She’s Not Mine To Miss

I don’t always watch Hallmark movies, but when I do… I regret it. OK, that’s not always true. There are one or two that haven’t bored me. It *is* kind of funny that they’re all basically the same and yet people love to watch them during the holidays. It’s a comfort thing, I’m sure. When you’re watching a holiday Hallmark, all is right in the world, right? When I was a child and got scared after a horror movie or a frightening event on a TV show, my comfort was to think about baseball.

I can’t remember the last time I sat through an entire Hallmark movie and yesterday was one of those days where I watched just a few minutes, catching the end of a predictable Christmas love story. But I’ll admit, there was a line that caught my attention. A woman was planning to return to her normal big-city life with her boyfriend. The guy she had met in the small town of Evergreen was asked by his daughter, “Are you going to miss her?” He responded with, “She’s not mine to miss.” We all know how it ended, of course, but I’ll hand it to the writers on this one.

The movie is called “Christmas In Evergreen” and it’s about as predictable as you’re imagining.

-Out of the Wilderness

Laufey and Stop Motion Bunny in New Music Video for Christmas!

Apparently, stop motion rabbits are all the rage this holiday season. Have you seen the animated bunny in the commercial from Xfinity? And now an adorable rabbit stars in the new Christmas music video from Laufey. Here’s the bunny named Mei Mei with Laufey and “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town.”

The Wildlife. I did a little research about this cute little critter. Mei Mei will be appearing in an upcoming children’s book from Laufey (due in April of next year). The book is called “Mei Mei The Bunny.” If the book is as cute as the music video, we’re in for a treat. Here’s a little synopsis:

Mei Mei is a little bunny with a big dream. She wants to make the world happy with her music! Her first recital at the H’Opera House is approaching, and she’s been practicing harder than any bunny ever has. But the butterflies in her stomach flit and flutter.

When Mei Mei plays the wrong note in front of everyone, will she be able to find the melody to make it right?

Since her book is a few months away, why not pick up another book full of adorable forest critters? Check out my books “Big and Small, God Made Them All” and “The Brave Bamboo.”



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Sound It Out. I guess I’d been saying Laufey’s name wrong all along. It’s not pronounced Law-fee, if you want to say her name correctly, it’s Lay-vay. Oh those Icelanders! Follow her on Instagram @Laufey and “like” her Christmas song on Youtube too.

-Out of the Wilderness

This Little Light of Mine – The Caplyta Commercial Ruining A Gospel Song

Good morning. It’s pretty common now for catchy songs to be transformed into jingles about drugs. There’s Oh-oh-oh-Ozempic! And who can forget “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman changing into “We-Go-Vy”! Now Johnson & Johnson is dipping into some old church hymns and obviously it’s rubbing some people the wrong way. Check out the ad for Caplyta.

There are certain songs I can let go of. “Oh oh oh, it’s magic!” is already dead to me because all I can think of now is Ozempic. Wegovy ruined The Greatest Showman. But I refuse to give this song up. Caplyta appropriates a gospel song from the early 1900s, “This Little Light of Mine.” I hope to God that the next time I hear this song, I don’t automatically think of Caplyta. What a tragedy that would be, right?

-Out of the Wilderness

Our First White Elephant Family Christmas?

Like families tend to do, the one I belong to is growing… and growing… and growing. Normally we get gifts for each other: parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, in-laws, nieces, nephews, etc. It has been great because I’m part of a great family. This year things are probably going to be different since we’re planning to do our first White Elephant gift exchange.

But instead of just grabbing a hunk of junk around the house, we have a spending minimum and maximum, which will hopefully make each surprise gift valuable in one way or another. We’re also doing 2 rounds so each person will end the day with 2 gifts from the White Elephant family gathering. Personally, I’m excited about it because while getting tangible gifts is fun and can be meaningful, I think the experience together is what will be the most fun. Hopefully lots of laughing and reminding ourselves that we love each other, tightening the knitting between us all.

How about you? Do you have Christmas day present opening traditions? What’s worked or hasn’t worked? What we’re doing might turn into an epic failure but at least we’re all in it together. 🤗

-Out of the Wilderness

The New Jasmine Crockett Commercial That’s As Bad As You’d Imagine

I’m always fascinated when creators (cinematographers, camera people, directors, etc) can do a long scene in a single take. Taylor Swift did it with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the movie 1917 appeared as though it was a single take, and there are plenty more. Well, I’m thankful to be alive for another addition to the one-take marvels, the new ad from politician Jasmine Crockett. Make sure you’re sitting down so you don’t faint watching history in the making. Check it out…

Was that blinking or are her eyelids just not strong enough to hold the weight of those lashes? Girrrrrrrrrrrrl. Texas ought to be thankful for a candidate who lists their credentials, leaving no doubt that they’re capable of the job. Oh wait, alls she did was tell us Donald Trump thinks she’s dumb. Well, that was…….. dumb. She gave us the problem without the solution. I’d say that I’m *guessing* this ad really misses the mark and that maybe I’m an outsider who doesn’t know a thing about what works and what doesn’t, but it’s not really a guess at all when someone disables the Youtube comments. That’s basically like the losing team running the ball on 3rd and 25. They know they won’t get a first down. The other team knows they know. The fans know. Both teams know the fans know they know.

I’m so embarrassed for her that it’s almost spilled over to the “pity” part of my brain. She’s not quite to the same level as a movie that’s so bad, it’s good… but she’s definitely doing some really dumb things to which Southerns would respond:

“Bless her heart.”

“Oh, sweetie.”

“She means well.”

“Well, aren’t you precious?”

“Well, I’ll be.”

I think we’ve reached a new retro era in American society. At least I hope so. It’s the antiquated idea possibly making a comeback: Politicians are public servants. Not rockstars. Jasmine, today, yes today, you can still take your video down. At the very least you can get feedback from the people you want to serve– enable the comments on Youtube. You know, find out how people are really feeling about your outstanding commercial.

-Out of the Wilderness