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Morning Update: 06/17/24

June 17, 2024

Monday morning often come as a bit of a shock to the system. I lose track of time so easily that it takes a moment to figure out which day it is. With the kids being home this summer, I’m having more difficulty than usual because every day feels something like a weekend. Endless weekends sound nice but then important stuff starts falling through the cracks. Jack-Jack woke me up a little before 7:00 this morning and the first thing I discovered was cat puke on the end of the bed. This had to be a Monday.

When Jack wakes me in the morning, it’s because he’s hungry. This morning, he was self-defeating in his method. He stood on my chest and would get upset when I tried to sit up. I tucked him under my arm, as best as one can tuck a 20-pound cat, and scooted off the bed. I think I’ve mentioned how G is re-arranging the kitchen and living room this summer. It’s a process that requires moving some pieces multiple times. Yesterday, he moved the cat’s food bowls. This may prove to be a problem.

Why would moving the cats’ food bowls be a problem? Because he now has them on top of the two file cabinets which are set some distance from each other. The cats are accustomed to congregating and eating together. This new setup allows for no more than two at each bowl, and Queen Bit doesn’t like to share. We have nine cats and only two bowls. See the problem? And no, the bowls cannot be set on the floor because the dogs, Hamilton especially, like eating cat food, too. They like eating everything. G’s going to have to work on his strategy a bit.

The computer presented a bit of a problem again this morning. Obviously, since I’m writing this, I was able to get it worked out, but it re-emphasizes the urgency with which we need a replacement, which means we need help. Our friend Michael turned me on to a source of refurbished machines which would likely be more reliable than Amazon and the pricing is still under $300. If you want to help: Venmo: @C_I_Letbetter, or CashApp at $ciletbetter. Getting this problem out of the way will help my sanity from being destroyed any more rapidly than it already is.

After getting the computer problem fixed, I then had to call the bank and dispute a significant charge. They reversed the charge and then, since this is the second time I’ve had to dispute a charge from the same source, they canceled the card and are sending a new one. I’m sure you understand the challenge that creates. All automated bill payments set to that card have to be reset once the new one arrives in three to five business days. I always plan on five, but since Wednesday is a holiday (Juneteenth if you’re not paying attention), I’m going to plan on not getting anything before next Monday. I hope we can make the milk last.

Once they open at 9:00, I’ll be making a call to the pharmacy. My doctor called in a prescription when she saw me last Monday (which feels like a month ago at this point). I watched the pharmacy’s app so I would know when to ask Kat to pick it up. It wasn’t until Friday afternoon that it finally showed as being filled, but Kat wouldn’t be anywhere close to the pharmacy until Sunday afternoon. When she stopped by, however, they told her that the prescription wasn’t ready and needed pre-authorization.

I have a couple of questions. 1. If the script needed pre-authorization, why the fuck didn’t they call the doctor back when they found that out? The doctor could have handled the pre-authorization quickly and moved things along. 2. Why is the script listed as filled in the app when it clearly is not yet filled? Kat wasted a trip. Once the new insurance takes effect on the first, they’ll pay for me to get a ride to the pharmacy myself. I’m fairly sure I won’t be as polite on matters like this as Kat is. I’m too old for such nonsense.

So yeah, it’s Monday. It’s supposed to be hot everywhere this week. I need to find ways to expend as little energy as possible, thus generating minimal amounts of additional heat. I’m thinking that soaking in a tub full of water sounds like a good idea. I’m old enough the prune-looking skin really isn’t that much of a change from normal. The biggest challenge will be convincing the dogs that they don’t really need to go outside between 1:00 and 7:00 in the afternoon.

By the way, did you happen to see the video we posted yesterday? It’s a fast-moving minute and 23 seconds. You may need to watch it more than once to catch all the details, like whether or not you’re included in the 26 images.

Oh, in case you missed it, and you probably did, the Surgeon General of the United States is demanding that Congress require warning labels on all social media apps. The demand is part of an op-ed in this morning’s New York Times, which is behind a paywall so I’m not going to bother linking to it. There is a CNN article about the op-ed, however. Click here to read that. The Surgeon General cites a JAMA study showing an increased presence of depression in teens who use social media more than three hours a day. The study says that most teens are on social media five hours a day. During the summer, that number is likely higher.

