Has Anyone Gone On A Dog Park Date?

I haven’t been to the nearby dog park in a long time, not since my little dog pack lost it’s most opinionated member, Piper the beagle. But now I can say I’ve gone once in 2026 and I enjoyed it. This particular park hasn’t always been great. In fact, at one point it was downright dangerous. A big park with ponds. In Florida. Let me repeat that again: Dog park. With Ponds. In Florida. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Alligators and snakes and who wants to bring their lovable furry friend to anywhere in Florida with lakes? But that’s ancient history with this park, they fenced off the water so it’s been safe for awhile.

My dog, though, is 14 years old so she doesn’t get around like she used to. But we meandered over to the park recently and met up with a new friend who has a dog. I’d like to say we had a great time but between me and the new friend, no romance and that’s OK. We’ll be friends and I’m totally fine with that.

Any of you out there have dog park date success stories? Come to think of it, I met a woman many moons ago at the Nashville dog park. I wonder what she’s up to. Probably married with a couple of kids.

Last year I went on a handful of dates, less than I would’ve preferred. This year hasn’t started off much faster but I’m happy to have gone out on one already. Fingers crossed and prayers going up I come across another woman in the near future.

-Out of the Wilderness

SKYRIZI goes R&B in new commercial

I have no idea if SKYRIZI is effective as a medication, but I can say with certainty that I sing their jingle more than any others, so the ads they use are very effective with me. And just when I thought they maxed out the use of “Nothing is everything…” they release this banger.

If they don’t get Grammy consideration after all their work, that’s a dang shame. Think about it. What artist is transcending all types of music? Only SKYRIZI. Now I’m looking forward to what genre of music will be coming next: Classical, death metal, or rap?

-Out of the Wilderness

The 2026 Olympic commercial from Eli Lilly and Company

Test. Test. Test. That’s the line that started my blood pumping in the latest Eli Lilly & Co commercial. It drew me in so much that I stopped eating my dinner and just watched. Check it out…

I don’t have any data to back this up, but I’m 99% sure my heart rate went up during the minute-long commercial. It had to go up because the ad spoke to me. When it wrapped up with “Share results. Now start over.” I was just about ready to go run my fastest 5K… emotionally speaking. Not literally. I haven’t run in a long while, which I guess would put me, embarrassingly, in the “question” portion of the scientific method listed in the commercial. Like, why haven’t I run in so many weeks? I have a few hypotheses.

My personal stories aside, the ad is great. Say what you want about “big pharma” and the horror that can come from a failed medical experiment (as displayed representatively in the ad’s “test, test, test” segment), the ad is engaging, inspiring, and memorable. Kudos to the team that put it together. What are your thoughts?

-Out of the Wilderness

Charlie Puth National Anthem – The Song, The Bone, and More

Undoubtedly, when anyone mentions a Super Bowl National Anthem performance, Whitney Houston’s name comes up. I think it’s safe to say she’s got the #1 fan favorite but…

Enter Charlie Puth. And I found out Kenny G was playing sax on the performance?? I mean, what the!! I kinda love that he got no close-up shot and I’m going to assume that was his request. Just a man playing an instrument he’s mastered for the honor of the country, no recognition needed. But back to Charlie. I don’t know all the technicalities of what singers can do with their voice so I’ll just say this as a music listener…

Goodness gracious.

His choices for when to make a run or which notes to use on any particular phrase, just wow. It was understated yet built up to a crescendo topped off with the flyover by 8 aircraft from the Air Force and Navy. The two larger jets are B-1B Lancers– Bombers in the line of the stealth bomber and the B-52 bomber. The B-1B is known as “The Bone” because B-1, when written out or spoken, looks and sort of sounds like Bone.

With Charlie and the timing of the flyover, the camera work, the orchestra with Kenny G (and was that Matthew Gray Gubler conducting??), I’m giving this Super Bowl National Anthem performance a 10/10 and I’ll say it’s the best of my adult life, too. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers but it gave me goosebumps and *might* stick with me even more than Whitney’s. I’ll end with a laugh, check out this guy’s minor notes he’d recommend to Charlie, just a few tweaks to take his performance to the top.

-Out of the Wilderness

Good Will Dunkin’ Commercial Has A Flaw

The Super Bowl has come and gone. Football as we know it this season is over. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Dunkin’ Donuts wants us to turn that frown upside down in a commercial that aired during the game between the Patriots and Seahawks. Take a look to see if you can find a technical flaw.

OK, I might have misled you on purpose. The ad itself is a nod to TV shows we love from the 1990s. Friends, Seinfeld, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, A Different World, and Cheers (mostly airing in the 1980s but we’ll let it slide). It’s the YouTube description that has the gigantic flaw. Take a look…

Last time I checked, television shows can’t win an Oscar for “Best Picture” because that award is for film and on top of that, the award is given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In other words, not anything to do with TV shows. The award a TV show might earn is an Emmy which doesn’t have a “Best Picture” category.

There’s still time for Dunkin’ to correct their mistake. In fact, changing a YouTube video description takes all of 5 seconds for any employee who isn’t on a…

-Out of the Wilderness