C. A. Bridges

New followers, hi! I’m a trending writer for the USA TODAY NETWORK in Florida, which means I try to explain what’s going on, from hurricanes to politics to pop culture to health threats. Sometimes it helps. I’m also a photographer for local performers, a dog dad, and a thrifter on weekends.

Nothing has ever really gotten me to understand, to completely internalize different time zones and how they relate to each other as anything other than a math exercise until @taskmaster.tv started streaming the premieres of new episodes at 5 p.m. eastern.

I have not seen the show. But a significant number of friends went from enthusiastically praising it as amazing, groundbreaking, and surprising at the beginning of the season to sounding profoundly betrayed a few more episodes in. No idea what happened.

Checked out the Inklings bookstore in Lakeland for the first time and found “The Monster Den” by John Ciardi and Edward Gorey. The book cover is torn but it was only $6.50 and I don’t have one so what the heck. Got home and found it was autographed by Ciardi. I may have done a small jig.

My dog sensed I was awake and jumped up on the bed. I curled my leg to make contact along his back and he released a deep sigh, leaned against me and went to sleep almost immediately. That was a half hour ago. I’m afraid to move. I may need to have food and emergency supplies flown in.

Literally how are we supposed to connect with our audiences when Meta is not only controlling everything, but stealing every single thing we make? www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/meta...

I love thrift stores at Halloween. At least, I assume that’s what’s going on here.

Despite the rain, people turned out for the #NoKings protest in DeLand, Florida.

"Winnie-the-Pooh" published 100 years ago today. Walk back through the Hundred Acre Wood with stories, photos and quotes from the silly old bear.

Stuff you see walking your dog in the morning in Florida. An early-morning SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral left the remains of a "jellyfish" in the sky. It was gone within five minutes.

This is absolutely certainly legit.

So far, nothing on my Amazon’s “About Me” page is particularly revealing. Speculative fiction? Art books? Canon gear? Comfy shoes? Yup. It’s also skewed, since I generally only use Amazon these days for last-minute, just-remembered gifts for people.

Got my COVID and flu shots last night. I of course expect to feel wonderful all day long. All. Day. Long.

Having trouble deciding which books to buy from Amazon during Prime Days? Try this: None, then go support an independent bookstore instead. 😌

It’s Saturday morning. Time to report to my unpaid, unrequested second job of straightening thrift store book and dvd shelves.

popin' proof

Christa Pike received a temporary stay of execution just before she was scheduled to be put to death. Why does that happen so rarely in Florida?

As I understand it, it also aggravated a lot of fans by not having all the new footage in all theaters. And they didn’t promote new footage much anyway.

We don’t generally hear our neighbors much from inside the house. Our yard is pretty tree-heavy, we might hear trucks or heavy yard work, or people on four wheelers, but we don’t hear conversation or kids playing. Just heard, very clearly, “What the HELL?” Not going out there. Nope, nope, nope.

Thrifting and used-bookstore-browsing the last couple of weeks has produced a fair cross-section of my interests.

It was in the high 50s in central Florida this morning. Cue mandatory “Nicholas Cage smiling in the breeze” GIF.

Teresa is getting a routine procedure this morning. While waiting, we started noticing the poor choices in music playing. Bon Jovi’s “Never Say Goodbye” Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” When they came to get her we were giggling over the Mike and the Mechanics song about his father dying.

Florida now reporting 5 deaths this year from Vibrio vulnificus, the "flesh-eating bacteria," while Louisiana reports 7. How you get it, how to avoid it:

Is daylight saving time ending this year for good? It's starting to look like we'll be falling back again in November.

TFW YOU FORGOT TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME YESTERDAY AND THE 1ST SONG IN YOUR PLAYLIST STARTS WITH DRUMS AND FOR A SECOND YOU THINK YOUVE BEEN SHOT

Like it’s not already impossible to make a living as an author, now grifters are using the AI programs that stole authors’ works to effortlessly crank out crappy copies and market them directly to the authors’ fanbases.

Florida is cracking down on AI use in classrooms, with new rules that prohibit its use for graded college assignments, allow parents to opt their kids out, and ban student use of AI programs that try to be friends with you.

U up? Is it legal to send nudes in Florida? Yes, for consenting adults who keep it private. After that, it gets tricky, with serious jail time.

That’s a hell of a PR pivot. openforlegends.guitarcenter.com/campaign/ope...

I have just found out that people are using AI to “clean up” the art in Calvin & Hobbes strips and, incidentally, strip them of the power, humor, and artistry of Watterson’s original work. It’s actually a pretty good illustration of the lack of humanity in AI creations. And copyright infringement.