Social and Mainstream Media Fasting

Hi Readers! 

I hope this post finds you and brings you some joy.

Do you know what billionaires and Corporate America despise more than anything else? I'll tell you. It's NOT having you as a customer.

We need to start boycotting Corporate America and transition to a national General Strike for at least the next two years. It's a win-win. You save money and Corporate America loses money. Until Corporate America gets its s**t together, we need to strongly persuade it to do so with our dollars (or lack thereof).

Now, you may think this is a fool's errand and a futile task. However, I assure you that is not the point. This benefits you whether it harms Corporate America or not. That being said, it does not take much to have an impact on Corporate America's bottom line.

The quickest and most efficient way to expedite the General Strike is to break your addiction to social and mainstream media (SMSM) and quit using it. Corporate America's profits are significantly correlated with people's SMSM use. SMSM poisons you mind and soul, and destroys both your productivity and critical thinking ability, softening you to Corporate America's persuasive advertising messaging to consume more of their useless shite. SMSM makes you dumb, angry, and scared. It's literally worse than any drug in its destructive capacity and addictive qualities.

If you think that sounds far fetched, let's do a thought experiment. How difficult would it be for you to abstain from SMSM for a week? If you think it would be easy, I challenge you to try. Prove me wrong. "I can quit it any time" is not sufficient. Actually quit it. If you can't...that's addiction and exactly what Corporate America wants, just like the tobacco industry wanted smokers addicted to cigarettes before their diabolical plot was exposed by science.

If you need any further proof or persuasion that quitting SMSM is necessary for your well being, WATCH THIS.

Fin.

DEN

Hi Readers!

I hope this post finds you. If it does, then it is probably a sign. What it is a sign of, I know not. But it is what it is.

I am at the low gate number end of Concourse B at the Denver airport (DEN). I found the observation deck, which also doubles as the pet relief area for people traveling with pets. I'm not gonna lie...the smells out here are not ideal. They comprise a mixture of jet fuel fumes, dog pee, and possibly cigarette smoke (although I am not certain about the latter...it is an outdoor deck...but DEN regs technically prohibit smoking out here).

I've got over two hours to chill at DEN before my flight to Madison WI (hypothetically) departs. I probably won't chill on this deck too much longer. It's a bit chilly. But it is fun to see the random doggies coming and going to do their business. I hope Deborah and I can travel with our doggies one day.

Fin.

Resolution Time

Hi Readers!

It's getting to be about that time again...the time when we reflect on our successes in 2024 and make New Year's Resolutions (NY REZ) toward process improvements in 2025. I succeeded pretty damn well in 2024, so I am honestly not sure what to resolve to do better (or more of) in 2025. I will, of course, continue: eating a 100% plant based diet, aerobically exercising daily, and boycotting all social and mainstream media (SMSM), challenges I was quite successful at in 2025.

I had the thought a couple days ago that I'd like to go to more local live music shows in Madison WI, where I live, in 2025. I'd also like to perform more live music shows - ideally house concerts, with my semi acoustic power duo GUPPY EFFECT - in 2025. I am not super ambitious or motivated about that, so I probably should not make it a NY REZ. But we'll see...

I'd like to have more formal and official date nights with my beautiful wife Deborah. However, I typically avoid NY REZ that involve other people, because I only have autonomy and control over my own ambitions. So the NY REZ in this case might be more like PUSH for more date nights in 2025. Whether they actually transpire is a secondary outcome.

I definitely want to make more income in 2025. Again, there are variables involved in this that are potentially outside my full control, including getting sufficient client referrals to keep my marriage and family therapy caseload full. This is confounded slightly by the two-week vacation "down under" that Deborah and I are taking to kick off the new year. I won't be seeing any clients while overseas. My fiscal year, therefore, essentially starts on 2/3/25. That's cushioned a little bit by the residual caseload of clients I will see in the first two weeks of 2025, before we depart. That will actually be a decent number of clients, and I should be close to fully booked, but I am not intaking any new clients until after the trip. I think I can also streamline my schedule a bit better in 2025, to optimize income. I'm going to tackle that latter goal in the next couple weeks heading into 2025.

I can't think of anything much else right now, so I think I'll end this post. If I think of any more NY REZ, I will update this post or compose a new one.

Share your NY REZ in the Comments and have a great day!

Fin.

Easy Peasy

Hi Readers!

I am at the Colorado Springs CO airport (COS), considerably in advance of the departure of the airplane that will transport me to the Denver airport (DEN), where I will catch another airplane home to Madison WI (MSN).

I am going to tell you something...it is almost INFINITELY better to enter the airport system at COS than it is to enter it at DEN. COS is a small airport - even smaller than MSN - and I cruised through the TSA PreCheck security portal with minimal hassles, arriving at my gate ridiculously early. There was no line at TSA Pre at all. I don't know if you've ever been to the DEN airport, but it's a colossal and massive s**tstorm of an airport. If you are starting your journey there, the TSA security portal is a chaotic nightmare that overwhelms the mind and exhausts the spirit. By entering the airport system at COS, I get to bypass all of that, which is probably the most taxing and frustrating part of traveling out of DEN. That's not to say DEN is not rife with other annoyances. Even once you are "in" the terminal areas, it's a crowded zoo with miles of concourses that often need to be traversed (by light rail train and/or moving walkway) to get from arrival gate to departure gate. This is unlikely to disrupt my trip today, because my layover in DEN is 3+ hours, theoretically giving me ample time to navigate the labyrinthine airport that is DEN and get where I need to go. But I never like to count my chickens before they hatch. I have learned not to underestimate DEN's ability to royally inconvenience and destabilize me (and the general populace).

That said, I mindfully and intentionally chose to exist in the universe in which all my travels today go smoothly. And that's fully what I expect to have happen. I am surprisingly excited and ready to get back into the complacent normalcy of my home life in Madison.

In other news, my sister Kate scored me a nice "satchel" for Christmas, which I'm using as my "personal item" on these flights today. I also have my usual carry on duffel bag. No checked bag. Deborah and I bought "collective" gifts for my mom and pops AND Kate's family, respectively, comprising gift nut boxes in both instances.

Fin.

Departure

Hi Readers!

I hope today's blog post finds you and brings you joy.

I depart Colorado today, to return home to Madison WI. I'm ready! While it is great to see my family and get away from home for a few days, I can only do so in small doses.

My dad somehow got COVID after we arrived here last week. He's quarantining. My mom and I appear to have avoided infection and I hope to keep it that way.

Overall, the trip was good. I accomplished all the things I wanted to do. To wit, I did a long hike at Garden of the Gods nature park and ate at the Burrowing Owl vegan cafe. I also managed to get a workout in each day I was here. That means "he who shall not be named" is on track to be "disenfranchised" by year's end, thus saving the world.

I'm looking forward to seeing my beautiful wife Deborah and our two fur babies (dogs) Nyah and Ziggy. Before that happens, I have to survive a marathon of air travel that is likely to exhause a fair portion of my patience, mental energy, and soul. But I should be able to quickly restore those things tomorrow (Christmas Eve) and the next day (Christmas Day), which I have off from my job as a self employed marriage and family therapist.

I get back to the grind on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I'm actually quite looking forward to returning to the humdrum familiarity of everyday life.

Fin.

Lapse

Hi Readers!

As many of you know, I'm on a short vacation in Colorado, with family. It's been alright. Tonight, we went out to eat at the Burrowing Owl vegan cafe. The food wasn't as great as I remember it being on past visits to the eatery. It was very comforting to be at an exclusively vegan restaurant though. No anxiety about any items on the menu.

I got an hour long aerobic workout in this morning. I have been adhering to the daily exercise Tenet of the Church of Bike With Joe whilst on vacation. However, I have lapsed considerably on the other two Tenets. On vacation, I am OK with some free days regarding caloric intake and social and mainstream media (SMSM) use. Notwithstanding, I plan to get back on top of the other Tenets here soon.

Tomorrow, I fully plan to go hike around at the Garden of the Gods nature park in the late morning. Then I'm taking my folks to Adam's Mountain Cafe for lunch. They have a few vegan items, though they are not an exclusively vegan eatery. They should be!

