Given that the house renovation left us cash-poor, Kim looked into options for stretching our money and found out that a local food pantry will give weekly food items to anyone over 60, no questions asked. Some weeks are better than others; a month or two ago, we got some frozen 7-11 breakfast sandwiches, which we were not brave enough to try, and another time we got a sealed bag of Beyond sausage bits that, upon later inspection, was over a month past its expiration date.  Today's haul was three pounds of pinto beans (we're in the Rancho Gordo Bean Club and already have more amazing beans than we can handle), one pound of white rice, and six pounds of brown rice (plus a half-gallon of cow milk, some fruit, and some bread).

Unpacking proceeds apace. We'd like to host Thanksgiving so we probably need to hustle over the next three weeks.

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5h
 

Elevators are great art. They work on so many levels.

Did you hear about the Gen Z BDSM shop? It's called executive function.

I was going to buy a parcel of land, but it was kind of a lot.

How do you make fuckin' s'mores? With damn crackers.

Today I called my son by my cat's name. That's right - I failed a CATCHA.

I'm pitching a reboot of Pinocchio set in Brooklyn. It's called "the only living toy in New York."

People who think Mandela died in the 80's aren't from an alternate universe. They just have terrible death perception.

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Adding these to my collection!
The audience for jokes about track 55 from “Peppy Songs About Death, Volume 2” may be small, but it’s not zero.
 

Here are links to the podcast episodes we made in a way that you can listen to them wherever you prefer. 
The Old Woman All Skin and Bones Ted's masterpiece. 
Like and Subscribe is my script of the year. 

More in a bit. 


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Nice - congrats!
I just listened to "The Old Woman All Skin and Bones".

That was definitely the best 4 minutes of my day.

My brain needs to hear Ted's sincerity.



Also, I don't know anything about sound recording, but whatever you're doing works. It sounds wondrous, really rich and full.
Thank you. Ted’s getting better at working with different kinds of sound, like muffled vs. crisp as opposed to volume alone.
... and I just listened to "Like and Subscribe".

I really enjoyed that experience. Thank you so much for making that.

It sounded like hundreds and hundreds of hours of work, all at a high level.

The voices fit the characters perfectly. I love your writing. Love it.

Bluejean is my favorite.



My next listen is going to be: "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Automatics".

Thank you! I wish I had better words to describe succinctly what that means for me.
Both were great! The sound was great in both. I really enjoyed that in Like and Subscribe you could tell when the characters were speaking inside the van, that was a really nice touch.
I need to give major props to Matt Boudreau. Not only did he make working on this project smooth as silk, he thanked me for making a script that, as he said, was easy and fun to work on.

He’s worked as a professional sound designer for an audio version of The X-Files and some other projects I can’t remember. He truly knows his craft.
 

The Griswolds pulled ahead in music trivia and My Favorite Team couldn't catch them at the end.  

What TV anthology, first aired in 1991, features a teenage group called the Midnight Society that tells stories around a campfire?

What is the real name of the Colorado hotel that inspired The Shining  by Stephen King?

What does the Spanish word "brujas" mean in the Halloween expression "Día de las Brujas" ?

What real-life fungus that zombifies insects is the scientific basis for the plague in The Last of Us​​​​​​​ ?

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only know the last two, witches and Cordyceps (which i've seen in some health supplements)
I’m going to guess Are You Afraid of the Dark?

I’ve stayed at The Stanley.
Cool! I never watched the show, but somehow eventually got that entire title. “I think it’s… a question?”
My brother loves that show.
 

We borrowed this movie from the library and I remarked that Nicole Kidman was still married to Executive Producer Tom Cruise when it was being made.

B:  "What?  This movie isn't that old!"

Me:  "Yep, it was released in 2001."

B:  "What?!?"

Me:  [spooky finger waving] "Wooooooooo!"

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I remember when that movie came out, and how Entertainment Tonight interviewed Tom Cruise on the red carpet about how talented Kidman is. I think they’d just gotten divorced, but it was to his benefit for the movie to make money, so the conversation was a masterclass in text and subtext.
Oh man. Just based on that comment, I may have to see if I can dig that up on YouTube...
I hope I remember it correctly!
Seems about right. Tom Cruise could say “monkey cold banana copter, over aloe ingeborg humperdink,” and make it compelling, though.
 

Honestly, it's not the prettiest tree posted on OnePo this week. But our block has a real humdinger of its own.

Lovely tree in autumn, leaves caught by the sun on the top bit, sunset reflecting off the clouds
The same tree from another angle, very busy and filling much of the frame, almost crowding out three houses

This second photo does a good job of capturing how much this tree dominates the frame in person as well.

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Love it. Reminds me of the conversation when my father came out to find me in the pine forest behind my grandfather's place:

Dad: "Feel better?"

Me: "Infinitely."
I like big trees and I cannot lie.
That's a great tree. Looks like the shape has been slightly modified thanks to PECO but it still manages to be magnificent.
 

My Favorite Team led at halftime, but cratered late. 

When the Seattle Mariners reached the American League Championship Series in 2025, what AL Central team then had the longest current ALCS appearance drought?

Giuseppe Zangara, Samuel Byck, and Francisco Duran are A) attempted presidential assassins, B) champion F1 drivers, or C) Nobel-winning physicists?

What software company, publisher of Call of Duty and Guitar Hero, was purchased by Microsoft in 2023?

Of the 11 elements whose symbols do not feature letters from their common English names, which one has the lowest atomic number?

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Minnesota?; A; Bethesda?; sodium
Bethesda got bought by Microsoft in 2021. Hm. I remember these guys publishing for the Atari 2600 back in the 80's.
 

Moving might have been a mistake.

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Is this before the boxes leave, or after the boxes arrive?
After, this is the new house, all design choices made by my better half.
Moving is one of the most awful things that we do to ourselves voluntarily. And yet it usually works out!
yeah but whennnnnnn
Hope the unpacking / settling in process surprises you in good ways.
Oooooooh I'm so sorry. I'm tired just looking at this photo.
 

What late comedian and actor from Homicide: Life on the Street and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit was a cousin of Henry Winkler?

What party game involves selecting from a 5x5 grid and trying to avoid the assassin, which ends the game instantly?

What U.S. state name comes from an Algonquian word that may mean 'it lies red', a reference to the reddish sandstone banks of its central river?

In what decade was the most recent year in which a Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded?

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I once heard Henry Winkler’s cousin sing “Ricky Don’t Lose That Number” with Howard Stern. It only lasted a few seconds but they sounded pretty good for guys who claimed to dislike Steely Dan.
 

What is the common name for the elements on the far right of the periodic table, including helium, neon, and argon?

What three-time Oscar winner for Best Actor recently came out of retirement for Anemone ?

Of what West Asian nation is King Abdullah II the current monarch?

What is the stage name of Dana Elaine Owens, the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ?

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noble gases, Daniel Day Lewis?, Jordan, Queen Latifah
You win the crown.