Crumpled

These figures have been at my Walmart for a long time. In fact, I did a post about them back in November, 2023.

They kept them around forever, and I was certain they would never sell. I have no idea what could possibly have happened to them to leave them so munched, but they finally got around to putting them on clearance.

Eight bucks is still a little much. I prefer the $4 figures that I get from Ross, but this isn't too bad. I bought one of them, but not both.

This is a really good looking figure. I like having an Imperial officer. Even better, the hat is removable.

Which means I could easily swap out the head and have an all new officer if I needed one.

After opening it, I'm almost convinced to go back and buy the other one. If it's still there the next time, I think I might.

I Don't Need This

I didn't even bother to set up my Fourth of July figures this past year. I was too lazy. I was too ashamed of myself, so I posted pictures from previous years on July 4th. So, the last thing I need, probably, is more Fourth of July figures. Yet, here we are.

I bought this guy today when I was at Walmart. I saw him and thought, "Hey, a Captain America I don't have. I should get it." These figures are already relatively cheap, but Walmart had them on a rollback, which made it...I don't know, something like a dollar cheaper.

So I paid for it, even though I probably shouldn't have. Hopefully, at least, this will motivate me to put up the decorations next year rather than leaving them in the bucket to gather dust. I should just make sure to get started putting them up early. If I start early, and only set up one or two figures a day, then it can't get too overwhelming. 

I'm getting my Halloween decorations up already in August for the same reason. By the time September arrives, they'll probably be all ready to go.

Anklecast 70 - Undo (Part One) Available On Patreon

I just published the next episode of The Anklecast over on Patreon. If you are a member, then you can check it out. If you're not a member, you should consider it. I'd really appreciate it anyway.

The podcast includes a special reading of Undo, a new story that I just published a few weeks ago. It may well be my darkest story yet. It's the story of a kid in high school who happens upon a stopwatch with an unusual feature. If you push a certain button, the stopwatch skips back one minute...and so does everything else. What would you do if you had the ability to go back a minute in time any time you wanted to?

Head over to Patreon, and you can listen to the story now. It's read by a special guest narrator. You won't want to miss it or even wait until it hits the regular feed, I bet.

A Christmas Miracle!

Back in July, I got the last of the Dreadnoks in the mail, and I talked about him. I probably spent the majority of the post, however, praising the toymakers for making the glasses on Torch sculpted on instead of being a removable piece like they were for Buzzer and Ripper. I bemoaned how I'd lost the glasses on both of those figures. I managed to find the glasses for Ripper, by getting down on my hands and knees and rubbing my hands across the rug until I felt the bump that the tiny classes created. I couldn't see them with my eyes, but I couldn't miss them with my hands as long as I went so far and to rub the floor on my hands and knees. I never found Buzzer's glasses though...

Until today! I couldn't believe it. It was completely by chance. I was certain that my wife had vacuumed them up during one of her weekly passes over the rug, but no, they were never on the rug to begin with. Instead, they'd flown backward and landed onto a stand that was on the shelf behind the figure. 

This week, I started putting out my Halloween figures for decorations...I wanted to make sure that I actually got around to it this year, because I haven't done it for the last two years in a row, so I started really early. When I pulled out that stand, I noticed something sitting on it and--oh my gosh!--it was the glasses I'd assumed were long gone. Now I can stick them back on the guy's face, and he looks good again!

It's neat when something like that happens. I never expected to find them again. I was certain that I would have to buy some off eBay, and the only listing I had seen for them was for $10. $10 just for the glasses! Glad I didn't have to do that.

Lion Diet & Alternate Day Fasting | Just Got Back To It & Now A Another Curve Ball | Week 64 Roundup

The week began, and I continued to chug along, but I had a friend coming to town for a visit. I wasn't going to be able to do my normal routine while taking a non-carnivore around town to have fun. What would I do? Would I blow it all? Stay perfect? Or partially blow it? Watch and find out...

Nettle & Bone

I read this book because Rish talked about the author on his podcast. I figured I ought to check her out. I got on Libby and reserved some of her books. When it came up, I checked it out and started listening. When I told Rish what I was listening to, he said, "That's the best one." I had high hopes...

It took quite a while for the book to catch on for me, though. The earlier parts of the book didn't grab me all that much. In fact, despite the book being rather short compared to other things I've listened to, I managed to let the time run out on my check out. I had to return the book when I was only four hours in, and wait until it came up for me again.