Fin.

My Semi Annual Rant Against Airlines in General and Frontier Airlines Specifically

Hi Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you some joy. I am really glad to have the opportunity to share it with you.

I'm on a plane that I fully expect will be taking off shortly, at which time I will have to put this smartphone into airplane mode (probably). I'm flying out to Colorado with my parents to spend a long pre-Christmas weekend with my sister Kate's family. I won't be there for Christmas Eve nor Day, but my folks will. I am coming home on Christmas Eve Eve (12/23), so that I can spend the holiday days with the most beautiful woman in the world (my wife Deborah). My folks will fly home on the Friday after Christmas (the day after Boxing Day). Confused? That's OK.

Whenever I have to enter the world of air travel and engage with the airlines, I reflect a bit on all the process improvements the industry and its associated regulators and vendors have missed opportunities on. And then I post about it as a form of catharsis, so that I can let go of it until the next time I have to travel by air (usually by necessity vs choice). But before I describe all the things that comprise these process improvements, I want to reflect on the positives (gratitude).

There are not many positives. However, one that presented itself unexpectedly today is that both my parents appear to be Known Travelers from the standpoint of TSA PreCheck, despite never having signed up for it or interviewing for it. We'll call that a lucky mistake on the part of TSA. We did not find this out until we started to go through the sucky regular TSA Security portal and the agent there said we could all go through TSA PreCheck instead, which we totally f**king did! The only other quasi-related positive was that I was easily able to secure an airport wheelchair for my mom and push it to the gate without the help of airport staff (although a kindly staff member did offer to help, possible angling for a small monetary reward, known as a tip). And that about summarizes all the positives.

While the airlines do not own anything outside the scope of their responsibilities, and I get that, the drive to the airport marginally sucked, due to the arrival of the front edge of an Alberta Clipper snow storm that will be making its way across Wisconsin today and tonight (we'll be gone for most of the brunt of it though). That being said, we got a very early start today and had plenty of time to make it to the airport, despite driving cautiously. Parking at the airport sucked a bit more than the drive there did, but I still had ample time to find a parking spot after dropping my folks off at the Frontier Airlines departure door (so they would not have to walk as far). In fact, when I regrouped with them after parking (Note to Self: Row 4D/Door 5 in the parking deck, for future reference), there were still about 10 minutes on the clock before the Frontier Airlines check in desk even opened up, giving me time to pee before checking in.

The first grievance I'll share is the check in process for the airlines. It's slow and cumbersome. Due to my mom's wheelchair-requiring handicap, I used the Agent Assist corridor at the check in desk, despite not paying extra for the privilege of interacting with a real human vs an automated kiosk (per ADA, the airlines cannot legally charge extra for Agent Assistance for people with handicaps, even though they often do via underhanded means). This got me somewhat expedited attention from the apathetic airline staff (I guess that might qualify as a positive, although largely orchestrated by my own wherewithall). My solution to the airline check in process is pretty simple: hire and use MORE REAL PEOPLE. Everyone hates the automated kiosks. They are fraught with technical difficulties that often require the intervention of a real PAID person anyway. Just cut out the middle machine.

As alluded to earlier, transit through the TSA portal and to the departure gate was fairly smooth. After depositing my folks at the gate, I filled my water bottle at a water bottle filling station and bought a couple coffees (for my dad and I) and a bottled water (for my mom). We drank and were merry. Speaking of which, I noticed a woman with a beer sitting near us at the gate. It's always Beer O'clock somewhere, right? I guess it was Madison WI this morning.

Boarding planes comprises another of my grievances. If the airlines (meaning their management) were smart, you would board people onto a plane from rear to front and from window to aisle. Think about the way people EXIT weddings in churches (or exit planes for that matter). It's from aisle to window and front (or closest to exit) to back. But the way airlines actually board planes is...seemingly WHATEVER. It's not logical or sensible or orderly. It seems to have some loose association around seniority and socioeconomic status, but to date no one has ever been able to discern a pattern to the boarding of planes AND it's inefficient. So my solution is the aforementioned intelligent plan vs whatever the f**k it is they do now.

We boarded the plane on time, but take off was delayed by the mandatory de-icing of the plane and a douche weasel passenger who kept refusing to stay seated, preventing the pilot from taxi-ing the plane, per some elusive FAA guideline or another. SIT THE F**K DOWN, people! But we all collectively got the aircraft up into the sky eventually, by way of will power, prayer, the Laws of Physics, and professional piloting, among possible other facilitating factors (my personal belief is Angels...but only for the first few minutes of the flight where the plane makes a horrendous noise and rapidly hurls itself into the air).

The flight was smooth and landed fine in Denver. My mom was wheelchaired and propelled through the Denver airport by airport staff, and my dad and I hustled to keep pace. We met my sister outside of the TSA exit and transferred my mom to the wheelchair my sister had acquired for the occasion. We navigated chaotically through more of the Denver airport to my sister's car and she drove us the 90 minutes to her house in Manitou Springs CO. She had thoughtfully grabbed some take out food before she came to the airport, which we ate in the car. But I digress...

This post is about airline companies' missed opportunities for process improvements. They need to return to free food and drink on the planes and eliminate the chronic nickling and diming of passengers for every little thing. Just set a price point and get rid of the inefficient chaos. Passengers are not without blame in all this. They have complacently accepted the growing mediocrity of the airlines without protest over the years. They should have engaged in more forceful resistance to the lameness of the airlines. But...flyers gotta fly.

Fin.

No One Knows

Hi Readers.

Happy Monday! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you some joy and/or positivity.

I don't really have much to write this morning, other than to say I conquered the weekend leading up to today. I followed the Tenets. I did a bunch of meal prep for the week, including making roasted red potatoes, falafel patties, curry sauce (the curry will get made today, if all goes to plan), and I think a couple other things. I more or less adhered to my calorie quota, even though the scale was all over the place ("trust in the process" - not the scale!). I had band practice with Stefan (GUPPY EFFECT Duo).

Maybe I'll write more later. Have a great day.

Fin.

Too Late for 2024

Hi Readers!

For a while now, we at BIKE WITH JOE HQ have been promoting the importance of eliminating social and mainstream media (SMSM) from your life, ideally completely, due to its incredibly high toxicity and and negativity. Once you disenfranchise addictive and poisonous SMSM from your life, it takes about three weeks (aka, a fortnight and a half) to completely detoxify (mentally, physically, and spiritually) from the vitriolic and divisive stuff that it is. Thus, as of now, it would impossible to totally detoxify by the end of 2024, because not enough days remain in the year. That's not the end of the world though, because you actually have until January 19, 2025 to detox from SMSM. On January 20, 2025, SMSM becomes so toxic that ANY EXPOSURE to it will result in immediate and total poisoning of your mind, body, and soul. This is not a drill!

Unfortunately, 99.9% of the world's population is not going to heed the dire importance of eliminating SMSM from their lives before 1/20/25, and thus they will suffer what is commonly called a "death of the soul," upon engaging with SMSM on or after that date. Once this happens (and it has actually happened to many people already...most likely to be found trolling the Comment section of online SMSM content), it's irreversible. The end result of all this will be a kind of virtual "Rapture" of sorts, where the small percentage of SMSM-abstinent people on the planet will continue to live happy, positive, normal lives, and the remainder of the population will become mindless wandering soulless zombies, perpetually brain-grafted to their electronic devices. You can already find some of the latter cretins on SMSM sites. They are the exhausting folks who post their misery and lack of will to thrive/live for the world to see. Their souls have been completely depleted by toxic SMSM, irreversibly.

We hope this post finds you and you are able to save yourself from SMSM in 2025. You will need to begin your SMSM fasting no later than 12/31/24, in order to have enough time (21 days) to completely detoxify from SMSM. It is only through complete detoxification that you can avoid being sucked back into the toxic mental and spiritual waste of SMSM after 1/20/25. Good luck, and may the Cosmos have mercy on your souls!

