iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 05/10/2026

I made an olive tapenade, like some kinda fancy person! Sorta winged it. Kalamata olives, capers, garlic, parsley, anchovy, pine nuts, red wine vinegar, Dijon, olive oil. We’ll have it alongside some homemade ciabatta and the last of the summer tomatoes.

A small ramekin holds a tapenade, it looks like a rough paste. What it lacks in looks, it makes up for in brininess.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 01/10/2026

I’d heard years ago that this is the stuff you want if you’re making pumpkin spice coffee drinks at home. Torani Pumpkin sauce (NOT the syrup). Searched high and low for years, and couldn’t find it, until this year! Found it at World Market. Gotta say, it does live up to the hype, it’s just right.

Torani Puremade Sauce in Pumpkin Pie flavor. It’s in a small plastic squeeze bottle, not the big clear bottles like their more common flavor syrups.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 21/09/2026

If I could live inside that Sherlock Holmes game, I’d be so very happy. It’s likely that game is partially to blame for my passion for warm-toned interiors and lights. So very brown! 🤎

Nine games that shaped who I am:

Radar Rad Race (Commodore 64)
Summer Games II (Commodore 64)
Legend of Zelda (NES)
Kid Icarus (NES)
Leisure Suit Larry 2 (PC)
King’s Quest 6, I think? (PC)
Monkey Island 2 (PC)
Sherlock Homes and the Case of the Serrated Scalpel (PC)
Grim Fandango (PC)

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 19/09/2026

For my birthday, I got to go to Omnivore Books, a sweet little bookstore in SF’s Noe Valley that is just for cookbooks. Picked up six books, six was a theme. Mostly books about using seasonal produce, plus some pasta books, and a baking book.

Six cookbooks:

- Six California Kitchens, by Sally Schmitt
- Six Seasons of Pasta (signed), by Joshua McFadden
- Making Artisan Pasta, by Aliza Green
- Sift, by Nicola Lamb
- Six Seasons (signed), by Joshua McFadden
- Salade II, by Pascale Beale

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 20/08/2026

Took a gamble throwing together a few things I had around for lunch, and I’m thrilled with how it turned out! Country French bread toast rubbed with garlic, topped with carrot labneh, za’atar, prosciutto, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and parsley. Could’ve been a disaster, but it worked! Whew.

Two slices of country French bread have been toasted and rubbed with garlic, then topped with carrot labneh, za’atar, prosciutto, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and parsley.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 18/08/2026

Here’s an example, the recipe entry in CookShelf for a Tomato Vinaigrette from the book Salt Fat Acid Heat:

Screenshot of the CookShelf recipe entry for Tomato vinaigrette from the book Salt Fat Acid Heat.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 18/08/2026

I’m digging the new CookShelf app. It’s an index of thousands of cookbooks—you track your personal cookbook collection with it, and pow, you’ve got a searchable database of your dead tree recipes. Only it’s also got years of others’ comments and ratings on the recipes. A massive help!

Screenshot of the CookShelf app, showing cookbooks in my own collection.

Screenshot of the CookShelf app, showing recipes from my books I have bookmarked.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 12/08/2026

I know cat bleps are a dime a dozen, but this one was huge and she left it out for like a solid minute. It was just very exciting and I want to show you.

A black cat sitting at a window with a leafy tree just outside. The cat’s bright pink tongue is sticking out, forgotten. An island of doofy floating in an ocean of elegance.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 29/07/2026

This year’s tote from the SF Public Library is my favorite yet. I’m a sucker for a cable car.

A tote bag says READ over a San Francisco cable car carrying adorable animals, most of them carrying a book. The top of the cable car reads, “Chinatown Nob Hill & Van Ness via California St” and a sign on the side says, “San Francisco Public Library.”

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 24/07/2026

New CSA box day! This time I got a pic of all the produce before I put it away. Plums, grapes, green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, Swiss chard, and carrots. $44 delivered to my door in San Francisco by Greenhearts Family Farm. greenheartsfamilyfarm.com

A photo of a great big pile of produce on my kitchen counter: broccoli, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, carrots, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, red plums, and red grapes.

