It's not just another day in hell... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms! I really liked the Dunk and Egg trilogy of books, but was wary of the HBO/HBO Max adaptation because I feared that they would fuck it up like they fucked up Game of Thrones after they ran out of books. But the showrunners say that they will not adapt stories that don't exist, so there's that...

I will say that Dunk and Egg are both flawlessly cast and the first episode is promising. Charming even. I really hope they nail it this time.

   
• DRAMA! Lord only knows I need a cute distraction from the horrors of the day, and here it is...

I don't know how dog groomers don't end up kidnapping a dozen clients a day.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Washington state lawmakers consider 10-cent bottle fee to boost recycling. Christ. Everybody has a recycle container that's bigger than their garbage can now... we already have incentive to recycle. Recycle bins are EVERYWHERE! This isn't the 1970's! This is just going to make shit even more expensive because now you can't use your recycle bin because you don't get your money back unless you make another trip to the store. Get fucked. This stupid shit is driving me insane. Is this going to make such a massive difference as to be worth the trouble for everybody involved? Are stores going to have to raise prices again to cover the labor of having to be a recycling center? This is performative politics, and I really hope that voters ACTUALLY THINK FOR TWO FUCKING MINUTES and shoot this idiocy down. INFURIATING.

   
• Seafarer! My latest YouTube obsession is Joe Franta talking about his life as a U.S. merchant mariner. It's all interesting and fascinating stuff. The first one I watched was when he was working on a cruise ship instead of the cargo ships he usually works on...

He's a fairly level-headed and pragmatic guy, giving you both the good...

And the bad...

My favorite videos are the behind-the-scenes stuff where he talks about what life is actually like and how he gets by when on the job...

If you want a great channel to watch, here's the one for you.

   
• Pengo! This story from years ago is going around again. Some documentarians rescued some penguins... and were roundly criticized for interfering in "natures plan" or whatever...

Yeah... you could not stop me from helping creatures in need. I care more about these penguins than I do 99.9% of the people on this planet, and I am not a part of the United Federation of Planets, so the Prime Directive doesn't apply to me!

   
• He-Him-Man! I gotta say, the new trailer for Masters of the Universe looks darn good...

And of course dipshits across the internet are losing their shit because of the frame where Adam has his pronouns under his name tag. Except ADAM IS HE-MAN... THAT'S THE JOKE! So who is it that's ruining everything? Dipshits like this who just want to complain about how "pronouns" are destroying the American way of life, I'm guessing. Gawd. We truly are living in the stupidest timeline.

   
• Alex Pretti. The right to protest is baked into the First Amendment. It literally guarantees citizens "...peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances..." The State of Minnesota allows open and concealed carry of firearms with a permit. The narrative of Alex Pretti approached officers brandishing a handgun has been proven false. Video evidence shows exactly what happened. Alex Pretti was pepper-sprayed while protecting women and then murdered. Executed. Shot 10 times. The only time his weapon was unholstered was when it was removed from him. I've seen video analysis saying that he was reaching for his gun. It's absurd. The actual analysis is clear to anybody who doesn't buy into a bullshit narrative they cling to. Yes, this video is by partisan MS NOW, but the analysis is on-point...

Alex Pretti worked on curing cancer before becoming an ICU nurse at a VA hospital. He dedicated his life to helping others. He died helping a woman who had been shoved to the ground. Witnesses have testified that he was no threat to anybody... he did not brandish a weapon... he did not reach for a weapon... he did not attack anybody... he was just trying to help when he was executed. Alex's parents released this statement...

"We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."

Done and done. It's the very least I can do.

American citizens are being executed in broad daylight by government action while legally filming at a legal protest. And you know it's problematic when even the NRA is chiming in for a full investigation. It's painfully obvious that this country has taken a horrific turn. I cannot help but wonder how history will view this period of our country. I suppose it depends on whether the government or the people are the ones left standing at the end of it all.

   
And now... back to our shared nightmare.

Jake has been very clingy lately. Which is a bit worrying, because I can't help but wonder if there's something wrong. Though I think that's the opposite of how it usually works? Don't cats usually want to be alone when they are feeling poorly? Maybe Jake is different? Cats.

Last night he climbed on top of me when I fell asleep. I'm a side-sleeper, so this was a bit precarious for a cat his size, so I grabbed a pillow so he would be supported. When I woke up, I had rolled over on my back, but Jake was still there...