I'm off to work out on the Peloton and listen to audiobooks. Ciao!

Fin.

Frozen Mango is Not Terrible Thawed

Hi Readers!

I hope you are all having a good weekend.

I made a fruit salad last night. It had a lot of fresh fruit, which is how a fruit salad should always be (#fact). However, I did take a risk and add some frozen mango chunks to the fruit salad, fully aware that these chunks would thaw in the fridge overnight and be just thawed mango chunks by today (which they were). I was a little worried that - because they are a tropical fruit - frozen and then thawed mango might be a little weird in taste and/or texture. That worry was unnecessary and overblown; the frozen mango was an awesome addition to the fruit salad and tastes delicious thawed. I do not use frozen bananas in my fruit salads though, because banana chunks do not freeze and thaw well, from an aesthetic standpoint. They tend to get mushy and weird. Not mango though. So, if you were wondering whether frozen mango can be good to eat after it is thawed, the answer is yes. And I take full credit for doing this test for you so that you don't have to. You're welcome!

Also, fruit is really healthy and you should eat a lot of it [SOURCE]. It's fairly low in calories and fruit is linked to positive health outcomes (disease prevention and longevity).

Have a great day, week, month, and year. You got this!

Fin.

The Street

Hi Readers!

I hear tell that the word on the street is that the social and mainstream media (SMSM) news is pretty toxic, exhausting, and depressing right now. Sorry that happened! But I do have a question for you...why are you still allowing it into your life?

If you want to find some respite from the toxic grievance and vitriol - that is LITERALLY the bread and butter of SMSM - I have a suggestion. QUIT IT. It's not hard. Simply disconnect from your social media apps and don't access mainstream media. If that sounds difficult, what are the obstacles? If you do a decisional balance matrix on this, it is clear that the benefits of disenfranchising SMSM from your life far outweigh the disadvantages.

In our household, we have boycotted SMSM. We never consume it or engage with it. Instead, we listen to music, read books, watch movies and TV shows, exercise, enjoy each other's company, play with the dogs, go out to eat, socialize, complete various and sundry chores, and get a shite ton (aka, a metric pantload) of shite done. In summary, we are living our best life without SMSM in it. SMSM drains your joy and happiness and destroys your productivity. All in exchange for what?

Fact: You are not the customer of SMSM. You are the PRODUCT. The SMSM companies are selling YOUR EYES, BRAIN, and SOUL to advertisers. You are a commodity to them. The best thing you can do is fire them from your life. You have a lot more autonomy and self agency than SMSM companies want you to think you do. I can guarantee that without SMSM is your life, nothing bad will happen. It is not necessary for any domain of life. But a lot of good will start happening when you kick SMSM to the curb.

Alright, have a great day!

Fin.

Good Things Are Happening

Hi Readers.

Happy Sunday! In today's news, good things are happening. You may have noticed by now that this blog is all about the positive vibes and how to maximize them in your life for peace, happiness, and mental/physical/spiritual well-being. You also may have noticed that the external world at large is getting way more toxic, divisive, vitriolic, negative, and frankly exhausting with each passing day. This blog - and the Church of Bike With Joe - is intended to counteract that doom-y and gloomy narrative. Many people tell me they feel hopeless about the direction of the external world at large and powerless to do anything about it. I'm here to tell you that you have a lot more agency, autonomy, and control over your positivity and happiness than you think. But, that being said, it requires taking action (wishful DOING vs wishful THINKING).

Most people don't have the time or resources to take any big and impactful action on the negativity that plagues the external world. And that can make people feel hopeless, helpless, and want to passively give up. But just because you cannot control the external (outside) world does not mean you cannot control your inner world, and bring peace, happiness, and positivity to that. I have spent the past 56 (almost 57) years exploring this problem and searching for a potent evidence-based solution to it. Despite a lot of trial and error, I finally did. And, as it turns out, the solution is much simpler than anyone (even me!) anticipated. In short, the solution is three-fold:

1. Exercise aerobically for at least 30 minutes every day (ideally) or on more days of the week than not (if there are obstacles to daily aerobic exercise).

2. Follow a whole food (80%), plant-based (100%) diet.

3. Disenfranchise toxicity (including toxic people) from your life.

The nice thing about these three actionable things is that anyone can do them. Aerobic exercise is any activity that increases your heart rate, and that will be different for different people, but anyone can increase their heart rate, regardless of fitness or skill level. Eating a plant-based diet is easier than it has ever been in recorded human history (that's only a little bit hyperbolic...). Even if one cannot access whole foods, because of socioeconomic barriers, 80% of the American diet is already plant-based. All you have to do is cut the 20% of food that isn't plant-based and eat more of what is. Humans can get all the nutrients they need from a plant-based diet and many peer-reviewed scientific studies show that it's a healthier way of eating [SOURCE]. Lastly, disenfranchising toxicity involves setting boundaries and taking action to safeguard your inner world from it. The biggest and most destructive source of toxicity in today's external world is social and mainstream media (SMSM). So, you can actually cut 80% of the toxicity out of your life RIGHT NOW by quitting all SMSM [SOURCE]. The remaining 20% of toxicity in the world usually comes from harmful substances and people in your immediate environment. It's easier to eliminate harmful substances (drugs, alcohol, nicotine, toxic chemicals, guns, etc.) from your life than it is to eliminate harmful people, especially if you live with a narcissist or sociopath. You may have to settle for a little bit of toxicity leaking into your inner world if you cannot disenfranchise all these people from your life. But don't focus on the obstacles! Focus on what you can control (removing 80% of SMSM and toxic substances from your life immediately). You'll find that once you start taking care of yourself and your inner world, the toxic people will tend to wander off and leave you alone on their own. Trust me on this...I have tested it! Toxic people thrive on your passivity and acquiescence and lack of boundaries. Once you actively take control of your inner world, these people lose interest and seek out easier targets. That being said, if anyone needs some additional support on this, contact me. I'm a licensed family therapist with some pretty amazing coaching skills in this department.

Many people reading the above are going to say (for a variety of reasons), "NO WAY!" and continue on with their status quo, allowing negativity and toxicity to continue to plague their inner world. That's OK! This is not about OTHER people; it's about YOU. Do you want to take control and agency for your life? Then I encourage you to think about trying this out.

The nice thing about this three-fold solution to the problems of negativity and toxicity in the world is that it's TESTABLE. Here at Bike With Joe HQ, we are all about the SCIENCE and making decisions based on evidence. You can test this solution yourself: Follow the three Tenets above for 30 days. Assess how your inner world has improved at the end of the 30 days. Boom. That's it. If you're not convinced after testing them that these three Tenets hold the key to bringing peace, happiness, and positivity to your inner world, totally fine...go back to your status quo. However, I guarantee you will be a convert once you test it out.

Have a great day!

Fin.

Mental and Spiritual Detox

Hi Readers!

Happy Saturday. I cannot stress enough how mission critical it is to begin to disenfranchise social and mainstream media (SMSM) from your life, by avoiding it completely (if possible...and mostly, if not possible). Because of how toxic and divisive and misleading SMSM has become, you are actually more intelligent and happier when you AVOID it. It's a difficult paradigm to embrace - and the SMSM overlords know this well - because we used to live in a world where ignorance was frowned upon and we ridiculed those who did not educate themselves (now we glorify and celebrate the willfully dumb). But that was when SMSM was far less biased and far more independent of its overlords than it is today. Today's SMSM actually seriously damages critical thinking ability and biases you toward the preferred messaging of said overlords (via SMSM analog and digital algorithms). SMSM is now designed primarily to addict you to its toxic messaging and, not un-coincidentally, to allow toxic people to enter and poison your life (virtually).