When it came back up, though, the book felt more alive and exciting to me. Once we got to the part that the quest seemed to truly begin, it felt more urgent and exciting. I was more interested in coming back again and again, and I didn't forget that I had a book to listen to like I had done with it earlier. The last half of the book flew past, and I finished it in days. I returned it substantially early.

Admittedly, the story never really quite appealed to me. The quest was a little strange to me all along. The main character was desperate to save her sister. However, it wasn't the sister that she liked, but the one that she claimed hated her all through growing up. Why did they need to save her? Well, because her evil husband was making her pregnant. The main character was convinced that she was going to die from the pregnancies. Not to deny the danger of a medieval woman's risk from childbirth, but even then, getting pregnant was one of a human being's main drives. It's seems like going on a quest to stop her sister's husband from feeding her too much food, because people who ate too much got obese and might have a heart attack. Everybody around is desperately working to have enough food to survive, but our characters want to save their sister from eating too much?

Other than that, though, it was very interesting and fun. It went in directions that I didn't expect, and kept me coming back for more once we got past the early slowness. There was a little lack in the danger that they were in. It seemed like the author had Nerfed all the challenges they faced. When the Thief Wheel comes for them, takes them, and then just lets them go,  I had to wonder why anyone was scared of it and why there were people stuck on it to begin with.

I guess I'm not as big of a fan of T. Kingfisher as Rish is yet. We'll see if further experience with the author will catch me more. I have a couple more books by her on hold. So, depending on how things shake out, I'll be reading her again sometime soon.

Batwing

When I was at Ross, I also got this little Hot Wheels Batwing.

I looked at it several times back when I was seeing it for full-price at Walmart. Was it right for the 1/72 version of Ankletown Station that I want to build? Or is it too small. Well, at Ross princes, I can afford to give it a shot.

I almost lost my stand for it. I opened the ship at the gas station while I was filling my car up on the way home, and I threw the packaging in the garbage can there. When I was done gassing up, I got in and drove across the parking lot toward Sam's Club to get some eggs. As I looked at the ship laying flat on the dash board, I thought it was weird that it didn't have a stand. Then I realized that it probably did and I probably threw it away.

I almost wrote it off, but the garbage can I'd put the packaging in had been changed out recently, and there was nothing inside of the can. It was basically clean, and if I went back, I could scrounge my packaging back out and grab the stand without getting covered in slime from somebody's half-eaten Big Mac or something.

So, I drove back, parked, and walked over to the garbage can. Right in front of someone who was now filling their car with gas, I pulled the package back out, found the clear plastic stand that I'd neglected to remove, and grabbed it out. Now my Batwing can fly.

It's pretty nice. It's die cast metal, as Hot Wheels usually are, making them superior to the other cars on the market out there. I set it up next to one of my Micro Galaxy Squadron X-Wings.

Seems to me like the sizes are pretty close, and that the Batwing fits as a 1/72 scale ship. So, I'll add it to the mix. Pretty fun!

Commander Yak Face

I went to Ross the other day, and I actually found a thing or two. That was a little surprising. I got to Ross about the same as I used to...a little less, but nearly the same...and I almost never find anything. I often wonder why I keep going back. I'm not saving money at all when I drive all over town and waste a bunch of gas on Ross runs.

This time, I found a Star Wars Vintage Collection figure sitting on the ground. It was face down, and all I could see was the back of the card looking back up at me, so I had no idea which character it was. I was hoping it would be Wooof, the guy who was known as Klaatu when I was a kid. Now they say there's an alien race is called Klatooinians. Strangely, according to the internet, that is the race of the dog-faced guys that the figure Barada belonged to.

Wooof, is apparently part of a species called Kadas'sa'Nikto, or Green Nikto. I had no idea. So, he's supposed to be the same...or at least a similar...species to the other Niktos that I got a while back, only they're brown and he's green.

Anyway, I saw a video the other day where the guy who mentioned that 3D-printing website on the YouTube video I watched and talked about on Wednesday was showing off his latest Star Wars acquisitions, and one of them was a Wooof he got from Ross. I've never seen Wooof at Ross, though I've seen every other character in that wave several times. It gave me hope that I might actually find that guy, so I approached Ross with new fervor.

