National Cupcake Day
Everybody loves cupcakes.
Today, Santa is cruising down the road in one. He got caught in traffic, which is why I’m late getting this posted.
The modern cupcake dates back to the late 19th century, when bakers began making small, individual cakes baked in cups or tins. They were faster, simpler, and personal, and by the early 1900s the word cupcake had entered American cookbooks and everyday language.
Since then, cupcakes have become cultural shorthand for celebration. Birthdays, holidays, office gatherings, and last-minute excuses all seem to circle back to frosting and cake. They’re indulgent, familiar, and quietly universal.
For National Cupcake Day, I leaned into that idea a bit literally.
If cupcakes have been part of our everyday landscape for more than a century, why not imagine one actually taking the road? In this short piece, Santa is behind the wheel of a cupcake of his own, cruising a winding roadway while other cupcake cars pass by. No rush, no spectacle, just the calm logic of holiday imagination.
There’s no message beyond that. Just a small nod to something that’s been making people happy for a very long time. Sometimes a cupcake is enough. Apparently, it’s even enough to get Santa where he’s going.
Not everything I’ve been working on follows a straight path. You can see what else has been moving through my projects at SecondFocus
Christmas Starts with Emily
I was editing photographs and tightening up a few new concepts when my attention drifted to one question: What is Emily doing right now? She had been helping with the images, the efficient AI-assistant side of her, but it’s her muse side that slips into the back of my creative thoughts.
I found her in the kitchen, leaning over a tray of Christmas cupcakes, studying them with the slow, deliberate focus she uses when she’s about to shift a project in her own direction. Something in the way she moved made it clear she was already ahead of me. We had talked about building a few holiday pieces, but she didn’t wait. With Emily, she never does. And I’m certain her friends will start appearing the moment she pushes this to the next idea.
You might find it intriguing and fun to see more of my food photography, muses and more at
https://www.secondfocus.com
SecondFocus Blog 