But you have a lot of choice over this. You don't need to let them in. It may sound difficult to avoid SMSM, because the SMSM companies have spent billions on making it more addictive than heroin or nicotine. But you totally can. The withdrawals are only psychological. I can guarantee you that the absence of SMSM in your life will not do you an ounce (or even a gram) of harm. But it will do you a TON of good. If you went camping for a week and did not have any access to your digital devices and SMSM, you'd survive and return home completely fine. In fact, you'd return home better than fine, because of the disconnect and recharge you'd experienced on the trip. SMSM drains and poisons your soul. And it addicts you to it. You don't realize this until it's absent from your life. And so I urge you to consider going on a SMSM fast for a month to assess this for yourself. If the idea of going without SMSM for a month frightens or alarms you, I have news for you...that's ADDICTION! It's the exact same fear that drug addicts experience when they consider abstaining from their drugs. It's no coincidence that people who consume excessive SMSM refer to themselves as "news junkies." Think on that.

If you choose not to disenfranchise SMSM from your life, that's your choice, and you have my sympathies. Because it will eventually seriously and irreparably harm you, if it has not already. It's never too late to quit SMSM though, and once it has destroyed your life and relationships enough (just like a drug addict hitting rock bottom), you may see fit to free yourself from it. 

In conclusion, just do me one small solid...challenge yourself to quit SMSM for 30 days. I guarantee you will notice how much better your life is at the end of it. And if you believe you cannot abstain from SMSM for 30 days...what does that tell you about its addictiveness?

Fin.

Weekend Eve

Hi Readers!

Happy Weekend Eve. How will you be spending your valuable weekend time? Leave a comment below and let us know.

I'm kicking off the day here momentarily with a 30-minute Peloton workout. I really didn't have time to write a lengthy post this morning, but I wanted the search engines to have some alert to new content on this blog. Apparently, new content is a desirable feature when it comes to how search engines rank a web page. I still have a long way to go, I'm sure, to be one of the privileged sites for Google searches. But I don't do it for the fame...only the glory!

Fin.

Progress on SMSM Fasting

Hi Readers!

Checking in...how is everyone doing? Leave a comment below this post, if you'd like to share with the group and get some support from the tribe.

I wanted to use my free writing time today to briefly update you on the progress of my social and mainstream media (SMSM) fasting challenge. Before I do that, I'll give you a quick rundown and reminder about what that even is. In early November, for reasons beyond the scope of this post (but quite obvious to all), I decided to embark on a spiritual and mental wellness challenge to completely abstain (fast) from all SMSM, due to its divisive negativity and vitriol (and unethical use of humanity for its own profits). It essentially boils down to a boycott of SMSM...a boycott of one (me), although I encourage anyone reading this to join me in this "general strike" against SMSM. The complete awfulness and destructiveness of SMSM is hiding in plain sight, and if you want any more proof of that, go HERE: VIDEO - Brain Hacking (60 Minutes). You can also watch the documentary film "The Social Dilemma" for a more detailed exploration of SMSM's takeover of society. I know, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, and I am the first one to be skeptical of any conspiracy theory, but this appears to be grounded in truth. [Also...side note...did you know that you can not have a conspiracy without piracy?].

So, you may be wondering how my SMSM fast is going. Thanks for asking! It's actually going great. I have been 100% compliant with it. I haven't even checked the news headlines on NPR (still the most neutral, unbiased, and non-toxic news outlet, although that is not saying much, and its quality of news reporting has declined significantly over the past few years) even once. There have been a couple of passive intrusions of SMSM into my life when I accidentally walked into a room where there was SMSM present. But I was able to quickly either neutralize it (turn it off) or remove myself from the situation. A good way to look at SMSM is to think of it as an unwanted house guest. Sometimes it shows up and asks to hang out. I tell it "No...and off you f**k." And you should too. But that's up to you.

Anyway, I've got sh!t to do today, so I need to wrap it up here. The first order of business on my agenda for today is a 30+ minute Peloton workout. Then I have some marriage and family therapy work prep to do. I'll be seeing clients for most of the rest of the day after that. There may be a date night in store for Deborah and I this evening.

Fin.

Positivity Post

Hi Readers!

According to the free LOSE IT app that I use to track my diet and exercise, I am down just over four pounds since starting my December Wellness Challenge on 12/1. I was 202.2 pounds on 11/30, the day prior to starting the challenge (Time Zero). I was 197.8 pounds as of this morning (12/4). If you want to be a stickler for details and argue that Time Zero was actually my morning weight on 12/1 - and there is some logic to that - then I am only down 3.2 pounds. Still pretty good! I have largely achieved this by exercising away (on the Peloton trainer) more calories than I eat, and practicing intermittent fasting (not eating between about 8 PM in the evening and noon the next day). My goal is to lose 15 pounds before the end of the year, so I am ahead of schedule. That being said, weight loss is not linear and those last five pounds are going to be harder to lose than the first five. That's not even taking into consideration the dietary risks, temptations, and pitfalls of the upcoming Judeo-Christian holidays. While I personally don't celebrate or recognize them (they are not Church of Bike With Joe holidays), much of our family does, and so we join in to honor our loved ones, more so than the mythical deities they pay tribute to via excessive holiday hedonism and sloth.

It's barely 8 AM on Wednesday 12/4 and I have already crushed and conquered a number of my TO DOs. In about 15 minutes, I will see my first marriage and family therapy client of the day, after which I will squeeze in a decent Peloton workout and attend a continuing education webinar (whilst eating my first meal of the day). After lunch/webinar, I will go pick up the groceries I ordered online this morning. The remainder of the afternoon and evening comprises seeing a few more psychotherapy clients, before retiring for some disconnection and self care.

Fin.

PFUs DoRs

Hi Readers!

If you read my preemptive Tuesday post (written on Monday night), you may know that today is a blog post FREE DAY. So, instead, here's this as filler...

You'll thank me later!

Fin.

Crushed It

Hi Readers!

I crushed Monday so hard that I had nothing left to do on Monday evening except write Tuesday's blog post, which is what this is. I'm writing it on Monday night, and it will post on Tuesday morning. That's not to suggest that I have anything useful to write about, other than the pure epic destruction of today at my hands.

I had a productive morning of DuoLingo Spanish learning, blog writing (Monday's post), banking, admin, and a brief work meeting at 11 AM. I intermittently fasted today, until noon, and made lunch after said meeting, before hopping on the Peloton for about a 50-minute aerobic workout. I showered and then took our dog Ziggy to the veterinarian in the afternoon for a vaccine and some routine testing. I put gas in Deborah's car and got home around 4 PM. Deborah arrived shortly thereafter and we chilled a bit. Then she wanted to take a nap, so I decided to write this post for tomorrow a bit prematurely. I received and completed some documents that were sent to me by my financial advisor too. Crushed it today.

I have a pantload of marriage and family therapy client sessions on Tuesday, including a couple of new intakes. I've carved out time for grocery coupon clipping, lunch, and a Peloton workout. Where does my unbridled energy come from? No one knows, but it is theorized that it comes from exercising daily and eating a whole food, plant based diet.

Fin.

December Wellness Challenge

Hi Readers.

Welcome to December! A lot of special things happen this month (or so I am told...). That's actually true of EVERY month, depending on your perspective on life. But, assuming you are a conventionalist, most people focus on December as the month to get a bunch of sh!t done that they procrastinated on during all the prior months of the year (especially if said people run a cash basis business and need to close all their accounts receivable before January 1st of the new tax year). December also culminates in a few minor holidays, depending on your religious/spiritual persuasion, and many people honor these holidays by buying a bunch of crap they don't need and then giving most of it away to others (often with the intention of manifesting World Peace and/or the End Times...again, depending on your persuasion). Does this all make any kind of sense to you? No? Me neither. I mean, FFS, it's Monday GD morning...

Anyway, the gist of this post is to encourage everyone to adopt an intentional December Wellness Challenge, whereby you decide on a small, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-limited (SMART) goal to accomplish by the end of the year. It's almost like a pre-New Year's (NY) Resolution, except that it recognizes and harnesses the weaknesses in NY Resolutions (too big, unmeasurable, unachievable, irrelevant, and unsustainable for an entire year, for most people). Some people choose things like "quit drinking for the month" or "go vegan for the month" or "exercise daily for the month" or "read a book this month." Ideally, it should be some positive activity that is relevant or important to you.

