Sunflower Harvest with Goldfinch

Hot Wet Garden Pics

It's almost 80 and on its way to 90 in Chicago today, just following the single heaviest recorded rainfall since 1871. My tomato plants have taken a beating for the last month and aren't looking so lovely, but that doesn't mean there aren't wonderful things happening elsewhere in the yard:

This spotty, mutant robin has been hanging around for a few weeks now. He's not particularly afraid of me or the cats.



SUNFLOWERS!!!

Six kinds, all mixed together, in a 4' square.

Cicada, just chilling, on one of the tallest sunflower stalks.

Eggplant, Applegreen. Almost ready for pickin'

Basil: Sweet Italian Large Leaf, Superbo, Thai

Geum Triflorum - Prairie Smoke

Our yard bun Angus.

I am mildly obsessed with my Prairie Smoke, recently acquired. It whips its hair back and forth.

Farmers Breakfast

Up early to work the ground before the heat sets in. Fuel:

Eggs baked in Tomato cups (first-of-the-season hothouse tomatoes from the farmers market), baked 25 minutes @ 425 with salt and pepper.

Steamed Baby Asparagus

Soy Breakfast Sausage

English Muffin!

SadFat

I am disappoint, Avenue. Why? I witnessed a gruesome Point-of-Sale interaction while in one of your stores on Saturday, and I've officially Had Enough.

But before I take you to task, Avenue, it's important that you know that I am critical of you because I love you. I've been officially in the land of women's plus size clothing for a few years now, and it is generally a huge bummer. I can only buy clothes from Old Navy online, because plus sizes aren't typically stocked in stores. Presumably this is because fatties are unpleasant to look at, and if they were walking around in an Old Navy store and spending their filthy fatty money, it might give non-fatties the idea that Old Navy is a store for fatties, and we can't have that. But Avenue has an actual selection of items that I can try on in-store and usually not feel bad about it. Win!

So that said: Avenue, I have noticed you doing a thing that a lot of the stores are doing these days, and I am troubled by it. Would you jump off a bridge, Avenue, if all the other stores were doing it? So I beseech you: stop with the pushy, point-of-sale add-ons by your increasingly desperate staff. I don't want your credit card. I am already on the email list and I receive your snail mail coupons (I also enjoy saving 30% on my entire purchase, the whole reason I was in one of your stores on Saturday.), and I really do not need any more goddamn magazines, especially ones that require credit card info for the "free" trial that ends after the 3rd issue and then starts automatically charging for the subscription I didn't want in the first place. But whenever this sort of silliness is offered to me, I understand the scam and firmly and consistently say "no."

However, when the customer ahead of me in line is obviously not a native English speaker, and obviously does not understand what she is getting herself in to, I have a problem. And I do not blame the cashier who executed the sign-up maneuver with disturbing slickness, because I am also aware of the growing trend of corporations pushing precisely these sorts of add-ons, and tying employee pay and performance to sign-up quotas. Granted, that is not necessarily a new thing either, but it's gotten really pervasive and insidious and you should not have to financially screw over little old Asian ladies to keep your stupid retail job, so for the love of my size 18 ass, cease and desist with these predatory practices, or sadly, I will take my business elsewhere.

re: Terror Porn

So Osama bin Laden had porn. So do most people. Can we all agree that OBL having porn is Not A Thing? The overwhelming majority of people yank it and most of them use visual assistance, THE END. Seriously, there are other things we could be talking about, like how awesome The Killing is.

thursday!

Here's your free market, fzckos. Related.

Republicans Are A-Holes: one, two, three

Republicans are also WATBs.

Brilliant.

Water, water everywhere.

FZCK

So this is bad news.

"Energy" gum?

***

This guy *has* to be Huell Howser's cousin, right?

Okay, what the hell.

Stoners for science.

PROJECT! Bourbon? Beef? Cream Soda? Possibilities = endless.

ZING

Comments on this are great.