The cardboard CSA box, with an extra bonus bunch of broccoli on top that didn’t fit in the very full box. The box says, “Fresh California Fruits • Vegetables” and has an idyllic illustration of a farm.

A screenshot from the email I got from Greenhearts Family Farm a few days ago, giving me a heads up about what to expect in this week’s CSA box:

This Week's CSA Box:
Honey Punch Pluots
Red Rush Grapes
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Red/ Yellow Bell Pepper
Green Beans
Swiss Chard
Broccoli
Nantes Carrots
Romaine Lettuce

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 24/07/2026

We have to teach the children!

A small child dressed as Charo, with long hair swept up into a ponytail on top, a ruffly red dress, and a ukulele standing in as a scaled-down flamenco guitar.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 20/07/2026

Finally got to using the chioggia beets from the CSA box—whoa!! I’ve never had them before, they really are good, mild and sweet. The pink/white stripes disappear if you cook them, so I kept it raw and sliced it thin for this salad. Also used romaine lettuce & Nantes carrots from the CSA box.

Salad with romaine lettuce, chioggia beets, Nantes carrots, toasted nuts, queso fresco, and a pesto vinaigrette using carrot greens pesto.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 20/07/2026

Holy cow, this is good. Coconut Fish and Tomato Bake, from NYTimes. The sauce has coconut milk, ginger, garlic, turmeric, lime, red pepper flakes, honey, and parsley. (Calls for cilantro, but I got that soap gene.) I added fresh corn, and made it with black cod. cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022...

A dinner plate has a piece of black cod, topped with a yellow sauce, along with corn, cherry tomatoes, rice, and beet greens.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 19/07/2026

I hope this guy’s family lets him blow this photo up huge and hang it in their living room. 📸: John Sibley, Reuters @john-sibs.bsky.social

Photo of Spain fans in the stadium for the World Cup, reacting after they finally got a goal. The crowd has their backs to the camera because they’re all looking down at the field, except for one guy, his mouth and eyes all wide circles, crazed in excitement, is looking back directly at the camera, fists clenched.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 19/07/2026

I baked chocolate Japanese-style milk bread. Happy with how it turned out, I think I got it right technique-wise, but it’s kinda blah flavor-wise. Feels gimmicky, like its only purpose is to be torn in half and squooshed for TikTok. At least I can check this one off my list.

A loaf of dark brown chocolate milk bread. It came out of an 8x4 loaf pan.

Cross-section of the milk bread loaf. There are little dark spots studded in it, those are mini chocolate chips.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 18/07/2026

I’m still kicking the tires on this new white sandwich bread. Once again, it’s better than my old white bread recipe. This is a grilled cheese with 6-year-aged cheddar (found it on sale), and homemade tomato bacon jam. The cheese is very good, but might be *too* aged, the flavors here are intense.

A grilled cheese sandwich cut into two halves and sitting on a plate. The cheese and tomato bacon jam are running out a bit, but it’s holding up okay.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 16/07/2026

Salad with romaine lettuce and cucumber from the Greenhearts CSA, with a pesto vinaigrette dressing using the carrot greens pesto I made. Other, non-CSA ingredients: avocado, oil-cured black olives, tomatoes, Parmesan, and croutons made from my new white sandwich bread.

A translucent cobalt blue bowl holding a salad with romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, oil-cured black olives, croutons, and avocado is topped with shaved Parmesan.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 15/07/2026

Used the last of the fantastic cherry tomatoes from the CSA box on these bruschetta.

Four pieces of tomato basil bruschetta on a plate.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 15/07/2026

Roasted broccolini with Meyer lemon and Parmesan. Both the broccolini and the Meyer lemon came from Greenhearts CSA. My first time cooking with broccolini, I liked it a lot! Kind of a midpoint between broccoli and asparagus. Recipe: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018...