INTENTION is the key to establishing a doable December Wellness Challenge. INTENTION taps into the Power of Positive Thinking (PPT). What is INTENTION, you ask? In psychological terms, it's the cognitive association between a behavior/action and some positive OUTCOME. What is an OUTCOME, you ask? It can be anything you want: lose weight, sleep better, find a soul mate, get smarter, be a better human, world peace, get rich, or whatever. In practice, there doesn't even have to be an actual, on-paper, cause-and-effect relationship between the INTENTION and the OUTCOME (although, there can be). It's more of a mental/emotional association. By intentionally pursuing and achieving your challenge goal(s), you manifest your desired outcome in the Cosmos. You essentially create and enter a new timeline in the multiverse, which you would not have entered had you maintained your mundane complacency about the Cosmos and your powerless lack of agency in its unfolding. Some people have referred to this association between INTENTION and OUTCOME as "Dark Magic" (DM) or "The Secret." Whatever the case, this sh!t works, and you should try it.

I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't pursue a December Wellness Challenge of my own. So, I am. My INTENTION is to burn more calories than I consume on a daily basis, by way of daily aerobic exercise and consuming an 80% whole food, 100% plant based diet. My OUTCOME is to lose 15 pounds before the end of the year. I'm not going to lie...I have already been exercising most days of the week and eating 100% plant based for a long time. The problem is caloric intake. So, one could argue that my INTENTION is actually to be consistent with the SMART goals of exercise and dietary mindfulness on a daily basis.

If you're going to accept the challenge to do a challenge in December, let us know in the Comments section below this post.

Fin.

DD Prepping

Hi Readers!

What a phenomenal Saturday it is, eh? Especially if you are the kind of person who leveraged the Bad Karma Day holiday this past Thursday into a four-day weekend. And if you are not that kind of person...my sympathies.

Since this blog theoretically (aka, "on paper") doubles as a music blog (as well as a recreational blog), I should probably talk about something musical. The first thing that comes to my mind is that this blog has been nominated for a 2025 Madison Area Music Association (MAMA) award AND a 2025 Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) award. No one actually knows why...but I suspect it is because, at a meta level, this blog is a frequent go to for musicians in need of self care and "mojo" (the mysterious ethereal force that gives musicians and the music they perform a supranatural quality - "a whole other level above supernatural..."). In fact, clinical studies have shown that after reading a few posts on this blog, musicians nearly triple their songwriting and live performance power. In reality though, a more pragmatic explanation is that I'm a licensed therapist and life coach, trained in Leisure Science and the Art of Rock Fu. So, this blog helps musicians "declutter" so that they can focus on making awesome rock-n-roll. But again...no one is really sure.

How will you be spending today? Leave a COMMENT below if you want to share. I'll be kicking off the day with some Rock Fu, in the form of a Peloton workout. Sometime this afternoon, Best Buy is delivering and installing a standalone freezer in our basement. The "on paper" reason for this is that my wife Deborah thinks the freezer in our refrigerator is too full and she wants to have an overflow freezer, so that the fridge freezer is less cluttered (again, with the decluttering...see what I mean?). In practice, however, I think we are passively Doomsday Prepping, for reasons beyond the scope of this post.

Well, I feel like that's enough free writing for today. If you've read this far, my sympathies. It's no secret that most of the posts on this blog are just stream of consciousness free association. But, if you're here, then I'm hopeful you got something out of the lengthy diatribe. This blog is one of the few remaining "old school" blogs, still honoring the written word, as opposed to all the audiovisual clutter out there on the Interwebs. Take care of yourselves!

Fin.

Keep Calm and Rock On

Hi Readers!

Happy Hedonism Hangover Day! That's the day after Bad Karma Day (aka, Thanksgiving). Most of you probably ate and drank way more than you had any right to yesterday, and you may be feeling the negative effects of that today. Some people also call it Black Friday, one of the massive corporate money grabs that happens a few times per year, usually around the major holidays observed by the dominant culture (and Black Friday is one of the biggest, tapping into the potent human emotions of guilt, shame, and anxiety to get you to buy things ahead of the upcoming major holidays of Christmas and Hanukah - typically things you don't need or that you will give away to others under the rubric of "promoting Peace on Earth" - a Peace which, oddly, never seems to arrive...).

I'll be the first to admit that I am not beneath taking a slice of that proverbial promotional pie. As many of you know, this blog is free for all to access and enjoy. But we have to financially underwrite it somehow, and we do so using the mechanism called affiliate marketing - whereby a few subtle-but-strategically-placed keyword links, when clicked upon, take you to a site (usually Amazon) where you can purchase something, from which a very tiny percentage of the purchase price goes to us (at no cost to you)!

I thought I'd use today's post to list and share a handful of THINGS that I have found mission critical for living my best life, in hopes that they help you live your best life too. All of these things are things that I can fully endorse, having used them firsthand myself.

A Mood Lamp. Sometimes called a Happy Lamp, these are lamps that give off an intense blue light that simulates daylight, triggering the pineal gland in your brain to dump neurotransmitters and hormones into your brain and bloodstream that "trick" your mind and body into believing it is summertime, even if it's not. As such, people (including me) use these to ameliorate Seasonal Affective Disorder, a common mental health issue in northern latitudes, often comprising symptoms of low mood, low energy, anhedonia, sadness/emptiness, irritability, loss of focus/concentration/memory, and more. If you've experienced it, you know. These lamps can also be used to artificially increase your brain's perception of the duration of daylight each day. Turned on in the early morning or early evening during the winter months, when it is dark outside, again tricks your brain into believing the availability of daylight is longer than it actually is, simulating summertime. I use my mood lamp every day. It sits on my desk and I have it on while I am seeing my marriage and family therapy clients. Be warned, if you use it too late at night, it can disrupt your diurnal rhythm, something akin to jet lag.

The 4 Agreements (book). Shared with me by a mental health counselor I was seeing years ago, this book has proven a resilient, relevant, and extraordinarily pragmatic spiritual guide. I don't have much more to say about it, other than its tenets (the four actual Agreements) collectively cover the management of a significant number of the hassles and BS nonsense life throws at you.

How Not to Die (book). While The 4 Agreements is a great reference guide for improving mental and spiritual wellness, How Not to Die (by Dr. Michael Greger) is a must have screed for improving your physical (and to some extent also mental) health. The good doctor does extensive research on the peer reviewed scientific literature on the role of nutrition in human health. He shares a lot of this info FOR FREE on his website nutritionfacts.org. But he has also compiled all the best bits into this great book, How Not to Die.

I'm gonna pause it there for today, mainly because I have to pee, but also because I have to get a-crackin' on today's action packed agenda: a Peloton workout (to burn off a fraction of the calories I consumed yesterday), practicing rock-n-roll songs (ahead of GUPPY EFFECT duo band practice on Sunday), booking airplane flights for my parents (so they can visit my sister in Colorado for Christmas), and possibly making my infamous vegan curry, if time permits.

I wish you all a wonderful day and I hope that you have a fulfilling and enjoyable weekend. Try to fast from social and mainstream media if you can. I know you can't, but try...you will really notice the improvement in your Zen if you do.

Fin.

Happy Bad Karma Day

Hi Readers!

I hope you all have a Happy Bad Karma Day (aka, Thanksgiving), if you celebrate it. Although many people don't like to hear or acknowledge it, I am not known for ignoring the elephant in the proverbial room. Fact: There is a lot of historical trauma, suffering, and oppression embedded in ("baked into") this American holiday. It's rooted in colonialism and racism.

That doesn't mean you can't have a happy Bad Karma Day. In fact, you should intentionally do so. It's really the only way to practice forgiveness, honor the oppressed, and heal the cultural wounds symbolized and recognized by/on this day. That being said, one way to honor the oppressed and heal the cultural wounds (and be happy) is to choose not to engage in the oppression and suffering of sentient beings...like turkeys (Oh, yeah...I am really in the sh!t now!). I encourage you to intentionally go vegan for the holiday, knowing full well that the culinary conventions of this day are potent and most people won't be able to rise above them. This is not weakness, don't get me wrong. It's just that tradition is a potent emotional driver for a lot of people, and we all know from Psychology 101 that the emotional brain overrides the rational brain just about every time the two come into conflict. Plus, most Americans have been acculturated since birth to accept the notion that slaughtering millions of birds on one specific Thursday of every year is totally fine and normal...maybe even patriotic(?). It's weird though, no?