For nothing, of course. This wasn't Wooof. It was Yak Face again...or Saelt-Marae or whatever his name is now that George Lucas's minions have made up back stories for all of the background aliens in the movies.

After seeing that website for 3D-printing, I figured I should get him no matter what.  I already have Saelt-Marae, and I'm not a big fan of his character (he looks like a Jim Henson character from Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal to me. Not very Star Wars), so I don't want a ton of them wandering Ankletown Station.  His body is pretty normal, and if I can order a cheap 3D-printed head to throw on it instead of the Yak Face one, then I need to buy it. Pretty much any Vintage Collection figure I can get from Ross I should buy.

I brought Saelt-Marae home, and checked to see how easy his head would come off. Maybe I could switch it out. the head came of well...and so did that huge neck he has. Without the head and neck, his body looks like it could be anybody's. I put one of the Kithaba heads I had onto the body to try it out.

It looks pretty solid if you ask me. Might need some kind of repainting to make it look different enough that it doesn't immediately jump out at you as a custom...oh, and it needs the hands to be switched. Can't have those clawlike things on this guy. They go with the Saelt-Marae.

Then, I took one of the Halo figures I got the other day, and switched its head out for the Saelt-Marae. behold, it's Commander Yak Face!

I think that looks great. I never suspected that I'd like a Yak Face. The head is so stupidly big. However, you put it onto a Halo figure, which is already extra large in the 1/18 scale, and it doesn't look so bad. This guy will go well with the other custom I made of Ponda Baba as a Halo guy. I'll get my alien army built before too long, I think.

Toy Store-y

On our trip to Canada, my son jumped at the chance to buy a Kinder Egg that doesn't have the American limitations on it. I guess somebody once choked on a Kinder Egg toy years ago, so they made a regulation that no candy can have a toy inside. Kinder Eggs found a way around that regulation to still sell chocolate egg-like candy and toys together, but it's not having chocolate eggs with a toy inside. In Canada, however, there was no such tragedy, therefore, no such need for governmental overreach.

They had a lot of different properties he could choose from for the prize in his Kinder Egg, but my son wasn't motivated to buy any of them. He just wanted the different-style egg. He asked his sisters what egg he should get, and was on the verge of buying a My Little Pony egg, when I told him to get a Toy Story egg instead.

He did, and it came with a Buzz Lightyear inside.

 It's a tiny little figurine, but it's got a pretty great paint job. Little gave me the figure, since all he wanted was the egg. I didn't know what to do with it. I set it up on my dashboard and left it there. It fell over as soon as I began driving, and lay face down for the majority of the time it spent in my car. Here and there I would set it back up, but it always fell over again soon. I considered gluing its feet down, but someday I'd want to take it out, and then it would leave behind gluey footprints that would make my truck look grosser than it should, so I didn't.

How could I use this guy, though? Should I just throw it away or could something be done with this little Buzz Lightyear?

Then I remembered what Empire Toy Works has on his space station.

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His space station has a toy store in it, and he uses little bitty figurines for the toys that are for sale there. He often has other pictures like this one below of his action figures playing with action figures too.

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I realized that I could do the same with this Buzz Lightyear. He didn't have to be chucked in the garbage can and forgotten. He could live again.

He might be a little big, but he works. He looks fine with a 1/18 figure holding him as a toy.

He can be the great big, deluxe Buzz Lightyear that costs a ton of money and a kid like me could never afford. I guess I'll have to get a few more similar figures. For that matter, the figures that came with the 1/72 scale ships that I have could be thrown into a photo as some of the other toys in the store. Maybe if I get more figures from gumball machines, I could stock out a toy store. Could be cool.

New Inspiration

The other day, I was watching this guy called Toys Are The Way on YouTube. He had a video showing off several of the custom figures he'd made for his Star Wars Vintage Collection...uh, collection. I was going to embed his video, but for some idiotic reason, he has disabled that feature, so the best I can do is include a LINK. In the video, he shows off his customs, then he mentions a website that he got all the heads for these guys from. It's Scoundrel's Stock.'

I went there to check it out, and was really inspired. They have tons of available 3D-printed heads, and most of them can be acquired in 1/18, 1/12, or even 1/6 scales.

You can get an Ishi Tib head.

Or a Rodian head...although the female head is the only one available in 1/18. For some reason, the male one can only be had in 1/12 or bigger. That disappoints me.

You can even get a full kit to convert a regular figure into an Ithorian like Hammerhead.