My question is this: does the Surgeon General actually think that teens are going to pay any attention to government-issued warnings? Has the Surgeon General met any actual teens that don’t live in Georgetown or summer in the Hamptons? I won’t challenge the findings of the JAMA study, but I don’t think government-required warnings are anywhere close to being an answer. I mean, we were teens when warning statements started appearing on cigarette packages. Did that warning ever stop any of you? Ever? I think warnings of this type are an empty gesture. The government gets to say, “We tried to warn them,” without doing anything concrete to actually solve the problem.

A more appropriate solution: require social media app makers to install a kill switch that automatically turns off the apps after three hours of use and doesn’t turn them back on for 24 hours. The technology is available and relatively easy to install. If you’re genuinely serious about teen health, then that’s what you have to do. Turn the damn apps off for them. They can do so based on the age of the user so that addicted adults can still get their fix. This is not a difficult fix. A simple timer and a two-line call for the user’s age is all it takes. Killing the app, not the entire phone, is the more responsible thing to do.

Yeah, you and I both know that will never happen. Government likes pretending to be responsible, but they don’t want any actual responsibility. And have you seen the idiots in Congress? I sometimes wonder if any of them can actually dress themselves of the morning.

It’s Monday. I need more coffee. A LOT more coffee.

Morning Update / Personal

Morning Update: 03/25/24

March 25, 2024

We’re a week into G’s two-week spring break and it’s taking a lot of effort to keep the days straight. The alarm was off this morning and when the animals woke me up I had to look at my watch to know what day it was. Everything is a bit of a blur and to some extent, I’m thinking that may be acceptable, at least for this morning. There’s nothing that has to be done today, no deadlines, no appointments. The coffee shop is closed. There doesn’t seem to be a good reason to not sit here and binge more of NCIS Hawai’i.

The best part of yesterday was getting a visit from our friend “Bubbles” and her boyfriend. They were bringing a new PC tower for G to replace the one incapable of loading Windows 11. This gives him the ability to do more of the PC-based education and gaming things he’s wanted to do. It also gave us a chance to catch up a bit since we’ve not been able to see them for the past few years. I wasn’t the most mobile person I’ve ever been, but I was able to sit in my recliner and enjoy the company. The dogs provided ample security to make sure I didn’t fall over, or if I did it would be their fault.

The second-best part of the day was Kat bringing home pizza. The best part of pizza for dinner is that we almost always have leftovers, which means PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST! I haven’t had any yet, but I’m looking forward to a microwaved slice in a few minutes. At the same time, I look back and it feels a bit sad that I can no longer devour a large pizza on my own. That metabolism was gone before I started chemo. Now, it’s one piece at a time. There’s no having a second piece until the first one is digested.

Quiet days are welcome when the family is here. It’s not like being home alone. Human sounds are coming from different places in the house. There’s a chance for interaction if it’s desired. The cats are a little more lively. Today’s weather shouldn’t be bad so taking the dogs out won’t be as bothersome a chore. Maybe, just maybe, we can have a halfway decent day for once.

Behind The Scenes / Just For Fun / PotD

The Dog Eats Popsicle Sticks And Cat Poop

September 12, 2016

I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals. —Diogenes

charles i. letbetter - the dog likes Popsicle sticks and cat poop

Not everything in our world revolves around fashion. I still have to walk the dog.

I’m taking everything that happens this morning as a sign from the universe, and it’s not looking good at this point.

We have a cat tree in our living room positioned right by the entrance to the hallway leading to/from the bedrooms. When I woke up this morning, all three of the adult cats were sleeping on the tree. As I pass, the eldest cat, and only male of the bunch, reaches out and baps me upside the head. Normally, he’s rather gentle but not this morning. There was some claw in that bap. I consider that a wake-up message. I need to pay attention—and give the big guy some love.

Taking the dog out, I was enjoying the cool 57° as we traversed our route around the neighborhood. Being away from the computer screen at the start of the day helps me clear my mind, sort my thoughts, and avoid stepping in someone else’s dog’s poop. I needed that time away this morning. I was pissed that after spending so very much time creating yesterday’s picture of the day only seven people actually saw it. Seven. Everyone’s off looking at the fashion reviews, which is flattering in a way. But there’s more to life.

