Maybe it’s just me, or perhaps it’s the song itself, but I find that the inexpensive Czech Delicia accordion shown at the start sounds the best.
It might be the high-sounding reeds (which means its sound really travels) and my history as a busker that make me think that the Delicia’s sound is the one that most evokes “sidewalk cafe on a sunny spring afternoon” for me.
Advice in old-timey books was just plain weird, man.
I saw the display pictured above a couple of days ago, and it’s evidence we’re deep in a high-protein health craze. After all, did you expect that someday, there would be high-protein Doritos, with 10 grams of protein in every serving?
This leads me to this inescapable conclusion: Doritos are health food now.
It’s that time of year, and this is that kind of blog, so here’s the 2026 edition of my traditional Mother’s Day greeting. Happy Mother’s Day from the baaaadest mutha of them all!
Since since we’re talkin’ ’bout Shaft…
I’ve done the occasional Tampa-to-St. Pete commute during peak times, and they can easily stretch to over an hour. For those trips, I’ve found a Starbucks “Venti” (Italian for “twenty,” and denoting 20 ounces of drink) or an American large-sized pop (varying from 16 – 30 ounces) to be plenty.
But there are people with longer commutes, stronger thirsts, and bigger bladders for whom the standard cup holder is not enough. Fortunately for these thirsty customers, there’s a whole industry of cup holder adapters, and within that industry, a specific kind of adapter: the half gallon milk crate adapter:
The ad copy for the version available at Walmart’s online store says it’s “Specifically designed to hold half-gallon square cartons, milk jugs, and large juice boxes that don’t fit in standard round cup holders”…
…and thanks to 3-D printing and the entrepreneurial spirit, there’s no shortage of Etsy vendors who can sell you one:
While I’ve never felt the urge to take a half gallon of ice tea, juice, or milk as my long-drive drink (mostly because the drink would get warm before I was halfway done), I’m pretty sure there’s a sea of customers out there who are looking for this kind of thing.
Besides, the adapter also doubles as container for keeping things organized in your car.
Anitra and I saw the sticker pictured above on a Model Y Tesla parked outside Lucky Tigre, Tampa’s hippest Filipino restaurant.
“How hip is Lucky Tigre?” you might ask. It’s this hip:
Here’s a closeup of their “wallpaper,” featuring old-school ads you’d see in magazines in the Philippines, including a promo for the anime TV series Voltes V, one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood:
They even have hip Filipino literature!
And the food’s great. Here’s what we ordered:
Pictured above from left to right: beef lumpia (egg rolls), tocino pork ribs with garlic rice and atchara (pickled papaya), mochi fried chicken.
Anyway, on our way into the restaurant to get our take-out order, we saw the “Happy waifu, happy laifu” anime sticker on the Tesla. I figured the car belonged to the two cosplayers in their early twenties sitting in the back corner of the restaurant.
But as we left the restaurant, we saw the car’s owners getting in the driver and front passenger seats — and they were a grandpa and grandma couple!
“Whaaaat?” Anitra exclaimed. “That was not the couple I was expecting to own that car.”
“Me neither,” I replied, “but that means that someday, WE can be the weird old anime couple at the hip restaurant. Relationship goals, sweetie!”
I saw this a couple of weeks ago in Austin at Uncommon Objects, a delightfully quirky antique/vintage furniture/housewares shop will a lot of really cool stuff. It’s worth a visit!