A platter is arranged with broccolini and thin slices of Meyer lemon. Broccolini looks like if you stretched normal broccoli to make it long and thin, with larger flowers. The broccolini and lemon slices have been roasted until browned and crispy, and topped with Parmesan and Meyer lemon zest.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 14/07/2026

BLT with tomatoes and romaine from our Greenhearts Family Farm CSA box. Also made one for Rich with the carrot greens/pistachio pesto instead of mayo, ‘cause he’s anti-mayo; he loved it. This is my first chance to try my new white sandwich bread, and I’m happy with it! The citric acid did the trick.

Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on white bread.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 14/07/2026

Every CSA box so far has included a bunch of carrots with greens still attached, and I use those greens to make a pesto. I use pistachios, ‘cause I’ve got a bunch on hand, but you could use pine nuts or whatever. It’s handy to have in the fridge to add a little punch to meals. Recipe in alt text:

Carrot greens washed and loaded into the base of a mini food processor. It’s sitting on a scale reading 30 grams.

The finished pesto.
Recipe:
In a mini food processor:
- 30g carrot greens
- 17g raw pistachios
- 2 cloves garlic
- big pinch of salt
- squeeze of lemon juice

Gently add at the end:
- I’m not sure how much olive oil (maybe 1/3 cup?)
- 8g grated Parmesan

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 13/07/2026

I make this Balsamic Chicken with Burst Tomatoes all the time, it’s one of our favorites, and I usually use grape tomatoes because cherry tomatoes from the store are kinda sad. BUT! The cherry tomatoes from the CSA box are bonkers-intense good. Recipe: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026...

A chicken thigh with a Balsamic sauce, next to polenta, basil, and gorgeous deep red cherry tomatoes that have been roasted.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 13/07/2026

Cabbage Caesar salad—I like this more than I thought I would! It’s extra crunchy, but delicate, even almost sweet. Made with a cute li’l cone cabbage from my Greenhearts CSA box. Here’s the recipe: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7829...

A Caesar salad, only it’s made with shredded cabbage instead of lettuce.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 12/07/2026

Chicken salad sandwich, with grapes, celery, onion, and romaine from my Greenhearts CSA box. Here’s the recipe: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025...

A chicken salad sandwich with romaine lettuce on wheat bread.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 12/07/2026

It’s a baguette day! As ever, my shaping needs work. Or something. I dunno, baguettes are tricky, but they’ll taste good anyway.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 12/07/2026

I’ve made a few loaves of white sandwich bread that have been perfectly tasty, but then fall kinda flat flavor-wise when it’s time for them to do their job in an actual sandwich. I’m testing adding a little bit of citric acid to see if that gets me where I wanna go. 🤞

A stack of four slices of white bread. In the background is a second stack of four slices. It was baked in a Pullman pan, which has a lid and so makes nice, square loaves.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 11/07/2026

After meaning to try it for years, a few months ago we finally got started with an every-other-week CSA box, from Greenhearts Family Farm. It’s been fantastic, we’re eating so much better now. The number of nights we order dinner in has plummeted, which has been an unexpected huge cost savings. /1

A cardboard box is printed in red and green ink, with a graphic of a stylized farm field with rolling hills and a windmill, and lettering that says “Fresh California Fruits • Vegetables.” It’s retro and charming as hell.

This Week's CSA Box:
Red Flame Grapes
Strawberries
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccolini
Chioggia Beets
Red and/or Yellow Bell Pepper Cabbage and/or Spring Onions
Romaine Lettuce
Nantes Carrots
Celery

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 06/07/2026

Made more banana bread (we had a “bank error in your favor”-type banana situation here this week). This one is cardamom coffee banana bread, with little chunks of bittersweet chocolate. I like this one better than the Bananas Foster one. cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026...

A slice of banana bread with a coffee glaze on top.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 30/06/2026

I made Bananas Foster banana bread, with 151-proof Lost Spirits Cuban-style rum. Baking this at the same time as cooking the red cabbage was a… miscalculation, kitchen aromas-wise. Ah well, it tastes good.