Like popsicle sticks, apparently. We returned from our walk and I filled the dog’s bowl. Most days he nibbles a bit then lays back down and naps. The cats happen to like this particular brand of dog food, though, and steal it from his bowl.

Subheadings Make Copy More Readable

They also interrupt the story at awkward moments. As I was saying, the cats keep stealing the dog’s food.

So, this morning, the dog decides he’s had enough of the culinary theft and devours his morning ration the instant it hits the bowl. Then, apparently still not satisfied, he goes sniffing around the couch to see what else he can find. What he found was a popsicle stick that Kat had left out on the couch. Of course, dogs don’t need popsicle sticks, what with splinters and all. I took the stick away and put it in the trash.

Five minutes later I hear a crunching sound behind me. Sure enough, the dog had retrieved the popsicle stick from the garbage and was continuing his treat. I took the stick away again and gave him a stern warning to stay out of the trash.

Dogs understand human logic; I’m sure of it. Don’t laugh at me.

I sit back down to look at the morning’s news, something about the Democratic candidate passing out from boredom or some other nonsense, when I heard sounds coming from the vicinity of the cats’ litter box. That wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that all three cats were back in their tree. I check and sure enough the dog was back there eating the cat poop.

Good thing we use an all-natural cat litter.

Other Things Happened This Weekend

Football. You know, those guys who get paid millions of dollars to give each other concussions. I like football at the college level, but the so-called pros bore me. Besides, there were fashion shows to watch. Lots and lots of fashion shows.

There were also neighbors that needed some attention.

We’ve known for a while that our friend across the street was struggling. Some of the bitchier old ladies in the neighborhood have made it impossible for him to do the minor mechanic work he was performing in his driveway. Not that he was doing anyone any harm, mind you, just changing oil (with appropriate disposal), adjusting and replacing belts, swapping out the occasional fuel pump. Quick, easy things he could do without needing a rack or a lot of other heavy and expensive equipment. The old biddies in the neighborhood would call code enforcement every time they saw a car in his driveway. It didn’t matter whether any codes, it was the constant harassment that mattered. As a result, they’ve eliminated his sole source of income.

The poor guy was sitting over there quite literally starving to death. When Kat found out he had nothing in his refrigerator, we had no choice but to act. Kat’s good about that. While I was watching people parading around in costumes that retail for more than most people make in a month, she ran to the store and made sure our neighbor had enough food to get him through the next few weeks. We have to watch out for each other like that.

Turn The Lights Out When You Leave

There was a full-size tractor-trailer going out of the neighborhood this morning. Talk about zoning violations. It wasn’t a moving truck, either, which would be the one logical explanation. The dog and I heard a lot of banging and clanging while we were on our walk this morning. I’m assuming it was whoever was loading that truck. Perhaps they were disassembling their meth lab and moving it. If so, good riddance.

There’s also a school bus that goes through picking up kids at 6:00 AM. I don’t get it. That’s too damn early for children to be up.

I just started the third pot of coffee brewing. It really shouldn’t take me so long to write these articles, but it does. Between the dog snatching popsicle sticks, cats leaping around the room, and trying to get the kids to school completely dressed, I don’t get to write too many words at once. I’m fortunate if I make it through a sentence without being interrupted.

I’m still pissed at how few people read yesterday’s article. I worked really hard on that, dammit.

Sigh. There are more fashion shows to cover this morning. If I get a break from that, there are pictures to edit. There is no such thing as down time around here. In fact, we’ve been keeping track and there’s typically only about an hour a day, between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning, when no one is up and busy. One hour.

No wonder we burn through so many lightbulbs.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing. Oh, and did you know there are people who make eight figures off YouTube? None of them are over 50. Sigh.

pop culture / PotD

We’re All Too Tired And Important

August 8, 2016

The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling. —Paula Poundstone

charles i. letbetter - we're all too tired

If being tired is a status symbol, many of us must be better regarded than we realize

My day starts early. The alarm goes off at 4:00 AM. I walk the dog and we’re back by 4:30. I make coffee, read through the more important (in my opinion) overnight headlines, then start on the morning’s article by 5:00. Kat gets up at 6:00, the little demons thirty minutes after that. Kids on the school bus at 7:00, Kat out the door at 8:00, and then the real work starts. By noon, I’m exhausted. Staying up past 10:00 at night takes monumental effort now. There never seems to be a moment when I’m not tired.