In other cat news... look what appeared at the bottom of the stairs this very morning!

MUFASA! This was truly surprising, because Jake lost interest in him months ago. I finally just put his plushie in the cat toy box because he wasn't dragging him around everywhere like he used to. Then this morning... BAM! Mufasa! After breakfast Jake went back to ignoring him, so maybe the reunion is over.

Earlier this week I was on a call for work when the kitty breakfast alarm chimed. A few minutes later I went downstairs while still on the phone, and had to pause my call to take a photo of the cats sitting on the table angry because I didn't immediately rush down to feed them...

I mean... just look at Jake's face. He's furious to have been kept waiting. Even Jenny is surprised at the depth of his rage!

But don't worry about my safety. I was forgiven ten minutes later...

Cats.

Is it just me, or has hope for the future dropped to an all-time low?

It's not just one thing, it's everything. Everywhere you turn, there's bad news. I was going to recap with some examples, but I don't want to depress everybody even more than they probably are. Starting with myself.

I thought I would make myself feel better with some retail therapy, but the thought of buying something I don't need and can't afford... then having to pay the credit card bill... doesn't make me think that it would make me feel any better.

So instead I watched last night's episode of The Traitors (US version) and ate a bag of Bugles corn snacks for dinner.

Probably should have bought a fifth of Jack Daniels.

For the last couple of days I have been having allergy problems. Which is bizarre to me because I never have noticeable allergies in January. They always hit me in March and April when new plants arrive... then again in September and October when everything is dying. Summer and Winter are blissfully allergy-free.

But then I went to put the garbage cans back and walked around my yard.

Only to find that there are flowers which never died. And greens are popping up everywhere...

This could be very, very bad for us.

We haven't had snow this year. Any sprinkling we get disappears in short order. The hillsides are bare. The mountains aren't covered nearly enough. This is looking like drought for us this Summer, which means high water prices, rationing, dead lawns, and other problems I don't even want to think about.

Meanwhile... a winter storm of scary proportions is about to hit everywhere from New York to Texas.

Climate change is not cool, yo. Not cool at all.

I have a stack of feel-good YouTube videos that I watch when things are shitty.

As you can imagine, I've been running to my list a lot lately.

This video has 22 million views. It's worth your time if you're looking to forget about the world for a little while. BONUS: Canning Tatum and Bradley Cooper are in this one!

Titus is a teenager now. Apparently he likes soccer more than basketball.

And now... back to the horror, where terrified 5 year old children are used as bait...

What's happened is up for debate. The lawyer for the family says that the father has an active asylum case with no deportation order. So... it would seem that they're doing immigration "the right way."

At the bare minimum, the charges against the father should be public. As should what has happened to these people. So far as I know, body-cams are required for these operations, so the truth is likely out there... but whether it will be shared with the public at large is anybody's guess. All we're getting "officially" is what they want us to hear. In my humble opinion, body-cams should be required, and the footage should be publicly available so we know what's being done in our name.

Like traumatizing a little kid who has no say in anything that's happening in his life, but is aprehended like a violent criminal and used as bait.

I can't help but wonder what's happening now, and if the actual truth will ever come out.

Or if this will all disappear without due process, like so many others.

I've been burning the candle at both ends for months, and it's starting to catch up to me. In one of life's cruel ironies, I get so tired lately that I can't sleep. I start yawning and yawning, so I go to bed... then am wide awake.

And so I run through my social media pages looking for something to distract my mind from all the things that are running through my head that I should be focusing on that's keeping me from falling asleep.

And that's when I reached this...

I laughed out loud, which was a real bummer for my cats who were sleeping next to me.

Jake was a little upset, but quickly fell back asleep.

Jenny, on the other hand, glared at me for far longer than was comfortable, then left in a huff.

Until 4:20am, at which point she got her revenge.

I used to pride myself on keeping up with current events around the world. But lately I just don't have the mental fortitude to see what new horrific shit is going on. It seems to get worse by the day, and the added anxiety would probably push me over the edge.

I slept horribly last night. Tossed and turned and didn't fall asleep until well after midnight. Jenny woke me up a little after 6:00am, and I ended up petting her until it was her breakfast time at 7:00am. After that I went back to bed so I could read some documentation for work and... somehow dropped off to sleep again, and didn't wake up until nearly 10:00am?? That's something that just doesn't happen to me. When I wake up, that's it. I'm awake for the duration. But not this morning...

