time to revisit my only time seeing him live, which was my third attempt (the first time I couldn't make it, the second time Morrissey canceled). But anyway...
As a massive fan of The Smiths, I had long wanted to see Morrissey in concert because it's the closest I was going to get to seeing the band play live. After the cancellation of the second concert I tried to see, I had given up because he always seemed to be canceling, and it's too expensive to book airfare, hotel, and tickets when he does.
But finally in 2014 I said "fuck it" and flew all the way across the country from Seattle, WA to St. Petersburg, FL and hoped for the best.
He actually showed up.
HOWEVER... After being disappointed in the crowd for not responding enthusiastically enough to his political rants, Morrissey declared the show "dead" and left the stage with only three songs left to go on his setlist. Ten days later Morrissey canceled all remaining dates in the tour due to illness (shocker). Apparently he caught a respiratory infection in Miami the day after the concert I attended.
The tour itself was wild. And although I'm disappointed I got shorted three songs (one of which is my very favorite: Everyday is Like Sunday)... I wouldn't trade the experience for the world, because now I have my own Morrissey story. And for that I'm grateful, because he's always been a bit of an ass, and he just gets worse as time goes on. I would never pay money to see the turd now.
Not that I could... he canceled Seattle, after all.
APPLE NEWS: Apple to use Google's AI model to run new Siri, Bloomberg News reports.
So... when I bought my Apple iPhone with the promise that they would make their stupid-as-shit Siri voice assistant smarter with it... this was a crock of bullshit all along? They NEVER had the ability to fix Siri. I've been waiting OVER A YEAR for something that was never coming.
And now they're going to have Google fix it for them? Why the fuck wouldn't I have just bought an Android phone if that's what I was going to get? That way I would have had a working voice assistant all this time.
Remember when Apple wouldn't talk about something until it was ready to release? Apple doesn't... BECAUSE NOW-A-DAYS THAT'S ALL THEY FUCKING DO! It's all lies. The company has billions of dollars and yet they still have to use OTHER COMPANY'S TECHNOLOGY to get shit done? How fucking embarrassing. I guess Apple's done.
This seems like a situation that's ripe for a lawsuit.
Because this was my morning with my iPod mini as I was going to take a shower...
ME: Hey Siri, play Opalite by Taylor Swift.
SIRI: Playing music by Taylor Swift.
ME: Hey Siri, STOP! — Hey Siri, play Opalite by Taylor Swift.
SIRI: Playing Elizabeth Taylor by Taylor Swift.
And it's not like you can tell Siri that they're a flaming pile of shit that's terrible at their ONE job. They'll just say "I won't reposnd to that" and go back to doing whatever stupid shit they were doing.
Which should be Apple's slogan now-a-days.
I've mentioned dozens of times how I love a really good ad. The problem is that most advertising is utter shit. Television ads are mostly done on the cheap and are so brain-dead annoying as to make me actively want to not purchase the product being shoved at me.
Last night I ran across the old commercial from 2015 which made me laugh. It's not like Fiat spent a ton of money on it... instead they were just really, really clever...
If you can't make an ad which gets some kind of reaction... ANY kind of reaction... then you've failed.
This Fiat commercial is going to stick with me a while. Meanwhile, I couldn't tell you what ads I watched today.
Josh Johnson is fascinating to me.
The thing that's so brilliant about his comedy is that he can take these wild tangents that make you think he's losing his train of thought... and then BLAM! He brings it all back around to punctuate his point in a brutal cut...
Anybody can be observational of the absurd. Josh isn't telling you anything that anybody who paying attention could say. But it's what he does with the observations which makes him rise above.
This is a really great piece.
I loves me some donuts. And, yes, I spell it "donut" because "doughnut" looks weird to me for some reason. Even though I think the the latter is the way most people seem to spell it.
But anyway... I was chatting with a friend and mentioned how thankful I was that my grocery delivery didn't substitute the box of chocolate-glazed old fashioneds I had ordered like they usually do because they're always sold out. That lead to a discussion about the best donuts we've ever eaten. After which I made a list.
It was actually pretty easy to toss out my ten favorite because they were my most memorable when I put "donuts" in my head...
AND NOW THE DONUT I EAT MORE THAN ANY OTHER... Chocolate-covered old-fashioned donuts from Franz Bakery Yes, these are mass-produced store-bought, but they are phenomenal... almost to the level of Donut Vault. Their old-fashioned donuts are already amazing, but with chocolate on them? Mind-blowing. The crispy glaze is still there giving them a bite and texture that is tough to beat. If you are in the Pacific Northwest and don't want to trek to a local bakery, this is the one to beat...
I can't be having loads of sugar, so I'm not downing the entire box in one sitting, of course.
But I'd like to.
Thanks to the absolute madness that is Daylight Saving Time, I get a week of cat anger as they adapt to the time change, but I'm not in a panic yet... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...