Most of you can relate. I see it in your Facebook statuses and Monday morning tweets. I think this probably sums up how most of us feel when Mondays come around:

Feel like !#Monday pic.twitter.com/LY6p1kdIMc

— GamesYouLoved ❤️ (@gamesyouloved) August 8, 2016

Here’s the thing: that we are “lucky” enough to complain about being tired, or exhausted, or worn out might be a sign of status we didn’t know we had achieved. New Republic published an article by Hannah Rosefield a couple of weeks ago that claims being tired is a status symbol. Writing almost exclusively from Anna Katharina Schaffner’s book, Exhaustion: A History, Ms. Rosefield looks at how exhaustion is both, “a sign of weakness and a badge of honor.”

This Is Nothing New

People have been tired ever since that Adam-type dude said to Eve, “Hey, hand me that apple, will you?” to which she groaned, “Get it your fucking self. My feet are killing me.” Or something to that effect. We’ve all seen the paintings and illustrations of serfs and slaves toiling endlessly in the hot sun while their unforgiving masters sipped mint juleps on the veranda. Had anyone tried telling those dear people that their exhaustion was a status symbol, one might have gotten 30 lashes with a whip, if anyone still had the energy to handle the whip.

But there was some point at which we began to look at exhaustion as an “affliction,” that fell upon on members of the upper class, especially women. I mean, how else could one explain why those lily white countesses just didn’t feel up to making it to the evening ball. “Put on a corset and fourteen layers of petticoats? I’m sorry, eating cheese and petting cats have left me too tired for dancing.”

Explaining exhaustion has long been more a matter of guesswork than science. Ms. Rosefield explains:

In the Renaissance, melancholia was associated with the influence of Saturn; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, excessive masturbation produced exhausted bodies and minds. In the mid-nineteenth century, the diagnostic concept of melancholia gave way to that of neurasthenia, which was caused by weak or exhausted nerves. Well into the twentieth century, neurasthenia was the go-to diagnosis for those suffering from exhaustion, anxiety and low mood, alongside an array of other—and to modern eyes, unrelated—symptoms: phobias, hay fever, ticklishness.

Wait, they actually thought you could get tired from ticklishness? Yes, Ferb, yes they did. If that’s true, then the Tipster should be worn out every day!

A Choice Of Verbiage

Whether you being tired elevates your status apparently depends on the words one uses to describe the feeling. Just saying, “I’m tired,” doesn’t cut it. Neither does feigning depression (not taking anything away from the millions who actually suffer depression). You want to say you’re “burned out” if you want that upwardly mobile status kick. After all, that’s what Pope Benedict XVI essentially said when he abdicated in 2013. Being Pope was just too tough and he needed to move on. You understand how that feels, I’m sure.

Ms. Rosefield explains:

To say that you’re exhausted is to telegraph that you’re important, in demand, and successful. It’s akin to the humblebrag of ruefully describing yourself as “so busy”—naturally, since exhaustion follows from busyness. In Schaffner’s telling, the associations of exhaustion with prestige have crystallized in the form of burnout. First used in the 1970s to describe exhaustion suffered by workers in the social sector, “burnout” was characterized by increased cynicism and apathy, and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment. Since then, its application has widened to include all worn down, overburdened workers, especially in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, where burnout is a subject of regular media debate. Burnout, caused by workplace conditions rather than by a worker’s mental and physical composition, is depression’s more palatable, more prestigious cousin. As the German journalist Sebastian Beck puts it: “Only losers become depressive. Burnout is a diagnosis for winners, or, more specifically: for former winners.”

See, it’s all in how one describes their affliction. When you hit that productivity wall about 3:30 this afternoon, just say you’re momentarily burned out. You’ll be regarded highly among your peers, I’m sure.

Differing Opinions

Unsurprisingly, not everyone agrees with the whole exhaustion is a status symbol thing. In fact, there are those who have been countering that argument for a while. The Washington Post ran an article back in 2012 with the rather telling headline, “Exhaustion is not a status symbol.” Don’t you just love how the endless archives of the Internet help keep us honest?

