Friday Bitch & Brag

May 10, 2024 - The Worm Edition

Exclusive for paid subscribers: the Corinne Channel is a roundup of what I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to over the past week. This list will be included at the end of each Friday Bitch and Brag.

Looking for an older edition of B&B? Check out the index of Friday Bitch and Brag here or by clicking the button below.

What a week it’s been. Let’s gather ‘round, folks!

Bitch: This weather is so wonky, with temperatures going above 80 one day then below 60 the next; rainstorms then sunshine. The lawn looks like a damn meadow and I’m going to give HM the benefit of the doubt because the weather has been unpredictable for getting someone out to mow the lawn.

Brag: Last Saturday I went to Baltimore to meet up with an old friend from my Sacramento days. I went early to check out Flower Mart, the oldest free public market in Baltimore, and I tried a lemon stick for the first time! The peppermint stick is soft & porous enough to work like a straw, so you squeeze the lemon half to get it juicy, bite off a bit of peppermint, then suck the juice through the peppermint stick. Tart, sweet, minty, kinda weird. Just like many other things (and people) in Baltimore.

Close up of my lemon stick, a cut lemon with a peppermint stick inside it, and me with the lemon stick.

Bonus Item: So many jokes about RFK Jr.’s brain worm online, and all I can think about is an old family joke about Herman the Worm, which involved telling stories about Herman with your tongue resting against your bottom front teeth. Today I learned there’s a kids’ song about Herman the Worm that is a lot like the classic story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Watch this video at your own peril because like most songs for little kids, it is repetitive and annoying, but feel free to change the lyrics to include that Herman died after eating RFK Jr.’s brain.

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Bitch: Boost Mobile has a rewards program within their phone app where you win coins for logging in, spinning a prize wheel, watching ads, etc. and you can apply the coins to your monthly bill. What they don’t tell you is that you have to redeem the coins at least 24 hours before your bill is due, because if you try to redeem them right before you pay, the app won’t let you do it. I had gotten nearly $10 worth of coins and couldn’t use them because I hadn’t redeemed them ahead of time, and Boost customer service chat was unhelpful. I just looove when the system gets gamified so those of us on a tight budget have to play along when they could make the bills cheaper to begin with. Capitalism blows.

Brag: On Saturday I had a fantastic visit not only with my friend from Sacramento, but also with the owners of Jinji Chocolate, who I hadn’t seen in a very long time. Their new brick-and-mortar in Baltimore is so lovely, and their vegan chocolate is *chef’s kiss.* I tried a frozen cocochata, a horchata-inspired concoction made with oat milk and cocoa with a vegan whipped cream on top—I did not get a photo because I was having too much fun chatting and drinking the creamy frozen deliciousness (and dealing with brain freeze, to be honest). I got a seasonal sampler of their chocolate to try and I DID NOT SHARE ANY.

I was experimenting with the camera on my tablet, so this seasonal chocolate sampler box from Jinji Chocolate doesn’t look all that great, but trust me, it was SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS.

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Bitch: As of 930 am EDT Friday morning 5:30 pm EDT Friday, I still haven’t heard from the chief judge for the polling place where I’m assigned to work on Tuesday for Maryland’s primary election. The Board of Elections training session staff said chief judges typically call about 10 days before the election to provide info on the polling location, including the time poll workers need to show up on Monday night to help set up voting booths and whatnot. Um, hello? Do you not need me anymore? Did I watch all those poorly organized videos on ballot marking devices and the voter activation card for nothing?

Brag: I completed my mail-in ballot this week and sent it in, which means I get to wear the “I Voted” sticker that came in the packet now.

One of several “I Voted” stickers for Maryland. This one features a Baltimore oriole, a blue crab, a racehorse with jockey, a black-eyed susan flower, and the Maryland flag.

This week on The Corinne Channel: new season for an award-winning sitcom; messy novels, and more!