Nearly eight hours sleep? That's very rare. Any more I feel lucky if I can get five or six!

Then I somehow ended up falling down a rabbit hole of shelter dog adoption videos. Like this one...

And this one...

And this one...

And then I listened to Martin Luther King Jr. speak, amazed as always how his words are more relevant than ever, then got back to work while listening to a podcast called Why this song? which talks to the artists behind popular songs. It started with Hold Me Now by the Thompson Twins, which is one of my favorite tracks of all time. Good stuff.

Don't fear the reaper... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Cardio! For somebody whose on the internet way more than he would ever admit, it's genuinely shocking that I somehow missed this viral video from last year...

Poor thing. She nearly had a heart attack. And can you really blame her?

   
• Pet Heaven! Oh man. I need to get Jake & Jenny baptized so they can get into Pet Heaven! Never even thought of it!

A friend sent me this video because they call their cat Boo-Bear, just like I call Jake Boo-Bear. Or "Bubair" if you'd rather.

   
• That Mitchell & Webb Look! The fact that you know what's coming just makes it all the funnier...

David Mitchell is phenomenal in the BritBox series Ludwig, if you're looking for something good to watch.

   
• Fart Patio! I miss Portlandia...

There's something about scathing satire which speak truth in a way you love to see.

   
• I'm Donut! I look forward to this event every Christmas, but didn't find it last year. But they did reenact it, so I must have somehow missed it...

Some traditions should never die. Especially when donuts are involved.

   
• Gain? I've been in a lot of smelly situations. I've had some smelly jobs. But there is nothing... NOTHING... that I've experienced which is worse than the horrific stench of Swiffer "Fresh-Scent with Gain" mop pads. I accidentally purchased them instead of the usual Swiffer I get (the boxes look almost identical) and have been trying to use them every once in a while because it's wasteful to throw them in the trash. Especially given how expensive they are. Tonight I spilled spaghetti sauce in my kitchen and grabbed the Swiffer. And now, in the middle of winter, I have all the doors and windows open because my house smells like total ass. I do not understand how people want their house to smell like this shit. I regret using them every time, and I really, really need to suck it up, take the L, and toss them... because this is awful awful awful.

   
• Greenland? Maybe I'm cynical in that I think this whole load of nonsense about Greenland being taken by the USA is just another bullshit distraction from the Epstein Files. But if it's not? Two things. 1) In 1917, the Virgin Islands were sold to the USA to become a US territory by Denmark, and part of the agreement is that the USA recognize full Danish control over Greenland. In other words, we signed up for this. And, 2) Somebody out of NATO has already said "If you take Greenland, we take every single base of the Americans from Aviano to Ramstein, from Romania, to all the other military bases will be confiscated, and you will lose it, and the whole position of American power since World War II, if you take Greenland, you have to leave." Which is to say that we would be in seriously deep shit. I cannot fathom how incredibly fucking stupid it would be if somebody... ANYBODY... doesn't explain that there are consequences to being a complete moron in this situation.

   
And now? Time to wash another load of clothes.

There's a big trend on social media where people are posting photos of themselves from 2016... ten years ago.

I decided to go back to 2016 for Jake and Jenny, because I got them for my mom in 2016. Which means that they're over ten years old, which seems impossible. The Human Society didn't know exactly when the cats were born, but based on what they were able to find out, they were guessing the first week of December. Since they have to have a birthday to celebrate, I picked December 6th, 2015. We picked them up on February 16th, 2016.

Still one of the better days of my life...

It's so funny how they're so easily recognizable. They look the same. Except smaller.

In the case of Jake, a lot smaller.

I fall down internet rabbit holes very, very easy.

Usually it's animals. I start looking at animal videos and it's so mentally soothing that I can't stop myself. It's the ultimate feel-good hit. But there's lots of other things that get me hooked. Woodworking. Travel. Animation. Art. The list goes on and on. And then there's tattooing.

If I had my way, I'd have minimum quadruple the tattoos I have now. I love tattoos. Even more than that, I love the art of tattoos. Which is why the Instagram algorithm has my number. It's filled with tattoo artists, because they know odds are that I'm going to click through.

And then this morning I ran across "TrippyCats" by Jiho Yoon. And while lots of the tattoos are indeed very trippy, I love the ones that are less trippy...

Has me very close to wanting to buy a ticket to Seoul and book an appointment!