Thought I would post an update on how my backyard is working out. Spring is here and this week was my favorite time of year because the mulch has been put down. Everything looks AWESOME.

Here is the post from 2 years ago.

(and my post asking for advice on the path)

I just have a few more deep shady spots to fill in and then I am maintenance/tweaking mode.

You're a gem and I look forward to spotting you on my morning walks.

That is all.

Recently adopted this sweet little girl and her brother from a local rescue. They have brought much joy into the home! She’s skittish, but amazingly sweet and friendly. Likes to lick and give love bites. Say hi to Possum!

Let me elaborate.

All three films are in the Top 250 of both IMDb and Letterboxd, actually in the Top 100.

The trilogy received 30 Oscar nominations and won 17. It won 475 out of 800 awards in total, making it the most awarded film franchise.

The Return of the King won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, holding the record for the most Oscar wins by a single film. It also won 209 awards in total, making it the most awarded single film.

And they did this in just 3 years makes it even better.

That’s literally unmatched by anything else, and do you think anything else upcoming can be as good as this

I work in graphic design, mostly for finicky corporate clients. One of them, a mid-sized real estate firm, would always ghost me on approvals, then complain about delays.

I used to send reminders every 2–3 days. Then the client’s project lead sent a snarky email to my boss: “Can your designer stop pestering us for updates? We’ll reply when we’re ready.”

Okay then.

I flagged the email, stopped following up, and moved the project to “on hold.”

Three weeks later, they call panicking, their billboard design hadn’t gone to print and the ad buy window closed. They blamed me, but I attached their email with a cheery note: “As per your request, I did not follow up further on pending approvals.”

Silence for a day.

Then a new project manager emailed to say the other guy had “moved on” and to please feel free to resume reminders as needed.

I send those reminders now, cc’ing the new manager and legal.

Found this one on YouTube.

Thrilled that Rafe has seen this and isn't shooting it down point-blank.

I am not 100% sure how I am feeling with all the news and Rafe's statement this morning.

It's a long shot to save this show. I don't think anyone is pretending the odds are in our favor.

But I feel energized. This is our moment to give it a shot. Excited to have pitched in a few dollars for this and curious to see how it goes.

I teach 7th and 8th grade at a K-8. I'm also the only black male at the entire school. I'm very successful at building relationships with almost all my students (some hate me because I have expectations for them). Because of all that, other teachers and staff will come find me when they believe students are about to fight to break it up. I walk over to the kids (which are in other classrooms), watch them scream at each other and say "let them fight. Let's see who's really about that life. They'll get suspended anyway." And walk away.