Okay, so the Post’s article is primarily an interview with University of Houston professor Brené Brown who was promoting a new book at the time. She hits the nail on the head, though, when she talks about how we use terms such as “crazy busy:”

‘Crazy-busy’ is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us. … It’s like those moving walkways at the airport — you’ve got to really pay attention when you get off them, because it’s disorienting. And when you’re standing still, you become very acutely aware of how you feel and what’s going on in your surroundings. A lot of our lives are getting away from us while we’re on that walkway.

You followed that, didn’t you? Our being “crazy busy” and the subsequently tired exhaustion that comes along with it is a way of avoiding how we’re really feeling. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Everyone wants to avoid how and what they feel on Monday.

Leaping Off The Merry-Go-Round

I’ll be honest, I rolled my eyes through the larger part of both articles and everything else I read on the topic before starting this one. From where I’m sitting, the whole mess sounds as though we’re either making excuses for laziness or failing to realize when we have a legitimate problem. Do some people honestly work too hard? Absolutely. I’ve known several. At the same time, however, I’ve known far too many people who complain about being tired when they’ve actually done next to nothing. They just want someone to feel sorry for them and justify their desire to slouch.

Ms. Brown did say something I found interesting, though:

… when we make the transition from crazy-busy to rest, we have to find out what comforts us, what really refuels us, and do that. We deserve to not just put work away and be in service of someone else. What’s really meaningful for us? What do we want to be doing? That happens not just in work culture, I see it even with teenagers who now have four and five hours of homework and go to bed at one in the morning. We don’t know who we are without productivity as a metric of our worth. We don’t know what we enjoy, and we lose track of how tired we are.

Finally, something that makes sense. Work that has no meaning for us causes us to feel more tired. Whether one is a celebrity or a factory worker, burger flipper or Pope, we all want to feel that there is some meaning to what we do. Without meaning, we’re all exhausted, melancholic, burned out, and maybe even a bit depressed. Ick.

So, perhaps our #MondayMotivation is to find meaning in what we do today. Or drink more coffee. I’m on my third cup. Coffee equals meaning, doesn’t it?

PotD

Back To Work We Go

January 4, 2016

I put my heart and my soul into my work and have lost my mind in the process.—Vincent Van Gogh

Work. Ugh. Welcome to the first Monday of 2016, the day we bid a fond farewell to some of our readers who joined us over the break but must now leave us in favor of gainful employment that frowns upon them spending time with pleasures such as this. It’s a whopping 27 degrees in Indianapolis as I write this and scattered snow showers across the city are threatening to make a mess of everyone’s first commute of the year. We’re getting off to such a great start, aren’t we?

Coffee. Thankfully, we’ve acquired a fair amount of that deliciously roasted bean over the past month. I’m not sure exactly how that happened, but I’m not complaining and it’s coming in especially handy this morning. Kat and I both crashed early last night, but the down side of that is we were up earlier than usual. Work without coffee would be inhumane, in my opinion. I’m fortunate to have never been in a situation where I couldn’t have a cup nearby. I know not everyone can, though, and for those people I truly feel sorry.

I also feel sorry for school teachers who are returning to the classroom this morning. I remember the trepidation Mother always felt when returning after the holiday break. Teachers don’t really get time off. When they’re not at school, they’re doing other adult things such as entertaining family which requires cleaning house and catching up on the piles of laundry that have been ignored all semester. The holidays were never that much of a mental break and today teachers get to welcome back all those darling little demons who have been running around wild the past two weeks. Teachers should get hazardous duty pay the first three days of this week. Be sure they’ll earn it.

Getting back to work after such a long period is never easy. Even if one was technically at work through the whole month of December, the atmosphere following Thanksgiving is different than the other eleven months. Despite the stress of working to complete year-end goals, there is still a sense of frivolity and an absence of the serious tones that dominate the rest of the year. At least, for most people that is the case. For those whose companies completely shuttered on December 31, you have our sympathies.

Here, too, we’re getting back to our normal schedule with some new additions. In case you’ve not already noticed, we’re doing more than just a single post each day. We’re keeping a very close eye on events in fashion, advertising, and music. We’ve only done one extra article per day over the weekend, and for weekends and holidays that will be the new norm. During the week, though, we’ll add articles as we feel appropriate. Fashion is barreling toward February’s Ready-To-Wear runway season, advertising’s eyes are on the Super Bowl ads, and there’s a long list of artists ready to release new albums in the first quarter. We’re watching it all and will comment where we feel we have something valuable to add to the conversation.

