Rebirth Of The Red Lantern: Volume 3, Chapter 1

WHAT’S ON MY MIND

Hitting the road. Like the Cayo Perico Heist in Grand Theft Auto Online, I’ll soon be back in wine country. Again. It’s time to visit Danza del Sol for my quarterly wine club pickup, but temperatures will be in the high 80s during this trip. Artoria will be tasked with wine transportation duties.

I'll have lunch at Meritage. Once? Twice? With the recent menu changes I haven’t decided if I’ll eat there both Tuesday and Wednesday. I just might be in the mood for a salad and a glass of wine upon my arrival.

WHAT BOTTLE I OPENED THIS WEEK

2022 Stag’s Leap Aveta Sauvignon Blanc. Once again, someone at Wine Enthusiast let me down. See the 2025 Wines page for the deets.

WHAT I BOUGHT

The porch gods delivered a pair of table top evaporative cooling fans. I’ve only used one of them so far, and it works great if you’re sitting or lying down within 6-8 feet of it. The second one will likely find a home in my writing room once June Gloom gives way to July Fry.

WHAT MADE ME HAPPY

The financial Crock Pot, aka my investment portfolio, is still cooking like a seasoned pork tenderloin on a bed of sliced onions. It’s correct to say I benefited from the tariff chaos by not doing anything.

WHAT MADE ME LAUGH

King TACO is considering deporting Elon Musk. I’m all for Make Racists Afraid Again. Anyway...

WHAT SACRED TEXTS I READ

• There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless…, Volume 7
• Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade, Volume 5
• Imitation, Volume 6

Also from J-Novel Club:

• The Poison King: Now That I’ve Gained Ultimate Power, The Bewitching Beauties In My Harem Can’t Get Enough Of Me, Volume 5
• The Villainess Is Dead! Long Live The Empress! Redoing The Story After A Poisonous End, Volume 2
• Notorious No More: The Villainess Enjoys Feigning Incompetence, Volume 1
• Blade Skill Online: Crushing The Competition With My Abysmal Stats, Useless Class and Garbage Weapon! (manga), Volume 1
• Make It Stop! I’m Not Strong… It’s Just My Sword! (manga), Volume 1

WHAT I WATCHED

The anime movie Rascal Does Not Dream Of A Dreaming Girl. One of the first rom-com anime series I watched in the early days of the pandemic was Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Sempai, and now the first of three follow up movies is available to steam on Crunchyroll. 

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus, aka The University Student Arc that ends the light novel series, will debut on CR soon. I also look forward to this.

THIS WEEK’S MOMOKA KAWARAGI AWARD WINNER IS…

Me! When I bought my last two Tommy Bahama shirts at DXL I didn’t realize they were for men both big and tall. I like to wear my shirts either tucked or untucked, and the latter makes it look like one of those muumuus more commonly worn by WalMart shoppers. 

I don’t need new shirts at this time, but in the future I’ll be more careful so I don’t make another $300 mistake. Ara ara!

A FIST BUMP GOES TO…

Shunji Okumoto did the racing equivalent of Eminem’s “8 Mile” last weekend. Tasked with being one of two substitute drivers for Goodsmile Racing at Super GT’s visit to Sepang (Malaysia), he took his one chance and made the most of it by bringing home the #4 Hatsune Miku AMG Mercedes in third place. I hope his efforts this past weekend leads to a full time Super GT drive in 2026.

A SMALL HEALTH UPDATE

I said I’d try Nioxin at least 30 days, and after seven weeks I threw it in the trash. That says it all.

FINALLY, WHAT’S UP WITH MY NOVEL?

Nothing. In fact, I’m not moving forward with the project. I did a lot of thinking the past two weeks. I love writing, but I don’t want it to become a new job. I’m retired, and this is the chapter of my life where I should prioritize my happiness and my health.

I’ll stick to blogging, but I may continue editing a few of those chapters so I can share them with y’all one of these days.