After watching the video and then seeing these heads, I am super excited about making customs. The other day, when I was at Ross, I saw a couple of Star Wars Vintage Collection figures that I already had. One was Mace Windu and the other was an Obi-wan Kenobi. I left them behind. I don't think I'll ever do that again. If I can just get a head from these guys and plop it onto the body and I have a whole new character, then there's never a reason to leave a figure behind at Ross, no matter how many copies of it I have. Look out wallet, here I come.

A Story I Haven't Published Until Now

I just put a story up on Amazon for y'all to purchase. Up until now, I have been a little afraid to publish it. It's probably one of the darkest stories I've ever written. It's called Undo.

It's about a high school kid who gets a mysterious stopwatch that can jump time backward a minute whenever he pushes the button. What could he do with that? Well, as I said before, the story is possibly the darkest I've ever written. You could probably call this the origin story for a supervillain. In fact, I did consider using this character as an enemy that would face The Gauntlet in one of the books in the series. Maybe I still will. Since I've only written the first book, there's plenty of time for that.

Just know this, I do not advocate for nor do I condone any of the things the character does in this story. I was afraid to release the story because of what readers might think of me. I'd like to think that our readers would never confuse the opinions or actions of a writer's characters with the opinions or actions of a writer, but sometimes it happens. So, I'm putting out this disavowal preemptively.

Alright, check out Undo over on Amazon for the low, low price of $3.99. It's 15,000 words long, so you get your money's worth. Enjoy.

Lion Diet Carnivore and Alternate Day Fasting | Getting Back On Track Again | Week 63 Roundup

I went on vacation, and let myself eat cheese and cheese and some more cheese. What did that do? Well, it left me about seven pounds heavier than I was when I left. Aside from that, I've been resting on my laurels now for months. It's time to kick it back into gear and get on my way toward One-derland again. So, this was my first week of that. Lion Diet and ADF. How did it go? Watch the video and find out!

Your Mountain Is Still Waiting...

Last week, my wife bought a big sticker pack for my son to use to decorate his school binders with. They weren't the usual crappy sticker sheet that you would get at the store with My Little Pony or Transformers characters on them, but rather the kind of stickers people put on their car windows, laptops, or water bottles. They were outdoors-themed, which is one of my favorite things, so when the kid was done with the stickers for his binders, I leafed through them.

There were several stickers that appealed to me, and a couple that I just had to use. Up until now, my water cup has been plain black, but these stickers motivated me to be one of those people with stickers all over their bottle instead. I figured a couple of those stickers might be humorous to share with you. I'm obviously a sucker for this kind of thing. Here's sticker number one:

That's right. It was a sticker with "Oh, the places you'll go." It's been a long time since I was so moved by the Burning Man video of the Dr. Seuss book, but ever since that day, it's kind of been my inspiration. Not only that, but they had this one too:

This one is actually a quote attributed to John Muir, but it sounds so similar to the last line of Oh, the Place You'll Go that I can't help but gravitate to it. I first saw it on a sign in Jackson Hole back in 2015. It's like the outdoorsy equivalent of "Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way." So, of course I had to also put that sticker onto my cup.

Uh, just wanted to share that, I guess.

Ross Finds

A while back, I got all the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in 1/18 scale for use on Ankletown Station...at least, all the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy that were in the movies, that is. If you're a comic book fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy, then you know that Nova was always one of the main members of the group. I remember some people jokingly speculating that John C. Reilly would be brought back in the second movie and established as Nova, but they never did go for Nova in any of the movies.He is a pretty big character among the cosmic characters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thanos and the like, so it would make sense to see him on a space station like Ankletown Station.

Well, I found a figure of him at Ross.

These Kenner-like throwback figures are made to look like original Star Wars figures...and they're really lame. I should have just walked away from it and not bothered, but it was only $3. That's how much a Kenner figure cost when I was a kid. If you factor in inflation, then it is the equivalent of a figure costing $0.75 when I was a kid. Even a lame figure, I probably would have bought if it only cost 75 cents.

I wonder if putting some weathering on the figure would make it look a little less awful. Probably won't help a ton, but it certainly won't hurt. I'll have to do it later. It's not going to be the centerpiece of my collection, though. 

They really did make it like the old Kenner figures. It's shorter....3.75 inch scale not 4 inch. Look at him compared to the Deathstroke that I got in yesterday's post.