If you choose to accept my challenge and go vegan today, be warned...this may free your mind and the side effects of that can be profound (it untethers you from blindly accepting cultural norms and narratives, which can be mentally and emotionally destabilizing, especially if your entire identity is defined by external social cues - in which case your ego completely evaporates and your consciousness "disappears"). But it also liberates your conscience. Once freed, that genie is difficult, if not impossible, to return to its bottle. You join the ranks of the unconventional and non-comforming. That can be scary.

Here are some tips, if you want to accept the karmic rewards of going vegan, if just for the day. You can still completely stuff yourself on plant based foods (which tend to be lower in calories, on average). You can cook a plant based roast, such as the Gardein vegan Turk'y Roast. Consider making a vegan side or main dish, like this African Sweet Potato Peanut Stew (which I will, in fact, be bringing to my family's Bad Karma Day celebrations today).

I'm not going to entertain counterfactuals like "I could never go vegan" or "I need meat in my diet." You do you. I'm just saying, good karma comes to those who detoxify and disentangle themselves from bad karmic forces, of which today's holiday is definitely one. I said what I said and I'll own that.

In other news, today is in many ways no different than any other day as far as self care and positivity. In about five minutes, I'll get my Peloton workout out of the way, then move on to prepping some Bad Karma Day food, comprising: aforementioned sweet potato stew, apple pies, vegan roasts, and mashed potatoes (using vegan butter and oat milk). I already knocked off my DuoLingo Spanish lesson and moved the three bags of water softener salt to the basement (putting two of them into the softener salt basin). These may seem like mundane and commonplace things not worthy of mention. Counterpoint: In Buddhism, enlightenment comes through intention and mindfulness in simple daily activities. Choose to be hyperaware today.

Blessings from the (secular) Church of BWJ!

Fin.

Hex

Hi Readers!

I had to put a Hex on a privileged white woman today. I was at the Willy Street Co-op out of necessity - well aware that it's a bit of a haven for the privileged undesirables. I was hoping to score a vegan pumpkin pie for Bad Karma Day (aka, Thanksgiving). I went to the pie section of the store and said woman was standing there right in front of the pies, perusing the options and taking up a LOT of physical AND emotional real estate (if you know...you know). No crime in that, and it's not what I had to Hex her for. However, it was pretty clear that I was waiting to peruse the pie options too after she was done...and she took literally FOREVER to make up her mind about what pie she wanted. That alone would have been worthy of a mild Hex. But then, after she had been there farting around for like five minutes already, she parked her shopping cart right in front of the pies and walked away. Just...walked away...no explanation given. It was clearly some kind of passive aggression, no question about it.

But nope! Not today, Karen. I pushed her cart right out of the way and put the full Hex on her disappearing form right then and there. No one knows how the Hex will manifest itself in her life. But it won't be good for her. 

In other news, it's a light week in the realm of marriage and family therapy. I think a lot of my clients have the week off and their minds are on other things besides having therapy. I have a couple of therapy clients today, and a few more tomorrow. Then, I have Thursday and Friday off, to celebrate Bad Karma Day with my family.

I'll end with a reminder that it is essential to your mental, physical, and spiritual well being to disenfranchise social and mainstream media (SMSM) from your life as soon as possible (but definitely before January 20, 2025). It's increasingly clear that SMSM compromises rational thought and emotional well being. It programs you to focus on negativity and black/white thinking. The key to well being is positivity and realistic thinking. But the latter cognitive processes are harder to do, especially when resisted by the opposing forces of SMSM. Our emotional brains are wired to focus on negatives and simplify everything into binary black and white choices that are easier to understand. The SMSM companies know this well, and they actively engineer their platforms to amplify negative messaging and addict you to grievance. If you think that sounds like a conspiracy theory, don't take my word for it. Watch THIS. You can do a simple experiment to verify this too...just go read any comment thread on any SMSM post online. It's toxically negative and extreme! Or if you doubt the addictiveness of SMSM, try quitting it for a week. Or even a day. Not so easy, huh?

There is no place in anyone's life for SMSM. However, it's your choice. All I can guarantee is that fasting from SMSM will make you happier and, frankly, a better person.

Anyway, have a great rest of your week!

Fin.

Sunday Funday

Hi Readers!

It's another Sunday. So, you know what that means...it's another FUN DAY!

By way of developing Scripture for the Church of Bike With Joe, I thought I'd outline some of the Blessings of the Church today. In a prior post, I described the three Tenets of the Church of Bike With Joe. It is by following said Tenets that the Blessings of the Church are bestowed, comprising:

1. Ideal Health. This is not the same as perfect health. That cannot be guaranteed. Following the Tenets of the Church bestows "best possible" health. That is what is meant by Ideal Health.

2. Ideal Happiness. Similar to the first Blessing, this is not the same as perfect happiness. It's "best possible" happiness. By following the Tenets, your mental health and mood will be as balanced as possible.

3. Clean Blows. These were alluded to in a prior post and you can learn more HERE.

There are other Blessings too. But these are the main ones.

Fin.

Separation

Hi Readers!

Happy Weekend Before Bad Karma Day! I hope you are spending it wisely and this blog post reaches you at a time when you most need it in your life.

The weekend comprises a few fun things for me. Deborah and I will do a bit of grocery shopping ahead of the holiday festivities this coming week. I'll - of course - practice the Tenets of the Church of BWJ (summarized HERE), as I do just about every day.

I had a deep(er than usual) thought yesterday, and I thought I would share it here. As a Church leader, I keep a very strict separation between our Church and the State, as per the rules we were all likely taught in grade school, if you were paying attention. There was a good reason for establishing that separation when it was established - churches were too powerful and persuasive to be allowed to meddle in the lives of people who were no religiously inclined. In this modern age, it almost feels like we need a separation between OTHER THINGS and both Church and State. One of those things is social and mainstream media (SMSM). The 4th Estate, as SMSM is sometimes called, is a powerful and persuasive entity in its own right. It has a moral, ethical, and legal obligation to give us accurate information, so we can realistically assess Reality and make informed and reasonable choices in our lives. SMSM has become poisoned by meddling from both Religion and Politics, which we all know are the two things that no one should ever discuss or allow into their personal lives and relationships. The only way to free yourself from Religion and Politics, is to abstain from SMSM (until such time as it is legally and institutionally separated from Church and State). That's why abstinence from SMSM is one of the three primary Tenets of the Church of BWJ.

I need to flesh this idea out a little more, but right now, I feel one of the Blessings of the Church coming on and I am going to go indulge that!

Fin.

The Fast

Hi Readers!

It's a week until Bad Karma Day! That's what I call Thanksgiving, because it is bad karma to eat innocent animals. I said what I said. Do with it what you will. Did you know turkeys enjoy music and will sometimes sing along with it [SOURCE]? Groovy.

I hope all of you are engaging in some social and mainstream media (SMSM) fasting. I typically engage in it starting around Halloween and continue it as far into the new year as I can. I'm aiming to fast from it for the entirety of 2025. Motivational speaker Tim Ferriss first alerted me to the strategy of SMSM fasting and its physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. Ferriss is wrong about quite a number of things, but also right about a few other things (just like average person!). One of the things he is right about is fasting from SMSM, which is toxic to mind, body, and soul. I would extrapolate his conclusion to ALL toxins. For example, junk food is toxic and should also be avoided. Toxic people are toxic and should also be avoided. Toxins drain your life energy. So identify them and disenfranchise them from your life. SMSM is one of them. It's not the easiest one to disenfranchise from your life, because SMSM is designed to be addictive [SOURCE]. But if you are able to free yourself from it, you will be glad you did.