So, back to work we go. Bundle up, buckle in, and enjoy the ride!

Music / PotD

They Call It Stormy Monday

October 12, 2015

charles i. letbetter - call it stormy monday

Solitude (2012).

I read in the newspapers they are going to have 30 minutes of intellectual stuff on television every Monday from 7:30 to 8. to educate America. They couldn’t educate America if they started at 6:30.—Groucho Marx

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]I know, Monday. Erg. No one likes Monday because it means going back to work. And there’s the rub, how much of our lives do we spend hating one-seventh of our week? Any way you come at this, you end up with the blues. Monday means an end to the fun, an end to the play, an end to family time, an end to leisure. Who wants to give that up? Well, unless, of course, you’re an NFL player or something related where you work on Sunday. I suppose the Peyton Mannings of the world look forward to Monday as a chance to recuperate from Sunday. That would be another reason we’re jealous of the rich bastards, and another reason to have the blues.

Preachers typically like Monday, too. I know Poppa did. Mondays were his quiet day, or at least he tried to keep them as quiet as possible. He put everything he had into those two services on Sunday. Monday was for him. He’d get us kids and Mom off the school and then hit the coffee shop, or donut shop depending on where we were living. He’d sometimes hang out with other preachers, maybe go to lunch, and then take a nap before we all came busting through the door as noisily as possible, absolutely destroying his solitude. There are probably a lot of people who look at Monday as a relief, but doesn’t mean they don’t still sing the blues.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Actually, you realize we have unions, industrialization, and that whole 40-hour-work-week thing to blame for our attitude about Monday. Prior to that whole 40-hour thing, Monday was just another day. Sure, folks would take a pause on Sunday for church and such, but there wasn’t any difference between Monday and any other day of the week. There wasn’t such a thing as the weekend. There was no Friday night football. No Saturday afternoon football. No Sunday night football. Good god, how in the world did those poor people survive without football? No wonder they had short life spans.

Music gives Monday a bad rap, too. Rainy days and Mondays alls ways get me down, you know. Manic Monday. Blue Monday. Monday Monday. Blues great T-Bone Walker sings about Stormy Monday below the break. The thing about Monday music, though, is it actually seems to help one feel a little better about getting the day started, or surviving the whole thing. That’s what the blues does for you, gets out those negative emotions so you can feel better about yourself and get on with your week.

Although, Tuesday’s just as bad.[/one_half_last]

Art / PotD

Naked Ambition

August 17, 2015

No One’s Looking (2010)

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. —Bill Bradley

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Erg. Monday. Time to find the ambition for getting up, again, and doing more of the same things we did last week in an effort to achieve a goal that may or may not make us happy. I’m not a particular fan of hip-hop, but in the back of my mind I can hear Rick Ross in a continual loop, “Every day I’m hustlin’, hustlin’, hustlin’.” Motivation often needs to be kickstarted on a Monday morning and some weeks it’s everything we can do just to put on pants. That’s when we have to stop and ask ourselves, “Why? Why must we put on pants? Why can’t our ambition, and our bodies, be naked?”

Well, okay, there is that whole legal thing about indecent exposure. Starting the week off in jail might do more to kill one’s ambition than fuel it, but at least it would make the Monday interesting. Naked ambition, though, is a different matter. Strip away the pretense and excuses that make our ambition socially acceptable and admit that what we really want first and foremost is to make enough money so that we don’t have to be so damn ambitious. Yeah, sure, save the world, feed the children, house the homeless, etc. That all sounds good, but that all requires funding so isn’t it better to tackle the money issue first by making as much of it as possible?

Yes, I know, there’s more to life than money. That’s a lesson learned long ago. However, to pretend that our pursuits are not, at least in part, financially motivated is to gut any altruism attached to our ambition. By all means, do good things! Yes! Be generous and kind and loving to all! But let’s be honest: doing good from a position of penury has its limits. By bettering our own condition, we put ourselves in a place where we can make a difference on a much larger scale. There’s nothing wrong with naked ambition, and sometimes being naked is just the thing to get us where we want to go.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Let us take, for example, supermodel Karlie Kloss. Ambition? Not only does she maintain one of the busiest runway schedules on the planet, she poses for multiple designer campaigns a month, appears most months in no fewer than three magazine editorials, operates her own charity, bakes her own vegan chocolate chip cookies, and still somehow finds time to hang out with BFF Taylor Swift.