Deathstroke looks like he could easily take that guy's lunch money.

Nova wasn't the only thing that I found, but he was the only thing new. I also found some Halo guys.

I like taking those guys and swapping their heads out for aliens or something. I made a really cool custom with a Ponda Baba head on a Halo Spartan figure. They kind of don't fit in so well with 1/18 scale figures though. If it seemed like Nova was out of scale, look at these guys.

They're in scale, however, as long as you know the lore of Halo. Apparently, these Spartan guys are specially chosen because they're so big. They basically chose the largest men on earth as their protectors against the alien invaders, so calling them out of scale would be like complaining that an NBA figure was out of scale with your soccer player figures.

I think I have one of each of these guys already, but if I swap the heads out with a Weequay or a Nikto or something, then they'll be all new guys, so that's not really an issue. I have an awful lot of these guys, and I'll surely get many more before I'm done.

Gotta Get Something

I went out looking for toys this week, and was very disappointed at what I found. I'm usually looking to pick up toys on sale, but I just wanted to find something to buy, and they had a Deathstroke figure in 1/18 scale. Normally, I would have just walked on, but I just wanted something. I wanted my trip not to be a waste, so I went ahead and bought it at full price. It was only $9 anyway.

He looks like he would fit in on a space station, right? He could use a little weathering and stuff, but he's not bad. Oh, except for his pony tail.

What the heck is that all about? I think I may get the fingernail clippers and just snip that thing off. Is Deathstroke supposed to have a pony tail? It makes him seem an awful lot less deadly that way.

He came with a bunch of accessories, but...

For some reason they're all done in transparent blue and orange. Are they supposed to be made of energy or something? I have a bunch of figures that have light sabers, does Deathstroke fight with a light katana?

What good can a gun made of light do you? Does it shoot light bullets? Is it a laser gun? can you pull the trigger on a light gun?

I may paint those accessories. They might work if they were silver or black or something.

Deathstroke should be a good addition to Ankletown Station. Well, without that pony tail he'll be a good addition, anyway.

Why Bother?

What is this?

NeverKink...hmmm, that doesn't sound like any fun. Why would anyone want something that never even gets a little bit kinky? You gotta live a little, right? Where's the fun without at least a little bit of kinkiness? I don't know what kink-resistant technology might be, but it sounds Orwellian and dystopian. I can't imagine what might possibly be better completely kink free.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Oh, I guess if it's a hose that makes sense. Whoops!

New Flag, Who Dis?

Recognize this flag?

While we were in Canada, we stopped in at a Dollar Store. In the Canada-themed stuff, we found a flag that I could buy that I wouldn't likely find in the USA. I have a collection of flags, but I strictly limit it to flags of states I've lived, countries I've lived in...or countries that my family members have lived in.

My wife suggested that I might like the flag, though. It didn't strictly fit my criteria, but it kind of did. It was a flag for a state (actually a province, but it's the same thing) that my family members have lived in. So, I grabbed it.

That's the Alberta provincial flag. Not a terrible flag but also not great. It's not a seal on a bedsheet, bit it looks an awful lot like one. 

Funny thing was the price of the flag. We were in the dollar store, but the thing cost $15. I guess dollar stores in Canada are just like the ones in America. A dollar can't get you anything anymore. It's basically worth what a quarter was worth when I was a kid.

Luckily, the American dollar is worth a little more right now than the Canadian dollar, so the exchange rate lowered the price for me. That's one of my favorite parts about visiting Canada.

My flag collection, which isn't supposed to be growing unless I move somewhere new, is growing. Now I wonder if I need flags for the states where I lived in other countries. I don't think I'll go there, especially since the flags would probably be impossible to procure, but I don't need them. I do like flags, though.

Mouse

I had to go to the auto shop this past week, and while I was there, I saw this:

That's not just a toy car. That thing is the mouse for their computer. When I saw that, I was immediately jealous. I didn't want a car, however. I find cars perfectly useful, but they don't get me excited. It only took me a second to figure out what I would like for a mouse, however. If there was a spaceship...say a Millennium Falcon...like that, I would jump on it.

I went home, and looked it up, and was sad to find that there wasn't any. If I wanted something like that, I had to get a 3D-printed one, and assemble it myself. I guess I can hope that somebody else sees a mouse like this and gets one made that I can purchase in the future. Or maybe I'll do the 3D-printed thing one of these days. We'll see. But man, isn't that cool? Wouldn't a mouse be so much better if it looked like that?

