Today is my 1,276 day as a daily blogger!

On the first day of January way back in 2020, I began a writing journey that has been going for almost 1,276 consecutive days (I’ll explain more about the posts not being consecutive in a bit). I posted a blog that day (this icky creature crawling on my neck!)… and then I kept writing, and writing, and writing, and writing some more and now it’s been over 3 years of daily posts. Crazy.

Even halfway through 2023, I am obsessed with posting daily. It’s something I enjoy, something I look forward to, something that keeps my mind active because posting every day requires me to think and make decisions, research and judge what is interesting or fun to write about.

I’ve also really liked including my photos in posts whether it’s about camping or tying in my Texas canyon photos to a Hyundai commercial. Maybe that would fall under the category called integrated marketing? While I’m writing about a car commercial, at the same time I’m promoting my photography. Seems like a natural thing to do!

Oh, but I had mentioned that I’ve written every single day but because of an event I can’t talk about, I took down a few posts in 2022. So if you were to go back to all my posts, you’ll see gaps. It’s unfortunate but just know that I definitely had posts for those days, up until the moment came when it was agreed upon for me to remove them forever.


As most people know, Bud Light celebrated famed TikTok star for being a woman for 365 days. I’m hoping for less fallout as I’m calling on awesome paper tablet company reMarkable to send me a tablet with my face on it! Folks at reMarkable, will you join me in celebrating day 1,276 as a daily blog writer? I’ll even give an in-depth and honest review AND post it right here on my site. What’ya say?

Brand deals aside, thank you for taking time to check out my site, my photography, my satire, and if you’re looking for a gift for a tiny loved one, check out my books!

See you again tomorrow for day 1,277…

-Out of the Wilderness

Good riddance to bad rubbish – Supreme Court rules against affirmative action

I heard the line, “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” from a news anchor in London referring to the social media guy who’s causing trouble by body walking into people’s homes and other dumb so-called pranks.The news anchor was interviewing the guy, or TRYING to interview him, but the young fellow was being stubborn, annoying, and apparently disrespectful, too. The news guy told security to escort him out of the building after saying, “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” I thought to myself…

YES!!

I need to use this phrase more often. Here’s a clip of the interaction…


There’s so much bad rubbish out there and we should always be on the lookout for what it is and how to get rid of it. The Supreme Court of the United States has gotten rid of some bad rubbish, as reported in the news this week. In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the admission process for students applying to Harvard and the University of North Carolina, I thought the title was rather fitting. I saved a few screen grabs of the ruling after reading parts of it. If you want to read the entire thing plus the dissents, click here.

Admission to college should be based on merit over skin color, which is how the Supreme Court views the process, as well. For anyone whose knickers are in a bunch over the Court’s ruling, as I understand it a person’s experience with a particular race can be a factor in determining their qualifications for the school. It’s just that their race simply can’t be the most important deciding factor anymore. Here it is in the written statement:

There was dissent from the judges who aren’t on the side of conservatism. From the newly appointed judge, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, she basically said that race should remain be a factor for the sake of diversity on campuses.


In (probably) all areas of life, let the best ideas, applicants and people take the spots they’ve earned. If the field of finalists happens to be diverse, even better. But diversity for diversity’s sake alone is dumb and more clearly, violates the 14th Amendment. I’m siding with the Supreme Court decision in this particular instance because equal protection, as guaranteed in the 14th amendment, includes people of all races. One should not be rejected (or accepted) because they are (or aren’t) a certain color.


On a somewhat lighter note… Let’s start a list. What is other bad rubbish we can rid from our lives?

  1. Too much time on my cell phone
  2. Debbie Downers
  3. Political fights
  4. Negative thoughts
  5. Selfishness
  6. Ludicrous conspiracies
  7. Candy and unhealthy food
  8. Anger (for things we can’t control)
  9. Overthinking
  10. Regret

Feel free to add to the list by commenting below and say good riddance to bad rubbish!

-Out of the Wilderness

Lipton Iced Tea with T-Pain – The Commercial, the Song, and More!

It’s hot, it’s summer, and it’s hot! Did I say it’s already? A great way to cool off is with a glass (or bottle) of sweet iced tea and Lipton has the goods. A recent commercial features a famous entertainer in need of some heat relief. Check out T-Pain catching a bottle of Lipton then scroll down for more sweetness… YeEeAaAh!


The Song. This is one of my favorite songs from the 90s, although I didn’t know T-Pain has since covered it, as heard in the commercial. Here’s the original by Len.


More, please. Lipton posted an extended T-Pain version (longer than the commercial, shorter than the original), although some folks have commented that they’d love it as a full length song from Mr. Pain.


How do you beat the heat? Also, is there a “song of the summer” yet? Maybe this T-Pain cover will surprise everyone and be the hit for a hot 2023 summer! See you tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness

Who has the best TV ad jingle in 2023?

I noticed recently that SKYRIZI has yet another commercial with a new take on their song. You know, the one with lyrics that go… “nothing is everytheeaaaeeng”… and now it’s stuck in my head AND yours. My bad! I’ve written about them before (SKYRIZI post here) and another brand on this list has made appearance on Out of the Wilderness. It’s Daisy brand, I wrote about their catchy ad here. To help get the SKYRIZI song out of our heads, listen to the ads below and comment with which one is your favorite and which should be thrown to the bottom of a lake never to be heard from again. Enjoy!


Skyrizi – “Nothing Is Everything”…


Daisy Cottage Cheese – “Only Daisy cottage cheese will do!”…


Burger King – “BK, have it your way”…


Liberty Mutual – “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty”…


State Farm – “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”…


Kars 4 Kids “Donate your car today”…


Permateeth – “Take a Bite Out of Life”…


-Out of the Wilderness

An Alligator Attacks in Florida

There’s a story out there on various sites about a Florida teen who was bitten by an alligator. Frightening stuff, for sure! As a Florida native, the fear and respect for those fascinating creatures is ingrained from a very early age. There’s a funny Instagram video where a guy is told how to accurately detect if a body of fresh water in Florida has an alligator in it. The one sure way to find out is to feel the water first. If it’s wet, there’s an alligator present. The video was good for a laugh but also… yikes.


I’m going to censor myself by not talking a lot about the teenage boy’s unwise decision to swim in a murky creek. A murky creek… in Florida… can’t see what’s in the water… and you’re swimming… 🙄

Everyone’s grateful he was able to get away but it’s too bad an alligator has since died (although, they’re not sure if the one that was killed was the same that bit the boy). Wildlife suffers because of one immature boy’s dumb choices. Nice. As one comment I read said, humans are apex predators but we are not the top of the food chain.

The story is scary, and we should all have a healthy fear of alligators. I have a sprint triathlon coming up where the swim takes place in a Florida spring. You can bet your foggy goggles I’m going to triple check what kind of set up they have around the water to make sure it’s 100% as safe as possible for us as swimmers.

Alligators are big, strong, and should be revered as we swim or recreate as visitors in their domain. I’ve had the chance to see some small gators and big ones as I camped around the southeast so next up is a gallery of favorite photos I’ve taken of the dinosaur-like beasts. PS. These and more are all available for purchase on my SmugMug page. Thanks for taking a look!


-Out of the Wilderness