Anytime a podcaster, singer, celebrity or influencer proclaims how much they “love” you, don’t believe it. They don’t love you. Not according to my definition of love. They like that you are an audience member. They appreciate the clicks, views and purchases you make that drive advertising sponsorships. They enjoy the money they make from…
T & A
What passes as part of the news today are reports about viral videos, TikTok stars and instagram influencers. It’s like celebrity reporting, minus real celebrities. Occasionally I get suckered into clicking on one of these “stories”. I’ve noticed a trend. The woman who star in them are attractive, wearing skimpy outfits to display their bodies…
You Have To Earn My Attention
Although I don’t suffer from a fear of conflict and have a long track record of facing problems directly, my preferred choice is to avoid confrontation when possible. Instead of striking out, verbally or physically, if someone doesn’t deserve my attention, I will purposely ignore them. I’m good at this. I’ve been doing it my…
Big House, Small House, Same House
My neighbor and I have nearly identical houses built by the same builder, the same year, with the same floor plan – except for a few minor details. I was dog-sitting for him this week so I made a dozen visits to his home and spent several hours there. The feeling of being in my…
Must Love Dogs
For my entire life I have professed to be a dog lover. There’s a picture of me taking my first steps as a toddler on the beach with the sweetest smile on my face, as I reached out to pet a giant golden retriever. I had dogs when I was little. My grandparents had dogs….
Therapy Is The New Religion
When I was younger, people used to pray for things all the time. They prayed for money. They prayed for money, love, happiness and health. They prayed for good things to happen and bad things to not happen. They (me, for sure) prayed for good weather, better Christmas presents, and my parents to not get…
Aphorisms
Kevin Kelly’s, “Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier”, is a book of aphorisms that he wrote for his adult children. I used to love reading aphorisms and famous quotations. They inspire me. They sound so wise. They usually come from someone, like Kelly, who has been successful. The problem for me…
Thanks Reddit
So Reddit just made a major change to its API access. Beginning next month, they are charging 3rd party developers for access to its APIs that had previously been free. Over the past 8 (?) years, 3rd party developers have created software to make Reddit better. This included reading apps that added functionality and blocked…
Ruled By Little Tyrants
Many households in my neighborhood are run by children. I see evidence of this everyday. Stay-at-home moms spend long afternoons sitting outside watching their children and/or actively playing with their children. I could add a dozen other examples to this list. What they all share in common is that there are activities that center around…
Economic Escapism
My friend is lonely so he bought a motorcycle. It won’t solve his problem. Buying things never does. He’ll be excited for a few weeks. He’ll buy accessories and will work on his new bike customizing it with gear, attachments and doodads. He’ll take a few trips on it. Then, after his initial burst of…