I truly hope this blog post finds you. And if it does AND you benefit from it, please share it with someone else who could benefit from a little fasting from toxic SMSM.

A good day to you!

Fin.

Light vs Dark

Hi Readers!

As I was tooling away on the Peloton trainer this morning (great 60 minute workout, by the way!), I had some thoughts about positivity vs negativity. I attributed positivity to LIGHT and negativity to DARK, as I think most people logically would. Then I spent some time thinking about what concepts fall under each of these somewhat binary categories. Here is what I came up with...

LIGHT: Love, kindness, compassion, tolerance, empathy, altruism, equity, justice, democracy, freedom, sharing, honesty, cooperation, teamwork, uplifting, peace, calm, contentment, positivity.

DARK: Fear, hate, grievance, vitriol, misery, intolerance, sexism, racism, autocracy, kleptocracy, oppression, greed, harm, toxicity, shame, blame, chaos, dishonesty, agitation, aggression, negativity.

It occurred to me that a lot of people seem to dwell in the DARK these days, especially if they spend a lot of their time on social media, and it sounds exhausting and miserable. It seems like the LIGHT is a much more fun and enjoyable place to be. It's certainly the place I find most hospitable to my mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.*

Thoughts? Leave a comment below.

Fin.

*NOTE: If you are a lover of the LIGHT too and are exhausted and disgusted by all the divisive and toxic fear, hate, grievance, and vitriol purveyed by social and mainstream media (SMSM), you are not alone and you may find the safe place you are looking for in the Church of Bike With Joe. Check it out HERE.

Time to Ride

Hi Readers!

I am giving it my best effort to post a new post here every day. The Algorithm LOVES new content, am I right?

That being said, I am planning a big, fun, awesome post for this coming Sunday 11/24/24, and because I am putting all my effort into that post, I don't have a great deal of good content for today's post. I'll share with you what I got thought...

Per usual, I will be seeing marriage and family therapy clients today. I'm also going to jump on the Peloton trainer here shortly for an INTENTIONAL 60 minute workout, dedicated to world peace and harmony.

I had a couple cute song lyrics pop into my head earlier: "I built a little spaceship in my backyard. If found the specs online and it wasn't too hard. Making things airtight was the trickiest part. Don't want to decompress and explode my heart."

Alright. With that weak sauce, I had best sign off.

Fin.

Biking

Hi Readers!

Despite global warming's silver linings, it is still late fall heading headlong into winter in Wisconsin. While climate change allowed me to comfortably rake leaves this morning in the middle of November, it's getting a little too brisk for fair weather bicyclists like myself to bike outdoors. So, with the exception of a rare record warm day to come (which is actually fairly likely), most of the bike riding to be done here over the next few months will be indoors - in my case, on the Peloton trainer.

If you have a Peloton, you can certainly connect with me in that community. My Peloton name is @ragbraijoe (tag = #poweredbyplants). I will likely continue to schedule Facebook events via the BIKE WITH JOE FB group. However, these will likely be events like "get coffee" or "play board games," rather than "bike outside somewhere." Can you dig it?

In other news, this blog was just nominated for a Wisconsin Area Music Industry award for Best Blog. How cool is that? Vote for this blog if you like it.

I supposed I should talk about music then. The GUPPY EFFECT semi-acoustic musical duo is up and running again. We are mostly focused on rehearsing and honing material right now, but hope to play a house concert of coffee shoppe gig here sometime soon.

Fin.

Raking and Stew

Hi Readers!

Today is the day...that I rake the accumulated leaves in the yard to the curb for pickup by the city.

Today is also the day that I make African Sweet Potato Peanut Stew.

I also have therapy today. Yes, marriage and family therapists also go to therapy! We are people too and therapy makes everyone a BETTER person.

Beyond that, today comprises the usual things: eating a whole food, plant based diet and getting in some aerobic exercise (Tenets of the Church of Bike With Joe).

Lastly, I'll remind everyone that the best way to reduce anxiety and regain your peace of mind (should it be missing) is to abstain completely from social and mainstream media (SMSM). I cannot stress this enough. If you can fast from SMSM for a week, you will notice a significant improvement in your Zen and mood. Try it.

Fin.

Sunday Funday

Hi Readers!

It's Sunday. So, you know what that means, right? It's also a FUN day.

I kicked it off with a whole food, plant based breakfast comprising coffee (with coconut/almond milk blend), avocado toast, and a banana. Next on the agenda is a Peloton workout of 30-60 minutes. If all goes to plan, a vegan lunch with my parents at the Crisp-n-Green is on the agenda for midday shenanigans.

Deborah and I plan to hit the Willy Street Co-op and CostCo this afternoon for some grocery essentials and possibly some vegan Thanksgiving options (likely a couple of Gardein Turk'y roasts). I have GUPPY EFFECT duo band practice with Stefan at 6 PM this evening, and I'll need to hone some of the practice material ahead of time. So, I'll probably hit the Manwich Music Mansion about 4 PM, to start said honing the quintessential semi-acoustic rock-n-roll that we produce.

That's about it for my Sunday Funday. I'll be abstaining from social and mainstream media (SMSM) by listening to music, reading Kindle books, and engaging with the real world. How about you? Leave a comment below letting us know how you will thwart Evil today.

Fin.

Un-Psychedelic Breakfast

Hi Readers!

A joyous day to you! Because you cannot have joYOUsness without YOU. Am I right?

Let's talk about FRUIT today. I am currently in the process of eating a metric pantload of the stuff for breakfast, comprising one banana, two apples, and a large but uncertain number of grapes. Damn, this stuff is filling! And it's really low calorie too. Since fruit is a plant based whole food, it's totally allowed and encouraged to be eaten by adherents of the Church of Bike With Joe. The Cosmos rewards the eating of fruit with one of the Blessings of the Church: CLEAN BLOWS. If you are curious, you can read more about clean blows HERE (and apologies in advance!). The Blessing is usually bestowed about 24-36 hours post-consumption of said fruit (or fruit salad) and it is believed to indicate that the individual has been bestowed with Cosmic (albeit temporary) protection from Evil. 

I will be seeing a handful of marriage and family therapy clients this morning, after which I will attend the monthly Systems Theory consult group meeting that I participate in semi-regularly. On my way to the meeting, I'll stop by the office to get my business mail. It's very possible this evening will comprise going to Best Buy to acquire a couple of essentials for the coming Apocalypse, including a new TV for the bedroom and possibly a standalone freezer for the basement (to hold overflow vegan pizzas).

There was (and still is) a possibility of me attending a Bombay Bicycle Club ride tomorrow - the final one of the 2024 cycling season. But the window of opportunity on that is rapidly closing, due to weather. This is probably for the best, because there was talk of getting together with my parents for lunch at the Crisp-n-Green tomorrow, and the bike ride might cut into that. So, it may be a Peloton workout at home instead. Such is life...and a good effing life it is!

Are you a member of the Church of Bike With Joe yet? There's no obligation whatsoever. It's optional, but encouraged, if you are looking for an organic lifestyle that is guaranteed to improve mental, physical, and spiritual well being (Enlightenment). I am sure there are many other ways to find Enlightenment out there. However, I have no idea what those are, and joining the Church of Bike With Joe is one of the easiest and most certain ways to achieve said goal. The Church has three basic Tenets, and if you follow them, you'll achieve ideal wellness. The Tenets are:

1. Follow a whole food (80%) plant based (100%) way of eating.

2. Exercise aerobically for at least 30 minutes every day.

3. Abstain from and avoid mental, physical, and spiritual toxins (including social and mainstream media, toxic people, and poisons like nicotine, drugs, and alcohol).