A loaf of banana bread is topped with sliced bananas and a brown sugar & rum glaze.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 30/06/2026

Got a head of red cabbage in the CSA box this week, and thought I’d try making the sweet-and-sour purple stuff I’ve really liked the few times I’ve accidentally wound up with it when eating a traditional German meal. Found a “rotkraut” recipe and I now have an absurd amount of the stuff.

Large pot of rotkraut, a sweet-and-sour cooked side with red cabbage, apples, red wine, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a few spices.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 21/06/2026

It’s been two weeks since BART Prom, and my corsage is somehow still going strong. They gave these to every attendee! Real flowers & foliage! The team at @bart.gov that threw the prom deserves mega kudos, that event was so well done, and whoever it was that made these corsages happen is a genius.

A pale blue carnation is bundled with tiny white baby’s breath flowers and variegated leaves, making a sweet little corsage/boutonnière.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 15/06/2026

I did a crossword tournament for the first time today!! Westwords (@westwords-xwt.bsky.social) was thee most fun. Warm, silly, brilliant, supportive crowd and organizers. I got Distinguished Rookie (Beach division) & won these boss pencils! Made a bunch of new friends, can’t wait to do it again.

The schedule for the Westwords Crossword Tournament in Berkeley, CA, plus a four-pack of Twist-Erase III mechanical pencils, my prize for being Distinguished Rookie. 0.9 lead thickness, ooh la la!

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 28/05/2026

If you’ve just started with Apple TV because you’ve heard great things about Widow’s Bay, Pluribus, Severance, etc., don’t miss out on Central Park. Our family has rewatched it several times, we quote it often, we listen to the soundtrack, we utterly adore it.

Promotional image for the animated TV show Central Park, showing the show’s characters in a semi-psychedelic pop-art style in a field of green wavy lines representing the park, with an abstract city skyline in the background.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 03/05/2026

I didn’t take this one, my friend did, but I’m not gonna not post a pic of Charo & me dancing

International treasure Charo singing while dancing with me. I am appropriately rapturous.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 03/05/2026

If you see this, post a concert photo you took (I win, Charo beats all, but you can keep playing if you want)

International treasure Charo masterfully playing flamenco guitar, perched on a tall stool, wearing a turquoise blue ruffly confection of a dress.

International treasure Charo bounding across the stage, amping up the audience, mouth wide open in glee, wearing a pink and yellow mini dress. Her boobs are delightful.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 20/04/2026

This chocolate cake doesn’t look like anything special, but it’s loaded with cognac. I’m thinking of making it again with kirsch to see what happens.

A slice of a single-layer chocolate cake, dark brown and dense, topped only with a dusting of powdered sugar.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 13/04/2026

Toasting world events with a product of Hungary I found in a deep back corner of my shelves: Slivovitz! Thank you for the hope, Hungarians!

A bottle of Slivovitz plum brandy, in an oval green bottle. Product of Hungary, 94 proof, kosher, and it tastes like soapy gasoline.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 15/02/2026

And another one! Ham, Brie, and an apricot-Dijon sauce.

Spiral roll with bubbly Brie spilling out, and little hunks of ham.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 14/02/2026

Another day, another roll. This one has roasted garlic, Kalamata olives, sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes, goat cheese, Gruyère, mozzarella, and parsley. It’s inspired by the AGOG Primo pizza at Pagliacci in Seattle, where I grew up. Pag’s was my first job, and I was truly terrible at it.

A spiral roll, like a cinnamon bun, only savory. Olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, and parsley are peeking out.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 10/02/2026

When my cat was about two, her fur changed and got REALLY soft. Her littermate’s fur didn’t change, so I panicked—what if her body isn’t absorbing nutrients right???—and took her to the vet. He said she was fine. Ever since then, I’ve described her as Alarmingly Soft.

A black cat sits primly, with the teeniest pink tongue blep. At the edge of the frame is her doofy brother.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 05/02/2026

Pleased to report that coffee cheesecake turned out to be a damned good idea. Tastes like coffee ice cream.

A slice of coffee cheesecake, with a couple bites eaten from the end. The crust is crushed Oreo cookies, and the cake is tan.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 03/02/2026

New savory roll variant: pizza capricciosa. Pizza sauce, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and Kalamata olives.