• NEWSFLASH: Lay’s Rebrands Because Customers Apparently Didn’t Know Chips Were Made With ‘Real Potatoes’. Because of course. They haven't had "Potato Chips" on the package since 2007... and I guess those potatoes on the package aren't a big enough clue. That being said, the Lay's rebrand is gorgeous. Kinda. The new logo typeface looks fresh while honoring what came before. The banner is so much better, looking like a design element instead of a weird merging with the sun(?) behind it. And, yep, it IS a sun, because now they have nice rays behind it. Perfect. And I love the wood table look of the background...
BUT THEN... they just take random photo elements and glop everything to the logo unit? What a mess...
AND COULDN'T THEY HAVE STAGGERED THE POTATOES A LITTLE BIT??? OR RE-THINK THE PHOTO ELEMENTS COMPLETELY? WHAT DESIGNER JUST STICKS EVERYTHING TO THE LOGO LIKE IT'S A GAME OF KATAMARI DAMACY??? ACK! ACK! ACK!
Lay's created a gorgeous new logo then sabotaged it utterly. Those chips don't even look like chips (they look more like Pringles) and the potatoes are smaller than the chips they spawn? And because the taters are evenly placed, they look like a new design element which distracts the eye from the logo... they look like boobs on the bag or something? What were they thinking? This is a gorgeous treatment that is completely ruined by the photo elements being badly chosen and badly placed. Blergh. Such a missed opportunity.
• Property Brothers! BWAH HA HA HAAAAA. Things like this are when Saturday Night Live shines...
Biting satire that's funny because it's true. This is our reality.
• Precious Development?!? Parents are free to make decisions about their kid all they want. I mean, I draw the line when they are endangering the child but, for the most part, you do you when it comes to decisions about your own child. But this is abhorrent...
Fuck you and your Rainbow Bright face glitter shit. If you don't provide the teacher with alternative treats, what is the teacher supposed to do? Give everybody a treat EXCEPT your kid? How pissed off would you be then? It's entirely different if a kid has a peanut allergy and he was given peanuts. But a ring pop? To which she supplied no alternative? Like the teacher is supposed to go out and buy every alternative her class might require ON TOP OF the ring pops she already spent HER OWN MONEY on?!? Get fucked.
• Dear Deere! Another must watch video. "Why can't people repair the things they buy?" Because companies love money. iPhone broken? It can't be repaired by anybody but Apple or it gets bricked. McDonald's ice cream machine broken? Can't be repaired by anybody but the manufacturer or else you get sued (which is why they're always broken). Tractor broken? Can't get it repaired by anybody but John Deere because it's locked behind the software paywall. Spend a half-million dollars on a piece of John Deere equipment? You don't own it. They do. You're just paying for the right to license it. This is all kinds of fucked up, but corporations own the government, so they can do whatever the fuck they want to...
You don't own shit even if you pay for it. And lobbyists will keep spending billions to own politicians to keep it that way. God Bless 'Murica. But there is hope. "Right to Repair" laws are becoming a reality because politicians are being called out for their bullshit. More and more people need to speak out against this crap so that politicians will have no choice but to listen.
• Pepita Perfect! Last night I made one of my most favorite dishes: butternut squash ravioli in browned Kerrygold butter, crispy fried sage, toasted pepitas, and black peppercorns (which have been ground with a dash of nutmeg)...
I really need to buy a pasta roller so I can make my own though. Rana makes some good stuff, but I would prefer it without the orange color, as God intended, so it looks more appetizing instead of an orange blob. But anyway… a simple dish that’s also a bit complex in flavor.
• I HAVE TURBO PENIS! Yes, it happened to me! Lord how I love these debunk videos. Nobody does a takedown like Professor Dave. This should be mandatory viewing so that people understand how fucking stupid anti-vaxer "leaders" are...
The VAERS examination had me howling. How do people get duped by these idiots? It makes me crazy. We are losing herd immunity because people actually listen to these moronic douches.
• Men HATE This! GAG!!! I'm of the opinion that people should feel free to wear whatever the hell they want to wear. If you like it and it's comfortable and you can afford it... go for it. Nobody else has to approve. Nobody else's opinion matters. They aren't wearing it... you are. Which is why when I ran across this condescending gatekeeping asshole's YouTube channel, I couldn't roll my eyes hard enough. It's one thing to offer suggestions as to what people should consider wearing... it's quite another to pass judgement in the most immature and idiotic way possible. I mean, just look at these thumbnails...
She has very serious opinions as to what you're allowed to wear when you're over thirty. I'd argue that some could say that a woman over 35 shouldn't be wearing belly shirts as she's often seen doing... but I'm not a sanctimonious douche who spends my time gatekeeping clothing for views. Especially when you're acting like a fucking ten-year-old. An adult would realize that some people have to wear whatever they can afford... or whatever they're handed. So making fun of them or condemning them is a dick move. As it is when you make fun of people for wearing what they like.