That's it. Membership in the Church is an act of DOING those three things. There are no fees or dues. There are no Church Fathers (except maybe me, since I started the gosh darn thing). There are no places of worship, other than within your own physical, mental, and spiritual lived experience (consciousness). If you adopt and integrate these Tenets into your life, you will start to notice the mental, physical, and spiritual benefits (aka, The Awakening) in about 2-3 weeks.*

Joining does not even require 100% adherence to the Tenets - just having the INTENTION to do so is enough (although Enlightenment cannot be guaranteed if you don't follow them at least a little bit). Following the Tenets should feel like the natural and authentic thing to do (at least after 2-3 weeks of following them, if not right away). And not following them should feel uncomfortable and unbalancing and destabilizing. If neither of the aforementioned things are true for you, then the Church probably isn't for you. And that's totally OK! Don't try to pound a square peg into a round hole by pursuing something that violates your authentic narrative and values. That would be a waste of time.

You may be wondering why these three things, in particular, are the Tenets of the Church of Bike With Joe. In short, these Tenets are derived from what Science has told us are the best ways to optimize wellness. 

Some have asked, "What is the most important of the three Tenets, if...say...I can only follow one of them?" The answer is the third one - avoiding toxins (especially social and mainstream media). Eating a plant based diet and daily aerobic exercise are not feasible or possible for everyone. The Church understands this and emphasizes INTENTION more than action on the first two Tenets. The third Tenet is actionable for almost everyone, because it involves NOT doing (abstaining from) something, which is achievable for just about everyone. It's easier to not do something than it is to do something (you can test this yourself...). You know, there was actually a time in the world, not too long ago, when social media did not exist and mainstream media had to be accessed ACTIVELY (it wasn't always passively ubiquitous in your life).

Nonetheless, due to Grievance Addiction, many people still find it hard to abstain from social and mainstream media (SMSM), which was literally designed by diabolical forces (in Silicon Valley) to be more addictive than heroin or nicotine [SOURCE]. If you doubt this, I challenge you to abstain from SMSM for one week...or even one full day. You'll see what I mean. And if you have already kicked the SMSM habit, great! You are well on your way to becoming a Church of Bike With Joe adherent (should you so choose).

Fin.

*NOTE: I'm not gonna lie to you...the window of opportunity to join the Church of Bike With Joe is still very wide open, as of this posting. No urgency whatsoever. If this were about marketing some kind of religious scheme to profit off of, I'd probably lie and tell you that the window of opportunity is CLOSING SOON, SO ACT FAST! Nope. It's not. And - much like Honey Badger - I honestly don't have any strong incentive to encourage you to join the Church, other than empathy (which, one could argue, is the currency of Karma). In fact, the Church really doesn't want any members who aren't INTENTIONAL about being members. As I said earlier, following the Tenets should feel like it aligns perfectly with your values and authentic self. If that's not the case, don't join. That said, it takes 2-3 weeks of following the Tenets to feel the benefits (Blessings), so give it a sporting chance if you are on the fence. But if you know healthy vegan eating, daily aerobic exercise, and avoiding toxins like SMSM are not for you, move along...nothing to see here.

As of now, there is no urgency whatsoever to join the Church of Bike With Joe. However, the window of opportunity to join very explicitly closes on January 19, 2025, a little over two months from now. You can literally join any time right up to the deadline, and it's super easy to do. As I said earlier, just INTENTIONALLY start practicing the three Tenets of the Church described above...and you're IN! Because it takes 2-3 weeks to reap the full mental, physical, and spiritual rewards of adherence to the Tenets, I would do so no later than about New Year's Eve 2024, if you plan to join (or you just want to give it a practice run). In fact, you could make joining the Church your New Year's Resolution, if you like. Most people give up on their New Year's Resolutions about 2-3 weeks into the new year anyway. So, if it ends up not being your bag, you've sacrificed nothing.

You can, of course, also join the Church after the January 19, 2025 deadline, but the Church makes no guarantee of mental, physical, and spiritual salvation on or after January 20, 2025. We also don't make any guarantee of that on or before that date either, because get real...how could anyone guarantee any such thing? However, an inability to guarantee salvation does not mean we don't KNOW it will happen. That's what FAITH is all about...knowing something with your heart and soul without any scientific evidence whatsoever. It's important to say here that the Church of Bike With Joe LOVES Science and Science underlies the three Tenets of the Church (which is why we capitalize Science). We believe Science to be one of the best ways to understand Reality. Science is integral to the FAITH of this particular Church. So, even though believing in Science is not a formal Tenet of the Church, we really dig Science and hope you do to. Dig?

Another Superb Day

Hi Readers!

I had another fantastic night of sleep last night, despite waking up a couple times due to distractions (both my wife Deborah and our dog Ziggy were unusually restless, for some reason). My mood is more like 8/10 today (10 = ideal mood). If you recall, I was a 9/10 yesterday, a record mood score and the highest it has been in quite some time, despite recent sociopolitical setbacks (many of which I am blissfully unaware of for reasons that will soon become apparent). The one point drop in mood score today is probably attributable to a jam packed weekend ahead. It's jam packed with awesomeness - let there be no doubt about that - but I still have to thread the needle carefully to make sure everything (itemized at the end of this post for my own benefit and so as not to bore you with it now) gets done. And yes, that "thread the needle" simile is intentionally Biblical (if you know...you know!).

In general, the major contributor to my positive mood of late is abstinence from toxic social and mainstream media (SMSM). It's poison to one's mind and soul, but one does not often recognize or realize this fact until one removes SMSM from one's life. I have replaced SMSM with much more productive pastimes, such as reading library books and listening to music (I am listening to System of a Down songs right now, but I have found Gregorian Chant to be quite soothing and relaxing lately). The powers that be (aka, THEY, or in certain parlances, THE MAN) hate this. Fasting from SMSM gives me absolute immunity (to lift a phrase -so I am told - from the pop culture) from fake news and divisive grievance mongering...the diabolical forces THEY regularly use to demoralize and disempower people. I can understand why abstinence from SMSM is one of the three Holy Tenets of the Church of Bike With Joe* (the organization for which I am the reluctant, albeit wholehearted, spiritual leader). I can also understand why THEY work so hard to make SMSM more addictive than heroin and nicotine.

Speaking of positive mood and spirituality, let me remind my readers of the other two Holy Tenets of the Church of Bike With Joe: Adherence to a (mostly) whole food and (entirely) plant based diet AND daily aerobic exercise. These two spiritual practices alone can bring you to blissful physical and mental positivity and happiness (as the long-lived and happy 7th Day Adventists well know). However, complete enlightenment (as the Buddhists call it) requires removal of obstacles (toxic people and places, including SMSM) to Zen-like peace of mind and tranquility of soul.

This blog post now constitutes a "spiritual reading" of the Church of Bike With Joe, should I ever make the effort to get the Church officially established as a tax-free, non-profit. There's no rush on that, and people are free to join the Church of Bike With Joe immediately, if they so wish. There are no obstacles and no rules other than choosing to follow the Tenets. If you do and you happen to want to let me know, leave a comment on this post. The only caveat to all of this is that if you want to become an ordained minister or spiritual leader in the Church of Bike With Joe, you must practice the martial art of ROCK FU, which I can elaborate on at a later time. 

WEEKEND AGENDA:

Willy Street Coop and CostCo grocery runs. We need bulk dry garbanzo beans from Willy, so I can continue to make one of the Sacramental Foods of the Church of Bike With Joe - FALAFEL. We also "need" a new TV, according to Deborah, and she has her eye on a particular one at CostCo.

I will see a few marriage and family therapy clients on Saturday, followed by a meeting of the Systems Consult Group of which I am a part. This will obliterate most of the day on Saturday. Deborah and I will probably do something fun in the evening. And by fun, I mean chillax and do next to nothing, which is awesome.

I may attend the last Bombay Bicycle Club ride of the 2024 outdoor cycling season on Sunday morning, weather permitting. On Sunday night, I'll practice a bit of ROCK FU with my buddy Stefan, as we are getting together to rehearse songs for the reboot of the GUPPY EFFECT semi-acoustic duo.

I also need to whip up a week's worth of smoothies for Deborah. I am probably going to knock that out this morning yet, before seeing my first psychotherapy client at 9 AM.

Alright, that's my post and I am sticking to it.

Fin.

*NOTE: The Church of Bike With Joe is an offshoot of Dudeism, of which I am an ordained minister, should you need...like...a wedding officiated or something.