It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life

Reached the end of the hike only to encounter a group of trumpeter swans and an eagle right at the confluence; felt like the universe was giving me a thumbs up.

With AI degrading everything online, hyperlocal print crankery is more important than ever (sincere)

Kiddo: 'I have that song from the Zombies stuck in my head' Mom: 'In your head?' Me: 'In your head.'

The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

The Japanese Mario 64 official strategy guide is an incredible thing. "Can we make little hand-made dioramas of all the levels?" "Sure, why the hell not."

Question for bigger Trek nerds than I: Between the transporter clone, mirror universe and bearded parallel universe, Lower Decks had 4 discreet Boimlers - Did anyone else in Star Trek have as many? Picard's gotta have that beat, or maybe Spock?

Just heard my eight year old shout "I plead the fifth!" from the bathroom. No idea what's going on in there and not sure if I should be concerned or proud

Our Doordash order: Wasn't what we ordered Wasn't in my name Wasn't even from the correct restaurant It wasn't even a Doordash order, it was some unlucky random Uber Eats order They need a 'D, All of the Above' for their support portal.

The weird new ant paper that shows queens laying eggs of a completely different species has me thinking that more species are probably cloning sperm in their spermathecae than we’d thought. After all, most queens only mate once and cloning would be a great mechanism for keeping the party going.

A real egg! With a shell and everything. The third time was the charm. Gytha (our Sapphire Gem) is an absolute unit for a pullet and this is nearly as big as a full size egg.

This is a distinctly Minnesotan failure mode. The assumption is that the people in the long line must know something you don't and that there's probably a reason they aren't in the short line. Half the people in the long line will be wondering about the short line but not willing to make a fuss.

Gytha (our sapphire gem) had her second attempt at an egg today - actually egg shaped this time with the beginnings of a shell, although definitely still leathery instead of hard. Last time was like a water balloon, I'll spare you the picture.

Just going to watch The Death Of Stalin again for no particular reason.

100% just walked past Tim Walz here. That man is uncannily stealthy at the Fair, his own security detail could lose him

Once again: I understand the temptation to say this, and it's partly true, but a LOT of the healthcare cuts (including to Medicaid) kick in well before the midterms: acasignups.net/25/07/30/hea...

In the North St. Paul / Oakdale / Maplewood area and need a whole bunch of sand and/or pallets? Free for the taking.

And another - Scout is giving me the usual side eye.

And the gals having breakfast. Hand feeding to try and direct them around the coop so they get used to the routine

The ladies are finally outside, so I've got a cat that's all miffed because his bird friends are outside and a dog who's bewildered by the new addition to his yard.

Become ungovernable

Oh no, I just caught myself moving my phone farther away to read it.

TIL that North Saint Paul was briefly named 'Castle' - feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Other NSP fact - we've got a bar on the main drag that's older than the town itself by a bit - both date back to 1887.

This is neat: there's a website that archives public meeting summaries and *pays* people to go to the meetings to take notes and upload them. (I think you have to do a training first. They pay $20/hour.) minneapolis.documenters.org

Interesting piece (and some real cop-outs by the publisher and one of the historians in the piece).

Was camping out beyond reception's reach this week and missed the discourse de jour. Looks like I made the right call.

Still not as bad as Microsoft Teams

The coop has finally arrived - some staining and painting to do before it's ready for the ladies to move in, of course.

The joy of getting a notification noise and having to determine if it was from Teams, Outlook, Zoom or Google.

Note that the administration’s claim of a 700% increase in assaults on ICE agents is likely made up mostly of incidents like this: claims that a 71-year-old citizen “pushed” a masked armed agent.

Scout's much more grown up now, but still has the accusatory stare down pat. Loving the cheek fluff

Here is how they did it.

Blessedly anticlimactic on my end of town. More drama from the dog having to behave around the pullets than the weather.

Dog, cat, kiddo and 5 chickens all hunkered down in the living room. Good luck out there folks

This is livestreaming now. The private funeral for the Hortmans. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCyC...

Someone out there gets to detonate barges full of barges for a living. We're all missing out

Phew, not a day to be landscaping, unless you like to sauna and shovel at the same time

🚨 The 2025 Wedge LIVE Cat Tour route map is here. If you know someone on the route, tell them to prepare their cats for viewing on Wednesday, June 25. This year's program at Mueller Park will feature free face painters and cat adoptions courtesy of Minneapolis Animal Care & Control.

I can also second the Fernbrook connection

This fundraising campaign for the Hoffman family is verified - through Yvette's school, where she works as a para for in a kindergarten special ed classroom. We've donated. www.gofundme.com/f/support-yv...

In re: LRT, Minnesota is the opposite of a news desert - the Twin Cities has dozens of responsible news outlets staffed by incredibly professional journalists. They do not need your breathless, speculative assistance in covering this story. Post *local* coverage as it emerges, and ignore the noise.

Thanks to @roambikeshop.com we now have a front basket on the library Velotric Packer! This bike is ready to haul so much cargo.

Maybe the one real upside of the social media era is that nobody needs to think that simply being in charge means being correct.

The gals are no worse for the wear after having spent the night outside the brooder, huddled up with the cat.

So, the ladies of the house left the chick brooder open last night and they had the run of the living room all night and morning. Went to check on them in the late morning and found all five of them in the patio window all piled on top of the cat, who apparently just rolled with the whole situation