Arguably, one of the most defining moments in Kloss’ career was a 2011 editorial in Vogue Italia shot by Steven Meisel. While this wasn’t the first time Karlie appeared naked in an editorial, it was certainly the one that garnered the greatest amount of attention. Unflinching, at least publicly, the model said:

“I think they’re beautiful photos and I’m very proud of all of them. I’m happy with the results … I think that they’re photos that are hopefully going to become iconic.”

Karlie’s not the only one to take such ambitious steps. Amber Rice, the model in today’s picture, is one of many I’ve watched pull up roots from the Midwest and move to Los Angeles on her own driven by a desire to succeed in ways that simply are not possible in Indianapolis. Some make it, some don’t, but at least they had the ambition to shed themselves of the excuses that hold the rest of us back. Blame it on youth if you want, but they set a strong example.

So, let’s kick this Monday in the backside and get something done, shall we? There’s really no excuse and pants (and tops) are totally optional.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Caffeine!

May 11, 2015

Need More Coffee (2011)

We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup. -Jerry Seinfeld

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I can’t imagine most days without coffee though since I’ve been sick the past week my consumption has declined quite a bit. The thought of a Monday without coffee, though, borders on something outrageous; it’s just wrong. There should never be a Monday without coffee, lots and lots of coffee. We don’t give up our weekends, nor their effects, easily or quietly. To be forced out of a comfortable bed that loves you and makes you feel safe into a world that is prickly and mean and leaves you feeling rotten requires some significant gesture on the part of the universe to coax us into even slipping our feet from under the covers. Coffee is what lures us out into the world, and it is caffeine that makes it happen.

Not that caffeine always works. As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed that a single cup doesn’t quite have the same effect as it once did. Two cups are generally required of the morning now just to get me to the point where I’m not biting off heads and feeding small children to the lions. I can drink a cup of coffee with lunch and still have no problem taking a nap. Coffee after dinner? Absolutely! It takes more than one cup to keep me from passing out by 11. While not every body responds to caffeine exactly the same way there’s little question that our bodies adapt to regular caffeine intake and any deviation from that may cause unwanted side effects.

Heaven help the soul who comes between someone and their first cup of coffee on a Monday morning. I’ll admit to being grumpy of the morning, but I try to keep myself away from innocent bystanders at least until that first cup has kicked in. I’m fortunate, though, in that I can brew my own and be happy. Apparently, there are millions of people who can’t brew coffee and are forced to purchase that first cup. I’m sure you’ve seen the lines snaking around every coffee shop drive-thru, and Monday’s are the worst. I’m somewhat surprised that there aren’t more incidents of road rage on Mondays, but there seems to be little question that Western Civilization might crumble if everyone couldn’t get coffee on their way into work.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Why do we need that caffeine and what does it do to/for us? Well, consider some of these facts:

Dopamine released from the caffeine in coffee is a mood booster, a 2013 study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting finds. Getting caffeine from other sugary sources does not have the same effect.
A study published in American Journal of Epidemiology shows those who drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day cut their risk of Oral Cancer in half!
Natural sources of caffeine, such as coffee, are what provide the antioxidants that aid in alertness and other health benefits. Artificial drinks such as soda and energy drinks do not provide the same benefits and can be dangerous to some health conditions.
Coffee increases our recognition and reception of positive words, according to a German study, making it a little easier for us to get along with those perpetually friendly people who greet everyone with a smile.
Recent reports show that caffeine from coffee may reduce allergic reactions due to caffeine’s ability to reduce the concentration of histamines that cause the body to respond negatively to a substance.

A lot of the negative stereotypes about caffeine in coffee, such as it increasing blood pressure and contributing to heart disease, have proven to be false. In fact, the health risks related to moderate caffeinated coffee consumption are extremely small, certainly much less than anything else you might pick up from that drive-thru window. You’re likely doing yourself, and the universe, a favor by having a cup or two.

So here’s to Monday morning coffee and the sanity that comes from being well caffeinated before having to actually deal with real people. Pour yourself another cup. Sit back. Take a few deep breaths. Everyone will thank you.[/one_half_last]

Morning Update: 03/25/24

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