Sweet Dreams
Previous post on weight & health: Kicking a sugar addiction Last night I dreamt I was eating layer cake. I scooped off the sculpted yet gooey white frosting with my finger and wrapped my mouth around it. In other dreams I've abstained from desserts or only...
Prosopagnosia and Alerts
There's a part of the human brain that processes face recognition. Being able to distinguish and recognize faces is a very specific skill that gets a region all its own because being able to tell family from friend from stranger is critical to survival. Unfortunately,...
Kicking a Sugar Addiction
Previous post on food & fatness: The pain has receded I am in the process of trying to kick my addiction to sugar. For almost seven months, since November 2014, I've done a pretty good job of reducing my ingestion of sugar of all forms, which means I've...
Give Blood. Meditate.
I've felt frustrated because I've been using Joe Dispenza's powerful guided meditation recording for a year and a half and there's one part that just hasn't fallen into place. While I've gotten great results in general, there's one thing that has bothered me. At the...
When I Stood Up, I Was Different
Celebrate Your Life conferences bring together gurus and teachers of various disciplines all focused on the same thing: helping you achieve the best life for yourself and others. I've never been to one, but I attended their pre-conference workshop with Dr. Joe...
The Pain Has Receded!
Previous post on weight & health: Hooray for fat yoga! I finally had a mostly decent menstrual experience two weeks ago. I'd been suffering since November from horrible cramping that made me cry. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain's grip spent hours at 10,...
DWYL (Do What You Love). Or Not.
(This could be considered the second part of a discussion I started in yesterday's post.) Miya Tokumitsu's Slate article In the Name of Love has this as its subtitle: "Elites embrace the 'do what you love' mantra. But it devalues work and hurts workers." It's a...
Live Life Happy, IF You Can
Don't wish your life away...unless you have to. I saw this posted on Facebook recently: I responded with support for this sentiment, saying that even people who constantly long for 5:00 p.m. or Friday are self-defeatingly wishing their lives away when they should...
Please Tip Always
If you're at a fundraiser or grand opening or another special event where the bar is either free or subsidized, still tip! A dollar a drink is good, even if you're having club soda. Club soda is my standard drink. Even though you're not paying for your own drink, the...
Menstrual Cups: Cheaper and Safer
The one I use is in the middle. (With this post I contribute towards the effort to normalize the topic of menstruation and the word "vagina.") The Atlantic recently published a history of the tampon, which mentioned the controversy over how safe they...
I’d Rather Ride a Bicycle
Used bicycle, new helmet. I'm not a confident driver. In fact, I dislike driving, especially on freeways, at night, in rain or snow or when traffic is heavy. I dread changing lanes. I totaled a car once, which taught me what it's like to be in a car when it's upside...
I Keep My Promises
I've been using the OK Cupid dating website and part of the profile consists of a series of multiple choice questions. Some of the questions make sense ("Are you looking for someone to settle down with and marry?"). Some make less sense ("Do you drink milk and juice...