Six spiral rolls on a baking sheet, sort of like cinnamon rolls, but pizza flavored.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 01/02/2026

I used to keep a bunch of these little savory rolls in the freezer, for quick meals, in a bunch of different flavors. I’ve got get back to making them, they’re so good. Today’s new flavor combo: caramelized onion, bacon, blue cheese, and mozzarella, with a thin layer of fig chili jam.

A spiral roll, like a cinnamon roll, only savory. The filling has caramelized onions, bacon, blue cheese, mozzarella, and a little bit of fig chili jam.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 26/01/2026

The kid made a handy Beowulf Problem Solving Chart.

BEOWULF PROBLEM SOLVING CHART

CAN THE PROBLEM BE ATTACKED?
- NO
- - You are wrong. It can.
- YES
- - TANGENT ABOUT HOW GREAT YOU ARE
- - PARTY
- - IS THE PROBLEM SOLVED YET?
- - - YES
- - - - BRAG ABOUT HOW HUMBLE YOU ARE
- - - NO
- - - - COULD THE PROBLEM KICK YOUR BUTT?
- - - - - NO
- - - - - - NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU
- - - - - YES
- - - - - - OKAY DON'T FIGHT WITH ANY WEAPONS THEN
- - - - - - FIGHT
- - - - - - SHINY THINGS
- - - - - - [arrow pointing back to] TANGENT ABOUT HOW GREAT YOU ARE

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 24/01/2026

Humbly asking my fellow white people to consider reacquainting themselves with the Black Panthers, through the lens of what we’ve all seen this last few weeks/months. They saw all of this ages ago, they were on the right track. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/621144...

Cover art for The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 09/01/2026

I made a seafood stew—winged it, no recipe—and it worked!! It’s really good! Tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, onion, celery, bacon, clam juice, white wine, garlic, and one of those goofy cheddar + Old Bay pucks leftover from my mistake with the cookies a while back, topped with sous vide cod.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 04/01/2026

I started watching Common Side Effects, and now I’m confused, because how are we not all spewing adoration for it? I almost missed it! I think it’s from an alternate universe where MTV poured all of the focus that went to reality tv into Liquid Television instead.

Poster for the animated series Common Side Effects. A bearded man in a fishing hat and an open shirt is behind a woman with brown hair, who is holding a small turquoise mushroom in her hand that they’re both looking at.

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Humu Trott @humuhumu.com · 14/12/2025

I’m dying to discuss #WakeUpDeadMan but it will be spoilery, so I’m going to tuck it away in the alt text of this image. If you respond, please do it in alt text of a picture so we don’t ruin anything. (If I’m missing some way that this approach is terrible, please let me know and I’ll delete)

Spoilers for Wake Up Dead Man ahead:

I am desperate to know every detail about the phone scene with Bridget Everett. The way I sat up when she popped on screen! “I know her!!” (I do not know her.)

It’s a seemingly simple scene, but good god. So masterfully done by Everett, O’Connor, and Johnson.

- On a scale of 1-10, how thrilled was Rian Johnson when he lined up Bridget Everett? She was made for this.

- On a scale of 1-10, how incredibly bonkers happy was Rian when she gave him the gift of that whole performance??

- What were the filming logistics? Did Everett record her phone parts first in a studio booth somewhere, and then O’Connor filmed his part to her recording? Or was she there on set so they could be reacting to each other more genuinely?

- Did Everett get to actually be with the other actors at all? I want that for her, since it seems like they all bonded, and she’s such an important part of the movie, even if it’s small.

- Did she get to keep her painted portrait from the credits? Please I want that painting to be hanging in her bathroom right now. I want her to be watching her guests pee.

I could do this for a half-dozen things in the movie right now. That green glade of trees, or Blanc’s Lloyd-Webber slip showing. And that one lady who is brilliantly insightful and nerdy on anything Catholic here on Bluesky, please universe let her watch this movie and give us all her angles on it, I want to hear from her!

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