Life decided to give me a big ol' kick in the pants, so articles may be spotty. But I figured a low-effort micro wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, so here we go. I also want to test the RSS builder and see if it shows up on a few aggregator sites. Kill two birds and all that.

In the same vein of pant-kicking, I've found the need to do low-cost things to get in the spirit. And by low-cost, I mean free if possible. So what better way to avoid paying for a fancy light show than to go to someone's house who puts the commercial outlets to shame?

There's no shortage of festive homeowners who go all out on their property and invite the public to drop by for a casual show. Backyard haunts are all the rage for Halloween, so a backyard stroll works just as well.

Starting with the Clark Griswold home, the path throughout the yard winds its way amidst a giant locomotive and about a thousand vintage (and contemporary) blow mould displays. There's everything from the religious offerings to the entire Disney catalogue, past and present.

A bonus is the graveyard in the middle, which just happens to be part of the property, not some spooky Halloween/Christmas mashup. Based on the slate stones, I guesstimate they're from the early 19th century. Because I'm something of a cemetery snob, you see…

I also went to a sincere Christmas flea market full of crafts created by the elderly. There were only two tables full of 3D-printed dragons, so I call that a win. I did pick up something, but maybe I'll reveal that in a later article. I need to fix my Python script so it uploads the images associated with this post.

Yes, yes, the annual Halloween Candy in July is going in the Micros section this year. There just wasn't enough out to justify a full 1000-word article in the main section. Given how we often get most of the seasonal offerings around this time, the outlook doesn't appear good. It's not like I need to eat any of this garbage, but I can only indulge in so many Summerween festivities when Bath & Body Works is my only other option at the moment.

So yeah, there's the usual Hershey's stuff, and the bags have a window shaped like a monster's mouth. Yay.

What horrors have been released upon us? One might assume we're talking about another entry into the MCU, but from what I've heard, the new F4 movie isn't all that bad. It certainly had a low bar to cross, but I'll take what I can get. If nothing more, I'll see it just for the fantastic aesthetics.

That said, what's this about blue milk? Halloween has the Orange Edition, and the Minecraft movie had green, but both were in a more conservative vanilla flavor. Berry milk, on the other hand, is just something I can't get behind. Strawberry is pushing it, and that only has the added nostalgia boost from the pink rabbit's clumpy mix. But at least with that, I could salvage some crunchy bits from the surface, since cold milk isn't the most ideal solution for dissolving mixtures.

Worse… Unlike soda, you can't really pick this up for a collection. I mean, I suppose you could, but that might come back to kill you months down the line.

I guess I'll just be covering every new Dunkin bucket that comes out. We saw a preview of this a few months back, but then the Easter one came out instead. I can't complain since the McDonald's ones haven't been too favorable in recent years, and these at least have lids. And as a bonus, you can buy just the container, which prevents you from actually having to purchase their food. No minor blessing.

I see that it's going for the sandcastle beach vibe, just like the ones you got at the drugstores back in the day (and I suppose now, but I haven't checked). There's a shovel for digging, and the bucket, once inverted, will create a battlement around the top like a proper castle. The lid has gaps in it, perhaps to sift out stray watches and spare change from the sand, unless there's some more obvious use that I'm forgetting.

And on a final note, the donut on the left seems to be wearing a bathing suit. So am I to assume the one on the right is freeballin'? Seems a bit risqué.

As part of a collab with GoesHard.org, my latest guest article just went up. If you're annoyed with AI, chatbots, and the general trend of replacing human output with machine algorithms, then go on and give it a read. Still have some other things in the works, so stay tuned.

Who’d have thought that the next micro article would be about yet another bucket. And (spoiler alert) it won’t be the last. A few days ago, I saw a preview for a Summer and the next Halloween Munchkin pails, but I had no idea a third was en route even sooner.

So we have a traditional Easter pattern on a sky-blue bin. Also on the menu are some Springtime munchkins to go with it, along with a Cotton Candy donut. If you’re thinking, “I bet that’s way too sweet for my aging carcass!” then you would be right. I ordered it just to give it a try, and due to some stroke of luck, they forgot about me and ended up putting two in the bag for my troubles. Did I eat both? YES! Am I going to die? I’m on the clock, so no!

Unlike last time, they were able to sell the bucket without loading it with four bakers dozen’s worth of donut holes, and for that I’m thankful. Helps the wallet and helps append a few extra minutes at the end of my life when I’m likely praying for death anyway.