• NEWSFLASH: RFK Jr. concedes administration lacks scientific evidence on Tylenol claims. OF COURSE THERE ISN'T ANY EVIDENCE, YOU STUPID FUCK! And yet you had the president announce to the world that Tylenol "causes autism." What kind of idiotic shit is running through your worm-riddled brain that you are so confident in spreading this crap misinformation? What kind of idiotic shit is running through President Trump's dementia-riddled brain that he believes your nonsense instead of ACTUAL FUCKING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH?!? Christ, I hate living in the stupidest fucking timeline.
And now back to spending an extra hour of my Daylight Saving day.
This morning I was awakened by Jake hacking up a hairball on the bed. He's been sleeping with me most every night, usually passing out at the blanket I have folded at the foot of the bed. All I could do was say "Good bear, you're puking on the bedding on bedding wash day!"
After wiping up the hairball and stripping the bed to toss everything in the washer, feeding the cats breakfast, and heading back up to get some work done, it started pouring down rain. This caused Jenny to run into the closet to hide, and Jake to hop up on the bed to snuggle up next to me...
And, oh yeah, now that it's colder out I unpacked the warming pads...
This makes them two very happy cats, even though you can't really see it on Jenny with her adorable resting bitch face.
Jake doesn't have a resting bitch face. But he does have a snaggletooth. Some of the time. But lately I've noticed that it's out of his mouth more and more... looking longer than it has in the past...
Weirdly adorable, I think.
This year I had a whopping 16 trick-or-treaters. 2024 was 56, 2023 was 60, 2022 was 45. It was sprinkling rain off-and-on, so maybe that's why. Oh well. More candy for me. Not that I should be eating bags and bags of candy at my age, but maybe if I just eat one piece two pieces six pieces a day it will all be fine.
And now, this... something I posted on Facebook a few hours agao
As we yede into All Hallow's Eve, a blessing from me to thee...
Maye thy trick-or-treaters be sparse so the candy bounty left for thee be heavy.
Maye thy pets be not alarmed by the many intrusions unto thine house.
If the weather be not pleasant, maye it not intrude upon thy home when thou openest the door.
Maye wicches and devels and the foul forces of the orange satan passe thee by, and blessyngs be upon thee and thyn this night.
Amen.
It's tough to have Halloween without thinking back to nine years ago when I very foolishly scheduled a colonoscopy for November 1st ("We're wide open, so you can have whatever time you like!"). Which meant I had my clean-out on Halloween. When I was trying to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. And having to sit on the toilet every five minutes. What I remember most is not wanting to get anybody sick with pink eye or whatever, so I was washing my hands as usual, but in scalding hot water before grabbing the bowl of candy. My hands were raw for days. Which was worse than the colonoscopy. But not worse than the clean-out, of course.
Today was payday! After turning out the lights at 9:00pm as the rain picked up, it was time to place a grocery order for tomorrow morning.
I am single.
I don't eat a lot.
I am vegetarian so I don't buy expensive meats.
I grocery shop frugally. Very frugally... only buying things that are on sale, and I purchase a lot of in-store brands instead of name brands.
Doesn't matter.
I just bought groceries for the next two weeks... the total was $206 ($12 over what I should have spent because I splurged and bought two packages of "fresh" pasta and a box of donuts, all at discount). My savings from shopping sales and special offers was $83. Meaning that the retail price for feeding one person with a low food intake for half a month is $289.
For half a month!
How can a family of four afford to eat any more? What happened to "lower grocery prices on Day One?" This is fucking abhorrent. People are having to use credit cards to finance food to eat while grocery store chains rake in billions of dollars in profit. People are going hungry while the government is financing multiple private jets, ugly million dollar marble bathroom renovations, and an even uglier golden ball room to entertain the millionaires and billionaires that own them.
How the fuck are people okay with all this? We've been completely sold out while the people who represent us rake in billions of OUR MONEY. It's all grift and scams from here on out.
Happy Halloween. For the USA it's 100% trick and 0% treat.
It's the busy time of year for me! I start work at 4:30am, head into the office at 8:30am, then head back home at 3:30pm, grab something to eat, then work until I fall asleep.
The problem is that I am so exhausted when I go home to eat that every little thing feels like too much effort. Just look at the number of times I dreaded having to do something menial...
But anyway...
Eddy is back, and this time he's entering psychosis with CHATGPT...
How does this not scare the ever-loving shit out of people? He did this for fun, but you just know there are thousands upon thousands of people going through this for real.
I have turned off every AI option I can find on all my devices and have done what I can to eliminate AI with the services I use (including Google, where you can search with "-ai"). I do this not just because it's rarely helpful and a waste of time, but also because I don't want to contribute to AI farms stealing resources and destroying lives.
Maybe AI can destroy my life so I can stay in bed tomorrow.
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