What Happened? I Went On Vacation For Two Weeks, Did I Blow It? Weeks 60, 61 & 62

I was out of town for a few weeks. I was at the mercy of many other people, and didn't have my own kitchen or grocery store to source my food from. What did I do? Did I blow it? Did I give in and go back to my old ways? Was this the end of my streak of more than 365 days of perfect carnivore? Check it out and see...

Study Group

I got to make another appearance over on the Rish Outcast this month. A while back, Rish, Marshal, and I recorded a sketch that he'd written about a group of folks being asked about how their clinical trial on the new drug was going. The drug is known to cause a few side effects, and they wanted to know how badly any of us were experiencing them.

Eventually, Rish got up the nerve to ask a woman to play the one part written for a woman, Tena Kolokowski got him the lines, and now he has released it on his show. As usual with a Rish Outfield sketch, hilarity ensues. Hopefully you enjoy my performance as the beligerantly paranoid guy. Typecasted again.

To listen to the show, find it on the Rish Outcast feed or follow the LINK back to Rish's blog. You can also just click the play button below if all that other stuff is too much work for you. We aim to please here!

I'm Not Alone

I used to read Dean Wesley Smith's blog all the time years ago, but I haven't done it much for a while now. These days, I only look at it when his wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, reposts it on Facebook and calls my attention to it. I saw her post on Facebook the other day the following:

Of course, rather than pay enough attention to what she wrote to follow the directions to find what she was actually referring to, I just clicked the link for Dean. It took me to the main page of his blog, where the post was not sarcastic at all, but just discussing some workshop he was putting on for writers.

I scrolled for a bit, and then found this post. It made me smile.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who wastes his time writing a blog post every day just to be able to say that I have. Then again, Smith probably makes tons of money off his blog, so he's not doing it for nothing. I have about six regular followers, so it's nothing more than a vanity thing for me...just to be able to say that I did, I guess. I haven't even been at it for a full year yet, I don't think. Let me look back at when the first daily post started...looks like it was October 8th of last year.

The funny thing was that I was close to daily before, and all I had to do was put in a slight amount more effort and I could have been there for years. I also learned to pace my posts more judiciously. I don't actually write a blog post a day, I publish a blog post a day. I usually have them written well ahead of publishing now. I sit down and write several at once, and set them to publish one a day off into the future. 

For a while, I would just publish things when they came up, and then I would have two or sometimes even three posts in one day, and no posts for several days in a row. Now I just space them out more. That way, I've been able to publish something every day, even while gone on vacation and the like. Sometimes it's silly, like all the posts I did about my Harry Potter books for the last couple of weeks. My vacation was going to be so long that I just didn't have enough posts to cover it, so I had to stretch to fill the space. But usually, I'm about a week ahead anyway, so it's no big deal.

Of course, I have a long ways to go to measure up to a real pro. Scrolling down Smith's blog a little further, I found this post. 

Yeah, I don't think I can nurse the neurosis for that long.

Speaking of neurosis...I was scrolling through my posts to verify that I'd actually been going for as long as I thought, and I found a missing day on February 9th. Dammit, not even as far along as I thought. Well, that's fine. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if you want, you could make a visit to my blog a daily habit. There should be something new to see here each time you come back.

Cross-Contamination

When I went to the At Home store the other day to look at Halloween decorations, I saw this, and kind of laughed...

Yeah, that's a Christmas tree. But I guess it's actually a Halloween tree. It's a pure black tree with a sort of bluish-purple lights strung into it. I guess the Christmas tree manufacturers are trying to expand their market or something.

I think it would be more fun to use it as a Christmas decoration. I saw several different kinds of ornaments with ghosts and pumpkins and crap around the store as well. Wouldn't it be fun to put up a black Christmas tree in December and then sit back and wait to see what people's reactions were?

It makes me think of back when Covid started up, and some people thought, even though it was the middle of the summer, that people needed cheering up, and they encouraged people to put up their Christmas decorations. I joked with a few people that were willing to hear tasteless jokes at the time that I wanted to pitch in and help everyone feel better, but that I didn't have much in the way of Christmas decorations, so I was going to put up my Halloween decorations early. Surely everyone would enjoy to see all the skulls and skeletons that I have to put outside my house, right?