Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
Pizza, corny jokes, and a goodbye hug. Sounds like a decent date, right? Well, it was decent. It’s hard to go wrong with pizza. The deal breaker among a lot of people, though, is toppings. Pineapple or no?
We kept in touch in the following days but the rest of the story is that we both agreed there wasn’t a vibe. She brought it up first. I won’t fake like I initiated that conversation. I’m happy to have gone on a date with a kind woman and maybe that’s all it was meant to be: A glimpse of hope and this, coming after a first half of the year that included a handful of cancelled dates and missed opportunities.
My stock is rising and I’m almost sure I’ll have a better dating life the second half of this year. Heck, it’s already going better than January-through-June did even if there isn’t going to be a second date.
About a month ago I needed a new phone. Not like I was trying to keep up with the Jones’s or anything. My phone was literally down to its last gasp of air. It was the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 and I loved it for almost the entire time I had it, until the screen got all peely and it turned off every time I folded the phone closed. It was time so I narrowed my search down to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Motorola Razor Flip, and the Nothing Phone 3. I’d have to wait for the Nothing phone because at the time, the 3 wasn’t out yet. But I loved the idea of having something less ordinary. Peculiar. Plus am I the only one who misses a flashing light when there’s a text or email waiting for me to read it? The Nothing phones are known for having flashing lights when messages come in. Like the good ol’ days.
I couldn’t wait for the Nothing phone, though, because Verizon made me a great offer if I got the S25 Ultra. And I’m glad I took the offer because now that the Nothing 3 is out (it was my next choice, the Razor had mixed reviews and to be honest, I was tired of the flip phone life), the Nothing 3 doesn’t have the lights on the back anymore! It’s a shame because that’s a lot of what set it apart from all the other phones it competes with. Not only that, the asymmetry of the phone is pretty hideous. Just don’t let the owner of Nothing tell you otherwise. He comes across as little snooty but maybe he’s just an introvert. We’ll go with that until we have more info, right?
If you’re debating whether you want the S25 Ultra or something else, go with the Ultra. It’s got a few things that annoy me (notification pop-up style is impossible to configure properly!) but overall it’s an amazing phone with a lot of fun to be had. Plus, the camera is incredible with photos and video.
Ok, so it’s been a long time since Taylor covered this famous song. So long, in fact, that I think this is when Taylor was trans. Oh, calm down, I mean almost 15 years and a billion dollars ago when she was transitioning from country to pop music. But since there’s been a recent cover of the same song, by this dancer/entertainer, here’s the refreshing version from Taylor. Check it out…
Taylor is smart. Her rendition is from a concert. A lot of artists sing a lot of other artists’ songs during shows and concerts. They don’t always cover them and release them as singles. Aspiring artists oughta take some notes from the country turned pop turned Chiefs fan singer. She may not be known for her eyes or for being precocious, but Taylor sure as heck knows how to market herself to fans.
Megan Moroney just added the video to accompany her song “6 Months Later.” Who else thought it would be a song about being pregnant and the father left 6 months later? Just me? Mmmmmmk this is awkward. Well, it’s less serious than that… Check out the video then scroll down for more!
The Dude. The villain/love interest in this music video is an actor/model named David Koulakav (@dkoulakav). It’s crazy how much he and I look alike and we both have lived in Nashville. People must’ve mistaken for me for him all the time before I moved, they were just too nervous to say anything around such handsome features. I get it.
Do you recognized him from any other country music videos? Hint: He’s in one from another top female artist singing about a breakup. Did you guess Carly Pearce? Good job, here’s David making an appearance in that video.
Congrats on a fun video and great work by all the cast members. Be sure to subscribe below to get notified of my daily posts!
I was going to start this post by saying that I’d forgotten how good the Chic-Fil-A chicken sandwiches were but I don’t like to lie. I remember exactly how good they were over 10 years ago when I withdrew from the meat-eating world and went straight vegan.
But that was then and this is now.
This year has had some milestones in my life and one of them is ending my vegan diet. I’d started it as a way to minimize allergies (my friend challenged me to cut dairy out but I went further and cut out meat too) way back in 2014ish and around Easter of this year (2025) I’d decided the vegan diet had run its course in my life. It was time to open up the menu again, stop being so stubborn, and get some protein (that’s a joke). It’s been a few months and just yesterday I ended my Chic-Fil-A streak when I ate the most delicious chicken sandwich.
Thank you for the Lord’s chicken, it was scrumptious!
Out of the Wilderness 