Fair Time

Vani and I went to the San Diego County Fair on Sunday. This was probably the earliest we’ve ever gone. I’m usually scrambling to find time for it in its final week. This year’s theme was pets and included light decorations, places for pet adoption, and information on how to care for different animals. I don’t ever find the fair themes particularly well integrated, but this year was one of the better attempts. I do have to give a big thumbs down to the number of AI-generated images of animals doing people things, like working out and reading a book. There’s an entire industry built on images like this! Hire someone! License old photos! Nothing makes an event look cheap quite like AI slop.

The food was fun as usual. We tried a number of things, although it’s harder to taste everything without a group of people to split items further. Fried cheese curds were a must, but we also had mango sticky rice, spicy tuna jalapeno poppers, a crepe with strawberries, Nutella, and bananas, and a giant strawberry aguas frescas. We also picked up some local honey, seasonings and rubs, and hot sauces. I spent a good chunk of time looking at all of the flower contest entries. The dahlias were gorgeous this year and the roses, which I often think I don’t like, worked their charm on me as they do every year. Another thing I like to look at is all of the odd collections on display that are put behind glass. There are some basic ones, like Funko Pops, comics, and records, but also more unique ones like staplers, matchbooks, and thimbles. It’s fun to see what gets other folks excited. The weather was great to top it all off and we had a lovely day.

I went to the No Kings protest on Saturday. I’ll keep this part brief, but if you’re upset and angry with what’s occurring in the US I suggest making it out to the next one in your area. I’m not sure what effect they will have overall, but it’s a mood booster to get out there and realize you aren’t alone and that’s not nothing right now. The exercise is a good bonus.

-Ian